The light of the water mirror dimmed.
Shen Tinglan muttered casually, “Shuyan certainly fought to her heart's content today.”
Shen Qingci did not dare to say a word, quietly shifting her butt back to its original spot.
Shen Tinglan instructed the maid waiting outside the door, “Go prepare a hot spring bath, and summon a physician.”
“Fighting that fiercely, she's likely injured.”
“Yes, Ancestor,” the maid replied before withdrawing.
The physician arrived quickly.
Although she had served under the Ancestor for quite some time, this was the first time she had been summoned by the main family overnight.
Upon entering, she bowed first to Shen Tinglan, then offered her greetings to the Eldest Young Lady, before standing quietly to the side with her medicine chest.
A guard's announcement echoed from outside the courtyard.
Shen Shuyan stepped onto the stone stairs and walked inside.
She had already changed into clean clothes, draped in a frost-white robe, her long hair tied back up and secured firmly with a jade hairpin.
The madness from the earlier battle had completely vanished, leaving only a pale face devoid of any color.
Walking to the center of the hall, she folded her hands in front of her and curtsied. “Shen Shuyan of the side branch pays respects to the Eldest Young Lady and Ancestor Tinglan.”
Shen Qingci was a bit unused to this for a moment.
The image of her clan aunt fighting with manic obsession still echoed in her sea of consciousness, yet the person before her was gentle and polite. Feeling a profound sense of dissonance, she could only nod in response.
Shen Tinglan glanced at her close friend. Seeing her weak and unstable aura, she suppressed her urge to tease and lifted her chin toward the physician. “Check her pulse.”
Shen Shuyan's eyelashes fluttered as she instinctively tried to avoid it.
It was merely exhaustion from depleted spiritual energy; she could recover after a few days of self-regulation. There was no need to make such a fuss, which only made it seem like she couldn't handle a fight!
Seeing her sullen expression, Shen Tinglan knew her stubborn streak was acting up again.
Without showing a stern face, Shuyan would never behave.
“Shen Shuyan!”
Shen Shuyan shuddered at the sound and instinctively blurted out, “Boss!” She regretted it the moment the word left her mouth.
Tinglan hated those words the most.
She sneaked a couple of glances. Sure enough, the other woman's face was dark and terrifying.
The physician was sensible. Sensing the tense atmosphere, she quickly stepped forward to hold Shen Shuyan's wrist, placing three fingers on her pulse point to carefully examine it.
A moment later, the physician breathed a sigh of relief and reported, “Ancestor, Eldest Young Lady, Elder Shuyan has only overdrawn her spiritual energy, leaving her meridians depleted. She has suffered no severe tears or injuries.”
“With two doses of Qi-Returning Pills and a few days of rest, she will slowly recover.”
Shen Qingci's heart finally settled.
The physician took out a jade bottle and poured out two round pills. Shen Shuyan obediently took them and swallowed them, murmuring her thanks. She was so gentle that she seemed like a completely different person from the one who had fought so wildly on the flying vessel.
Now that the consultation was over, the physician was eager to leave. After bowing, she quickly retreated.
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, she really had no desire to stay and be part of this drama.
Shen Shuyan turned toward Shen Qingci and began blinking rapidly. “To have delayed the Eldest Young Lady so late into the night, Shuyan is guilty.”
Shen Qingci understood immediately. Her clan aunt wanted to slip away.
She cleared her throat slightly. “There is no need for such distance between us, Aunt. Go bathe and rest first. We can discuss other matters once you have recovered your energy.”
Shen Shuyan did not refuse. Bowing once more, she followed the maid toward the hot spring. Halfway there, she remembered the small black clay jar. Performing a hand seal, she tossed it back into the main hall.
A rift tore open in the air of the hall, and a small black clay jar dropped through.
Shen Qingci reached out to catch it. Sweeping her divine sense inside, she found the remnant soul within the jar sealed tightly by the talismans.
She stored the clay jar in her storage ring and summoned Shadow One, instructing her to deliver it to her master later.
When she turned back to look at her aunt, the dark face was completely gone; she was leisurely sipping her tea.
Shen Qingci asked tentatively, “Aunt, you're not angry anymore? Aunt Shuyan did use that word just now.”
“Why should I be angry? It's not like I cultivate by absorbing anger.” Shen Tinglan set down her teacup, her tone lazy. “As for the word she used, it's just that my hands were itching, so I used it as an excuse to give them a beating.”
She took a sip of tea and continued, “Besides, without me painstakingly acting as their sparring partner, how could the cultivation of my generation have shot up so fast?”
“It keeps them from having too much energy with nowhere to spend it, doing all sorts of ridiculous things all day long. Picking up random people, hitting on female cultivators from the Hehuan Sect, climbing trees to watch male cultivators...”
Mid-sentence, she suddenly coughed dryly.
Shoot, I forgot my niece is right in front of me.
Shen Tinglan adjusted her sleeves, trying her best to salvage some of her dignity as an elder.
Shen Qingci silently lowered her eyes, staring at the teacup before her. She felt it would be best to inquire less about her elders' pasts in the future.
After all, they were all quite wild!
She sat for a bit longer, then stood up. “Aunt, I'll head back to my room first. I'll have to trouble you to make the arrangements for our departure tomorrow.”
Shen Tinglan's posture relaxed as she said casually, “We set off at the third quarter of the Mao hour. Don't miss the time, A-Ci.”
Shen Qingci agreed and walked out of the main hall.
As night fell, rows of ever-burning lamps along the corridor cast a cold light. She walked along the stone path toward her own courtyard. Turning a corner, she saw that the lights near the hot spring were still on.
She figured Aunt Shuyan was inside nursing her health.
Depleted spiritual energy was not a severe injury, and pills could quickly replenish what was lost.
However, the soreness and stagnation accumulated in her meridians had to be slowly dissolved by the spring water infused with spiritual marrow.
She did not go over to disturb her, heading straight back to her own courtyard.
Pushing open the door, she lit the candle and sat cross-legged by the couch to meditate.
...
Early the next morning, over three hundred and twenty people gathered at the northern foot of the mountain range. Half of them were guards of the Shen family, while the rest were accompanying managers, physicians, alchemists, and servants.
A massive Earth-grade flying vessel was anchored in the center of the camp.
Shen Qingci stood on the deck of the flying vessel's main cabin, planning to discuss the route with her aunt.
Suddenly, the sky overhead darkened.
A massive shadow pressed down from above the clouds. The spirit horses in the camp neighed in unison, and several servants looked up, so startled that the ropes in their hands dropped to the ground.
The clouds were torn apart as two massive heads poked out from within.
Covered entirely in deep green scales, their horns were as thick as three men wrapping their arms around them, and their whiskers hung down, thicker than an adult cultivator's waist.
Four thick flood dragon claws stepped on the void. With every flick of their tails, vast stretches of clouds were scattered.
Shen Qingci stared up at the behemoth, her lips twitching slightly.
Her aunt's arrangements were truly... unconventional.
Shen Tinglan poked her head out from the main cabin, her tone proud. “A-Ci, what do you think? Not bad, right? This Soul Transformation spirit beast your aunt picked out.”
Shen Qingci's gaze landed on the two dragon heads overhead, each larger than a courtyard gate. She fell silent for two seconds.
“...Aunt, the Shen family is going to offer birthday congratulations, not to conquer territory.”
“Is it too much?” Shen Tinglan was unfazed.
“This is already the weakest Soul Transformation spirit beast at home. Doesn't the Gu family have several Void Refining elders presiding over their estate?”
“If they're frightened by a mere flood dragon, then they aren't worthy of the Shen family holding them in high regard.”
Shen Qingci understood her aunt's intentions.
But the creature before her was a double-headed black-scaled cloud flood dragon at the early Soul Transformation stage.
In terms of rarity, even if the Gu family emptied their entire treasury, they could at most afford to buy two of them.
Rate on N.U.
