"Don't even think about it."
Feng Yi set down his teacup, his voice gentle but brookng no argument. "Go back now, bathe, change your clothes, and then go to the quiet room to meditate. Qingping, keep an eye on your senior brother."
Feng Qingping froze for a moment before helplessly dragging the reluctant Jiang Yifan out of the main hall. Feng Weilan was also dismissed to organize the records of their observations from the past few days.
Once only Li Nanzhu and Suisui remained in the hall, Feng Yi suddenly spoke. "Nanzhu, bring Suisui over here."
Suisui immediately hopped onto the master's knee with a joyful bounce, its soul fire warm and bright. A wisp of golden light condensed at Feng Yi's fingertip, and he tapped it lightly against Suisui's skull. "This little thing's growth is quite rapid."
Li Nanzhu finally let go of the breath she had been holding. It seemed her previous worries were unnecessary—the master was still the same master, and Suisui showed no abnormal reactions.
"Go on," Feng Yi said, rubbing Suisui's skull. "Take it to soak in the spiritual spring. It ate too much all at once and needs some gentle tempering."
By the time she stepped out of the hall, the sunset had already faded below the horizon.
Suisui perched on her shoulder, its soul fire reflecting off the winding mountain path and casting a series of leaping spots of light onto the stone steps.
Li Nanzhu suddenly remembered when she had first joined the sect. Back then, she could only climb Sovereign Peak bit by bit, her hair a messy nest every single day. Now, she had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator capable of sword flying. This mountain... was no longer so difficult to descend.
From the distance came the sounds of Feng Qingping still dragging Jiang Yifan, with Feng Weilan seemingly helping from the side.
Everything was so familiar.
Li Nanzhu gently touched Suisui's skull. "We're home."
The misty vapors of the spiritual spring shimmered under the moonlight. Li Nanzhu placed Suisui on a blue stone by the water, and the little skeleton immediately plunged gleefully into the spring, its soul fire spreading out like a lotus flower within the water.
"Slow down," she couldn't help but chuckle. Her fingertips brushed the surface, trailing a string of fine points of light. The spiritual energy in the spring water surged through her fingertips and into her meridians, instantly dissolving much of the exhaustion from her days of travel.
Suisui suddenly popped out of the water, a piece of crystalline spiritual algae perched on its skull. It offered the algae to Li Nanzhu like a precious treasure, its soul fire dancing with joy.
"For me?" She took the glowing leaf and noticed characters carved on the back—it was her master's handwriting: "Rest well."
Just as Li Nanzhu was about to put the spiritual algae away, a familiar set of footsteps sounded behind her. She turned to see her second senior brother, Zhu Yinxi, standing on a blue stone by the spring.
"Second Senior Brother!" she cried out in surprise, standing up. "You've come out of seclusion?"
Zhu Yinxi gave a slight smile. The aura surrounding him was more restrained and profound than before he had entered seclusion. He studied Li Nanzhu for a moment before nodding slightly. "Mm. You aren't hurt."
Suisui hopped out of the water and lunged toward Zhu Yinxi, dripping wet. Zhu Yinxi's expression flickered slightly at the sight, but he still caught Suisui, simultaneously controlling his spiritual energy to dry the little skeleton instantly.
Seeing this, Li Nanzhu suppressed a snicker. It seemed her second senior brother's germaphobia hadn't improved at all. She was about to ask more when her eyes suddenly widened in realization.
"Second Senior Brother, have you broken through to the late Golden Core stage?"
The faint, lingering pressure emanating from Zhu Yinxi was clearly approaching the Golden Core Great Perfection, just a single step away from the Nascent Soul stage.
To think he had only recently entered the mid-Golden Core stage before his seclusion.
"I gained quite a few insights within the cave dwelling." Zhu Yinxi's mood was clearly excellent. He shifted the topic, asking, "I heard you went to Blackwater Marsh? And to the Jiang family?"
Li Nanzhu briefly explained the sequence of events. When she mentioned the mother nest in Blackwater Marsh, she shared her suspicions, as her second senior brother had also truly come into contact with those blue mycelia alongside her.
"If that's the case, the power of those evil cultivators is likely far greater than we imagined."
Observing Zhu Yinxi sink into thought, Li Nanzhu sighed. "Currently, we know very little about the evil cultivators. I only hope the other sects can deal with it as soon as possible."
"True enough," Zhu Yinxi nodded slightly. "They can't expect the few of us in the Five Elements Dao Sect to do everything. If even the other sects can't figure it out, then they are truly useless."
Li Nanzhu couldn't help but burst into laughter. "That makes sense."
"As for the Jiang family..." Zhu Yinxi mused for a moment. "What did Master say?"
"He told us to focus on our cultivation and not to go out." Li Nanzhu hesitated. "But I have a feeling Master knows something..."
"Master has always been that way." Zhu Yinxi stood up. "Since you're back, don't think too much about it. Regarding the Jiang family's business..." He paused. "Master likely has other arrangements. We shouldn't interfere."
"By the way," Zhu Yinxi added as if remembering something, "after being out for so long, it's about time you broke through to mid-Foundation Establishment."
"But I feel like I'm still some distance away from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage." Li Nanzhu felt a bit troubled. Given Cang Dongqing's cultivation speed, she had likely already reached mid-Foundation Establishment or was even pushing for the late stage; Li Nanzhu didn't want to fall too far behind. "Second Senior Brother, when you broke through back then..."
"I sat in the courtyard for three days," a hint of nostalgia flashed in Zhu Yinxi's eyes. "It was only after being drenched by the heavy rain that I reached enlightenment."
"Ah?" Li Nanzhu's eyes widened. "I thought you were..."
"Thought I was what? Splitting a sea of clouds with a single sword strike?" Zhu Yinxi cracked a rare joke. "Cultivation is rarely that elegant. As for you..." He paused. "You've accumulated enough experience during this trial. All you lack is quiet contemplation and settling your mind."
Suisui suddenly lunged into Li Nanzhu's arms, the little skeleton's soul fire warm and bright with a sense of comfort.
"I know." Li Nanzhu gently stroked Suisui's skull. "It really is time to focus on cultivation."
She thought back on her experiences over the past few months—the mother nest in Blackwater Marsh, the cooperation with the Hehuan Sect, and those inexplicable mysteries.
Each dangerous situation had tempered her spiritual energy at the threshold of life and death.
She was no worse than Cang Dongqing.
"Let's go," Zhu Yinxi said, standing up. "I'll walk you back to your courtyard."
On the way back, Li Nanzhu noticed a subtle change in her second senior brother's footwork.
Every step seemed to land on a certain rhythm, faintly resonating with heaven and earth. This was a sign of beginning to touch the laws of the world—one of the characteristics of the Nascent Soul stage.
It seemed her second senior brother wasn't far from breaking through to Nascent Soul. Li Nanzhu's lips curled into a slight smile. The plot really was slowly being changed. In the original story, Zhu Yinxi never broke through to the Nascent Soul stage before his death. Everything was developing in a positive direction.
Turning past the mountain path, Li Nanzhu's courtyard came into view.
On the stone table in front of the gate, a pot of steaming spiritual tea had appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by several plates of pastries.
"Master has been here." Jiang Yifan glanced at the water marks on the teacup. "He used to love sending us things like this."
Suisui jumped onto the stone table and lightly touched the teapot with its bone claws before immediately pulling back—the tea was still hot.
Li Nanzhu suddenly felt her eyes grow warm.
No matter how much wind and rain there was outside, there would always be hot tea waiting for her back at the sect. This kind of peace was something no paradise or secret realm could ever provide.
In the distance, the lights of the Sovereign Peak main hall remained bright. A sapphire-blue figure could be faintly seen standing at the summit, seemingly gazing in their direction.
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