Time slowly ticked by as Zhong Ming circulated his Cultivation Technique, refining the elixir’s medicinal power.

The system’s prompts also rang out in his ear, one after another.

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +1]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +1]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +32]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +37]

[Through Reading, you have gained a new understanding of the Longxi Breathing Technique. Cultivation Technique progress +42. Reading progress +7]

While cultivating, Zhong Ming would also intermittently activate his Mind Reading, treating his own meridians as a book to be read in detail and comprehended with a Calm Heart.

Activating Mind Reading almost always yielded results, causing his progress in the Longxi Breathing Technique to experience periodic leaps and bounds.

"Exhale... Inhale..."

As Zhong Ming quietly breathed in harmony with the Breath of Heaven and Earth, he continued to refine Spiritual Qi.

Meanwhile, as he trained arduously, Yi Yunya was staring at Xie Yushuang with great interest.

Under her gaze, Xie Yushuang’s body stiffened.

Just when she didn’t know what to say, Yi Yunya suddenly spoke with a charming smile, "Little sister, you’ve only just arrived and you’ve already helped Senior Brother investigate the Four Qi and Five Flavors, and even helped him understand another use for his Dao Rhyme. You’ve really done a good deed."

"?!"

Yi Yunya’s words made Xie Yushuang’s lovely brows furrow even tighter. She wasn’t sure if Yi Yunya was being sarcastic or genuinely praising her.

And just as she was pondering this, Yi Yunya continued, "Don’t overthink it, little sister. You’ve truly performed a great service this time. I’ll be sure to ask Senior Brother to reward you for it later."

Before her voice had even faded, Yi Yunya’s tone suddenly shifted. "Speaking of which, the Xie Family must have given you some instructions before you came, right? For example, to compete with me, or perhaps to gather information about Senior Brother."

Xie Yushuang’s hands clenched at her words, but she quickly said in a quiet voice, "I don’t know what you’re talking about. The family gave me no such instructions."

"Family, instructions... You really do value them, don’t you." Yi Yunya chuckled, and without waiting for Xie Yushuang to answer, she went on, "If I were you, I would temporarily cast the family aside and make Senior Brother my priority."

"Never mind the old saying about following whoever you marry—if you follow Senior Brother, your future will be far grander."

Glancing at the cultivating Zhong Ming, Yi Yunya lightly waved her fan and said, "Even now, Senior Brother can use his Dao Rhyme to transfer the Erysipelas out of a Cultivator’s body. And since that Dao Rhyme works on him, it can naturally be used on us as well."

Pointing to herself, the smile on Yi Yunya’s face grew wider.

"And Senior Brother is a generous person. If I ask, he certainly wouldn’t mind cleansing my body for me."

"If you devote yourself wholeheartedly to Senior Brother, you’ll benefit too."

"?!"

Yi Yunya’s tempting words deeply affected Xie Yushuang.

As a disciple of Cuixiang Mountain, she knew very well what a huge boon it would be for her Cultivation to be able to flush the Erysipelas from her body.

’If I could take Elixir Pills without limit, I’d be a prodigy too!’

At this moment, Xie Yushuang finally understood why families gave such preferential treatment to supreme talents.

The benefits of befriending them were simply too numerous.

And the benefits weren’t limited to having the prodigy grow strong enough to protect the family.

There was expanding territory—power has always been linked to authority. When a prodigy grows into a powerful expert, they inevitably take up a high position.

At that time, they would certainly need some confidants to handle trivial matters for them. Then, the families on good terms with them could take the opportunity to expand their own sphere of influence.

There was optimizing Cultivation Techniques—Cultivation Techniques are never set in stone, nor are they perfect from the start. A peerless expert, with just a little effort, could optimize their family’s Cultivation Technique, raising its upper limit and making it easier to cultivate.

For now, Zhong Ming couldn’t do those things, but his Dao Rhyme’s ability to transfer Erysipelas was still an exceptionally good skill.

And thanks to her proximity, she was about to be the first to benefit.

However, just as Xie Yushuang’s heart was surging with emotion at Yi Yunya’s words, indulging in daydreams, the latter suddenly spoke again. "Little sister, it seems you’re tempted. If I were you, I wouldn’t see me as your main enemy. The ones you need to watch out for are your own family."

She raised a finger, wagging it gently as she said calmly, "This isn’t me trying to sow discord. You’re probably not the most outstanding daughter of the main lineage, are you? Back when Senior Xie Yongjie came over, he could never have imagined that Senior Brother’s Talent would be this strong."

"Therefore, he couldn’t possibly have brought the most talented daughter of the Xie Family with him. But when word of Senior Brother’s Talent gets back, everything... will be different."

"If a child of the Xie Family with better Talent takes an interest, then the one receiving Senior Brother’s Dao Rhyme cleansing... won’t be you..."

Hearing this, Xie Yushuang’s expression turned cold. Then, without any more hesitation, she came to Yi Yunya’s side and respectfully called out, "Greetings, older sister."

After her greeting, she asked with sincere earnestness, "Please teach me, older sister. What should I do?"

Her respectful attitude made Yi Yunya nod in satisfaction.

"It is not I who will teach you. Here, everything revolves around Senior Brother. His will is everything."

"If you prioritize Senior Brother’s interests in all things, he won’t abandon you..."

...

While Yi Yunya and Xie Yushuang were talking, Zhong Ming’s cultivation session came to a temporary halt.

And after he finished, his first sensation was... that his vital energy and blood were depleted.

’Integrating the Dao Rhyme into my heart, making every powerful beat trigger a ripple of vital energy, certainly speeds up my refinement of Spiritual Qi. But it also consumes a great deal of vital energy.’

’Fortunately, vital energy is easy to replenish.’

Thinking of this, Zhong Ming immediately called out to Yi Yunya.

"Yun Ya, are there any Spiritual Meals that replenish vital energy? Please prepare some for me."

"Hm?"

Though confused as to why Zhong Ming wanted a Spiritual Meal, she quickly nodded and said, "Yes, I’ll have Orchid bring some to you right away."

"I’ll have to trouble you then."

While Yi Yunya was preparing the Spiritual Meal, Zhong Ming closed his eyes again and, with a DING, activated [Bright Mirror Stilled Water - Ripples].

This time, Zhong Ming wasn’t focused on cultivating. He wanted to locate the Erysipelas within his body and see if he could flush it out using the Flow of Water.

"WENG..."

As the Power of the Mind rippled through his body, Zhong Ming conducted a detailed search... and found nothing.

...

’So many Cultivators fear Erysipelas. It was never going to be that easy to remove.’

’Still, some of the Erysipelas in my body was definitely cleared out. This proves Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water works. The fact that it isn’t working now most likely means my realm isn’t high enough.’

Zhong Ming hadn’t forgotten that during the previous self-cleansing, he had been in a state of Enlightenment Void Spirit and Unity of Heaven and Man. This was not a regular occurrence, and it was a state far beyond what he could currently reach.

"Sigh..."

Zhong Ming sighed at his inability to immediately flush out the Erysipelas in his body.

Seeing his expression, Yi Yunya asked with concern, "Senior Brother, is your cultivation not going smoothly?"

"Yes. I’ve gathered that the Erysipelas transfer is related to Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water. Unfortunately, my current realm is insufficient, so I can’t immediately cleanse my body."

Hearing that Zhong Ming couldn’t transfer the Erysipelas, Yi Yunya... didn’t feel overly disappointed.

She always kept one thing in mind: Zhong Ming had only been on the path of Cultivation for half a month!

For someone like him to have already comprehended two types of Dao Rhyme was a sign of transcendent Talent.

And she believed that Zhong Ming, who had comprehended these things in just half a month, would surely be able to raise his Flow of Water Dao Rhyme to perfection, so long as he didn’t become Fallen.

Thus, upon hearing that Zhong Ming’s cultivation had hit a setback, she wasn’t anxious at all. Instead, she comforted him.

"Senior Brother, don’t be too anxious. Your rate of progress is already fast enough. You can take your time cultivating the rest."

"..." Zhong Ming replied, "You’re right. Matters of Dao Rhyme can’t be rushed. For now, I’ll just focus on accumulating Magical Power."

As the two were talking, Orchid had already brought over the items for replenishing vital energy.

Besides the Spiritual Meal, she also brought a jug of wine named Red Flame.

It was a strong liquor brewed from nine types of Supreme Yang Spiritual Objects, such as ginseng, Antler, Danggui, and Polygonum multiflorum... plus the heart’s blood of a Spirit Beast.

Zhong Ming took just one sip and felt as if he had swallowed molten lava.

"HISS... That’s got a kick!"

"BOOM!"

As the potent liquor entered his stomach, surging yang qi immediately radiated from his abdomen, making him unbearably hot.

However, this kind of supreme yang substance had an excellent effect on replenishing vital energy.

The vital energy Zhong Ming had expended from his heart’s powerful beats was quickly replenished by the yang qi radiating from the Red Flame.

Seeing this, he once again took an Elixir Pill and closed his eyes to cultivate.

"THUMP!" "THUMP!" "THUMP!"

Amidst the drum-like beating of his heart, his vital energy spread like ripples, infusing the Spiritual Qi within his body wave after wave.

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +1]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +2]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +24]

[You have circulated the Longxi Breathing Technique once. Cultivation Technique progress +35]

[You have activated Mind Reading...]

After comprehending the Water Dao Rhyme and determining that his greatest weakness was his Magical Power, Zhong Ming no longer casually practiced his Stepping Technique, Swordsmanship, or Water Technique for the next two or three days.

He focused all his energy on refining his Magical Power.

At the same time, knowing that he would be able to expel the Erysipelas from his body in the near future with Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water, Zhong Ming no longer had as many scruples about taking Elixir Pills.

’Cultivators don’t fear Erysipelas because its effects are violent or swift. The most troublesome part is that it accumulates slowly and is difficult to remove. Over time, this buildup makes a Cultivator’s Magical Power impure and their foundation unstable, creating major obstacles when trying to break through to the next realm.’

’That’s why Cultivators are so extremely cautious about taking pills.’

’But I don’t have to worry about any of that!’

Even for a Cultivator who takes pills every day, it would take three to five years before Erysipelas becomes a problem.

And in that much time, forget the Flow of Water Dao Rhyme—Zhong Ming was confident he could even complete his Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme.

At that point, transferring the Erysipelas out of his body would be a piece of cake.

Without worrying about future consequences, the amount of Elixir Pills Zhong Ming took during this period was three to five times that of a regular Cultivator.

Taking a large amount of pills, combined with the fact that the Flow of Water Dao Rhyme could accelerate the Refinement of Spiritual Qi, made Zhong Ming’s cultivation base shoot up rapidly.

’I won’t even need to wait until the end of the month. In another three to five days, I should be able to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation.’

Bolstered by his various abilities, Zhong Ming’s cultivation speed was just that fast.

Besides the explosive growth in his Magical Power, Zhong Ming had another huge gain during this period.

—After obtaining the Clear Sound Spring Stone, Zhong Ming could activate the Mind Reading trait twelve times a day.

When he focused all twelve daily uses of Mind Reading on the Longxi Breathing Technique, the result was that even though the Basic Technique was difficult to practice, Zhong Ming still managed to cultivate it to perfection in just two or three days.

[Longxi Breathing Technique: Second Realm - Insight (8100/8100), Traits: ① Flow of Water... Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme (Incomplete) (9.6%)]

’I can break through at any time now.’

’But there’s no rush. At noon, the Clear Sound Spring Stone will emit a clear chime.’

’When that clear chime sounds and my Divine Soul is cleansed by its special power, I’ll definitely gain more insights if I break through at that moment.’

Thinking of this, a look of anticipation appeared on Zhong Ming’s face.

’Come to think of it, as a Basic Technique, the Third Realm of the Longxi Breathing Technique is equivalent to the Fourth Realm of Longxi Swordsmanship, the Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique, and the Wave-Surging Dragon Stream Step.’

’In other words, at noon, I’ll touch upon the concept of ’Living.’ I wonder what the difference is between ’Living’ and ’Flowing’.’

Sitting cross-legged on a bluestone in the stream, Zhong Ming waited with anticipation.

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, something happened that made him raise his eyebrows.

He hadn’t even made it to noon when a group of people came looking for him.

What surprised Zhong Ming even more was that these people were not the familiar disciples of Longxi Peak, but rather:

’Molten Fire Peak, Cuixiang Mountain... What are they doing here?’