The young girl in front of him seemed a bit shy. Her white dress was plain and elegant, not as white as her skin. The collar and hem exposed a slender and delicate collarbone, bathed in sunlight. Her long, black hair was like ink, meticulously styled. Jiang Huai noticed her small, jade-colored earring, which was inscribed with an extremely intricate miniature formation, appearing to be a remarkable spirit artifact. After all, she was the only daughter of Mu Lingwan and could be considered a super rich young lady.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Huai asked softly. He had a special mode for strangers, his expression undoubtedly gentle, humble, and polite, showing none of his usual scoundrelly behavior after intimacy. The girl in front of him fidgeted with her hands, looking up at him with a soft, gentle voice, “Uh… I wanted to ask… for the tenth game… how did you think of making the third-to-last move?”
“Ah? I just played it randomly.” It wasn’t that Jiang Huai didn’t want to explain, but he simply couldn’t. He didn’t understand such profound techniques. Winning was purely due to his full computational power. He vaguely felt that with full computational power, he might even have a chance against a Chess Saint, or at worst, achieve a draw. However, saying this would seem a bit dismissive and disrespectful. Jiang Huai thought for a moment and explained, “I tend to rely on intuition when playing chess. I don’t think too deeply about things, so if you ask me why I made that move, I can’t really say. I just felt it should go there.”
“Is that so…” The girl nodded slightly, as if she had nothing more to say. Jiang Huai turned to leave, but then heard her quietly mutter, “Your name is Jiang Huai, right?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Mu Yao.”
“Mm, okay, I understand.” Jiang Huai nodded gently. Mu Yao slowly walked towards him, coming to his side, her slender waist held straight, but her voice was timid, “Are you still planning to wander around here?”
“Ah, just taking a stroll.”
“Then let’s go together.” Mu Yao’s voice was very light.
Wait. Jiang Huai thought she was going to say “Then will you go with me?”, which would have given him a chance to refuse directly and firmly. But the way she said it sounded like an order, as if she were bestowing a great favor upon him. Jiang Huai glanced at her, but her gaze immediately darted away. Yet, with just a single sentence, he couldn’t find a reason to escape for a moment. He could only pretend to agree with a “Mm” and walk forward with her. There were many trials in Qingmu Immortal Palace. After only a few steps, Jiang Huai saw a trial related to soul cultivation. The name of this trial was “Gazing at the Four Fierce Beasts.” Once the trial began, illusions of the Four Fierce Beasts would appear. If one could meet their gaze for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the trial would be passed. Mu Yao seemed very interested and stopped. She said softly, “I want to challenge this trial, wait for me.”
What was with that commanding tone? Were they that close? Out of politeness, Jiang Huai decided to stay, remaining by her side. He watched as she began the trial, gazing at the illusions of the Four Fierce Beasts above. It seemed the soul-shaking effect of the Four Fierce Beasts only affected the trial-taker. Jiang Huai saw Mu Yao’s face grow paler and paler, until finally, unable to bear it, she vomited a mouthful of blood. Mu Yao did not panic. She took out a handkerchief, gently wiped her lips, folded the handkerchief neatly, and withdrew from the trial. Jiang Huai had been counting for her internally; she was just a little short of successfully completing the challenge. Mu Yao sat on a bluestone nearby and looked at him, softly asking, “Are you going to try?”
Jiang Huai walked into the trial area and looked up. The illusions of the Four Fierce Beasts activated for him. In terms of soul cultivation, he had practiced the Qing Xuan Zi Zai Guan. The principle of Mirror Flower he had comprehended was essentially a soul sword. So, he simply stood there silently, looking up, his body not trembling in the slightest. The eyes of the Four Fierce Beasts exuded immense pressure, but ultimately, they were just fabricated illusions. Apart from a slight dizziness, he didn’t feel much discomfort. Mu Yao sat quietly to the side, her eyes fixed on Jiang Huai’s profile, her jet-black pupils serious and deep. However, when Jiang Huai lowered his head and looked back at her, her eyes again shifted away slightly. The reward for Gazing at the Four Fierce Beasts was a jade talisman. When burned, it would conjure illusions of the Four Fierce Beasts, capable of shaking the opponent’s soul to a certain extent. Jiang Huai put it away and walked back to Mu Yao’s side. However, Mu Yao did not stand up but extended her hand towards him. Jiang Huai was taken aback. What for? Were they that close? But his hand instinctively reached out, gently grasping the girl’s slender jade hand and pulling her up. Her skin was smooth and tender, her palm soft and boneless, only slightly cool to the touch. After pulling her up, Jiang Huai immediately let go. Mu Yao walked back to his side again, maintaining the same not-too-close, not-too-far distance. Jiang Huai smelled the faint, pleasant fragrance emanating from her.
“Is your body alright?” Jiang Huai casually took out a Healing Pill. Mu Yao didn’t politely refuse, but accepted it very naturally, and replied softly, “I’m fine.” A moment later, she looked at Jiang Huai with surprise and said softly, “It’s so sweet.”
“I added a little sugar powder when I was refining the pills,” Jiang Huai shrugged innocently. He was the only one who spent time pondering these trivial matters while refining pills every day. Mu Yao asked curiously, “Can all medicinal pills be refined this way?”
“Theoretically, yes.” Mu Yao seemed to recall something. She took out a large pile of bottles and jars and looked at Jiang Huai, “Then can you help me refine all these medicines so they taste like that one?” Jiang Huai glanced at her sideways. Had he given her too much freedom?
“I’ll give you a lot of Spirit Stones.” Mu Yao’s tone was serious, and this time, a hint of pleading seemed to emerge. Jiang Huai thought about it. Since he had nothing to do, he took the medicine bottles. However, as soon as he opened one and smelled the rich medicinal fragrance, he suddenly realized that these were pills refined from extremely precious Spirit Medicines, mostly nourishing elixirs. The ones she handed him alone were worth at least two million Spirit Stones. But because the medicinal materials were so expensive, Jiang Huai was a bit hesitant to mess with them. While the sugar powder he added generally didn’t affect the medicinal properties, these were already refined pills. If he wanted to decipher the refiner Rushing the paths of the original alchemist, it would be too troublesome. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly took out a few small, orange sugar pills. “How about this? If you find the medicine bitter, before taking it each time, eat one of these small sugar pills first. After eating this sugar pill, for the next hour it takes an incense stick to burn, everything you eat will taste like sweet orange.”
“Eh?” This was something Jiang Huai used to coax Luo Qingyu to take her medicine. At that time, he hadn’t found a complete solution for the Ice Soul Profound Body, so she could only take medicine for conditioning. But most good medicine was extremely bitter, and to coax Luo Qingyu, Jiang Huai had tried many methods. Mu Yao took the small sugar pills he offered and ate one. Then she began opening her bottles and jars, skillfully taking them one by one. Her jet-black eyes gradually brightened, and she softly murmured, “It really is.” Jiang Huai gave her a total of three pills. She accepted the remaining two as if they were precious treasures. Then, she took out a bank note for one million Spirit Stones from her Storage Ring and placed it in front of Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai was startled to his core. Although he had made a fortune recently and generously bought the Cold Soul Snow Spirit for Luo Yueguan, he still understood the concept of a million Spirit Stones. Yet, the girl in front of him offered a million Spirit Stones with one hand. If he accepted it, what if Mu Lingwan accused him of deceiving her young daughter later? Besides, the sugar pills were not valuable items.
“No need, they’re not worth much.” Mu Yao hesitated, then put the million Spirit Stone bank note back. She didn’t insist further, merely saying softly, “Thank you.”
“It’s a small matter. The medicines you were taking were all for conditioning your body, weren’t they?”
“Yes, I’ve been weak since birth, so I have to take a lot of medicine.” Jiang Huai was suddenly puzzled. Logically, since Mu Lingwan and the Chess Saint were both Eighth Realm cultivators, their child shouldn’t have a weak constitution. This made him a little curious. “I know a little about medicine, would you like me to take a look?”
“Okay.” Mu Yao nodded gently. The two sat on a bluestone by a stream. Jiang Huai reached out his hand towards her. Mu Yao was initially a bit confused, but after a moment, she understood. She then obediently offered her wrist to him. Jiang Huai placed his fingers on her wrist and sent a faint wisp of Spiritual Qi into her body. After the Spiritual Qi circulated through her body, he discovered the problem. There was Evil Qi rampant within her acupoints. Evil Qi was generally a means of attack for Evil Cultivators. Jiang Huai tentatively asked, “Have you been like this since birth?”
“When Mother was pregnant, she fought with an Evil Cultivator, so I was like this after birth. There was rampant Evil Qi in my acupoints. Mother sought Granny Jiuy for me, and Granny Jiuy wrote these prescriptions to condition my body.”
“Did she only give you these prescriptions? She didn’t treat your acupoints?” Jiang Huai asked, puzzled. Mu Yao also blinked slightly and shook her head. “Granny Jiuy said that the poison in the acupoints was not something she could cure.”
“Hiss…” Jiang Huai’s interest was immediately piqued. He looked at Mu Yao beside him. “Do you mind if I try to treat you?”
“How?”
“With a small needle.”
“I’m afraid of pain.”
“It won’t hurt, it’s just like a ant bite.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I won’t.”
“Then okay.” So, Jiang Huai took out the spirit needles he carried with him and the set of medicinal liquid used to open acupoints. Thinking of this, he suddenly felt confused. Why didn’t Granny Jiuy consider opening her acupoints to release the poison? Logically, Granny Jiuy had been immersed in medicine for so many years, and the method of opening acupoints… shouldn’t be difficult to come up with? At this moment, Mu Yao’s arm was held up in front of him. Jiang Huai gently smeared the medicinal liquid on her wrist. The moment before the silver needle pierced, Mu Yao closed her eyes and curled her body, leaning towards him. The warm and soft jade in his arms made Jiang Huai tremble all over. He had a phobia of unfamiliar women. Just as he was about to move away, Mu Yao leaned towards him again. Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes trembling, and her voice betrayed a hint of panic, “I’m scared…”
“Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon.” Jiang Huai inserted the silver needle and said softly in a coaxing tone, as if to a child. Then, he infused a faint wisp of his Soul power into the silver needle, opening a tiny gap in her acupoint to release the Evil Spirit within. A wisp of gray Qi flowed out through the silver needle, and her acupoint was also opened in the process. “It’ll be over soon, don’t be afraid,” Jiang Huai said softly, earnestly entangled with the Evil Spirit. He didn’t realize that Mu Yao had quietly opened her eyes, her jet-black pupils gazing at his focused profile, slowly becoming entranced. Her earlobes turned a lovely pink.
