“Song Qingzhi, thank you for the ‘strategy guide’ you gave me!”
She immediately pulled out a small notebook and carefully recorded every plant characteristic mentioned in the book that related to formations and ley lines.
“Seduction Plan V3.0: Openly build the plank road (growing flowers and plants), secretly cross at Chencang (search for the formation’s core)!”
After finalizing her plan and finishing her bath, Su Tiantian sat on the bed.
She looked at the cushion by the bed the one that looked stiff and uncomfortable and took a deep breath.
No, the progress was still far too slow! She had to take the initiative!
So when Song Qingzhi finished handling sect affairs and returned to Tranquil Heart Courtyard, what he saw was Su Tiantian wearing a thin sleeping robe, sitting on the edge of the bed with her knees drawn up.
Under the dim lamplight, her small face looked especially pale and fragile.
“Brother Qingzhi…”
She lifted her watery eyes, her voice trembling faintly with unease.
“We… we’re already married, right?”
Song Qingzhi’s steps paused slightly as he looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Then… then why…”
She bit her lip, as if mustering all her courage.
“Then why are you still sleeping on a meditation cushion? Between Dao companions, shouldn’t we… sleep in the same bed?”
Her voice grew softer the more she spoke, two faint blushes blooming on her cheeks at just the right moment.
Her long lashes trembled as she lowered her gaze, not daring to look at him.
“I… I know my foundation is ruined, and I’m not worthy of you, Brother Qingzhi, but since we’re already husband and wife… if you want to… want to do anything, that’s all… all allowed…”
After saying all this, Su Tiantian felt she had exhausted all the acting skills of her lifetime.
In her heart, she prayed frantically: Hurry, say yes! Hurry, get into bed!
That way I can move on to the next step of my close-contact seduction plan!
Song Qingzhi looked at her quietly. The dim lamplight cast shifting shadows in his deep eyes, making his emotions impossible to read.
After a brief silence, he spoke, his voice still cool and calm.
“Your injuries have not yet healed. You need rest.”
“I will meditate here so I can look after you.”
With that, he walked straight to the cushion, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and spiritual energy began to circulate slowly around him.
Su Tiantian: “……”
She stared at the man who instantly entered cultivation mode, a lump stuck in her chest neither rising nor falling.
(System: Target has rejected host’s request to ‘share the bed.’ Reasoning aligns with ‘responsibility’ and ‘guilt.’ Recommendation: Host should… conserve strength.)
Su Tiantian deflated and collapsed onto the bed, pulling the blanket over her head.
Blockhead! Iceberg! Cultivation maniac!
She’d hinted so clearly!
“Anything you want to do is fine,” she said!
And he could still calmly go meditate!
This road of seduction was truly long and arduous…
On the cushion, Song Qingzhi slowly opened his eyes.
He glanced at the figure on the bed, wrapped into a tight bundle and clearly sulking.
A trace of helplessness so faint even he didn’t notice it himself flashed through his eyes.
Then he closed them again, though the spiritual energy flowing around him faltered almost imperceptibly for a moment.
Su Tiantian’s “Flower-Growing Grand Plan” did not go smoothly.
Using “researching spiritual plant habits” as an excuse, she claimed a small plot of land in the Tranquil Heart Courtyard garden.
She planted several spiritual plants selected from the Illustrated Guide to the Care of Hundred Spiritual Flowers ones that might be related to ley lines or formations.
However, within just three to five days, those delicate plants drooped lifelessly, clearly on the brink of death.
“System, this isn’t scientific!”
Squatting by the flowerbed, Su Tiantian stared at a few yellowing stalks of “Star-Pattern Grass” in despair.
“I followed the book exactly watering with morning dew, keeping the soil rich in spiritual energy… how are they still dying?”
(System: Detecting loss of vitality in spiritual plants. Cause analysis: Host possesses ‘Chaotic Spiritual Root’ constitution. The unconsciously leaking spiritual energy conflicts with the pure wood-element energy required by the plants.)
Su Tiantian froze. So the original body had some kind of Chaotic Spiritual Root?
And it didn’t sound like a good thing?
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”
(System: Host did not inquire. Additionally, this information does not conflict with the ‘foundation destroyed’ persona.)
Su Tiantian: “……”
Fine. You win.
Just as her “secret maneuver” plan was about to die because she couldn’t even grow flowers, Su Tiantian was so anxious she was practically getting mouth sores.
More importantly, pressure from the Demon Lord was mounting.
His shadow had appeared again last night. Though he said nothing, that icy gaze told her clearly her time was running out.
She had to find a breakthrough soon!
Just as she was sighing at the flowerbed, she accidentally overheard two maids whispering as they swept nearby.
“I heard the spiritual spring in the back mountain has miraculous effects on nourishing meridians. Too bad that area is where His Reverence cultivates ordinary people aren’t allowed near.”
“Exactly. If one could receive guidance through the spring’s spiritual energy from His Reverence, even the gravest injuries might improve…”
A spiritual spring? Spiritual energy guidance?
Su Tiantian’s eyes instantly lit up!
Wasn’t this a ready-made, perfectly reasonable excuse for “physical contact”?!
It could solve her plant-killing energy conflict and legitimately bring her closer to Song Qingzhi!
Perfect!
Night finally fell.
Following the maids’ vague directions, Su Tiantian groped her way to the back mountain.
Passing through a veil of mist, a dense surge of spiritual energy rushed toward her.
Her view suddenly opened up a hot spring pool built of white jade, steaming gently.
The water glowed a faint milky white, the spiritual energy almost solid.
And by the pool, Song Qingzhi sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
He wore only a thin white inner robe. His black hair fell loose, his collar slightly open, revealing elegant collarbones and a small expanse of firm chest.
Moisture from the steam dampened his hair and clothes.
That usually cool, ascetic aura was tinged with something indescribably… alluring.
Su Tiantian’s heart skipped a beat.
Her inner voice screamed: Don’t look!
But… what a body!
She steadied herself and forced her mind back to the plan.
Then she took a deep breath and deliberately made her footsteps heavier, creating a bit of noise.
Song Qingzhi opened his eyes sharply, his gaze slicing over like lightning.
Seeing it was her, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before they returned to calm.
“What is it?”
His voice was lighter even than the steam of the spring.
Su Tiantian instantly slipped into character, nervously twisting her hands together.
She lowered her head, her voice soft and tearful, pitifully weak.
“Brother Qingzhi… am I… am I very useless?”
Song Qingzhi frowned slightly.
Su Tiantian continued her performance, lifting tear-filled eyes (this time, genuinely grieving for the dead plants).
“I read that some spiritual plants are beneficial for healing, so I tried to grow a few… but they’re all dying… it must be my damaged foundation even such a small thing, I can’t do properly…”
As she spoke, she coughed twice at just the right moment, her thin body trembling slightly in the night breeze.
“I heard… heard that the spiritual spring might nourish the meridians… so I came here rashly… Brother Qingzhi, did I disturb you? I—I’ll leave right away…”
She turned as if to go, swaying unsteadily with each step her acting flawless.
“Come here.”