Waking up once more in the disciples’ quarters, Xiao Shuying still felt a momentary daze upon seeing that familiar ceiling for who knows how many times.
He felt as though he had drifted through a hazy, slumberous ordeal, leaving his head dizzy and heavy.
Struggling to sit up, he discovered that the wounds on his body had healed, but a dull ache still lingered faintly within his meridians.
It seemed that the recent tournament had overdrawn his physical limits to such an extent that his already shattered meridians had suffered an even worse compounding blow.
Leaning back against the couch, Xiao Shuying recalled past events, remembering the flash of white robes he had seen right before losing consciousness.
Su Yunyu always managed to arrive at the most opportune moment…
Could it be that he was deliberately trying to win favor with him?
As he was in the midst of these speculations, the door creaked open. Turning his gaze toward it, Xiao Shuying watched as the slanted daylight filtered through, casting a radiant glow that revealed a figure clad in pure, ethereal white.
Seeing that it was Su Yunyu, an unnatural look flashed across his face.
After all, fainting too many times in front of his enemy, especially having to put up a weak and helpless posture every single time was something he was thoroughly sick of himself.
Just as he lowered his gaze to feign a semi-conscious state so he could muddle through and brush the matter off, Su Yunyu had already walked up to the bedside.
He was holding a bowl of herbal decoction, seemingly freshly brewed, which was emitting rolling, billowing wisps of steam.
The rising heat vaporized against his fair skin, making his exquisite features look all the more like a moon reflected in water or a flower mirrored in a glass.
Xiao Shuying merely lifted his gaze to take a glance, and upon smelling the faint bitterness lingering in the air, he furrowed his brows slightly, putting on a well-behaved and obedient front:
“Did this disciple cause Master trouble?”
Though his tone was timid and weak, his lowered face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
In fact, there was even a trace of amusement derived from the thought of causing Su Yunyu trouble.
Su Yunyu sat down on the edge of the bed, blowing gently on the spoonful of medicine in his hand as he said calmly:
“Being overly forceful leads to snapping; you must not push yourself so recklessly next time.”
“Yes,” Xiao Shuying acknowledged on the surface, though inwardly he felt a sense of discomfort. In this world, the law of the jungle had always reigned supreme; if he didn’t risk his life, where else would he carve out a place for himself?
Su Yunyu sighed once more, stirring the medicine in the bowl with the spoon as he said with genuine earnestness:
“You still have me; you aren’t walking this path alone. If anything were to happen to you, how would I manage on my own?”
This remark wasn’t entirely an act. When Su Yunyu had rushed over to check on the unconscious Xiao Shuying back then, he had discovered that the boy’s meridians were increasingly shattered and his Dantian had also sustained damage.
Sometimes, a person doesn’t live solely for themselves, but for others as well. Xiao Shuying, being all alone right now, couldn’t possibly comprehend that, when,
Wait a minute, with him around, what harems could the Dragon-Heaven protagonist possibly hope to have?
Moreover, the original novel featured a grand male protagonist with very little ink spent on romantic interests.
Thus, Su Yunyu bypassed that line of thought. Noticing that Xiao Shuying was stammering and about to speak, he hurriedly scooped up a spoonful of the medicine. Being overly eager to feed it to him, he appeared somewhat flustered and hurried.
When the medicine spoon touched his lips, Xiao Shuying instinctively opened his mouth to drink. However, the moment the hot decoction entered his mouth, a scalding, burning pain instantly flooded his entire mouth and teeth.
“Hiss” Xiao Shuying couldn’t care about anything else and instinctively loosened his jaw, causing the boiling hot medicine to spill down onto his neck, bringing a stinging pain to his skin as well.
Witnessing this unexpected turn of events, Su Yunyu was caught completely off guard. He blinked, stared at the steaming bowl of medicine in his hand, and froze on the spot.
The system in his sea of consciousness asked him: [Did you do that on purpose?]
“Don’t throw dirty water on me; am I that kind of person?” Su Yunyu curled the corner of his lips, ignoring the system, and simply took the shortcut of channeling spiritual energy into Xiao Shuying once again.
His spiritual energy practically nourished the Dragon-Heaven protagonist on a daily basis anyway. Since his cultivation was bound to drop in the future, he might as well make the most of it while he was still at his peak.
The injuries that Xiao Shuying had been quietly wincing over a moment ago were smoothed away one by one by the spiritual energy coursing into his body.
This spiritual energy shared the same origin as Su Yunyu’s ice spiritual roots. As it wandered through his meridians and visceral organs, it brought an intense chill—one second it was scalding hot, and the next it was freezing cold. It was truly an experience of ice and fire.
“……Many thanks, Master.” Xiao Shuying didn’t want to thank him in the slightest.
He strongly suspected that Su Yunyu had done it on purpose. Figuring that he was probably upset in his heart over his victory, he had deliberately fed him scalding-hot medicine.
Su Yunyu was too thick-skinned to notice any subtle emotional turbulence from the Dragon-Heaven protagonist. He simply used his spiritual energy to cool down the medicine.
If he hadn’t carried over the steaming bowl of medicine, how could he demonstrate that it had just been freshly brewed? It was just that getting caught up in talking had made him forget to blow on it to cool it down.
Therefore, feeling a tiny twinge of guilt, Su Yunyu said to Xiao Shuying:
“It’s not hot anymore. What happened just now wasn’t intentional on Master’s part.”
With that, Su Yunyu scooped up another spoonful of medicine. Even though it was no longer steaming, he still habitually blew on it before bringing it back to Xiao Shuying’s lips:
“Drink it; it will benefit your Dantian.”
Xiao Shuying glanced sideways at the medicine. It was no longer steaming, and the touch of the spoon against his lips felt cool, proving it truly wasn’t hot anymore.
Yet, since it wasn’t hot, why did Su Yunyu still bother blowing on it? Was he deliberately trying to vex him?
Though feeling baffled, he didn’t dare to voice any doubts. Xiao Shuying had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow the medicine in one gulp. This time it wasn’t burning, but the moment it hit his tongue, an overwhelmingly intense bitterness swept over him like a tidal wave. Not content with merely occupying his lips and tongue, it aggressively plunged straight toward his throat.
Xiao Shuying instantly scrunched up his brow in bitterness, his gaze turning vacant as if he were questioning the meaning of existence.
Now he didn’t just suspect that Su Yunyu had deliberately burned him; he was even more convinced that Su Yunyu was intentionally torturing him with Coptis chinensis-level bitterness.
Given that the cultivation world had long since invented medicinal pills, why on earth did he still have to brew a liquid decoction to feed him?
It was clearly done out of a desire to torture him, truly a vicious and malicious heart.
This time, Xiao Shuying had guessed right: Su Yunyu was doing it on purpose, but not to embitter him, rather.
Watching Xiao Shuying’s face twist into a crumpled ball, Su Yunyu felt inwardly delighted that his objective had been achieved. He swiftly produced a piece of candied fruit and popped it directly into the boy’s mouth.
Though secretly amused, he still had to maintain his persona on the outside:
“The medicine is bitter; I brought you some candied fruit. Bear with it for a moment.”
By adopting this strategy of bitterness first and sweetness later, he would definitely leave an unforgettable impression on the Dragon-Heaven protagonist.
He figured the boy would probably think of today every time he encountered medicine from now on. Hahaha, I really am a genius.
Xiao Shuying hadn’t yet recovered from the lingering bitterness when a piece of candied fruit was abruptly crammed into his mouth.
Su Yunyu’s movements had been so swift they could only be described as flowing like clouds and water. Caught off guard, he instinctively began chewing the candied fruit.
His palate, which had just been rendered nearly numb by the bitterness, was now assaulted by an extreme, cloying sweetness. Bitterness and sweetness intertwined, causing Xiao Shuying’s hand to grip the blanket with crushing force.
Splendid. Su Yunyu was indeed seizing the opportunity to exact revenge. While he spoke of having his back, his presence actually guaranteed things would only get worse.
Yet Su Yunyu, entirely convinced that his execution had been nothing short of flawless, blinked and asked Xiao Shuying with feigned calm:
“How is it? I specially asked around to buy this candied fruit.”
If Su Yunyu had bothered to taste a single piece himself beforehand, he would have known just how absurdly sweet the candied fruit was.
Having finally managed to calm down his thoroughly scrambled sense of taste, Xiao Shuying looked at Su Yunyu with a complex expression and offered hollow flattery:
“It’s very sweet. Many thanks, Master.”
Heh, god knows where he bought this cloyingly sweet abomination. Asking around was worse than not asking at all.
However, the resentment dwelling in his heart froze the moment it brushed against Su Yunyu’s clear, limpid gaze.
He even fancied that he caught a faint glimmer of anticipation within those eyes.
Perhaps… swallowing the lingering sweetness in his throat, Xiao Shuying thought that perhaps Su Yunyu had genuinely put some sincere effort into the candied fruit after all.
Su Yunyu assumed he genuinely thought the candied fruit was good. His brows and eyes unfurled, and the aloofness that usually defined his face melted into a soft gentleness, resembling the faint radiance of the full moon.
The longer Xiao Shuying looked, the more unnatural he felt. He hurriedly asked for the bowl of medicine, scooped it up with the spoon himself, and drank it down mouthful by mouthful. Then, recalling something else, he asked:
“Master, did this disciple truly win the tournament?”
The surge of power within his body had arrived as abruptly as before, leaving him completely baffled. He wondered if Yan Angao harbored any suspicions.
Hearing this, Su Yunyu stood up and lightly flicked his sleeve:
“Naturally you won, though your Senior Brother Yan is somewhat indignant.”
Indignant was putting it mildly; if Su Yunyu hadn’t rushed over in time, Yan Angao likely would have filed a formal complaint against Xiao Shuying, questioning whether he had resorted to some shady, underhanded tricks.
Seeing Xiao Shuying’s lowered gaze, Su Yunyu mistook it for lingering anxiety and offered comforting words:
“Rest assured, no one will question you. You won fair and square.”
While sipping the extremely bitter medicine, Xiao Shuying almost choked on his own breath at those words. Just as he was about to express his thanks, Su Yunyu pushed open the door and strode away.
Left alone in the room, Xiao Shuying lay back down on the couch, holding the bowl of medicine that was still half full, lost in deep thought.
For some strange reason, he suddenly felt that the medicine didn’t taste quite as bitter anymore.
The top three hundred participants of the martial arts tournament would secure qualifications to enter the mystic realm.
Having recovered from his injuries, Xiao Shuying caught up just in time for the day the mystic realm opened.
This mystic realm fell under the jurisdiction of the Tianxuan Sect and was opened using the Sun-Moon Mountain and River Mirror held by the Sect Master. When the mirror’s light displayed both its front and back faces, positioning it under the most intense sunlight would unlock the entrance to the realm.
Wenren Li stood upon the high platform, instructing the three hundred disciples on essential matters:
“This mystic realm will remain open for seven days. Every disciple will be given a life token; in the event of danger, the token can block a single fatal blow, and crushing it will immediately teleport you outside.”
Because most of the disciples were new initiates and happened to run into this rarely opened mystic realm, Wenren Li elaborated a bit further.
Xiao Shuying had no heart to listen; he raised his eyes to look at the sky.
There wasn’t much time left before the mystic realm opened.
Strange, what on earth had Su Yunyu been up to these past few days? He hadn’t even caught a glimpse of his shadow.
Even on such a momentous day, the Sect Master was managing everything entirely on his own.
Never mind, why bother caring about him? Whether he’s plotting dark conspiracies or wandering off to the ends of the earth, it has nothing to do with me.
His sole concern was finding that ninth-grade pill cauldron; repairing his meridians was an urgent priority.
At that moment, a piercing glare struck him from the side. Following the gaze, Xiao Shuying spotted Xiao Qingran glaring at him with bitter frustration, presumably furious that his lackey had lost by a narrow margin and allowed him to taste glory.
Xiao Qingran offered a sarcastic smirk and ignored him. As the sundial edged closer to its zenith, he lowered his gaze, only for someone to tap him heavily on the shoulder.
Instinctively tightening his grip on Wuling, Xiao Shuying whipped around defensively, only to see that the newcomer was dressed in a sky-water blue robe, fastened with a greenish-jade belt. However, the upper half of their face was largely concealed by a silver sparrow-patterned mask.
Though his facial features were obscured, the slender waist cinched by the jade belt and the autumn-water, startled-swan eyes instantly allowed Xiao Shuying to recognize his identity.
Before the surge of astonishment could settle in his heart, the person curved their eyes into a shallow, gentle arc. Though his tone remained calm, it carried an unhurried ease:
“Your Master has changed his identity to come and assist you.”