Li Ronger quickly rushed back to her cave dwelling, planning to refine the Soul Nurturing Pill first.
Unexpectedly, she encountered Tang San outside her cave dwelling, dressed in a blue robe and holding a soft white rabbit in his arms.
Seeing Li Ronger return, Tang San greeted her with a smile, his palm stroking the back of the Soft Rabbit.
"Sister Ronger, where have you been?"
Li Ronger simply shook her head.
"When I went out a few days ago, I did not have enough spirit stones on me, so Senior Brother Zhou paid for me. I just went to pay him back."
Upon hearing this, Tang San also nodded silently.
"Yes. Junior Brother Zhou’s character is indeed quite good."
Li Ronger was stunned and asked in confusion,
"You... did you not use to call him Senior Brother Zhou?"
She remembered that when they first entered the sect, Senior Brother Tang’s cultivation was not high.
At that time, his cultivation method had hit a bottleneck, and it was only through Zhou Chen’s guidance that he progressed.
Since then, whenever Zhou Chen was mentioned, he would call him Senior Brother Zhou quite affectionately.
Tang San replied as if it were only natural,
"When I first entered the sect, I only had a cultivation of the second layer of Qi Refining, so naturally, I had to call him Senior Brother Zhou. But now, I am at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, while Senior Brother Zhou is stuck at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. In the cultivation world, status is not determined by age, but by cultivation level."
Once he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he would have to call Zhou Chen his martial nephew.
Li Ronger did not dwell too much on the form of address.
"Alright then."
Although it was said that in the cultivation world, status was not determined by age, if the other party was much older while in the same realm, most would still respectfully call them an elder brother.
Perhaps sensing her low spirits, Tang San added,
"Senior Brother Zhou is indeed a good person. He did not just guide me in my cultivation method. Back then, when I was short on funds, he even gave me two spirit stones so I could buy medicinal pills to improve my cultivation."
Unfortunately, he was still far too stingy.
Zhou Chen had been guarding the medicine garden in the outer sect for decades after all.
He must have a net worth of at least several hundred spirit stones, yet he only deigned to dismiss him with a few.
After hearing his words, Li Ronger’s nose wrinkled slightly.
She looked at Tang San, whose eyes were entirely fixed on the Soft Rabbit.
A strange anger welled up in her heart, and she asked tentatively,
"Then, Senior Brother Zhou is dying. If he has any last wishes, would you be willing to help him?"
Tang San patted his chest and promised,
"Of course. I naturally would not mind helping Junior Brother Zhou."
Zhou Chen was about to die. Perhaps before he passed, remembering their past friendship, he might even leave his entire inheritance to him.
A strange look flashed in Li Ronger’s eyes as she recalled his previous words.
Since Senior Brother Tang did not mind, should she go and help Senior Brother Zhou?
Moreover, as Senior Brother Tang’s cultivation improved, his attitude toward her had gradually turned cold. Instead, he insisted on raising a Snow Rabbit as a spirit pet.
Not only did he spend all day intimately with it, but he also constantly borrowed spirit stones from her for his cultivation.
He borrowed spirit stones to cultivate and borrowed spirit stones to raise his Soft Rabbit. He practically treated her like an ATM.
Tang San needed to cultivate, but did that mean she did not need to?
Besides, she did not have many spirit stones either.
Furthermore, the sight of Zhou Chen’s aged back truly made her feel a bit of heartache.
With these thoughts in mind, she instinctively rejected Tang San.
"Senior Brother Tang, let us forget about tonight."
Circulating her cultivation method required a mind free of distractions, but with Zhou Chen’s image in her thoughts, she simply could not calm down.
Tang San expressed deep regret and stroked the rabbit’s ears.
"Alright then. I will not disturb you, Junior Sister."
The two of them had a pure dual cultivation relationship based on their techniques.
There was no contact between their physical bodies, so even if she wanted to do something, she could not just act rashly.
After Li Ronger entered her cave dwelling, she looked at the Soul Nurturing Pill in her hand, pursed her lips tightly, and remained silent for a long time.
Her thoughts were not at peace, as if a voice were urging her.
"A hundred years of life is but a dream. What does this physical shell even matter?"
Once Li Ronger made her decision, she no longer hesitated and instead rushed toward the medicine garden.
With her cultivation at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, sword kinesis over short distances was no problem.
If she were outside the sect, she would not dare use sword kinesis so lightly.
Otherwise, the consumption of mana would be too great, and if she encountered a strong enemy, she would easily run out of spiritual energy.
When Zhou Chen opened his door and saw Li Ronger standing outside, shock flashed in his eyes.
Li Ronger did not notice anything unusual.
She grasped his hands with hers and spoke with a sincere gaze.
"Senior Brother, let me accompany you on the final stage of your journey."
A short while later.
Li Ronger supported Zhou Chen as they walked out of the house step by step.
Recalling what had just happened, the look of pity in her eyes grew even stronger.
"Senior Brother Zhou, you should take good care of your body."
Zhou Chen could tell that she truly cared about him.
But in this situation, saying such words felt a bit like rubbing salt in the wound.
"Junior Sister Ronger, thank you."
Li Ronger smiled tenderly, the curve of her lips radiating a faint sense of joy.
"Senior Brother Zhou, I will come to see you again in two days."
Zhou Chen smiled and nodded in agreement.
But that smile, no matter how one looked at it, was extremely bitter.
Li Ronger tidied his clothes for him and left the courtyard gate with a light smile.
Zhou Chen could not help but rub his lower back.
"Sigh. I am getting old."
Mainly, the timing of Li Ronger’s arrival was just too coincidental.
Tonight, he had just finished exchanging sentiments with Nan Qiao.
Then Bai Xue ran out of medicinal pills and came to ask him for resources.
As usual, Zhou Chen was quickly defeated.
As a result, he had just sent Bai Xue away when Li Ronger rushed over, giving him no time to recover at all.
But he could not just let a bird in the hand fly away.
So Zhou Chen forced himself to endure and insisted on sparring with her.
Fortunately, compared to Bai Xue, Li Ronger was much gentler.
And even though she held the absolute advantage, she did not despise the exhausted Zhou Chen.
Therefore, Zhou Chen’s attitude toward the two was also different.
Bai Xue was originally there for resources.
So whether it was day or night, Zhou Chen’s attitude toward her was not particularly gentle.
With this kind of woman, even if you treat her like an ancestor and give her all your sincerity, she would not have the slightest bit of genuine affection for you.
But as long as you could provide the resources she wanted, then naturally, everything was easy to discuss.
But Li Ronger was different. She had come out of kindness, supplemented by various considerations.
Ultimately, she chose to accompany Zhou Chen without any intention of gaining benefits.
"System, max out the experience for a second rank alchemist."
[The host has consumed 40 favorability and has been promoted to Second Rank Alchemist.]
[The host has consumed 60 favorability and has been promoted to Second Rank Perfection Alchemist.]
[The host’s current usable favorability: 81 points]
He originally had 81 favorability, and Li Ronger had provided another fifty.
As a friendly exchange partner with a comprehensive index reaching eighty five points, Li Ronger’s favorability could be used at double value.
This meant that fifty points of favorability provided over a hundred usable points.
Three Soul Nurturing Pills had yielded over a hundred points of favorability.
This was probably the easiest time Zhou Chen had ever had earning favorability.