"Do as I taught you before: watch the house. If any Spirit Fish break through, kill them and put them in the Storage Bag. Remember, don't go to the front yard. If anyone comes, just hide in the old spot."

The old spot was, of course, the bathroom. Hiding in there, no normal person would pay attention.

Besides, normally, no one would dare barge into Ji Yuan's Qi Cultivation-Stage courtyard.

After giving Tu Yue her instructions, Ji Yuan saw her blankly head for the backyard.

Only then did he raise his hand and throw out several Talismans, sticking them to the doorway.

Though the Cave Mansion already had soundproofing, to avoid any chance of being disturbed by outside noises, Ji Yuan put up plenty of added protections.

Things like Spirit-Isolation Talismans to block off Spiritual Qi, or Protective Talismans for the house—these were all middle-grade Talismans, nothing valuable, but highly practical.

Heaven and earth may be vast—nothing is more important than a breakthrough!

After sorting all this out, Ji Yuan focused his will and took out nearly five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, piling them around himself. Then he began circulating the Jade Sea Tide Generation Skill. Threads of Spiritual Qi seeped from the spirit stones and entered his body.

Breaking through the Qi Cultivation Stage, as long as you have enough Spiritual Qi reserves, is basically a matter of course.

So all that was left was to wait.

Having been through several breakthroughs before, Ji Yuan reckoned these five hundred Spirit Stones, even if not quite enough, wouldn't be far off.

Going from Qi Cultivation eighth layer to ninth layer was a small breakthrough within the late Qi Cultivation Stage itself. Using Low-grade Spirit Stones for it was still fine.

But once you try to go from late Qi Cultivation to the Peak of Qi Refining, or from that peak to Foundation Establishment, you'll definitely need Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

...

The largest mountain range in Cangluo Continent was Shang Mountain, right in the continent's center, running north to south, splitting the whole continent in two.

To the east and west of Shang Mountain, two great rivers had developed. The western one called Cangluo River, the eastern one Starfall River.

The Water Dragon Sect, one of Shang Dong's Six Great Immortal Sects, was based on the south shore of Starfall River, occupying the Boundless Marsh with its many islands.

Most Water Dragon Sect disciples in the Qi Cultivation Stage lived and worked on an island called "Chulong Island." A few with talent for Arrays, Talismans, Alchemy, or Artifact Refining instead lived on "Sifang Island."

Some who had taken Foundation Establishment cultivators as masters, lived with them on the outer islands.

In short, there were all kinds of situations.

At this moment, in the Water Dragon Sect, within Sifang Island—

Lu Wan was, as usual, holding a Talismanic Scripture in her left hand, her right hand tracing forms in the air.

Ever since joining the Water Dragon Sect, she'd had no worries at all. Her whole demeanor had grown a bit lazy. Once someone relaxes, even their appearance seems to become younger and more beautiful.

"Junior Sister Lu, someone outside is asking for you."

Mei Chen, also a disciple of Wu Wenbin but who'd joined the Water Dragon Sect earlier, called out at the door.

"Coming."

Lu Wan put down the scripture, rubbed her brow, and by the time she reached the door, Mei Chen suddenly said quietly, "It's those two from the Qin Family."

Lu Wan paused in her steps. "Got it."

Once she came out from the grand Talisman Hall, she saw Qin Long and Old Third He waiting at the door, both a bit uneasy.

The two of them had complicated feelings seeing Lu Wan come out.

Back when Lu Wan was at their Qin Family, they used to boss her around. But now that they'd come to the Water Dragon Sect, they couldn't even see her without going through notification first.

If she were an ordinary Sifang Island disciple, that wouldn't be the case. But Lu Wan's talent… It was said she'd barely arrived before multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators tried to recruit her.

But which Foundation Establishment cultivator she'd taken as her teacher, they had no clue.

"Greetings, Daoist Lu."

Though a hundred times reluctant, Qin Long had no choice but to bow in greeting.

As for Old Third He, he'd already bowed as soon as Lu Wan came out.

"What brings you here, Mr. Qin, Mr. He?" Lu Wan asked with her usual smile.

"No, no, Daoist Lu, you joke,"

Qin Long hurriedly waved it off.

Lu Wan's smile stayed sincere. "I'm not joking. Back when the Wu Family forced me into such straits, only the Qin Family was willing to shelter me. I've never forgotten that favor."

Qin Long's heart settled at her words, and outwardly he gave a sigh of relief as well.

"I always thought the Water Dragon Sect would be a safe haven, but it turns out, it's better to have old countrymen here."

"Indeed, Mr. Qin, you still haven't said what you need from me."

"If you think I, Lu Wan, can help, just say the word."

Qin Long glanced at Old Third He. Only then did he lower his voice and say, "All the new Water Dragon Sect disciples in our batch have been sent to Liancheng Mountain, to fight the Joy Palace... I'm sure you already know, Daoist Lu."

"I know."

Lu Wan had originally been meant to go too, but given her Talisman Dao talent, she was kept on Sifang Island, spared from the disaster.

"We came back this time with the flying boat that was transporting Immortal Talents, but we have to leave again soon... our squad leader this time is Zhou Wuyan, Daoist Zhou—I heard he's from the Talisman Hall on Sifang Island, so we wanted to ask if Daoist Lu could put in a good word for us, so we could get assigned safer duties."

As he finished, he and Old Third He bowed deeply to Lu Wan.

"We beg you, Daoist Lu."

"Oh, so that's what it is."

Lu Wan's smile remained as relaxed as ever, as if this were nothing but a small favor to her.

"Well then—"

"Don't worry. Senior Brother Zhou and I know each other. This sort of thing shouldn't be a problem at all. I'll write a letter for you to take to him right away."

The whole thing went so smoothly, even Qin Long could hardly believe it.

Before they could say much else, Lu Wan had already gone to write the letter.

Once back in the scroll hall, Mei Chen came up to ask what was going on. After Lu Wan explained everything, Mei Chen said in disbelief,

"Junior Sister Lu, everyone knew what the Qin Family really planned with you back then. Are you really going to help them now?"

"Sure, why not?"

Lu Wan kept smiling.

So Mei Chen just watched as Lu Wan finished the letter—which contained nothing problematic at all.

The letter simply said that Qin Long and Old Third He were her fellow townsmen, that they had a good relationship, and asked Senior Brother Zhou Wuyan to look out for them and give them some consideration.

Once the letter was done, Lu Wan stepped out on purpose to let Qin Long and Old Third He read the contents, then folded it up right in front of them and handed it over for them to deliver themselves.

The two of them thanked her profusely, bowing deeply again and again—almost prostrating themselves.

After all, over at Liancheng Mountain… to put it bluntly, their lives weren't in their own hands, or in Joy Palace's hands, but in the hands of their squad leader.

If he assigned them an easy, safe duty, their lives would be fine.

If the assignments were hard… well, then it'd be up to their own abilities.

So what Qin Long and Old Third He were begging for wasn't really Lu Wan's help, but their own lives!

Once they left, Lu Wan returned to the Talisman Hall and went back to reading scripture. Still, after all that, her mind wasn't really on it anymore.

Did Lu Wan understand Zhou Wuyan?

Of course. He was her direct senior brother; they had the same master.

But this Senior Brother Zhou… his temperament wasn't the best, he was a bit stubborn and set in his ways, and he deeply resented how Lu Wan had outshone him for their master's attention as soon as she arrived.

Given that, now Lu Wan had written him asking to look after her old acquaintances.

With Zhou Wuyan's personality, how would he "look after" them?

Most likely by "really looking after them"—as in, sending them to the most dangerous spots.

As for why Lu Wan did this: first, as Mei Chen had just pointed out, was the Qin Family really sheltering her?

No, the Qin Family made a deal with the Wu Family. After Lu Wan had served the Qin Family for three years, she'd conveniently "die." Lu Wan had naturally figured all this out.

The Qin Family's real goal was to get rid of her—after squeezing all the value out first, then getting rid of her.

It's said that a gentleman judges deeds, not hearts. But Lu Wan never claimed to be a gentleman. She was one of those petty-minded people who can't let things go, a typical "small-minded" woman.

The other reason had to do with Ji Yuan.

Back when Lu Song was alive, he'd actually told Lu Wan something… He said the death of Ji Yuan's father, Ji Qingyun, was the work of Liu Laizi and Old Man Huang together.

Liu Laizi was a Qin Family man, so as far as Lu Wan saw it, Ji Yuan's parents had been killed by the Qin Family.

Given that, she naturally had to get revenge for Ji Yuan.

And for her now, getting revenge wasn't even hard—all it took was writing a letter.

Easy as can be.

But just thinking of Ji Yuan again, Lu Wan couldn't focus on her studies. Back when she joined the Water Dragon Sect, she'd worried about why Ji Yuan didn't come.

But after learning those who joined were being sent straight to the front at Liancheng Mountain, she was relieved that Ji Yuan hadn't come along.

"A year… no, there's only a little more than half a year left now."

Lu Wan murmured in her heart, knowing Ji Yuan would definitely join the Water Dragon Sect in half a year. So, she had to prepare him a gift.

The deaths of Qin Long and Old Third He would do nicely.

As for what she really felt about Ji Yuan, or what her exact feelings were… Lu Wan herself didn't know. She only remembered one thing.

Back when everyone in Zengtou City shunned her as a viper, as a bringer of doom, only Ji Yuan had given her life-saving Blood Essence.

To the Lu Wan of that time, what Ji Yuan gave her wasn't just Blood Essence, but… hope to go on living.

...

"Ninth level of Qi Cultivation, turns out it's not all that hard."

On the third day after his breakthrough, Ji Yuan shook off the dust from the Spirit Stones and strolled out of his room feeling quite at ease, seeing Tu Yue obediently waiting at the door.

"Clean up inside. Dump the Spirit Stone dust into the fish pond, all right?"

"Oh, and let me see the Storage Bag. Is it full yet?"

Tu Yue obediently took the Storage Bag off her waist and handed it over with both hands.

What was inside wasn't just the first-stage mid-grade Spirit Fish caught recently, but also the Blood Essence and Spirit Pig from the pigsty she gathered daily, the Spiritual Soil and Spirit Eggs from the chicken cage, and Water Dew and Spirit Fish from the fish pond.

When Ji Yuan opened it, all five Storage Bags were almost full.

Most of the space was taken up by Spirit Pigs and Spirit Fish, but Ji Yuan estimated, if he converted the whole lot to Spirit Stones, he'd have a good five or six hundred.

The most valuable, naturally, were the Water Dew and Blood Essence.

And this was just a bit more than half a month's harvest… He couldn't possibly spend it all!

——

(Another ten-thousand word day, begging for double votes!)

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