Mentor Yu Xuan shifted gears. “So please, Mother, Great-Aunt, Little Aunt—don’t resist the treatment. Yan Zhen bears the heaviest load. Once the afflictions are gone, cultivate the revised Timely Rain Scripture from the start. Even at Mystic Realms, you won’t face those issues again.”
Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law frowned once more. “Don’t be ridiculous. The Timely Rain Scripture is our Yu family’s core art—saint-grade. The final chapter may be incomplete, but it’s enough to reach Supreme Realm. How can we alter it lightly?”
Mentor Yu Xuan smiled. “Don’t worry, Mother. It’s no whim. The Supreme, Master Chen Xi, and Yan Zhen revised it. After hitting Nine Turns Half-Saint, the Supreme sought to complete the Timely Rain Scripture’s final chapter to become a Mystic Saint. She enlisted Master Chen Xi and Yan Zhen’s aid. The three debated for forty-nine days. The Supreme then secluded herself for two years, successfully entering the saint realm and perfecting every chapter.”
“There’s such a story…”
“This kid helped refine the Timely Rain Scripture?”
“The Supreme becomes a saint? What fortune for the Yu family.”
“How does the revised Timely Rain Scripture differ?”
Mentor Yu Xuan recited the details effortlessly. “It completes the ninth layer and adds a special heart method to the seventh—for absorbing Solar Essence and refining supreme yang. This breaks the yin affliction at its root. Incidentally, Yan Zhen contributed that part. The Supreme and Master Chen Xi only finalized the ninth.”
Yan Zhen again.
Even without marrying in, this boy had done so much for them?
The four beautiful elders’ gazes toward Yan Zhen softened further—even Dean Little Aunt’s.
“Past life or this one, Yan Zhen is the Yu family’s lucky star,” Mentor Yu Xuan murmured. Under the table, she quietly clasped Yan Zhen’s hand, their fingers intertwining. “From here on, the Yu family will only grow stronger.”
Yan Zhen’s ears burned red.
“Mentor, don’t say that. It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s the truth. Having you is wonderful.”
“I should be saying that.”
“Then say it. I’m listening.”
“Mm. Having you is wonderful, Mentor.”
“Yan Zhen…”
They gazed into each other’s eyes, affection brimming over as they sensed each other’s hearts. Unknowingly, their lips drew closer.
“Cough! Cough!”
The four beautiful elders coughed one after another, shattering the young couple’s intimate moment.
Mentor Yu Xuan snapped back to reality. She hurriedly pulled away from Yan Zhen and straightened her posture.
“Love is fine, but mind the setting. Don’t break decorum.”
Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law issued a mild rebuke. The young pair ducked their heads in agreement.
Mentor Yu Xuan changed the subject. “It’s getting late. Time to prepare for Mother’s treatment. Shall we head to White Jade Spring now?”
At that, Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law glanced at her sister, drawing an encouraging nod before speaking. “I’m not going to White Jade Spring. We’ll do it in the bathhouse out back.”
“Eh? But Mother, Yan Zhen needs White Jade Spring’s energy for support. Dual cultivation with a Mystic Ancestor expert would wear him out otherwise.”
Elder Great-Aunt cut in. “No worries, Xuan’er. We brought back plenty of White Jade Spring water—more than enough for Little Yan Zhen.”
“Why bother with the hassle?”
White Jade Spring was the ideal dual cultivation site. It replenished Yan Zhen’s mystic power to prevent exhaustion. More crucially, its milky waters concealed the embarrassing “outflow” during the process.
Had she overestimated her mother’s sense of propriety? The cold-faced Rakshasa known as her mother turned out to be surprisingly innocent in such matters? On second thought, her mother truly knew little of relations between men and women. Living on Rain Heaven Island, she rarely interacted with the opposite sex at all.
Past life and present, it seemed she was only now discovering this particular side of her mother.
“Very well,” she said. “Whatever Mother says, we’ll do. As long as the treatment proceeds smoothly… Let’s go. We’ll set up the formation first.”
The group rose and made their way to the semi-open-air bathhouse behind the courtyard.
The Yu Family loved to soak in baths, with the direct descendants especially fond of it. The Family Head Mother-in-Law usually bathed in her private chambers, but every so often, to lift her spirits, she would come here instead.
This semi-open-air bathhouse was not large, but it was plenty spacious. Three sides were enclosed by bamboo walls, while the front was screened only by bamboo curtains. Inside, beyond the basic bathing facilities, sat an oval tub half a meter high and long enough for two people.
At the moment, milky-white spring water bubbled gently within the tub. It was indeed the White Jade Spring.
A solid wooden partition stood in the middle of the oval tub, dividing it neatly into left and right halves.
The board rose half a meter high, matching the tub’s depth, and at its top was a gap just wide enough for two hands to pass through.
Anyone sitting on one side with their hands extended through the gap would have no clear view of the other.
Mentor Yu Xuan immediately understood the setup. She thought to herself that it had to be Elder Great-Aunt’s idea—her own mother would never think of something so tactfully discreet.
Yan Zhen nodded inwardly as well. With this arrangement, there was no risk of seeing anything improper.
“What do you think, Xuan’er?” Elder Great-Aunt asked.
“So that’s how you got Mother to cooperate so obediently,” Mentor Yu Xuan replied. “Elder Great-Aunt certainly knows what she’s doing.”
“Eh heh heh,” Elder Great-Aunt chuckled. “This is the final plan we hashed out after discussion. It’s not just for Xiao Lu—I’ll be undergoing treatment here too, later on. What about you, Xiao Qing?”
“I’m fine either way,” Dean Xiao Qing said. “Besides, I’m nearly recovered. I don’t need to continue the treatment.”
“Of course you do!” Elder Great-Aunt insisted. “Xuan’er said at least three dual cultivation sessions with Little Yan Zhen.”
“Hmph…”
Mentor Yu Xuan crouched down and retrieved the necessary materials from her storage ring. She began inscribing the auxiliary array formation around the oval bath tub.
A short half hour later, she finished drawing the intricate Large and Small Interlocking Circle Formation. The array left three open slots: the one on the left for the Family Head Mother-in-Law, the center one for Yan Zhen, and the one outside the tub for Mentor Aunt.
Because the three Yu sisters’ mystic power was so similar, neither Elder Great-Aunt nor Little Aunt could participate, lest it disrupt the circulation of mystic power.
“The array formation is ready,” Mentor Yu Xuan announced, “and the time is almost upon us. Let’s prepare to begin.”
“Little Yan Zhen,” Elder Great-Aunt said, “step out for a moment. We’ll call you back in shortly, all right?”
“Got it, Elder Great-Aunt.”
Yan Zhen obediently withdrew from the bathhouse. He steadied his breathing, and before long, he heard Elder Great-Aunt call that it was time.
Yan Zhen reentered and immediately spotted the ornate gown that the Family Head Mother-in-Law had been wearing just moments ago, now hanging on a nearby rack. Evidently, she had already slipped into the tub, her figure concealed behind the wooden partition.
Through the gap at the middle of the board, he could make out her exquisite collarbones and the faint line of her cleavage below. Everything else was hidden—above by the partition, below by the milky-white spring water.
Safety factor: 1000%!
