As the Spiritual Energy in the surroundings began to gradually settle and retract, Meng Li opened her eyes. She instantly felt as if something had emerged within her body. In just a few hours, the overbearing efficacy of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill had already become remarkably evident.
“I feel incredibly strong right now!”
Feeling the surging power within her body, Meng Li jumped straight down from the bed and slowly threw a punch forward. Her usually feeble fist actually managed to produce wind from the strike.
Faced with such a clear physical transformation, Meng Li was overwhelmed with delight. In the game, after using a Marrow-Cleansing Pill, it mostly just showed an overall stat increase. She never imagined experiencing it personally would be this amazing.
“From now on, I will never again live under anyone else’s thumb! I will walk a path of supreme solitary dominion!”
At this moment, Meng Li was utterly intoxicated with success. With the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, she absolutely would face no bottlenecks in her cultivation in the early stages. And this was just from absorbing a single pill.
Meng Li could clearly sense that her internal state had progressed several realms from the Qi Condensation: 1st Layer she had tested at when entering the sect. With a light leap, she could jump two or three meters. Just then, that familiar panel appeared before Meng Li once more.
【Meng Li】
【Qi Condensation: 7th Layer】
Speed: 16
Strength: 16
Intelligence: 23
Spiritual Power: 40
Special Physique: Spirit Phoenix Physique
Facing the panel that had suddenly appeared, although Meng Li found it magical, she didn’t seem surprised. The various stats before her looked exactly like the game’s. And looking at the last line, she had even rolled a physique.
“What kind of game start is this! I’m soaring straight to the top!”
Although Meng Li didn’t understand what this physique actually did, as long as she had a physique, it couldn’t be that bad. Even those physiques with negative side effects, once you found a way to resolve the side effects, in the game, they made you a regional overlord.
“Honestly, what are you shouting about in here all by yourself…”
Just as Meng Li was still reveling in her joy, Situ Xue pushed open the door and slowly walked in. Her expression was still as calm and unruffled as ever, as if this were no major matter.
“If you’ve finished absorbing it, go clean yourself up…”
Though Situ Xue didn’t show much, she still maintained a considerable distance. Meng Li first looked puzzled, then looked down at her dust-covered self.
“Ah! Why am I so filthy?!”
“The Marrow-Cleansing Pill cleanses the meridians; naturally, the impurities in your body are also flushed out…”
“I see. I completely forgot about that. But Senior Sister, why are you standing so far away?”
Meng Li looked at herself, then raised her head to look at Situ Xue, who stood at the doorway with no intention of entering. Facing Meng Li’s question, Situ Xue didn’t answer; she merely slowly turned around.
“Hey, Senior Sister, you still haven’t told me where your Cave Abode is!!!”
After Situ Xue left, Meng Li glanced around, then looked at her own filthy state. In the end, she let out a sigh, deciding to find a place to wash up first.
Just moments after Meng Li left the room, a short while later, a silhouette suddenly appeared in the originally empty room. In the murky, dim room, a pair of sky-blue eyes slowly opened, scrutinizing the surroundings.
“Little Junior Sister really just looks like an ordinary disciple. Or is it that even I can’t see through her~”
The figure who had suddenly appeared in the room was none other than Ye Qinglian, the Eldest Senior Sister. Ever since this Little Junior Sister had joined the sect, her Shizun, who normally couldn’t be bothered to take a single step outside her cave abode, had started acting strangely.
Ye Qinglian felt that something was amiss with all these changes. Yet no matter how she used her eyes, she couldn’t detect anything whatsoever wrong with that Little Junior Sister. Having cultivated her Eye Technique her whole life, she now couldn’t even see through a Little Junior Sister at the Qi Refining Stage.
“Is it that I’m overly suspicious, or does this Little Junior Sister hide her depths too well~”
Ye Qinglian slowly closed her eyes, then once again put on her usual, unassuming smile. Looking in the direction Meng Li had vanished, she lightly tapped the tip of her foot, and a White Lotus bloomed beneath her tread.
“Then let me observe a little longer, Little Junior Sister~”
After some time, at the summit of Jade Candle Peak, Meng Li was comfortably soaking in a hot spring. The warm spring water gently flowed along her shoulders. Such a comfortable sensation made Meng Li unable to suppress a soft moan.
“As expected, I remembered correctly. There’s a hot spring at the mountaintop of Jade Candle Peak. I didn’t think it actually existed. So comfortable~”
Meng Li had climbed the mountain path for ages to finally find this pond, which was just a background asset in the game. However, she never imagined that when she came here just wanting a simple wash, it would turn out to be a hot spring.
Faced with such a wonderful place, how could Meng Li possibly pass up the chance to enjoy it? She directly relaxed and leisurely soaked in the hot spring. After all, the events of the past few days had been far too intense; she hadn’t had much opportunity to properly unwind.
“Now I’m already at Qi Condensation: 7th Layer. With this Marrow-Cleansing Pill down, among my peers, there shouldn’t be anyone stronger than me~”
Thinking of this, Meng Li’s mood improved even further. After all, in this world where might makes right, she had already won at the starting line right from the beginning. While thinking, Meng Li casually threw out another punch again.
Just a casual strike, yet it generated wind. Moreover, her strength stats and such had also undergone an obvious change. Meng Li clearly remembered that at the very start of the game, all of the protagonist’s stats were in the single digits.
“By the time I reach the age when the game’s story officially begins, who knows how many levels I’ll have broken through~”
Lying in the hot spring, Meng Li felt her entire mood lift. Having tasted the benefits of getting items for free, her mind couldn’t help but calculate: would that Eldest Senior Sister of hers give her any good stuff?
“If I just act cute and make Eldest Senior Sister happy, maybe she’ll just give me the Spirit Jade Zither straight away. Supreme Grade talent plus a divine artifact at the start? Isn’t that just soaring~”
“So you want my Spirit Jade Zither~ Then just come right out and ask me for it~”
“Asking directly feels a bit awkward, after all… Huh??”
Meng Li, hearing the voice beside her ear, instantly snapped to her senses. She whipped her head around and saw Ye Qinglian now sitting right beside her, also comfortably soaking in the hot spring with a contented look. Between them was only a thin layer of hazy mist acting as a barrier.
“Y-Ye! Senior Sister Ye!!”
“I didn’t expect Little Junior Sister’s coveted item to be my weapon. But Senior Sister here hasn’t found a more suitable one yet, so I can’t give it to you right now~”
Ye Qinglian spoke as she reached out and gently rubbed Meng Li’s head, the very picture of a caring, knowledgeable older sister. But Meng Li was the one panicking right now. When had the other arrived? She hadn’t detected her at all.
What if all of her earlier muttering to herself had been heard by the other? Just thinking of this, Meng Li felt the originally comfortable hot spring was like scalding water, making her unable to settle down.
“Shi… Senior Sister, wh-when did you get here…”
“I was passing by just now and saw you soaking here alone, looking quite comfortable. I just came up, and I hear you wanting my weapon~”
As Ye Qinglian spoke, she leaned back against the stone wall of the hot spring. Her proud figure was thus displayed without any embellishment, with no attempt to cover it. Only the hazy mist just happened to separate their lines of sight.
“S-s-so that means… I… um…”
Meng Li had wanted to keep asking, but through the hazy mist, the sight of Senior Sister casually fixing her hair froze Meng Li on the spot. Her brain instantly short-circuited; even her eyes couldn’t help but widen.
After Ye Qinglian had tied her hair into a ponytail behind her, she looked at Meng Li, who had frozen completely still, and leaned her entire body over, pulling Meng Li into her embrace. Feeling the soft, pressing sensation behind her, Meng Li nearly fainted from blood loss.
“Little Junior Sister, you haven’t gotten lightheaded from the heat, have you? Your face is so red, even Senior Sister can see it clearly~”
“Senior Sister… you’re the one who seduced me first!!”
Faced with Ye Qinglian’s such intimate gesture, Meng Li spun right around, grabbed Ye Qinglian’s wrist, and used so much strength that even Ye Qinglian was taken aback for a moment. Faced with Meng Li’s sudden attack, a look of fluster appeared on Ye Qinglian’s face.
“L-Little Junior Sister! D-don’t! Senior Sister was wrong, okay~”
“Begging for forgiveness now is too late! Knowing full well you’re that beautiful and still coming to bathe together with me—you’re clearly trying to seduce me, aren’t you! Let me have a taste of you!”
“Eek~!”
However, as vivid as her inner fantasies were, Meng Li was in just as much agony. Facing Ye Qinglian’s extremely intimate actions, Meng Li completely had the desire but not the courage, afraid that one careless move would get her devoured clean without residue.
“Little Junior Sister, why is your body trembling so much? Could it be you’re nervous around Senior Sister~”
“N-no…”
Meng Li swallowed her saliva. Feeling such smooth, supple skin pressed right against her, and still being unable to do anything, was worse than sitting in jail. Meng Li was almost at her limit.
“I’ve become stronger. If I act just a little bit willful, Senior Sister Ye probably wouldn’t have any way to deal with me, right…”
After all, in the game, Ye Qinglian was configured as a support-type character. Meng Li’s understanding of her was limited to combat described only in text. Thus, inwardly, she couldn’t help but wonder: Could it be that the other was just a pure support?
As she thought this, Meng Li slowly turned her head to glance at Ye Qinglian behind her. Meng Li reached out, wanting to lightly touch her. But then, that panel appeared before her eyes once more.
【Ye Qinglian】
【Half-Step Nascent Soul】
Speed: 3999
Strength: 3999
Spiritual Power: 4999
“Little Junior Sister, your body seems to be trembling even more violently now~”
………
…
