Chapter 16 It hurts a lot, as long as I can cultivate and live longer...

This was Mingjian's first time descending the mountain. He had often heard his senior brothers recount their experiences on their first descent, and at most, they had only completed a three-star mission. Even a three-star mission could leave many inner disciples severely wounded, let alone Mingjian, who was currently only an outer disciple at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

He was unwilling to give up the Blood Spirit Grass, and it was only by chance that he entered the Cloud Lai Immortal Abode. If he missed this opportunity, the Cloud Lai Immortal Abode would not open again for another hundred years.

Mingjian has always been obsessed with cultivation, so he is currently in a very contradictory state.

"Xie Hanwei, do you know if there is any Blood Spirit Grass in the Mermaid Ruins?"

After a struggle within himself, Mingjian couldn't help but ask; he still wanted to cultivate. As long as he could cultivate, he could live longer.

"Blood Spirit Grass?" Xiao Bumian asked with a gentle smile, "What is this?"

“Foundation Building is used to reshape one’s spiritual root.” Mingjian blinked.

Xiao Bumian was silent for a while, then said, "Hmm, I've never used it."

He then turned to look at Mingjian, who was resting her chin on her hand on her knee, her handsome brows slightly furrowed. "So you have mixed spiritual roots."

Mingjian: "..."

Is this the first time you've heard this?

Seeing the incredulous expression on Mingjian's face, Xiao Bumian found it quite amusing, clutching his stomach and laughing uncontrollably, a smile spreading across his lips.

Mingjian: "…………"

He looked at Xiao Bumian with a mournful expression.

Xiao Bumian will never have a Daoist partner in his lifetime!

He's such a big idiot! What kind of kind person would act like this when they like someone?!

He was simply...insulting him!

The system promptly reminded: [Host, Xiao Bumian is not a good person; he is a yandere villain.]

Ming paused slightly, then he really thanked the system for reminding him. If it weren't for the reminder, he would have forgotten that Xiao Bumian wasn't a normal person to begin with.

System: [You're welcome.]

Mingjian smiled wryly. Did this system not know how to read people's expressions? Did he look like he was praising it?

Xiao Bumian paused for a moment, then glanced at her indifferently, "Your spiritual root is indeed not good."

He tilted his head, somewhat puzzled, "Is Blood Spirit Grass something every Foundation Establishment cultivator needs?"

Mingjian didn't really want to talk to him; he felt like Xiao Bumian was mocking him.

The system continued to pry into Mingjian's heart: [Host, don't be sad. Xiao Bumian didn't do it on purpose. He seems to have gone directly from Qi Refining to Golden Core, without going through Foundation Establishment.]

It was clear that he couldn't hold back any longer.

Xiao Bumian waited for a long time but didn't hear Mingjian reply. He stood up, lowered his eyes, and stared into Mingjian's eyes.

This startled Mingjian.

Xiao Bumian raised her hand and gently rubbed the corner of Mingjian's eye, smiling tenderly, "I thought you were crying."

Mingjian stepped back a little and shook his head, "I just envy you for not needing the Blood Spirit Grass."

Okay, and a little bit jealous.

"What's there to envy?" Xiao Bumian used force until Mingjian's eyes were smeared with a layer of red before he let go and rubbed his fingertips. "It hurts."

“However, if you really want to rebuild your spiritual root, that’s fine too,” Xiao Bumian added.

Several of the fish he brought back from the Nine Void Secret Realm had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Although the little good-for-nothing was useless, it was still his newly raised cat, so its cultivation level should naturally be higher, lest the little good-for-nothing kill itself before those people even had it kill him.

To put it another way, he's essentially raising a cat to kill himself.

Thinking of this, Xiao Bumian felt a strange, inexplicable excitement.

Mingjian still didn't understand what Xiao Bumian meant by "it hurts a lot," but upon hearing the next sentence, his eyes lit up immediately, "Do you have a way?"

"The Blood Spirit Grass you mentioned can only cleanse your marrow once." Xiao Bumian lifted his foot and walked to the other side, reminding Mingjian, "The restriction on the Mermaid Cold Pool has been opened, let's go pick the Ice Lotus first."

Mingjian was furious, but saying the rest wouldn't hurt him.

But he didn't dare to scold Xiao Bumian. Since Xiao Bumian had just said that the Blood Spirit Grass was the first step in marrow cleansing, there must be a second and a third step. What if he gave Xiao Bumian a hard time and Xiao Bumian refused to talk again later?

Mingjian moved closer to Xiao Bumian and pleaded, "Xie Hanwei, please, tell me."

He spoke so close that his warm breath frequently landed on Xiao Bumian's neck, making that spot feel uncontrollably numb and itchy.

Xiao Bumian raised her hand to cover her forehead, turned around, and pressed her other hand against Mingjian's forehead. "It hurts."

Mingjian: "?"

He asked patiently, "Where does it hurt?"

With the light shining through and the distance between them increasing, that strange feeling disappeared, and Xiao Bumian's furrowed brows slowly relaxed again. "Hmm, it seems to be better again."

He was definitely doing it on purpose. Mingjian was so angry that he almost fainted. He thought that Xiao Bumian must be trying to get him to pay more attention to him, which is why he always only said half of what he meant.

Then, when he clearly saw the two characters, he wrote them backwards!

We must not grant Xiao Bumian's wish.

Mingjian suddenly lowered his head and bumped hard into Xiao Bumian's hand, which was pressed against his forehead. He glared at Xiao Bumian angrily, then turned and left.

Perhaps he was too angry, because he stomped his feet very heavily, deliberately crushing the dry branches on the ground, making a crackling sound like a cat with its fur standing on end.

Xiao Bumian's hand, which was covering the side of her neck, twitched slightly, and her well-defined knuckles curled up involuntarily.

He lowered his eyes, feeling a tightness in his chest again.

It seems that he will have to go to Medicine King Valley after leaving the secret realm.

It seems that during his centuries of secluded cultivation, he may have accidentally gone astray. It even appears that his meridians were damaged.

Or... thinking of a certain possibility, the smile on Xiao Bumian's lips suddenly froze, the temperature in his eyes cooled inch by inch, and his expression became gloomy.

When did that good-for-nothing poison him?

Xiao Bumian's mood suddenly turned extremely bad.

-

Mingjian shared his findings with Song Heyu and the others.

The truth is that even though there were four inner disciples in their team, they all found the Mermaid Ruins, which were at a four-star difficulty level, challenging.

The Yin-Yang Secret Realm is fraught with danger, and few dared to gamble with their lives.

Therefore, Song Heyu simply urged the others to just pick the Ice Lotus and not to force the opportunity. If they encountered danger, they should crush the jade talisman to leave the secret realm.

After giving their instructions, the eight of them headed towards the Mermaid's Cold Pool.

Ming Jian hadn't spoken to Xiao Bumian the whole way, and Xiao Bumian was even less so. He always had a smile on his face, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He had a face like a jade-faced bodhisattva, and seemed to be exceptionally tolerant and kind to everyone.

He walked quietly behind the group, his white robes fluttering in the wind.

Seeing this out of the corner of his eye, Ming felt extremely complicated, especially when he thought that this person was a lecherous scoundrel behind the scenes. He wanted to smash the sword in his hand into his face.

"Junior Brother," Song Yao suddenly spoke up from the corner, "Can we go over there to talk?"

He didn't know what had just happened, but he could tell that Mingjian and Xiao Bumian had argued, so he immediately asked Mingjian to go somewhere else to talk.

Mingjian followed his gaze and saw that the place Song Yao pointed to was not far from Song Heyu. After thinking for a moment, he agreed, "Okay."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mingjian felt a thorn in his back. That gaze was as if it were real, pressing heavily on the back of his neck, like a cold snake's tongue slowly slithering.

A note from the author:

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