Chapter 23: The Heaven-Reaching Spirit Vessel

“Senior Brother Lu, you go back first. I’m going to find Senior Brother Li to ask for a few bottles of Soul Nourishing Pills!”

With that, Chen Lan turned and soared away on her sword.

“Junior Sister, you…”

Lu Wei could only watch his Junior Sister’s retreating figure with a helpless expression.

The Soul Nourishing Pills were indeed crucial for them. But they couldn’t keep troubling Senior Brother Li like this.

Outer Sect, Little Bamboo Peak.

“Senior Brother Li!”

Chen Lan descended gracefully, her coquettish voice reaching Li Meng’s ears. Li Meng watched with a smile as his Junior Sister, looking like a celestial maiden, landed softly before him.

“Junior Sister Chen, what brings you back?”

Chen Lan responded with a radiant smile. She skipped over with light steps, arriving at Li Meng’s side. Crouching down, she grasped his arm.

“Senior Brother Li departs for the Scarlet Forbidden Ground tomorrow. This Junior Sister just wanted to spend a little more time with you!”

Li Meng reached out and gently stroked Chen Lan’s fair, smooth cheek.

“Out with it. What do you want this time?”

Their relationship was, at its core, a transaction of mutual benefit. Li Meng naturally wouldn’t invest any misplaced emotions in Chen Lan. Unless her Affection reached 90 points.

“Senior Brother, am I really that kind of woman in your eyes?”

A look of hurt appeared on Chen Lan’s face. Her pitiable expression was truly heart-wrenching.

Li Meng flicked her forehead lightly with his finger. “Just say it. If I have what you want, I’ll give it to you.”

Chen Lan’s expression turned plaintive. “Senior Brother, a powerful soul increases the chances of Foundation Establishment. The Soul Nourishing Pills you gave are very effective… there just aren’t enough of them!”

Li Meng chuckled and waved his hand. Three porcelain bottles flew from his storage pouch and landed on the tea table.

“Take them. Once you’ve finished them, focus properly on your closed-door cultivation for Foundation Establishment!”

Chen Lan was overjoyed. She beamed at Senior Brother Li, throwing him a flirtatious glance.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Li!”

Leaning in, she planted a light kiss on his cheek. With a delicate wave of her slender hand, the pills on the table vanished into her storage pouch.

Li Meng took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Junior Sister Chen’s waist, pulling her graceful figure into an embrace.

Chen Lan’s face flushed slightly pink. She quickly swept the area with her Divine Sense. It would be bad if Senior Brother Lu saw this. It would be even worse if anyone else did.

Her cheeks still tinged with color, her eyes now held a silken allure. “Senior Brother, why don’t we continue our conversation inside the room?”

“Alright.”

Li Meng stood up, cradling Junior Sister Chen in his arms as he made his way toward the door.

“You’re a bit heavy, Junior Sister.”

Chen Lan wrapped her arms around Senior Brother Li’s neck, giving him a charmingly exaggerated eye-roll. “Nonsense! This Junior Sister is not heavy at all.”

“Haha, this Senior Brother prefers them with a bit more weight.”

Chen Lan pressed her lips together in a seductive smile. “Senior Brother… care to make a wager?”

“A wager on what?”

“A proper one-stick-of-incense challenge!”

Li Meng gave an awkward laugh as he pushed the door open. “Then this Senior Brother concedes defeat!”

“Giggle!”

For a moment, the room was filled with Chen Lan’s teasing, melodious laughter.

…

Time flowed onward, the sun gradually sinking in the west. As dusk gave way to night, Little Bamboo Peak welcomed another evening. Bathed in moonlight, the peak was as tranquil as ever.

“Junior Sister, what are your and Senior Brother Lu’s chances of success?”

In the courtyard, the two sat opposite each other at the tea table.

Chen Lan picked up her teacup with a contented sigh and took a delicate sip. Senior Brother Li truly lived up to being an Alchemist; even this tea had mild soul-nourishing properties.

His question prompted a soft sigh from Chen Lan. “The odds of succeeding on a second attempt at Foundation Establishment are inherently low. Sixty percent.”

She looked up at Senior Brother Li’s aged face. “Sixty percent is already quite high. Without the pills Senior Brother Li provided, our chances would only be forty percent.”

Li Meng fell silent. While sixty percent might seem high to others, in Li Meng’s eyes, it was perilously low.

Chen Lan’s eyes curved into crescents like moons. She could see the concern in Senior Brother Li’s gaze. He was worried for her. This realization warmed her heart. It meant their relationship wasn’t purely transactional after all.

“Senior Brother… if you return alive from this journey… this Junior Sister will stay by your side until your final moments.”

Chen Lan looked at Senior Brother Li with unwavering determination. She meant it sincerely. Even if Senior Brother Lu found out and severed their Dao Companion bond, she would accompany Li Meng on his last journey.

Li Meng smiled back at Junior Sister Chen. “Good. Then it’s settled.”

Chen Lan smiled radiantly.

[+10 Affection] [+50 Sub-profession XP]

Junior Sister Chen’s Affection had successfully risen to 85 points.

Time continued its steady march as the night deepened.

The next morning, at the Little Bamboo Peak courtyard.

“Senior Brother, I wish you smooth sailing on your journey!”

With slightly flushed cheeks, Chen Lan threw one last flirtatious glance at Li Meng before her graceful form soared into the air and sped away on her sword.

Watching her elegant silhouette disappear into the sky, Li Meng chuckled softly to himself. He then rose into the air and flew off on his own sword. All his worldly possessions were in the storage pouch at his waist. There was nothing left to prepare for. Today was the day of departure for the Scarlet Forbidden Ground. While it was still early, it was better to arrive ahead of time than to be late.

Sect Main Hall Plaza.

Early in the morning, the plaza before the Sect Main Hall was already bustling with activity.

A massive spirit vessel rested beside the mountain peak. The colossal vessel stretched approximately five hundred meters in length. Its deck was adorned with magnificent pavilions and towers, presenting a spectacular sight.

“The Scarlet Forbidden Ground is an extremely perilous place,” an explanation echoed through the crowd. “It opens once every fifty years. The five great sects of the State of Zhao all send their Qi Condensation disciples inside to gather thousand-year and ten-thousand-year spirit plants that are exceedingly rare elsewhere. While treasures abound… whether one emerges alive depends entirely on individual capability.”

“Senior Wang… is the Scarlet Forbidden Ground truly that dangerous?”

In the plaza, a group of Outer Disciples had gathered around an Inner Sect Foundation Establishment elder who carried an air of immortal grace. The elder’s visage bore signs of advanced age.

“Nonsense question! Of course it’s dangerous!”

Wang Jian glared at the disciple who had asked such an obvious thing.

“The word ‘dangerous’ alone cannot convey the true brutality of the Scarlet Forbidden Ground,” he stated gravely. “It is a place where rivers of blood truly flow. Do you know how many Outer Disciples survived from the last expedition?”

Wang Jian raised two fingers. “Twenty percent. Less than twenty percent!”

The surrounding Outer Disciples paled with fear. A survival rate of less than twenty percent? What difference was there between that and a death sentence?

“Scared? Good! You should be,” Wang Jian continued sternly. “We who walk the mountain path defy Heaven itself; life and death are matters of fate. But if one can live… why seek opportunities that almost certainly lead to death? So… those lacking courage should stay within the sect and cultivate diligently.”