That usually coquettish little voice had none of its usual pep. Xiao Minghuang felt an inexplicable stab of guilt, as if she really were some heartless scumbag who had let down a devoted girl.
But she knew Ye Ruoshui far too well. This little girl was just throwing a tantrum.
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Minghuang lowered her head slightly and let out a long sigh. The expression on her face shifted in an instant, as if she had suffered some enormous grievance. A faint loneliness seemed to settle over her as she spoke in a sorrowful tone:
“Ruoshui doesn’t like Sister anymore? Then Sister will leave. I won’t appear in front of Ruoshui ever again.”
The instant she heard that, Ye Ruoshui’s little face went pale. The anger she’d been pretending to show vanished without a trace. She hurriedly ran forward, wrapped her arms tightly around Xiao Minghuang’s slender waist, and shouted:
“Don’t go, Sister! Ruoshui never stopped liking you! Ruoshui wants to be with Sister forever!”
Hearing that, Xiao Minghuang’s expression instantly blossomed into a small smile. She patted the top of the little girl’s soft head and said gently:
“That’s more like it. This is Sister’s good Ruoshui. I brought you a present this time. Do you want it?”
“I do!”
Ye Ruoshui was like a child greedy for candy, staring straight into Xiao Minghuang’s eyes.
Looking at that sweet, silly little face, Xiao Minghuang felt a trace of helplessness. It seemed she really was raising this girl into more and more of an airhead. She was already a big girl in her teens, yet still looked so naïve and childish.
Still, a Ye Ruoshui like this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for her. If the little girl were too smart, like a worm living inside her stomach, able to guess seven or eight-tenths of her every thought, there’d be no way to keep coaxing her like this.
Xiao Minghuang took out a storage pouch containing a Yunling Dan and slipped it into Ye Ruoshui’s hand.
When Ye Ruoshui received the pouch, she could still feel the lingering warmth on it.
Maybe it was because Xiao Minghuang had already stuffed many precious things into her hands before, but when she saw this pill, she didn’t show the same astonishment Lin Wanqiu had.
Ye Ruoshui accepted the pouch, then lifted her gaze back to Xiao Minghuang, her eyes bold and burning with warmth.
“Sister, I remember back in the capital, you said that as long as Ruoshui studied hard, you’d agree to one request from Ruoshui. Do you still remember?”
Xiao Minghuang slid an arm around Ye Ruoshui’s slender waist and nodded.
“Of course I remember. Ruoshui’s studies have gone very well. Sister is very satisfied. Whatever you want, just say it. As long as Sister can do it, I’ll definitely grant it.”
At those words, Ye Ruoshui couldn’t help licking her lips. The look she gave Xiao Minghuang turned a little more obsessed.
Seeing that gaze, Xiao Minghuang suddenly realized: how could a girl this adorable and dainty manage to look a bit… lecherous?
Fortunately, the request Ye Ruoshui made wasn’t all that excessive.
She only wanted a kiss every day.
For this request, Xiao Minghuang agreed very generously.
“Between girls, hugging and kissing is perfectly normal anyway.”
Thinking that, she leaned over and lightly pecked Ye Ruoshui’s soft, pink cheek.
The fleeting, moist warmth that brushed her skin made Ye Ruoshui’s pupils light up with pure joy.
Her Highness had kissed her again!
Ever since that time in the carriage, when Xiao Minghuang, overcome by emotion, had kissed the corner of her mouth, that touch had haunted her. Every night at midnight, tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep, she would constantly relive that gentle warmth.
And just now, she had finally realized her wish—Her Highness had kissed her again.
Even if it was only on the cheek this time, not at the corner of her mouth.
“The days ahead are long…”
Thinking that, Ye Ruoshui couldn’t help breaking into a foolish grin.
Watching Ye Ruoshui’s silly, nonstop giggling, Xiao Minghuang’s fine brows creased. Was this little girl’s brain really that broken? It was just a peck on the cheek—why was she this excited?
In her mind, hugs and kisses between girls should be something completely normal, shouldn’t they?
She didn’t bother any further with this adorably stupid Ruoshui. At that moment, the system’s voice suddenly echoed in Xiao Minghuang’s mind.
[Ding!]
[Detected: Host has successfully bestowed a fortuitous opportunity!]
[Congratulations, Host. Thousandfold critical-hit compensation triggered. You have obtained an Earth-grade, mid-tier pill: Five-Turn Peiyuan Dan x1!]
“Just an Earth-grade pill…”
Xiao Minghuang muttered under her breath.
After checking the system’s prompt, she roughly understood this pill’s effects.
Its function was similar to that of a Yunling Dan, likewise combining multiple effects into one: consolidating the foundation, nurturing essence, strengthening spiritual roots, and raising cultivation.
Previously, when she had given Lin Wanqiu a Buyuan Dan, there had been a system quest attached, so a ten-thousandfold compensation was triggered and the final reward was doubled.
This time there was no quest bonus, so being able to trigger a thousandfold compensation was already incredibly lucky.
After all, before this, not a single gift she’d given had ever broken tenfold.
“Does this system have some kind of built-in minimum guarantee?”
But that was only a guess on Xiao Minghuang’s part, a question destined never to be answered.
Since she already had a Wuzang Lingyuan Dan in hand, the Five-Turn Peiyuan Dan was useless to her. So she simply handed that pill directly to Ye Ruoshui as well.
After giving away the pill, she reminded Ye Ruoshui once more to cultivate diligently, then returned to her own room.
…
Inside the room.
Xiao Minghuang sat cross-legged on the bed. Resting in her palm was a pill suffused with flowing five-colored divine radiance—the Wuzang Lingyuan Dan.
A Heaven-grade pill, unimaginably precious, rarely seen in the world, accompanied by celestial phenomena whenever it appeared.
Fortunately, all items granted by the system came with a seal that suppressed such visions, or the entire Barbaric Wilderness Forest would have been shaken.
“Wuzang Lingyuan Dan… its main effect is reshaping the body and nurturing the spiritual roots. The increase in cultivation is actually secondary.”
Xiao Minghuang knew that pill effects also had ranks. Ordinary healing pills were worth the least. Pills that could raise cultivation were of much higher value. But those that improved the quality of one’s spiritual roots were truly priceless.
And something like the Wuzang Lingyuan Dan, which focused on enhancing spiritual roots and tempering the physical body, was even more precious than that.
“I wonder what kind of changes this Wuzang Lingyuan Dan will bring me.”
Everything she knew about the pill came only from the system’s brief description—just a few lines of text, hardly enough to explain its true wonders.
In truth, she had no idea what sort of benefits this pill would ultimately give her.
With that thought, Xiao Minghuang activated the formation that sealed off all aura, then swallowed the Wuzang Lingyuan Dan.
The pill entered her stomach, trembled faintly, and then dissolved into countless crystalline motes of light that flowed out through her four limbs and bones.
All of a sudden—
Xiao Minghuang felt currents of indescribably comfortable energy circulating throughout her entire body. This power was gentle and warm, like a soft tide. It flowed through every meridian, then into flesh, blood, and bone, and finally gathered in her dantian.
This was the medicinal power of the Wuzang Lingyuan Dan taking effect.
As time passed, Xiao Minghuang could clearly sense that the once-hazy, pure white metal spiritual root in her dantian was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.
