Two days later, Lu Li activated the Yin-Yang Reversal Art and transformed back into his male form.
“Hmm… this technique is truly terrifying.” Lu Li pinched the empty porcelain bottle, then rubbed his palm to turn it into powder.
“But at least there’s no side effect from the Bewitch Heart technique on my body.”
He carefully examined his brown pupils in the mirror—no familiar pink tint—and let out a long sigh of relief.
Stepping onto his flying sword, he soared into the air, gazing down at the Yin Yang Sect.
For a moment, his mood lightened considerably.
He had entered the sect in April, when peach blossoms fluttered in the wind. Now it was June, with cicadas chirping endlessly and the blazing sun hanging high.
Still, as a cultivator, it only felt slightly warm.
Adjusting his direction midair, he descended at the market square below the Mountain Gate and walked toward the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion run by the Shen family.
Since he started cooperating with Shen Zhaoxue, she had become much busier.
The continuation of her family line was still important, but it also required ample financial support.
Lately, he hadn’t seen much of her in the sect.
“You’re Miss Shen’s honored guest, right?” The gatekeeper caught sight of the bracelet on Lu Li’s left wrist. “Please, come in.”
“Thanks.” Lu Li nodded slightly and sidestepped the surging crowd.
Recently, the Fragrance Condensing Pills he had crafted were all the rage in several nearby towns. And after the Three Sects and Four Gates Trial, the name of the pills had almost spread throughout the entire Southern Region.
As he mused, familiar footsteps approached.
Shen Zhaoxue pushed the door open, her face full of fatigue. When she caught sight of Lu Li, she was momentarily stunned.
“Senior Brother Lu, what brings you here today?” Shen Zhaoxue bowed to him.
“I’ve been seeing you in female form for over a month, so now it feels strange.”
“I feel strange too.” Lu Li smiled wryly, picked up a teacup, and took a small sip.
“I came to deliver the Flower and Grass Dew for the Fragrance Condensing Pills.”
“Couldn’t you have sent a Miscellaneous Service Disciple for such a trivial matter? Unless… you want to exchange the payment directly for Foundation Building Pills?” Shen Zhaoxue thought for a moment and reached a conclusion.
“Indeed, that’s not suitable for a miscellaneous disciple to handle.”
“Yes. A few days ago, Grand Master took me to her garden to extract some higher-quality Flower and Grass Dew.” Lu Li took out several porcelain bottles from his storage bracelet.
“I estimate this is a three- or four-month supply. I wonder how many Foundation Building Pills it can exchange for.”
“This… is no ordinary Flower and Grass Dew.” Shen Zhaoxue swept her gaze over the bottles, her expression shifting slightly.
“The True Yuan contained inside is at the Foundation Establishment level.”
“True, but to Grand Master, it’s just ornamental plants—utterly useless.” Lu Li pushed the bottles forward.
“I’ll leave them to you, Junior Sister Shen.”
“No problem… I estimate this is worth over a dozen Foundation Building Pills, but my Shen family will need some time to liquidate assets.” Shen Zhaoxue carefully stowed the bottles.
“Senior Brother Lu, is there anything else you’d like? Magical artifacts, talismans, or something else?”
“I already took plenty of those from the trial.” Lu Li said.
“Give me a few bottles of high-quality Fragrance Condensing Pills.”
“Sure… Huh?” Shen Zhaoxue nodded instinctively, then jerked her head up, staring at Lu Li, who was currently in male form, with evident confusion.
“For Qing Luo.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Shen Zhaoxue let out a long breath.
“Shen Zhaoxue, you must have been wondering why I’d use them, right?” Lu Li glanced at her now-softer expression.
“Yes, I assumed you’d suddenly had a whim.” Shen Zhaoxue gave a faint smile.
“Then I’ll see you at our small courtyard in the sect in a few days.”
When he returned to the sect, Lu Li gave the Fragrance Condensing Pills to a delighted Qing Luo.
After spending so long in the sect, he was gradually starting to understand some women’s thoughts—it wasn’t just about pleasing others; it could also be about simply admiring one’s own reflection in the mirror.
Pushing aside the trivial thoughts, Lu Li sat cross-legged in the small courtyard, drew the Yin Yang Sword, and placed it on his lap.
Then he closed his eyes, turned his gaze inward, and began attempting Sword Zen.
At first, no matter how he looked inward, the world was pitch black.
In his mind, scenes from the Sword Tower kept surfacing—the female version of his Spirit Soul.
‘This won’t do… too many distracting thoughts.’
Lu Li sighed and opened his eyes to catch his breath.
When he did, he noticed that on the other side of the courtyard, Qing Luo was also sitting cross-legged like him.
Faint Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi swirled around her, but disobediently bypassed her body.
‘Everyone is working so hard.’
As this thought struck him, Lu Li looked at Qing Luo’s serious expression.
The impatience in his heart settled down considerably.
When he closed his eyes again, a peculiar sinking sensation came over him. But no matter how far he fell, something always seemed to lift him back up.
Then, a faint scent of sand and earth wafted in, mingled with barely perceptible floral and grassy notes.
Opening his eyes, Lu Li found himself standing in a huge pit.
All around, flowers bloomed and vegetation flourished.
For some reason, it stirred a vague nostalgia in him.
‘This is the Soul Space… and, haha!’
Glancing down, he saw that his posture was the familiar male form. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
‘As expected—because I have two Spiritual Roots, and back then I was using the female Charm Spiritual Root, so of course it turned out that way.’
As he speculated, Lu Li walked along a small path.
‘But is this considered a success in Sword Zen? Is this a Spirit Soul world?’
Strolling along, he recalled the instructions from the Sword Zen manual.
Sword Zen merely uses the resonance of the Sword Spiritual Root to converse with one’s long sword.
Although it has a Spirit Soul-like effect, it doesn’t create a freely controllable Spirit Soul world like a Golden Core does.
So this couldn’t be considered seeing his own Spirit Soul.
Besides, this world was off.
For an ordinary Sword Cultivator, the first Sword Zen would allow them to see at most three feet of space—that was the limit.
Even Liu Qingyun, whom he had spoken with before, could only see about half a zhang.
‘Is my Sword Zen world… a bit too big?’ Lu Li looked up at the blue sky. There were even birds flying across it.
Clang… Clang…
A crisp metallic sound drew Lu Li’s attention. He adjusted his direction slightly and continued walking.
Before long, he spotted a rustic forging hut.
Outside the stone hut sat an old man with white hair and beard, hammering a red-hot piece of iron.
The ringing sounds from before had come from there.
“…May I ask, elder…”
“You’re here, Lu Li.” The old man plunged the red-hot iron into water, accompanied by a sharp hiss.
“Draw your sword.”
“What?” In his surprise, a long iron bar that had just been quenched clattered to the ground in front of him. “You are…”
“A Yi, your Sword Spiritual Root.” A Yi then picked up a three-foot iron bar from the ground.
“You are cultivating Sword Zen. The rule is simple: no matter how you do it, defeat me, and I will teach you the basic sword techniques.”
“Like the Transform Sword into Bamboo technique Liu Qingyun used when we fought?” Lu Li’s interest was piqued.
“Then please instruct me.”
“Don’t learn that burning-iron-stick’s sword art. Come and have a good time with me, how about it?” A charming, playful laugh came from above.
Lu Li looked up and saw a woman in red with nine fox tails sitting on a peach blossom tree next to the stone hut.
Seeing Lu Li, she lazily leaned against a branch, her tails gently brushing the treetops.
“Your Charm Spiritual Root.” A Yi said calmly, the iron bar drooping.
“Do you want to learn the Bewitch Heart technique?”
“Er… not for now.” Lu Li realized that his female form was strikingly similar to the appearance of the Charm Spiritual Root.
But he would never expose half his shoulder, nor stare at others with such a seductive gaze, nor sway his tail in that peculiar manner.
“You will, master,” the red-clad woman read his thoughts, her tone half plaintive, half affectionate, half angry, half infatuated. She swayed her bare feet, the bells on her anklets jingling crisply.
“Didn’t you rely on my power to defeat so many people? And I really did help you a lot, didn’t I?”
“But… sorry. Right now, I want to train in swordsmanship.” Lu Li shook his head gently.
The soft words carried a strange force. The woman lowered her head, bit her lip, and showed a hurt expression before quietly leaning against the tree, like a smoldering foxfire.
“We can continue now.” Lu Li looked at the old man.
“A Yi, let’s begin.”
“Good.” The old man spoke little, and his movements were extremely simple.
He merely raised the three-foot iron bar.
But in that instant, a fierce gust of wind sent countless falling petals scattering.
A thick Sword Qi struck Lu Li’s chin, sending him flying into the air as blood sprayed from his mouth.
“I’m different from other Sword Spiritual Roots.” A Yi took a step forward, staring at Lu Li, who was still coughing blood.
“If you lose, you die.”
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