Although Lady Chunhan was rejected, Chu Yin’s words still made her happy.
The choice of son-in-law was crucial for the future stability of Luoshui City, making it a difficult decision.
But if the candidate was Chu Yin, Lady Chunhan would be completely at ease, skipping the usual tests of character.
If the marriage actually took place, they would truly become one family.
And since Chu Yin was willing to listen to her, even if he and Zhang Wei had some discord later on, she could still care for the girl as her mother-in-law.
However, such matters couldn’t be rushed.
The successor to the city lord needed to be confirmed soon, but Chu Yin and Zhang Wei hadn’t spent much time together yet.
They had to wait for Zhang Wei’s return before bringing them together to discuss.
In the days ahead, she could slowly work on Chu Yin’s mindset.
After some consideration, the beautiful lady didn’t bring up the subject again for the time being, but the more she looked at Chu Yin, the more satisfied she became.
In her heart, she had already accepted him as her designated future son-in-law—half her own son.
“All right, Chu Yin, you can go rest now. Don’t worry too much about the temporary slow progress in cultivation… Why are you still soaking in the water without moving?” the beautiful lady asked with a puzzled expression.
Chu Yin’s face was awkward, somewhat embarrassed to speak.
But with Lady Master watching nearby, he couldn’t stay silent forever.
“Lady Master, I’m still calming down from the effects of the medicinal power. I need to wait a bit longer.
If I get up now, the meridian won’t be properly aligned…”
“…”
The curvaceous, delicate Lady Chunhan stiffened for a moment, but she controlled her expression well, showing no surprise.
She said calmly and serenely, “No matter, Lady Master will take a walk in the courtyard.
You just focus on calming your breath.”
There was no awkwardness of male-female boundaries here.
It was simply the quiet tolerance of an elder for a clumsy child, without harshness.
After Lady Chunhan left the room, Chu Yin took some time to fully restore his body and mind to a calm state.
Then he quickly tidied up the room, moving away the bath bucket and such.
Once he confirmed everything was cleaned, Chu Yin prepared to say goodnight to Lady Master and thank her for the medicinal bath before heading to rest.
He searched for Lady Chunhan’s whereabouts and finally found her at the Pond Pavilion.
Under the moonlit night, the pond water shimmered with silver light.
The tall and graceful lady stood quietly beneath the pavilion, her willow-like waist swaying gently, elegant and refined.
A night breeze stirred ripples across the pond.
Her skirt fluttered slightly, clinging to the curves of her beautiful figure.
Beneath her slender waist, the outline of a perfect, plump full moon was formed—round and supple.
Lady Chunhan stared absentmindedly at the pond.
The moonlight reflected off her delicate skin like crystal jade, revealing a faint melancholy in her eyes.
“Lady Master, I’ve tidied up your room,” Chu Yin said.
“Good.” She nodded lightly.
Chu Yin wanted to leave then, but seeing the thoughtful look on her face, he couldn’t help but ask, “Lady Master, is something troubling you?
Perhaps you could share it with me—maybe I can help ease your burden.”
The beautiful lady looked at Chu Yin’s earnest concern and smiled wryly, shaking her head.
She sighed inwardly—this child cared for her more than her own daughter did…
“It’s not a trouble exactly.
It’s rare to have a day of rest, and tomorrow I’ll be back to nights spent bent over my desk.
I can’t help but sigh~”
“So Lady Master also has moments of weariness.”
“Of course.
All right, you should go rest first.
Organize your reflections from today’s training and get a good night’s sleep.”
“I want to stay here with you for a while so you don’t accidentally zone out until dawn.
You have to rest well, Lady Master!”
The woman sighed helplessly in her heart, wanting to scold him for “meddling,” but unable to reject his kindness.
She compromised, “Very well, Lady Master will go back now…”
Chu Yin accompanied Lady Chunhan back to the courtyard, watching her enter her chambers before turning back to his own room.
He stretched out comfortably on the bed, hands behind his head, inexplicably happy.
After all, today was the day he “officially” began cultivating.
Every bit of progress going forward would be real, solid gain!
“I really want to wake up now and see how much my strength has increased under the blessing of the [Cloud-Water Scripture] and the medicinal bath.”
Speaking of which, could the effects of the medicinal bath carry over into reality?
If so, maybe gathering pills would be the quickest way to boost strength.
The [Cloud-Water Scripture] required day-after-day persistence.
Considering his talent limitations, the gains weren’t that great.
But taking pills was different—fast results and strong effects.
It was a steady and reliable approach.
“But how do I get pills? Stealing from the Luoshui City’s reserves? Impossible.”
Such an action would risk his relationship with Lady Chunhan—it wasn’t even worth trying!
A few days ago, when handling case files, there were tasks involving “tracking down thieves.”
Maybe he could try blackmail or black-hat methods—consider it practical cultivation.
As someone close to the city lord, Chu Yin had first access to information.
He could solve targets before Lady Chunhan’s men got involved!
With this “money-making” mindset, Chu Yin refocused on cultivating the [Cloud-Water Scripture].
No matter how many pills he took, the [Cloud-Water Scripture] was the true foundation.
Once perfected, the power of his flying sword would increase several times over.
He couldn’t just focus on pills and neglect the fundamentals.
But how could he speed up his cultivation?
His talent limitations were like a mountain crushing his progress, even the speed of a full cycle of energy circulation was painfully slow.
Chu Yin frowned, thinking hard.
Giving up, he sat up and immediately used [Da Liu Ren] divination to cast a hexagram:
“Why do I always feel a sticky sluggishness when circulating the [Cloud-Water Scripture]?”
[The Kidneys govern storage; if the kidneys are too strong, the Vital Energy flowing through them is deeply stored and hard to leave, weakening the subsequent energy flow and hampering full cycles.]
In the human body, the kidneys’ function is to store Vital Energy.
According to [Da Liu Ren], his kidneys were too strong during cultivation, acting like a toll gate demanding “road fees,” absorbing the energy.
How could it be like this…
He had thought it was a weak meridian, but it turned out his kidneys were causing trouble.
No wonder every time he reached a certain point in cultivation, the energy suddenly weakened.
“How to handle this?”
[Low approach: take medicine to suppress the kidneys.]
[Medium approach: practice divination and mystic arts, nourish the brain to consume the kidneys.]
[High approach: find a woman with excellent constitution for Yin-Yang Harmonization.]
“Looks like only the medium approach is viable for now.
No way I’m trying the high approach.”
Chu Yin hadn’t forgotten one thing: his younger sister Yan Lingqi was still cuddling him to sleep.
If he did Yin-Yang Harmonization in a dream and ended up causing some awkward situation upon waking, he wouldn’t know how to explain it!
“Come to think of it, who in this dream has an ‘excellent constitution’?”
“Lady Master? That’s not an option…
Zhang Wei? I don’t know if she qualifies.
Would I really have to agree to that marriage?
Wouldn’t that just fulfill the earlier ominous divination…?”
“Though, suffering in a dream isn’t so bad.
After all, it’s just a nightmare—I won’t actually die in reality.”
If push came to shove and he really had to take that route to perfect the [Cloud-Water Scripture], maybe he’d have to go all in.