For several days, even after finishing his alchemy, Xu Lin did not take the initiative to seek out Yang Yao.
Every day, aside from occasionally instructing Jiang Luo in a few techniques, he spent most of his time basking in the sun in the courtyard. He was the picture of a carefree idler, at ease, showing no signs of being under house arrest.
Are you kidding? He was forced to find a solution for Yang Yao; it wasn’t that he was the one in a hurry. If no one else was anxious, why should he be?
Until one day, a radiant rainbow flew toward the courtyard from the horizon. Only then did Xu Lin lazily raise his eyelids.
The one who came this time was a female disciple. As soon as she landed, she respectfully bowed to Xu Lin.
“Young Master, the Sect Master requests your presence.”
Even though Xu Lin’s identity was still a mystery, the scene of his alchemy that day had drawn the attention of everyone in the Sunset Sect. Almost everyone knew that a character like him had inexplicably appeared in the Sunset Sect. That day, it had even moved the Sect Master to personally come and disperse the onlookers.
“Oh?”
Xu Lin stretched, feigning surprise.
“This time it’s not your Saintess?”
The female disciple smiled awkwardly and did not respond.
Xu Lin didn’t want to say more.
“Let’s go.”
Xu Lin already knew who had summoned him. There was no point in pressing this disciple further.
As soon as Xu Lin left, Jiang Luo arrived right behind. Unlike her usual appearance, today she had tied her loose hair into a high ponytail, giving her a rather heroic look. But when she saw Xu Lin leaving with that female disciple, she couldn’t help but stop in her tracks, standing still to watch the two disappear into the distance.
Coming to ask Xu Lin for guidance had been the happiest thing for her in recent days. Now, seeing him suddenly follow a female disciple off to who knows where, her mood instantly turned sour.
Indeed, the place where Xu Lin was being taken this time was Yang Yao’s side. The so-called “Sect Master’s invitation” was merely Yang Yao’s lingering resentment at having to accept Xu Lin’s help. She didn’t want to take the initiative to speak again, like a sulking child.
Xi Ranchen couldn’t stand to watch any longer, so she summoned Xu Lin in her own name.
Just like last time, as soon as Xu Lin saw Yang Yao, he said with a sarcastic tone,
“I thought the great Saintess had already found a way to remove the poison on her own, that I was dispensable.”
Yang Yao, who had just withdrawn from her cultivation state, felt a jolt in her heart. Her chest heaved a few times unconsciously before she glared fiercely at Xu Lin.
“Don’t go too far.”
Yang Yao took a few breaths to steady herself.
“You’d better understand: once you lose your usefulness, you’ll have no reason to live.”
“Yes, I know.”
Xu Lin reached up to pick his ear.
“They call me a Saint, but I’m really just a hostage.”
If Xi Ranchen had warned him with her Life and Death Realm pressure, Xu Lin might have felt some pressure. But Yang Yao’s words were completely harmless. His cultivation realm was higher than hers. She couldn’t beat him in a fight now; what could she do, eat him? If it weren’t for the restriction on him, he really wouldn’t even want to look at her. Xu Lin knew that Yang Yao felt the same way.
“Cut the crap. Let’s finish this quickly so I can go back to sleep,” Xu Lin said.
Xi Ranchen valued her disciple and spoiled Yang Yao, but Xu Lin felt he had no such obligation.
Half an hour later, Yang Yao sat cross-legged naked in the bath tub. As she closed her eyes, her eyelids trembled uncontrollably with emotion. Although there was the precedent of the acupuncture, now being naked in the medicinal bath with her back to Xu Lin still made her feel unbearably humiliated.
She said to herself,
‘Yang Yao, calm down. As Master said, when he no longer has any use, you can repay these humiliations to him tenfold.’
In her previous life, she had been defeated several times by that bitch, and her Dao Heart had nearly been shattered. Now that she had been reborn, though she had seen through many things, she never expected that this carefree wanderer Xu Lin would make her Dao Heart waver. Suppressing her physical and mental discomfort, Yang Yao had already begun to imagine ways to torture Xu Lin and picture his begging posture. For now, she was just enduring humiliation to carry out her mission.
Standing behind her, Xu Lin put away his playful expression but did not rush to insert the needles. Xu Lin didn’t care at all how others judged his carefree and lazy attitude. However, when it came to saving people, he was never careless, even if the person before him was a female villain.
As Yang Yao’s body soaked in the medicinal bath, the spiritual essence of the spirit plants and herbs continuously infused into her body. It even manifested as tangible spiritual light on her back, slowly converging toward the Azure Lotus, as if to help it bloom.
At that moment, Xu Lin raised his hand, using his spiritual energy to drive the silver needles. He quickly inserted them into Yang Yao’s back, precisely around the Azure Lotus, sealing the meridian nodes where spiritual energy converged.
“Hiss.”
The blockage of spiritual energy caused a feeling of obstruction, and Yang Yao couldn’t help but frown in discomfort, even letting out a sound, but she quickly gritted her teeth and held it back, as if unwilling to show weakness before Xu Lin.
“It’s normal to feel uncomfortable,” Xu Lin said seriously. “This bath isn’t meant to help you break through. The medicinal power needs to briefly stay within your root bones to cleanse the remnant poison.”
Xu Lin had said that he had set aside some of the medicinal liquid, but it was only a small amount, so the potency of Yang Yao’s bath far exceeded Jiang Luo’s.
Yang Yao exhaled heavily and steadied her voice.
“This is nothing. No need for your concern.”
Xu Lin chuckled and couldn’t help but shake his head. He knew exactly how painful it was. Arguing back like that only made Yang Yao seem childish.
Xu Lin’s gaze fell on the shimmering Azure Lotus.
“I didn’t look closely before, but now that I see it, the person who poisoned you doesn’t seem to have aimed for gradual progression.”
“What do you mean?”
Yang Yao was confused, not understanding why Xu Lin was bringing this up.
“I roughly know what kind of constitution you have, but I don’t fully understand. I need to ask: when you cultivate, does spiritual energy all over your body converge toward the Azure Lotus on your back?”
Yang Yao pondered for a long moment. Slightly hesitant, she finally said,
“Yes.”
This was the secret of the Dark Lotus Mysterious Body. It wasn’t simply a matter of spiritual energy converging toward the Azure Lotus; it was helping the lotus nurture the Lotus Core Dao Seal. Once the Dao Seal was formed and after stepping through the Life and Death Realm to fuse with one’s own laws, that would be the true pinnacle and terrifying full-power state of the Dark Lotus Mysterious Body.
“That’s it.”
Xu Lin understood in his heart and formed a certain guess.
“The person who poisoned you also seems to have designs on your constitution and the Azure Lotus.”
Yang Yao’s eyes suddenly widened in shock, but she still tried to ask,
“What evidence do you have?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Xu Lin extended his finger to a meridian point on Yang Yao’s back and slowly traced it to the Azure Lotus. This made Yang Yao’s body tremble. She was about to flare up in anger when she heard Xu Lin continue speaking.
“The spiritual energy passes through your root bones. As your realm improves, it allows the Hidden Poison Scripture’s spiritual energy to converge on the Azure Lotus. Over time, your constitution and the Azure Lotus…”
His words came to an abrupt halt. Xu Lin himself wasn’t sure what was going on.
In the original story, most of the narrative arcs focused on Xu Lin helping the protagonist. At this point, there wasn’t much description about Yang Yao.