She knew she was dreaming, so she wasn’t in a hurry to wake up.
She decided to take a closer look at the lotus.
The lotus was large, large enough for a person to sit inside.
…
Li Yang wondered, if she cut it into a lotus seat, it wouldn’t be too bad.
Just as she was thinking this, the dream that had been continuing for twelve days suddenly changed.
A dazzling golden light shot up to the sky.
Li Yang felt a familiar sensation, and her heart tightened.
This golden light… it felt like the teacher’s presence…
In the next moment, on the white, multi-colored lotus bud, Si Kui’s face suddenly appeared.
Li Yang:
She woke up with a start, drenched in sweat.
She felt her chest heaving heavily, her heart pounding.
“It was a dream… everything in the dream was reversed…”
The last scene scared her.
“Teacher won’t have anything happen to them…”
This time, the system didn’t speak.
Li Yang didn’t gain any lifespan.
The bad feeling kept spreading.
Li Yang stepped outside and looked up at the small courtyard on the mountainside.
At 2 a.m., the Agricultural Studies Department built against the mountains was eerily quiet.
A cool breeze swept through the empty wheat fields, sending a chill down Li Yang’s spine.
Something was wrong!
Li Yang gathered all her mental energy and squinted her eyes, focusing on the small courtyard on the mountainside.
There, golden light occasionally spilled out, and sometimes white light would emerge.
Li Yang could clearly sense the golden light was the teacher’s presence, but the white light…
It was just like the snowy lotus from her dream.
Li Yang was well aware of her second-tier realm ability, which was nothing more than an ant compared to higher realms.
Even if Si Kui really encounters danger, it would be useless for her to go.
But…
No matter how clear Li Yang was about it, she couldn’t stop her legs from moving.
In her two lifetimes, Si Kui was the only “guardian” she had. She couldn’t let her come to harm.
Even if it meant going to her death, she would go.
Li Yang rushed towards the half-mountain, and when she neared the familiar little courtyard, the system unexpectedly issued a warning:
“High-risk star plant detected, far beyond the host’s realm. It is advised not to risk harvesting.”
High-risk star plant!
Is it that lotus flower?
The teacher really is in danger!
Li Yang tried to push the door to the courtyard, and the protective seal Si Kui had placed on it disappeared. She easily pushed the wooden door open.
What greeted her eyes was an empty space.
The quiet and peaceful little courtyard was gone, replaced by an entire vacant plain.
There wasn’t even any rubble!
If it weren’t for Li Yang being so familiar with the courtyard, she would have thought it had always been this “clean.”
The courtyard was gone, and the cave dwelling at the back was exposed in front of Li Yang.
Si Kui was sitting on a golden meditation cushion, her body intermittently emitting golden and white light, these two lights seemingly competing for dominance over her body…
Li Yang dared not act recklessly.
She asked the system: “Tell me, how can I help her?”
The system remained silent.
Li Yang urgently said, “You help me first! I will give you a lot of lifespan in return, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, anything you want! Just help me!”
She had always been cautious about the Eternal Life System, but now she was willing to sign a contract with it for Si Kui’s sake.
The system did indeed give a hint: [You can consume lifespan to ask a question.]
Li Yang:
…
“Alright, it’s better than nothing.”
However, before Li Yang could ask her question, Si Kui suddenly opened her eyes.
A great surge of white light burst from her body, completely overpowering the faint golden light.
Li Yang’s heart sank as she looked at her teacher, who seemed both familiar and strange.
“Who are you?” Li Yang asked with a trembling voice, sure that this was not her teacher.
“Si Kui” looked at Li Yang, her cold face revealing a hint of grievance.
Her voice was low and difficult to hear as she said, “I… I don’t want… to eat people.”
Li Yang: “?”
The once horrifying atmosphere became odd in an instant.
What exactly was possessing her teacher?
And what was it saying?!
Li Yang, being someone who seizes opportunities, knew that this was a crucial moment to save her teacher.
As long as this “thing” could communicate, she was confident she could save her teacher.
“You…” Li Yang swallowed nervously, trying to test the waters.
“If you don’t want to, then don’t do it.”
“Si Kui” spoke again, struggling, “I also… don’t want… to be eaten.”
Li Yang: “???”
Her mind raced as she quickly grasped the key information, piecing together the situation.
Her teacher really was ascending to the Ninth Rank?!
The condition for ascending was to consume a high-level star plant?
Was it the lotus flower from her dreams?
“Si Kui” gradually adapted to this body and spoke more easily, “Fellow cultivator, it is your kind who insists on eating me, but I am not a lifeless object, and I will certainly fight for my survival.”
Li Yang asked a key question: “Is she still there?”
“Si Kui” replied, “Yes.”
“Can you leave her body?”
“If I relax even for a moment, she will eat me.”
Li Yang’s thoughts whirred.
This lotus seemed easy to deceive, so could she help her teacher ascend smoothly to the Ninth Rank?
“Si Kui” sighed lightly and continued, “But why must she do this? Even if she forcibly consumes me, the best result would be to remain forever at the initial stage of the Ninth Rank.”
Li Yang’s heart sank upon hearing this, but she wouldn’t blindly trust an enemy, let alone a lotus spirit.
“System! I want to consume lifespan to ask!” Li Yang called out in her mind.
[Please ask your question. The lifespan consumed will depend on the question’s difficulty.]
“Is it true?”
Alright, it was the only option.
She had to trust the system now, since they had a “lifespan” contract.
Li Yang asked, “Is it true that the lotus spirit said if my teacher uses it to ascend to the Ninth Rank, her cultivation will be forever locked at the initial stage of the Ninth Rank?”
[It will cost 100 years of lifespan.]
Li Yang gritted her teeth and said, “Alright!”
The system gave a fair answer, explaining in detail:
[The breakthrough from the peak of the Eighth Rank to the Ninth Rank requires spiritual awareness. Once forcibly merged with a naturally spiritual divine object, there will be divine retribution. The best result is a locked cultivation stage, but the worst could lead to explosive death.]
Li Yang looked up at the lotus spirit. Her expression softened and became more gentle, “Fellow cultivator, there may have been some misunderstanding. She probably thought you had no spiritual awareness, so she wanted to use you for ascension. Why don’t you leave her body first? I guarantee I can convince her. She won’t eat you.”
To be honest, this lie was not very convincing, and even a child would see through it.
Li Yang had no choice but to try it.
Unexpectedly, the lotus spirit hesitated for a moment and then said, “Alright.”
“Si Kui,” the lotus spirit said, “Fellow cultivator, you must persuade her.”
Now Li Yang was speechless, “I… I will.”
As soon as Li Yang spoke, the golden light on Si Kui’s body gradually faded, and the white light became weaker.
A faint voice softly called out, “Fellow cultivator…”
Li Yang had clarified everything with the system after using two hundred years of lifespan.
At such a crucial moment, if anyone interrupted, the process would be halted.
The only risk was that Si Kui might clear the obstacle to her ascension.
But Li Yang had confidence her teacher would not kill her.
Li Yang quickly embraced her teacher tightly, pitifully saying, “Teacher, teacher! The lotus flower is alive, don’t eat it!”
Even without this cry, Si Kui had no choice but to stop her consumption due to the embrace.
At this point, Si Kui knew the lotus heart had spiritual awareness.
But since she had already started consuming, she had to finish!
Otherwise, the lotus heart would take over her body, with catastrophic consequences.
But she never expected Li Yang’s sudden intrusion to turn the situation around.
Li Yang hugged her tightly, looking at her with teary eyes.
Si Kui’s heart softened, and she became clear-headed.
The lotus heart’s spiritual awareness was very strong, and if she forcibly consumed it, the divine retribution would be heavy.
The best outcome would be her cultivation being locked at the Ninth Rank, and the worst could lead to death.
She couldn’t die now, not with such a “new sprout” from the natural system.
The golden light gradually dimmed, and the strands of white light seemed to have broken free from their chains, escaping from Si Kui’s body and returning to the pure white lotus heart.
The lotus heart was placed in an ice crystal coffin, and at this moment, the coffin lid opened. Countless white mists overflowed from the lotus heart, swirling and forming faint words: “Fellow cultivator, could you give me some water?”
The teacher and student looked at each other, and the student couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, you’ve kept this lotus flower in a coffin all this time?”
Si Kui: “Yes.”
“How long?”
“Twenty-eight years.”
Li Yang: ‘It didn’t die after all that time. Not good to kill now!’