Another quarter of an incense stick’s time passed before she finally withdrew her fingers from Su Wan’er’s wrist.
“Done.”
She stood up, stretching her slightly stiff body.
“Her injuries have fully healed, her meridians are completely repaired, and her Dao foundation is stable. There’s still some residual medicine power from the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill in her body that will absorb on its own. No additional treatment is needed. She’ll wake up naturally once she’s slept enough.”
She paused, then added, “She really does have the Heavenly Dao Physique.”
Lai Li’an nodded, stood up, and walked to the couch to take a look at Su Wan’er.
The girl’s complexion was rosy, her breathing steady.
He withdrew his gaze, turned around, and faced away from the two of them.
The corner of his mouth curved slightly beneath the mask.
He had just thought of something very interesting.
The Heavenly Dao Physique—fast cultivation speed, high comprehension, thin bottlenecks, rare to encounter even once in a thousand years.
Wasn’t this basically a super-powerful leg to grab onto?
Su Wan’er was his disciple.
The stronger the disciple, the more face the master had—that was one thing, of course.
But more importantly, there was Fantasy Value.
The girl’s Fantasy Value toward him had always been at 100, but her cultivation contribution had stopped at Foundation Establishment Peak.
But what if Su Wan’er broke through to Golden Core on her own?
The higher her cultivation, the broader her horizons, the clearer her understanding of what “power” truly meant, and the higher the quality of her Fantasy Value.
When that happened, the cultivation she could contribute wouldn’t be limited to Foundation Establishment Peak anymore.
Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, or even higher…
Lai Li’an’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.
He recalled the speed at which Su Wan’er had cultivated the Taichu Five Elements Dao Canon—she’d broken through to Foundation Establishment Peak in just sixty days, and that was before she’d been injured and fallen unconscious.
Now that her Heavenly Dao Physique was repaired, her cultivation speed would only be faster.
Perhaps before long, she would break through to Golden Core.
A Golden Core Stage Heavenly Dao Physique cultivator—how far would her imagination of his strength as her “master” go?
The corner of Lai Li’an’s mouth couldn’t help but curl upward.
“Heh.”
An extremely soft laugh leaked out from beneath his mask.
Ruan Qin heard that soft laugh and her entire body stiffened slightly.
She raised her head, looking at Lai Li’an’s back.
That man, in her eyes at this moment, possessed an otherworldly bearing like an immortal.
Why was he laughing?
Ruan Qin’s mind raced, and an answer soon arrived—he had known all along that his disciple possessed the Heavenly Dao Physique.
Probably because the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill had been refined, Su Wan’er had been saved, the Heavenly Dao Physique had been repaired—everything was going according to his plan.
A monster who had lived for who knows how many years—how could he possibly do something he wasn’t confident about?
This man calculated every step with such precision, everything was under his control.
Even she, this “bystander,” was nothing more than a piece on his chessboard.
But what could she say?
He had the strength and the capital to back it up.
Ruan Qin withdrew her gaze, turned around, and walked toward the door.
Ruan Se followed her out.
When she reached the courtyard entrance, her steps paused slightly.
“Ruan Se.”
“What is it, sister?”
“In three days, be on time. Don’t be late. You’re coming back to the Dan Sect with me.”
Ruan Se nodded.
“I understand.”
Ruan Qin said nothing more, stepping forward, then suddenly paused again.
She didn’t turn her head, only tilting it slightly to the side, as if speaking to herself.
“His Alchemy Path… is truly remarkable.”
With that, she vanished into the twilight.
Ruan Se stood at the entrance, watching her sister’s retreating figure, and smiled beneath her face veil.
But she quickly suppressed the smile and turned back into the room.
Ruan Se’s gaze fell upon Su Wan’er on the couch.
The girl’s complexion was rosy, looking completely fine now.
She just hadn’t woken up yet.
“Senior,” Ruan Se said softly, “I’ll go fetch some water to wipe Fellow Daoist Su’s face. She’s been unconscious for so long; she might feel uncomfortable when she wakes up.”
Lai Li’an snapped back from his thoughts and nodded.
“Go ahead.”
Ruan Se turned and walked out of the room, taking a wooden basin from beneath the corridor.
She walked to the water vat in the corner of the courtyard and scooped out half a basin of clean water.
As she carried the water back, her mind was occupied with thoughts of returning to the Dan Sect for Questioning the Way in three days.
Lost in thought, her foot suddenly caught on the threshold.
Ruan Se stumbled, her entire body losing balance.
“Ah—!”
She let out a startled cry as the wooden basin flew from her hands, the half-basin of water arcing through the air.
splash—
In an instant, all of it splashed onto Lai Li’an.
A basin of water poured down over his head, soaking him from head to toe.
He stood frozen in place like a statue drenched by rain.
And Ruan Se’s situation was even worse than his.
In the moment she fell, she instinctively reached out to grab something to steady herself, but her hands caught nothing, and her body pitched straight toward Lai Li’an.
Lai Li’an was stunned for a moment by the water, and before he could react, a soft body crashed into his chest.
The impact knocked him back two steps, sending him straight to the ground with a dull thud.
His mask also fell from his face.
Then he felt a pair of arms frantically wrap around his waist, a face burying itself into his chest, and a faint herbal fragrance flooded his nostrils.
The two of them tumbled down together.
Lai Li’an instinctively supported Ruan Se’s waist with one hand while the other braced against the ground, barely steadying himself.
Ruan Se was pressed entirely on top of him, her face veil falling away in the chaos, revealing a face so exquisitely beautiful it was breathtaking.
Her eyes were wide as saucers, Lai Li’an’s face reflected in her pupils.
Her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, but not a single word came out.
Because she realized she was too close to Senior—so close she could see her own reflection in his eyes.
Those amber-colored eyes were filled with panic at this moment.
Lai Li’an was stunned too.
He looked down at the person in his arms, her face so close, her features as delicate as someone from a painting.
Lai Li’an’s heart pounded again and again—the first time he’d ever been this close to a woman.
The two stared at each other, the air seemingly frozen solid, both of them stuck in an extremely awkward position.
Ruan Se’s mind went completely blank.
Senior’s hand was on her waist, and through the thin fabric of her clothes, she could feel the warmth of that hand, burning hot enough to make her whole body go weak.
Her face flushed crimson, from the roots of her ears all the way down to her neck.
Her brain could no longer process the situation at hand—it had completely crashed.
Lai Li’an watched Ruan Se’s face, red enough to drip blood, and wanted to say something to ease the awkwardness.
But before the words could leave his mouth, a weak voice came from the side.
“What… are you two doing…”
The voice wasn’t loud, but at that moment, in the quiet room, it was like a thunderclap, making both of them jolt simultaneously.
Lai Li’an and Ruan Se turned their heads at the same time.
On the low couch, Su Wan’er had already opened her eyes at some point.
She tilted her head, her gaze fixed directly on the two people embracing on the floor.
Her clear eyes were now filled with disbelief.
The rims of her eyes were slightly red, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
Su Wan’er simply stared at them, motionless, silent.