Jade Maiden Heart Sutra

Nine streams of water made gurgling sounds in different rhythms, blending with the breeze brushing the grass and the rustle of insects to form a wonderful nocturnal melody.

More importantly, there were no Chunwa and Qiuchan chirping and croaking nearby.

Through the curling mists of water, Xiao Ran discovered that Master was not completely naked, but wearing a medicinal bamboo film for herbal baths that was as sheer as gauze.

Her complexion was slightly pale, her eyebrows and eyes like a painting, morning dew lingering on her lips, moonlight reflecting in her pupils—clear, slender, and soul-stirring.

A cascade of dark hair was pinned up into a high cloud bun, and her smooth, fair skin resembled the bright moon, emitting a faint fragrance of Immortal Bone Grass that unexpectedly revealed a trace of femininity.

Xiao Ran sat up straight, looking neither left nor right.

The atmosphere was slightly ambiguous, but men and women had their boundaries and senior and junior had their order. With an untainted heart, Xiao Ran asked as calmly as possible:

"Master, why is it you?"

"Shut up!"

Lingzhou Yue no longer possessed her usual carefree demeanor, instinctively intensifying the water mist.

Xiao Ran was very obedient and truly shut up.

She felt bored again and casually asked, "Why is it me? If it weren't me, who else would you want to be with?"

This was a fatal question.

Xiao Ran kept his mouth shut and did not answer.

You told me to shut up, so I'll just pretend I didn't hear! Perhaps soaked by the medicinal power, Lingzhou Yue's face flushed crimson amidst the thick fog as she angrily snapped in a delicate voice:

"I asked you a question!"

Xiao Ran thought to himself that since Master was bathing with him, a grown man, without changing expression or skipping a beat, aside from her formidable strength and freedom from worldly distractions, it might be because she only liked women and treated him like a good buddy.

It seemed Master swung very thoroughly...

Perhaps he needed to change his approach to problem-solving!

With this in mind, Xiao Ran deliberately said with a straight face:

"Master asks who else I'd want to bathe with? As a man, this disciple feels that a beauty lies in her bones rather than her skin. Martial Aunt Yinyue is so beautiful, with an elegant, gentle, and charming disposition, full of femininity; Chuyan is also cute, possessing a pure, maidenly vibe."

Lingzhou Yue's eyebrows twitched slightly. Suppressing her rising anger, she feigned calmness and asked, "What about your Master?"

Xiao Ran feigned astonishment.

"Eh, doesn't Master have the same thought as me?"

Lingzhou Yue's breath caught, and she almost vomited blood. Yet upon closer thought, what Xiao Ran said had its own internal logic, leaving her with no good retort.

"Now, you may shut up!"

"Oh."

Xiao Ran's tone was innocent, but he was laughing endlessly inside.

Having finished teasing Master, it was time to fleece some sheep.

The core issues currently placed before him were—

Why was Master here taking a herbal bath with him? Why was the pool permeated with a faint scent of blood?

According to what Stated Dao had said, in order to kill the Ink Flood Dragon, Master had unexpectedly resorted to her trump card, the Tidal Force Sword Art, which indicated that the previous battle had not been all that easy.

And Master had stated beforehand that she was indisposed.

Later on, Martial Aunt had sent him to Hundred Herbs Peak to study medicine...

All signs indicated—

Master was injured!

Xiao Ran immediately scented business opportunities... Bah, filial piety erupted! Perhaps he could earn Filial Piety Points by treating Master.

Concentrating, he opened the system shop and quickly searched for medical skills.

Two results appeared.

Max Level Medicine (Mahayana Edition): Skill locked. Host cultivation level must reach Mahayana or above to purchase this art.

Max Level Medicine (Mortal Edition): Priced at 12 Filial Piety Points, it grants comprehension of the functional principles of all living things, diagnosis of ailments, medicine refining and dispensing, and essential physical acupuncture and massage; when dealing with high-tier spirit bodies, theoretical diagnosis does not differ too much, but limited by the host's cultivation level, detailed confirmations, high-tier medicine refining, binding restrictive seals, and physical therapy will be greatly discounted... Does the host confirm the purchase?

Xiao Ran thought about it carefully, and this was only natural.

The life skills he had purchased previously were all max-level mortal editions; although their Daoist theories were shared with high-tier ones, their practical applications were limited strictly to the mortal tier.

Take his Max Level Farming Skill, for instance: it could not raise the grade of spirit plants, nor could it make spirit plants grow larger, better, or faster. It could only correctly match water and fertilizer resources to unleash their innate growth potential. But if it were Martial Aunt Yinyue, she would certainly find a way to use some high-tier dark fertilizers to forcefully spur growth by pulling on the seedlings.

Or take his Max Level Architecture: through the rational matching of Eight Trigrams foundations, it conformed to the laws of Dao to achieve the best feng shui effect. Yet Master could directly bind spirit rune arrays to forcefully draw in the spiritual power of heaven and earth.

Medicine was no different. If his cultivation level could not reach Mahayana, it was impossible to possess the full set of max-level medical skills.

The mortal-level Max Level Medicine was already sufficient for Xiao Ran.

In terms of diagnosis, his Divine Sense at the Qi Refining Peak Great Perfection, paired with the Art of Resonance capable of listening to all things, could achieve a diagnostic level far surpassing mortals.

As for medicine refining, he definitely couldn't do it himself, but he could have Martial Aunt do it on his behalf.

Finally, in terms of physical and spiritual therapy, he couldn't handle high-tier ones, but through Qi Refining cultivation and resonance techniques, paired with perfect theoretical knowledge, simple treatments and maintenance were well within his capabilities.

The main point was to show filial piety and fleece some sheep; as long as he broke even, it would do.

"Purchase!"

Congratulations to the host for acquiring: Max Level Medicine Mortal Edition! (Consumed 12 Filial Piety Points, 6 Filial Piety Points remaining)

Xiao Ran's brain buzzed as he experienced an instant sublimation.

In just a split second, his Sea of Consciousness became as clear as a starry sky.

Soon, various medical disciplines appeared in his mind—

Looking, listening, questioning, feeling the pulse, stone probes, needles, moxibustion, herbal refining and dispensing, Yin-Yang Theory, Meridian Theory, Treatise on Cold Damage...

With Max Level Medicine in hand, Xiao Ran immediately detected an anomaly within his Dantian.

The walls of his Dantian were actually a hundred times sturdier than before! Although his cultivation was only at Qi Refining, the spiritual pressure that the Qi Sea within his Dantian could withstand was many times greater... His defensive power visibly skyrocketed! He understood.

The Flood Dragon Pill!

It was the Flood Dragon Pill! Could it be that after obtaining the Flood Dragon Pill and discovering that he had already reached Qi Refining, Master had asked Martial Aunt to grind it into powder and blend it into his Dantian?

Without the slightest exaggeration, the Flood Dragon Pill was enough to increase his combat power by more than tenfold, greatly benefiting his early Sword Succession...

When Bole meets a thousand-li horse, Xiao Ran thought to himself, it seems Master saw my extraordinary talent long ago and decided to nurture me properly.

He immediately checked Master's problem.

With a sweep of his divine sense to listen to all things, using Resonance Divine Sense, he directed the methods of looking, listening, questioning, and feeling the pulse toward Master.

Across the thick fog, Lingzhou Yue suddenly felt a chill below and scolded with a blushing face, "Fool, what are you doing!"

Xiao Ran was stunned.

A period?

Fairies peed, fine, but did they also have periods?

Shouldn't women over a thousand years old have long since gone through menopause? Wait!

This period was not an ordinary monthly cycle.

Lingzhou Yue, Yue... Tidal Force Sword Art? Could it be that this Tidal Force Sword Art compelled the moon's gravitational pull, thereby causing Master's bodily fluid fluctuations to be far stronger than those of ordinary people? She had just executed the Tidal Force Sword Art in the Withered Sea Pool, which was why the bleeding wouldn't stop?

No wonder Master said she was indisposed...

Xiao Ran seemed to understand.

Suddenly, a wave of pity arose in him.

After all, touching upon a woman's privacy, he did not expose Master's scars to her face.

Besides, he temporarily had no radical cure for such physical ailments caused by sword arts driving spiritual power.

However, he could use Resonance Power to gather hemostatic medicinal properties, accelerate the absorption of medicine, and stabilize her palace body.

With this in mind, he found a pretense and tactfully said:

"The disciple recently created a simple cultivation method of his own called the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra. I must trouble Master to give me a few pointers."