Opportunity

Zhu Zhuqing walked to the bedside with her thoughts in turmoil.

At the same time, she kept condemning herself inwardly.

She had actually thought so poorly of Brother Li Xun, who had saved her twice.

With trembling hands, Zhu Zhuqing untied her outer garment, revealing the fair skin of her shoulder. Only, the three-inch wound marred its overall beauty.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing lie down with her eyes closed, Li Xun slowly stepped forward, doing his best not to let his gaze linger on her chest as he began examining the wound.

"Not bad." Li Xun nodded.

Although Zhu Zhuqing's injury was serious, it had not damaged her bones. He was fully capable of treating such an injury now; it would simply take some time.

But once it healed, it would not leave behind even the slightest scar.

When a warm palm covered her shoulder, Zhu Zhuqing immediately felt a tingling sensation spread through her entire body. The feeling made her involuntarily press her legs together as her whole body trembled.

Although Star Luo was not particularly conservative, men and women still kept their distance.

Even her clothing, while flattering her figure, never revealed too much.

Yet now, she lay on the bed wearing only her undergarments, while a man sat at her bedside with his hand on her shoulder.

It was something she had never dared imagine before.

"Alright, this is all we can do for today. I need to recover some Soul Power." After an unknown amount of time, Li Xun suddenly withdrew his hand.

"Mm."

Zhu Zhuqing kept her eyes closed, her voice nearly inaudible.

At that moment, she was like a fully ripened peach, the exposed skin of her body pale and flushed with pink.

Li Xun glanced at her, then left the room with a smile.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, Zhu Zhuqing would be completely cooked through.

Hearing the door close, Zhu Zhuqing cautiously opened her eyes and looked toward the door. Whatever she thought of, she immediately buried her face deep in the blanket.

Li Xun made his way to the main hall.

By chance, he ran into Ning Rongrong, who was peeking around the front door like a thief.

"Help yourself to anything in the house. No need to be polite with me," Li Xun teased.

"Hehe, I heard you were back, so I came to take a look."

Ning Rongrong's eyes darted about as she opened the door, skipped over to Li Xun, and wrapped both arms around his arm. "Brother, I heard you brought someone back. Where is she?"

"She's resting now. I'll introduce you later."

Feeling the soft contact against his arm, Li Xun glanced at Ning Rongrong. He felt as though he had become immune to this girl by now.

The feeling made him sigh inwardly.

Once someone had experienced something better, it was difficult to go back to the way things were. Ning Rongrong was still young and needed to work harder.

"Oh." Ning Rongrong hummed distractedly.

Having spent several years together, how could Li Xun not know what she was thinking? Smiling, he rubbed Ning Rongrong's head. "Rongrong, you can't bully her."

Then, Li Xun told Ning Rongrong about Zhu Zhuqing's experiences, deliberately exaggerating some parts.

Ning Rongrong listened with tears in her eyes, utterly stunned. "Brother, does that mean Zhu Zhuqing is safe now?"

Li Xun pondered for a moment. "More or less, but we still need to keep a low profile."

"Hmph! Once we grow up, we'll take Zhu Zhuqing back openly and see what that Star Luo Royal Family can do!" Ning Rongrong said indignantly.

"Alright, my Rongrong is impressive." Li Xun gave her a soothing stroke.

After coaxing Ning Rongrong away, Li Xun returned to his room and took out several Medical Book volumes from his Soul Tool, arranging them in order.

This trip to Star Luo had brought him tremendous gains.

Zhu Zhuqing, Yang Wudi, an illustrated guide to immortal herbs—a three-way win.

Li Xun chuckled and opened a book.

Just as Yang Wudi had said, the latter volume he wrote was mostly about methods of making poison.

Still, Li Xun found what he was looking for within it.

What delighted him even more was that it actually recorded two other Immortal Grade plants.

"Looks like I'll have to keep that mission going. It's only a bit of money—maybe there'll be some unexpected gains." Li Xun closed the book.

If an entire continent had only this many precious plants, it would be far too barren. Even a bottom-tier Xuanhuan world should not be this pathetic.

"Now I'm just waiting for an opportunity."

Li Xun put the books back into his Soul Tool one by one, then began cultivating.

Although he had developed a fairly good relationship with Dugu Yan, throwing himself at her was no way to do business.

Their interactions were limited to those between juniors; he was still lacking when it came to Dugu Bo.

Although he and Dugu Bo had discussed the art of medicine many times and gotten along fairly well, Li Xun understood.

The moment he so much as mentioned the herbs in Sunset Forest or the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Bo would certainly grow wary and suspect his motives for approaching his granddaughter.

Though his intentions truly were impure...

it would become far more difficult for him to win Dugu Bo over then.

Spring passed into autumn, and another year went by.

Over that year, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing became friends. The two often kept each other company at the academy, and their relationship with Li Xun improved considerably as well.

Perhaps bad company really did rub off on people. After spending so long with someone as lively as Ning Rongrong, even Zhu Zhuqing had become much more optimistic, with an occasional smile flickering across her face.

And that smile became all the more dazzling whenever she kicked Li Xun out of the dormitory.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect also reached a partnership with the Breaking Clan.

Yang's Medicine had gradually begun spreading throughout the continent, and both sides were highly satisfied with this cooperation.

But where some were satisfied, others were not.

Titan of the Strength Clan had caused trouble at Yang Wudi's residence several times already, and the two sides had parted on very bad terms.

Even the Speed Clan had grown much more distant.

Only the Defense Clan remained silent, quietly approaching Yang Wudi to seek cooperation in investing in housing construction.

Yang Wudi had long been prepared for this. No matter who asked, he claimed that his relationship with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was merely one of cooperation, thus preventing the matter from escalating.

However, Titan refused to accept this, insisting that the Breaking Clan had already betrayed them and that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was taking advantage of their misfortune.

If he had been strong enough, he would have gone to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to make trouble himself.

Meanwhile, two additional reports appeared on Pope Bibi Dong's desk, detailing the recent movements of the Breaking Clan and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Bibi Dong merely glanced at them before tossing them aside and heading for the Pope's Private Chamber.

Xue Qinghe's position as Crown Prince became even more secure. From time to time, he came to the academy to visit Li Xun and Ning Rongrong.

Yet whenever this Crown Prince spoke, he would always casually bring up the situation across the continent and their views on Spirit Hall.

Li Xun never answered such questions directly.

He would beat around the bush at great length, ultimately expressing only one thing: he did not support the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Empire becoming enemies with Spirit Hall.

Though those words contained little substance, Xue Qinghe listened to them very seriously. That was also why she occasionally came to the academy.

Yang Wudi's grandson, Yang Qianjun, had also arrived at the academy.

Including Zhu Zhuqing, Li Xun's team now had enough members to participate in the next Soul Master Competition.

At the Team Training Ground.

Zhu Zhuqing and Yang Qianjun were attacking Li Xun together.

Behind them, Ning Rongrong held the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. "Seven Treasures turn with glazed light; the Seven Treasures have names: First: Power, Second: Speed."

A seven-colored beam instantly shot from the pagoda, splitting into four streams in midair and entering Zhu Zhuqing and Yang Qianjun's bodies respectively.

With the enhancement, their speed surged at once.

"Good."

A smile hung on Li Xun's face as he interlocked his fingers into the Serpent Seal. One yellow and one purple Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet. "Wood Style."