Private Transmission

Spring Return Valley was exceptionally tranquil at night.

Aside from the flickering lamplight in the Zhou-character Pill Room, everywhere else was silent. All disciples of the Great Luo Pill Dao were performing their evening lessons in their own rooms. Several faint streaks of light occasionally flashed across the distant sky—disciples patrolling the mountains flying on their swords. Within Spring Return Valley, a squad of Daoists in apricot-yellow Daoist robes was also searching about, checking whether the restrictions at each vital location remained intact.

Lin Xiao's residence lay within a small maple grove beneath a high peak to the west. The leaves of this small grove of unusual maples remained fiery red throughout all four seasons, naturally giving off a cool fragrance that calmed the mind. Lin Xiao had fallen in love with this grove the moment he saw it. After obtaining Dan Fusheng's permission, he built his small wooden cottage within it, planting all manner of exotic flowers and strange herbs around it. The cottage's outer walls and roof were covered with a thin layer of moss, lending its elegance a rich touch of wild charm.

The cottage was not large, consisting only of two small rooms, inner and outer, each barely several yards across. The outer room held a square table and two long benches, while the inner room contained only a wooden bed covered with a coarse cloth mattress, without even a thin quilt. Lin Xiao was currently sitting cross-legged on the bed, both hands tightly gripping a dark-red Spirit Stone as he continuously drew out its fire-aligned spiritual power, slowly converting it into Pure Fire True Essence.

In merely two years, the Spiritual Energy within Spring Return Valley had grown somewhat thinner than when Lin Xiao had first entered the valley. Even with the Spirit Gathering Formation laid down by the sect's forebears, that scant Spiritual Energy could only sustain the countless spirit herbs growing in the valley. The cultivation of the Great Luo Pill Dao's disciples relied more heavily on the support of various Spirit Stones and medicinal pills. Yet because Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth had diminished, no new Spirit Stones could be found forming in any Spirit Stone veins. Even a low-quality Mid-grade Spirit Stone like the one Lin Xiao held was now exceedingly rare.

This Spirit Stone had been a deliberate reward from Dan Fusheng three months ago, after Lin Xiao broke through to the eighth layer of the True Fire Art.

Lin Xiao calculated that, relying on this Spirit Stone, he could likely push the True Fire Art to the middle stage of the ninth layer. One could form a Golden Core upon breaking through the thirteen layers of the True Fire Art, but he had no idea how much effort, how many Spirit Stones, and how many medicinal pills he would need before his Golden Core reached great completion. Still, obtaining another fire-attributed Spirit Stone suitable for him in the future would surely be even harder.

Because he had long consumed those strange Lotus Seeds, the true fire within Lin Xiao's body grew more vigorous by the day. The strange Spiritual Energy contained in the Lotus Seeds constantly nourished his body, reinforcing his foundation until it was incomparably solid. Whenever others circulated their cultivation, they were all cautious and careful, fearing that the slightest distraction would lead to qi deviation and demonic possession. Yet Lin Xiao was different. Even while circulating the True Fire Art, his eyes could dart about as he let his thoughts run wild. If elders of the Great Luo Pill Dao such as Dan Fusheng saw what he looked like while cultivating, they would likely cry out again, "Genius! Monster!"

"Ah..." Lin Xiao suddenly sighed. He ended today's cultivation session, drawing the surging true essence within his body back into his dantian as he muttered softly, "Yao'er was taken away by Master and the others. I wonder how it turned out? Uh, what sort of place is so mysterious that Senior Sister Yao'er can enter, while I'm stopped outside the door?" Recalling the astonished expressions on Dan Fusheng's and Daoist Danling's faces when they saw the improved Spirit Gathering Pill Yao'er had brought over, Lin Xiao could not help but find it funny.

The facts proved that Yao'er's alterations to the Spirit Gathering Pill formula had been an enormous success. Yao'er had merely added over a dozen common medicinal ingredients in the pill room, yet increased the Spirit Gathering Pill's efficacy by thirty percent while reducing the amount of four comparatively precious ingredients by twenty percent. Although the additional dozen or so ingredients made the new Spirit Gathering Pill's refining method slightly more complicated, the twenty percent reduction in precious ingredients would increase the Great Luo Pill Dao's future profits from Spirit Gathering Pills by more than thirty percent!

Spirit Gathering Pills were basic supplementary spirit pills, the pills cultivators used most often. Take Origin Sect, a major client. It had newly accepted twenty-five thousand disciples. Even if every disciple consumed just one Spirit Gathering Pill each month, the thirty percent increase in profit from Yao'er's new formula would be an astronomical sum. It represented thousands of Spirit Stones and precious medicinal ingredients measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds! Lin Xiao clearly remembered the golden gleam flashing in Daoist Danling's eyes after he tested the new Spirit Gathering Pill formula.

"What a money-grubbing Sect Master Uncle!" Lin Xiao smiled faintly and tucked the fire-attributed Spirit Stone into the inner pocket against his body. He spoke to himself, "Still, it's fortunate that Sect Master Uncle manages things so well. Otherwise, how could he support so many sect members? I heard that when the mountain gates are thrown open two years from now, the Great Luo Pill Dao plans to accept another thousand disciples. That is a terrifyingly grand undertaking. Though it cannot compare to Origin Sect, among the nearly hundred planets nearby, it is the only one of its kind."

After cultivating for two years, Lin Xiao had come to understand that the land beneath his feet was actually a massive sphere. That was progress.

Stretching lazily, Lin Xiao pushed open the window in the wall and poked his head outside for a look. The moon hung high overhead, shifted slightly westward. Midnight had just passed.

He hurriedly draped a green Daoist robe over himself, took a jade flask and a small jade knife from bamboo pegs on the wall, and rushed from the cottage. "Mm, I nearly forgot. Today is the day the Midnight Orchids bear fruit. If I miss today's harvest, I'll have to wait another three months. Wouldn't Sister Hua scold me to death?"

Near every Great Luo Pill Dao disciple's residence was a small private herb garden, planted with unusual medicinal herbs according to its owner's wishes. The Midnight Orchids in Lin Xiao's garden were exotic flowers with miraculous effects in beautifying the complexion, nourishing one's appearance, and restoring youth. Hua Feng'er had asked Lin Xiao to grow them for her, because she lived amid waterside pavilions, which were unsuitable for Midnight Orchids. Flowers that were not particularly useful for cultivation could never be planted in the Great Luo Pill Dao's herb gardens.

"Beauty-Nourishing Pills! Why are women so concerned about their appearances? Sister Hua said she wanted my help, but if not for Mistress threatening me from the side, why would I bother with this trouble?" Muttering complaints all the way, Lin Xiao pounced into the herb garden outside his cottage, swiftly crouched down, and stared intently at a small patch of jade-green orchids before him.

The orchids' slender leaves swayed gently in the night breeze. More than a dozen flower stalks trembled faintly, and the thumb-sized, wine-cup-shaped, translucent purple blossoms they held slowly drifted down amid wisps of delicate fragrance. With several soft pops, as though by illusion, pigeon-egg-sized blue-green fruits grew from the stalks. The fruits slowly swelled and gradually changed color, from blue-green to pale purple, from pale purple to milky pink, and finally into a bright, vivid red.

A delicate fragrance with a faintly sour tang rushed toward him. Lin Xiao chuckled, his eyes gleaming as he waved the inch-long jade knife in his hand, cutting down the dozen or so Midnight Orchid fruits one by one and stuffing them into the jade flask. Once Midnight Orchid fruits formed, if they were not harvested within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they would turn into mist and scatter on the wind. Lin Xiao had missed a harvest once before. Hua Feng'er had nagged him for half a month, and Danxia had summoned him for a completely unprovoked scolding that lasted nearly half an hour. This time, he truly did not dare delay again.

"Isn't it just the main ingredient for a batch of Beauty-Nourishing Pills? Is it really necessary?" Lin Xiao stood and shook his head as he complained. "Mistress formed her Golden Core decades ago, so her appearance will not age to begin with. Sister Hua is only one step away from the Golden Core. Though she looks a little older now, she can restore her youthful appearance later. What use are Beauty-Nourishing Pills to them?"

At present, Lin Xiao still did not understand certain obsessions women had.

Putting away the jade knife and hooking a finger through the silk cord on the jade flask, Lin Xiao turned to return to the cottage. Suddenly, someone came charging in from outside the grove. The instant she saw Lin Xiao, she cheered and threw herself into his arms. Soft jade and warm fragrance filled his embrace. Lin Xiao instinctively wrapped both arms around her, but the palm-sized jade flask on his finger swung away and flew far into the distance. Under Lin Xiao's despairing gaze, the jade flask accurately struck a stone and shattered into powder. When the night wind blew, the dozen or so Midnight Orchid fruits inside transformed into vivid red mist and scattered away.

"Heavens!" Lin Xiao threw back his head and cried wildly. "They're gone again!"

It seemed to have been the same last time. When it had been time to harvest the Midnight Orchids, Yao'er had excitedly brought over some kind of medicinal soup she had brewed and asked Lin Xiao to test it for her. Lin Xiao drank it all in one gulp, then slept groggily for three days and three nights, naturally missing the appointed time. This time, the fruits had already been in his hands, yet it was still Yao'er...

"Senior Sister Yao'er! My Midnight Orchids!" Lin Xiao's body trembled as he looked at the smiling Yao'er and wailed, "I'm not afraid of Mistress scolding me again, but if Sister Hua catches me and nags at me for half a month, I'll die! This time, you have to take the blame with me! I had already harvested the Midnight Orchid fruits, but now..."

"Oh? That flower again?" Yao'er clearly did not take the matter to heart. Still in Lin Xiao's arms, she furtively looked around, then grabbed his ear and dragged him back into the cottage. Bang, bang, bang, bang! Yao'er tightly shut the cottage door and windows, then exerted all her strength to set up a three-layered warning restriction inside.

"Hah! That's better." Yao'er smugly bounced around Lin Xiao's room a few times, then pulled a purple jade tablet from her robes. It was a foot long, an inch wide, and two millimeters thick. "Quick, use the circulation methods from the first, fourth, and sixth layers of the foundational Evergreen Art to pour three streams of true essence into the jade tablet. Quick! It's something good!" Yao'er forcibly stuffed the jade tablet into Lin Xiao's hands. Her little face was full of delighted smiles as her right hand rapidly pinched his arm, continuously urging him on.

The quality of this purple jade tablet was exceptional. It was nearly translucent, with countless layers of purple clouds drifting within and a circle of lustrous violet light enveloping the entire tablet. Held in his hand, it felt slick and impossible to grip. A faint force resisted Lin Xiao's palm, seeming to want to flick his fingers away.

"What is this?" Lin Xiao looked at Yao'er, unable to understand what it was.

"Idiot!" Yao'er jumped up and fiercely slapped the forehead of Lin Xiao, who was now a head taller than her. Sniffling in displeasure, she furrowed her brows and said, "Just do what I tell you. Why are you being so long-winded? Would Senior Sister Yao'er harm you? Hurry up and do it. There are benefits! Huge benefits!" Yao'er's eyes brimmed with excitement. Suddenly, she began singing a loud little tune, hopping and skipping wildly around the narrow cottage. Clearly, Yao'er's mood was wonderful beyond measure!

"Uh, you wouldn't harm me? Senior Sister Yao'er, over these past two years, you've harmed me countless times already." Lin Xiao cast a wronged glance at the dancing Yao'er, his heart aching as he recalled that jade flask Yao'er had knocked away. Heavens, Hua Feng'er would go mad this time! Even Danxia would go mad alongside her! Lin Xiao's scalp went numb.

With a sigh, Lin Xiao recalled the circulation route of the Evergreen Art. He raised a stream of Pure Fire True Essence from his dantian and, following Yao'er's instructions, sent it circulating through his body according to the routes of the first, fourth, and sixth layers of the Evergreen Art before injecting three streams of true essence into the jade tablet. He did not know until he tried. The moment Lin Xiao followed her instructions, he discovered that the nature of his Pure Fire True Essence had undergone a subtle change. A layer of mild, vital energy had actually appeared within his blazing fire-aligned true essence. Lin Xiao was startled. Could it be that the Evergreen Art, the beginner's cultivation art used by the Great Luo Pill Dao for its texts, possessed other wondrous functions he did not know about?

But Lin Xiao had no time to ponder that question. The three streams of true essence he injected into the jade tablet were like three keys bearing special marks. They broke through three layers of extremely complicated restrictions within the tablet and touched a glowing core inside. A torrent of information, vast as the roaring waves of the sea, surged into Lin Xiao's mind and nearly knocked him unconscious.

What an intricate and immense archive it was. It contained methods for identifying hundreds of thousands of medicinal herbs, methods of preparation, secrets for refining countless wondrous pills, and the insights and experiences of generations of Great Luo Pill Dao elders on the path of pill refinement. The mighty torrent of information struck Lin Xiao like thunder, making his body shudder uncontrollably.

"Hah..." Lin Xiao sharply exhaled and casually threw aside the jade tablet, staggering several steps backward. Countless spirit formulas and hand seals still danced before his eyes. It seemed as though thousands of former Great Luo Pill Dao elders were still chattering in his ears, imparting all kinds of secret knowledge about pill refinement. And the final four words that emerged from the jade tablet made Lin Xiao's heart tremble wildly. He had seen those four large golden characters clearly: Great Luo Pill Scripture!

Lin Xiao tilted his head and looked at Yao'er. Tired from all her bouncing, she was sitting cross-legged on a long bench and pouring cup after cup of cold tea into her stomach.

"Senior Sister Yao'er, this is..." Lin Xiao's lips moved. At last, he asked Yao'er.

Yao'er raised her brows, lightly slapped the table, and floated over to Lin Xiao's side. She affectionately hugged his arm. "This is the Great Luo Pill Scripture! The highest secret canon of our Great Luo Pill Dao, the Great Luo Pill Scripture that encompasses everything in the Great Luo Pill Dao!" She casually rubbed her cheek against Lin Xiao's arm, wiping the tea from the corner of her mouth all over his hand. Smiling proudly, she said, "Master and Sect Master Uncle said I would probably need three months to absorb all the records inside. But I spent less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and remembered everything. What about you?"

Three months, the time it took to drink a cup of tea!

Lin Xiao recalled how long it had taken him to absorb all the information in the Great Luo Pill Scripture. It had probably been about the time it took to drink a cup of tea as well. He could not help staring at Yao'er in astonishment as he asked softly, "How did this happen? What Master and the others said should be correct. With our current cultivation, I'm afraid we should really need three months of uninterrupted day-and-night comprehension and absorption to remember all its contents. Yet we..."

Yao'er narrowed her eyes and looked at Lin Xiao with some confusion as well. But she quickly laughed. "That only means you're as smart as Yao'er. What's strange about that? Look, isn't Senior Sister good to you? The moment I got something good, I immediately brought it to you! Mm, the Great Luo Pill Scripture! Hehe, only Master and the others are qualified to comprehend this. This time, we got a bargain."

Yao'er's fair, tender face was right before him. Her smile, like an orchid opening for the first time, left Lin Xiao staring blankly.

Yao'er continued chattering excitedly, "Master told me to enter seclusion for three months and comprehend the Great Luo Pill Scripture, then immediately return this jade tablet. Hmph, I'm going into seclusion in a little while, so I hurried over to let you try too, to see whether you could remember what's inside. Sure enough, Little Junior Brother is as smart as Yao'er!" Delighted, Yao'er patted Lin Xiao's cheek and said loyally, "Yao'er knows you stayed in the Huang-character Pill Room to help Yao'er, so when Yao'er gets something good, we share blessings together, right, Little Junior Brother?"

"Share blessings together, shoulder hardship together"—these were words Lin Xiao had told Yao'er during idle moments, from stories about wandering heroes he had encountered while practicing medicine at Spring Return Hall. Yao'er, who had grown up in Spring Return Valley, remembered such rough and bold words firmly. Yet she only dared say them in front of Lin Xiao.

"Mm, that's right!" Lin Xiao's heart pounded wildly. Looking at Yao'er's beautiful face, he suddenly felt an indescribable impulse.

He and Yao'er had experienced lips touching before, but none of those times had been pleasant. Every time, he had been gravely injured and on the verge of death, while Yao'er hurriedly fed him medicine to save his life.

But this time was different.

Lin Xiao knew that this time was completely different.

He forcefully turned Yao'er's body toward him and lowered his head.

Under Yao'er's astonished gaze, Lin Xiao kissed her, somewhat awkwardly.

Yao'er rolled her eyes and instinctively held her breath. Her small hands had initially pinched fiercely at Lin Xiao's sides, but in the end, they gently wrapped around his waist and softly patted his back. Yao'er closed her eyes. Though she did not understand it, she seemed to enjoy this intimacy that filled her heart with sweetness.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Lin Xiao staggered back several steps, and Yao'er stepped back several as well. The two young people, their faces and necks flushed crimson, began panting heavily at the same time. Fortunately, cultivators had long breath. Had ordinary mortals held their breath while kissing for longer than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they would have died of suffocation long ago.

Yao'er stuck out her tongue and licked her rosy lips, then suddenly twisted her mouth. "Mm, I haven't eaten dinner yet. Go roast a mountain chicken for me to eat... Hmph, did you eat those pickled-vegetable steamed buns in the kitchen again for dinner? Your mouth reeks of pickled vegetables. It smells awful!"

The miraculous Yao'er possessed the ability to smash every bit of a wonderful atmosphere into powder with a single sentence.

Lin Xiao's face swelled bright red. Obediently, he ran from the cottage and headed to the back mountain to hunt wild chickens.

As he raced madly through the mountain forest, Lin Xiao cursed the managing disciple in the kitchen straight into hell.