Three Years Later

Three years later, in the Land of Profound Fire, Li Xiaowan's private Pill Room.

"Sis, are Senior Brother Luo's Yellow Dragon Pills ready yet? It's already the sixth day!"

Li Xiaoqing's sweet, innocent voice seemed to cool the scorching Pill Room by several degrees. She pouted, apparently a little dissatisfied with her sister's delay.

"You little brat, are you trying to work your sister to death? There are three batches of pills! Six days is already fast enough!"

Li Xiaowan stood with her left hand on her hip and pinched her little sister's nose with her right, giving it two small tugs as punishment.

"Exactly, exactly. Xiaowan, you mustn't tire yourself out. It would break my heart."

Yu Ying came running out from behind the pill furnace, his face smeared with soot. Since Xiao Qing had been urging her so fiercely, Li Xiaowan had called him over to do the grunt work.

"Sis, I'm just anxious. Senior Brother Luo is about to leave for the Southern Small Gathering, and I just happen to be unable to go with him. If I can't see him this time, who knows when the next chance will come."

Li Xiaoqing rested her chin in her hand gloomily, her slender pale fingers circling the rim of her cup.

"Xiao Qing, I really don't understand. If you want to see that kid surnamed Luo, just go see him. Why do you have to find an excuse? Look at your senior brother—I drop by whenever I have nothing to do."

Yu Ying said smugly as he cleaned the pill furnace with a spell.

"Hmph, I won't learn from you! Female Cultivators have to be reserved. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you. Sis, hurry and give me the pills."

Li Xiaoqing rolled her eyes at Yu Ying, took the Jade Bottle Li Xiaowan handed her, and ran out of the Pill Room in delight.

Watching this scene, then looking at his robe covered in black soot, Yu Ying suddenly felt rather sour inside. He stole a sidelong glance at Li Xiaowan and could not help indulging in fantasies.

Li Xiaowan was worrying over her younger sister's affairs. She had no idea what spell Luo Hong had cast, but Xiao Qing's heart was firmly tied to him.

In order to have more contact with him, Xiao Qing had even become much more diligent in her cultivation than before.

It was precisely because of this that Li Xiaowan tacitly approved of the matter. Yet Luo Hong had not clearly expressed his feelings even now, which was truly worrying.

Hmph, it was all Yu Ying's fault! If this fellow had not kept praising Luo Hong in front of Xiao Qing after returning from Xiang Mountain, this trouble would never have arisen!

The more Li Xiaowan thought about it, the angrier she became. When she turned and saw Yu Ying sneaking looks at her, her cheeks immediately flushed as she snapped fiercely:

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

"Okay, okay." Yu Ying put away his improper thoughts and continued cleaning the pill furnace with a somewhat dejected expression.

"I'm going to meditate and rest first. Once you've cleaned the Pill Room, go back. In a few days, come with Xiao Qing and me to the Li Family."

When Li Xiaowan reached the entrance of the Pill Room, she suddenly spoke quickly with her back to Yu Ying.

Then she vanished around the corner.

Yu Ying: "Could it be?! Could it be that she wants me to clean the Li Family's pill furnaces?!"

Standing on a Flying Sword, Li Xiaoqing flew without pause until she arrived outside Fanghua Garden's Defensive Great Formation.

Before she could call out, an opening appeared in the formation's light barrier on its own. Luo Hong had clearly known she was coming.

The moment Li Xiaoqing flew into Fanghua Garden on her sword, a vibrant surge of Water Spirit Qi rushed toward her face, making her feel as if her skin had become even more delicate.

Li Xiaoqing was not surprised by this. She knew it was the result of Senior Brother Luo casting the Small Rain Cloud Art in the garden every day.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaoqing could not help looking down at the Spirit Fields. Not only was the Spirit Grain growing far better than in the other gardens, but many Mortal Martial Artists were also periodically using their inner force to force out the pests hiding among the Spirit Grain roots.

"Senior Brother Luo really put so much effort into this garden. Last year, Fanghua Garden produced more than thirty-five thousand jin of Spirit Grain. It left so many people dumbfounded."

One moment, Li Xiaoqing was proudly admiring Luo Hong's achievement; the next, she sighed in self-pity:

"If only Senior Brother Luo cared for me as much as he cares for this garden."

The Flying Sword soon carried Li Xiaoqing outside the small courtyard. Before she even entered, she saw her Senior Brother Luo and immediately turned her flushed face away.

Why wasn't Senior Brother Luo properly dressed?

As it turned out, for some unknown reason, Luo Hong's upper robe had been pulled into complete disarray, exposing a large expanse of snow-white skin across his chest. How could Xiao Qing not be embarrassed by the sight?

"I figured you should be here around now. Are the pills ready?"

Luo Hong was breathing heavily, his face flushed as though he were very hot.

"Mhm, mhm. I came to deliver the medicine to Senior Brother."

Li Xiaoqing did not dare look at Luo Hong in his current state. She lowered her head and held the Jade Bottle out in front of her.

"Thank you for bringing it. Come inside and have a cup of Spirit Tea."

As Luo Hong took the Jade Bottle, his burning palm brushed across Li Xiaoqing's pale fingers, making her heart tremble. Then she was enveloped by the hot masculine scent radiating from him, and her whole body nearly went limp.

Just as Li Xiaoqing was about to agree, she raised her head and met Luo Hong's blazing gaze. She instantly realized something, and everything above her neck rapidly turned red as she cried out:

"Ah! Sis, save me!"

Then she ran away.

Luo Hong licked his parched lips but did not chase after her. He was genuinely burning with heat!

"Young Master, the Spirit Wine is here! The Spirit Wine is here!"

In the distance, a white-bearded old man came running swiftly with a wine jar weighing more than ten jin balanced in his hands. Even as he ran with Seven Star Steps, he could still speak clearly.

Luo Hong rushed over, snatched the wine jar from him, tore off the Spirit Sealing Talisman on top, and raised it to his mouth, gulping wildly!

The wine poured into Luo Hong's mouth like a white dragon, not a single drop wasted. In only a short while, he had drained the entire twelve-jin jar of Spirit Wine.

Even so, Luo Hong's belly did not swell in the slightest, as though the Spirit Wine had fallen into a bottomless pit.

After exhaling a breath of turbid air, his body temperature rapidly fell. It was still far from normal, but he no longer felt uncomfortable.

"Young Master, shall I bring another jar?"

The white-bearded old man asked tentatively. Although he had lived here for two years already, what had happened today still struck him as utterly inconceivable.

"No need. Take all the Spirit Wine brewed last year to the market and sell it. Elder Zhuo, I'll leave this matter to you."

Luo Hong waved a hand to indicate that he was fine, then dismissed Elder Zhuo after giving the order.

"That Li Family girl came at such an unfortunate time. This time, it will be even harder to explain. Two years ago, I never should have stepped in to teach that male disciple who bullied her a lesson. Sigh, but who could have known she would fall for that hero-saving-a-beauty routine!"

There was no time to dwell on this now. Luo Hong brought out the high-grade Aerial Driving Magic Tool, the Green Light Sword, and hurriedly flew on his sword toward the northwestern part of the Taiyue Mountain Range.

If any Cultivator using the Heavenly Eye Technique looked at Luo Hong now, they would surely think they had encountered a living god.

This was because the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around him was slowly gathering toward him, as though a Demon Beast were devouring heaven and earth. An exaggerated Five-Colored Halo had formed around the surface of his body.

"The Spirit Flood Dragon Secret Markings refined from Dan Zhu blood are actually this overbearing. Not only do they devour Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, they continuously draw out the Water Spirit Qi within my body. Now, only what's inside the Jade Dragon Gourd can suppress them!"