Fortune

Before Shi Lan could properly savor the taste of the Blood Ginseng, it suddenly dissolved in her mouth, turning into a hot current that poured down her throat.

A scorching energy surged up from deep within Shi Lan's body. Her face instantly flushed red, and two streams of blood gushed from her nostrils like a faucet that had been twisted open, impossible to stop.

That bite Shi Lan had taken was far more than half a qian—nearly half a tael. At almost ten times the proper amount, her current body naturally could not withstand the medicinal power.

"This is way too fierce..."

Shi Lan inwardly cried out in alarm. After wiping twice and realizing the bleeding would not stop at all, she simply sat cross-legged, forced herself to calm down, and activated the Jade Forging Art.

In her current state, she had clearly taken a tonic her body could not handle. As long as she refined this medicinal power, she should be fine.

The Jade Forging Art quickly took effect. The airflow appeared once more, nearly ten times thicker than before. The burning sensation gradually faded, while Shi Lan's flesh, skin, tendons, and bones rapidly toughened under the tempering of the airflow.

Wisps of white steam rose from Shi Lan's head, and the medicinal power gradually began to disperse.

Nearly an hour later, Shi Lan slowly opened her eyes. Bracing herself with one hand, she flipped up from the ground in a leap.

After letting out a long breath of foul air, Shi Lan looked out the window. The sky was already beginning to brighten.

Though she had not slept all night, Shi Lan did not feel the slightest bit weary. Instead, she was brimming with energy, in better condition than ever before.

After taking a bath and changing clothes, Shi Lan pulled open the door and walked out.

Reaching the courtyard, Shi Lan slowly began practicing the Vajra Divine Fist beneath the morning light.

As she performed each broad, sweeping move of the fist art, the spiritual energy around her was drawn into her body, nourishing every strand of muscle and gradually increasing her strength.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Lan had actually completed an entire set of the Vajra Divine Fist.

She was likewise drenched in sweat, yet the aching exhaustion from overtaxing her strength was gone. Her body felt as though it were soaking in warm water, pleasantly warm and comfortable all over.

This visible rate of progress filled Shi Lan with a sense of satisfaction, and a brilliant smile spread across her face.

Watching Shi Lan smile beneath the morning light, Shi Feng stood there in a daze. Ripples stirred in his heart. He had never seen such a radiant smile on Shi Lan's face before.

Unlike Shi Lan's cheerful mood, the Xu Clan was now steeped in bleakness.

Inside Xu Yuanbai's room.

Xu Yuanbai lay on his bed, his expression grim and vicious as he stared straight at the ceiling, his eyes filled with resentment that could not be erased.

"That damned little beast! How could she be so cruel, beating my son into this state?" Xu Yuanbai's mother sat beside the bed, endlessly wiping away tears.

Ever since Xu Yuanbai had been carried back, an entire night had passed from the moment he opened his eyes until now. He had not said a single word, had not touched a drop of water or a grain of rice, and merely stared with his eyes wide open.

"Yuanbai, at least drink some porridge. You're hurt so badly—how can you endure it without eating something?"

Xu Yuanbai still said nothing.

"What kind of state is this! A true man only took a beating—did it beat your soul out of you?!" Xu Mingda, standing nearby, snapped in frustration.

"Why are you shouting at the child? If you have the ability, go shout at that little beast from the Shi Clan!"

Xu Mingda closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Yuanbai ending up like this today is no small part thanks to you, his own mother!"

"Stop arguing..."

Xu Yuanbai slowly spoke, his voice dry and hoarse.

"Leave Tenglong City..."

Xu Yuanbai's parents both changed expression slightly upon hearing his words.

"Yuanbai, does it really have to come to this?" His mother looked hesitant.

Leaving Tenglong City meant starting over from scratch. All the effort the Xu Clan had poured into Tenglong City would vanish like bubbles.

And once they reached another place, they would surely face exclusion from the local powers.

Xu Yuanbai shook his head with difficulty. "In Tenglong City, the Xu Clan will never have a day to rise."

Most of the Xu Clan's businesses had developed to their current extent by relying on the Shi Clan. The people who did business with the Xu Clan mostly did so for the Shi Clan's sake.

Once word spread that his relationship with Shi Lan had completely ruptured, the Xu Clan would no longer be able to continue doing business in Tenglong City. There might even be people who would beat a dog when it was down just to curry favor with the Shi Clan.

"Boy is right." Xu Mingda nodded. "Have you decided where to go?"

"I want to... study at Taixu Academy..." Xu Yuanbai's gaze flickered uncertainly.

Shi Lan, the injuries covering my body today will one day appear on yours tenfold, a hundredfold.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Wash your neck clean and wait for me!

Shi Lan took another bath, changed out of her sweat-soaked clothes, and prepared to go out for a stroll, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Yesterday, she had merely taken a cursory tour around Tenglong City. There were many interesting places she had not had time to experience at all.

When Shi Lan reached the gate, she was stopped by the guards again and had to wait nearly another quarter of an hour for the escort team.

Seeing Shi Feng among the escort team, Shi Lan's eyes shifted as she recalled the Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique she had drawn last night.

Shi Feng had given her such a Blood Ginseng, so she ought to show some gratitude in return.

The Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique could observe the height and length of a person's fortune. She could take a look at the course of Shi Feng's fortune and offer him a few hints, making his future life smoother and more favorable.

With a thought, Shi Lan slowly closed her eyes and opened the Heavenly Eye within the spiritual platform between her brows.

The world seen through the Heavenly Eye was completely different from what Shi Lan saw with her naked eyes. The spiritual energy drifting through the air, invisible to ordinary eyes, now reflected in her mind with incomparable clarity.

It was a riot of dazzling colors, a sight to behold.

Yet Shi Lan had no heart to admire this unprecedented beauty. She merely stared blankly at Shi Feng.

The fortune behind Shi Feng resembled a pillar holding up the heavens, reaching from sky to earth and crushing the universe beneath it, almost taking the form of a dragon.

He was actually only one step away from reaching the legendary realm recorded in the Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique: fortune like a dragon.

With such immense fortune, so long as he was not forcibly interfered with by an overwhelmingly powerful external force, he was bound to become a dragon or phoenix among men.

Shi Lan was not stunned by the enormity of Shi Feng's fortune. Rather, a pale blue chain was bound around that pillar of fortune, and the other end of that chain was connected to her.

Shi Lan was utterly astonished. She had actually become the shackles and stumbling block in Shi Feng's life? How could that be?

"Eldest Young Master? Eldest Young Master?"

Seeing Shi Lan standing still with her eyes closed, Shi Feng asked in confusion.

Shi Lan came back to herself, dispelled the Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique, and opened her eyes. There was a trace of strangeness in the way she looked at Shi Feng.

"Eldest Young Master, what is it?"

Shi Feng felt somewhat uncomfortable under Shi Lan's gaze.

"N-Nothing."

Shi Lan withdrew her gaze and turned to leave Shi Mansion. As she walked, she quietly pondered whether she and Shi Feng would become enemies in the future, or whether some complicated dispute would arise between them.

Or perhaps the previous Shi Lan and Shi Feng had once had something happen between them that greatly affected Shi Feng.