"Heh." Ya Fei gave a disdainful laugh, her tone laced with mockery. Then she said firmly, "At your level of cultivation, do you still need to worry about all those formalities? I'm helping you, understand?"
Helping? Us?
The two maids exchanged glances, neither understanding what she meant.
"Honestly..." Ya Fei sighed, her voice full of regret over how slow-witted they were. Then she continued, "You should speak well of the Saint in front of her every day and help bring this match about. If it really works out, don't you think the Saint might be so pleased that she grants you both a lucky opportunity? Then you wouldn't have to worry about your futures anymore."
"And as women ourselves, surely you don't think the Saint would be interested in ordinary women like us? Stop dreaming. Just look at her disciple—she has both talent and beauty. That's the sort of companion who'd suit her."
So that was another way to look at it...
The head steward wanted the two of them to whisper in the Saint's ear...
"It still doesn't feel right..."
One of the maids spoke timidly. This could be a serious matter. If they said the wrong thing, their lives could be at stake...
"Don't be so stupid. Just don't say anything outrageous. Look at all the commotion today. The Saint must have bestowed some rare treasure, right? Just praise her for it. Given enough time, even if she doesn't have any feelings now, she will."
Ya Fei still refused to give up. If this woman didn't step up, Ya Fei would be the one to suffer later. Since she'd already started, she might as well see it through; they could worry about whether it succeeded later. Somehow, before the two maids knew what had happened, they'd been talked into joining her little scheme.
When she reached the doorway, Ya Fei took the chance to peek inside. The white light in the room had dimmed considerably, so she naturally didn't dare linger. As a servant, she needed to know her place and avoid showing up where she shouldn't, especially at the wrong time. After giving a few instructions, she went to organize the inventory.
The next morning
The white energy around Medusa dissipated, but she didn't leave her cultivation state. She was still consolidating her realm. The one who was astonished, instead, was Zhang Nian. After being cleansed by the Heaven-Seizing Creation Pill, Medusa's cultivation speed had become astonishing. The previous night, she had gained 100 Dou Qi per hour. Today, that amount had increased fifteenfold, to 1,500 per hour. Zhang Nian was receiving even more in return, now 150,000 per hour.
[ Ding! Returning... Dou Qi increased by 150,000 ]
Hearing the latest electronic notification, Zhang Nian jolted awake. No wonder he'd felt more and more bloated as he slept through the latter half of the night. This couldn't go on. By his estimate of the Dou Qi dissipating over twenty-four hours, he didn't have much time left.
"No... I still need to wake Medusa from her cultivation and give her the Fallen Heart Flame first. Then it'll be much easier to go to Starfall Pavilion in the Central Plains."
He headed toward the room next door. Ya Fei had already been waiting at the door for quite some time. The servants hadn't finished counting all the items until the middle of the night, and Ya Fei had only come to wait after everything had been checked and confirmed.
He glanced at the striking figure in a yellow dress standing at the doorway. He knew she must have finished what he'd asked her to do the previous day, so he instructed her, "Go get a Token from Medusa that lets you enter and leave freely. Don't bring anyone into the mountains without permission. You know what the consequences would be. Once you've finished checking the items, put the ledger in my room. Give the storeroom key to Medusa as well. If there's a spare, keep one for yourself. All right, I have something else to do, so you can leave."
He didn't look at Ya Fei again the entire time.
"Creak..."
Zhang Nian pushed open Medusa's door and walked in. Ya Fei, who had followed behind him, sensibly closed the door again and led the two maids away.
As he crossed the room, Zhang Nian paused. A faint fragrance lingered in the air. Was this originally a girl's room? Could it be...? No, not necessarily. There was more than one girl in the Misty Cloud Sect. He was probably overthinking it.
He pushed open the door to the cultivation chamber.
"Creak..."
The sound startled Medusa. Her brow furrowed slightly, and an unhappy look crossed her face. Then she opened her eyes and saw Zhang Nian standing in front of her. She immediately put away her displeasure, bowed, and said, "Master, I didn't know you were coming. Please forgive my lack of decorum."
Zhang Nian waved it off and sat down on a stone stool nearby, unconcerned. In a gentle tone, he said, "Cultivation takes time. You should be able to feel the changes in your body. A breakthrough in strength is only a matter of time. For now, the most important thing is to get familiar with your body."
Medusa nodded as she listened. What her master said seemed to make a lot of sense. In truth, Zhang Nian was worried she might overdo it and leave him feeling bloated. The Dou Qi stored inside him had already reached several hundred thousand overnight. He couldn't let her keep going.
"Mm. Oh, right, I have something else good for you." Zhang Nian turned his palm over, and the Fallen Heart Flame, which had been stored and sealed in the system's space, appeared in his hand. He explained, "I didn't give it to you earlier because your bloodline hadn't awakened. Now you should be able to feel your attraction to the aura of flames, right? Don't worry. I've got the Fallen Heart Flame completely under control. Even if it flares up, it won't be able to break through this spatial barrier."
With that, Zhang Nian held it out to her.
"For me?" Medusa was taken aback. This was a Heavenly Flame! She didn't know much about the Fallen Heart Flame, but Heavenly Flames were treasures of nature, rare and impossible to come by. And he was giving such a precious treasure to her?
"Take it. It'll help your cultivation. Zi Yan can't stand flames, so I can only give this to you. I got it for you in the first place." Zhang Nian was being deliberate. He'd said this to try to increase Medusa's affection for him.
[ Ding! Medusa's affection increased by 5. Current affection: 75. Return multiplier increased to 2,000 ]
"Um..."
Seeing the hesitation on Medusa's face, Zhang Nian continued, "The greatest benefit of the Fallen Heart Flame is that it constantly releases heart flame. The heart flame tempers Dou Qi, making cultivation twice as effective and much faster than before. And you don't need to worry about getting burned. I've put a protective layer around it."
At last, Medusa was tempted. She craved strength, perhaps because of what the Snake-People Tribe had gone through. After mentally preparing herself, she bowed gracefully to Zhang Nian and thanked him. "Thank you, Master~"
"All right, all right. It's just a little something. Take it."
Zhang Nian was delighted. Just now, that pleasing electronic notification had sounded. Everything had gone exactly as he'd expected. Heavenly Flames could be included too!
[ Ding! Granting disciple Medusa the Heavenly Flame, Fallen Heart Flame... Returning... Return multiplier: 2,000 ] [ Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained... ]
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