Medicinal Bath

After explaining every precaution for body tempering in detail, Du Busi hurriedly left.

As the Body Sect's leader, Du Busi still had many matters to handle. Especially since he had promised Zhang Lexuan that he would make that count pay a little interest first, there was even more for him to do.

Only Ye An and Zhang Lexuan remained in the small palace.

Yet Zhang Lexuan did not feel awkward in the slightest. Instead, she had completely embraced her role. Not only did she neatly arrange the bedding, she even folded the clothes Du Busi had sent over into perfect order.

Watching Zhang Lexuan bustle about, Ye An could not help saying, "Sister Lexuan, you don't need to do this. I can handle it myself."

At his words, Zhang Lexuan's movements paused slightly.

She turned around, wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, and softly said, "It's fine. I'm your child bride, so I should be doing these things. Besides, I'll be done in a moment."

As she spoke, Zhang Lexuan put the last piece of clothing into the cabinet before walking back over to Ye An.

"I've experienced medicinal baths too. The first one will be somewhat painful, so you must endure it. Once you adapt, you'll feel exceptionally refreshed after the medicinal bath is over."

As she spoke, Zhang Lexuan extended her fair little hand directly toward Ye An's clothes.

???

Ye An instinctively retreated, a shocked expression appearing on his face.

Noticing Ye An's expression, Zhang Lexuan pressed her lips together, a blush rising to her face.

"I'll help you take off your clothes so you can begin the medicinal bath."

Although Zhang Lexuan sounded a little shy, she showed no intention of backing down. Instead, she reached out toward Ye An once more.

Seeing this, Ye An immediately panicked. "Ahem, Sister Lexuan, there's no need to trouble yourself with that. I can do it myself. Also... the steward just sent over two bath barrels. Sister Lexuan, you should get ready for your medicinal bath too."

As he spoke, Ye An backed away repeatedly, avoiding Zhang Lexuan's hands.

After gaining the status of child bride... Zhang Lexuan's behavior seemed to have become just a tiny bit wild. He truly could not handle it.

Of course, the main reason was that his current body was still too young.

With a body that was only six years old, having Zhang Lexuan help him undress felt rather strange.

If he had been sixteen, he might have let her...

Ye An coughed twice and fled in disarray.

Watching Ye An's departing figure, Zhang Lexuan pressed her lips together, a faint smile unexpectedly appearing at the corners of her mouth.

But the smile quickly vanished, replaced by an unshakable hatred. "Father... Mother... give me a little more time. I will definitely avenge you with my own hands!"

Ye An quickly entered another room, where his bath barrel had already been prepared.

The barrel was large, half a person's height, and filled with thick dark-green medicinal liquid. It gave off an extremely pungent, bitter smell. Just by smelling it, Ye An could tell that this medicinal bath was definitely good stuff.

"So this is the Body Sect's secret body-tempering medicinal liquid..."

Ye An took a deep breath, removed all his clothes, and climbed into the bath barrel using the small wooden stool beside it.

The medicinal liquid reached his chest.

The next second, indescribable agony exploded from every part of his body at once.

It felt as though tens of millions of red-hot steel needles had pierced his skin, bored through his muscles, and stabbed deep into his marrow. The tyrannical medicinal power in the liquid followed no logic at all, crashing into every meridian in his body like a burst dam.

This pain... was simply unimaginable!

In an instant, Ye An's body began to tremble violently. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead like rain, dripping into the dark-green liquid with soft hissing sounds. His hands gripped the edge of the barrel tightly, his knuckles turning bluish white from the excessive force.

But...

He absolutely could not pass out!

Ye An repeatedly warned himself in his heart.

Du Busi had previously explained every key point of medicinal-bath body tempering in detail, and the most important one was—he absolutely could not lose consciousness.

A body-tempering medicinal bath was the most fundamental refinement of the body. Once he lost consciousness, the soul power in his body would lose its guidance. At best, the bath would have no tempering effect; at worst, his meridians would shatter and he would become crippled.

Only by remaining awake at all times and actively circulating his soul power to guide the medicinal power could he achieve the tempering effect.

Ye An took a deep breath. His White Bone martial soul quietly emerged, and gleaming jade-white bone spikes suddenly grew all over his body. As his martial soul appeared, the pain seemed to lessen sharply.

At the very least, it gradually changed from unbearable agony into a scorching sensation he could endure.

Ye An slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and relaxed his taut body slightly. He knew the hardest stage had passed. All he had to do next was maintain the circulation of his soul power and let his body fully absorb the remaining medicinal power.

As time passed, the dark-green color of the medicinal liquid in the barrel visibly faded.

After an unknown amount of time, Ye An finally opened his eyes again.

The medicinal liquid that had originally been dark green had completely turned into crystal-clear transparent water. All its medicinal power had been thoroughly absorbed. A faint layer of gray-black impurities floated on the surface, giving off a slight fishy smell.

Ye An frowned and hurriedly climbed out of the bath barrel.

Only then did Ye An finally notice the changes in his body—under the effects of the medicinal bath, he seemed to have grown a little taller, but the most obvious change was his skin.

His originally fair skin now faintly gleamed with a warm, jade-like luster. When Ye An pressed it with his fingers, he could clearly feel its toughness and elasticity.

Besides that...

The bones in his body seemed to have become much tougher.

Could a single medicinal bath bring such enormous changes to his physique?

A delighted expression immediately appeared in Ye An's eyes.

No wonder the Body Sect's young sect master, Long Aotian, could defeat Huo Yuhao by himself... This medicinal bath truly was terrifying!

However, the only regrettable thing was that the medicinal bath was effective only for the first few times.

As the number of medicinal baths increased, the effects would diminish greatly.

According to the research of Du Busi and the previous generations of Body Sect leaders, entering Hurricane Cave after three medicinal baths produced the best results, while after seven baths, the medicinal bath would completely lose its effect.

If he wanted to further temper his physique, he could only continue going deeper into Hurricane Cave.

But that was only reasonable. If every medicinal bath could produce such results, everyone in the Body Sect would probably be able to attain sainthood through their flesh alone.