The Gift (1)

Dongfang Minghui stood surrounded by the crowd like a monkey on display, yet she maintained a calm expression.

Inwardly, however, she was extremely anxious. Oh lord, when she was in the Purple Demon Mountains she had merely crushed medicinal liquids to treat The Female Lead's external injuries, and she had never touched anything herb-related since, let alone understood how these pharmacists refined medicines.

It was said that pharmacists refined medicines in seclusion somewhere, each using their own unique methods, so even if she wanted to steal their techniques, she could not.

She knew she had four hours. Although she did not know how to refine medicine, she understood the principle of mutual balance. She arranged each herb one by one according to the magnitude of its Spiritual Power.

Even though she did so unintentionally, the dean still caught her in the act.

"Although her technique for refining medicine is somewhat bizarre, this little girl possesses very strong intuition."

The so-called intuition was the perceptual ability to predict the strength of Spiritual Power.

Dongfang Minghui was afraid that due to her own carelessness, she would use up all six spiritual herbs at once, and if she failed the medicine-refining test in the end, she would be laughed out of court by this group of people.

Therefore, she kept a card up her sleeve, finding the spots with the weakest Spiritual Power in each medicinal material, and then separating them one by one from the spiritual herbs, conducting her experiment as if no one else were around.

"Look, what is she doing?"

"What use could a single leaf be?"

"Hey, hey, she even tasted it—isn't she afraid of being poisoned?"

Everyone could not understand Dongfang Minghui's actions, so they began to discuss it among themselves.

Dongfang Wanyu could not understand either, but she roughly guessed what the other person was doing—was she experimenting? They all said a focused woman was at her most beautiful, and she now found that her own little Ninth was seeming more and more dazzling.

"Wanyu, have you thought about how you will refine your Divine Soul Pill later?" Qing Mo had already talked until her mouth was dry, while the other person paid her no mind at all. "You're wasting two hours of cultivation time in this place. What is wrong with you lately?"

When Dongfang Wanyu received word that the other person was going to take the junior pharmacist assessment, she had hesitated, but in the end she came anyway. She was glad she made the trip, otherwise the image of her Ninth Sister's helpless expression just now was almost—painful to imagine.

"I'll have someone seek out another medicinal material, and if that really doesn't work, I'll use other pills to replace the Divine Soul Pill." Dongfang Wanyu said it very casually.

Qing Mo no longer knew what she should say. They had prepared all the medicinal materials for nearly half a year, only to end up choosing someone else's instead. This Dongfang Minghui was definitely Wanyu's nemesis.

Dongfang Minghui's first experiment failed. She crushed all the spiritual herbs into liquid, wanting to use Spiritual Power to refine these liquids. It might also have been that her Spiritual Power control was problematic, because in the end the Spirit Medicine Liquid was completely evaporated by her, turning into a small pile of powder.

"Well, powder can probably be used too." She tried a small pinch. The taste was quite bitter, and the Spiritual Power was merely a tiny bit.

Seeing her tasting the medicine, the Lord Dean also very much wanted to know what miraculous effects the medicine powder she refined for the first time might have, but constrained by his status, he could only continue sitting in his seat and waiting.

For the second time, she once again took a tiny piece from the medicinal materials, crushed it continuously, and poured it separately into six different small porcelain bowls. The first time, she had paired the six medicinal materials by matching the one that emitted the strongest spiritual energy with the one that emitted the weakest, and so on; but for the second time, she broke the rules of the previous method, putting the two medicinal liquids with the strongest spiritual energy together to blend. Who would have thought that strength meeting strength would cause the spiritual energy to explode, completely overshadowing the medicinal liquids paired by weakness and weakness. Without needing to continue, she knew the second attempt had definitely failed as well.

She poured all the medicinal liquids together and deduced a rule: only when strong and weak Spiritual Powers blended with one another could one continue to formulate them.

For the third time, she took a bit of the medicinal material again, crushed them into liquid, but reversed the order of the first attempt. Then she controlled them slightly with Spiritual Power. Watching the medicinal liquid slowly turn viscous, she seized the opportunity to press them—pressing hard—until she finally kneaded them into a small round ball.

"Hehe, a pill." This was one of her great wishes upon coming to the Seven-Colored Continent: to turn medicinal liquid into pills so they would be very convenient to carry.

Dongfang Minghui opened her mouth, wanting to lick it, but was stopped by a junior pharmacist at the side.

"You have half an hour left."

She immediately stored the pill in a porcelain bottle, cutting away and crushing the most potent parts of all the spiritual herbs—it took her no more than half an hour. After that came the issue of controlling her Spiritual Power, which had always been a weak point for her.

If Little Color were here, perhaps the chance of success would be a bit higher.

She cautiously controlled her Spiritual Power, using it to cause the medicinal liquid in the small porcelain bowl to blend with one another, slowly pouring in the medicinal liquids of the remaining four kinds of spiritual herbs, kneading them lump by lump. She was extremely patience, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on that small clump of stuff.

Success or failure hinged on this one move.

Dongfang Minghui wrapped the medicinal liquid even more meticulously. Watching them turn viscous, she proceeded with the final step even more slowly and carefully.

The crowd, who had been whispering amongst themselves, saw her covered in sweat yet still infusing the medicinal liquid with Spiritual Power. Soon, the embryonic form of the pill took shape.

Before the junior pharmacist called out that time was up, she continued to wrap the pill in Spiritual Power, compressing it hard just like she once compressed those unruly, rampaging wisps of Spiritual Power in her Soul Sea.

At that moment, she had an epiphany.

The Spiritual Power that had been heavily suppressed suddenly erupted, and rich spiritual energy emanated from her body.

Dongfang Wanyu and the Lord Dean stood up at almost the exact same time. The Lord Dean made a sound, "All pharmacists, listen up. Everyone retreat three hundred meters. Without my special permission, no one is allowed to approach."

Dongfang Wanyu, however, stepped forward and snatched the pill away at top speed, placing it in a porcelain bottle. Then she lowered her voice by Dongfang Minghui's ear, "Ninth Sister, focus your mind and sit cross-legged. Seventh Sister is here to guard you; rest assured and break through your Advancement."

The Lord Dean originally wanted to chase her away, but seeing Dongfang Wanyu find a spot relatively far from Dongfang Minghui to sit cross-legged, and drawing a sword from her spatial ring to stab it into the path in front of everyone—this action clearly told others that anyone who dared step an inch closer would bleed within three paces.

Dongfang Minghui could no longer perceive any slight disturbance from the outside world. She found herself plunged into a vast, lush green prairie with fresh air, blue skies, white clouds, and a group of cute alpacas in the distance.

"Idiot, guard your mind. Stop thinking about random nonsense," Little Color suddenly spoke up to remind her, evidently having sensed the Spiritual Power fluctuations in the Soul Sea and forced itself to wake up.

Dongfang Minghui immediately began dealing with the Spiritual Power vortex at her Dantian.

"Remember, from now on, you must advance level by level until you find a skill suitable for you," Little Color warned within the Soul Sea.

The barrier from a rank-one Spirit Master to a rank-two Spirit Master was extremely thin. She released a tiny bit of Spiritual Power and easily broke through it.

In less than two hours, she suppressed all the remaining Spiritual Power back into her Dantian.

When Dongfang Minghui opened her eyes, she discovered that The Female Lead was sitting opposite her, also cultivating. However, the moment she stirred, Dongfang Wanyu opened her eyes as well.

"Congratulations, Ninth Sister."

Although Dongfang Wanyu found it strange why the other person had only advanced by a single minor rank, she was still happy for her. She effortlessly pulled her sword up and tossed it straight back into her spatial ring.

"Is this the medicinal pill you refined just now?" Dongfang Wanyu handed the porcelain bottle over to her.

Dongfang Minghui amusedly corrected her, "I call it a pill."

Well, it was Dongfang Wanyu's first time seeing something resembling a medicinal pill. "What's the difference between this and a medicinal pill?"

This question truly stumped her. The commonality was that both basically looked identical, and the difference was probably that a medicinal pill was refined by an alchemist using a pill furnace, whereas a pill was condensed by herself using Spiritual Power.

"You certainly have opened our eyes, managing to comprehend and breakthrough while refining medicine." The dean had not seen such a talented young person in a long time. He smiled squintingly and reached out a hand, "Let me see the pill you condensed."

Dongfang Minghui handed it over with a trace of apprehension in her heart. She had refined this pill, but still had not had the chance to taste a single bite.

She had handed it over before she even had a chance to check its effects.

The Lord Dean poured it out of the porcelain bottle. There were faint green patterns on the pill, making it truly look like it came from an alchemy room. If he hadn't witnessed Minghui condensing it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have believed it.

The appearance and quality were acceptable, but there was still one minor flaw—a small corner was missing.

The Lord Dean sniffed it beneath his nose. The fragrance was clean, and a rich wave of Spiritual Power assaulted his senses. For no other reason than the fact that this pill could preserve Spiritual Power without dissipating, he would count Qian Minghui as having passed.

"Not bad."

To be able to receive a word of praise like "not bad" from the dean of the Medicine Department, Dongfang Wanyu was genuinely happy for Dongfang Minghui.

Dongfang Minghui could hardly believe it either; the pill she condensed on her first try actually received praise.

"However, little girl, I saw today that your refining technique was unfamiliar, entirely that of a novice. When formulating the pill, although there was order amidst the clutter, it was ultimately still a weak point of yours. Follow me to study properly some other day, so as to broaden your horizons." The dean still pointed out her shortcomings in a timely manner. Don't think his old eyes were dim; he could see clearly that when this little girl refined it, her hands were shaking, and obviously her heart was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.

Still, the other person had ultimately refined a new type of pill, which came as quite a surprise to him. Even more surprisingly, the other person's comprehension was also quite good.

This only deepened the decision the Lord Dean had made deep in his heart.

Dongfang Minghui felt a bit embarrassed by the Chubby Old Man's words. Her performance was completely that of a blind cat catching a dead mouse—she just had good luck. If she hadn't done a few extra experiments, she reckoned this round would have flopped.

At that time she would have slapped her own face repeatedly, and Xu Lian that woman would probably laugh herself to death.

Seeing the Lord Dean holding something resembling a medicinal pill in his hand, everyone curiously drew closer and began discussing it all at once, some even wanting to snatch it from the dean's hand to take a look.

"In my estimation, the Spiritual Power of this pill is well-preserved and very abundant. Therefore, Qian Minghui passes the second round of the junior pharmacist test."

"Congratulations."

"Congratulations, congratulations."

Many people had witnessed her failure with their own eyes—she had used up all three chances just on the opportunity alone—so success was hard-won. Coupled with seeing her talent, many people accepted it gracefully, at least letting them know that everyone makes mistakes at something, and as long as you don't give up, the next second might be success.

"Isn't there a third round?" Seeing everyone crowding around Dongfang Minghui, making it seem as though she enjoyed the adoration of the stars, Xu Lian felt an inevitable imbalance in her heart, and in a moment of impulse, she poured cold water on everyone present.

The dean glanced at her and smiled squintingly, "Pharmacist Xu's reminder is right. Half an incense stick's time from now, the third round of testing begins."

Dongfang Minghui also smiled squintingly at Xu Lian and stuck out her little tongue. That provocative look almost caused Xu Lian to lose her poise and rush up to slap her twice.

The third round of the junior pharmacist assessment: a qualified pharmacist must surely be able to save lives with medicine. The theme of the third round was treating patients. As the saying went, saving a life was like putting out a fire; the examinee had to formulate medicine with the fastest time and speed, and then administer it to the patient.

This round assessed rapid diagnosis and the ability to find the right medicine.

Placed in front of Dongfang Minghui was an entire table of jars and bottles. All the porcelain bottles were of the same height, with no markings on them whatsoever, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the assessment.

A junior pharmacist would specifically time her.

Dongfang Minghui looked at Xu Lian, who was glaring at her with hatred amidst the crowd, and her mind took a slight turn. "Lord Dean, to demonstrate the assessment principles of fairness and impartiality, I have a better proposal. I wonder if it is appropriate to speak of it?"

The dean smiled squintingly, "Please speak."

"Timing alone cannot convince the masses. I believe the third round must select an outstanding and talented junior pharmacist of exceptional ability to compete against me. Both shall diagnose simultaneously, and whoever selects the right medicine the fastest and cures the patient will naturally be the winner. I believe everyone won't have any objections then."

This phrasing was extremely slick, as if intended to nip any subsequent controversies in the bud.

When everyone heard this, it really was so, and they nodded in agreement one after another.

The Lord Dean also smiled. If it were three months ago, the three rounds of testing for junior pharmacists were not necessarily aimed at a single individual, so the solution Dongfang Minghui accidentally proposed happened to coincide with the conventional rules. Selecting one person out of two was indeed the victor.

Dongfang Wanyu smiled with her lips pressed together. Ninth Sister was too mischievous, always thinking of ways to stir up trouble.

"Your Ninth Sister's move is truly vicious. She looks like she's showing a fair and impartial competition, but actually wants to step on others to climb up." Qing Mo's commentary was thoroughly unsparing.

"Ninth Sister is not that kind of person." Dongfang Wanyu said with a smile.

"In that case, which capable and brilliant pharmacist would you like to select?" the Lord Dean asked good-naturedly. He could almost be certain this little girl was starting to dig a pit again.

Dongfang Minghui's eyes rolled slightly as she swept her gaze over the various senior brothers and sisters, finally stopping on Xu Lian. "Dean, I see that Pharmacist Xu's ability and talent are quite exceptional, and she took great care of me back at the White Angelica Garden. I think it couldn't be better for her to compete with me. What do you think?"

The dean was naturally happy to watch a good show. He said, "Does Pharmacist Xu have any objections?"

Seeing this, Xu Lian stepped forward and said, "More than willing."

She had waited for this moment for a very long time; the moment Dongfang Minghui provoked her, she rushed up without even thinking.

"Pharmacist Xu, please take care of me." She even flashed her most brilliant smile at Xu Lian.

In Xu Lian's eyes today, any goodwill from the other person was nothing more than all sorts of provocation.

The dean smiled squintingly, "The third round of testing is about to begin. To highlight the fairness and impartiality of this competition, the illnesses and afflictions on the patients this time will be designated by me. The rest depends on both of you."

With the Lord Dean personally designating the patient's condition, he would definitely plant mines. However, this actually made her feel at ease, as she didn't need to worry about anyone cheating.

The patients were quickly brought over by people. Both patients had identical symptoms, rolling around on the ground in pain.

Dongfang Minghui walked up and pressed down on the patient, "Where does it hurt? Is it your stomach?"

The patient's face had turned pale from pain, making it difficult even to speak clearly. Without a shred of disgust, Dongfang Minghui pressed everywhere on the patient's abdomen, gently, asking each time she pressed, "Is it here?"

This was repeated until she pressed a spot on the abdomen and the patient let out a groan.

"Is it here?"

She pressed again for confirmation.

The patient nodded with difficulty, "Yes."

At that moment, she seemed to return to her past life, treating patients in the hospital with practiced movements. Just as she was about to reach out for her diagnostic stethoscope, she realized only when her hand was extended that she was still at the competition venue and not a hospital. She rubbed her brow, feeling that she had become muddled.

To avoid interfering with the two of them, their respective areas were blocked off in the middle by a piece of blue cloth, isolating both sides from each other.

While Dongfang Minghui was diagnosing here, Xu Lian's side had already finished diagnosing and started selecting the spiritual medicine the patient ought to take.

"Have you been eating random things today?" Dongfang Minghui continued unhurriedly to ask.

The patient shook their head, then thought of something and nodded instead.

Seeing the patient's lips turn purple, beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolling down, their face turning pale from pain, limbs weak, and the abdomen hurting the most—so painful they wished they could roll around on the ground a few times—she formed a preliminary judgment.

She walked to the table, opened each porcelain bottle, sniffed it with her nose, and then put it down. Her speed was extremely fast, taking about the time of an incense stick to divide the spiritual medicines into two batches.

Afterward, she opened the porcelain bottle caps once more, but this time the time spent sniffing grew longer. Every time she sniffed one, she would eliminate a porcelain bottle.

In the end, only a single bottle remained.

She smelled it repeatedly, and even tried a tiny taste herself. Feeling a warm sensation in her abdomen, she poured the medicine into the patient's mouth.

Very soon, the patient's pain gradually lessened, the color of their lips gradually faded, and their complexion was no longer as pale as before.

On the other side, Xu Lian had diagnosed quickly. At first she thought it was mild poisoning, but later thinking that the questions set by the Lord Dean should not be so simple, she diagnosed it all over again.

Just like Dongfang Minghui, she also spent a lot of effort identifying the spiritual medicines.

Having chosen the spiritual medicine, she poured it directly into the patient's mouth with a victory-assured attitude. The pain on the patient's body disappeared bit by bit, and their complexion also grew rosy.

"You're already cured." Xu Lian asserted.

The moment the patient tried to get up, however, they felt a severe, twisting pain in their abdomen, even worse and more unbearable than the pain just moments before.

On Dongfang Minghui's side, she helped the patient slowly stand up and said with utmost patience, "Actually, you don't have any serious illness; you just accidentally ate something and got mildly poisoned. I've already had you drink the antidote. Just rest quietly for three days, and don't go eating randomly anymore after that."

Everyone had witnessed how the two of them treated their patients; who won and who lost was clear to everyone's hearts.

The Lord Dean had people pull away the curtain. Xu Lian was still diagnosing why the patient's injuries had instead worsened after drinking the spiritual medicine.

"Everyone has seen it, the result is very obvious. Now I, the dean, personally announce that Qian Minghui has successfully challenged and passed as a junior pharmacist."

Xu Lian probably could not believe she had lost just like that.

People stepped forward to offer congratulations one after another. The Medicine Department gaining a junior pharmacist seemed to be a grand event well worth celebrating.

Dongfang Minghui didn't even have time to step on the disillusioned Pharmacist Xu Lian a couple more times to kick her while she was down before she was crowded aside by her enthusiastic senior brothers and sisters.

"Congratulations, Little Junior Sister."

"Please guide me well in the future."

Dongfang Wanyu couldn't help laughing as she watched the other person being squeezed into a flustered mess by the crowd. After watching for a while, she disappeared silently, just as she had come without startling anyone.

Xu Lian still couldn't believe she had lost, and only belatedly realized she had fallen for Dongfang Minghui's trap. The other party proposing a competition wasn't simply wanting to challenge her, but rather wanting to use her as a stepping stone—trampling her fiercely, just like she had done to her own master back then.

"Impossible!" Xu Lian cried out.

This cry did not disturb them, but it happened to reach the ears of the Lord Dean.

When the dean wasn't smiling, his eyes, narrowed into slits, carried a hint of sternness.

Xu Lian shook her head, muttering, "It shouldn't be. I clearly diagnosed the other person as having been poisoned by Doroman, so how could it end up like this?"

Doroman's poison?

The dean tugged at his white eyebrows. "Doroman's poison does indeed invade a person's five viscera and six bowels, and the early stages of poisoning do indeed involve abdominal pain—the symptoms are about the same, but did you ask the patient how they felt?"

This question was specially prepared for those who were self-righteous and conceited. He actually knew in his heart who would fall into the trap. However, failing to act with caution when treating a patient meant one could not be considered a qualified healer.

Since things had already reached this point, if Xu Lian still didn't know where she went wrong, she would have lived in vain as a pharmacist for all these years.

"Go back and reflect carefully on where you went wrong."

"Yes, Dean."

Xu Lian stood up in a dejected state, walking step by step down the road running counter to theirs. Her face was icy, her fists clenched so tight that her nails dug into her flesh without her even realizing it. Hearing the sounds of laughter coming from behind, it felt like a sharp blade piercing fiercely into her chest. From now on, all her past good reputation would cease to exist.

All of this was because of Qian Minghui; she wished she could strip the other person's tendons, peel her bones, and grind her to dust.

The dean stared at her retreating back, shaking his head and sighing endlessly. Hopefully, this reflection would make her realize where she needed to make corrections; otherwise, her career as a pharmacist would come to a halt.

"All right, everyone disperse and go back to prepare well for the Advancement test three months from now." Once the dean gave the word, everyone had no choice but to clear the scene.

Dongfang Minghui couldn't help exhaling a sigh of relief. "Dean, thanks to your help, otherwise—wait, where did my Seventh Sister go?"

She had wanted to celebrate with her, too.

Seeing her fallen little face, the dean said, "Your Seventh Sister must have left beforehand because of something urgent."

That's right, she comforted herself. The Female Lead was a cultivation maniac to begin with; it was already a rarity that she could spare four or five hours for her.

"Starting tomorrow, you will move directly into the Back Mountain. A pharmacist just left recently, and his courtyard is still vacant at the moment. This is the first benefit the Medicine Department gives to pharmacists." The dean smoothed his beard, feeling that handing an Intermediate Potion Master's courtyard over to her counted as compensation for the previous incident, and of course, carried a tiny bit of intention to promote her.

Upon returning, he would have to carefully study the effects of the pill.

Dongfang Minghui glanced at him. "Dean, you also know I have my own courtyard, and I don't want to move out for now."

Transplanting a single Blue Star Dream was already extremely troublesome, not to mention that she had one more Beauty Bamboo in her yard whose successful growth remained uncertain.

For the sake of these cute little plants, Dongfang Minghui had no choice but to give up the easily accessible perks, and she could not help sighing. "However, Dean, I want my Seventh Sister to move into my courtyard. I wonder if that is doable."

"Naturally, it is not." The dean squinted at her, watching her face once again droop into a tiny frown, looking as disappointed as if the sky were about to fall.

"However, since you haven't accepted the courtyard I arranged for you, I can grant you one that you want." The dean's words were very subtle.

Fortunately, Dongfang Minghui heard them too, and she quietly said, "May I ask for my Senior Sister to move into the small courtyard?"

The dean gave a dry cough, placed his hands behind his back, and as if he hadn't heard a thing, spoke loudly, "I'll give you one day to rest. Report to my office tomorrow."

Was this considered agreement?

Agreed, agreed, agreed.

"Yes, Dean."

As soon as Dongfang Minghui returned, she immediately shared the good news with her two good friends. Upon hearing that someone would soon be moving in, the Blue Star Dream immediately danced with joy.

The twigs of the Beauty Bamboo had been buried in the soil for only a few days. She stared at that small patch of land she had cordoned off, looking and looking, yet stubbornly failing to notice anything at all.

You'd better not waste my efforts. Grow well, you hear?

News of her becoming a pharmacist quickly reached the ears of everyone in the Medicine Department. Knowing that she had passed the assessment, the managing senior purposely gave her a set of clothes belonging exclusively to junior pharmacists.

The clothes for medicine boys had previously been uniform, grayish, and extremely ugly. She hadn't expected pharmacists to have a uniform attire as well, except that it was silver-white, with a pattern at the chest and cuffs, looking much nicer than the medicine boys' garments.

"You didn't know this, did you? If you walk the streets of the Venus Empire wearing this set of clothes, many people will show you a few degrees of respect. Look here again. This is the Medicine Department's emblem, as well as your name. If you encounter any difficulties, as long as there is a place belonging to our Potion Guild anywhere on the Seven-Colored Continent, you can go and seek help."

"Many thanks, Senior." She still had to accept the clothes; whenever times got tough, she could pawn them, and they would probably be worth a lot of money.

Dongfang Minghui wore a look of utter disgust, feeling that her face was worth so little—she was actually worth less than a suit of clothes. It was practically the pits.

"Junior Sister—ah, I have to change how I address you. Call you Pharmacist Qian from now on," the managing senior said with a smile.

"Senior."

"Don't call me Senior anymore. I'm merely a manager in the White Angelica Garden. Just call me Yong Xing from now on," Yong Xing could not help self-deprecatingly saying.

Dongfang Minghui pouted. "Senior, if you say that, I'm going to get angry. Ever since I came to the White Angelica Garden, you're the one who has guided me along the way. Do the bonds between us need to be so distant? I'll still call you Senior in the future, and you can just call me Junior Sister."

As she dealt with the spiritual herbs of the White Angelica Garden, she inevitably came to know some inside gossip about the place that others were unaware of.

Take Yong Xing, for instance. He had been inside the Royal Academy since birth. He was a child born to two medicine boys in private, and probably out of fear of punishment, they had abandoned the newborn infant in the Back Mountain, leaving him to fend for himself and survive on his own. The little child had gone hungry for days, crying until he had no strength left. Had the dean not discovered him while searching for spiritual herbs, he likely would have perished already.

At the time, the dean discovered a patch of Yongxing Grass growing all around him, so he gave him the name Yong Xing.

Yong Xing had no idea that the person before him knew about his background, but upon hearing her say this, he felt that he had been overly self-conscious. Friendship, indeed, could not be bound by such rigid courtesies.

Back then, he was still young, but because his aptitude was longstanding, he had easily secured the manager's position. Among that batch of medicine boys, a certain Xu Lian had appeared. To deliberately curry favor with him, Xu Lian would show him warm concern, gradually warming the heart that had originally lacked love. However, this care vanished the moment she became a junior pharmacist, immediately followed by cold ridicule and extra warnings.

Thinking of those matters, Yong Xing still felt as though there were a stone in his heart, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.

"Tomorrow you are resting. Do you have anything you want to arrange?" Yong Xing's original intention was to celebrate a bit.

Dongfang Minghui wanted to have The Female Lead move, so she said, "I want to cook and treat you to a meal."

Dongfang Wanyu found it strange when she heard the knock on the door. Opening it, she was surprised. "Ninth Sister, how did you find this place?"

Ever since she was promoted to a junior pharmacist, Dongfang Minghui felt that walking around the Royal Academy as a minor character had suddenly become much more convenient. Especially while wearing her pharmacist robes, wherever she went, people would cast a glance her way.

Dongfang Minghui pointed to the emblem on her clothes. "I asked, and they told me."

Dongfang Wanyu roughly understood from her proud tone, but seeing her act like an arrogant little kitten with her tail about to curl up, she smiled. "Alright, my pharmacist, to celebrate your promotion, Seventh Sister also has a gift to give you."

Her eyes widened immediately. Oh dear me, did I hear wrong just now? The Female Lead actually said she has a gift to give me.

Blink, blink, and blink again.

Seeing her bewildered and silly expression, Dongfang Wanyu took the gift out of her spatial storage, placing a small chest before her.

Dongfang Minghui grabbed the small chest directly into her arms, and it was quite heavy. "Seventh Sister, what is inside this thing?"

Dongfang Wanyu said with a mysterious expression, "Unpack it and see for yourself."

With trepidation, she unwrapped it. Inside the box, an object lay quietly, leaving her utterly bewildered. Huh, an egg.

"This egg should be the young egg of some kind of magical beast. I picked it up by chance," Dongfang Wanyu explained irresponsibly.

Dongfang Minghui was struck dumb by The Female Lead's move: giving a gift meant giving an egg, and an unknown egg at that.

"Thank you, Seventh Sister."

Never minding it, Dongfang Minghui cradled this egg—which was larger than both her hands combined—in her arms and stroked it twice, her mood extremely bittersweet.

Dongfang Minghui appeased her startled heart for a long while before speaking. "Seventh Sister, I came today to tell you some good news."

Dongfang Wanyu looked at her earnestly, though inwardly she could not stop asking herself if she had sent the wrong gift. Just now, Ninth Sister hadn't looked as happy as she had imagined. However, seeing the other person tightly hug the egg again, she comforted herself with the thought that Ninth Sister must like it.

In truth, Dongfang Minghui had no choice but to hold on tightly—not only because the egg was large and heavy, but also because it was too slippery. If it accidentally slipped straight to the ground, it would probably truly shatter.

If The Female Lead flew into a rage and chopped her to pieces, she would shatter right along with it.

It was literally egg-shattering and person-shattering; as long as the egg survived, she survived.

"Seventh Sister, I've come to tell you good news. The dean has already agreed for you to move into my small courtyard." Dongfang Minghui leaned close to her ear with a mysterious air and spoke in a low voice.

Her warm breath billowed against the other's neck, unexpectedly giving her a fluttering sensation. Numb and tingling, Dongfang Wanyu awkwardly averted her face, shifted slightly, and maintained a certain distance from Dongfang Minghui.

She understood now: her own idle remark from days before had been taken seriously by the other party. At the time, she had simply wanted to tell her that without power and without a voice, she was nothing at all.

She hadn't expected the other party to misunderstand her words, but that was fine too.

"Then Seventh Sister shall bask in your reflected glory."

Dongfang Minghui chuckled inwardly. As if The Female Lead would bask in her glory—The Female Lead's halo was so dazzlingly bright, she might even bring good luck along with her.

Hehe, someone with super great luck is about to move into my courtyard, so my little friends and I will definitely have great luck too.

Dongfang Wanyu tidied up that very day. In truth, there wasn't much to bring; she simply locked her door and followed Dongfang Minghui to the small courtyard.

Seeing them return, Yong Xing immediately spoke up, "Miss Qian, I have already tidied up your room."

Dongfang Minghui couldn't stand seeing him always act so servile. "Senior, she is my Seventh Sister. Don't be so formal from now on; my Seventh Sister doesn't care for that sort of thing either."

Afterward, she introduced him to The Female Lead. "Seventh Sister, this is Senior Brother Yong Xing. Thanks to his care ever since I came to White Angelica Garden, he's a really good person."

Yong Xing lowered his head, his eyes nonetheless growing a little damp.

"Good, many thanks to Senior Brother Yong for taking care of my Ninth Sister. I am Wanyu; you can just call me by my name from now on." Dongfang Wanyu smiled at him.

Yong Xing nodded, turned to Dongfang Minghui, and asked, "Junior Sister, is there anything else that needs to be prepared for tomorrow?"

If his prior care had been for Situ Hao's sake, then any future care would be his own willing devotion.

Dongfang Minghui shook her head. "Thank you, Senior. You've had a hard time today too; go back and rest early."

All evening, Dongfang Minghui tossed and turned on her bed, unable to sleep no matter what. The Female Lead had just moved in, and she was far too excited.

From now on, she could continue cultivating revolutionary friendship. She needed to work hard, cheer up, and rise to the occasion.

When she inadvertently glanced at the egg in the bedding beside her, Dongfang Minghui wore a look of utter gloom, feeling as though she wanted to die.

"My dear mother." She scooped the egg into her arms and patted it gently. The eggshell was fine, but her own hand stung with redness.

"Let me tell you, don't rely on Seventh Sister to back you up and act all cocky. The day you hatch will be the prime moment for me to deal with you; you just wait for me." She simply sat up straight, glaring viciously as she muttered to the egg, "And you'd better pop out as a pretty little fellow, or else I'll fry you like a chicken egg and make a whole table of egg tarts, see if I don't."

By the end, she talked herself tired, unconsciously hugging the egg as she drifted off to sleep. Naturally, she failed to notice the egg shifting its position on its own, pressing tightly against her belly and spinning around.

The next day, Dongfang Minghui rose early. Following her usual routine, she watered the Blue Star Dream and the Beauty Bamboo, loosened the soil, and checked for any pests.

After getting everything properly settled, not long after, Yong Xing brought all the purchased vegetables into the courtyard.

Dongfang Minghui began industriously washing and sorting the vegetables.

"Junior Sister, I wouldn't have guessed that those slender hands of yours had ever cooked a meal!" Yong Xing pointed at her delicate hands.

"Senior, you're making fun of me. There's no help for it; when you're starving, you think about finding food. Actually, I just figured it out by fumbling around on my own," Dongfang Minghui giggled and rambled nonsense.

As soon as Dongfang Minghui got up, Dongfang Wanyu knew. In fact, she was entirely clear on the fact that the previous day, the other had tossed and turned, muttering to the egg.

Once Spiritual Power grew stronger, that was the one benefit.

If Dongfang Minghui knew The Female Lead had heard everything she said, she probably wouldn't dare spout nonsense ever again.

Dongfang Wanyu watched them for a while, then closed her door and resumed her cultivation.

Only when the sound of knocking on the door rang out from outside did she snap back from her meditative state.

"Seventh Sister, time to eat."

Dongfang Minghui called out many times outside, but there was not a peep of movement within. She assumed The Female Lead had gone out, but just as she turned around, the door swung open.

Dongfang Wanyu caught the fragrance of food. In truth, the higher one's cultivation level, the less nourishment one needed to absorb. Most of the time, she felt she didn't need to eat at all; Spiritual Power alone was enough.

Three people, a large table of dishes.

Seeing the table full of food, Dongfang Wanyu suddenly felt a bit of appetite. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite; the taste was somewhat sweet and sour, yet very palatable.

"Junior Sister Wanyu, Junior Sister specially made this for you. You must eat a bit more."

Dongfang Minghui also watched her with a nervous heart, terrified the other might say it didn't taste good. Back in the Purple Demon Mountains, whether her roasted meat was properly done or too tough, The Female Lead would always speak her mind bluntly, frequently wounding her young and tender heart beyond recognition, ying ying ying ying.

"Okay." Dongfang Wanyu took two more bites.

The three of them dished food into each other's bowls, finishing a meal