His sister arrived

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed, and Fang Hong's magical power returned to the Qi Refining sixth layer.

Over these days, he and Su Yao had cultivated tirelessly, day and night, finally replenishing all the depletion caused by converting his magical power earlier.

Only then did the growth of his magical power slow.

Fortunately, he had no shortage of spirit pills, along with the pills newly delivered by Steward Mu. Combined with the wonders of Dragon-Phoenix Guidance, his overall cultivation speed, though no match for geniuses with first- or second-grade spiritual meridians, was not much different from those with third- or fourth-grade spiritual meridians.

His swordsmanship had also improved further.

He could now withstand six attacks from Yan Suyue, and his soul could remain in the illusory space within the album for increasingly long periods.

The young married woman in the painting had also advanced from the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the sixth, seemingly growing alongside his cultivation and always remaining at the same level as him.

Fang Hong did not seek to learn any profound sword techniques of the Heaven-Reaching Sword Sect from this beautiful young woman. He only wanted to build a solid foundation for his own swordsmanship.

Frequently exchanging blows with a sword cultivator of this caliber truly improved his understanding of the sword, as well as his adaptability and combat experience when facing enemies.

Experience could only improve slowly through daily accumulation; there were no shortcuts.

One day.

On the third floor of the jade tower, a cool sea breeze blew through, gently stirring the curtains, yet failing to dispel the intimate atmosphere in the bedroom.

Fang Hong lay lazily on his stomach on the chaise longue beside the bathing pool, while Su Yao straddled his legs and massaged his lower back and shoulders.

The two had just finished soaking in the bathing pool. Su Yao's slender, shapely figure was clad in a moon-white bellyband and short silk underpants, her snow-white skin gleaming with a moist luster.

"Yao, your technique is getting more and more polished."

Feeling the pair of slender yet strong hands behind him carefully kneading and pressing, Fang Hong praised her sincerely.

As she massaged him, Su Yao could not help laughing. "I never knew you were so good at ordering people around. You want me to wash and massage your feet, then help you bathe and give you massages. I'm practically your maid now."

During this time, under Fang Hong's deliberate guidance and coaxing, Su Yao had slowly accepted many unreasonable requests.

They had already tried nearly half of the many tricks Fang Hong had learned from Dongying in his previous life.

Step by step, Su Yao had begun to grow accustomed to his many novel ideas.

Fang Hong closed his eyes in lazy enjoyment. "Haven't I washed your feet and massaged you too?"

"You have the nerve to say that?" Su Yao rolled her eyes at him, pressing a little harder as she chided him coyly. "When have you ever properly finished giving me a massage?"

As she spoke, she took the jade bottle beside her and poured a little floral essential oil into her palm. After rubbing her fair, tender hands together, she once again traced gentle, attentive circles over Fang Hong's back, massaging with gradually increasing pressure.

This floral essential oil was another of Fang Hong's "novel ideas," extracted from flowers by the two of them.

The corners of Su Yao's lips curved upward as she joked and bantered with Fang Hong, a tender, sweet smile appearing on her face.

With her former temperament, she would never have wasted time on such "idle matters" unrelated to cultivation.

But now, she enjoyed the feeling of making her cultivation partner happy. Even if it cost her some cultivation time, it no longer mattered.

Fang Hong said softly, "Yao, actually, there's another kind of oil massage..."

Su Yao deftly patted his strong back muscles, her expression earnest. "How else can you massage?"

"Bring your ear closer," Fang Hong said.

Su Yao leaned close and heard Fang Hong whisper, "Pour on more floral essential oil. Don't use your hands, use your breasts..."

Before Fang Hong finished, her pretty face flushed crimson, and she tapped him lightly on the head. "You're getting less and less proper."

As she spoke, she instinctively glanced down at her own fair, full breasts, hesitating for a moment. "Would that work too?"

Half an hour later.

The two walked out of the jade tower and strolled barefoot along the beach hand in hand, letting the clear, cold waves wash over their feet from time to time.

A faint blush lingered on Su Yao's face. Her long skirt fluttered in the wind, and her black hair brushed Fang Hong's cheek, carrying a faint floral fragrance.

They strolled leisurely like this, chatting as they walked.

Suddenly, Fang Hong's expression shifted slightly, and he took an exquisite jade talisman from his storage pouch.

Light flickered on the jade talisman. Steward Mu had sent another message.

He touched the jade talisman with his divine sense, and a moment later, his expression turned odd. "Sister Wan has come to the market."

Not only that, but the Fang Household had also gathered quite a few ingredients for refining the Seven Great Medicines during this time, and all of them had been delivered to Yunchuan Studio.

"She's here?" Su Yao froze at his words, a complicated look flashing through her eyes. "Why would she come?"

Fang Hong smiled. "She probably couldn't stop worrying about you and came to have a look."

Su Yao tightened her grip on Fang Hong's hand. "Then let's go see her together."

Fang Hong nodded and immediately summoned the carriage and the Snow Lion Talisman Beast, taking Su Yao straight to Five Dragon Island.

They traveled without a word.

A little over two hours later, they arrived at the market and entered without trouble after showing their identity talismans at the entrance.

The market was as bustling as ever.

The two walked along the street. Su Yao seemed in no hurry to see Su Wan, looking this way and that as though she were curious about everything.

Fang Hong did not hurry her.

When they passed the shop selling the Li Fire Heavenly Palace's Golden Glow Scarlet Jade, Su Yao could not resist her curiosity and went inside with Fang Hong to buy a box of the unusual stones.

The unopened wooden box contained twenty pieces of Golden Glow Scarlet Jade, priced at two hundred low-grade spirit stones in total. Other Qi Refining cultivators would never have bought so many in one go.

Fang Hong had only spent so lavishly to cheer the beauty up because Su Yao had seemed somewhat distracted along the way.

Sure enough, the Golden Glow Scarlet Jade diverted Su Yao's attention. After opening the box, she picked up one of the unusual stones and circulated her magical power to refine it a little. The golden clouds within the stone slowly vanished.

A fiery character appeared before their eyes. It was unmistakably the word "empty."

Su Yao bit her lip lightly and picked up another stone. The golden clouds inside dissipated, revealing another "empty."

She opened six stones in succession, all empty.

When she reached the seventh stone, the fiery character inside finally changed.

"Thirty."

"Look, a winner!" Delight appeared on her face, and she hurriedly handed the stone to Fang Hong, saying happily, "Thirty spirit stones back."

"There are probably more prizes among the rest," Fang Hong said, taking the scarlet jade and examining it closely.

He very much wanted to see whether Su Yao, with only a single auspicious Heavenly Yi Noble star in her destiny, could win a grand prize.

Su Yao continued opening stones, getting several more empty ones in a row. When she reached the thirteenth stone, she suddenly revealed the character for "hundred."

She had won another hundred spirit stones.

She continued opening stones, and among the remaining seven, another three bore the character for "thirty."

One box of stones had yielded a total of two hundred and twenty spirit stones.

The shop attendant asked them with a smile, "Esteemed guests, would you like to keep buying stones or exchange these for spirit stones?"

Fang Hong said directly, "Exchange them all for Golden Glow Scarlet Jade."

The attendant smiled sweetly, accepted the winning stones, and took another box and two loose stones from behind the counter.

"Won't you try?" Su Yao, hooked on the game, glanced at Fang Hong as she asked.

Fang Hong shook his head. "You do it."

Su Yao casually picked up a stone from the box and deftly refined away the golden clouds within. A dazzling flare suddenly appeared inside the stone, and four small fiery characters shone brilliantly.

-Second-tier Dharma Treasure.