Su Wan stayed at Yunchuan Studio for three days.
On the morning of the fourth day, she departed gracefully and returned to the Shangqing Sect.
Over those days, the sisters often whispered together, chatting and laughing merrily. Occasionally, Fang Hong joined them in conversation and laughter.
After Su Wan left, Fang Hong and Su Yao also returned to the Yin-Yang Sect.
As soon as they returned to the White Jade Pavilion, Su Yao headed for the meditation room on the second floor, preparing to cultivate.
Fang Hong followed her into the meditation room, wrapped his arms around the girl's slender, supple waist, and let his hands wander. "Aren't you going upstairs for a rest?"
Su Yao raised her hands to tie back her soft, glossy hair and looked at him seriously. "I need to catch up to my sister's cultivation realm as soon as possible. I can't afford to slack off in the slightest."
She paused, then added with a hint of bashfulness, "Besides, if we rely too much on Dragon-Phoenix Guidance, it will foster lust. Indulging in it frequently will magnify greed and obsession, wear away our self-control, and obstruct the Great Dao."
"From now on, once every seven days would be best."
Fang Hong felt she had a point and agreed. "Was this Sister Wan's advice?"
Su Yao hesitated briefly, then nodded. "Yes."
Fang Hong kissed her forehead, then pinched her fair, delicate cheek and said with a smile, "All right. Once every seven days."
Su Yao gave him an enchanting smile, her eyes soft as water. "Then I'll begin my seclusion. Don't you slack off either."
As she spoke, she pushed Fang Hong out of the meditation room.
Fang Hong went up to the third floor alone and began studying the "Seven Great Medicines of Kunxu."
Over the past few days, he had already carefully inventoried the materials Steward Mu had brought back.
The materials gathered by the Fang Household covered all seven great medicines, but unfortunately, none of the formulas had a complete set of ingredients.
The most urgently needed first-tier [Sloth] potion still lacked two spirit medicines and one natural spiritual substance.
They were Zhu Ping Grass, Dharma Banana, and Cangwu Green Marrow.
The [Lust] potion, on the other hand, needed only an exotic flower called the "Parasitic Phantom Orchid" to complete its ingredients.
The ingredients for the [Lust] potion seem easier to obtain than those for the other six great medicines?
Fang Hong found this a little strange but did not dwell on it.
He took out his inner disciple identity talisman and immersed his Divine Sense in it to examine its contents.
Apart from the Yin-Yang Sect's rules, this identity talisman contained catalogs of the various talismans, pills, Dharma Treasures, and formations held in the Myriad Treasures Hall of the Yin-Yang Palace, along with their corresponding prices in Yin-Yang Talisman Coins.
Whenever disciples needed anything, they could go to the Myriad Treasures Hall and exchange Yin-Yang Talisman Coins for it.
Besides earning Yin-Yang Talisman Coins by completing sect duties, they could also obtain them by offering various treasures to the Myriad Treasures Hall.
Many disciples skilled in the hundred arts of cultivation relied on crafting artifacts, making talismans, and refining pills to earn Yin-Yang Talisman Coins at the Myriad Treasures Hall, then purchase what they needed.
However, restricted by his status as an inner disciple, he could currently see only the catalogs of first- and second-tier treasures in the Myriad Treasures Hall.
Only after advancing to become a Foundation Establishment True Disciple and receiving a True Disciple's precious register would he be able to view the Myriad Treasures Hall's complete catalog.
Moreover, there were distinctions in standing even among True Disciples. The sect's ten greatest True Disciples were qualified to issue duties through the Primordial Demon Hall!
If they needed something, as long as they had enough Yin-Yang Talisman Coins, they could mobilize the resources of the entire sect to achieve their goals.
In this respect, they were already little different from the sect's Golden Core elders.
Fang Hong had previously paid attention to the availability of spiritual materials for the seven great medicines' formulas in the Myriad Treasures Hall. With a brief search, he found Zhu Ping Grass, Dharma Banana, and Cangwu Green Marrow.
All three spiritual materials were first-tier, and together they would cost over two thousand nine hundred Yin-Yang Talisman Coins.
I currently have over two thousand pieces of ice-soul mystic crystal, worth around two thousand Yin-Yang Talisman Coins.
I'll exchange spirit stones for the remaining nine hundred Yin-Yang Talisman Coins.
The ice-soul mystic crystals he possessed had all come from the storage bags of other cultivators at his level during the entrance examination. Apart from the hundred pieces consumed when he left the secret realm, the rest were still in his storage bag.
After checking them, he immediately rose and headed for the Myriad Treasures Hall.
An hour later.
Fang Hong walked out of the Myriad Treasures Hall's main hall and was about to leave when a woman with a voluptuous figure approached him.
It was none other than Chu Yuechai.
She wore a close-fitting silver dress, her alluring curves shapely and sensual, her every aspect brimming with seductive charm.
"Senior Brother Fang, what a coincidence. Are you here to exchange coins for Yin-Yang Pills too?"
Chu Yuechai greeted him with a cheerful smile, her expression carrying a coquettish charm, as though she were already very familiar with Fang Hong.
The Yin-Yang Pills in the Myriad Treasures Hall were personally refined by Foundation Establishment True Disciples skilled in alchemy. They were highly compatible with the Dao resonance of Dragon-Phoenix Guidance, and using them together yielded twice the results with half the effort.
The first priority in cultivation for their cohort of new disciples was to find ways to obtain Yin-Yang Talisman Coins and exchange them for these pills.
Fang Hong followed her lead and smiled. "It seems you're here for the same thing, Junior Sister."
Chu Yuechai's lovely eyes rippled as her gaze roamed over Fang Hong's face. She sighed. "Saving money is like picking up earth with a needle, while spending it is like waves washing away sand. Unlike you, Senior Brother, I wasn't born into a great clan with no shortage of spirit stones. I've racked my brains just to obtain these few Yin-Yang Pills."
Fang Hong smiled and teased, "Isn't your Dao partner, Junior Brother Yue Ming, also from an Aristocratic Clan? Whisper a little pillow talk into his ear and have the Yue Household send more spirit stones. Wouldn't that solve your problem with cultivation resources?"
Chu Yuechai cast him a plaintive look. "He's only a concubine-born son of a collateral branch of the Yue Household. How could he compare to you, Senior Brother? Nor am I as fortunate as Senior Sister Su Yao. I have to rely on myself for everything."
Fang Hong nodded and imitated her tone, replying casually, "Indeed. Rely on a mountain, and it may collapse; rely on people, and they may slip away. I've always admired your ambition, Junior Sister... Oh, right, I still have something to do. I'll be going ahead."
"Ah, please wait, Senior Brother."
Chu Yuechai gently caught Fang Hong's sleeve and said bashfully, "Senior Brother, did you know that the Wonderful Sound Pavilion has a secret body-refining technique that not only restores a woman's virginity, but can also bring about the seven great ming contracts? I've already cultivated Layered Peaks and Verdant Greenery and Morning Dew and Flower Rain. If you have time, Senior Brother, I'd like to seek your instruction in the subtleties of Dragon-Phoenix Guidance..."
Fang Hong froze when he heard this and marveled inwardly, As expected of the Wonderful Sound Pavilion!
But he still firmly refused her.
With her fate configuration of the eight specialties and nine curses, how could he dare get involved with her, given his meager cultivation?
The Fate Mirror had already given a warning: provoking this woman would surely herald great calamity. Even Fang Jian's Golden Core Divine Ability could not protect him.
Divine Abilities were no match for fate. For all he knew, her ill-fated influence might kill him.
He said solemnly, "Junior Sister, if you're short of talisman coins, I can lend you some for now. As for seeking instruction, don't bring it up again."
Chu Yuechai gave him a long look, then said in realization, "So you look down on my background in the Wonderful Sound Pavilion, Senior Brother. No wonder!"
She smiled lightly. The coquettish seductiveness vanished from her face, replaced by a calm, natural, and demure expression.
It was as though this were her true face, and her earlier demeanor and bearing had all been a disguise forced upon her by the pressures of survival.
But Fang Hong knew that the face before him was still a disguise!
With a fate configuration of the eight specialties and nine curses, why bother playing innocent with me?
Chu Yuechai said in complete seriousness, "Senior Brother Fang, I've accepted a duty from the Primordial Demon Hall. Completing it will earn twenty thousand talisman coins. Unfortunately, Yue Ming and I are too few and too weak, so we'd like to invite two more fellow disciples to join us. If you're interested, you can come to our cave abode at [Jia Twenty-Seven] tomorrow at noon to discuss it."
Fang Hong said frankly, "As you know, Junior Sister, a True Disciple of the Ghost King Sect has plotted against me. It isn't convenient for me to leave the sect right now."
"Don't be so quick to refuse, Senior Brother. The location of that duty isn't far from the sect. If we make a quick trip there and back, who would know? After all, you can't possibly rely on your Lineage's support to sustain your cultivation forever, can you?"
"Just as you said earlier, a mountain you rely on may collapse. I'd advise you to give it some thought, Senior Brother."
Chu Yuechai smiled faintly. With that, she took her leave of Fang Hong and walked into the Myriad Treasures Hall.
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