A Gift of Pills

Feng Zhuo took two jade bottles from his storage ring and poured the pills inside into his hand.

On the left lay a pill that was lustrous white all over, while on the right was a pill that glowed with a green light.

"Junior Sister Yun, look."

Feng Zhuo motioned for Yun Li to look at his palm. "This white pill is a Broken Bone Pill. It can help the bones in your severed arm regrow. The green one is called a Meridian Mending Pill. It will ensure that the meridians in the new bones are intact. Used together, the two pills can fully restore your right arm."

At his words, Yun Li's eyes lit up brilliantly.

Though she had long known that Feng Zhuo could help restore her severed arm, it had yet to become a reality.

Now that she saw the pills with her own eyes, she could hardly contain her excitement.

She took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Feng Zhuo. "Senior Brother Feng, I, Yun Li, will never forget your great kindness as long as I live!"

With that, Yun Li took a lustrous white jade token from her storage ring. The character "Yun" was carved upon it in ancient seal script.

"Though my Yun Household is not as illustrious as your Feng Household, Senior Brother, it is still a first-rate Aristocratic Clan in the Central Continent. If you ever need anything, bring this token to the Yun Household, and my clan will surely do everything in its power to help."

She then took out a wooden key with a decayed surface and explained, "I happened upon this at the market at the foot of the mountain. Its surface looked withered and ruined, but there was vitality hidden within it, so I bought it on a whim."

"This key is of no use to me. You possess a Heavenly Wood Spirit Root, Senior Brother, so it is better suited to you. I'll give it to you as well."

Clearly, Yun Li knew that Yanba must have hatched from the stone she had given Feng Zhuo that day, and so she guessed that this key was no ordinary object either.

She simply didn't know what use it had, so she offered borrowed flowers to the Buddha, giving it to Feng Zhuo as well.

Feng Zhuo's gaze fell on the wooden key, and the Everlasting Spring Scripture within him actually began circulating on its own again!

Another Divine Plant?!

No, that's not right.

It's not a Divine Plant.

His heart stirred, but he soon noticed something amiss.

The key's attraction to the Everlasting Spring Scripture was less than a tenth of that of the second-tier Yi Wood Broken Branch back then.

This key...

Feng Zhuo pondered inwardly. It probably wasn't made from a Divine Plant, but happened to pick up the presence of one. It's also very likely a key to some secret realm or cave abode. There might be a Divine Plant there.

Although he couldn't yet determine the key's exact origins, any clue related to Divine Plants was precious to Feng Zhuo, who was planning how to restore his Yi Wood Sacred Physique.

His sacred physique had only revived thirty percent so far, and he still didn't know how much it would benefit his cultivation once fully awakened.

But remembering that his father, Qingyangzi, also possessed the Yi Wood Sacred Physique, Feng Zhuo believed he would surely receive more guidance from him in the future.

Feng Zhuo took the simple, ancient-looking wooden key. When his fingertips touched its surface, he could feel an extremely faint thread of vitality circulating within it.

He shook his head slightly. "I can't accept a reward I haven't earned."

"Yanba hatched from the stone you gave me that day, Junior Sister. Let these two pills settle that cause and effect. But this key is indeed of some use to me, so I'll shamelessly accept it."

This meant he still owed Yun Li a favor.

"How can this count as 'accepting a reward you haven't earned'?"

Yun Li's delicate brows knitted slightly, and her tone was firm. "I only gave you that stone to repay you for helping me in the first place. Today, by helping my severed arm regrow, you've mended my path of cultivation just as it was about to break."

She paused, her voice growing slightly heavy. "As the saying goes, 'Sever someone's Dao Path, and it's like killing their parents.' What you've done for me is no less than giving me a new life. A mere useless key and a token-I'm afraid I've given you too little!"

Feng Zhuo, however, felt that he had merely refined these two second-tier pills on a whim and truly didn't deserve such lavish thanks.

If not for the fact that Yanba had come from the stone Yun Li had given him, he wouldn't even have gone out of his way to fire up the furnace and refine pills.

Seeing that Feng Zhuo insisted on refusing, Yun Li couldn't help turning to Ye Wuhen.

Seeing this, Ye Wuhen spread his hands. "Given Junior Brother's temperament, even I, his senior brother, can't persuade him."

In truth, he didn't want to interfere with Feng Zhuo's decision.

Even though he was Feng Zhuo's eldest senior brother, he had no right to interfere with his junior brother's decisions, nor should he have.

In the end, Feng Zhuo still refused the Yun Household token.

As he saw it, he had given her the pills today solely to repay the cause and effect from that day.

Not only that, he also took a pill with golden light flowing over it from his Storage Bag. "Let this high-grade Golden Core Formation Pill serve as payment for the key."

Seeing that she truly couldn't refuse, Yun Li had no choice but to accept the Golden Core Formation Pill.

She could no longer contain her eagerness to restore her right arm. Cupping her hand in salute with her one arm, she said, "Then I won't trouble you any longer, Senior Brothers. I'll return to my peak first. If you ever need anything, Senior Brother Feng, just come find me at Heaven-Soaring Peak."

Feng Zhuo nodded slightly and added, "The Broken Bone Pill and Meridian Mending Pill only take care of the bones and meridians. If you can use them together with a Rejuvenation Pill and a Flesh-Regenerating Pill, the results will be even better."

"I'll remember."

Yun Li nodded solemnly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

After watching Yun Li's figure disappear into the clouds and mist, Ye Wuhen suddenly spoke with a meaningful air. "Junior Brother, Junior Brother Cang has come looking for you."

Feng Zhuo's carefully maintained composure instantly crumbled, and he looked around instinctively. "Eldest Senior Brother, where?"

Only when he met Ye Wuhen's teasing gaze did he realize he'd been tricked. His embarrassment turned to anger. "Eldest Senior Brother!"

"Why have you started copying Master's tricks too?!"

Ever since Feng Zhuo had acted spoiled with Yunxiaozi that day, his ever-frivolous master had loved teasing him.

Though it was much better than his lifeless manner before, wasn't he being a little too lively?

Feng Zhuo could even imagine how Yunxiaozi, back when he was the same age as his mother, had been hated by cats and dogs alike and disliked by his mother.

Ye Wuhen folded his arms and laughed. "Shuanghua was right! Junior Brother, you're only thirteen. You should smile more. Don't be like Junior Brother Cang, wearing a stern face all day long."

When Ye Wuhen had seen Feng Zhuo talking to Yun Li just now, looking so old before his time and going on about cause and effect and the great Dao, he hadn't been able to resist teasing him.

And sure enough, once he tried it, his junior brother proved enormously amusing!

How could Ye Wuhen, who got along so well with Ling Shuanghua, be as serious as he appeared?

On any ordinary day it would have been fine, but today of all days...

At Ye Wuhen's words, the tips of Feng Zhuo's ears quietly reddened again. He couldn't help recalling the smile his senior brother had given him that morning, especially that crimson mole at the corner of his eye...

Looking at Ye Wuhen, who was still laughing, Feng Zhuo's eyes darted about, and a sly smile suddenly appeared on his face.

If I can't have an easy time, neither can Eldest Senior Brother!

"Eldest Senior Brother, you actually spoke ill of Senior Brother Cang behind his back! Just you wait, I'm going to tell on you right now! You're dead!"

Before the words had left his mouth, he had already leaped onto the Awakening of Insects sword.

"Wait, Junior Brother! That's not what I meant! Don't go-!"

Ye Wuhen shouted in feigned panic, but made no real attempt to stop him.

He wanted to see what expression would appear on Junior Brother Cang's eternally unchanging, expressionless face if his junior brother really ran off to tell on him.

What a pity...

Ye Wuhen chuckled inwardly. Shuanghua wouldn't get to see this fine show.