"Miss Ye, are you at home?" Sun Chenbo asked politely, standing at the Ye residence's gate with a courteous demeanor.
The guard at the door replied coldly, "The head of the Ye family is currently in seclusion and not receiving guests. Please return, Young Master Sun."
Sun Chenbo hadn't expected to be turned away at the door the moment he arrived. Suppressing his displeasure, he thanked the guard and left the Ye estate.
"Brother, what are you doing here?" Sun Yulu asked, surprised to see Sun Chenbo coming from the direction of the Ye residence.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Sun Chenbo said, already irritated. Seeing his troublesome sister appear before him only made him more annoyed.
"I'm here to challenge Ye Lanshan," Sun Yulu replied, making no attempt to hide her intentions.
Sun Chenbo glanced around cautiously, and only after confirming no one was nearby did he whisper, "I advise you not to provoke Ye Lanshan lately. If you ruin Aunt's plan, no one can save you."
Sun Yulu didn't notice his wariness and asked, "What plan?"
Afraid she might act recklessly if she knew, Sun Chenbo only said vaguely, "Just don't mess with Ye Lanshan, got it?"
This only made Sun Yulu resent Ye Lanshan even more, leading her to constantly cause trouble for Ye Lanshan in the days that followed, which ultimately resulted in the Sun family's premature downfall.
"Phew." Ye Lanshan opened her eyes in the space. A fifth-rank Great Mystic Master—training in this space truly yielded different results.
"Your advancement speed is too fast. Beware of haste making waste. While I want you to advance quickly, it must be on a solid foundation,"
Huntian expressed concern over her advancing two ranks in just a few days. After all, a foundation was crucial, like learning—if the basics weren't solid, later studies would be difficult. Only with a strong foundation could one master the craft.
If the foundation was weak, one wouldn't go far on the path of mystic power. To outpace others, one had to build a solid foundation and accumulate strength before bursting forth.
"I know. I'll be careful," Ye Lanshan said indifferently, seemingly not taking Huntian's words to heart.
Ye Yu had sensed something was off with Ye Lanshan's mood ever since she entered the space, but she hadn't had a chance to speak with her during the days of cultivation.
Now that she was done, Ye Yu quickly approached and asked, "Miss, has something happened outside?"
Ye Lanshan didn't know how to explain this, as it involved Ye Yu's meridians.
"It's nothing. I just suddenly felt weak and wanted to become stronger. Ye Yu, don't worry, I'll definitely heal your meridians."
Ye Yu knew that once her mistress set her mind on something, no amount of persuasion could change it. So instead of saying she could protect her even without meridians, she simply nodded and said, "Mm, I believe you'll cure me."
Ye Lanshan calculated the time and figured it was about time to give her grandfather acupuncture, so she left the space and went to Ye Luotian's residence.
Before her seclusion, she had divided the spiritual spring water and the pills that nourished the internal organs into several portions and given them to Ye Jinlin, instructing him to make her grandfather take them daily.
As a result, her grandfather's complexion looked much better now.
"Lanshan, you're here. I heard you fought with Mo Ran, the Young Lord of the Demon Sect, earlier. What happened? How did you get involved with him?" Ye Luotian had been uneasy since learning of this a few days ago, but since Ye Lanshan had suddenly gone into seclusion, he hadn't asked.
Now that she was out of seclusion, he naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"It's nothing, just a misunderstanding. Grandfather, don't worry about it. I'll handle everything. You just focus on recovering," Ye Lanshan said, not wanting to burden her grandfather with her ties to Mo Ran.
Though Ye Luotian felt a lingering unease, he didn't show it, only secretly stepping up his own arrangements.
Just as Ye Lanshan finished giving her grandfather acupuncture, a guard came to report that Eunuch Li from the palace had arrived.
"May I ask what brings Eunuch Li to our residence?" Ye Lanshan saw Eunuch Li standing straight from a distance, holding something in his hands.
Eunuch Li hurried over as soon as he saw Ye Lanshan, his eyes still fixed on the item in his hands, guarding it as if it were a precious treasure.
"His Majesty ordered me to deliver this Black Nightshade," Eunuch Li said, handing the item to Ye Lanshan, then letting out a sigh of relief.
"I see. Thank you for your trouble," Ye Lanshan said, escorting Eunuch Li to the door. As he was about to leave, she gave him a琉璃 ring as a gift.
"Now I can finally refine the Dew Moistening Pill." Ye Lanshan picked up the box containing the Black Nightshade, returned to her room, and immediately entered the space. She pulled out a alchemy furnace and began refining the pill.
The history of this furnace was no simple matter. Called the Shennong Cauldron, it was the vessel Shennong had used to refine hundreds of medicines in ancient times, accumulating the spiritual essence of countless rare herbs over millennia. It could produce divine medicines that even the gods of the celestial realm couldn't easily obtain.
With such a treasure, Ye Lanshan was confident she could cure Ye Luotian.
"Your Highness, shall we head to the Moon Kingdom now?" Bai Yan asked.
"No, last time I asked you to—"
"No, how is the matter I asked you to investigate last time going?" Ye Yutian stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, inquiring about business.
"Based on the information gathered these days, we speculate that Sikong Kuang may be imprisoned in the Sikong family's dungeon."
"Mm." Ye Yutian indicated he had taken note.
"Your Highness, this time I will definitely bring Sikong Kuang back," Bai Yan knelt on one knee, vowing to the prince.
"Mm." Ye Yutian turned and instructed Bai Yan, "Don't reveal your identity."
"Yes." With that, Bai Yan vanished from the vast prince's mansion.
Ye Lanshan spent a full day and night refining the pill. Fortunately, it was finally done.
She placed the pill in a jade bottle and went to her grandfather's residence, handing it to him. "Grandfather, take this pill, and your illness will be cured."
Ye Luotian accepted the pill without much hope. He knew his own body well; surviving this long was already a feat.
But to avoid disappointing Ye Lanshan, he swallowed the pill with a smile, ready to pretend he was already better.
To his surprise, as soon as the pill was taken, combined with the spiritual water he'd been drinking for days, his condition improved by more than half.
Ye Luotian stared at Ye Lanshan in astonishment, never imagining she possessed such remarkable alchemy talent. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel remorse—lost in grief all these years, he had neglected Ye Lanshan's growth.