46: Chapter 46 The early bird catches the worm

By the time Jiang Yuwei groggily climbed out of bed, the sunlight from outside had already flooded the bedding.

Having just woken up, her newly rebooted brain was still a bit dazed, and she habitually reached out to feel the side of the bed.

But she touched nothing.

Something was wrong.

Something was very, very wrong.

The bed was empty.

Her Senior Brother was gone!

Jiang Yuwei snapped awake instantly and sat up in bed.

The thin quilt slid down her shoulders, revealing patches of fair, delicate skin that seemed to glow with a soft light as the morning sun hit them.

She looked around, and just as she was about to call out with a raspy voice, she saw Senior Brother Mo sitting cross-legged on a rug nearby, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing.

The morning light fell on his well-defined profile, and a faint Wood Spiritual Light swirled around him.

Jiang Yuwei mischievously pursed her moist lips and swallowed back the shout that was at the tip of her tongue.

She crept out of bed, her soft, slender feet stepping onto the slightly cool solid wood floor, toes curling before spreading out again.

Quietly sneaking up behind Mo Zixing, Jiang Yuwei lunged forward, wanting to wrap her arms around him from behind.

However, before her hands could even touch his collar, the world spun around her, and she was whirled around by a gentle force.

Mo Zixing leaned down over her, his fingertips brushing against her burning skin, causing her to tremble slightly in his arms.

"What, still trying to launch a sneak attack on your Senior Brother?"

He was now a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator; he could sense even the slightest movement of Jiang Yuwei turning over in bed.

Caught in his arms with nowhere to run, the Junior Sister simply stopped pretending.

She hummed twice and hooked her arms around his neck, acting spoiled with the soft, nasal voice of someone who had just woken up.

"Who told you to stop sleeping with me so early in the morning and come over here to meditate by yourself?"

Before she finished speaking, she tilted her head slightly and gave him a soft kiss.

Her Nightgown had already slipped to her elbows, and her exposed waist and abdomen rose and fell gently with her breath, a sight that could set one's heart aflame.

"I had a Breakthrough in my cultivation and didn't want to disturb your rest."

Mo Zixing let out a low laugh, leaned down to kiss the corner of her eye, then moved further down, finally stopping at her slender collarbone, causing her to tremble and let out a soft moan.

"Not trying to scare me anymore?"

"Not anymore."

Jiang Yuwei buried her face in the crook of his neck, her hot breath brushing against his skin.

"Senior Brother, you said you had a Breakthrough just now. What Qi Refining layer are you at now?"

Mo Zixing raised an eyebrow, pinched her waist, and laughed softly in her ear.

"Don't be in a hurry. In a moment, I'll let you know exactly what my Realm is now."

He carried her back onto the soft bedding.

With a flick of his finger, the ties of the bed curtains fell.

"A day's plan starts in the morning; morning exercise cannot be missed."

The loose Nightgown slipped off with their movements.

"Senior Brother... I just woke up."

Jiang Yuwei made a token effort to struggle in his arms but ended up hugging him even tighter, letting the morning light blur their overlapping figures within the bed curtains into one.

...

The small courtyard fell silent again.

Jiang Yuwei was nestled in the blankets, with a few faint red marks on her exposed neck and shoulders, and a bit of uncleansed saliva still at the corner of her mouth.

She snuggled against Mo Zixing with a soft hum, and before long, she drifted back into a deep sleep.

Mo Zixing sat by the bed, looking at the girl's peaceful sleeping face, and couldn't help but smile.

He quietly withdrew his arm, stood up softly, sat at the table, and picked up the Medicine Manual Liu Qingyan had given him to browse through.

As he flipped through the pages, his Divine Sense simultaneously scanned his System panel.

[Name: Mo Zixing]

[Gender: Male]

[Race: Human]

[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Stage 2]

[Innate Luck: Candle Dragon Bloodline (Red), Medicine Spirit Body (Gold), Thunderstrike Immortality (Purple), Bottom-out Rebound (Gold)]

[Acquired Luck: Spirit Spring Body Tempering (Purple)]

Foundation Establishment Stage 2.

Not bad.

The speed of his cultivation increase was quite decent.

He then opened Jiang Yuwei's panel.

Perhaps because he had reached Foundation Establishment, his Junior Sister's cultivation had suddenly jumped to Qi Refining Layer 7.

It had risen by two whole minor Realms compared to when they were in the Outer Sect.

The efficiency seemed even higher than before.

Does that mean...?

Mo Zixing began to ponder.

If the gains are greater when one party's cultivation is significantly higher than the other's, then if he wanted to quickly raise his cultivation...

He couldn't help but think of Su Li and Liu Qingyan.

The Crystallization Stage was a whole major Realm higher than the Foundation Establishment Stage.

He withdrew his gaze and refocused on the Medicine Manual in his hand, scanning the text on the pages.

"Licorice: warm in nature, sweet in taste, enters the spleen and lung meridians. It can harmonize various medicines. Used as an envoy in pills, it can neutralize the harshness of potent drugs and reduce the risk of furnace explosions. In almost nine out of ten basic Pill Formulas, it is required as a guide to harmonize the medicinal properties of the monarch and ministers."

"Scutellaria: cold in nature, bitter in taste, clears fire from the upper burner. When paired with Forsythia and Honeysuckle, it can detoxify fire poison. It is a core auxiliary herb for refining Clear Fire Pills and Mind-Concentrating Pills. Use those harvested in autumn after three years of growth for full potency; those harvested in spring have dispersed Qi and are unfit for pills..."

To his pleasant surprise, with the boost from Medicine Spirit Body, this content that would normally require rote memorization was etched into his memory with just a single glance.

He could even understand about seventy to eighty percent of the handwritten notes Liu Qingyan had left in the margins, and could even use those notes to infer even more.

As Mo Zixing flipped through the book, he marveled at how ridiculous it was.

The gold-quality trait Medicine Spirit Body was indeed extraordinary.

He had memorized the entire dull and obscure Medicine Manual after just one read.

He casually flipped through a few dozen more pages.

Without spending much time, he had flipped through the thick Medicine Manual from beginning to end.

Mo Zixing closed the manual, put it away, and stood up, dusting off his robes.

Just by recalling it, he could easily remember the medicinal properties of various herbs.

It seemed he had completely memorized the contents.

Since there was nothing to do in the courtyard, he might as well go to the Alchemy Room in the main hall to find Liu Qingyan and see when he could start learning about the Alchemy Fire she mentioned before.

He glanced back at Jiang Yuwei, who was sleeping soundly in the bedroom, before closing the door properly.

Braving the mountain wind.

He walked quickly toward the main hall of Qingdan Peak.

Although the Alchemy Room in the main hall of Qingdan Peak was not open to ordinary Inner Sect Disciples, Mo Zixing received special treatment and could enter and exit at will.

When he reached the door of the Alchemy Room, he saw Liu Qingyan standing in front of a medicine cabinet, organizing herbs.

Hearing footsteps.

Liu Qingyan turned around, and seeing Mo Zixing at the door, her movements paused. Her face showed unmasked surprise as she raised an eyebrow and asked:

"Why are you here so early? I thought it would take you at least six or seven days to finish that Medicine Manual."

"Did you run into something you didn't understand?"