40 Tidal

What!

Xiao Ran had ascended to the Qi Refining stage?!

'I went all the way to the Withered Sea to kill the flood dragon for its core. It took me two days to kill it by bathing in blood, and I come back to you telling me you're in the Qi Refining stage? You don't even need the flood dragon pellet?'

If she had not wanted to maintain a powerful image in front of Yinyue Zhenren, Lingzhou Yue would have burst into tears!

Upon looking at her handsome disciple, who was naked with only a piece of black cloth covering his groin, and her beautiful master, who was wearing thin violet chiffon and was wrapped in light blue interspatial magic seals, Lingzhou Yue raised her pot and guzzled down the wine.

The bitter wine burned her throat, but her heart ached as blood coursed down.

"You're saying he got enlightened and refined Qi in battle?"

Upon confirming that Xiao Ran's Qi Refining had been achieved on his own and not due to her master's dissection, Lingzhou Yue was slightly comforted. At the same time, she was rudely startled… What the heck?

When she heard Yinyue Zhenren recount everything that had happened the day before yesterday, she realized that she had really picked a gem.

He had comprehended the Art of Resonance in a day, achieved Qi Refining to peak Great Perfection in three days, and mastered all living skills to the maximum. The result of the dissection had also shown that his physical body had nearly no limits, and his will was so strong that he had only passed out with temporarily-severed meridians…

Her mother had not lied to her! She was witnessing the birth of a god, and this god was her disciple.

This also meant that this god was not able to command her. She was dominating him!

What a bargain!

After thinking about it, Lingzhou Yue at least felt better. Once she recalled how much effort she had made and how much she'd had to bleed to secure the flood dragon pellet, only for it to not offer any help, however, she felt a little aggrieved.

"The flood dragon pellet isn't entirely useless."

Yinyue Zhenren smiled with a shake of her head, her pretty eyes looking tender.

"It can be ground into a powder and soaked into the internal part of his dantian."

Lingzhou Yue's wine pot was raised into the air. It was the first time she had heard of something like this.

"Master, don't bluff."

Yinyue Zhenren said seriously, "Without the flood dragon pellet, Xiao Ran will have to cultivate for at least three years before it's possible for him to step onto the Sword Mound and complete this undertaking, despite his talent and physical quality. Now that we have the flood dragon core, this period of time can be shortened to ten days. At the same time, it will allow him to acquire a better sword of his own."

With that said, Yinyue Zhenren retrieved the mortar and pestle that had been prepared long ago and swiftly crushed the flood dragon pellet into a fine powder before blending it on her palm with a swipe of a red potion. Then, her hand went into Xiao Ran's lower abdomen again.

A quarter of an hour later, the flood dragon pellet powder seeped into the inside of Xiao Ran's dantian. It fortified the wall of his dantian significantly yet it did not even produce an adverse reaction…

Lingzhou Yue watched in amazement.

It was only then that she realized that her master had been waiting for her to secure the flood dragon core, which was why she had not ended Xiao Ran's dissection all this while.

'Sob, sob... Master, you really still love me…'

Lingzhou Yue yearned to snuggle her face into her master's embrace in endearment, but she was grown up now. She was no longer the little girl she had been back then, but the Sword-Wielding Elder, who was multiple times stronger than her master and could take charge alone.

She had long become someone else's support and could no longer depend on her master.

Upon completing the dissection, Yinyue Zhenren summoned Chunwa and Qiuchan to carry Xiao Ran to the hot spring pool to stop the bleeding and finish off with a recovery herbal bath.

"Xiao Ran's issue has been resolved. It's time for you now."

Yinyue Zhenren patted the sweat around her neck and draped a blue piece of outerwear over herself, her aura immediately becoming elegant and noble. The sensuality that had been visible due to her clothes earlier was now gone.

Lingzhou Yue asked nonchalantly, "What kind of issue do I have?"

Yinyue Zhenren pointed at the base of Lingzhou Yue's legs. Narrow streams coursed down her ankles to the ground, gathering in a pool of red.

"Your blood."

"This is the flood dragon's blood."

"Do you think you can lie to me?"

"It's no biggie."

Yinyue Zhenren sighed, "The Withered Sea lives up to its legend. Even you had to use the Tidal Sword Art to procure the flood dragon pellet. If you use the technique too frequently, your menstruation will become heavier and more frequent. In the end, it can't be stopped. You'll be troubled by it every month like a mortal."

"Doesn't matter. Bleeding more helps with the ability to produce blood."

"This is the problem of having a tidal physique. It's not something medicine can remedy. Unless some extremely rare legendary medicine is collected, I can't do anything about it either."

Lingzhou Yue was indifferent, merely taking swigs of wine as she spoke.

"I'll even pee when I have too much wine. Why care about something so insignificant? It's not like it could kill me."

Yinyue Zhenren shook her head.

"If you don't get it treated, you may never reach the Body Merging stage in this lifetime."

Lingzhou Yue pursed her lips.

"Rather than being worried about this, shouldn't we worry about whether this world… this world could last until the day I reach the Body Merging stage normally?"

This was not a concern of a medical practitioner.

"You're right. We can't take the usual route anymore… It's like the method of my dissection this time. An ordinary person would have died a long time ago if it had been performed on them. Even Xiao Ran was on the brink of death several times."

"Uh…"

Lingzhou Yue froze, left speechless by her words.

"Let me run you a herbal bath to stop the blood. Xiao Ran just completed the dissection and core closure. He's stopping the bleeding in the hot spring too. You can go together."

Splat!

A mouthful of wine was sprayed out, drenching Yinyue Zhenren.

"It's true that I like women, but you can't actually treat me like a man?"

Yinyue Zhenren wiped the alcohol off herself.

"Show me some sympathy. In terms of dissection, I'm the one who worked the hardest. If you two take the herbal bath together, it will save me a lot of effort."

Helpless, Lingzhou Yue could only nod in agreement.

"Right, just don't tell him that I went to the Withered Sea to procure the flood dragon pellet for him."

Yinyue Zhenren was bemused.

"Why?"

Lingzhou answered, "Something along the lines of the saying that a pampered disciple won't be devoted. If he knows that I'm this nice to him, his tail will be wagging up to the sky. How could he serve me filially in the future like he used to?"

Yinyue Zhenren was speechless.

…

After being knocked out for two full days, Xiao Ran missed the group chat texts.

Although he was bleary and not fully conscious, his awareness instinctively sank into the black ring. 

Missing the group chat was not a big deal. There was always chat history.

The group deserved to be called a salvation group… Its function was very humane.

On the night of Ye Fan's death, other than 'Little Mist', 'Junzi', 'Body Severing', and 'Scram If You Got No Dough', who had joined the discussion previously, 'Stated Dao' and 'Rhyme' had participated as well.

After some mourning speeches, different opinions were voiced in the group.

"Rhyme: I said a long time ago that the Wraithism Art isn't dependable. If the same situation is encountered next time, consider using the Exalted Nation's newest Tool Cultivation, Figurehead Clone."

"Junzi: Everyone uses Figurehead Clones. If you leave some special spiritual pattern in the figurehead, won't everyone in the group become your puppets in the end?"

"Rhyme: Before you slander someone, check if you are valuable enough to become a puppet."

"Junzi: What a bold tone. There are seniors in this group."

The person who had been quiet finally spoke up then.

"Stated Dao: I'm not a puppet nor a senior. Why don't I arrange for you two to meet offline and settle the score face to face?"

"Junzi: I'll shut up."

"Rhyme: Sorry."

Xiao Ran could infer that 'Rhyme' was probably from the Exalted Nation and was a nemesis of 'Junzi', while 'Stated Dao' seemed to be someone respected with an authoritative voice. This was not just mediating the situation. There was a sense of intimidation. That might be someone powerful!

Next, they talked about the murderer.

'Little Mist' recalled something and mentioned the five-color prismatic glow on Zongzhi Mountain's mountain guarding array that day.

After a round of comments, it was undeterminable who had killed Ye Fan, but one thing was certain: This had to do with the Sword-Wielding Elder's Direct Disciple.

Lingzhou Yue's unusual trip to the Withered Sea for the flood dragon pellet only emphasized that the Direct Disciple had to hide some extraordinary secret.

Goodness!

Xiao Ran thought that this news had not even left the sect, but he had almost been discovered. This stupid group was frightening.

'Little Mist', who stayed around Zongzhi Mountain, was then tasked to find out more about Xiao Ran. 

People around Zongzhi Mountain could perhaps enter the outer sect… He had to be careful.

Xiao Ran continued to browse through the record when his divine sense tensed suddenly. He'd finally found some news about his master!

A certain money-grubber had said after collecting a bout of spirit stones, "Scram If You Got No Dough: Lingzhou Yue is really an elite of her time. By using the legendary Tidal Sword Art and successfully killing the 10,000-year-old black flood dragon, she got her hands on the core. If nothing unexpected comes up, she'll be leaving the Withered Sea in half a day."

Then, Xiao Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

His master was really skilled!

For 'Scram If You Got No Dough' to be so resourceful with his intel, there was only one possibility: He was in Chaotic City.

Nearly everyone in the group was amazed by the expertise of Xiao Ran's master and lavished her with compliments. However, someone expressed a different opinion.

"Stated Dao: Back in the academy, I met her several times. I thought that she could easily ascend to the Body Merging stage within 1,000 years and might even get to the Great Vehicle, but she's reached her limit despite her young age. She had to use the Tidal Sword Art while battling a Body Merging black flood dragon… It's time for Qian Junzi to go sooner or later, and the Sword-Wielding Elder will stop at the Spirit Severing. It seems that Zongzhi Mountain probably won't last long."

The group fell silent.

That person was incredibly sharp!

Studying at the academy and now lurking in the Cultivation Alliance's headquarters?

This stupid group had all sorts of hidden talents!

After he browsed through each message, Xiao Ran's consciousness exited the black ring and he realized that he was once again seated in the herbal bath pool.

There was a blanket of fog over the water this time, and Chunwa and Qiuchan were not around.

Instead, a naked woman was similarly sitting in the bath a meter opposite him.

The drifting mist gave off a faint wine fragrance. Big curves could vaguely be made out under her sculpted collarbones…

Master!