“Master, where are we going now?” Su Wan’er asked.

“Don’t call me Master, I haven’t taken you in as a disciple yet. Just call me Senior,” Lai Li’an thought for a moment. “This Venerable is used to being idle and wandering around freely. Since I’ve decided to help you, we must heal your injuries first.”

“Senior, this minor injury is nothing.”

Lai Li’an secretly glanced at her. The young girl’s movements with her left arm were stiff and sluggish. She was clearly severely injured, yet she forced herself to endure it and claimed it was fine.

He immediately said in a deep voice, “No, the people of the Blood Lotus Sect might still be hunting you. If we encounter pursuers on the way, I might not be able to protect you every time.”

Su Wan’er fell silent instantly, the hands hanging by her sides clenching slightly.

Senior was a Golden Core Powerhouse! He could effortlessly crush Yin Wushe, who was at the Late Foundation Establishment stage. Even if more pursuers came, they would be nothing more than ants he could wipe out with a raise of his hand.

As expected… Senior still wasn’t willing to genuinely help me. He only reluctantly agreed to travel together out of consideration for old ties.

A trace of disappointment welled up in her heart, but she didn’t dare say more. She could only obediently follow Lai Li’an, finding a hidden, leeward stone cave in the mountains to temporarily settle down.

Lai Li’an sat cross-legged on a stone bench, outwardly closing his eyes to rest and pretending to be a profound expert, but inwardly he was so embarrassed his toes were curling.

He had a Late Foundation Establishment cultivation base in name, yet he didn’t even know the most basic healing spells, let alone how to lift the Blood Lotus Sect’s Evil Curse.

He could only feign silence the entire time, playing the trope of “silence makes one a master.”

In Su Wan’er’s eyes, however, this act took on a different meaning:

She took a low-grade healing pill that she carried with her. In just half a day, the external wounds on her body had healed, but the eroded Spiritual Root inside her remained dim and blackened. That sinister force clung stubbornly to the core of her Spiritual Root; no matter how she circulated her spiritual power, she could not disperse it in the slightest.

Seeing her brows tightly knit, Lai Li’an feigned casualness and asked, “How can this Spiritual Root of yours be repaired?”

Su Wan’er shook her head gently, her tone filled with helplessness. “This is the Blood Lotus Sect’s exclusive Spirit-Eroding Curse. Once the Spiritual Root is tainted, it cannot be forcibly extracted. Ordinary pills and spells are completely useless against it, and it will also lock one’s cultivation base, preventing any breakthroughs.”

“If even Senior is at a loss, I’m afraid only the Blood Lotus Sect has the antidote, or perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope if I return to the sect and beg my master to intervene.”

At this thought, Su Wan’er couldn’t help but fall silent. She certainly did not want to return to her sect, and as for the antidote, there was no hope at all.

Hearing this, a sudden light flashed in Lai Li’an’s eyes. Without a Spiritual Root, he couldn’t use the Ninth-Grade Spirit Cleansing Pill in his System Inventory anyway; keeping it would just take up space.

But giving it to Su Wan’er would be a different story. A Ninth-Grade Pill produced by the system would certainly be able to break this Evil Curse.

Not only would it solve her trouble, but it would also allow him to farm a massive amount of Fantasy Points. It was simply a highly lucrative deal.

He calmly raised his hand, and a round, translucent white pill appeared out of thin air in his palm. Nine purple-gold pill veins swirled around it. As soon as it appeared, a crisp pill fragrance filled the stone cave, instantly revitalizing even the withered grass in the stone crevices. The spiritual energy was so dense it almost condensed into liquid.

“Eat it,” Lai Li’an said in a flat tone, as if he were merely handing over a wild berry from the roadside.

Su Wan’er looked up, her pupils shrinking drastically as she began to tremble uncontrollably.

Nine pill veins!

Another Ninth-Grade!

Senior just casually handed it to her like this? In an instant, endless shame and self-reproach surged in Su Wan’er’s heart, and her eyes instantly turned red.

She had actually secretly suspected earlier that Senior wasn’t truly willing to help her, assuming he was holding back. Now, it seemed she was entirely judging the heart of a gentleman with the mind of a petty person.

It wasn’t that Senior was unwilling to help; he clearly had profound intentions. Having her heal her own injuries earlier was meant to temper her character, and now, directly taking out the Ninth-Grade Spirit Cleansing Pill was to fundamentally sever the hidden danger within her.

This well-hidden care moved her more than any grand words ever could.

“S-Senior, this pill is far too precious. This junior absolutely does not dare to accept it!” Su Wan’er hurriedly bowed and declined.

Lai Li’an frowned slightly and waved his hand in feigned impatience. “Why are you like this again? Just eat it when I tell you to. The pills in this Venerable’s hands haven’t reached the point where I need to be stingy with them. This is a Ninth-Grade Spirit Cleansing Pill. It can break the Spirit-Eroding Curse, nourish your Supreme Water Spiritual Root, and help you break through your bottleneck. Cut the nonsense.”

In his heart, however, he was screaming frantically:

Looking at Lai Li’an’s calm and indifferent demeanor, reverence surged in Su Wan’er’s heart. No longer daring to refuse, she received the pill with trembling hands and carefully placed it into her mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering her mouth, and a majestic yet gentle surge of spiritual energy swept through her limbs and bones. She began to circulate her energy to heal her injuries.

Wherever the spiritual energy passed, the Blood Lotus Sect’s Spirit-Eroding Evil Curse melted away like snow beneath the blazing sun, instantly dissipating into nothingness.

Her dim Supreme Water Spiritual Root once again radiated a lustrous blue light, purer and more crystal-clear than ever before, faintly showing signs of a transformation.

Her Cultivation Base skyrocketed as her bottleneck shattered with a resounding boom. Early Foundation Establishment, Mid Foundation Establishment… it ultimately settled firmly at Late Foundation Establishment before slowly subsiding.

She looked down at her palm. As Spiritual Power flowed, a layer of lustrous water-blue light emerged in the center of her palm, purer and denser than ever before.

Nourished by the Spirit Cleansing Pill, the Supreme Water Spiritual Root within her body was undergoing a transformation she had never experienced before.

The originally clear blue Spiritual Root began to change. Within the blue, faint golden veins gradually revealed themselves.

The golden veins grew in number, densely intertwining over the water-blue Spiritual Root. Finally, the two perfectly blended together, blooming with a dazzling radiance.

Su Wan’er could hardly believe her senses. She closed her eyes, carefully feeling the changes to the Spiritual Root within her body. The speed of her spiritual energy circulation was more than several times faster than before. With every breath, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would autonomously surge into her meridians, completing a full circulation on its own without the need for deliberate guidance.

Lai Li’an quietly glanced at the System Panel.

A Heaven-Grade Spiritual Root.

Lai Li’an was startled internally. The effect of this Spirit Cleansing Pill was simply too fierce, directly turning a Supreme grade into a Heaven-Grade.

What was going on?

Su Wan’er fell to her knees with a “thud” and respectfully kowtowed loudly. “Senior’s grace of giving me a new lease on life is something Wan’er will never forget! It was this junior who was foolish and misunderstood Senior’s painstaking efforts earlier, thinking Senior was unwilling to truly help me. I beg Senior for forgiveness!”

Lai Li’an was slightly taken aback.

Misunderstood? Misunderstood what?

He had absolutely no idea what Su Wan’er had been cooking up in her head earlier, but from the sound of it, did she think he was tempering her?

…Fine.

Anyway, no matter what she was imagining, it would ultimately just increase his Fantasy Points.

“Stand up,” Lai Li’an said with an indifferent tone. “The path of cultivation is inherently a path of self-tempering. This Venerable merely gave you a push. How far you can go will ultimately depend on yourself.”

Su Wan’er nodded heavily, the reverence in her eyes almost overflowing.

Ding!

Lai Li’an’s breath hitched slightly.

It advanced again!

Subsequently, he silently shifted his gaze away from the System Panel, the expression on his face not changing in the slightest.

But in Su Wan’er’s perspective, Senior’s slightly narrowed eyes were clearly scrutinizing her cultivation aptitude, filled with a profound and unfathomable meaning.

“Senior?” Su Wan’er called out cautiously.

Lai Li’an returned to his senses and gave her an indifferent glance.

“Let’s go.”

He turned and walked toward the entrance of the cave, his gray robes fluttering gently in the mountain breeze.

Su Wan’er hurriedly followed, secretly swearing an oath in her heart:

One in front of the other, the two disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest.