[Stop!]
Li Wei hurriedly wrote these words using the ancestral tablet, gritting his teeth.
He understood now. Li Yaoqing had planned from the beginning to use her lifespan to activate the Heaven's Wrath Wood and Plant Divine Art technique and neutralize the toxicity of the Ninth-Grade Revolving Azure Pool!
Seeing these words before her, for the first time in her life, Li Yaoqing disobeyed the ancestor's command.
Her smile bloomed radiantly like the flowers of this day. Despite her unkempt appearance, her beauty was such that it could dispel all pain and bring life to barren lands.
"Heehee, Ancestor, it's alright."
"I'm still young, and I can already sense the next level of the Heaven's Wrath Wood and Plant Divine Art and the Immortal Fetus. With my next breakthrough, I'll have a tri-spiritual root! My cultivation speed is also increasing, and with the Immortal Fetus, consuming pills won't harm my body."
"They..."
"...are my beloved family."
Li Yaoqing didn't explicitly say it.
But if Li Wei were to put it bluntly, "What beloved family, my foot!"
This was the first time Li Yaoqing had even met these three little rascals!
Li Kuangren's talent was ultimately quite low. Even if the family devoted all their resources to cultivating him, in the grand competition of young talents twenty years later, he might not be a match for his opponents. The future was filled with uncertainty.
Therefore, Li Yaoqing had always been this kind of person, smiling foolishly like she was now, saying that everything would be alright. Even as a child, she distanced herself from others, unlike the other children who played together. She was alone, taking care of everything in the spiritual herb garden.
While other children were playing with kittens and puppies, she was already dragging corpses to the Blood Spirit Fruit Tree and draining their blood.
She was only supposed to gather intelligence in the Thunderfire Cave, but she ended up staying there for decades. All the good things she found were sent back home. The most valuable treasure she possessed was a mid-grade Spirit Weapon gourd used for storing medicinal herbs.
Li Wei gritted his teeth and typed furiously on the keyboard.
But as he typed, he pressed the delete key.
Li Yaoqing, with her fingers forming hand seals for a technique, smiled, her eyes curving downwards like crescent moons. Although her appearance was ordinary, her smile was incredibly beautiful.
"Ancestor, please allow this child to be willful just this once."
Li Wei knew that he probably couldn't persuade her, just like how she would always forget his advice moments later.
It was as if she was saying, "Just let me be willful this once," and then she would do it again next time.
If it were any other descendant saying this, Li Wei would consider giving them a beating. But with Li Yaoqing saying it...
"Sigh."
Li Wei let out a long sigh. "Yaoqing..." he murmured.
He wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat, and he didn't know how to express them. He wanted Li Yaoqing to think more about herself, but he knew that his words would likely fall on deaf ears.
At that moment, on the screen, Li Yaoqing was surrounded by flowers. Perhaps in the eyes of others, she was the unkempt Deadly Pharmacist, the Holy Maiden of Herbs and Wood enveloped in withered vines. But in Li Wei's eyes, Li Yaoqing was the child he most wanted to protect and cherish.
Time passed slowly.
[Your descendant Li Yaoqing is consuming her lifespan...]
[Your descendant Li Yaoqing...]
[...is consuming her lifespan...]
Two months later...
For the first time, she wore thick clothes, covering her body, and put on gloves and a theatrical mask with a smiling face.
The cave entrance, which she had sealed with vines, opened.
The vines and flowers were no longer visible in the once pitch-black cave. They were withering away like her life, just as she, once vibrant and full of life, was now hidden within the earth.
The Ninth-Grade Revolving Azure Pool, once a boiling cauldron of strange colors, had transformed into clear water. The three children opened their eyes and saw Li Yaoqing sitting on a branch of a withered tree, just as before, but now appearing even more ethereal.
[Your descendants, Li Kuangren, Li Kuanghua, and Li Kuangtu, after soaking in the Ninth-Grade Revolving Azure Pool, have all broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining!]
[Their spirit root values have been greatly enhanced!]
[Within the Ninth-Grade Revolving Azure Pool, their bodies were repeatedly destroyed and repaired, making their meridians, dantian energy reservoir, and physique even more resilient. Acquired Trait: Gift of the Heaven's Wrath Wood and Plant Divine Art.]
[Possessing stronger recovery abilities, combat power increased by 20%, cultivation speed increased by 15%, poison resistance greatly enhanced, healing and recovery speed increased.]
"Second Great-grandmother's potion is so powerful! Even more powerful than the Heavenly Pond of Azure Phoenix Mountain!"
"My spirit root has improved! Second Great-grandmother, look! I've broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining! My meridians and dantian are so much larger than before!"
"Second Great-grandmother, why are you wearing a mask?"
The three children gazed at Li Yaoqing on the tree branch. The pain had subsided, and their memories lingered on their first encounter with her.
However, this time, Li Yaoqing wasn't playfully swinging her legs like she did during their first meeting, nor was she teasing them. Her quiet demeanor made them inexplicably uncomfortable, as if they were deeply indebted to their Second Great-grandmother.
After their initial joy, they didn't dare to speak loudly, only quietly staring at their Second Great-grandmother.
"It's good that you have all broken through," she said softly.
Li Yaoqing forced a chuckle from behind her mask. "Go on, children," she said, "your great-grandfather is waiting for you. And tell that couple, don't come flaunting their lovey-dovey affection in front of me. At their age, it's indecent."
"And Yunbing," she continued, "when he returns, have your Grandpa Yunbing help me manage the forces here. And tell the Demon Lord that I'm going to attempt a breakthrough."
The three children didn't dare disobey. "Yes, Second Great-grandmother," they replied.
After the children left, Li Yaoqing still didn't remove her mask.
She held the ancestral tablet and sat down cross-legged.
It was as if she had done nothing at all, just as she was now sealing the entrance to the cave once again, standing in a dark corner, her body, which she had just straightened with difficulty, hunched over.
Like a wounded cat, silently licking its wounds.
The Thunderfire Cave hadn't tainted her with demonic nature. She was like the most beautiful flower in the world.
---
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