Warmth bloomed in his abdomen and spread rapidly through his limbs and bones. The relief was immediate and total.
Most notably, the wound on his chest visibly eased under the nourishment of that warm current, the pain fading within moments.
"Senior Sister, what kind of medicine is this? It works so well..." Li Fan asked without thinking.
At the same time, fragments of memory began rising to the surface.
He and Senior Sister Zhao were both from Changfeng Village in the Great Green Mountains, companions since childhood, as far back as either of them could remember.
Half a year ago, a band of brigands descended on the village. Nearly all the villagers were slaughtered. Only he and Senior Sister Zhao survived, spared by chance because they had been playing outside together at the time.
When they saw the flames and came running back in panic, they ran straight into the brigands as they were withdrawing, laden with their spoils.
Senior Sister Zhao was young, but her peerless beauty had already begun to show, and she caught the attention of the bandits immediately.
At that critical moment, an Immortal Master happened to be passing overhead. He sensed the thick stench of blood rising from below and saw two trembling children surrounded by brigands. He understood at once what had happened.
With a single casual strike, he cut down every last bandit and rescued them both.
He also discovered that Senior Sister Zhao possessed exceptional talent, and decided to bring her back to his sect.
Li Fan, by contrast, seemed to have only ordinary aptitude and failed to draw the Immortal Master's interest. It was only after Senior Sister Zhao pleaded repeatedly on his behalf that the Immortal Master reluctantly agreed to take him along as well.
After more than ten days of flight, the Immortal Master brought them to the sect's mountain gate.
What greeted them was a world of clouds and mist, of towering peaks rising one after another into the heavens. Immortals streaked through the mountains from time to time, trailing arcs of radiant light. Grand and majestic structures rose from the vast sea of clouds like a celestial court suspended above the mortal world, radiating an aura of sacred grandeur.
Both Senior Sister Zhao and Li Fan stood utterly speechless.
Li Fan learned the name of this place from the Immortal Master who had rescued them: the Great Dao Sect.
The Great Dao Sect was composed of nine branches and seventy-two peaks.
The main branch was personally overseen by each successive sect leader. The remaining eight branches were each governed by different elders.
The Immortal Master they had encountered was, in truth, simply a fourth-generation disciple of the Yuehua Branch. His surname was Zhang, given name Rong, and he was a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Under Zhang Rong's guidance, the two of them joined the Yuehua Branch as outer disciples and took up residence on Qingning Peak.
They were granted a cultivation method known as the Taiyuan Unity Art.
Zhang Rong explained that once they cultivated the technique to the required level, they would advance to become inner disciples. At that point, they would no longer need to perform menial duties and could devote themselves fully to cultivation. Their standing within the sect and their monthly allotment of resources would be vastly different.
So the two of them spent their spare time studying and practicing the technique together.
Senior Sister Zhao was slightly older, and her comprehension and natural talent were beyond anything Li Fan could match.
Half a year passed, and she had long since mastered the Taiyuan Unity Art and passed the trial. More than that, she had caught the eye of Zhang Wangshuang, a Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence of the Yuehua Branch, who accepted her as a personal disciple.
In a single leap, she had become a fourth-generation disciple of the Great Dao Sect, and now addressed their former benefactor, Zhang Rong, as senior brother.
Li Fan, by contrast, had barely moved. Even with Senior Sister Zhao quietly sharing her insights and occasionally slipping him elixirs, his cultivation crept forward at a crawl, unable to break through.
Her frequent visits had also stirred resentment among the surrounding disciples. On the surface they treated Li Fan with great deference, some even resorting to flattery, but in private they despised him and spoke viciously behind his back. As far as they were concerned, he was nothing but a useless freeloader.
Not long ago, Li Fan had accidentally overheard them. Shame and fury surged through him at once, and he lashed out without thinking.
His skills were poor and they outnumbered him. He was the one who ended up nearly beaten to death.
The only reason he was still alive was that they feared Senior Sister Zhao and stopped short of finishing the job.
The memories faded, and the present came back into focus.
"This is Tianjing Powder. It will not only help your injuries heal quickly, but also sharpen your sensitivity to qi.
"The ingredients were quite difficult to gather. Since you haven't yet reached Foundation Establishment, most elixirs would do more harm than good at this stage. So I begged Master for the prescription." Senior Sister Zhao wiped a trace of medicine from the corner of Li Fan's mouth as she spoke, a gentle smile on her face.
The warm current lingered like spiritual qi, refusing to dissipate, circulating through his meridians on its own. Within a few breaths, Li Fan felt his injuries knit themselves closed. His entire body brimmed with vitality, as though a boundless well of strength had opened up inside him.
"Senior Sister... you are so good to me..." Li Fan took her fair, jade-smooth hand in his and met her eyes, his expression full of unguarded emotion.
"You..." A faint blush rose in Senior Sister Zhao's cheeks. She tried to draw her hand back, but Li Fan held on too firmly.
Afraid that pulling too hard might hurt him, she found herself helpless, letting him hold it. His fingers moved lightly across her palm, almost without thought.
The heat radiating from his hand seemed to burn hotter than magma. It made her feel faintly, inexplicably weak.
A strange, wordless tension settled over the room.
Then Li Fan spoke. "By the way, Senior Sister. There are still parts of the Taiyuan Unity Art I can't quite make sense of. Would you be willing to walk me through them again?"
Senior Sister Zhao blinked, caught off guard.
A flicker of disappointment passed through her, followed quietly by relief.
She had tried before to explain the essentials of the Taiyuan Unity Art to him, but he hadn't been willing to listen, insisting, out of some stubborn pride, that he wanted to work it out on his own.
She'd had no choice but to let it go.
At least he had finally come around.
So Senior Sister Zhao began going through the technique with him carefully and in full.
"Remarkable, truly remarkable! So that passage means this. Senior Sister, you're brilliant!" Li Fan listened with total focus, his praise unstinting, his eyes bright with genuine admiration.
Much of the day passed. As dusk approached, Senior Sister Zhao reluctantly had to stop.
"Master told me to return before dark. I have to go." She watched Li Fan's face as she said it, wary of displeasing him.
"Master's orders come first. You should hurry back, Senior Sister." Li Fan nodded, entirely unbothered. "Come again when you have time."
Senior Sister Zhao gave a soft sound of acknowledgment and moved to leave. It was only then that she noticed: at some point while he had been absorbed in listening, he had let go of her hand. Without realizing it, she had been the one holding his.
Her face went hot. Afraid he would notice, she said a quick farewell and fled the room like a startled rabbit.
Her heart was pounding, yet there was an inexplicable lightness in her chest, and her steps felt buoyant as she went.
Li Fan, for his part, had already put the ambiguous moment entirely out of his mind.
He was completely absorbed in the depths of the Taiyuan Unity Art.
So that's it! That's how it works! With Senior Sister Zhao's guidance, every difficulty he had run into during his daily practice of the technique had come undone.
Everything connected, flowing together in his mind with seamless clarity.
Foundation Establishment is nearly within reach! The spiritual qi inside him circulated without the slightest obstruction, as natural as breathing.
He couldn't hold back a cry of joy.
If I had just asked Senior Sister Zhao for help sooner, I wouldn't have wasted nearly a year!
Why did I ever think it would be awkward?
Li Fan shook his head, suddenly convinced that his past self had been completely unreasonable.