The Blue Flame phantom spirit left a trace of its power within Su Xiaomei’s body, helping to suppress the raging heat within her. Afterward, it returned to Li Fan’s sea of consciousness.
Even though it only took a moment, Li Fan felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
His cultivation of the Nether Spirit Illusion Art had not yet reached the late-stage Qi Refinement realm, so the newly formed phantom spirit was still somewhat frail.
Moreover, he had to concentrate intensely, carefully controlling the phantom spirit’s output to avoid damaging Su Xiaomei’s young body. For Li Fan, it was no easy task.
Thankfully, it had concluded without incident.
This intervention would ensure her safety for the next ten years.
If Li Fan emerged unscathed from Cloudwater Palace in this life and obtained the Cloudwater Model, he would return for her ahead of schedule.
If misfortune befell him, she could still journey to the cultivation world a decade later alongside Su Changyu and the others.
After regaining some of his energy, Li Fan stepped out of the basement.
The nobility of Great Li had been waiting for him outside.
Once he informed them that Su Xiaomei had been successfully treated, Li Fan dismissed them.
He only asked Scholar Su to stay behind, and began to inquire further about Su Xiaomei’s circumstances.
Scholar Su’s face flushed, and he hesitated for a long moment before stammering out the whole story.
It turned out that Su Xiaomei was not Scholar Su’s daughter, but rather the daughter of his younger sister, Su Yuqing.
Su Yuqing was much younger than Scholar Su; she was only sixteen last year when she became pregnant with Su Xiaomei.
At the time, her unexplained pregnancy caused an uproar within the Su household. That was because she was not yet married!
To conceive before marriage was already an outright scandal. What infuriated Old Master Su even more was that Su Yuqing stubbornly refused to reveal the identity of the child’s father.
She insisted that she had done nothing improper, claiming that one day while strolling in the garden, she suddenly felt weary and took a short nap.
Shortly after waking, she noticed something unusual about her body.
But as a young woman living in her parents’ home while awaiting marriage proposals, how could she bring up such a matter?
It wasn’t until her belly grew by the day that she could no longer hide it.
The Su family, of course, found this absurd explanation unbelievable.
In his fury, Old Master Su wanted to terminate the pregnancy.
But feeling the fetus’s heartbeat within her, Su Yuqing displayed a mother’s resilience. She absolutely refused to end the pregnancy, even threatening to take her own life.
Though Old Master Su was incensed, he would not actually kill his own daughter.
He could only lock Su Yuqing in her room, forbidding her from going out to prevent the news from spreading.
And so, the day of delivery finally arrived.
It took tremendous effort for Su Xiaomei to be born.
Su Yuqing had always been delicate, and during her pregnancy, she had not received proper care.[1] Furthermore, the ordeal of childbirth was more than her body could withstand. Thus, just a few days after giving birth to Su Xiaomei, she passed away with regrets.
On her deathbed, she pleaded desperately with the Su family to take good care of Su Xiaomei.
The Su family was not heartless. After Su Yuqing’s death, the entire household doted on the little one who had lost both parents from birth, wishing for her to grow up safe, sound, and happy.
Who could have imagined that not long after Su Xiaomei was born, she would be afflicted by a strange illness?
Her entire body burned with fever, to the point where she required constant application of ice to find relief.
The Su family summoned every renowned physician in the capital, but none could cure her... until Li Fan arrived.
After listening to Scholar Su’s account, Li Fan lifted his gaze to the sky, deep in thought.
Conceived by heaven’s will, perhaps? That might explain why Su Xiaomei’s talent is so extraordinary.
Yet, according to the original trajectory of history, even with her heaven-defying gifts, she would find it difficult to escape death in the face of such tribulation.
How many in the entire cultivation world are like Su Xiaomei, blessed with such magnificent talent, yet die as unknown and unremarked as any common mortal?
In this regard, the Heavenly Dao is truly impartial.
With this matter concluded, Li Fan let out a long sigh, summoned the Taiyan Boat, and swiftly departed.
After around twenty-five days, he returned safely to Liuli Island, just as He Zhenghao had previously estimated.
Even now, the Form-Concealing Talisman he had activated earlier was still in effect.
A single Form-Concealing Talisman can last this long as long as one avoids conflict. It really is cost-effective. Perhaps I should buy some to keep in reserve once I’m back on the island. Li Fan thought to himself.
Back within the Mountain River Constellation Array, Li Fan handed the storage ring to He Zhenghao.
He Zhenghao seemed distracted, only glancing at it briefly before storing the ring away.
His attention was instead wholly focused on an ancient-looking mirror in front of him. It appeared somewhat similar to the Tianxuan Mirror.
Following He Zhenghao’s gaze, Li Fan saw a line of small characters displayed on the mirror’s surface.
“Spirit Mist Grass. Current price: 15 contribution points per stalk.”
The number fifteen flickered incessantly, changing to sixteen one moment, then quickly dropping to fourteen the next.
“Rise, just rise already!” He Zhenghao stared fixedly at the mirror as if possessed, muttering the words over and over.
“Fellow Daoist He, what are you doing?” Li Fan asked curiously.
“Ah, Fellow Daoist, you wouldn’t understand,” He Zhenghao said without looking away, heaving a sigh and speaking in a gloomy tone.
“A few days ago, not long after you left, I received some news from a reliable source: the island where Spirit Mist Grass is cultivated was attacked by an exotic beast from the sea, and most of the grass there was destroyed.
“As I told you before, Spirit Mist Grass is the main ingredient for crafting Form-Concealing Talismans and is exceedingly rare to begin with. Now, with so much destroyed, the price is bound to skyrocket.”
“At the time, this news hadn’t spread yet, so I thought I’d seize the opportunity to make a profit. I invested heavily, spending a fortune in the Tianxuan Mirror to hoard a large quantity of Spirit Mist Grass...”
This operation sounded somewhat familiar to Li Fan. He studied He Zhenghao, somewhat puzzled. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Why do you look so dispirited?”
“Ah, it should be a good thing. I just celebrated too early,” He Zhenghao replied. His eyes were still glued to the mirror as he sighed dejectedly.
“At first, the price of Spirit Mist Grass did rise a bit, going from twenty points per stalk to twenty-five. But who could have guessed that before I could even sell my stock, the price suddenly plummeted.
“It crashed all the way from twenty-five points down to thirteen, nearly cut in half!” He Zhenghao’s voice was thick with pain. “Thankfully, the price has rebounded a bit recently, climbing back to around fifteen.”
Listening to He Zhenghao, Li Fan couldn’t help but remark, “Fellow Daoist He, why not take this chance to sell all your Spirit Mist Grass? At the very least, you could recoup some of your losses.”
He Zhenghao shook his head vehemently. “Absolutely not. I’ve sunk nearly a century’s worth of savings into this. I must at least wait for the price to climb back up before I sell—”
His words cut off abruptly as he gasped in shock. “It’s falling again? Thirteen? Twelve? Ten? Eight?...
“Still falling?!”
In the blink of an eye, the price of Spirit Mist Grass plummeted like an avalanche, crashing from fifteen contribution points per stalk to a mere six before finally, agonizingly, stabilizing.
A long silence ensued.
Watching the utterly despondent and dazed He Zhenghao, Li Fan spoke slowly, “It should... climb back up, right?”
1. TL’s understanding: I don’t think her family mistreated her when they locked her in the room. Rather, I think that she might have taken drastic measures while trying to hide the pregnancy for the first few months. Not too sure how the author plans for us to interpret it. What do you guys think? ☜