Chapter 48: The Refining Furnace (Part 3)

The boy lying on the couch suddenly coughed, his long black eyelashes trembling.
He had essentially suppressed this body, only feeling a bit weak when the sun was at its peak. But whenever the young lady was by his side, it felt much better, especially because the flower dew she carried inexplicably had a soothing effect on his magic soul.
Xu Qianyu fed him a spoonful, but the spoon got stuck because the boy suddenly bit down on it. Sweat beaded on his jade-like forehead, and Xu Qianyu was startled. “Shishu, does it hurt?”
Xie Yuzhen wasn’t completely faking it. The soul-restraining incantation manifested every seven days, and it felt as if countless sharp spikes were piercing all his acupuncture points. After leaving Lu You, his pain magnified a thousandfold, making it unbearable.
However, he merely furrowed his brow for a moment before regaining his composure, a trace of disdain curling at the corners of his mouth. It wasn’t easy for a demon to live as a human; he had long grown accustomed to bathing in blood and pain, and this was simply his normal state.
Xie Yuzhen opened his eyes, somewhat dazed. After a moment, he uttered something unrelated: “Are the flowers blooming outside?”

Xu Qianyu was taken aback, recalling that Wuzhen Shishu liked peach blossoms. If the flowers were still blooming, she could pick a branch to bring inside. But at this time of year, the peach blossoms outside had long wilted.
Xie Yuzhen heard the rustling sounds beside him. Xu Qianyu took out some wooden pieces and began assembling a small wooden windmill on the table.
This was naturally not made by her. During the forging class, she had been unwilling to carve the wood and had lazily lain on the table. Yu Chu, however, was skilled and had meticulously helped her create many small items according to the blueprints. She found this windmill amusing because it resembled the one at home, so she asked for it.
Xu Qianyu stood up to leave. “Wait a moment.”
When she returned, the water wheel was filled with water, and she added some petals she used for her face to it before placing it on the table. As she let go, the water made a gentle sound, and the small water wheel began to turn. Xie Yuzhen didn’t move, but he felt a faint fragrance brushing against his cheek. It felt as if feathers were lightly caressing him; the sensation was so subtle that he held his breath.
“Can you feel it?” Xu Qianyu adjusted the position of the water wheel to blow towards Xie Yuzhen’s face. “It’s already summer, and the jasmine is blooming outside.”
This water wheel could keep turning with magic, eliminating the need for more water. It was as if he were placed in a courtyard, able to feel the summer breeze at all times.
Xu Qianyu said, “Next time, I’ll bring you different flowers.”
Suddenly, Xie Yuzhen said, “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow… is my birthday.” The boy’s eyelashes trembled.

In truth, tomorrow wasn’t Xie Yuzhen’s birthday; it was merely the day the seven-day incantation would manifest.
On that day, the pain would be intense. He hoped Xu Qianyu would be by his side, feeding him a bowl of flower dew and talking to him just as she was now, so he could endure through it. Lu You had once celebrated his birthday for him, making him aware that it was a special day for mortals. The young lady was unexpectedly kind to those she cared about, to the point of addiction.
He still wanted to receive the young lady’s special treatment.
“Birthday?” Xu Qianyu looked doubtful. Since Wuzhen had lost consciousness, who knew if it was truly a coincidence that he was referring to his birthday or if he was just talking in his sleep? But after thinking it over, she still said, “Then I’ll come again tomorrow.”
After feeding him the flower dew, she left.
In the darkness, Xie Yuzhen listened to the sound of the water flowing, his gaze fixed as he felt the faint breeze.
Xu Qianyu hadn’t walked two steps when something suddenly fell from the tree, landing in her arms.
She reached out and caught a round paper lantern. Just as she recognized the object, a flame inside the lantern leaped out. As she released it, the lantern was instantly reduced to ashes, vanishing into the air, leaving her utterly bewildered.
“Who threw the lantern up the tree?” Xu Qianyu looked around but saw no one. She brushed off her sleeves, cursing under her breath.

However, after that scare, the warmth from the lantern seemed to merge into her body, making her feel a surge of spiritual power within, uncomfortable and pressuring her, so she hurried back.
The system wasn’t particularly surprised by Xu Qianyu sitting straight up in the middle of the night. It simply reminded her as she left: “Xiao Qian, put on your shoes properly; watch out for the threshold.”
Xu Qianyu pushed open the door.
Under the moonlight, white mist swirled, and a beautiful figure in white sat quietly beneath the tall bamboo grove, resembling a ghostly silhouette. She lifted her gaze at the sound, her eyes cold as frost, ethereal as mist, impossible to grasp.
Xu Qianyu paused at the door, watching her for a moment before quickly descending the stairs, lifting her skirt to walk directly over and sit on his lap. It seemed that wasn’t enough; she also wanted to wrap her arms around his neck.
“…” Shen Suwei placed a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from completing the movement, making her entire body stiffen.
Although it was true that one got used to things after a while, there was still an adjustment period when it came to breaking the distance each time one entered a role.
However, upon being rejected, Xu Qianyu looked up at him, her eyes larger than those of others, filled with confusion and grievance. Shen Suwei tightened the long fingers on her shoulder and lowered his gaze. “I have something for you.”
As he spoke, his right hand handed her a stack of clothes.
Xu Qianyu’s attention shifted, happily receiving it. “You brought me a gift.”
Since they were putting on an act, Shen Suwei was accustomed to being thorough and considerate, leaving no room for error. Even in dreams, he didn’t want to leave Xu Qianyu with any unpleasant memories.

Xu Qianyu exclaimed, “New clothes!”
“Yes.”

Xu Qianyu had already unfolded them; the fabric was soft. One looked like a cloud-like dress, while the other resembled a crane’s feather robe. Her eyes immediately brightened. Stealing a glance at her mother, the clothes seemed similar to what her mother wore, and they should look equally beautiful when worn, causing her to involuntarily smile.
But when she looked down at her undergarment again, her smile instantly froze.
She didn’t understand why she dared to come out in such rags to meet her mother, so she immediately loosened her clothes and prepared to change on the spot.
Shen Suwei grasped her collar tightly, preventing her undergarment from coming undone.
After pausing for a moment and calming his tone, he finally said, “It’s too cold outside; let’s change when we get back.”
The tone of her mother was cool yet gentle. Seeing her mother’s concern for her, Xu Qianyu obediently stopped moving, allowing her mother to lower her head and tie her straps again: “Okay.”
Shen Suwei set the clothes aside, then picked up Xu Qianyu and turned her over, laying her across his knee. He looked straight ahead, gathered her hair that had fallen to the ground with his hand, and tucked it behind her neck: “Do you remember what we talked about last time?”
His fingertips moved down her spine, stopping at her tailbone, where he gently pressed: “Spirit palace, spirit root, and the position of the spirit pond.”
“It’s at the tailbone.”
“Mm.” He continued, “To immerse in the spirit pond means to concentrate your consciousness here.”
Xu Qianyu closed her eyes, her thoughts sinking, and then she fell into the pitch-black environment, seeing the golden-lined loquat tree she was already familiar with. However, the tree seemed a bit strange now; its leaves didn’t sway or shake, enveloped in a layer of shimmering white light. When she leaned closer, she realized that the white halo was ice.
The entire tree was encased in an ice shell, resembling the glass-like frozen flowers she had seen in her childhood market.
“What happened to it?” At this moment, she felt an icy chill throughout her body, and suddenly a terrifying thing happened: the entire tree trembled slightly and abruptly turned to dust, but the ice shell remained. Thus, all the spiritual energy converged within the shell, forming a golden light-emitting liquid that surged like ocean waves, resembling melted gold foil.
The tree was gone, and Xu Qianyu’s mind buzzed; her hands and feet turned cold as she tried to salvage the internal energy she had painstakingly cultivated. As her consciousness surged into the ice shell, she heard her mother calling her “Xu Qianyu.”

It felt as if she were hearing the voice through water—faint and indistinct.
She barely steadied her mind: “Mm?”
She thought to herself that her mother probably still didn’t know she had entered the immortal gate, so she didn’t want to scare her during this meditation. With effort, she extracted her consciousness to respond.
“Did you like the clothes earlier?”Her mother asked another complex question.
“… I liked them.”
“Good.” That voice was like icy pearls rolling on her skin—cool but light, and it sounded very pleasant. “Why not think about what you look like when you wear them?”
This question was too complicated but also very tempting. Xu Qianyu kept staring at the tree while her thoughts uncontrollably began to wander.
Suddenly, the golden powder in front of her moved!
A portion of it protruded, forming a head while four limbs stretched out, and a humanoid figure leaped out from the chaos.
Shen Suwei breathed a sigh of relief.
His consciousness was outside the ice shell, watching as a girl-like spirit pond finally took shape inside the ice shell, with a glowing point that danced up and down like a firefly—that was Xu Qianyu’s faint consciousness.
But things were not over yet. Xu Qianyu stared at the person in front of her, falling into deep self-doubt.
Is this what I look like?
It can’t be. Not only did I lack clothes, but I didn’t even have hair. What is this?
Seeing the firefly anxiously flying around the little golden figure for two or three circles, Shen Suwei noticed the golden figure suddenly grew taller.
—Xu Qianyu still had some obsession with her height.
When she realized she could change the shape of the little golden figure, her consciousness surged forth uncontrollably.

Shen Suwei watched for a moment, unable to help but change his expression: “Don’t stretch it any longer.”
But in an instant, the golden figure’s legs had already elongated to five feet long. Xu Qianyu thought again that her neck should also be long, and the golden figure’s head quickly grew upward. The shoulders had to be broad and flat, the waist slim, and it would be best to have thick hair.
These chaotic thoughts erupted simultaneously, yet each was resolute. The little figure in front of her was pulled and tugged, instantly undergoing dramatic changes.
Shen Suwei pressed two fingers of his left hand against Xu Qianyu’s forehead; her spiritual clarity was intact, and she had not fallen into madness.
Then why did the spirit pond take this shape? The thing had long, slender limbs like a stick insect, a body like an ant, and a neck like an outstretched chopstick, topped with a ball covered in countless sharp spikes. Due to the slender legs being unable to support such a tall body, this person bent at the waist, head pressed to the ground.
Shen Suwei gazed at the indescribable creature in front of him, silent.
This was still less preferable than a tree.
The spirit pond is a private domain for cultivators. Unless destroying an opponent’s spirit pond during battle, it is not appropriate to touch another’s spirit pond with consciousness. The only exception is during a highly intimate act between cultivators who have established a contract, known as “spiritual intercourse.” Thus, he could only stand outside the ice shell and guide Xu Qianyu but couldn’t intervene directly.

However, he hadn’t even had the chance to guide her before things developed into this.
Shen Suwei took another look at it.
Then the “person” was suddenly frozen by the ice, stopping its terrifying shaking.
He held a strand of sword energy, hesitating between repairing it or not.
Last time, he had pruned the branches of the tree with an attacking method; he only needed to cut off the top branches to disperse the accumulated spiritual energy without harming her cultivation.
But this time, he couldn’t distinguish the structure of this thing and couldn’t act rashly; otherwise, he couldn’t guarantee whether it would be a mere pruning or if he would accidentally destroy her spirit pond. He could only let her fix it herself.
Shen Suwei called again: “Xu Qianyu.”
The firefly flew weakly a few times.
However, it seemed that after completing that large project, it had expended too much energy and slowly began to dissipate. Xu Qianyu immediately opened her eyes, waking from her meditation.
At this moment, Shen Suwei truly felt like hitting someone. He lowered his gaze and said, “Is this all you can do?”
With this little willpower, she didn’t practice her mental methods daily, only delving into deceiving her peers and celebrating her master uncle’s birthday, to the point that when it came time to use her abilities, there was nothing left.
Xu Qianyu grasped his hand and shook it, indicating that he was pressing on her tailbone uncomfortably. She struggled a bit, not wanting to lie face down like this, feeling quite uncomfortable.
With no other choice, Shen Suwei had to tell her to get up.
Xu Qianyu felt that after she got up, her mother’s expression was as cold as ice.
Shen Suwei was indeed struggling to accept this outcome.
To achieve his current accomplishments, he’d been somewhat of a perfectionist along the way, always improving rather than regressing. Now, with Xu Qianyu’s spiritual pool reshaped under his guidance to such a barely functional state, another attempt would definitely be necessary.
This situation had repeated itself multiple times without a resolution, which weighed heavily on his mind, leaving him frustrated.

Her mother looked at her sideways for a moment, her gaze dark and unreadable, then asked, “Are you lacking spirit stones?”
With that, she stretched out a hand of smooth, jade-white fingers holding a handful of small white stones that glowed faintly.
Xu Qianyu took a few from her mother’s hand and examined them closely. Realizing they were spirit stones, she suddenly clasped his hand forcefully and pushed it aside. “I don’t want them.”
Not again? Shen Suwei observed her with a scrutinizing expression.
Xu Qianyu held his hand, looking at him with eyes full of admiration and earnestness. “Over there, it’s really hard for you. You don’t need to give them to me; I’m quite wealthy.”
Over there?
Does she think he’s dead?