Having run away like a lovestruck teenager, Xifeng first took some time to no longer stay flustered and then took even more time to stop feeling embarrassed.
The way she behaved should definitely be more than enough to let Jian Shen know how it was that she was felt about him.
Gritting her teeth as a blush rapidly took over her face once again, Xifeng couldn't help it as her body began squirming from imagining being close with Jian Shen.
This was when Xifeng finally remembered what her purpose was behind going back to find Jian Shen for the second time.
"I forgot to give him the Soul Lotus!"
The Soul Lotus was an item that was necessary for every individual who wanted to start cultivating their Middle Dantian.
And the higher the grade it was, the better it would be for the cultivator as this Soul Lotus would decide how quickly they could cultivate and how strong their foundation would be.
Taking out the lotus flower which looked like it was made of glass, Xifeng alternates looking towards it and the direction in which Jian Shen's courtyard was at.
Looking towards the two things various times, Xifeng finally chose to not go back and meet Jian Shen today and instead give it to him tomorrow.
What she didn't know however was that the Soul Lotus she had in her hands was unneeded due to Jian Shen possessing an even higher grade of Soul Lotus with him.
All of this was in credit to Qingyu who had a special Soul Lotus growing inside the World Crest for Jian Shen to use when the time came.
Therefore, even though the Soul Lotus Xifeng had taken to give Jian Shen could be considered as one of the best ones inside the Divine Realm, it couldn't compare with the Soul Lotus that Qingyu had growing for the so many thousands of years.
...
Sitting in the backyard of the courtyard, Jian Shen first took in a deep breath to compose himself before taking out the Soul Lotus from the World Crest.
This Soul Lotus in comparison to the one which Xifeng had with her was both bigger in size and looked more like a crystal with literally zero impurities inside it and no colour anywhere either.
The more colourless a Soul Lotus was, the better it was because this meant that the Soul Lotus formed was purely out of Soul Essence and there wasn't any sign of contamination through Qi or the Intents of Heaven and Earth.
Holding the Soul Lotus which was big enough to fit in his palms that were placed together side by side, Jian Shen felt a little confused as to how he should consume it.
After all, in the manual he read all that was written was that he needed to consume the Yin Flower which would then serve as a base inside his Middle Dantian on top of which his Nascent Soul would be created and then stay at.
But if he really took the meaning of the words literally and ate the lotus, how could it possibly enter his Middle Dantian? And how could the lotus retain its shape when he would chew it into pieces?
Luckily, before Jian Shen did something stupid and regrettable Qingyu came to his rescue.
"You don't need to eat the Soul Lotus, Jian Shen. Find a container big enough for you to fill it with water and then enter it with the Soul Lotus in your hand. The rest will happen automatically."
Asking if there was a limit to how big the container should be or how much water he should use, Jian Shen who was lazy by nature at doing things which he didn't deem as needed to be done chose to use the pond inside his courtyard.
Stripping naked and jumping inside the ice-cold pond because the weather had been near freezing for quite some time, Jian Shen who had completely submerged himself inside the water saw the lotus in his hand slowly dissolving as it mixed with the water and entered his body through the pores.
The Soul Lotus which had mixed with the water then began taking its shape once again after all of the liquid had entered Jian Shen's Middle Dantian.
This was where the Soul Lotus went back to its previous form before it was dissolved inside the pond.
With this, Jian Shen who found this process unexpectedly easy obtained what was possibly the best Soul Lotus in existence and was now ready to officially start cultivation his Middle Dantian.
Quickly leaving the water since he wasn't a fan of staying inside cold water, Jian Shen used the Intent of Fire to dry his body before putting his clothes on.
Going back to sitting at the centre of the backyard, Jian Shen who had comprehended the Myriad God Sword Cultivation Technique related to cultivating the Middle Dantian immediately got started on absorbing Soul Essence from around him.
This Soul Essence which was gathered at a high speed was stored inside Jian Shen's Middle Dantian above the Yin Lotus until the quantity was enough to form a Nascent Soul from it.