When Su Yishui learned that Mu Qingge was the one who had sent them, he didn't make things difficult for these people and simply had Yutong release them.
If it were someone else inquiring about the whereabouts of the spirit fruit, he might have to spend some effort.
But if it was this imposter, she would probably be even more meticulous than he was, fearful that someone might leak the traces of the real one and expose her true colors.
So, for that month, the pills that were supposed to be delivered on time to the palace to suppress the grudge water poison were "accidentally forgotten" by Immortal Su.
In the Western Palace, Mu Ranwu who was unable to suppress the grudge water inside her, screamed such painful cries that scared the palace maids and eunuchs away.
It wasn't until she received a wooden box sent by Wen Hongshan that she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She wrote a letter, and sent them along to Su Yishui, acknowledged her mistake and stated that she had already found out about the two Spirit fruits. The one that fell to the ground first must be her younger sister. Worried about her younger sister, so she sent people to search for her.
And inside that wooden box was the key to the Netherworld Realm that Wen Hongshan had obtained from Wei Jiu.
Wen Hongshan still followed her plan in the end. She went to persuade Wei Jiu, negotiated terms with him, and exchanged them for the key to the Netherworld Realm.
Su Yishui picked up the piece of Ebony wooden key from the wooden box, turned it over, and looked at it against the sunlight. Although the square key was intricately carved with patterns, when aligned correctly, a faint and unclear inscription could be seen on the side – "Shui'er."
It seemed that this key was indeed the one he had given to Wei Jiu. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for anyone to discover this inscription for replication.
Only one person called him that way in the entire world. Every time she called him, it seemed like there was a bubble of water in her mouth, rippling on her tongue… The look in those eyes was like a smile yet not quite…
"Shui'er…"
He put down the wooden plaque, plucked at the strings of the ancient zither on the side, lost in thought. Again, he heard the soft, sweet, and bright voice. He looked up abruptly at the young girl teasing him.
Ranran was wearing a plain white robe, her hair tied up in two buns, frowning as she held a small purple clay teapot in her hand, pouting and saying, "*This water has been mixed too sweet. I clearly told senior brother not to put too much melon juice. Looks like next time, I'll have to do it myself…"
*its common for people to add 儿 to subject matter, in this case, Ranran put 儿 behind 'water', which became similar to how her Shifu had been called by Mu Qingge
Ranran had meditation exercises today, so Qiu Xier and Second Uncle Master went shopping. Therefore, lunch preparation was left to Senior brother. Since it was hot, a cup of sweet drink was refreshing, so after meditating for a while, she secretly drank a sip from the pot of sweet drink that senior brother had brought.
But the melon tea in this pot is really too overly sweet.
Just as she finished complaining, she saw Shifu, who was sitting in the main seat of the grassy hall and tuning the strings of the zither, looking over at her with deep and intense eyes.
Ranran quickly sat upright, thought for a moment, and then eagerly held up the pot, asking Shifu if he wanted some too.
Ever since she discovered all the errors in the Fierce Beasts chapter, she had conscientiously corrected a few, one of which was that Shifu loved to eat sweets.
The small sugar biscuits she made would usually be all eaten by her Shifu every time, and sometimes she wouldn't even manage to grab one for herself. Maybe Shifu would also love this overly sweet pot of tea.
After hearing his disciple's words of complaint, Su Yishui regained his composure, put the zither into its bag and picked it up, saying to her, "Today's exercises are done. I'll take you to drink something that is not sweet."
Ranran got up and followed her Master outside, feeling very excited. She tilted her head and asked, "Shifu, are we going to drink the jar of wine left by Elder Mu?"
Seeing Su Yishui nod his head, Ranran grabbed her skirt and rushed to the kitchen. She grabbed some fried peanuts she had made, along with some dried fish, and chased after her Shifu to taste the fine wine together.
Su Yishui took Ranran to the waterfall cave behind the mountain, where he fetched the dusty aged wine.
When he broke the seal, a tantalizing aroma filled the air. Ranran sniffed it, suddenly understanding the meaning of "Detain Celestial Immortal." The taste of this aged wine was truly incomparable to any wine matured with spiritual talismans.
She eagerly took out the pair of small ceramic wine cups she had brought, along with the peanuts and dried fish wrapped in oil paper, intending to let Shifu have the first taste.
However, after Su Yishui took the wine cup, he brought it to her lips instead.
Ranran felt a little embarrassed but couldn't resist the enticing aroma of the wine. So she quickly took a small sip, finding it indeed rich and full-bodied, with a strong aftertaste that prompted her to quickly eat two peanuts to offset it.
And so, the Master and disciple sat on a large stone by the waterfall, each with a cup, drinking like this.
Wine relaxes people, and after a few cups, the usual respectful and strict atmosphere between master and disciple seemed to loosen up.
Boosted by the wine, Ranran curiously asked the question she had always wanted to ask her Master, "Shifu, people say that you hate Elder Mu. Is that true?"
Su Yishui had a few cups of wine. He sat, with his usually tight collar slightly loosened, his long legs resting on the large stone, and his half-tied long hair flowing behind him, oozing with a lazy attitude. Upon hearing Ranran's question, he raised his wine cup and suddenly smiled like a river thawing in spring, "Why don't you ask, everyone says that Mu Qingge is absolutely infatuated with me, is that true?"
Ranran looked at Su Yishui's unusual lazy demeanor compared with his usual coldness, his lips slightly curved in a smile, he actually looked a little more wicked than the demonic cultivator Wei Jiu…
While she was in a daze, Su Yishui suddenly leaned closer to her. His face no longer smiling, he asked coldly, "Tell me, do you think Mu Qingge is infatuated with me?"
Ranran unconsciously leaned back, her head hitting the large stone behind her. She tried to avoid her Master's nose and whispered, "Elder Mu always comes to see you on her own initiative and talks to you. Naturally, she must have some attachment to you…"
But Su Yishui wasn't satisfied. He seemed unwilling to back away, just focused on looking into her eyes. In his eyes, filled with a drunken haze, there was actually a hint of wicked cynicism ""Some women, she would look at you like how I'm looking at you, smiling at you, saying you're the best looking. You say that's infatuation… Actually, it's all just rubbish!"
His mouth curved into a smile, his eyes fixed on her, but there was no laughter in them, only an indescribable desolation and something else that she couldn't understand..
Ranran felt a bit panicked, feeling that something was off with this atmosphere. Was her Master warning her not to be deceived by sweet words and affectionate gazes, and be cheated of her feelings in the future?
In her confusion, she grabbed the zither her Master had brought and placed it between them, and said ingratiatingly, "Shifu, it's been a while since I heard you play the zither. Would you mind playing a tune while we're in high spirits?"
Su Yishui finally sat up straight, poured another cup of wine and downed it in one go. He then took the zither, crossed his legs, and set up the instrument. He remained silent for a while, slowly plucking the strings. The melodious music flowed like a stream, filling the valley.
Ranran found Shifu's zither skills irresistible, even more intoxicating than the wine.
Listening to the flowing music, she forgot the awkwardness from earlier and casually half removed her embroidered shoes by the cliff, her slender toes hooking onto the shoes as she swayed them to and fro. Eventually, she couldn't help but hum along with the music.
Although there were no lyrics but the clear voice echoed in the ravine, the waterfall splashed down like broken jade and flowers bloomed on the cliff. A breeze blew, brushing the lively girl's cheek and hair. In a trance, her carefree smile seemed to overlap with the portrait of the red-clothed woman in the hall…
Su Yishui silently watched his intoxicated disciple, finally stopping the music. He picked up the jar of wine, and took a gulp as he threw his head back. The strong aroma of the wine spread on his lips, teeth, and tongue.
The wine she brewed was just like her, initially too strong and made one uncomfortable, but once you thought you wanted to stop drinking, the flavor of the wine has already entered the throat, and became too hard to put down.
In a daze, he also couldn't seem to figure out whether what made him intoxicated was the wine in the cup or the person in front of him…
As Ranran was singing happily, her smile still on her face when she saw her handsome Shifu suddenly falling straight down, making a splash as he fell into the deep pool below the cliff…
Afterwards, Ranran was filled with self-blame. If she had known earlier that her Shifu was actually so easily intoxicated, she would have definitely stopped him from drinking.
Elder Mu's compilation of the Fierce Beasts Chapter was truly full of illogical rubbish, why did she record a whole bunch of mistakes but left out that Su Yishui was a lightweight drinker?
Ranran was very thankful that she had learned how to swim in time. After her drunken Shifu fell into the deep pool, she managed to fish him out by herself.
Of course, the wretched state during that time cannot be described. Ranran even had to press her Shifu's stomach to squeeze out the water he had choked on, then blew into his mouth to help him resume breathing.
But her Shifu seemed dead, without any breath at all. Ranran stood there in a panic, mouth slightly agape, tears streaming down… She never expected that killing her Shifu would be so simple.
She was at her wit's end and could only get up to search for someone else.
But as she left, Su Yishui who had been lying on the ground finally half-opened his eyes. He turned his head to look at Ranran's back as she hurried away, and reached out to touch his lips. Just now it felt as if there were petals with a fragrant wine scent, had fallen on his lips, so soft and sweet…
Following that, Ranran ran to the front hall but couldn't find anyone. When she returned to the cave again, she found that her Shifu had taken off his wet outer clothes and was sitting on the large stone by the river wringing his clothes.
Ranran breathed a sigh of relief, chanted "Amitabha Buddha," and then cautiously asked, "Shifu, do you want to drink some hangover soup…"
Su Yishui glanced at her, touched the water on his face, then tossed out "If you dare to mention how I got drunk to others, will be punished according to the rules of the sect," and left dripping wet.
Ranran carried the remaining half-jar of aged wine and gloomily returned to her room.
If her Shifu was so easily intoxicated, he really had no common interests with his previous Master. It's no wonder Mu Qingge, despite having many outstanding disciples, had to go to Cuiwei Mountain to find Elder Jiu to enjoy a drink.
However, she was also slow to realize, as she recalled touching Shifu's lips with her own to save him, she suddenly felt her heart beating too fast. Finally, she took a Clear Heart Pill and quickly meditated to control her emotions.
Desire is the devil in one's heart, she must be vigilant at all times. Perhaps this is also a test of her cultivation level by her Shifu! She must remain in control.
After a month, the Heavenly Tribulation finally arrived in the mountains and rivers as scheduled, with heavenly thunder rolling everywhere.
Things remained relatively quiet in the Western Mountains. After Su Yishui had contributed his cultivation in the past, he had yet to fully recover. Even after absorbing Wei Jiu's cultivation, it was only restored by half.
The methods of dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation varied among the experts, but most required highly cultivated disciples to assist.
Mu Qingge hid in the imperial palace and couldn't be used. In recent years, there were no outstanding disciples among the three major sects. So in the final test, among the high level masters of the three major sects, Abess Wen from the Kongshan Sect was actually struck to death by lightning, while the others didn't have enough cultivation and were fortunate to escape heavy punishment by the Heavens.
After this, replenishing new blood became of the utmost importance. Without cultivating capable disciples, they would not pass the next Heavenly Punishment.
Therefore, after the Heavenly Tribulation, Shifu received an invitation to the Marrow-Cleansing Pool Meet jointly issued by the three major sects.
This Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet could be said to be a very important gathering for the younger generation of cultivators.
As the name suggests, the Marrow Cleansing Pool is used to wash away worldly impurities and refine one's essence. Located in *Tian Mai Mountain, it is said to be the place where ancient cultivator Dun Tian had sat in meditation before ascending.
*Tian Mai literally is Sky's Vein
Tired of immortal longevity, he voluntarily turned into mountains, his eyes turned into pools. For cultivators, these pools has the function of cleansing and reshaping their foundation.
It is most effective, especially for those who have just built their foundation or have reached intermediate levels in their cultivation.
For disciples of the immortal cultivation righteous faction, they cannot rely on evil things like the Netherworld Spirit Spring, so they can only hope for the opportunity when the Marrow Cleansing Pool opens once every ten years.
Whenever the Marrow Cleansing Pool opens, Tianmai Mountain would shake and erupt with molten lava. After the lava solidifies, a blue pool would appear at the mouth of the mountain. Meditating in the pool allows for rapid cultivation progress.
However, if too many people enter the pool, it inevitably dilutes the spiritual power. So the righteous sects came up with a fair compromise, sending their most capable disciples to compete fairly.
The spiritual power of the Marrow Cleansing Pool is precious, and each person can only enter once. How could it be given to ordinary mortals? Naturally, only the outstanding younger generation disciples can seize this opportunity to advance their cultivation.
Although this rule may look fair, it actually blocks the possibility of disciples from other small sects of entering the pool. After all, everyone knows that the threshold of the three major sects is difficult to cross, and the promising young cultivators have already been picked up by the three major sects.
So the Sect Leaders and great cultivators of the three major sects have all practiced in the Marrow Cleansing Pool before. In the past few hundred years, unless they had outstanding talent, disciples from other minor sects would find it very difficult to get such opportunities.
This kind of elite selection, does not seem like something that the few inept XiShan disciples can participate in.
Therefore, when Second Uncle Master read the invitation to the Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet, Qiu Xier just nodded with envy, while Ranran curiously asked about the famous local delicacies and specialties near Tianmai Mountain.
Gao Cang shook his head sadly, "Unfortunately, we haven't been in the Sect long enough to compete with the disciples of the three major sects. Otherwise, we would definitely be do our best to make Shifu proud of us!"
However, Su Yishui calmly said, "Such opportunities are rare, and you all naturally have to strive for them. Since you have received the invitation, you must go."
Ranran widened her eyes and asked Second Uncle Master beside her, "Are the trials at the Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet difficult?"
Second Uncle Master thought for a moment and said, "I haven't been to Tianmai Mountain, but it is said that in the past three hundred years, the Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet has been monopolized by the three major sects. There was only two times when disciples from other sects took the lead and entered the pool."
Gao Cang, upon hearing this, immediately asked eagerly, "Who were they?"
Yu Tong, feeling proud, said, "One was naturally my Master, and the other… was Mu Qingge from back then."
Ranran nodded admiringly. XiShan unexpectedly had such potential. In just a few decades, they produced two outstanding talents like the dragon and the phoenix.
Mu Qingge and Su Yishui were both geniuses rarely seen in a hundred years, and not something small fries like them could compare to. If they were to go to Tianmai Mountain, they would probably not be able to make their Master proud, but it would be good to go out and have some fun.
However, Qiu Xier and Gao Cang obviously didn't think so. As they say, with Great masters come great disciples, and who knows, maybe another genius will emerge from XiShan this year.
So they begged Ranran to make them two pairs of "*Guaranteed Success" insoles, hoping to bring them some luck and achieve a good ranking.
*逢考必过 To Pass Every Test
These days, Ranran's alchemy furnace had been burning nonstop. After returning from Cha Ming Mountain, her Master had her start refining Marrow-strengthening pills.
However, these pills were not for humans but for spirit beasts. They could help enhance the power of spirit beasts, especially those who had suffered injuries from many years ago.
Ranran knew that this was for the little tiger. It was said the battle at Jue Mountain had been very devastating. In a critical moment, the Gengjin White Tiger prepared to sacrifice itself to save Mu Qingge.
But Mu Qingge couldn't bear to let her beloved spirit beast perish with her, so at that moment, she knocked it off Jue Mountain.
After that battle, the White Tiger's spiritual power was greatly depleted. Although Su Yishui had treated it with divine herb like Lingzhi, the benefits were limited.
The reason it mostly took the form of a cat was actually due to its inability to sustain its spiritual power, and was its way to conserve energy.
The efficacy of the Marrow-strengthening Pill was very beneficial for treating the White Tiger's injuries. If Ranran could refine them successfully, perhaps the White Tiger's recovery progress could be faster.
Because most of the time, the White Tiger was always like a drowsy cat, especially after its great display of power on the Wangxiang river the last time, it was always off somewhere sleeping. Su Yishui hoped the White Tiger would become more energetic.
However, Ranran's progress this time was not quite smooth.
In addition to precise proportions in the formula and mastering the fire levels of the furnace, Pill alchemy also required the willpower of the alchemist to empower the furnace.
Of course, the better the alchemy furnace, the better it can accept spiritual force, allowing all potentials to be fully materilized.
Ranran was using the alchemy furnace that Elder Mu had used before, which was of course great, but when refining higher-level pills, she would always seem just one step away from success.
Puzzled, she asked her Shifu if there was something she didn't do well enough.
Su Yishui explained, "Anyone can refine lower-level pills, but for higher-level pills, the alchemist's cultivation level also comes into play to empower the process. So those who practice alchemy must constantly improve their internal energy. Many alchemists cannot advance in alchemy skills, because their spiritual power is not increasing."
Because her spiritual power was not enough, Su Yishui led Ranran in refining the final batch of pills together.
Before they started refining, Su Yishui told her that after the furnace was opened, he would have to go into seclusion again, so he couldn't accompany her on the Tianmai Mountain trip.
After she was injured last time, her Shifu would keep an eye on her wherever she went. This time, Shifu was actually willing to let go, and allow her to go with her Master Uncles, which made Ranran extremely happy.
So after the pills were refined, Ranran did not see her Shifu Su Yishui again.
And it was obvious that Ranran's pills this time was another failure. After the little tiger reluctantly ate one, it snarled at Ranran with a grimace as if dissatisfied with its taste.
Its size remained unchanged, and it seemed even lazier than before, often snuggling into Ranran's arms and dozing off for days.
So when they went off to Tianmai Mountain, they had to bring this lazy tiger along.
Ranran herself didn't hold out much hope for this Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet. This gathering was more of an opportunity for disciples of the major sects to make a breakthrough.
The odds for XiShan to get a chance was very negligible, so there was no need to hold high expectations.
They were going just to represent their Sect and maintain appearances.
However, before they arrived at Tianmai Mountain, the lackadaisical disciples from XiShan finally felt the unyielding determination from the disciples of other sects.
When they were still some distance from Tianmai Mountain, the roads were already filled with carriages and horses from various major sects.
Of course, there were also high level guards from the major sects. It was said that in the past hundred years, except for Mu Qingge, no demonic cultivators could get close to Tianmai Mountain. This was a consensus among all the righteous immortal sects; they couldn't let the demonic path grow another demonic seed again.
When Ranran's carriage was waiting for identity verification, it was at the back of the queue. In the time she took to peer out, she actually saw second senior brother Bai Baishan.
Bai Bashan had been sent by Uncle Master Zeng to deliver the protective soft silver armor to Ranran.
Seeing this grand scene of the long queues, Bai Baishan, who had lost his foundation, felt envious and somewhat despondent.
At the entrance of Tianmai Mountain, there was a Decline Visitors Stone ( Xie Ke Stone ).
*谢客 most likely from 闭门谢客
This was an entrance to a mountain valley, with a narrow passage in the middle flanked by a flat stone similar to a gate. To pass through, one had to use spiritual power to lift the flat stone upwards. If one's spiritual power was insufficient, then they couldn't enter the mountain gate.
When Gao Cang and the others finally verified their identities and arrived, there was already another long queue here.
Gao Cang was impatient, so he took them to the front to take a look. They saw that the flat stone was extremely heavy, even lifting it with their arms required a lot of effort, let alone using spiritual power. How could they lift it?
At this moment, there was a burly man with the same idea as Gao Cang, who was about to challenge the stone gate. He said in a bold manner, "Who set a rule to say we can only use spiritual power to pass? I'll just go around here!"
With that, he leaped up, trying to jump over the flat stone. But just as he reached the top of the flat stone, a thunderbolt flashed, followed by a crack, and he was suddenly knocked down to the ground.
The female disciples of the KongShan Sect, who were waiting leisurely by the side, couldn't help but burst into laughter. "The Marrow Cleansing Pool is a sacred place left by the Ancient Cultivator Dun Tian, how can it be defiled by mediocrity? The entire Tianmai Mountain is shrouded in the spiritual shield he left behind. Only on the day of the Marrow Cleansing Pool Meet, can one pass through this trial stone gate. What an idiot, trying to jump over the gate!"
The man who was knocked down by the thunderbolt was quite sturdy. After staggering for a while, he climbed up again, glaring over, but sat cross-legged in front of the stone gate, trying to concentrate his qi and spiritual power. However, the stone gate only moved slightly and then remained motionless.
And so derisive laughter arose again. Unable to bear the embarrassment, the man jumped up again, preparing to use his hands to lift the trial stone.
But as soon as his hands touched the stone, a bright lightning bolt struck him directly.
This time, after he screamed and fell to the ground and twitched for a while, he then lay motionless.