Longzang

Chapter 39 Stripping

The Council Hall, located next to the Qisi Hall and built against the mountain, is a very quiet place and serves as the venue for lecturers to handle their teaching affairs. Inside the Council Hall are more than a dozen individual courtyards, each with a unique style. These courtyards are used by lecturers to prepare courses and handle all student matters.

Wei Yuan followed Ji Liuli to the lecturer council hall, where he saw her walk to a small courtyard, reach out and take off the 'Xu Henshui' sign on the door, and push the door open to enter.

This further convinced Wei Yuan that Xu Henshui was the one who should be teaching him. He just didn't know who this senior sister Liuli was, that she could be so reckless in such an important matter as group instruction. But reckless as she was, this senior sister was truly capable, as evidenced by her ability to throw Xu Henshui out of the mountain gate.

The courtyard was elegantly decorated, with a cluster of orchids planted in a corner. Wei Yuan didn't know what kind they were, but he found them both beautiful and fragrant. A fine tea set sat on a stone table in the courtyard, and each room was also furnished. Many of the items bore orchid markings, clearly belonging to Xu Henshui.

Ji Liuli acted as if he were in his own home, searching through everything without any hesitation.

She opened a tin of tea with orchids printed on it, brewed it in a teapot with orchids printed on it, poured three cups into cups with orchids printed on them, and then drank them down in three gulps. Only then did she exhale, and the room was filled with fragrance.

"Good tea!" Ji Liuli praised, then said to Wei Yuan, "It's a pity there's not much, and you wouldn't understand the taste anyway, so I won't give you any."

She brought out a large bucket from somewhere and placed it in the center of the room. Then, she pointed into the bucket, and it immediately filled more than halfway with clear water. Ji Liuli took out a small bottle and poured a drop of emerald green liquid into the bucket. The entire bucket of water instantly turned bluish-green and began to emit billowing steam.

"Take off your clothes and come inside," Ji Liuli said.

Wei Yuan was taken aback, his face flushed red, and he stammered, "This..."

Although he was only six years old, he was precocious and grew quickly, so he looked like a boy of about ten. It was rather embarrassing for him to undress in front of a strange woman.

Ji Liuli didn't waste any words with him. She grabbed him, stripped him naked in a few quick movements, gave him a crisp slap on the butt, threw him into the wooden bucket, and said, "You haven't even grown any hair yet, what are you ashamed of?"

She tossed Wei Yuan into the tub, casually gave him a few incantations, and told him to circulate his internal energy to absorb the medicinal liquid. Then she moved a chair over, sat down by the tub, put her legs up on the edge, and started reading.

Wei Yuan felt that the water in the bucket was sometimes hot and sometimes cold, sometimes boiling, and sometimes as cold as the dead of winter. He curled up in the bucket, not because of the temperature, but because Senior Sister Liuli was sitting right next to him, looking down at him and seeing everything.

She didn't seem to be paying much attention to her book, her gaze occasionally sweeping over Wei Yuan.

The world of ice and fire in the bucket was unbearable, so Wei Yuan had to temporarily put everything else aside and concentrate on circulating his cultivation technique. As the technique circulated, Wei Yuan felt a slight coolness seeping into his body, and the heat and cold became less unbearable, slowly entering a state of complete absorption in the external world.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Wei Yuan suddenly woke up from his meditation, only to find that the water in the bucket had turned purplish-black.

Ji Liuli put down the book in her hand and said, "Come out."

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment. Should he go out naked like this? But when Ji Liuli saw that he didn't move, she pulled him out of the water and placed him in front of her.

Wei Yuan stood naked, wanting to close his eyes or look up at the sky, but that would be too deliberate. He could only force himself to remain calm, staring straight ahead without moving. The senior sister's pupils lit up with a pale golden light, and Wei Yuan instantly felt as if everything inside and outside his body had been seen through, leaving him with no secrets whatsoever.

She circled Wei Yuan several times, examining him closely from head to toe, occasionally stretching her muscles and bones, before returning to her desk to write down a prescription.

After writing the prescription, she pondered for a moment, then removed three ingredients and added one more. She then found all the ingredients in the medicine cabinet against the wall according to the prescription.

There was also an orchid printed on the medicine cabinet.

Having gathered all the medicinal herbs, Ji Liuli held a small alchemy furnace in her hand. She threw the herbs into it, and blue flames erupted from her palm as she refined the powder after a short while. She replaced the water in the bucket with fresh water, then placed the powder into it. The water immediately turned orange-yellow and emitted a chilling aura.

This time, Wei Yuan learned his lesson. At his senior sister's pointing finger, he obediently jumped in. He continued to circulate his internal energy, absorbing the medicinal properties from the water. An hour later, the water in the bucket had turned into clear water.

After two rounds of medicinal baths, Wei Yuan clearly felt that his body had become lighter and clearer, as if he had been carrying a burden of dozens of kilograms, but he had never known it until now that the burden was gone and he could feel the ease.

"Alright, come out now." Ji Liuli tossed the clothes to Wei Yuan and said, "The information says your physical foundation during the Dao assessment was seven feet nine inches. But I just checked, and your actual physical foundation is closer to nine inches, only the texture is somewhat weak. Have you recently taken any treasures to improve your physical foundation?"

Wei Yuan said, "My grandmaster, the True Man of Burning Sea, bestowed upon me three Chonglou Dinghai Pills. I have just taken one, and there are still two left to take."

Ji Liuli nodded and said, "The Chonglou Dinghai Pill is a top-grade pill among those that expand one's foundation. It seems that True Person Fenhai really likes you very much, and is so willing to part with it."

Wei Yuan added, "Master also gave me three Cleansing Heart Pills, which I have already taken."

"The Heart-Cleansing Pill?!" Ji Liuli's eyes changed instantly.

She reached out and lifted Wei Yuan's chin, looked him over carefully for a long time, and then said, "You're lucky to have a good master, but your master isn't so lucky."

Wei Yuan was completely confused and didn't understand what she meant.

Ji Liuli seemed lost in thought for a moment before speaking: "The so-called body forging is actually preparing a blank for the foundation of your Dao. The larger and better the blank, the better the Dao foundation you will achieve. If you want to achieve a Heavenly Rank or higher Immortal Foundation, you can imagine how high the requirements for the blank will be. There are only two kinds of effort required during the body forging period: accumulation and refinement. I am now repairing and polishing your foundation, removing the excess and filling in the deficiencies. I am putting in the effort of refinement. For the next three months, after each of my classes, you will come to the Council Hall to polish your foundation."

Thankfully, it's only for three months...

Just as Wei Yuan was about to leave, Ji Liuli called him back. The senior sister's expression was quite complicated as she said to Wei Yuan, "Your teacher is a proud fellow who's also bad at talking and never knows how to speak properly. In the future, when you've achieved success in your cultivation... remember to treat your teacher well."

Wei Yuan couldn't understand either and wanted to ask for details, but Ji Liuli kicked him out.

(End of this chapter)