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Chapter 289 It’s better to choose a day than to hit it
A light snow fell in the early morning, enveloping the city of Shengjing, accompanied by a cold fog that created a hazy atmosphere.

At this moment, the door to the east wing of the Wei family's villa, which had been tightly closed, was pushed open by a delicate, jade-like hand.

Holding the spirit stone imbued with the essence of a sacred artifact, Yuan Caiwei arrived at her younger brother Yuan Chen's room and hesitated for a long time at the door.

At this moment, she suddenly understood what Yan Shuyi had said. The reason her father was unwilling to try this method was because he felt that if the result was bad, he would not be able to bear it. She felt the same way.

However, the judge is right in one thing: it is unfair to be so harsh on Yuan Chen and attribute everything to his lack of effort.

After thinking for a long time, she reached out and knocked on the door.

After a long while, the door opened, and Yuan Chen appeared with obvious dark circles under his eyes: "Ah... Sister, good morning."

Seeing this, Yuan Caiwei stared at him for a long time.

Yuan Chen persisted for a while, then took out a storybook from under the cotton cushion behind the desk: "I've finally left the mountain, I just want to relax a bit, please don't scold me, sister."

"But we can't stay up all night, can we? It's not like we're going back tomorrow."

"Forehead……"

Yuan Chen noticed that Yuan Caiwei wasn't angry, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes: "It has to be my brother-in-law. He lives in another place, so he shouldn't be able to spank her, but he can still threaten my sister so she doesn't dare to yell at him."

Listening to his mutterings, Yuan Caiwei thought to herself, "That's a threat? That's clearly a reward..."

"What brings you here so early, sister?"

"Since you seem to be bored, I'd like to ask you for help with a few things."

"?"

Yuan Caiwei took out the spirit stone she had obtained from Yan Shuyi yesterday: "Use your inner energy to help your sister refine the energy within this spirit stone."

Yuan Chen took the spirit stone, played with it in his hand for a while, and then sat down on the futon.

Although he didn't know what was sealed inside the spirit stone, Yuan Chen never refused his sister's request, so the energy of the pill began to surge from between his arms.

As the elixir energy was poured in, a wisp of golden light began to slowly emanate from the spirit stone, like wisps of smoke rising from a chimney.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Caiwei couldn't help but slightly narrow her gaze.

In their line of sight, the golden light stood in the void, drifting aimlessly, and soon began to move toward Yuan Caiwei.

The woman from the Dan Sect took a half step back, her brows slightly furrowed, and softly urged him to hurry up.

Yuan Chen dared not be negligent. A dazzling radiance of light surged from his body, enveloping the golden glow and then guiding it towards himself.

Drawn by the light, the golden rosy clouds changed direction, transforming into a thread that was narrower at the front and wider at the back. It slowly drifted toward Yuan Chen's brow and began to swirl around his crown chakra, seemingly testing him.

After a long while, Yuan Chen suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "Sister, this thing is a bit difficult to refine."

"If you work hard these next few days, your older sister promises that she won't interfere with your reading of storybooks in your spare time."

"Really?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

After Yuan Caiwei finished speaking, she walked out of the room, leaving Yuan Chen alone in the room to try refining the essence.

As the appraiser's sister said yesterday, refining the power of origin is not so easy and one cannot be too hasty, so she did not tell Yuan Chen whether that meant he could control the sacred artifact.

Although she hadn't seen any results, she felt a little relieved, because although that wisp of primordial power wasn't particularly close to him, it didn't reject him either.

Yuan Caiwei exhaled a breath of cold air and saw Yan Shuyi standing in the corridor. He turned to look at her after she came out.

Upon seeing this, the daughter of the Dan Sect bowed slightly and greeted her with a "Good morning, elder sister," causing the young appraiser to narrow his eyes.

I keep calling her "sister," I've almost gotten used to it.

"The appraiser sister got up so early."

"Did you give that wisp of primordial power to Yuan Chen yesterday?"

"Ah."

"How is the result?"

Yuan Caiwei glanced at Yuan Chen's room: "I didn't see any rejection, so the outcome should be good. I will repay your kindness soon."

Yan Shuyi knew she was referring to medicine that could relieve lower back and abdominal pain without harming the body, and medicine that would not cause pain after taking it. She couldn't help but glance to the side: "Lingjian Mountain has been unstable these past few days. In this way, if I encounter any risks in the future, I will have pills to protect myself."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Caiwei couldn't help but purse her red lips, thinking to herself, "Sister, you're just lying. This isn't something that can protect you; it's clearly meant to break your virginity."

Yan Shu didn't care what she thought; the pills she wanted that wouldn't harm her body but would cause aches and pains in her lower back and abdomen were meant for protection.

As for the pain-relieving pills, Yuan Caiwei was willing to refine them for her; it wasn't something she begged for.

"I've had the servants in the other courtyard prepare some congee for you, Sister Caiwei, please go and have some."

Yuan Caiwei looked up: "Sister Appraiser, are you having breakfast with me?"

Yan Shuyi stepped out of the corridor on tiptoe: "I haven't had much of an appetite lately, so I plan to take a walk around in the early morning."

"Then I'll go with my sister."

"?"

Before long, Yuan Caiwei arrived at the entrance of Wulu Trading Company with Yan Shuyi, Ding Yao, and Zhuo Wanqiu, thinking to herself that it was really hard for sisters to be true friends.

Ji You slept soundly last night. Apart from a persistent chill in her lower abdomen, she felt generally relaxed and refreshed.

A letter arrived from Fengzhou this morning, saying that it has started snowing again recently, and the official road is frozen solid. Fortunately, most of the snow-covered demon stones were transported back during the sunny days a few days ago and stored in the warehouse.

Ji You replied to them, instructing them to release the Snowfield Demon Stones in batches, maintaining the current high price while striving to sell them all before the ice and snow melt.

In fact, after the Snowfield Demon Stones kept appearing in Qingyun from Fengzhou through various channels, some people began to speculate that it was his doing.

Such planning matters are considered trivial and insignificant tasks by cultivators, and are simply a waste of lifespan compared to seeking immortality and enlightenment.

But no one made fun of it, because even now, no one knows for sure why Fang Jincheng was imprisoned, Peng Yu was discharged from the hospital, and why the aristocratic families returned empty-handed from Shengjing.

After returning the letter to Fengzhou, Ji You went to the tea pavilion under the green pine trees and was constantly breathing in the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

The spiritual energy was flowing into his body through his shattered spiritual essence, mixing with the burning spiritual fire.

A raging fire flowed continuously within his body, surging and surging with the pull of his breath, forging his body from the inside out.

The intense heat caused his body temperature to rise rapidly, so any snowflakes that approached him would be scalded into white smoke with a hiss and rise into the air.

The four women who came from the Wei family's villa stood under the eaves of the backyard, quietly watching this scene.

Yuan Caiwei looked somewhat surprised, her red lips slightly parted.

Whether the Dan Sect knew about the Dongping Mountains was unknown, but Yuan Caiwei was unaware of it.

Therefore, she did not know that Ji You had killed Bu Qirong, who was in the Yingtian Realm, while surrounded, nor did she know that he had injured Elder Fang, who was in the Wujiang Realm.

When the powerful families gathered in Shengjing to hold Ji You accountable through the Heavenly Academy, Yuan Caiwei was worried all night. Later, she heard that the matter had been dropped and many powerful families had gone to the Northern Territory to retrieve spirit stones.

She was naturally delighted, but she also had the same doubts as others, and only now did she vaguely understand some of them.

She wasn't a cultivator, but she could still feel the oppressive aura that made her tremble.

This sense of oppression was similar to the one emanating from her sister, the appraiser, when she was jealous, but the feeling was quite different.

The pressure from the young master of Lingjian Mountain came from top to bottom and from the inside out, like Mount Tai pressing down, but Ji You's pressure came from the bottom of his heart, as if it were an instinctive fear.

Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu were also surprised.

They had witnessed Ji You kill the Bu family members with his sword, but they had never understood where Ji You's combat power, which far exceeded his cultivation level, came from. This was the first time they had seen him cultivate.

"What kind of cultivation method is this, young master?"

"Constantly illuminate yourself with light to refine your inner self."

Yan Shuyi looked at Ji You and whispered, her delicate, curled eyelashes trembling slightly.

She had seen Ji You's strange cultivation method long ago and had a vague judgment in her mind.

The lower three realms are for body refinement and foundation building. After the lower three realms are perfected, spiritual essence is formed, and the main focus of cultivators is to comprehend the Dao of Heaven.

However, Ji You seems to be able to continue cultivating in the lower three realms without losing his close connection with his physical body due to the formation of spiritual essence.

It seems that after he entered the sacred land of the sages, he kept repeating this process, which is why his enlightenment level remained at the Tongxuan level, but his physical combat strength was comparable to Wujiang.

At this moment, Ji You let out a cry of pain, and his body began to tremble.

As this tremor occurred, the energy within him caused all the muscles in his body to subconsciously tense up, gradually stretching his clothes to their limits.

The areas covered by her clothes were not visible, but her exposed forearms exuded a powerful aura, like a fully drawn bow, causing Yuan Caiwei and Yan Shuyi's gazes to gradually become serious, and even Ding Yao clenched her fists. A short while later, as the heat gradually dissipated, Ji You slowly opened her eyes and saw a row of fierce-looking pretty faces, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

After thinking for a moment, Ji You understood; these four girls had watched him practice body tempering.

But it's one thing for Yan Shuyi and Yuan Caiwei to have sex, but why do Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu also look so uneasy?

Ji You rose from the tea pavilion and walked across the stone path to them: "Where is Yuan Chen?"

"My younger brother is practicing in the villa of Miss Wei Rui's family."

"I made porridge with dried scallops and fish maw this morning. This kid really doesn't have the luck to enjoy it."

As Ji You was speaking, he noticed that Yan Shuyi was staring intently at his arm.

Seemingly noticing his gaze, Yan Shuyi looked up at him, then went to the dining table with a haughty air.

Ji You had no idea what she was planning. She walked into the kitchen and ladled out some porridge: "Kuang Cheng said he's going to make rice cakes today. Do you want to come with me later?"

Ding Yao couldn't help but straighten up: "Young master, how is rice cake made?"

"It's made by using the rice paste from the last grinding, steaming it in a steamer, and then pounding it with a wooden mallet."

"..."

After breakfast, under the light snow, Ji You led Ding Yao and Wei Rui to Kuang Cheng's residence.

Wei Rui arrived early to help out. When she saw Ji You enter, she immediately stood up to greet her, only to find that her sister Yan was not there. A look of confusion appeared in her eyes.

Kuang Cheng then turned to look: "Where are Fairy Yan and Miss Yuan?"

"They said they were going shopping with friends, making it all mysterious. I have no idea what they're going to do. Come to think of it, I feel like I'm the only outsider in my backyard right now."

"Isn't a good thing for Young Master Ji if the sisters have a good relationship?"

Ji You pursed her lips: "That's true, but I still feel a chill."

Meanwhile, in one of Sister Yong'an's herbal medicine shops, Yan Shuyi, who was wearing a veil, watched Yuan Caiwei picking through the herbs displayed on the counter and even picked up a few to smell them herself.

The mystery of the alchemical elixirs lies not in how rare the ingredients are, but in the alchemical techniques. Therefore, the medicinal materials they use can be purchased in Shengjing.

Yan Shu didn't understand alchemy, nor did he know the effects of these medicinal herbs. After looking around for a while, he lost interest and quietly watched Yuan Caiwei prepare all the medicinal herbs according to the prescription.

The two then stored the medicinal herbs in their storage artifacts and returned to the Wei family's villa along the white-covered Yong'an Avenue.

After witnessing Ji You's body-refining skills today, they all felt that elixirs were essential...

The two walked from the front yard to the back yard, chose a room in the corner, opened the door, and tidied it up a bit.

Yuan Caiwei then took out a pill furnace and set it up in the center of the room.

As alchemists, Yuan Caiwei, like Yuan Chen, always carried an alchemy furnace with her. After the incident at Qiling, when the refugees contracted a plague, Yuan Chen also used his alchemy furnace to refine pills.

However, alchemy is not something that can be done quickly, especially alchemy in the Dan Sect, which always strives for perfection.

After the setup was complete, Yuan Caiwei placed a piece of black charcoal under the alchemy furnace.

This is different from the charcoal fire used by ordinary people. It is a special material made by the Dan Sect for refining elixirs. Just one piece is enough to support the production of the elixir.

Yuan Caiwei lit the piece of black charcoal, then turned to Yan Shuyi and said, "On the first day, we need to warm the furnace to ensure the temperature is suitable. On the second day, we will use it to initially refine the medicinal herbs. On the third day, we will combine the furnace and smelt them together. On the fourth day, we will use our alchemy skills to refine the toxicity. On the fifth day, we will refine it into a pill."

Yan Shuyi stared at the alchemy furnace for a long time: "So it takes four or five days to make just one pill?"

"Yes."

"What about the other one?"

After hearing this, Yuan Caiwei said softly, "It will only take six or seven days for me to gather all the pills that Sister Appraiser wants."

Yan Shuyi glanced at her: "But you said yesterday that the two pills would take about the same amount of time."

"The heat and time for refining elixirs are fixed and cannot be extended or shortened, but if two batches are refined together, the time can be overlapped and utilized."

"I see……"

Yuan Caiwei watched him leave, then took out a medicine box and pinched out a black pill from it.

She had mastered the technique of taking pain-relieving pills a long time ago, and she always carried them with her when she came to Shengjing...

Although the Junior Master of Lingjian Mountain is very strict, what if something goes wrong?

Therefore, she saved herself the time of refining another pill this time.

Yan Shuyi then left the Wei family's villa and went to Kuang Cheng's place. When she opened the gate, she saw Ji You and Kuang Cheng pounding rice cakes. Her gaze swept around and then lingered on Ji You.

The prepared rice cakes will be divided into several portions. As usual, some will be sent to the orphanage, some will be kept for myself, some will be given to Ji You, and some will be given to my colleagues at the Sixianjian.

The portion prepared for Ji You was larger than the last one, because in Kuang Cheng's view, Brother Ji's courtyard was becoming more and more lively.

Perhaps even if we make more later, it won't be enough for Brother Ji's family to eat.

Just then, Ji You was packing the rice cakes she had made into a basket and preparing to take them into the house when she saw Yan Shuyi arrive at some point: "Why are you alone? Didn't you and Yuan Caiwei go out together?"

Yan Shuyi looked at him and said, "After Sister Caiwei finished shopping, she went back. I had nothing to do, so I thought I'd come and chat with Sister Ruier about everyday things."

Wei Rui, who was cutting rice cakes, couldn't help but look up, a complex look in her eyes.

There was no time for idle chatter; as soon as Sister Yan entered, her eyes were glued to Young Master Ji.

Ji You looked at Yan Shuyi with curiosity: "You two have been out together for so long, what did you buy?"

"I didn't buy anything."

"strange……"

Ji You divided the rice cakes in the basket, put them into an oil paper bag, and handed it to Yan Shuyi: "This portion is for us."

Yan Shu also took the cup, and then watched Ji You finish distributing the other portions. He then took her smooth little hand and walked outside, saying, "Old Kuang, I'm going back now. Don't buy any winter wine for the festival. If I come over tomorrow, I'll bring you a jar."

Kuang Cheng, holding a wooden mallet, turned around at the sound: "Brother Ji, do you have some winter wine at home?"

"It was sent by Lao Qiu and the others. It's at the post station, and I haven't had time to pick it up yet."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Ji."

Ji You nodded and led the little girl out.

Yan Shuyi obediently let him lead her away, and they followed him all the way back to Wulu Trading Company.

The stove in the room was still burning, so Ji You added firewood and then used spiritual energy to ignite it.

The young appraiser placed the rice cakes he had brought back on the cabinet, sat down next to Ji You, and then took off his shoes and socks.

Her fair, delicate feet, dotted with peach-pink, were placed on a footstool near the stove, glistening in the firelight.

Once her feet had warmed up a bit, Yan Shuyi noticed that Ji You was looking at her, and a look of confusion appeared in her beautiful eyes.

A few breaths later, Ji You moved closer to her.

Yan Shuyi blinked slightly, and couldn't help but part her red lips slightly, her fragrant tongue probing out.

But as soon as the tip of her tongue peeked out and rested between her teeth, she realized that the stranger's target was not her mouth, but her neck.

Then, a warm breath sprayed down her neck, causing the young appraiser of Lingjian Mountain to instinctively back away.

She was already used to being intimate with Ji You, and often sat in his lap whispering sweet nothings, but the scent just now gave her a tingling sensation and made her want to moan.

Ji You looked up in confusion and suddenly saw Yan Shuyi's protruding tongue. So she lowered her head and kissed her lips. With a smacking sound, her pair of snow-white feet curled up on the footstool.

He had just smelled a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs, which he found a little strange, but then he thought that Yuan Caiwei was now living with him, so it didn't seem so strange.

Since the Yuan siblings arrived, he and Yan Shuyi haven't had many opportunities to get close.

Of course, there were jealous people watching him, and he and Yuan Caiwei were no exception.

If things continue like this, perpetuating life will become an impossible task.

After thinking for a long time, seeing that there was no one around, Ji You hooked Yan Shuyi's slender waist and knees with his lips and tongue, gently picked her up, and planned to go into the bedroom for a quickie.

However, just as he was about to take a step, he saw Yan Shuyi, who was kissing him, gently open her eyes, with sword energy whistling behind her.

Feeling the rising energy, Ji You sat back down and slapped her pert buttocks, causing the little apprentice to bite his tongue.

I must cultivate myself diligently from now on.

Kuang Cheng's words are false; without cultivation, a good body is completely useless.

(End of this chapter)