“Foundation Establishment was simpler than I imagined, yet far harder than I ever dreamed.”
“The three hurdles of Foundation Establishment you spoke of before—I prepared for them without a single shortcoming: a powerful soul, pure spiritual energy, and a robust physique. Everything was flawless. She feared I would rush ahead out of a desire for quick success, so after I reached the completion of the Qi Refinement stage, she intentionally made me consolidate my cultivation for another three months. Only after personally inspecting me and confirming that my divine soul and primordial qi were replete did she hand me the Foundation Establishment Pill.”
“I safely weathered the Three Plagues of the Spiritual Roots as well. Whether it was the tongue root, the dantian, or my primordial yin, not one was compromised.”
“Once I broke through the dantian barrier, the Grand Dao of Foundation Establishment was already beckoning to me. At that moment, all I needed to do was open the major meridians and rein in my spiritual power, and I would have successfully established my foundation.”
“Yet at that very juncture, the ape of my mind ran wild, and the horse of my will stampeded. Driven by my resolve to catch up to your footsteps, I pressed on with all my might. But right on the verge of success, I was seized by anxiety and doubt. If I really reached Foundation Establishment, would you still want me? She was clearly so much better than me.”
Perhaps because she had just been nurtured by Luo Chen's pure wood-attributed spiritual energy, or perhaps because seeing him had stirred a surge of emotion within her, Gu Caiyi spoke without stopping, as though experiencing a brief flash of returned vigor.
“When I woke up, more than half of my dantian was destroyed. The vast surge of spiritual power, with nowhere to be contained, ran rampant through my body, tearing my meridians to pieces.”
“And so, my attempt failed.”
The woman gazed blankly at Luo Chen.
“I know that the Dao companion you desire isn't just someone pretty as a flower, but a worthy partner who can walk beside you on the path of cultivation.”
“If I cannot establish my foundation, then in several decades I will be nothing more than a handful of yellow earth, bringing you only grief.”
“Originally, I didn't want to show such petty, childish sentiment.”
“But I'm afraid!”
“I'm afraid that if I don't say it now, in a few years I'll be dead. And by then, I'll never have the chance again…”
“You won't die!”
Luo Chen cut her off.
His voice was resolute and unyielding.
“I'm not comforting you, nor am I lying to you. Within a year at most, I will definitely heal your injuries.”
Gu Caiyi’s lips twitched faintly, a dazed look on her face.
She murmured, “Really?”
Luo Chen said nothing, only giving a firm, solemn nod.
A faint curve appeared at the corners of her lips, and a glimmer of hope rekindled in her eyes.
“Get some rest now.”
“Are you leaving?”
“They’re here.”
Gu Caiyi paused. A blush crept across her cheeks, and she let go of Luo Chen’s hand.
Luo Chen tucked in the corners of her blanket.
He stood up, pushed open a corner of the window to let fresh air into the room, and only then calmly walked out.
Behind him, Gu Caiyi watched his retreating silhouette until her eyes slowly drifted shut.
***
Amidst the snow, silhouetted figures stood gathered.
As the figure in vivid red emerged, greetings sounded one after another.
“President!”
“President!”
“President!”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Luo Chen swept a calm gaze over the crowd.
“Everyone return for now. The Luotian Council will convene in three days.”
“Huiniang, stay behind!”
The crowd exchanged glances, but under Luo Chen’s ever-growing authority, no one raised an objection.
After bowing, they departed one by one.
Now, across the snow-covered ground, aside from the tangled footprints, only a man and a woman remained, their thoughts just as tangled.
Sima Huiniang did not speak, only tilting her slender, graceful neck to look at Luo Chen.
Luo Chen did not speak either, merely watching her.
Having not seen each other for a year and a half, she possessed an even greater poise and grace than before, though her delicate cheeks had grown noticeably thinner.
After a long silence, Sima Huiniang bowed her swan-like neck and murmured, “You've returned.”
“Yes, I’m back. You’ve worked hard all this time.”
At the words *worked hard*, Sima Huiniang’s nose prickled with an inexplicable sting of emotion.
She lowered her head and gave a slight shake.
“Doing things for you isn't hard work.”
Luo Chen sighed softly, stepped forward, and took her soft, delicate hand in his.
“Tell me, what exactly happened?”
He was not asking about the situation of the Luotian Association, of course, but about the owner of the small courtyard behind them—Gu Caiyi.
Feeling her hand held in his, enveloped by his warm, surging masculine aura, the heavy stone pressing on Sima Huiniang’s heart finally fell away.
She looked back toward the courtyard.
“The day you departed Danxia, Hall Master Gu reached the completion of Qi Refinement and applied to me for a Foundation Establishment Pill using the merits she had accumulated over the years.”
“At the time, I did have a Foundation Establishment Pill on hand—one of the three gifts Tantai Jin sent during my Foundation Establishment Grand Ceremony.”
“By rights, I should have granted her request.”
“However, we previously discussed that the Luotian Association was developing rapidly and needed abundant manpower. Hall Master Gu oversees the Gold Hall, which is the most critical link in converting production into revenue; the association could not spare her. On top of that, Hall Master Murong was ahead of her in the queue for Foundation Establishment. Therefore, I only gave her the pill three months after Hall Master Murong successfully broke through.”
Luo Chen listened attentively to her account.
It aligned with what he had heard the previous night from Murong Qinglian and Gu Caiyi.
Clearly, Huiniang had omitted a few details—such as having Gu Caiyi stabilize her peak Qi Refinement cultivation to keep her from rushing ahead, and deliberately renting the finest Tier 2 low-grade immortal's cave for her breakthrough.
“Before the attempt, Elder Wang Yuan and I evaluated her condition. Hall Master Gu possessed a solid foundation, and her spiritual energy was even purer than that of Duan Feng and myself. Logically, her chances of success should have been higher than ours.”
“Yet in this world, unless an outcome is absolute, unforeseen accidents can always happen.”
“She failed.”
“Her injuries were grave—far worse than when my elder brother failed his attempt back then.”
“In the name of the Luotian Association, I spent a fortune to invite the renowned Miracle Physician Sun Yuezhi from the immortal city.”
“The diagnosis was rather grim.”
“According to Miracle Physician Sun, Hall Master Gu’s foundation was simply too solid. Though only a Qi Refinement cultivator, the purity of her spiritual energy was nearly on par with that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Because of that, when the breakthrough failed, the destructive force her spiritual power wreaked upon her body far exceeded that of an ordinary Qi Refinement failure.”
As Sima Huiniang spoke those words, Luo Chen's heart jolted.
Suddenly, he realized the primary cause behind Gu Caiyi's failure!
The mental turmoil and inner demons were merely the trigger.
The true root cause was that immense spiritual power, pure enough to rival a Foundation Establishment cultivator's!
Ordinarily, a Qi Refinement cultivator should never possess spiritual energy of such terrifying purity; even Luo Chen had lacked such a deep reserve back then.
Yet over the years, Luo Chen had routinely given her Jade Dew Pills to consume!
That was a Tier 2 spirit elixir that even Foundation Establishment female cultivators of the Ice Fort craved beyond measure!
Even though Luo Chen had used a modified secret technique to allow Gu Caiyi to digest it in divided doses, the medicinal potency had still forged an extraordinarily dense, pure spiritual power within her.
Within the same cultivation realm, a single strand of her spiritual power was three to four times stronger than that of others.
During Foundation Establishment, without the divine soul capacity of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, how could she possibly control it with ease?
*Was it actually my fault?*
Luo Chen's throat felt dry. He had never imagined that his good intentions would cause such harm.
Without the factor of the Jade Dew Pills, Gu Caiyi might have taken a few more years to reach peak Qi Refinement, but she still would have possessed a solid foundation to charge toward Foundation Establishment.
Even if she failed, she would have at most needed a few years of recuperation to fully recover, just like Sima Xian.
She would not be in her current state—dantian shattered, meridians ruined, and a vast reserve of spiritual power trapped within her body, constantly eroding her flesh.
Unaware of Luo Chen's guilt, Sima Huiniang continued describing the subsequent events.
After Gu Caiyi was grievously injured, Miracle Physician Sun had laid out a treatment plan.
It could not be cured through ordinary spells; only slow, steady treatment with medicinal herbs and minerals could mend it.
Furthermore, during this process, it was best that no external spiritual energy enter her body and inflict further harm.
Therefore, Sima Huiniang had arranged for Gu Caiyi to stay in a secluded corner of Danxia Peak, where the spiritual energy was exceedingly thin.
She had also had Min Longyu set up a formation to create an energy-free environment.
Wang Yuan visited regularly, channeling condensed blood-qi force into Gu Caiyi's primary meridians to prevent the trapped spiritual energy from destroying them completely.
Otherwise, had they been utterly ruined, she would never have been able to cultivate again in this lifetime.
Moreover, Feng Xia had stayed faithfully by her side over the past year, tending to her day and night.
“Everyone did their very best!” Luo Chen sighed with emotion.
Her composure restored, Sima Huiniang nodded. “We are all friends who supported one another through thick and thin. Even if Foundation Establishment is out of reach, she should at least retain her cultivation. I have already made inquiries—three years from now, the Medicine King Sect might put several Canghai Pills up for auction. When the time comes, using one to repair her dantian might just do the trick!”
The Canghai Pill took its name from the idiom *blue seas turning into mulberry fields*, symbolizing vast, restorative transformation.
It was a supreme elixir specifically meant for repairing a cultivator's dantian and sea of qi!
Decades ago, one had been auctioned off, fetching a staggering price of fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones!
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Luo Chen said, gently squeezing the tender, slender hand in his grip.
Sima Huiniang broke into a smile. “As long as you don't think I was deliberately targeting her.”
“Am I that kind of person?”
“Well, the look on your face earlier…”
“Just tired.”
Luo Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had traveled all day, staying constantly on guard against bandit cultivators along the road.
After returning, he had not even had time to rest before rushing to examine Gu Caiyi's injuries, all while taking immense care not to hurt her.
To say he was not exhausted would be a lie.
Under such circumstances, how could he have greeted the association's leadership with lighthearted smiles?
“Here!”
The Autumn Water longsword materialized in Luo Chen’s hand.
“A gift I brought back for you. Do you like it?”
Sima Huiniang’s eyes lit up as she took the flying sword.
A Dharma treasure!
And a water-attributed Dharma treasure that suited her perfectly.
She flourished the sword with a graceful flick of her wrist, her eyes brimming with delight.
Against the backdrop of white snow, the woman wielded the blade, her skirt fluttering in the breeze—a sight of breathtaking elegance.
Even as Luo Chen admired the view, a trace of worry lingered in his gaze.
*Three years is far too long!*
***
When Gu Caiyi woke groggily from her slumber, she saw Feng Xia packing things in the room.
She scanned the room, but the figure from her dreams was nowhere to be seen.
A hollow sensation instantly flooded her chest.
Yet moments later, that emptiness vanished into thin air.
A man stepped into the room from outside.
“Sister Xia, is everything packed?”
Feng Xia nodded. “Just some personal clothing. It's all set.”
“Then let us set off!”
“But Senior Sun said Caiyi should avoid external spiritual qi entering her body. Is it really safe for her to leave here?”
“Channeling is better than blocking. Her theory was only based on having no proper solution.”
As he spoke, the man walked over to Gu Caiyi’s bedside.
Biting her lip, Gu Caiyi asked in confusion, “Where are we going?”
“To my home. I promised you, I will definitely cure you.”
Luo Chen smiled faintly. Amidst her startled cry, he scooped her up into his arms.
With misty eyes, Feng Xia watched them and draped a thick, fleece-lined coat over Gu Caiyi.
“You'll get better. Everything will turn out fine.”
Leaving the courtyard, Luo Chen cast a spiritual qi defensive shield and carried Gu Caiyi onto the Langqi Flying Boat.
“Sister Xia, once Caiyi recovers, we'll treat you to drinks. Bring Duan Feng along too.”
Standing in the courtyard, Feng Xia watched the flying boat slowly ascend into the air, waving her hand with all her might.
***
On the flying boat.
Seated on a soft, warm chair, Gu Caiyi had eyes only for the man before her.
The moment he had lifted her into his arms, her life seemed complete.
Even though sharp twinges of pain wracked her body from time to time, the corners of her mouth could not stop curling upward.
Looking at the smiling woman, Luo Chen could not help but chuckle. “Are you really that happy?”
“Yes, I'm just so happy.”
“Luo Chen, I really like you!”
Luo Chen was taken aback. Even though she had already revealed her feelings before, hearing such a naked, straightforward confession still caught him off guard.
Yet thinking about it carefully, this was the Gu Caiyi he had known from the very beginning.
Radiant, bold, and openhearted!
Fierce in love and hate, she would resolutely pursue whatever she set her heart upon.
For that, she had not hesitated to give up the generous treatment of the Tianxiang Brothel and cast aside her fame as the renowned Courtesan Gu of Dahe Market.
If anything, it was because of him that she had suppressed her true nature all these years.
Now, gravely injured with no hope visible on the road ahead, she had finally stopped holding herself back.
With a gentle expression, Luo Chen lightly patted the back of her hand.
“Once your injuries heal, I will help you reach Foundation Establishment.”
“Whether I reach Foundation Establishment or not doesn't matter anymore.” Gu Caiyi smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. “Having you by my side like this, without any distance or airs, is already more than enough. Even if I were to die right now, I wouldn't be afraid.”
The Luo Chen of the past had put on no airs.
Back when they lived in the courtyard compound, he was always cadging meals, his eyes darting about playfully.
Later, as he went through more and more experiences, the so-called poise, authority, and dignity had naturally developed.
Being together like this now, the barriers between them had indeed melted away.
Suddenly, Gu Caiyi asked, “Are we going to your immortal's cave?”
“Yes. I've been away for a long time; heading back to the cave will make many matters easier to handle,” Luo Chen nodded.
Gu Caiyi hesitated. “But she has been living there for over a year. If I go now, wouldn't it be inappropriate?”
Luo Chen stood up and pinched her nose playfully.
“Why are you acting so tea-like?”
“What does 'tea' mean?” Gu Caiyi asked, tilting her chin up.
Luo Chen was at a loss for words; he truly had no idea how to explain it.
Gu Caiyi did not press the matter, only saying with firm conviction, “No matter what, I've set my heart on you. Even if she wants to fight me for you, unless you cast me aside, I will never leave you.”
Luo Chen tenderly caressed her gaunt cheek, which had grown so thin it was practically skin and bones.
“Don't worry.”
“Huiniang isn't the kind of person you think she is. Everything has already been arranged.”
“She has already moved out. A friend of mine transferred the usage rights of a top-grade cave on Tianlan Peak to me, and Huiniang will be staying there.”
Nuzzling against Luo Chen's hand, Gu Caiyi murmured softly, “In truth, I know she's different from me. She's more independent, more unyielding. Even though she entered a relationship with you, she never took advantage of that status.”
“Even when faced with my hostility, she never held it against me, and instead did everything she could to help me reach Foundation Establishment.”
“Yet sometimes, I just can't help feeling angry.”
“I don't know whether I'm angry with her, angry with you, or perhaps angry with my past self.”
Luo Chen made no sound, simply letting her ramble on.
Right now, she was at her weakest, and also at her most vulnerable and sensitive.
All he needed to do was heal her.
To bring the old Gu Caiyi back.
What Miracle Physician Sun could not achieve, he had a certain degree of confidence he could pull off.
*That Tier 3 Life-Returning Pill arrived just in the nick of time!*
Chapter 349