The air went quiet for a moment.
Staring at the voluptuous, strikingly poised woman standing by the door, Xu Yuan asked tentatively, "Sis, did you notice her all along?"
Lou Ji reproached him with a light, playful tone: "Of course. I sensed her the night you came to see me. But seeing that you didn't want to talk about it, your big sister naturally didn't bring it up."
Hearing this, a flicker of astonishment stirred in Xu Yuan's heart.
According to the records of ancient and modern texts, spiritual essence spirits could be broadly divided into two major categories.
One category possessed living bodies as their true forms, like Yuchu, capable of generating intent-souls and Source Qi through their physical forms, making them detectable.
The other category was like Luo Xiran—their true forms were inanimate objects endowed with sentience, hovering somewhere between the dead and the living.
The former could roughly be understood as tree demons that attained consciousness, while the latter, in terms from Xu Yuan's past life, weren't carbon-based life-forms at all.
As long as Luo Xiran played dead, she was just an inanimate object.
This was why even Tianyan's Heaven-Deducing Art couldn't detect her.
Yet Lou Ji had actually been able to sense her?
While he pondered, the sheer curtain before the window lattice stirred without any breeze, and a woman clad in a plain blue dress gradually coalesced from strands of blood-red silk.
Seeing her appear in such a manner, Lou Ji looked the woman up and down with great interest through her beautiful eyes.
She looked to be around thirty, with willow-leaf brows, an oval face, bright eyes, and a gentle gaze. Wisps of bangs graced her forehead above a delicate, high-bridged nose. A plain lilac sash outlined her slender willow waist and the ample swell of her bosom.
"..."
The two women exchanged a silent glance.
Lou Ji's frivolous, disrespectful appraisal made the newly manifested Luo Xiran frown slightly. But taking in the woman's wanton attire, which left half her soft bosom exposed, Luo Xiran understood.
A temptress, it seemed.
Hmph. As expected, everyone around this brat lacked basic manners.
As she thought this, she suddenly heard the enchantress across from her tease in a soft voice: "Another woman? Changtian, ever since you embarked on cultivation, you seem to be surrounded entirely by women, don't you?"
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and pointed toward the floor, gesturing to the room below. "Doesn't Li Junqing count as a man?"
Lou Ji let out a playful laugh and didn't tease him further on the matter. Closing the room door, she walked slowly farther into the room.
With every step, her hips and waist swayed lightly, exuding boundless allure.
As she approached, she addressed Luo Xiran softly: "Your true form doesn't appear to be this bizarre vegetation."
With just a single glance, Lou Ji had identified Luo Xiran's current body as plant matter.
Noncommittal, Luo Xiran stood poised in place, fixing her eyes on the voluptuous, shapely woman advancing toward her: "Merely a minor trick, manipulated through an artifact tied to my true form."
Stepping close, Lou Ji stood slightly taller. Her jade-fair back stood straight as she smiled faintly: "This is hardly a minor trick. Not only can you control the living through the dead, but under normal circumstances, manipulating external objects through an intermediary always carries some lag. Yet I do not perceive the slightest delay from you."
Luo Xiran's expression remained calm, a faint smile hovering at the corners of her lips. "Chief Lou flatters me."
Saying this, she swept her gaze around the room before nonchalantly adding, "The fragrance of the red spider lilies is intoxicating yet imperceptible. You must have relied on it to discover me, did you not?"
"..."
With those words, silence descended upon the wing room.
Lou Ji's seductive eyes narrowed bit by bit.
Yet Luo Xiran remained placid as a secluded pool. "A Dao domain that can already be kept constantly active—that is what truly deserves to be called genius beyond measure."
Sitting on the futon behind the tea table, Xu Yuan's eyes darted between the two women, whose chests were practically pressing against each other.
Their exchange was a test to gauge each other's depths, but for the present Xu Yuan, the amount of information was rather overwhelming.
First, Luo Xiran's method of refining herself into a spiritual essence spirit was extraordinarily rare and profound.
Second, Lou Ji, this older woman, actually kept her Dao domain active every waking moment.
Was it those floral scents?
At this thought, Xu Yuan suddenly recalled how every time before seeing Lou Ji, he would catch a faint, elusive fragrance.
The scent always arrived before the person did.
Previously, he had assumed it was merely the perfume of rouge and powder on her body, but seeing it now, it was actually her Dao domain?
A constantly active Dao domain...
Xu Yuan licked his lips.
That was an extraordinary technique. Once his cultivation reached the right realm, he would have to make this big sister teach him.
Luo Xiran's voice was crisp: "Chief Lou, if I have spoken out of turn, please forgive me."
"Not at all."
Lou Ji let out a sultry, melodic laugh, faint glints of cool light shimmering within her slender, serpentine green eyes. "You have truly given me a pleasant surprise. To think that as a spirit entity, you could detect my Dao domain. I wonder, though, why are you staying by Changtian's side?"
Luo Xiran answered straightforwardly: "Because this brat saved my life. I am currently repaying my debt of gratitude to him."
"Is that so?"
Lou Ji raised an eyebrow, and then her tone turned slightly solemn: "Great Yan Prime Minister's Manor, Lou Ji."
"..."
Hearing this, Luo Xiran did not speak right away. Instead, she glanced sideways at Xu Yuan.
After a brief silence, Xu Yuan chimed in: "Sis, she's my newly sworn sister."
"..." Luo Xiran was speechless.
Hearing that, Lou Ji glanced sideways at him, her tone earnest: "Changtian, are you certain? It's about time you took responsibility for your own choices."
Knowing she was cautioning him, Xu Yuan answered softly: "I know."
He could not reveal Luo Xiran's identity to Lou Ji.
Once he told her, with Lou Ji's temperament and methods, she would undoubtedly place restrictions on Luo Xiran.
Just like when Xu Changge had Gui Qi plant a heart demon knot in Old Man Luo.
The problem was that Luo Xiran was different from Luo Daofan.
The old man was a prisoner of the Prime Minister's Manor, whereas Luo Xiran was an ally and collaborator. There was a fundamental difference between them.
"In that case, your big sister won't say any more."
Lou Ji gave a soft sigh and casually handed the jade vial to Luo Xiran. "From what Changtian said earlier, it seems you are also quite knowledgeable in the dao of medicine. I'll leave this for you to examine."
Luo Xiran took it and looked it over, her eyes suddenly narrowing.
Noticing her expression, Lou Ji asked in a low voice: "Did you discover something?"
"..."
Luo Xiran did not answer. Clenching her fair hand slightly, the jade vial shattered with a crisp snap.
Lou Ji raised a hand and instantly wove a barrier of Source Qi in front of Xu Yuan, frowning as she said, "This substance is dangerous..."
"Don't worry."
Luo Xiran's voice was steady. When she opened her hand again, only fragments of the jade vial remained, while the blood-colored slime inside had already vanished without a trace.
A flicker of surprise showed in Lou Ji's beautiful eyes.
According to her perception, that bizarre drug from Wanyao Valley had completely dissipated into nothingness inside Luo Xiran's body.
After a brief pause, she asked softly, "Your shell is truly convenient. Still, did you find anything?"
Luo Xiran lifted her gaze, glanced at her, and said in a low voice: "This drug is rather peculiar. It bears some similarity to what I researched back then, but its mechanism is completely different."
Aberrant ghosts.
Xu Yuan's heart tightened slightly.
Lou Ji's eyes flickered for a moment, realizing that Changtian seemed to have picked up quite a treasure. She suggested softly, "Why don't we sit down and discuss this in detail?"
Luo Xiran shook her head and replied quietly, "No need. The mechanism of this drug is to disrupt the connection between a cultivator's sea of consciousness and their physical body, allowing bodily desires to dominate everything. Chief Lou can formulate an antidote centered around the ancient sky lotus."
At those words, Lou Ji's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
Seeing this, Luo Xiran understood and asked in a low voice, "Has the ancient sky lotus gone extinct?"
The strangeness in Lou Ji's eyes vanished, replaced by an understanding look. "It went extinct nine thousand years ago."
Damn it.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately realized Lou Ji had deduced Luo Xiran's identity.
Before his thoughts could settle, Lou Ji's breezy voice sounded in his ear via transmission: "Changtian, this sworn sister of yours is rather old, isn't she? You wouldn't even tell me her name. Is it because she is related to a certain friend of yours across generations?
"Her surname should be Luo, shouldn't it?
"Don't be nervous. Even though I know now, I won't do anything to her. After all, this is our little Changtian's own judgment~"
"..."
No one was a fool. The moment Lou Ji said "nine thousand years ago," Luo Xiran realized she might have exposed herself.
A trace of vigilance crept into Luo Xiran's water-calm eyes.
From Lou Ji's previous conversation with Xu Yuan, she already knew that while this woman possessed breathtaking beauty, she had the venomous heart of a viper.
For Xu Yuan's sake, she might well take actions detrimental to her.
Yet after sending her voice transmission to Xu Yuan, Lou Ji showed no intention of exposing Luo Xiran's identity. Instead, she continued nonchalantly, "Ancient texts record that the medicinal properties of the ancient sky lotus have the effect of calming the spirit and solidifying the soul. I have already attempted to formulate an antidote using herbs with similar properties as a catalyst."
Luo Xiran narrowed her bright eyes and did not answer.
Xu Yuan transmitted a message directly with his intent-soul, sounding completely certain: "She won't make a move against you."
Luo Xiran pondered briefly, gave a slight nod, and addressed Lou Ji: "Soul-solidifying medicine is ineffective? Then it seems this drug undergoes certain transformations once it enters a cultivator's body. If further research is required, relying solely on pharmacology will not yield a cure."
Pharmacology was a field where the slightest discrepancy could lead to a massive error.
Once the original drug entered a living body, countless subtle changes would occur.
Every pill and every medicinal fluid was perfected only after thousands of trials and adjustments.
Hearing this, Lou Ji let out a light laugh. "Do you require someone inoculated with the drug?"
Surprise surfaced in Luo Xiran's eyes. "Are there medicine humans in this black eagle pavilion?"
Lou Ji shook her head, lifting her fair lotus-root arm slightly to gesture toward the door. "No medicine humans, but a few live specimens were captured. Ever since we departed from Guangyang Prefecture, I have been testing drugs on them in my spare time.
"Senior Luo, why don't you come with me to take a look?"
Chapter 357