Chapter 10: The Fool Asked About the Hickey in Public, and His Gorgeous Mother Needed Monthly Stabilization

The night was cool and thin, a light breeze slipping through the corridors as bamboo shadows swayed.

Shen Qingyun stood with his hands behind his back outside the courtyard gate.

What had happened up front just now was not something he should have been involved in.

Moving the wounded, imprisoning the captives, repairing the grand array, every one of those was something the outer envoy of the Taiwei Sect had no business worrying about.

But the people Xue Ning had left to use were either dead or had betrayed her, and the few disciples remaining could barely bandage their own wounds, let alone take charge of the overall situation.

Still, if he left it alone, with Xue Ning's personality, she would definitely force herself to handle everything personally.

If those newly healed legs really stood for three or four hours, they would be ruined again tomorrow.

It would all have been for nothing.

He raised a hand and knocked twice on the door.

"Hall Master Xue."

There was no movement inside. After a pause, he said, "You forced yourself to act just now and your qi and blood must be in turmoil. Is anything wrong?"

After quite a while, Xue Ning's voice finally came from behind the door: "Nothing's wrong. Envoy Shen, I'm perfectly fine."

Her voice was steady, but the end of it wavered slightly.

Shen Qingyun did not expose her. "Sister Ning, there is no need to speak to me like this."

The breathing behind the door visibly faltered.

"Who, who is speaking to you like 'me and you'!" Xue Ning's voice rose, carrying a hint of embarrassed fury. "Envoy Shen, please show some restraint!"

Shen Qingyun lowered his eyelids.

He could tell she was pressed tightly against the door right now.

"I'm worried about you," he said, slowing his tone. "Right after a breakthrough, if you don't stabilize yourself in time, it's easy to suffer backlash. My spiritual energy is still lingering in your body. If it isn't sorted out..."

"No need!" Xue Ning interrupted him almost by shouting. "I can handle it myself! It's late, Envoy, please go back!"

Shen Qingyun fell silent.

"Since Sister Ning insists," he withdrew the hand that had been knocking on the door, "then Shen will not force the issue. It's just..."

He deliberately paused.

The breathing behind the door tightened as well.

"If you feel unwell, do not force yourself. Shen will be ready whenever you need me."

There was no reply.

Shen Qingyun turned and his footsteps gradually faded away.

Only after she was certain he had gone far did Xue Ning cover her burning cheeks with both hands.

Under the hem of her dress, those long, slender legs were trembling shamefully.

"Who wants you ready whenever..." she bit her lip, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz.

...

Five days later.

The rubble and broken timber in front of the Sword Pavilion had all been cleared away, and the shattered plaque had been replaced with a new one.

The entire sect had regained a sense of life.

Inside a secret chamber in the back mountain.

Xue Ning slowly opened her eyes and let out a long breath of stale air.

At last, the Great Circle of the Gold Core realm had been completely stabilized.

Looking at the woman in the bronze mirror, cool and composed, Xue Ning drew in a deep breath.

From today on, she was once again that lofty Sword Pavilion master.

Over these five days, the Sword Pavilion itself had also undergone earthshaking changes.

The magic treasures and spirit stones left behind by the Blood Fiend Sect, the Joyous Union Sect, and the others had piled up in the Sword Pavilion's storerooms.

That unexpected windfall was enough to keep the Sword Pavilion from worrying about resources for the next several decades.

Of course, the most essential and precious portion of heaven-and-earth treasures had already been taken without ceremony by Shen Qingyun and Sikong Lin.

As for that, Xue Ning and Lin Mubai's mother and son said nothing.

The cultivation world was ruled by strength.

If not for those two stepping in, the Sword Pavilion would likely already have been reduced to rubble.

Taking those things was what they deserved.

The postwar Sword Pavilion had countless things that needed doing, and restructuring its people was the top priority.

In that chaotic battle, aside from the traitorous Elders Zhao and Li, the other elders had either died or been wounded to the point of ruin.

On the other hand, the disciple named Chen Yu had walked through the edge of death and unexpectedly reaped a blessing from disaster, breaking through all at once to the early Gold Core stage.

After coming out of seclusion, Xue Ning directly promoted Chen Yu in disregard of seniority, making him a newly appointed elder and putting him in charge of the sect's many complicated affairs.

"Hall Master."

Chen Yu stood respectfully outside the back hall with a trace of unease in his expression, the sort that came from suddenly rising to a higher position.

"The evening banquet has been prepared. As you ordered, it will be held at Clearwind Court."

Xue Ning gave a slight nod and stepped out of the room.

"Have Envoy Shen and Elder Sikong been informed?"

"Yes, Hall Master. They have already been notified. Envoy Shen said he will certainly attend on time." Chen Yu paused, then added, "The young sect master has also recovered almost completely."

At the mention of her son's name, a trace of warmth flashed through Xue Ning's eyes.

"Understood. Have him attend as well tonight."

...

Clearwind Court.

The night wind passed through the bamboo grove, lifting a few fallen leaves into the air.

Several Sword Pavilion disciples briskly removed the rough black-stone platters from the tables.

Only a few scraps remained of the bitter bamboo shoots that had once been served on them.

Next, crystal goblets inlaid with gold and jade were brought out one by one, glittering with colored light.

Xue Ning sat upright in the seat of honor.

Tonight she had changed into a dark blue brocade dress, its wide hem spread across the purple sandalwood couch.

"Brother Shen, is my mother's leg really completely fine now?"

Lin Mubai did not touch the delicacies that had just been brought out. His gaze was fixed tightly on Shen Qingyun across from him.

Shen Qingyun was idly toying with a jade wine cup, his fingertips slowly rubbing along the cup wall.

"The meridians have been opened and the cold abyss qi has been completely purged. As long as she does not overdraw her spiritual power, there is no major problem." He paused and looked toward the seat of honor. "But after being crippled for more than ten years, her foundation is still shallow. Over the next six months, she will need to reinforce it once a month with the Meridian-Warming Art, or there may be a relapse."

On the seat of honor, Xue Ning's fingers around the ivory chopsticks tightened slightly.

The Meridian-Warming Art.

When those three words fell into her ears, that numb, tingling sensation forcibly suppressed deep in her pussy seemed to climb back up along her spine.

Unconsciously, she pressed her legs together, and beneath the wide skirt her knees touched lightly together.

"Mother." Lin Mubai turned around, his tone anxious. "Have you felt uncomfortable anywhere these past few days? If anything's off, hurry and let Brother Shen take a look. Don't leave some hidden trouble behind."

Xue Ning lowered her eyelids and picked up a piece of crystal-clear beast meat, placing it into her dish.

"Mubai worries too much." Her voice was cool and clear, betraying not the slightest ripple. "Envoy Shen's medical skill is excellent. I've felt very well these past few days."

"Then how did Mother not only get her legs treated, but also break through all the way to the Gold Core Great Circle?" Lin Mubai scratched his head, utterly baffled.

Xue Ning set down her chopsticks.

"I've been trapped at the late Gold Core stage for several years. I was only one step away from a breakthrough, but because my legs were disabled, my meridians were blocked. Now that the leg ailment is healed, spiritual energy flows without obstruction, and everything simply fell into place."

Her tone was steady, elegant, and flawless.

Only she herself knew that this "fell into place" was actually because that scorching weapon, mixed with overbearing azure spiritual energy, had been ruthlessly boring into the muddy depths of her pussy again and again.

"By the way," Lin Mubai said, as if remembering something, "that day after the battle, there was clearly a sealing array in the back mountain. How did Mother know something had happened in the front mountain?"

Xue Ning picked up her teacup and hid the slight press of her red lips.

In her mind, the disordered bed immediately flashed before her eyes.

She had been bent into a shameful position, her body filled with scalding spiritual energy and white semen.

"The sect-protecting grand array is linked to my mind." Xue Ning set down the teacup, her expression unchanged. "When the array's spiritual power fluctuated violently, even to the point of nearly drying up, I could naturally sense it."

At those words, Sikong Lin, sitting to one side, paused.

"That sense of yours was pretty timely."

Sikong Lin's tone was casual, but it made a thin layer of sweat break out across Xue Ning's back.

She lifted her eyes and gave Lin Mubai a cold look.

"You talk too much. Not even a table full of dishes can seal your mouth."

Lin Mubai shrank his neck and hurriedly shoved a couple of bites of rice into his mouth.

After a short while, he raised his head again and let his gaze fall on Xue Ning's collar.

"Mother, I want to ask one last question."

"Say it."

"I remember that day when you saved me, I saw a mark on your neck... Was there an accident during the treatment?"

The air went still for a moment.

Shen Qingyun's hand holding the wine cup stopped in midair.

Xue Ning's breathing caught.

That day, during the washing up, she had already used techniques to clean away the blue-purple finger marks and bite marks on her chest, waist, and inner thighs until they were spotless.

Naturally, she had not missed the obvious red mark on her neck either.

"You saw wrong." Xue Ning's expression remained composed. She even reached out to help Lin Mubai ladle a bowl of soup. "That day you were badly injured, you had lost too much blood, and you were out of your mind. It would be normal to see things that weren't there."

Lin Mubai thought back for a moment. At the time, his vision really had been blurry.

He took the bowl of soup and nodded. "That's true. Maybe I did see it wrong."

"Hall Master."

Footsteps sounded from outside the door, and Chen Yu quickly walked into the courtyard to bow respectfully.

"Speak."

"The back mountain storerooms have been fully inventoried. All the artifacts and pills left behind by the three sects have been recorded in the ledger. In addition, seventy percent of the array cores of the sect-protecting grand array have been repaired. Everything should be completed by tomorrow."

Chen Yu handled his affairs with remarkable efficiency, laying out the sect's complicated matters in just a few sentences.

Xue Ning gave a slight nod. "Understood. I trust your work. Go back and rest."

After Chen Yu withdrew, the atmosphere at the banquet became a little more formal.

Shen Qingyun set down the wine cup and looked at Lin Mubai.

"Mubai, your mother's legs have been healed, and the Sword Pavilion is now more or less stable. Does what you promised before still count?"

Lin Mubai froze for a moment.

Going to the Taiwei Sect.

That was the promise he had made with his own mouth back then in order to beg Shen Qingyun to heal his mother.

He looked at his mother seated at the seat of honor, then at Shen Qingyun across from him, and his face turned troubled.

The Sword Pavilion had just suffered a great catastrophe and still had countless things to rebuild. If he left now and dumped all the burden on his mother alone...

Xue Ning saw through her son's thoughts.

Thinking that her son would be leaving with Shen Qingyun before long, her heart inexplicably felt a little hollow.

This huge Sword Pavilion was probably going to be very quiet after that.

"Envoy Shen," Xue Ning took over, "Mubai going to the Taiwei Sect naturally still counts. It's just that before that, I want him to enter the Sword Pavilion's forbidden ground first."

"Forbidden ground?" Shen Qingyun raised an eyebrow.

Xue Ning nodded. "Our Sword Pavilion ancestors once left behind a legacy site and opened up a separate pocket heaven there. It tests sword bones and sword intent, and in the end it can make the sword embryo recognize its master and transform into a natal flying sword, bringing endless benefit. But it can also damage the mind, plant inner demons, or even cause cultivation to regress."

Shen Qingyun and Sikong Lin exchanged a glance.

Shen Qingyun continued, "Although it is somewhat dangerous, if there is such a good thing, why wasn't Mubai allowed to receive the inheritance earlier?"

Xue Ning let out a soft sigh. "It's a shame to say. This inheritance can only be opened by someone at the Nascent Soul stage. Our Sword Pavilion has already... The ancestor who set this rule probably never imagined that the descendants would decline to this extent, to the point that not even one Nascent Soul cultivator could emerge. Such a massive inheritance can only be sealed in the forbidden ground, with no way in."

"Isn't there a ready-made one right here," Shen Qingyun said flatly.

All eyes immediately turned to Sikong Lin.

Lin Mubai hesitated for a moment, then looked at Sikong Lin.

"Senior Sikong... you're also a sword cultivator. Do you think that for a legacy site that requires Nascent Soul cultivation to open, what exactly was our Sword Pavilion ancestor thinking when they set the threshold like that?"

Sikong Lin lifted the cup of tea brewed from bitter kuding tea root before her and took a sip.

The bitterness spread across her tongue.

She set down the cup and a mocking smile curved her lips.

"Either it was testing the younger generation's connections, or they were certain that a Nascent Soul would definitely emerge among the descendants. Unfortunately, your Sword Pavilion had neither of those going for it before."

She raised her eyelids and swept her gaze over Xue Ning and Lin Mubai, whose expressions had grown somewhat stiff.

"Since you do have it now, that means your fate isn't exhausted yet. Why ask so much pointless nonsense?"

Sikong Lin tapped her fingers lightly on the table. "However... if you want me to act, I have one condition."