Chapter 644: Bitter Sea Voyage

Yun Jianyue: "???"

She had been too anxious to check on him, opening the door so quickly that she hadn't anticipated this situation at all.

Watching his head buried in her chest, a flash of murderous intent flickered in her eyes. This guy had even deliberately taken off his mask!

Her five fingers curled like hooks, and just as she was about to end his life, she suddenly uttered a sound of surprise.

Given her cultivation level, she could naturally tell that his spirit was damaged at this moment.

"Huh, did the Emperor attack him? No, if the Emperor attacked, how could he still be alive?" Yun Jianyue pushed the man away from her embrace and carefully examined his condition. Her expression fluctuated wildly, clearly indicating an intense internal struggle.

When Zu An woke up, he found himself sitting cross-legged on the bed, with Yun Jianyue seated opposite him. Her long, waterfall-like hair flowed freely as if stirred by an unseen breeze, making her appear exceptionally beautiful and ethereal.

What surprised him even more was that their hands were pressed together, and he could clearly feel how soft her hands were.

"Stop thinking nonsense, focus your mind, and absorb the medicinal energy," Yun Jianyue's cold voice came, indicating she had immediately noticed his awakening.

Zu An felt a pervasive medicinal fragrance around him. Looking down, he saw the Five Aggregates Secret Ganoderma floating between them, slowly spinning in mid-air. It must have been activated by Yun Jianyue's internal energy to levitate. The five-colored divine light from it slowly flowed into his nostrils.

At that moment, Yun Jianyue withdrew her hands: "You were unconscious just now and couldn't circulate your vital energy on your own, so I lent you a hand. Now that you're awake, do it yourself."

"Do it myself?" Zu An's expression was odd. He thought to himself, 'It would be great if I really could do it myself,' but seeing her frosty face, he knew she didn't mean what he was thinking.

He had no choice but to circulate the vital energy within him, beginning to absorb the medicinal power to nourish his damaged spirit.

Sigh, the side effects of "Jian Lai" are still too great. Just boasting about such a minor thing nearly shattered my spirit. Do I really need to reach the Grandmaster realm to use it multiple times?

So he asked, "Sister Sect Leader, how can one train their spirit to make it more resilient?"

"Spirit?" Yun Jianyue scoffed, "Think about that when you become a Grandmaster."

"Does one really need to be a Grandmaster to train their spirit?" Zu An asked persistently.

"Of course," Yun Jianyue said calmly. "Ultimately, ranks one through nine are all about tempering the body. Only when the body is tough and strong enough can it support a more powerful spirit. Cultivation is like sailing across a sea of suffering; the stronger the body, the larger and more stable the boat, preventing it from being destroyed by storms. When the spirit is condensed, you gain a rudder and sails, allowing you to cross the sea of suffering more quickly..."

Zu An listened, impressed but not entirely understanding, and couldn't help but ask, "Has anyone in history ever crossed the sea of suffering?"

Yun Jianyue's breath hitched. 'You'll have no friends talking like that,' she thought. Her excited expression gradually calmed down. "No, some people's boats just travel farther."

Zu An mumbled "Oh" and generally understood what she meant. It seemed with his current rank, he shouldn't even consider training his spirit.

"By the way, I remember collapsing onto something soft when I came in earlier." After a while, Zu An opened his eyes again and couldn't resist asking the question that was on his mind.

Yun Jianyue's eyelid twitched. She said coldly, "You remembered incorrectly."

Rage points from Yun Jianyue: 444444444...

Seeing the rage points received in his backend, Zu An's heart skipped a beat. Could it be...

He looked at her expression and wisely decided not to press the matter further.

After another pause, he suddenly felt the medicinal fragrance vanish. Opening his eyes, he saw Yun Jianyue putting the Five Aggregates Secret Ganoderma back into its box.

He couldn't help but feel a little deflated: "I found this medicine, after all. Don't be so stingy."

Yun Jianyue raised an eyebrow: "What do you know? While this medicine greatly nourishes the spirit, too much is as bad as not enough. An overdose can harm your spirit. Even with my cultivation, I dare not absorb too much each time. If you want to die, keep absorbing."

Rage points from Yun Jianyue: 233233233...

Zu An quickly stood up and smiled apologetically: "I misunderstood, Sister Sect Leader. Come, let me give you a shoulder massage as an apology."

At the same time, he was a little curious. Previously, in Brightmoon City, the rage points he received were always a single number. Now, he frequently received a string of numbers. It seemed that powerful individuals could provide more soul power.

Yun Jianyue simply took one step to the side, evading his hand: "Do you think you're going to massage my shoulders? I won't bother exposing your true intentions."

Zu An chuckled awkwardly: "At least my respect and affection for Sister Sect Leader are not fake."

Yun Jianyue ignored him and directly pressed the question: "What exactly happened when you went to Zhu Xie Chixin's place? Why was your spirit damaged?"

Zu An's expression became serious: "Zhu Xie Chixin also grew suspicious of me..."

He generally recounted what had happened there.

Yun Jianyue nodded: "Zhu Xie Chixin is an old fox; it would be strange if he didn't have suspicions. So, how exactly did you fool him?"

Zu An explained vaguely, "I specifically went to another Embroidered Uniform Envoy to get a new uniform just now..."

How could he tell her about a skill like "Jian Lai"? She wasn't part of his harem, after all.

Yun Jianyue frowned, clearly unconvinced by his explanation: "That's the uniform of a Gold Rank Embroidered Uniform Envoy. How could you so easily get another set from someone else? And you still haven't explained why your spirit was damaged."

Just as Zu An was at a loss for what to do, Yun Jianyue's expression suddenly changed slightly: "Someone's coming."

Her figure flickered, and she immediately hid behind the screen, with a practiced ease that was almost heartbreaking.

At that moment, a knock came from outside: "Is Lord Eleven in?"

Zu An put his mask back on, made sure there was nothing unusual about him, and then stepped out. He saw a chubby eunuch at the doorway and quickly clasped his hands in greeting, "So it's Eunuch Wen."

"Lord Eleven, you're too kind," Eunuch Wen said, his eyes nearly disappearing with his smile. This new Gold Rank Envoy was truly polite and pleasant to look at. "The Emperor requests your presence in the Imperial Study."

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. Could it be about the results of his investigation? But only about a day had passed; it couldn't be that quick.

He kept his expression neutral: "Alright, I'll just go in and grab my waist token."

Eunuch Wen nodded with a smile, willing to wait a moment while he retrieved something, as long as he wasn't trying to escape.

After entering the room, Zu An pretended to search for his waist token on the bed while secretly transmitting a message with his vital energy to Yun Jianyue.

"I heard it all," Yun Jianyue paused, then added, "Be careful yourself."

Hearing her words, Zu An's eyebrows lifted, and his eyes brightened slightly. It seemed his efforts to gain her favor over these days hadn't been in vain; she now knew how to show concern for others.

After closing the door, he followed Eunuch Wen towards the Imperial Study. Along the way, Zu An secretly slipped him a jade bracelet, a gift he had received from the Crown Princess earlier. "I wonder what the Emperor wants with me?" he asked.

Eunuch Wen sighed: "Lord Eleven, you're making me commit a transgression."

Despite saying this, he subtly slipped the item into his sleeve before speaking: "As for what His Majesty wants with you, how dare we servants presume to guess the sacred will? However, His Majesty seems to be in a very bad mood today. Oh, and it appears General of the Left Guard is also in the Imperial Study."

As the Emperor's personal eunuch, how could any whisper or movement in the palace escape him? He was well aware of Cheng Xiong's earlier conflict with Zu An, and how the Crown Princess had arrived to intervene.

The reason he was willing to accept the gift, of course, wasn't because he thought Zu An was merely polite, but because the Crown Princess thought so highly of him, and Cheng Xiong was part of Prince Qi's faction. That's why he offered a reminder, to foster good relations.

"Thank you, Eunuch Wen," Zu An's heart jumped. "That damned Cheng Xiong again, he's like a persistent ghost. I wonder what new tricks he's up to this time."

He even worried if he would leave the Imperial Study alive this time. 'Hmph, at worst, I'll just shout "Jian Lai" again and take a gamble.'

With that thought, his turbulent heart gradually settled.