9: undressing

Su Chen glanced at the time, thinking it was already deep into the night, but it had just passed midnight.

He was about to continue meditating and cultivating when a thunderous rumble came from his stomach—previously, being fully absorbed in his practice, he had suppressed his body's hunger instinct.

Now, as he relaxed, hunger surged like a tide, making him feel as if he could devour an entire ox.

Ten minutes later, the refrigerator's contents were swept clean.

Another half an hour passed, and the ten buckets of KFC family meals he had ordered in one go arrived; even the delivery driver was stunned by the sight.

Only after devouring the food like a whirlwind did Su Chen finally recover a little.

He returned to his bedroom and let out a satisfied burp, yet in just an hour, all the heat and water in his body had been digested.

The vigorous metabolism brought by cultivation left him full of energy, eager to immediately throw himself into the next round of practice.

“So it wasn’t that I was lazy; it’s just that cultivating as a genius is this enjoyable,” Su Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly.

It’s the same with learning for ordinary people; no one is born lazy, they just haven’t tasted the sweetness of positive feedback yet.

He sat cross-legged in meditation, “Next, it’s the third realm—Ning Yuan Realm.”

The Ning Yuan Realm requires the spiritual energy in the hidden meridians throughout the body to condense into a liquid state, which can form a spiritual energy cloak on the body’s surface, making one impervious to swords and bullets.

Upon reaching this realm, Su Chen truly felt the resistance of cultivation—the spiritual energy density of Blue Star was simply too low.

After nearly two more hours, he barely managed to break through to the second layer of the Ning Yuan Realm.

Su Chen frowned slightly, subconsciously complaining, “That’s a bit slow.”

But the next second, he realized that his previous breakthroughs had been too smooth.

One must know that for ordinary people, the bottleneck of the Ning Yuan Realm might be impossible to break through in a lifetime.

Just as he was adjusting his mindset and preparing for steady cultivation, his cultivation level within him surged without any warning!

Ning Yuan Realm Third Heaven… Fifth Heaven… Eighth Heaven…

In a few breaths, his cultivation soared from Ning Yuan Realm Second Heaven to Ning Yuan Realm Ninth Heaven, with the spiritual energy in all ten hidden meridians fully condensed into a liquid state, just one step away from advancing to the Solid Spirit Realm!

This feeling was as if someone was remotely transmitting cultivation to him, an experience Su Chen was not unfamiliar with in his previous life.

“What the hell?! Is this cultivation feedback?!”

He suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with shock, and his fingertips quickly swiped the screen, locking onto Tantai Qinghuang’s image.

The moment he saw the image, Su Chen froze.

Inside the flying boat's private cultivation chamber, the spirit liquid in the mutton-fat jade bathtub boiled like lava.

The girl's porcelain-white back was arched like a full moon, her wet black hair clinging to her butterfly bones, winding like ink.

She sat cross-legged, rapidly forming hand seals, adorned only by the dark blue Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Marrow pendant, which rested between her firm breasts, gently rising and falling with her breathing.

“Well-developed.”

Su Chen only briefly glanced before retracting his gaze; after all, he was not a callow youth, and such temptation could not sway his mind.

Through the steaming spirit liquid, he instantly understood what was happening—Tantai Qinghuang was undergoing a medicinal bath with Congenital Dao Embryo Spirit Liquid; she was about to awaken her bloodline!

The energy in the spirit liquid could not only activate the bloodline but also greatly increase cultivation speed, no wonder the cultivation feedback allowed him to break through seven realms consecutively.

Su Chen clicked on the panel:

[Name: Tantai Qinghuang]

[Realm: Ning Yuan Realm Second Layer → Solid Spirit Realm Ninth Layer]

[Aptitude: Great Emperor's Talent, Emperor Blood Awakening Progress: 90%]

[Affection: 80%]

He gasped, as expected of the Reborn Empress!

Overnight, she broke through from Ning Yuan Realm Second Layer to Solid Spirit Realm Ninth Layer, spanning more than ten minor realms, just one step away from the final stage of the four mortal realms.

While this certainly included the cultivation experience brought by her rebirth, it was also inseparable from the latent medicinal power of the Congenital Dao Embryo Spirit Liquid and the Nine-Revolution Emperor Medicine.

No wonder the cultivation feedback allowed him to soar from Ning Yuan Realm Second Layer to the peak of Ning Yuan Realm Ninth Layer.

Just as Su Chen was about to look more closely, he saw Tantai Qinghuang’s delicate brows furrowed, fine beads of sweat dripping from her forehead down her jaw, her neck arched back in a graceful curve, and her breathing becoming erratic and rapid.

“Something’s wrong!” His eyes narrowed, instantly judging the girl’s abnormal state; she seemed to be enduring immense pain.

At this moment, the system's notification sound rang out timely:

[Ding~ Detected that your bound family's Saintess is currently suffering from a bloodline curse—"Soul Devouring Black Flames"]

[Timely Help Gift Pack:

Standard Tier: Value 68 yuan, obtain Purifying Soul Spirit Liquid * 1, can alleviate the current character's soul anomaly, but cannot completely eradicate the curse.

Luxury Tier: Value 68,888 yuan, obtain Emperor-tier secret technique "Nine Yang Meridian Unblocking", using extreme Yang spiritual power as a guide, performed through meridian massage, can dispel all poisons.

Note 1: There is a chance to comprehend this secret technique after successful treatment.

Note 2: Requires intimate contact with the character, usable with Affection 80% or above.]

Su Chen suddenly understood, so it was a bloodline curse!

No wonder the Tantai Family had declined to a humble family; this curse was so malicious, clearly intended to sever their bloodline inheritance.

“Good thing there’s a gift pack.” He unhesitatingly chose the Luxury Tier, “Before this Old Ancestor’s The Power of Krypton Gold (money-spending power), all conspiracies are futile.”

[Purchase successful.]

…

“Ugh…”

Cold sweat trickled down her snowy neck.

Tantai Qinghuang bit her lower lip tightly, her slender white fingertips digging deep into her palms.

She had never expected that while using the Congenital Dao Embryo Spirit Liquid, a black flame would inexplicably emerge in her divine soul, like countless poisonous ants gnawing at her soul, causing heart-wrenching pain.

In her previous life, she had also encountered this tribulation when breaking through to the Saint Realm, thinking it was a necessary hurdle for tribulation, but unexpectedly it was closely related to her bloodline.

No wonder her family had always struggled to develop, and even those with outstanding talent would always inexplicably die young.

The black flames burned fiercer and fiercer, and her consciousness gradually blurred.

In her previous life, she still had profound cultivation and sect protectors, but in this life…

Could it really be the end?

Just as she was about to fall into darkness, she vaguely saw the thousand-year-old, unfading immortal painting on the wall glow with golden light, and the Xuan-clothed young master in the painting seemed to slowly raise his eyes.

A familiar voice echoed in her mind, clear and cold like jade striking together:

“Qinghuang, remove your clothes.”

“Ah?” The girl suddenly snapped back to reality, her eyes filled with shock and bewilderment.