Chapter 65 Each Gets What They Deserve
As night fell, the Lingyun Cave Dwelling was brightly lit. The gurgling sound of the spirit spring's water, enveloped by the starlight circulating within the array, cast a faint silver luster upon the stone room.
Lin Yue took three items out of his Storage Pouch one by one and placed them on the stone table—the jiaowei sword casket had a charred wood color but hid dark gold patterns; the purple copper body of the hundred refinements pill furnace still retained the residual warmth of the Pill Fire from the Remnant Treasure Area; and the green wood tripod was missing a corner, its Spirit-Warming Runes emitting a faint green shimmer under the starlight.
"Qingyuan, you go first." Lin Yue picked up the jiaowei sword casket. As soon as his fingertips touched the wooden surface, the casket seemed to sense something; the dark gold patterns quietly lit up, producing a weak resonance with the broken sword at Su Qingyuan's waist.
Su Qingyuan approached holding the crimson flame skyfall sword, an imperceptible trace of expectation hidden in her cold eyes. Although she had been stubborn before, she had long ago noticed Lin Yue's solemnity when he held this wooden casket in the market. Now, seeing the casket respond to her sword, her fingertips actually trembled slightly.
"This is the jiaowei sword casket, forged by the ancient Mo Hengzi. It can nourish your crimson flame skyfall sword." Lin Yue handed the sword casket over, his voice softening. "Try inserting the sword into the slit on the side of the casket."
Su Qingyuan did as he said and raised her hand. As the crimson flame skyfall sword neared the sword casket, a thin slit automatically opened in the casket's body. The sword blade, as if pulled by an invisible force, slowly slid inside.
"Buzz—" The sword casket suddenly vibrated slightly. All the dark gold patterns on the charred wooden surface lit up, spreading along the sword blade and gradually peeling away the rust on the broken sword. The azure fire spiritual light emitted by the blade became even more intense than before.
She could clearly feel that the sword casket was drawing Spiritual Qi from the spirit spring and injecting it into the sword blade. Her originally stagnant Heaven-Burning Sword Intent became increasingly condensed, and even the palm holding the sword felt a faint warmth.
What shocked her most was that the sword casket was actually repairing the gaps in the sword blade; the marks scorched by thunder and fire were fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"This..." Su Qingyuan looked down at the sword casket, a trace of a tremor appearing in her cold voice for the first time. "It can actually share a heart-to-heart connection with my sword."
Lin Yue looked at the starlight in her eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Ling Wei said that an Innate Sword Body paired with the nine heaven-burning swords, plus this jiaowei sword casket, is the truly perfect match."
Su Qingyuan did not argue further, but simply held the sword casket carefully in her arms, her fingertips gently stroking the patterns on its body.
Her back, which was always tense in the past, actually relaxed quietly at this moment. With her reddened ear tips, she lost some of her aloofness and gained a bit of a young girl's shyness.
"Next is Ning Shuang." Lin Yue picked up the hundred refinements pill furnace. Its purple copper body emitted a warm luster under the starlight. "The inner lining of this furnace is forged from Lihuo Purple Copper and can withstand mid-tier Pill Fire. Using it for Alchemy can increase the pill success rate by thirty percent and even provide feedback to your pill dao."
Luo Ningshuang stepped forward quickly. As soon as her delicate hand touched the furnace body, the pill runes at the bottom glowed with a faint purple spiritual light, resonating with the Innate Pill Body inside her.
She could clearly sense the Lihuo aura within the furnace's inner lining flowing through her fingertips into her Meridians. The pill power that had been stagnant due to her damaged Meridians actually became somewhat smoother.
"I'll try to refine it." Luo Ningshuang took out a drop of essence blood and dripped it onto the medicinal residue at the furnace's mouth. The moment the essence blood seeped in, the Pill Furnace shook violently, and faint purple pill runes flowed along the furnace body, drawing all of her spiritual power into the furnace.
In less than half an incense stick's time, the Pill Furnace emitted a soft chime, and the spiritual light from the furnace body completely merged with her aura—this was the sign of it being refined into a Lifebound Treasure.
Luo Ningshuang raised her hand to condense a wisp of Pill Fire and injected it into the furnace. The Lihuo Purple Copper lining precisely controlled the Pill Fire's temperature to the threshold required for "mid-tier Medicinal Pills." Even the fire control that she had always struggled to master during previous refinements now became clearly manageable.
"It can even help me organize my pill dao insights." Luo Ningshuang's eyes were full of pleasant surprise as she gently tapped the furnace body with her fingertips. "With it, my success rate in refining purple reishi meridian-warming pills can be increased by at least another twenty percent."
Lin Yue looked at the genuine smile on her face, and warmth gradually grew in his heart. The Luo Ningshuang who was always guarded in the past had all the coldness between her brows fade away, leaving only her passion for the pill dao and a trace of imperceptible tenderness—a look that belonged only to him.
Finally, Lin Yue picked up the green wood tripod and turned to A He, who had been waiting on the side for a long time.
The young girl held her Spirit Food Basket, her amber eyes bright as if soaked in starlight. Seeing Lin Yue hand over the wooden tripod, she quickly reached out to take it, holding it as carefully as if it were a rare treasure.
"This is the taotie tripod. It can lock in the medicinal properties of spirit food. If you use it to steam spirit rice or stew beast meat, the nourishing effect will double." Lin Yue pointed to the Spirit-Warming Runes on the tripod's body. "Try injecting spiritual power into it and see if you can activate it."
A He immediately sat cross-legged, a faint green spiritual light condensing at her fingertips as she gently pressed them against the Spirit-Warming Runes on the tripod.
The life force of the Azure Vine Mysterious Water Spiritual Root flowed in along with the spiritual light, and the green wood tripod seemed to come alive. The missing corner glowed with faint green spiritual light, and the cracks on the inside of the tripod's belly were also slowly being repaired. Even more miraculously, the tripod body spontaneously drew in the moisture from the spirit spring, condensing into tiny droplets of Spirit Dew inside the tripod.
"Husband, look!" A He looked up in surprise and held up the tripod for Lin Yue to see. "It's gathering Spirit Dew on its own! Using this to cook spirit rice porridge will definitely replenish even more Qi and blood!"
As she spoke, she took out spirit rice and Snow Lotus Seeds from her Spirit Food Basket and carefully placed them into the tripod.
As soon as the spirit rice entered the tripod, the Spirit-Warming Runes lit up, firmly locking in the Spiritual Qi within the spirit rice. Even the steam glowed with a faint green spiritual light. After a moment, the tripod lid vibrated slightly, and a rich aroma of spirit rice wafted out, several times more mellow than what was usually cooked in an ordinary clay pot.
"Husband, try it quickly!" A He lifted the tripod lid, scooped a bowl with a jade spoon, and handed it over, her eyes full of expectation. "The Spiritual Qi of the spirit rice porridge cooked in this tripod hasn't dissipated at all. Drinking it will definitely replenish your physical strength."
Lin Yue took the bowl. The spirit rice porridge was sweet in his mouth, and a warm spiritual power slid down his throat into his stomach, instantly nourishing the fatigue from renovating the Medicine Garden during the day.
He watched A He hopping around as she tidied up the tripod and utensils, then looked at Su Qingyuan stroking the sword casket and Luo Ningshuang adjusting the Pill Fire with the Pill Furnace. A sense of unprecedented satisfaction suddenly surged in his heart—this simple Immortal Cave finally felt like a home because of these three.
Just then, the System's notification sounded in his mind: [Detected that the host has distributed exclusive items to bound partners. The favorability of the three women has increased simultaneously!]
[A He's favorability +10 (current: 108). Triggered "Soul Bond" advanced effect: The Universal Symbiosis talent can now be shared with the host. The host can temporarily borrow the perception ability of spirit plants!]
[Su Qingyuan's favorability +8 (current: 98). Triggered "Sword Intent Resonance" effect: The feedback intensity of the Heaven-Burning Sword Intent has increased to 80%. The host can borrow the power of Su Qingyuan's Innate Sword Body!]
[Luo Ningshuang's favorability +8 (current: 96). Triggered "Pill Dao Symbiosis" effect: The host's Pill Fire Azure Eye can now identify the hidden components of high-tier Medicinal Pills. When Luo Ningshuang is refining pills, she can share the host's Ten Thousand Jun Force to stabilize the furnace temperature!]
Lin Yue held the warm jade bowl, feeling the spiritual power circulating in his body faintly connected to the auras of the three women. The smile on his face deepened.
He looked out the window. The Zhou Tian Star Array outside the Lingyun Cave Dwelling was shimmering with silver light. The Spirit Medicines in the Medicine Garden were growing faster within the array. The leaves of the marrow cleansing flowers were a crystalline white, the frost on the ice heart grass was thicker, and the roots of the purple pill ginseng were stretching in the soil—everything was progressing in a positive direction.