Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Allure of Wealth and Silk

Sanshui snapped back to attention, noticing that Young Master Hu was staring at him with a less-than-friendly gaze. He scratched his head sheepishly, “Young master, what were you all talking about just now?”

“You blockhead, I was asking why the food hasn’t been served yet!” Chu Liuxing couldn’t help but chuckle at Sanshui’s clueless appearance.

“Oh—oh—when I went just now, the kitchen was already preparing. It should be ready soon,” Sanshui replied hurriedly.

“Yu, are you alright?” Chu Liuxing, seeing Gu Weiyu looking somewhat dispirited, spoke with concern, “I have some fasting pills here, would you like one first?”

Chu Liuxing assumed Gu Weiyu was simply hungry, so he took out a jade bottle from his storage bracelet and handed it to her.

Gu Weiyu shook her head, “Thank you, Brother Chu. I think I’m just tired from refining pills all day.”

“Yu, not to lecture you, but why are you so desperate to refine pills? My father never said you have to finish them immediately—what’s the rush?” Chu Liuxing began his familiar litany of nagging.

Gu Weiyu’s face was pale as a sheet. She knew well enough what troubled her heart, but could say nothing, feeling only a suffocating frustration.

The food was indeed served swiftly, but faced with the array of aromatic, colorful dishes, Gu Weiyu suddenly found herself with no appetite and only took a few bites.

Chu Liuxing, eating alone, found it meaningless and stopped after a few mouthfuls.

“Brother Chu, I’m a bit tired. I’ll head back to the courtyard and rest,” Gu Weiyu stood up apologetically.

“Alright, Yu, rest well,” Chu Liuxing rose to see her off.

Gu Weiyu walked to the gate, turning to Chu Liuxing behind her, “It’s only a few steps, Brother Chu. You should go back.”

At her words, Chu Liuxing paused, watching Gu Weiyu enter the neighboring courtyard before turning back himself.

In the courtyard, Sanshui stood before the table, unmoving.

“…As long as one can provide pertinent clues, there’s a reward of a thousand spirit stones. If the person is found, the prize will be a massive ten thousand spirit stones…”

Sanshui’s mind echoed the words Young Master had just spoken. Perhaps the master hadn’t noticed, but he had seen it clearly: Young Master Hu was acting strangely!

Thinking of the enormous reward, his heart itched with desire—ten thousand spirit stones!

Chu Liuxing returned to the courtyard, seeing Sanshui absent-minded and distracted. He frowned and barked coldly, “Sanshui, what’s gotten into you today?”

Sanshui snapped back to reality, seeing his master’s displeased expression, instantly lowering his gaze in fear.

The young master was usually good-natured, but his temper could be frightening!

“Enough, tidy up and leave,” Chu Liuxing waved his hand, unable to stand Sanshui’s silent gloom.

Sanshui, as if pardoned, quickly cleaned the table and vanished from his master’s sight.

Gu Weiyu returned to her room, sitting by the window, lost in thought as she gazed at the blooming tree in the courtyard.

Chu Liuxing’s words kept floating through her mind, leaving her confused and unable to settle herself for cultivation.

“Hiss—” Suddenly, a throbbing pain pulsed at her temples. She pressed her forehead, groaning softly.

“What are you thinking about? Do you realize that, if this continues, it’s easy for inner demons to take root?” Xiao Shu’s voice echoed anxiously in her consciousness.

Gu Weiyu’s expression changed. Having refined pills all day, she was already exhausted, and after the earlier events, her spiritual sense was dangerously close to collapse.

She stood, closed the window, activated the room’s barrier, then sat cross-legged on the meditation mat.

She could not continue to let her thoughts run wild!

Gu Weiyu kept reminding herself: overthinking not only achieves nothing, it wastes precious time. She forced herself to clear her mind and focus inward.

She did not know how long she sat, but the room was silent as she meditated, her face calm and emotionless, clearly deep in cultivation.

Dim light seeped through the paper window, bringing a gentle brightness to the tranquil room.

“Hu—” Gu Weiyu opened her eyes on the meditation mat; outside, dawn had already broken. She pushed open the window, catching sight of the crimson clouds spreading across the eastern sky.

A night had passed in the blink of an eye—a new day had begun.

Yesterday’s troubles were buried deep in her heart. Gu Weiyu gathered herself and stepped out of her room.

She walked into the courtyard, just as Sanshui was peeking at the gate. “Sanshui, why don’t you come in?”

It seemed the Treasure Pavilion was not a place to linger for long. It was time for her to find an opportunity to leave.

Sanshui, caught by Gu Weiyu, finally stepped in, “Young Master Hu, my master asked me to see if you’d like to join us for breakfast.”

Gu Weiyu glanced at Sanshui, nodding, “Of course.”

With that, she led the way to the neighboring courtyard. Sanshui followed, his gaze thoughtful.

After breakfast in Chu Liuxing’s courtyard, Gu Weiyu, as usual, went to the pill refining chamber.

She planned to finish refining the remaining ten portions of spirit-restoring pills before making further decisions.

The stone door of the pill chamber closed slowly. Gu Weiyu activated the chamber’s barrier, set the jade cauldron before her, and took out a portion of spirit herbs from her storage pouch, settling her mind to begin pill refining.

Though the spirit-restoring pill was different from the rejuvenation pill, the principles of pill refinement were similar.

She first took a portion of herbs, using her spiritual sense to familiarize herself with every detail, then began channeling heavenly thunder fire to extract the essence.

With yesterday’s experience, her process was much smoother today.

Except for the first portion, which failed due to inexperience and became a pool of medicinal liquid, from the second batch onward Gu Weiyu rarely faltered.

In just half a day, she successfully refined eight batches of pills, with an increasing number of top-grade pills.

Especially the last batch—she obtained twenty top-grade spirit-restoring pills in one go!

“It’s done!”

Gu Weiyu looked at the neatly arranged ten-odd jade bottles before her, joy lighting her face.

Nine bottles held finished pills, and four bottles contained unformed medicinal liquid.

“Master—” Xiao Shu’s voice sounded timely in her consciousness, “Xiao Shu suggests you don’t bring all these pills out at once.”

Gu Weiyu nodded. She didn’t know other pill masters’ success rates, but after witnessing the extraordinary results of the Heavenly Thunder Nine-Turns technique, she finally understood its high efficiency.

If not for her inexperience, her success rate might have reached ninety percent!

Even without Xiao Shu’s advice, she hadn’t intended to bring all the pills out, especially that bottle of purely top-grade spirit-restoring pills—she had no intention of selling it.

With a thought, Gu Weiyu put three bottles of spirit-restoring pills into her storage ring, then stuffed the rest into her storage pouch.

Rising from her mat, she surveyed the empty pill chamber, deactivated the barrier, and stepped out.

She planned to have lunch, then take the pills she’d refined to the Treasure Pavilion for sale.