When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

For the next two days, Chu Xianlan did not meet with Yi Chen, and did not even return to Yujing Pavilion. She stayed in Qianlian Hall all day, unwilling to face reality.

The matter of the Entangling Life Gu was too much of a blow to him, and he couldn't recover from it for a while.

"Stop! Stop! Stop forging!" Xiao Huandu couldn't stand it anymore, so he waved his hand and forcibly pulled the man out of the smoky mess, dragging him outside by the arm. "Come on, let's go out for some fresh air."

All you do is practice, practice, practice, and your brain's turned to mush! That won't do!

Chu Xianlan struggled for a moment, but her strength and energy were almost completely exhausted. She asked weakly, "Where to?"

"Let's go soak in the Qingling Pool!"

The Taiyi Sect's Qinling Pool is a public, natural spiritual spring located near the Hundred Herbs Hall. The pool water is drawn from underground spiritual veins and contains abundant spiritual energy from heaven and earth, making it the sect's first choice for disciples to relax and recover after cultivation.

Chu Xianlan wasn't really interested, but she couldn't resist Xiao Huandu's insistence, and she was also exhausted, so she was half-heartedly dragged to Qinling Pool.

It was nearing evening, and many people were already relaxing in the pool. When the disciples who were coming and going saw the two of them arrive, they all greeted them.

"Greetings, senior brothers!"

Chu Xianlan responded while casually taking off her top.

He had fair skin, and his frame was tall and straight due to his martial arts and sword practice. He had an excellent figure, but his waist was very thin. The smooth lines of his abdominal muscles extended downwards, where they were covered by a white cloth that was neither too loose nor too tight.

Several disciples who were passing by couldn't help but glance at him and secretly clicked their tongues: They all work in the furnace every day, so how come Senior Brother Chu can maintain such a figure? They are either chubby or look like boiled chickens.

Although weapon crafting requires some strength and physical skills, as long as your basic skills are decent, it's fine.

The disciples then recalled Chu Xianlan's usual training intensity; she often stayed up all night in the Thousand Refinement Hall and still remembered the time for her morning practice. No wonder she could fight a half-demon for several rounds.

Unlike them, who either fall asleep as soon as the stove is turned off, or only know how to go to the spirit kitchen to eat.

Okay, forget it.

The warm spring water washed over her body, and Chu Xianlan casually found a corner to sit down. Xiao Huandu moved over and said, "By the way, the aftermath of the half-demon matter has been dealt with. It seems that Qiao Yu has no accomplices. She came for the theft of the Thousand-Condensed Cold Iron, but the item has been recovered, and the sect has strengthened its defenses. She shouldn't be able to cause any trouble."

Chu Xianlan gave a casual "hmm".

Although the half-demon was eliminated, the trouble caused by the Life-Binding Gu remained, so he couldn't relax at all.

"Speaking of which, the reason why those two idiots, Ji Cheng'an and Zhao Jianren, were talking nonsense like madmen was because they were under a spell!"

At this point, Xiao Huandu splashed some hot water on himself as if he were cold, "It's a good thing you're alright, otherwise you might have become just as obsessed as them."

fine?

Ha, he thought to himself, I'm about to die.

But Chu Xianlan couldn't reveal to anyone that she and her master were afflicted by the Life-Binding Gu, so she followed his lead and asked, "What is 'being possessed'?"

"It seems he was forced to speak his mind by the Gu worms? I'm not too clear on the details, but Zhao Jianren attacked everyone he could, even saying he didn't respect anyone. Ji Cheng'an was even more outrageous, acting wildly and hysterically in the Discipline Hall, shouting that nobody respected him." Xiao Huandu crossed his arms and pondered. "However, Zhao Jianren is even worse than Ji Cheng'an. Several disciples couldn't stand it anymore and collectively submitted a petition exposing his numerous crimes of bullying his fellow disciples. It's even more disgusting than what we knew before. The Discipline Elders have already taken action. This time, even if Elder Wenjian comes, he can't protect him."

Chu Xianlan twitched her lips. Serves him right.

"But did you know? Ji Cheng'an is going back to the palace." Xiao Huandu suddenly dropped a bombshell.

Chu Xianlan was taken aback, opening her eyes in surprise. "Back to the palace? Didn't he already become a disciple of Uncle-Master Pei?"

"He did pay his respects, but after this incident, how could Lord Yuan dare to let him stay in the Taiyi Sect?" Xiao Huandu sneered. "I heard that Ji Cheng'an's personality has become even more extreme since he woke up this time. Lord Yuan is afraid that he will cause trouble again, so he has already submitted a memorial requesting an imperial decree to take him back to the palace to recuperate. I estimate that he will leave in the next few days."

Ji Cheng'an is leaving, which means one less troublesome person.

Logically, he should have breathed a sigh of relief; all the absurdity had come to an end, the course of the premonition dream had been completely altered, and the greatest threat seemed to have been eliminated, but…

"It's better that they've left."

Chu Xianlan was still depressed, so she buried half her face in the warm pool water and gurgled as she blew bubbles.

Despite all the precautions, you end up with nothing and have even gotten yourself into trouble.

What's this? Does it mean he's just unlucky?

Xiao Huandu couldn't bear to see his good brother looking so downcast, and was about to say something to cheer him up when he glanced casually at the bottom of the pool out of the corner of his eye and was suddenly startled.

"Hey! Why is your area all red?"

Chu Xianlan wiped the water off her face, followed his finger and looked down at her abdomen.

Through the clear water, you could vaguely see several irregular red marks crawling there.

His heart skipped a beat. The more he looked, the more eerie it seemed. The shape of the red marks resembled several budding petals, faintly blooming on his skin.

What's going on? I was completely clean when I changed clothes earlier, and there was nothing like this on me!

And this position... is too awkward. Not only is it close to the waist and hips, but it also seems to be spreading downwards to the lower abdomen.

Xiao Huandu exclaimed, "Wow, that's so trendy, bro! When did you secretly get this tattoo behind my back? The location is quite unique too."

"Don't look!"

Chu Xianlan felt a chill run down her spine. She raised her hand and covered Xiao Huandu's eyes, then suddenly turned around and examined him closely with her back to him.

My fingertips touched the pale pink skin on my waist and abdomen. It was smooth to the touch, and there was no pain when I pressed it. The color was not dark, just like a birthmark that was naturally growing on the skin. However, it was a cluster of neat orchid shapes, as eye-catching as the smudges of fine rouge, with an indescribable eeriness.

What is this?

Just as he was panicking, as he left the water and his skin was exposed to the slightly cooler air, the strange red marks gradually disappeared.

Chu Xianlan: "?"

"Damn it! Why are you covering my eyes?" Xiao Huandu pried his hands off. "It's just a tattoo, right? We're both grown men, why are you hiding it? Are you embarrassed to let me see?"

"It's not a tattoo," Chu Xianlan pulled the cloth up to cover the remaining mark, trying to remain calm as she came up with an excuse, "Maybe... it's because I soaked it for too long and it caused a slight allergic reaction? Or maybe I accidentally got some paint on it when I was refining the weapon before, it'll come off after washing."

"Hmm? Is that so?" Xiao Huandu was still skeptical.

"I'm going back to the Thousand Refinement Hall first. There's still a batch of magical artifacts I haven't finished." Chu Xianlan didn't argue with him. She frowned, casually twisted her wet hair a couple of times, and with a "whoosh," took a long stride and left the Spirit Infusion Pool.

Actually, he had no interest in refining magical artifacts; he just wanted to find Xie Qingying as soon as possible to find out if the thing growing on his body was also related to the Life-Binding Gu.

However, it was already late, and it wouldn't be good to disturb Senior Xie, so I could only suppress my anxiety and wait until tomorrow.

The forging rooms in the Thousand Refinements Hall are all independent, and his room is in a secluded location, rarely visited by anyone other than himself.

The fire that usually burned in the stove had long since gone out, and the surroundings were pitch black.

Chu Xianlan gently closed the door behind her, swallowed hard, walked to the table, lit the candle, and hurriedly reached out to untie the belt around her waist.

He loosened the belt in a few quick movements, grabbed the outer robe with both hands and pulled it outwards. Finding the hem of the inner lining too long and cumbersome, he simply lowered his head and used his teeth to bite the bottom edge of the robe and lift it up, taking advantage of the dim firelight to re-examine the skin on his lower abdomen.

There was nothing unusual.

He leaned closer to the candlelight and looked closely. Suddenly, he saw a very pale pink color begin to emerge from under his skin. At first, it was irregular, but it slowly climbed up his skin, just like the process of a flower blooming, with each petal appearing clearly.

This was simply unbelievable. Chu Xianlan was stunned, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, and she subconsciously took a half step back.

The red marks faded away after he moved away from the fire.

What the hell?

...It becomes visible when heated and invisible when cooled?

"Click".

Just then, a crisp sound came from behind, and the wooden door of the forge was gently pushed open from the outside.