Chapter Five: Young Master, Your Ink Plum Blossom Painting Is Truly Exquisite!

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After hearing Lin Fan’s proposal, Bai Xiyue felt quite conflicted inside. On one hand, Su Xingyue entrusted her with watching over Lin Fan, ensuring he wouldn’t leave the small courtyard. Didn’t that essentially mean isolating him from the outside world? Yet, her master hadn’t explicitly forbidden Lin Fan from speaking or interacting with others outside. She secretly glanced at Lin Fan and couldn’t help but feel a bit doubtful in her heart.

She had to admit, her master looked incredibly handsome. Those eyes were as deep as bottomless pits, as if they could capture one’s very soul. His high, straight nose and sharply defined jawline made her heartbeat quicken uncontrollably, like a startled fawn.

“Such a handsome young master shouldn’t be a bad person, right?” Bai Xiyue thought to herself.

After a moment’s hesitation, desire won over reason. She nodded, “Young master, I can give it a try. But how exactly do you collect Spirit Stones?”

“Ahem…” Lin Fan cleared his throat. “Well, it depends on the other party’s cultivation level. The higher their cultivation, the more energy it consumes from me, so naturally, I collect more Spirit Stones.”

“Typically, breaking through from Qi Refinement Level One to Level Two requires four Spirit Stones. But now, I collect fourteen. From Level Two to Level Three, sixteen Spirit Stones, and so forth. The extra ten Spirit Stones are your reward!”

His system’s expenditure of lifespan to help others break through was based on their cultivation level. Breaking through to Level Two cost him two years of lifespan, so he charged four Spirit Stones. To Level Three cost three years, thus six Spirit Stones. Lin Fan’s inner calculations clicked rapidly.

…

At the Su family residence, in a tastefully antique living room, sandalwood incense curled in the air. Sunlight filtered through the carved window screens, casting mottled shadows on the floor. Su Xingyue sat upright in a rosewood grandmaster’s chair, a cup of spirit tea steaming on the Eight Immortals table beside her, filling the room with a refreshing aroma.

Next to her sat a woman almost identical in appearance—like two cast from the same mold—except this woman’s eyes lacked some sharpness and carried a softer charm. This was her twin sister, Su Xingyu.

“Sister, congratulations on breaking through to Qi Refinement Level Ten!” Su Xingyu’s smile blossomed beautifully, her eyes full of envy, though her tone carried a subtle bitterness.

Su Xingyue smiled faintly, but worry flickered across her brow. “Sigh…”

“Those bastards from the Liu family are getting more and more arrogant!” she murmured. “If they hadn’t kept pressing, I wouldn’t have resorted to dual cultivation to break the bottleneck!”

Su Xingyu sighed as well, her face full of concern. “Sigh, who would’ve thought? Unfortunately, mother is still in seclusion. If she could break through Foundation Establishment, we wouldn’t be in such a passive position!”

Mentioning their mother eased the tension in Su Xingyue’s brow somewhat. No matter whether their mother succeeded in achieving Foundation Establishment, as long as Lin Fan intervened, the bottleneck could be smoothly broken. Then the crisis facing the Su family would be resolved.

“Let’s go see how mother’s breakthrough is progressing!”

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…

At noon, sunlight broke through the clouds, warming the small courtyard. Lin Fan sat on a stone bench in the pavilion, holding brush and ink, focused on painting a winter plum blossom.

“Knock, knock, knock…” came a knock at the door.

“Young master, I’ve brought your lunch!” Bai Xiyue’s clear and pleasant voice rang outside the courtyard gate.

Without looking up, Lin Fan continued painting the plum blossoms. “Come in!”

The gate creaked open.

Pouting her delicate lips like a hurt kitten, Bai Xiyue cautiously carried in a large food box.

“Not going smoothly?” Lin Fan put down his brush and looked up, his voice tinged with barely perceptible urgency.

Bai Xiyue nodded softly, her voice low. “Young master, your ability to help people break through cultivation is so incredible, it’s like a fairy tale! I told my senior sister, and she said I must have lost my mind—and not just any water, but boiling water!”

Lin Fan grew anxious as well. More than half of the three days allotted had already passed, leaving little time. But he knew he needed to remain calm.

Setting down his brush, he said with feigned ease, “Then find a way to lure them here. I’ll take care of it.”

Bai Xiyue’s small face darkened, and she shook her head. “Young master, that won’t work. Master gave a strict order—no one but me can enter this courtyard.”

“The entrance is guarded now. I have no way to bring anyone inside.”

Lin Fan fell silent. This was truly a difficult predicament.

“No, it can’t go on like this. Time is running out. I must find a way to save myself!”

His heart raced like ants on a hot pan, yet he was at a loss.

Trapped in this small courtyard, he was like a bird in a cage, watching the outside world helplessly.

“Young master, your plum blossom painting is exquisite. Eh? Why do these red blossoms look a bit like blood?”

“And young master, your canvas… why does it look like a bedsheet to me?”

Bai Xiyue’s large eyes shone with innocent stupidity.

“This painting was a collaboration between your master and me. These red plum blossoms come straight from her hand!”

Without much thought, Bai Xiyue nodded. “Young master, the kitchen made many delicious dishes for you today.”

“Look, stir-fried chives with eggs. The chives are from the family’s spirit field, infused with spiritual energy. The eggs are from first-tier spirit beast phoenix tail chickens.”

“Then there’s wolfberry stewed soft-shelled turtle, which is also a first-tier spirit beast—very expensive and usually unavailable to ordinary disciples.”

“Also, spirit wine—Ten Whip Wine. They say it’s highly nourishing, and only newlywed disciples get a bottle.”

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Lin Fan was speechless. Had he performed poorly last night? He had worked vigorously for an hour—two hours in total.

Bai Xiyue deftly arranged the dishes on the table.

Lin Fan sat down at the dining table, his gaze resting on Bai Xiyue as she bent to serve him a bowl of wolfberry turtle soup. The steaming broth gave off a tantalizing aroma.

She added some more dishes to the plate in front of Lin Fan.

The Su family’s chefs were indeed excellent.

The dishes looked attractive, full of color, aroma, and taste.

But Lin Fan had no appetite for delicacies now.

He had just over two days left.

If he couldn’t help ten people break through their bottlenecks in that time, the system would erase him.

So far, he had helped Su Xingyue and Bai Xiyue break through.

Eight people remained.

Eight didn’t seem like many, but Lin Fan felt utterly helpless.

Trapped in this courtyard, he couldn’t contact other cultivators, let alone assist them in breaking through.

What was he to do?

Lin Fan furrowed his brow, anxiety filling his heart.

“Young master, why aren’t you eating?”

“Aren’t these dishes to your taste?” Bai Xiyue asked with concern, noticing Lin Fan’s hesitation to pick up his chopsticks.