We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? - Chapter 446: A Visitor from the Confucian Academy

Xiao Mo woke from the bed, his eyes blinking open in a daze.

The first thing he saw was the familiar bed curtains around him.

“I am back in my chambers?”

Xiao Mo’s consciousness gradually cleared.

He tried to sit up, and immediately felt a violent surge of pain shoot through his body.

The feeling was as though every bone in his body had been scattered apart and then forcibly reassembled.

He turned his head and looked down at himself, only to find that he was wrapped from head to toe in bandages, and could barely move at all.

Lying on the bed, Xiao Mo recalled what had happened during the tribulation crossing.

He remembered that the Heavenly Dao had given him absolutely no face. Not only had the tribulation lightning taken on a physical form, but three bolts of tribulation lightning had descended on what was supposed to be a Foundation Building crossing.

And yet, in the final moment before the last bolt struck, he had swung his sword with the full resolve of a man prepared to die.

After that, he had lost consciousness.

“Does that mean I successfully crossed the tribulation?”

Xiao Mo closed his eyes and observed his own body with his divine sense.

Because his body was so severely weakened at this moment, he had not felt much of anything when he first woke up but after carefully probing with his divine sense, he could clearly and unmistakably sense that the spiritual apertures and spiritual veins within his body had been opened and expanded, as though long-blocked passages had finally been cleared.

The spiritual energy within him was more than five times as abundant as it had been at the Qi Refinement realm, and the quality of that spiritual energy was even more staggeringly transformed.

To the point where the spiritual energy had permeated into his very blood and flesh.

It no longer remained confined to the spiritual apertures and spiritual veins, but was actively nourishing every part of his body, every inch of blood and muscle. That was the most fundamental characteristic of the Foundation Building realm.

Xiao Mo could even sense that his lifespan ceiling had increased by a considerable measure.

Barring any unexpected circumstances, he felt that living to two hundred and forty or fifty years of age should pose no problem at all.

In addition, Xiao Mo felt hunger, but found he needed only to draw upon the spiritual energy in the surrounding air to satisfy it.

Which meant that from this point forward, he would be able to abstain from ordinary food and drink, and would no longer need to eat, drink, or tend to the ordinary necessities of the body.

He then extended his divine sense outward, and discovered that the range of his divine sense had expanded to more than four times what it had been before.

Moreover, toward the hidden resonances of the Great Dao drifting within the air, Xiao Mo felt a kind of indefinable, inexplicable awareness and sensitivity that he had not possessed before.

It was as though he had ascended to an entirely different dimension of perception, able to see things that ordinary people could not.

Only his current cultivation level was still quite low, and so his perception of those things remained somewhat unclear and indistinct.

“So this is the Foundation Building realm?”

A deep sense of feeling rose in Xiao Mo’s heart.

No wonder so many cultivators, even at the cost of their body and soul, would still press forward for that single chance at a breakthrough.

No wonder so many wandering cultivators in the mountains and wilds, for the sake of a single fortunate opportunity, would betray their sworn brothers, and even betray their cultivation partners.

Beyond the extension of lifespan, an advancement in cultivation truly did give one the illusion of gradually taking hold of the world, stirring in people a near-obsessive longing for the vistas that lay at even higher levels and just as Xiao Mo was slowly acquainting himself with the Foundation Building realm, his divine sense detected someone approaching his room.

A short while later, Yan Ruxue walked into the room carrying a bowl of medicine.

“Your Majesty is awake.”

Seeing Xiao Mo awake, Yan Ruxue smiled softly, genuine delight evident in her expression.

“Mm.” Xiao Mo gave a nod. “How long was I unconscious?”

“Your Majesty has been unconscious for a full twenty days.” Yan Ruxue set the medicine bowl on the bedside table. “When Your Majesty was crossing the tribulation, your servant was truly terrified. Thankfully, Your Majesty has come through safely.”

Even now, thinking back on what had happened earlier, Yan Ruxue still felt a lingering unease in her heart but at least Xiao Mo had only sustained injuries. His life had been preserved, and he had even successfully entered Foundation Building.

“Allow your servant to attend to Your Majesty’s medicine.”

Setting aside her thoughts, Yan Ruxue leaned down toward him. A strand of her dark hair fell and brushed lightly against the tip of Xiao Mo’s nose, carrying with it the faint, delicate fragrance of her body.

Because she was leaning in close, Xiao Mo found himself looking at a glimpse of pale snow-white but Yan Ruxue did not mind in the slightest.

In Yan Ruxue’s eyes, everything about her had always belonged to him. What did it matter if he saw?

Yan Ruxue gently helped Xiao Mo sit up and lean back against the headboard, handling him with the utmost care, as though afraid he might bump against something and break.

She picked up the medicine bowl, scooped out a spoonful, blew on it gently with her breath to cool the steam, then touched it to her own lips to make sure it was no longer too hot before feeding it to Xiao Mo.

Though Yan Ruxue’s manner of feeding the medicine carried a hint of intimacy, Xiao Mo treated it as nothing out of the ordinary, and finished the bowl steadily and without much fuss.

With a full bowl of medicine in his stomach, Xiao Mo felt the liquid spread rapidly through his organs, viscera, and spiritual veins, slowly nourishing his body from within.

“This medicine…” Xiao Mo could tell it was no ordinary thing.

“Just a common preparation. It is nothing worth mentioning.” Yan Ruxue shook her head, picked up a fragrant handkerchief to dab the corner of Xiao Mo’s mouth, then helped ease him back down onto the bed.

Yan Ruxue offered no further explanation, and Xiao Mo did not press her on the value of the medicine either. He simply kept the debt of gratitude in his heart.

“Has anything happened during the days I was unconscious?” Xiao Mo asked.

“Your Majesty, please set your mind at ease. After your servant brought Your Majesty back to the palace, it was your servant and younger sister Mu Jiu who took turns tending to Your Majesty. National Preceptor Jiang also came by frequently to check in.”

“As for Lingxin Palace, your servant told them that Your Majesty was in seclusion cultivating. Although the Empress Dowager was a little displeased, feeling that you had been neglecting us, there was no cause for suspicion beyond that.”

“Eunuch Wei has also proven truly loyal to Your Majesty. He managed Yan Shan’ao in the outer hall quite well.”

“Your Majesty need only rest and recover now. In roughly another five or six days, Your Majesty should be able to get out of bed.”

“Many thanks to Miss Yan.” Xiao Mo expressed his gratitude.

“Your Majesty need not say such things. Caring for Your Majesty is simply what your servant ought to do.” Yan Ruxue smiled warmly, rose with the medicine bowl in hand, and said, “Then Your Majesty should rest well. Your servant will not disturb you further.”

“Mm.” Perhaps it was the medicine taking effect. Xiao Mo felt drowsiness beginning to settle over him, and slowly closed his eyes.

Yan Ruxue walked quietly out of the room and made her way back to Ning Xue Palace but the moment Yan Ruxue reached the entrance of Ning Xue Palace, she saw Xiao Chun come running toward her in a hurry.

“Young Mistress, Young Mistress, Madam has sent someone over. She wants us to return to the Yan residence for a visit. Madam says she has already spoken with the Empress Dowager, so we can go directly out of the palace.”

“Return to the Yan residence?” Yan Ruxue asked with a puzzled look. “Did Mother say what the matter is?”

“It seems the Confucian Academy heard of Young Mistress’s talent and has sent a Confucian gentleman to come and meet with Young Mistress.” Xiao Chun answered truthfully.

Upon hearing the words “Confucian Academy,” Yan Ruxue’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Young Mistress, is something the matter with the Confucian Academy? You seem rather reluctant to meet with them?” Xiao Chun asked, puzzled.

The Confucian Academy was the place that every scholar under heaven dreamed of.

Young Mistress was widely read and learned, and was herself a scholar. By all reason, she too should have felt a yearning for the Confucian Academy.

So why did her young mistress appear so displeased?

“It is nothing!”

Yan Ruxue smiled faintly, and a cold glint flickered through her eyes.

“Since a Confucian gentleman of the Academy has come, then we shall meet with him.”