Chapter 57: Accelerating the Growth of Spiritual Herbs

Hearing what Qin Jiyue said, Wen Rongxin was momentarily taken aback and asked in confusion, “Really?”

She honestly hadn’t noticed anything like that. Every time it ended, she was utterly exhausted, her body weak and limp, without even the strength to get out of bed and make breakfast.

“Of course!” Qin Jiyue replied, holding a steamed bun in her hand. “He used to last three hours at most, but now it’s four. And after it’s over, he drinks two sips of that deer antler wine—before, just one sip would have him back on his feet, and then he’d come looking for you again…”

“Don’t—don’t move…” Wen Rongxin said, her cheeks flushed red.

“Oh, what’s the big deal? Just try playing with mine for a change, it’s got a pretty nice feel to it,” Qin Jiyue teased with a mischievous grin.

Wen Rongxin wished she could bury her head under the pillow—she was in no mood for this at all.

Suddenly, Qin Jiyue said, “By the way, Sister, Song Zhiqiao seems to be in Silver Maple City as well. She’s with the Pavilion of Myriad Wonders now, so we’ll have to be more careful in the future.”

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Wen Rongxin looked at Qin Jiyue, completely puzzled.

“What else? I’m worried she’ll steal our husband’s heart,” Qin Jiyue sighed, her charming fox-like eyes filled with caution. “Women like her are experts at winning a man’s favor and capturing his heart. And our husband isn’t exactly the most upright man—so I worry…”

Just then, there was a creak as the door opened.

Both Qin Jiyue and Wen Rongxin immediately looked toward the sound.

Li Guanzhuan had just entered, and the sight of the two women lying on the couch sparked a sudden flame within him, his gaze turning especially heated.

“What…what are you two doing here?” Li Guanzhuan asked, his body almost moving toward them of its own accord.

“D-don’t come any closer!” Wen Rongxin was a bit flustered and could only clutch the quilt tightly, her almond-shaped eyes wide and pleading.

She knew Li Guanzhuan wanted this, but she just wasn’t mentally prepared for it yet.

She was fine dueling Li Guanzhuan one-on-one, but if another woman was involved, she grew unbearably nervous, not knowing how to handle it.

Seeing this, Li Guanzhuan had to give up on the idea. After all, such things couldn’t be forced.

“What were you two whispering about?” he asked as he grabbed what he’d come into the room for, then cast a suspicious glance at Qin Jiyue.

Wen Rongxin was too straightforward to hide anything, but the same couldn’t be said for Qin Jiyue.

This little vixen had once tried to convince him she was a chivalrous heroine, robbing the rich to help the poor—when in reality, she was a con artist through and through.

All her talk about helping wandering cultivators and commoners was just a front for her own schemes!

Fortunately, after his guidance, Qin Jiyue was now wholeheartedly devoted to their family and had stopped running off to stir up trouble.

“We were just wondering if you’d been cultivating some improper technique. You seem to want it more often lately,” Qin Jiyue said, scrutinizing Li Guanzhuan intently.

Wen Rongxin was too shy to voice such things, but Qin Jiyue pressed on directly.

Li Guanzhuan replied, “My cultivation has improved, so naturally my desires have increased as well. Is that a problem?”

“I still don’t quite believe it…” Qin Jiyue narrowed her foxlike eyes at him, full of suspicion.

She always felt that her husband gave his all every time, almost as if he wanted to push her past her limits.

“Believe it or not,” Li Guanzhuan rolled his eyes, a bit guilty. “I have to get back to making pills and talismans. Darling, remember to cook a pot of Boundless Mana Soup tonight.”

“A-alright…” Wen Rongxin replied, blushing fiercely.

Even the battle-hardened Qin Jiyue couldn’t help rubbing her waist at the mention of that soup, feeling sore and achy all over.

Qin Jiyue glanced at the exhausted but utterly satisfied Wen Rongxin and sighed inwardly. Was it time to find their husband a concubine after all?

At this rate, neither she nor her sister could keep up.

...

After entering the cultivation room, Li Guanzhuan massaged his aching waist and groaned inwardly.

That clever little vixen Qin Jiyue had almost seen through his intentions...

Li Guanzhuan sighed to himself. Aside from needing more immortal energy to advance his cultivation, he also had to improve the aptitude of his wood and earth spiritual roots. That meant taking at least one or two more concubines.

But the process was anything but simple.

Even though it was common in these ancient times for a man to have several wives or concubines, this was still the world of cultivators. Every female cultivator was shrewd, each with her own thoughts, ambitions, and personality...

Not every woman was as gentle, selfless, and unassuming as Wen Rongxin.

So Li Guanzhuan had to worry about the harem falling into chaos. These were cultivators, after all—if things turned violent, his whole household would be in shambles.

Besides personality, there was the issue of cultivation level. If the concubine’s cultivation was too low, the quality of immortal energy and rewards would be lacking.

Right now, what Li Guanzhuan needed to address was Qin Jiyue’s attitude.

She had previously caught him in a weak moment and made him promise not to take another wife.

So now, he could only try to make Qin Jiyue willingly help him find a concubine.

And his strategy was to keep Qin Jiyue so sore and exhausted that, in the end, she would have no choice but to support the idea—just as Wen Rongxin had done before.

Composing himself, Li Guanzhuan took out the two storage pouches from yesterday.

The seals had been removed, and he had thoroughly checked everything inside for lingering marks.

“Five top-grade first-tier magical tools, twenty-seven Essence Replenishing Pills, five Swiftwind Talismans… Hm, a Goldenvine and a Purple Ginseng, both two hundred years old.”

Li Guanzhuan’s eyes lit up. That rogue cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refinement must have wanted to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, only to end up in Li Guanzhuan’s hands at this critical moment.

“With these two hundred-year-old main ingredients, plus the auxiliary herbs, I can just about refine a low-grade second-tier Foundation Establishment Pill. But…the quality will be a bit lacking.”

He held the two main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand, feeling somewhat regretful.

If only they were three hundred years old—the resulting pill would be much better.

Suddenly, Li Guanzhuan sensed his immortal energy slowly flowing into the Goldenvine and Purple Ginseng, and the two herbs began to mature before his eyes, soon reaching two hundred and ten years.

“Immortal energy can do that?” Li Guanzhuan’s eyes widened. Could immortal energy really accelerate the aging of spiritual herbs?

This time, he deliberately channeled more immortal energy into them. Before long, the Goldenvine and Purple Ginseng reached two hundred and twenty years.

And this cost him barely any energy—not even as much as a single dual cultivation session would take.

After using the equivalent of two dual cultivation sessions’ worth of energy, the two herbs finally reached three hundred years.

Looking at the three-hundred-year-old main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hands, Li Guanzhuan murmured, “With this, buying two-hundred-year-old materials from Brother Zheng shouldn’t be a problem… I might even save a fortune.”

...

PS: Many thanks to “Nuojia” for the reward of 500 Qidian coins! Thank you, boss! Please vote for recommendations~