The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the thick curtains, beaming into the room.
The two got up and quickly dressed.
After pulling the curtains fully open, Gui Nianqiu took her prescription glasses from the bedside table.
She put them on and looked at the distant mountains and the greenery a few meters away.
A moment later, she felt dizzy and her vision blurred.
She took off the glasses, rubbed her eyes, and looked again with her naked eyes.
The distant mountains and the greenery became increasingly clear in her vision.
Finally, she could see the world clearly without glasses...
At this thought, Gui Nianqiu couldn't help but feel a little jump of joy.
"I never expected you to possess the Crimson Moon Essence-Absorbing Physique," Tao Bai said suddenly.
"What physique? What does that mean?" Gui Nianqiu was confused.
Tao Bai explained it to her, detailing the pros and cons.
After listening, Gui Nianqiu nestled against Tao Bai's broad chest and said softly, "I understand."
"Nianqiu, let's go browse the nearby clothing stores this afternoon."
Tao Bai said softly.
"We'll buy you a few sets of traditional-style outfits, preferably ones with sashes.
We'll also buy a large, warm cloak."
"Okay."
Gui Nianqiu didn't ask why; she simply obeyed.
"Come here."
Tao Bai unhooked a black storage pouch from the right side of his waist.
"This is for you."
"What is this?"
"A storage pouch. Naturally, it is used for storing items."
As Tao Bai spoke, with a thought, a flash of pale green light appeared on the black storage pouch, and the dark green travel bag on the table vanished.
Tao Bai pointed at the table.
"Look, with just a thought, I can directly store the travel bag on the table inside it.
Now, recite silently in your heart, visualize taking the travel bag out of the storage pouch, and placing it back on the table."
Hearing this, Gui Nianqiu closed her eyes.
With a thought, the travel bag indeed popped out of the storage pouch, hovered for less than a second, and fell to her feet.
"You don't need to close your eyes.
The thought must be fluid and continuous.
Try again."
Gui Nianqiu opened her eyes to see that Tao Bai had put the travel bag back into the storage pouch and was looking at her with an earnest expression.
Gui Nianqiu recalled how Tao Bai cast spells earlier.
She formed a "sword finger" gesture, pointed at the storage pouch, silently visualized the travel bag, and then made a light sweeping motion toward the table.
The travel bag instantly teleported onto the table.
"Yeah! I did it!"
Gui Nianqiu jumped up in excitement, wrapped her arms around Tao Bai's neck, and couldn't resist planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Storage pouches have a flaw.
If there is no magical restriction placed on them, anyone with spiritual power can open them.
For example, even though your spiritual power is not even a thousandth of mine, you can still open it.
In the cultivation world, there is a term called 'killing to seize treasure.'
Killing the person removes their restriction on the storage pouch, allowing the killer to take it and the treasures within."
Tao Bai explained the cruelty of 'killing to seize treasure' in detail. "
Therefore, cultivators pursuing the Great Dao of Immortality often need to be extremely cautious and low-key.
Unless there is a deep grudge or a vast difference in power, they rarely attack lightly.
Friendly exchange and trading for what one needs is the norm.
As for what constitutes a 'vast difference in power,' I will tell you slowly in the future."
Gui Nianqiu listened with exceptional seriousness, full of longing for the path of cultivation.
So Tao Gege is a cultivator...
And being with Tao Gege... is very comfortable...
"So, buying clothes with sashes was so I could clip the storage pouch and store items easily?"
Gui Nianqiu suddenly realized.
"Tao Gege, will you teach me how to cast spells later?
Is this spell hard to learn?"
"It's just an entry-level minor spell;
It's not hard to learn.
Once you learn it, you can place restrictions on your sash and storage pouch."
"Oh!"
Having realized something, Gui Nianqiu revealed a mischievous grin.
"Tao Gege, so last night you deliberately made me..."
"Ahem!"
Tao Bai coughed lightly.
"We should go check out."
Gui Nianqiu browsed many clothing markets in the vicinity before finally selecting three sets of traditional-style clothing she liked.
By then, night had fallen again.
After a romantic Western dinner, the two booked a room at the nearby Yuanhang Grand Hotel.
This time, they booked a deluxe single room—880 yuan a night, no breakfast included.
From 10:00 PM to midnight: three rounds.
From 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM: three rounds.
From 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM: another three rounds.
Adding the previous six rounds, the two had engaged in fifteen rounds of dual cultivation.
This did not strictly belong to "Drawing Qi into the Body," but it was superior to it.
The former required refining spiritual energy into Qi, but in Gui Nianqiu's case, she was directly copy-pasting the Qi—spiritual power—that Tao Bai had already refined!
She could now clearly feel the changes in her body.
It wasn't just her eyesight;
There was a warm current flowing slowly three inches below her navel, in the Lower Dantian.
It made her belly feel warm and extremely comfortable.
What she didn't know was that in just two days of changes, the density of spiritual power in her body was already equivalent to the peak of the first layer of Qi Condensation.
If they continued at the frequency of nine rounds a day, within three and a half years, Gui Nianqiu would possess all of Tao Bai's spiritual power.
By then, she would be at least equivalent to the early Core Formation stage...
Sleeping until 12:30 PM, the two got up, tidied their clothes, and didn't check out until 1:00 PM.
Gui Nianqiu could now skillfully control and use the storage pouch, so she no longer needed to carry the travel bag when going out.
The black storage pouch was now an accessory on her white sash.
She wore a Hanfu set with a pale green base tone.
The hem of the skirt hovered exactly ten centimeters above the ground, revealing a pair of gold-and-white Tiger brand sneakers.
Her complexion and vitality were much better than before, and there was a new agility in her eyes—
The result of spiritual power nourishing her body.
Her dark hair was parted into two strands at the back of her head, each wound tightly three times with red cord like low ponytails, hanging down naturally and softly, swaying with every step she took.
"Are we taking a taxi, or how are we getting to Nancheng in Chuan Province?"
"We are flying there."
"Flying?
How?"
...
The two held hands and arrived at an uninhabited wasteland.
Tao Bai summoned a purple wooden sword.
"My flying magical artifact. It's windproof, and stepping on it feels like walking on flat ground;
You won't fall off.
If you're really scared, just hug me tight from behind."
The wooden sword was about one zhang (3.3 meters) long and one chi (33 cm) wide.
He stood on the blade and had Gui Nianqiu stand behind him, near the hilt.
Recovering from her shock, Gui Nianqiu did as she was told and stood on it.
Tao Bai activated his spiritual power, and two talismans on the blade lit up.
Immediately, a transparent bubble shaped like a date pit rose up around the sword—
This was the Wind Protection Shield.
Inside the Wind Protection Shield was another layer of transparent bubble with strange runes flowing across it, flickering like a breathing light.
This was the effect of the Wind Concealment Talisman, capable of masking aura and providing invisibility.
"It's so magical. Will people see us when we fly?"
"Mortal eyes cannot see us. Hold on to me."
Gui Nianqiu pressed herself tightly against Tao Bai, and the wooden sword abruptly soared a thousand meters into the sky.
She looked down deeply at the buildings on the ground becoming smaller and smaller, thinking to herself:
So this is what it feels like to fly.
The wooden sword flew all the way toward the northwest, maintaining a speed of about 200 km/h.
(In cultivation terms, this was 800 li per shichen).
Urban areas interwoven with rural fields, the red brick western-style houses of the Huaqiao New Village, the forest seas of the mountain foothills, the alluvial plains of the Liuxi River, the ribbon-like network of rivers, the rice paddies after the autumn harvest, ancient villages, fish ponds—scene after scene swept backward...
Gui Nianqiu kept saying "Wow" the entire way, her mouth pleading, "Lower, go slower..."
Tao Bai had no choice but to slow down.
It wouldn't make a difference of ten or fifteen days to get to Nancheng anyway.
Besides, Tao Bai had never set foot on this magnificent landscape of the motherland before.
With such beautiful scenery and a beautiful woman for company, they might as well fly and tour at the same time!