Princess Hanyue was still young after all, not considering distant matters. After venting her frustrations to Feng Miaojun and sharing some laughter, her mood finally improved from stormy to overcast.

Feng Miaojun seized the opportunity to express her concerns about opening an apothecary. After listening, the princess patted her slightly protruding chest and said: “I can take care of this matter, but you must share forty percent of the profits with me.”

Feng Miaojun smiled insincerely: “Twenty percent.”

Princess Hanyue glared at her: “Is my golden word worth only this much?”

“Princess’s golden word is priceless, so I shouldn’t mention money to show proper respect.”

Princess Hanyue originally had no interest in the profits from a mere medicine shop: “Twenty percent it is.” Helping Feng Miaojun was repaying the life-saving favor.

Feng Miaojun expressed her deep gratitude. Selling medicine was unlike selling grain or clothing; if others wanted to cause trouble, they had at least a hundred methods. To use the most basic example, someone could claim the apothecary sold poisonous herbs that killed people, and she as the owner would face legal charges. Even if she won the lawsuit, her reputation would be ruined.

In this business, wasn’t reputation everything?

So even if she intended to make an honest profit, she needed a powerful protector, such as someone with royal connections.

Princess Hanyue had done her a great favor.

However, to the princess’s great surprise, this newly-made friend acquired a nearly bankrupt escort agency a few days later, changing its signboard and recruiting new staff, still running the same business of guarding goods in transit. When asked, she simply said it was for novelty and fun.

Feng Miaojun had her ideas. Lu Chuanying would provide her with twenty-seven capable individuals, and where should she place them? After careful consideration, openly running an escort agency was most appropriate. They could utilize their talents to earn money for her, as she didn’t keep idle hands. Simultaneously, it facilitated intelligence gathering and even connection with the Feng business in the Yao Kingdom.

At this point, everything was on track, and she had truly established herself in Jin Capital.

Having temporarily settled her livelihood issues, she refocused her attention on cultivation and addressing the curse.

The attributes of Yun Ya’s spiritual power had strong corrosive properties that could easily harm her body. Therefore, Feng Miaojun had to spend several months gradually adapting. This method was like feeding poison to her own body; if the dosage was precisely controlled, the body had a chance to develop resistance.

After countless frustrating attempts and terrifying pain, finally, on her twelfth birthday, she successfully guided Yun Ya’s spiritual power to complete six cycles within her body.

Not scalded or frozen, she was no longer troubled by the extreme heat and cold of the spiritual power.

Conversely, this dual nature of ice and fire-forged her physique, rapidly enhancing her body’s strength.

Since then, as her body grew stronger and her meridians more stable, the spiritual power she borrowed from Yun Ya became increasingly abundant and docile. The scene resembled a fierce beast leaving its cage but constantly followed by a powerful tamer, preventing it from causing havoc.

However, there was still a considerable gap from achieving complete mastery.

Feng Miaojun knew this process couldn’t be rushed. Compared to her previous inability to cultivate, the difference was like heaven and earth.

More importantly, later when Yun Ya’s spiritual power circulated in her body, it could attract external spiritual energy to enter. However, once his spiritual power withdrew, these external energies also departed.

A sudden inspiration struck her. She deliberately kept Yun Ya’s spiritual power in her dantian, and indeed found that the external spiritual energy also remained, not leaving!

Feng Miaojun was elated.

Perhaps, she could form a core because of this?

However, after attempting this for over ten hours, the curse mark in her dantian suddenly exerted an irresistible pulling force!

Subsequently, Yun Ya’s spiritual power broke free from her constraints, rushing back without looking back, and taking along the natural spiritual energy she had painstakingly collected!

Feng Miaojun jumped up in anger, and stood dazed for a long while, before finally deducing an awkward fact:

Since she could steal Yun Ya’s spiritual power, then perhaps, possibly, probably, Yun Ya could also steal it back from her.

After all, weren’t they sharing the spiritual power?

After coldly observing for several months while she monopolized his spiritual power without returning it, had Yun Ya simply taken it back? As a State Preceptor, figuring out how to reclaim his spiritual power shouldn’t be difficult, right?

She felt like crying but had no tears.

Thousands of miles away in the Wei State Preceptor’s mansion, in a meditation chamber.

The great State Preceptor Yun, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes, a cold smile flashing across his handsome face.

Trying to compete with him? This little thief was truly too naive, without any ability to resist.

Calculating the spiritual power reclaimed from the other party, it amounted to only an insignificant trace.

Even as interest, it was too meager!

Was that person’s cultivation too high, causing him to retrieve only this amount, or was the other simply too weak in cultivation, so that even taking everything resulted in just this little bit?

After months of observation, he was almost certain it was the latter.

This person was truly unsuited for cultivation.

However, daring to challenge his authority was indeed fascinating. He must discover who this person was. Besides clarifying the mystic art the other used, he would also send a grand “gift” in return!

Feng Miaojun was unaware she had been marked for retribution.

But even if she knew, she wouldn’t be concerned. Taking each day as it came, how could she worry about so many future matters?

In the following days, she deliberately chose the deep hours of the night to practice the “Step to Immortality Manual,” hoping Yun Ya wouldn’t sense the loss of spiritual power while asleep, giving her more cultivation time.

State Preceptors were human too; surely they needed to sleep?

Interestingly, this tactic worked. She wasn’t sure if he was truly asleep or just using the opportunity to observe her actions.

Later, she boldly operated during daylight. Yun Ya wasn’t in a hurry to reclaim his spiritual power either. After all, each time she “borrowed,” it was just a tiny amount, compared to the total spiritual power in his dantian, like a drop in the ocean.

She also became more sensible and learned her lesson, honestly “returning” what she borrowed.

Separated by thousands of miles, two strangers somehow established a strange mutual understanding.

On this day, visiting Yanhai Tower again, Feng Miaojun took a deep breath, rolling up her sleeves.

Thanks to the support of Yun Ya’s spiritual power, just yesterday, she finally developed divine consciousness. From now on, the most precious part of Yanhai Tower’s books could no longer hide their secrets from her.

She had coveted those rows and rows of jade slips for a long time.

These were the essence of Yanhai Tower. Paper books couldn’t withstand the ravages of time. Even in the dry space of a magical beast’s stomach, books yellowed and curled after three hundred years. Books over five hundred years old could only be looked at but not touched; one touch would reduce them to fragments. Even Pengbai refused to let her see them.