During those years as Shi Yan, due to this body’s injuries, she had indeed taken some bitter medicinal pills. At the very beginning, that fake father Shi Qianlü told her that it would be very difficult for her cultivation to return to its peak, and she probably would never be able to return to the Void Refinement stage. So, he only gave her some medicinal pills to heal her wounds, just enough to stabilize her cultivation at the Transformation Deity stage without declining further.
Later, she sought help in Hexian City on her own. Though recovery was possible, it required an astronomical amount of medical expenses, plus asking a powerful cultivator whose level exceeded her original realm by one stage to clear her damaged spiritual veins. When she heard that enormous sum, calculated her salary, and thought about how the Shi family had fallen to such a state, she decided to remain at the Transformation Deity stage for the rest of her life.
After all, it wasn’t a level she had painstakingly cultivated herself, so she needed to learn contentment—the Transformation Deity stage was quite useful enough.
How could she have known then that one day she would be able to restore her peak cultivation so quickly, just by taking some candy-like pills? The entire process was painless, and she even wanted more of those sweet pills. One type of pill even triggered her childhood memories, like a white vaccine sugar pill she had eaten as a child, something called a cerebrospinal sugar pill.
“This one tastes pretty good. Are there any more?” Liao Tingyan asked, licking her lips.
Sima Jiao gave her a deep, penetrating look, then ordered someone to bring all the pill-making alchemists. These alchemists who were busy refining hair-growth pills had to put down their work with bitter expressions and meet the Demon Lord with their bald heads.
Liao Tingyan felt somewhat touched, thinking, what kind of favored concubine treatment is this? It’s too much of a fuss.
Then she heard Sima Jiao point at her and angrily ask those alchemists: “Why does she look even more foolish after eating those pills?” He asked with genuine emotion, and his anger was real anger… which made it all the more infuriating.
Liao Tingyan: “…” What the hell?! I declare that you’ve lost your girlfriend. Regardless of whether I was before, I’m not anymore.
Sima Jiao glanced at her and changed the subject: “Make more of those detoxification pills.”
One alchemist steadied himself and stepped forward: “Demon Lord, one Cleansing Pill is enough to eliminate all long-standing pill toxins and stagnant qi. I have been refining this Cleansing Pill for many years, and my estimation of its effectiveness cannot be wrong! One pill is sufficient for the Lady!”
The Demon Lord had summoned them all to refine pills for this mysterious Lady, each person responsible for one type. If everyone else’s pills worked with just one dose, but he required so many to be effective, where would he put his old face?
Liao Tingyan covered her face, unable to bear continuing to listen.
Sima Jiao didn’t care at all: “Then refine some pills that have no detoxification effect but taste the same.”
Alchemist: “???” He finally realized that the Demon Lord hadn’t called him to refine medicinal pills but to make candy. Perhaps because he had never received such a simple task in his life, he couldn’t come to his senses for a long time, seemingly experiencing an existential crisis.
And so Liao Tingyan ended up with endless candy pills. These people in the Demon Realm sent gifts with such generosity—either in baskets or large boxes—with the bold attitude of “take them and eat your fill.”
Sima Jiao also tried one candy pill, gazing at her for a long while. “Sooner or later, I’ll capture Shi Qianlü and kill him to my satisfaction.”
Liao Tingyan: “…Huh?” Why suddenly mention Shi Qianlü?
Sima Jiao: “All these years, you haven’t eaten anything good, have you?”
Liao Tingyan sucked on the candy pills expressionlessly, not wanting to talk to this man anymore. Give me back my childhood memories! Return my nostalgia!
Sima Jiao sat beside her, one foot raised, arm resting on it supporting his head—a very casual posture. “Do you know why I’m not in a hurry to explain your identity to you?” As he spoke, his other hand touched her stomach and pinched it.
Liao Tingyan paused in her candy-sucking, her eyes following his hand. Friend? Your actions are far too natural. Where are you touching? I haven’t even confirmed our boyfriend-girlfriend status yet.
She put her hand over her stomach, not letting him feel the flesh there. Sima Jiao didn’t mind, simply touching her hand instead, of rubbing her fingers.
He leaned closer to her. “Because… you’ll discover it yourself very soon.”
Liao Tingyan crunched the candy pill in her mouth. Sima Jiao was very close to her and heard that crunching sound. The corner of his lips turned up slightly.
Liao Tingyan always felt he was repeatedly jumping at the edge of making her angry. No, what kind of hobby is this? Do you want to be cursed at?
She went to sleep with suspicions about her judgment. Before she fell asleep, Sima Jiao told her that after she slept and woke up again, her cultivation would be completely restored.
That night, Liao Tingyan slept especially soundly. Sima Jiao sat beside her, grabbing and pinching her arms and legs, rubbing her stomach, pressing… of course, this was to coordinate with the medicine’s effects to clear the blocked spiritual veins. In any case, he turned her over and massaged her thoroughly, and Liao Tingyan never woke up.
“How can she still sleep so deeply,” Sima Jiao murmured to himself, gazing at her quietly, the smile gradually fading from his face.
He rarely had such peaceful moments, especially in the days after losing Liao Tingyan, which felt to him, in his daze, even longer than the five hundred years on Three Saints Mountain.
His bloodless, pale fingers lifted a strand of hair by Liao Tingyan’s cheek, slowly curling it, then letting it fall from his hand.
…
Mornings and nights in Winter City were the coldest times. Frost would occasionally form on the white buildings, then quickly melt and dissipate when the sun rose, with even the last trace of moisture dispersing into the air.
The dry coldness of Winter City was unsuitable for Liao Tingyan, who had lived in Hexian City for several years. Therefore, her palace, unlike the outside, was protected by formation arrays, keeping it warm as spring. Liao Tingyan would even occasionally add humidity herself.
On this morning, dark clouds gathered above the Forbidden Palace, and snow began to fall. This was because the gathered spiritual energy had stirred the clouds in the sky, resulting in this rare snowfall.
When Liao Tingyan woke up and saw the heavy snow outside the window, she sat up, ran to the window, and peeked out. Then she realized that the spiritual energy gathering above the Forbidden Palace was because of her.
She contained the spiritual energy she was unconsciously releasing and leaned against the window, closing her eyes to examine her inner state. The feeling was completely different from the Transformation Deity stage. The qualitative change produced a quantitative change, making her feel she could now defeat twenty of her former selves.
While familiarizing herself with the Void Refinement stage cultivation, she discovered a space opened within her body. She had vaguely sensed it before, but with her cultivation reduced to the Transformation Deity stage, she couldn’t open that sealed space of the Void Refinement stage and didn’t quite understand what it was. Now she could feel it clearly and could open it.
It was like discovering a secret basement in her home. Liao Tingyan enthusiastically began to search through the items inside.
There was everything needed for daily life, including almost all necessities for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, categorized and stored—truly a large warehouse. Were all these stored by her before? She was like a squirrel storing acorns.
She found some things that seemed to have been commonly used before: a mirror whose purpose she didn’t know—she fiddled with it and put it aside—and several small wooden figurines with Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3 written on the back and emoticons drawn on their faces.
Ah… these were the emoticons I used to use. Liao Tingyan felt more panicked. No way, was the one who dared to date the great lord me? Did I ever have such a bold phase?
It was simply unimaginable.
She set the small wooden figurines aside and continued searching. She found a book of magical techniques as thick as a supernatural encyclopedia, and a crudely bound notebook that had been cut and assembled by hand. It had a lock, which was a small formation array requiring a password. Liao Tingyan tried her birthday, and it unlocked immediately.
Liao Tingyan: “…” Ahhh!
The notebook wasn’t a diary as she had imagined, but a study notebook recording insights on magical techniques. The handwriting was, of course, very familiar—her handwriting, simplified characters, written very casually in a scrawl that most people couldn’t understand. She couldn’t write that way unless she was lying on her stomach, and probably only she could recognize it.
After flipping through a few pages, she saw herself drawing turtles, chicken legs, french fries, and milk tea, along with various random things, which meant she had gotten impatient with studying and was doodling. Further on, she had written her name as if practicing handwriting—both Zou Yan and Liao Tingyan appeared—and also Sima Jiao, with that name circled in an irregular heart.
Liao Tingyan: “…” Ahhhhhhhh!
It’s over, it’s me. The brave warrior who dated the great lord Sima Jiao was me! Me?!
Liao Tingyan covered her face, peering at the doodles in the notebook with one eye, unable to look directly at them as if she could feel the emotions of that time through those messy scribbles.
She also found a paper crane in the notebook. With a certain indescribable premonition, Liao Tingyan opened the paper crane to look at it. Inside were written a few words: “Sima Jiao, you big pig’s trotter, stupid idiot.”
Wow—I was so arrogant before. Indeed, how does that song lyric go? Those who are favored become fearless.
However, although it was an insult, it seemed filled with a shy sort of liking no matter how you looked at it. Eww, how could it be so embarrassing?
She silently folded the paper crane back and placed it aside, continuing her search.
She found a jewelry box with spatial storage capabilities. Although its capacity wasn’t large, it had more than a dozen drawers, all filled with various beautiful jewelry.
Only the smallest drawer was locked, again with her former birthday as the password. Liao Tingyan pulled out that drawer for a quick look, then rapidly pushed it back, making a bang because she used too much force.
She stared at her hand as if she had seen a ghost.
My goodness.
It seems that in the past, Sima Jiao and I had true love.
She slowly pulled out that drawer again, looking at the two rings placed on the red velvet inside. This compartment contained only two rings, one large and one small, simple bands engraved with patterns. Inside the bands were engraved English letters—the larger one had ‘j’ and the smaller one ‘y’.
Liao Tingyan swallowed.
Rings are things that shouldn’t be given casually. Who she had prepared these for was obvious, but it seemed she hadn’t had the chance to give them, either because she was too embarrassed or delayed.
“What are you looking at?” Sima Jiao silently appeared behind her again, sending her a deadly question.
Now, hearing his voice, Liao Tingyan felt an indescribable guilty conscience. Her hand faltered, accidentally pulling the entire drawer out. It was too late to hide it. Sima Jiao, who initially hadn’t paid much attention, noticed her unusual attitude and spotted the two rings, picking them up to examine.
“Why so nervous? What’s wrong with these two small rings?” Sima Jiao asked unhurriedly.
This fantasy world didn’t have the custom of couples wearing matching rings, nor were rings given this meaning here. Liao Tingyan stammered, “Nothing, they seem to be something I owned before.”
Sima Jiao made an “oh” sound. “Looks like they were meant for me.”
Liao Tingyan: “…” There was an inexplicable shyness.
She watched as Sima Jiao put the larger ring on his hand. The middle finger fit best, so he wore it there, then naturally tried to fit the smaller ring on his little finger.
Liao Tingyan watched him wear both rings, her face expressionless. Not only did she not feel embarrassed, but it also felt as if some little deer in her heart had fallen off a cliff and died.
Fine, fine, fine, let him wear both. Why not order a few more so he can fill all ten fingers?
Sima Jiao laughed again, extending his hand with the rings in front of her eyes: “Do you see?”
Liao Tingyan: “Yes, I see.” I see you, this silly straight man, wearing two rings, including mine, which don’t even fit you.
Sima Jiao just shook his head smiling, took off the ring that didn’t fit his little finger, took Liao Tingyan’s hand, and put it on her.
Holding her hand and looking at it for a while, he lowered his head and lightly kissed her finger with the ring. He looked up at her: “I know that you liked me before, and you will now. You will rely on me, trust me, and want to accompany me always.”
Liao Tingyan: “…” You’re quite confident about that. I don’t even know myself.
Sima Jiao caressed her finger. “Because you are like this, and so am I.”