Naked Sword Art

Chapter 465: Bottleneck Pill

Jiang Mei circled around Xiao Fang once then twice.

"It could be this," she said before putting something on him.

"No that’s not it. Maybe it’s the color," Xun Wei suggested.

The two of them went back and forth, trying their best to make Xiao Fang look clean and ready to meet Li Lian’s parents. Their voices quickly caught the attention of Su Yun—who also tried to fix Xiao Fang’s appearance. Eventually, Xiao Fang got tired of listening to them talk about his appearance, so he made a peculiar hand symbol and created a Familiar.

[ Nurturer ]

[ Devourer ]

In the next moment, a small white rabbit and a long white snake with faintly violet shimmering scales silently took form and darted up the stairs like spirits in the wind.

On the third floor, Xiao Hei and Li Xiang were seated in the hall, casually chatting, when something caught Li Xiang’s eye.

"Aww, look! A bunny!" she pointed with delight.

Xiao Hei’s gaze sharpened like a predator’s. Her cat-like eyes followed Li Xiang’s finger—and just as she expected, it was no ordinary rabbit.

A flash of excitement crossed her face. Without a word, she sprang forward in pursuit, her figure vanishing in a blur. But in the same moment, the white snake turned the corner, and quickly darted towards Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei stopped, but the moment she did, Li Xiang flew right past her, rushing towards the snake.

[ Misdirection ]

[ Illusory Clone ]

[ Ten Step Tiger Palm ]

Xiao Hei watched in surprise as Li Xiang quickly confused and attacked the snake. Though it was merely a Refinement Realm technique, the white snake had been forged from Xiao Fang’s Divine Realm Qi—making it far beyond what she could suppress. At best, she could only distract it, not defeat it.

Fortunately, Xiao Hei didn’t need more than a moment.

Suddenly, Xiao Hei ran through the snake and Li Xiang in an instant.

The bunny dodged Xiao Hei then quickly ran back downstairs.

Xiao Hei gave chase.

As soon as the bunny reached the bottom, it quickly jumped into Xiao Fang’s arms. When Xiao Hei reached the bottom, she saw Xiao Fang carrying the little bunny while stroking its white fur.

"Fang, you’re home," Xiao Hei said then paused as she blinked at Xun Wei. "What are you doing here?"

The sound of Li Xiang quickly running down stairs, away from the snake, had everyone’s heads turning. She wasn’t nearly as silent as Xiao Hei.

"Ah Fang!" she said in surprise. "There’s a giant snake chasing after me!"

"Junior sister Xiang, it’s nothing to worry about—" Jiang Mei tried to explain it to her, but the sound of the snake coming down the stairs caught everyone’s attention.

They all turned their heads to the stairwell, but Xiao Hei and Jiang Mei were already familiar with the technique. The only two who hadn’t seen it were Xun Wei and Li Xiang.

Zing~

The sound of Xun Wei’s sword being drawn sounded out, but Xiao Fang casually blocked her path with a hand.

"It’s okay, it’s mine," he said.

Slowly, the [ Devourer Snake ] returned to Xiao Fang, evaporating into a mist of Qi and getting reabsorbed by Xiao Fang.

"I see..." Li Xiang finally relaxed.

At the same time, Xun Wei returned her sword, which attracted Li Xiang’s attention.

"Aren’t you..."

"We’re going on a trip together. We’re visiting Li Lian’s parents."

"No way! Are you really?" Li Xiang exclaimed.

She had heard that Li Lian was Xiao Fang’s fiancé since the inner court exam, but she didn’t know that they had known each other long enough to meet her parents.

"Can we come?" Xiao Hei asked.

"Yeah, I was just on my way to get you."

"Yay!" Xiao Hei celebrated.

Any chance she got to leave the sect, excited her greatly.

"Can I come too? I can be a guide. Nobody will give you any trouble if I’m there."

Truthfully, Xiao Fang primarily wanted to bring Xiao Hei so that he could use her as a transfort. But if Li Xiang was coming he knew that wouldn’t be possible.

"Of course. You’re welcome to come too."

"Yay," Li Xiang and Xiao Hei celebrated excitedly.

"Okay I’m going to get changed. I’ll be back!" Li Xiang said.

"Wait, I don’t have any clothes, can I borrow yours," Xiao Hei said as she quickly followed her out.

In the next moment, both Li Xiang and Xiao Hei were gone, but in their place, Yuan Fei arrived.

"Ah, guild leader, you’re back. But what was all the noise I was hearing..." in the next moment she caught sight of Xun Wei and her Core Court robes. "Ah this..."

"Yuan Fei, meet Xun Wei. She’s someone I have a very close relationship with."

It wasn’t easy to not hear about Xun Wei’s accomplishments over the past month, so naturally Yuan Fei was aware of who she was.

"I—It’s nice to meet you."

"Ah, so you’re Yuan Fei. I hear you make great perfumes, including the one I wore during the tournament."

"Y—You heard about that," Yuan Fei replied, her tone sounding a little more embarrassed.

"Mhm, Fang has told me quite a bit about you. You’re a very talented girl."

"T—Thank you. T—That means a lot coming from you."

"No need for thanks, if anything I should be the one thanking you. Please, accept my gift,"

"This—"

She immediately recognized what it was: a bottleneck pill.

Bottleneck spirit pills weren’t the best for raising one’s spirit cultivation, but they were incredibly valuable for breaking through cultivation bottlenecks. Even in the inner court, a disciple might spend an entire year completing high-tier missions just to earn enough merit points for one. But Xun Wei was giving her two.

"Senior Sister Wei, this is too much! I can’t accept them."

"They’re already yours," Xun Wei replied. "They’re from both Lian and me. She’ll be upset if I come back with them."

Yuan Fei hesitated, but after Xiao Fang gave her a small nod, she finally let Xun Wei place the pills in her soft hands.

"Thank you."