Early the next morning.
Deng Weixian woke up early and saw the three clay pots on the table.
"Godfather's Qinggong is truly impressive; I didn't notice anyone coming in last night."
Deng Weixian couldn't help but exclaim.
Although he slept quite soundly every night due to the fatigue from martial arts practice, after training, his senses were sharpened, and his five senses were definitely much stronger than an ordinary person's.
Yet, even so, he hadn't detected any movement of his godfather entering or exiting last night.
Deng Weixian cautiously opened the three clay pots.
The leftmost one was the pot from which he had been absorbing Linhu Essence Blood recently; it only contained half a pot of light blue liquid, unchanged from last night.
But upon seeing the two pots of Linhu Essence Blood his godfather later sent, Deng Weixian couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion.
"Huh, why are the colors different?"
"And the quantity seems to be less than in the first pot."
"Could it be that because they are old stock, the quality is a bit worse?"
Deng Weixian pondered to himself but couldn't find a reasonable answer.
Although the two pots that arrived later also contained blue liquid, the depth of the color was distinctly different.
The middle pot was noticeably lighter in color, but not as light as the one he had already absorbed more than half of.
As for the last pot, the color was quite deep, similar to the initial color of the first pot.
"Could this be the difference in the amount of blood evil contained within?"
Deng Weixian recalled his godfather's words from last night.
"Godfather said that the blood evil in Linhu Essence Blood is the fundamental cause of the intense pain when washing hands; the varying depths of color should indicate different blood evil content."
"I'll try it and see."
Deng Weixian was not one to dally; he acted as soon as he thought of it.
His cultivation had advanced rapidly these past few days, and he had long forgotten how disheveled he was the first time he absorbed Linhu Essence Blood.
Moreover, he had already nurtured quite a bit of Ice-Cold Breath within him, making him even more fearless.
Deng Weixian rolled up his sleeves and then walked straight to the clay pot with the deepest color.
With a confident smile, he plunged his hand in without any preparation.
His unhesitating action caused his palm to instantly disappear into the Linhu Essence Blood.
"Swish—"
A sudden whooshing sound followed.
Deng Weixian stared solemnly at his hand, covered in the viscous, deep blue liquid.
Unbeknownst to him, cold sweat poured down his forehead, tracing his face, and dripping from his chin.
This saved him the trouble of washing his face later.
Deng Weixian stood still for a long time before slowly muttering to himself:
"That doesn't make sense."
..."Burp~"
"Li Xuan, I was just about to fall asleep."
In the Jingyang Palace courtyard, Princess Princess Ankang lay on an old recliner, basking in the warm sun, complaining softly.
This entire morning, every time she was about to fall asleep, she would be startled awake by Li Xuan's burping.
Who knew how a small cat could make such a loud sound.
Li Xuan showed no apology, his face beaming, looking incredibly blissful.
When Princess Princess Ankang complained, he merely burrowed his head and body further into her embrace, making himself more comfortable.
Feeling the restless little creature in her arms, Princess Princess Ankang lightly patted Li Xuan's backside and playfully scolded, "You're gone all day and night recently, and as soon as you come back, you bother me!"
Li Xuan paid no attention to what Princess Princess Ankang said, continuing to burp and burrow, utterly content.
He had learned his lesson last night: he drank his fill of Linhu Essence Blood first, then washed his feet.
Finally, he didn't have to drink foot-washing water anymore.
The first time, he lacked experience, so some minor oversights were inevitable.
It got much better once he became proficient.
But after drinking it last night, Li Xuan also discovered a problem.
Although Linhu Essence Blood tasted good, it caused bloating.
It was even more outrageous than beer.
He only drank three sips from each pot last night, and then he immediately couldn't drink any more.
The last sip was forced down to balance the quantity.
Now, he'd been burping from last night until this morning, with no sign of stopping.
Afterward, Li Xuan, with his distended belly, still painstakingly soaked his feet before returning home.
But, it must be said, it was all worth it.
At this moment, the coolness brought by the Linhu Essence Blood was rapidly circulating within his body, reaching all his limbs and bones.
Li Xuan was confident that his progress should far exceed Deng Weixian's, and the Ice-Cold Breath within him was also growing vigorously, changing with each passing day.
It was just that he hadn't had a chance to act, so he couldn't determine his actual combat strength.
He had secretly experimented, and now, using the Ice-Cold Breath within his body, freezing some ice cubes was effortless.
When the weather got hot, he could make some popsicles for Princess Ankang and Yuer, which would satisfy their cravings and relieve the heat.
Thinking of this, Li Xuan couldn't help but lick his lips.
"Then add some honey, sugar, and fruit; it will definitely be delicious."
"Slurp—"
On the other side of the courtyard, Yuer was sweeping the floor.
However, she occasionally looked up at the sky, muttering incomprehensible words like, "Why isn't it working again?" and "Do I need to set up another table?"
Li Xuan's ears merely twitched; he was too lazy to even lift his head.
"No, I must teach this girl a lesson!"
He was determined to make Yuer understand that being a palace maid was not that easy.
Just then, there was a knock at the Jingyang Palace gate.
The Three Little Ones immediately turned to look.
"What's going on lately? People are knocking on the door every few days."
"This is the Cold Palace; show some respect, won't you?"
Li Xuan grumbled "meow, meow" incessantly, reluctantly jumping from Princess Princess Ankang's arms, dragging his big belly, and swaying towards the gate.
Yuer had already gone ahead to open the door.
"Li Xuan, why are you always joining in the fun?"
"You could at least wait for me!"
Princess Princess Ankang moved her wheelchair at a snail's pace, trying to persuade Li Xuan to wait for her just a little bit.
"My little master, by the time you reach the door, the day lilies will be cold," Li Xuan thought to himself, pretending not to hear, and walked away on his own.
Yuer had already opened the door, and Li Xuan, too lazy to climb the wall, simply sat down behind the door to eavesdrop.
"Please inform Her Royal Highness that next month's gathering has been temporarily canceled."
"Alright, thank you, the Eunuch."
After a brief conversation, the Jingyang Palace gate was closed again.
As soon as Yuer closed the door, she saw Li Xuan sitting behind it.
"Li Xuan, why are you here? Let's go back and accompany the Princess."
Yuer stepped forward to pick up Li Xuan, but nearly stumbled.
"Oh, Li Xuan, why are you so heavy now? I can barely carry you."
Li Xuan let out a displeased "meow," then curled his entire body into a ball, burrowing into Yuer's comfortable, soft embrace.
"Heh, Li Xuan is even shy now."
Yuer teased him, carrying Li Xuan back, only to find Princess Princess Ankang had huffed and puffed her way less than three meters, leaving her exhausted and drenched in fragrant sweat.
Yuer was speechless for a moment.
"Your Highness, why are you acting like Li Xuan?"
"If someone knocks, I'll open it; there's no need to trouble either of you."
"By the way, Your Highness."
"Someone just came to inform us that next month's gathering has been temporarily canceled."
Yuer placed Li Xuan into Princess Princess Ankang's arms and brought up the main topic.
Princess Princess Ankang took Li Xuan, asking:
"Hmm?"
"That's rare. Did they say why?"