Chapter 229 (Part 1): Judging Based on Experience

“Good Elder Sister, you’re finally awake! I thought you weren’t going to wake up.”

A voice carrying an abundance of guilt arrived before its owner, drifting into the ears of the girl dazedly sitting on the bed.

The girl blinked somewhat blankly and raised her eyes toward the direction of the door.

A black-haired girl in casual clothes pushed the door open and entered.

Just as in her memories, she walked to her bedside, took her hand, and began asking after her with concern.

“Hua Jian… younger sister?” A familiar and moving feeling unconsciously surged from the bottom of her heart.

She remembered her experience before falling unconscious: it was this girl before her who had rescued her from the dark abyss of death.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness, you didn’t forget me. You got too badly hurt in the Secret Realm. I never thought things would turn out like this. I’m truly sorry.”

Hua Jian lowered her head and apologized with an exceptionally sincere attitude.

Her head stung slightly. Youye could not help raising a hand to press her brow.

She felt a trace of wrongness, but did not know where that feeling came from.

Seeing her reaction, Hua Jian’s face gained another layer of worry.

“Don’t think so much. Focus on recovering first; we can talk about everything else later.”

Reaching out to press Youye back onto the bed, Hua Jian spoke to her gently.

“I have some top-quality Soul-Calming Incense here. I’ll light it for you right now.”

As she spoke, Hua Jian walked to the incense burner beside the bed and sprinkled some fine black incense into it.

A faint Flower Fragrance slowly drifted from the incense burner.

After smelling it, Youye’s headache immediately eased a great deal, and her consciousness gradually became blurry.

“Sigh, I thought you would be able to come out of the Secret Realm smoothly. Who could have imagined it would end like that?”

“I’m sorry…”

Listening to Hua Jian’s apology, Youye quickly shook her head and told Hua Jian that she did not resent her at all.

If Hua Jian had not saved her at the final moment, she would have died inside the Secret Realm like the others.

This failure was mostly because her strength was insufficient.

If she had been more powerful, she would not have been slowed down by all sorts of things along the way and missed the final chance to escape, forcing her to summon her Master for help.

And that summon had instead caused her Master to be detected and ambushed by a Righteous Path Venerable, screwing her own Master over badly.

Counting it all up, her trip to the Secret Realm had not only accomplished nothing, but had also thrown away so many excellent cultivators of the sect, and in the end even implicated her Master.

Having failed so utterly, what right did she have to keep living in this world? She might as well take her own life to atone!

“What meaning is there in my living…”

“Don’t say that. It was only one failure. You are a Venerable’s disciple, so you can’t give up on yourself like this!”

Hearing those words, Hua Jian immediately straightened her face and began lecturing Youye like an elder sister.

She told Youye that one failure did not matter.

If she failed, she should find a way to make up for it.

Tianmomen and Dragon Venerable were short on people right now, and it was a good chance for Youye to redeem herself through merit.

Who in this world never failed? If you failed, you got up right where you were and kept moving forward. Only then could you achieve final success!

Actually, what Hua Jian said had little substance.

The whole speech was just feeding Youye motivational chicken soup, telling her to return to Tianmomen, redeem herself through merit, and create glory again.

“Don’t be afraid that you can’t do it. You still have me. If anything happens in the future, come find me. I will brave fire and water without hesitation!”

“But…” Youye was so moved she was almost crying.

As expected of the Good Sister she had recognized at first sight, Hua Jian was the one good flower in all of Wanhuagu!

At that time, Hua Jian could clearly have sat by and watched her die in the void, but Hua Jian had still rushed over to save her regardless of danger.

And now she was even willing to brave fire and water for her.

How many good deeds must she have done in her past life to earn a Good Sister like Hua Jian?

“There’s no ‘but.’ Like I said before, I’m just investing in you. Don’t think too much about it.” Hua Jian held Youye’s hand and deliberately put on a disdainful expression.

Of course Youye would not believe such nonsense. Investing? Who invested like that!

Hua Jian was clearly doing charity.

There was no value left on her at all, yet Hua Jian was still willing to help her. She was simply a fool!

But it was exactly that kind of fool who could move people even more. At least, the current Youye was moved beyond measure.

Hua Jian’s hand holding hers was so warm, as if it could make her completely chilled heart burn hot again.

Encouraged by Hua Jian, the newly awakened Youye made up her mind.

She could not disappoint Hua Jian.

She would return to Tianmomen and let Hua Jian know she had not misjudged her!

“Thank you! I will definitely work hard!”

“Mmhm, I will also do my utmost to help you. For now, rest well and take your medicine on time, so you can recover faster.”

With a smile, Hua Jian instructed Youye on many things.

She kept talking until a voice from outside urged Hua Jian to go handle business, and only then did Hua Jian awkwardly end the conversation.

She glanced with slight reproach at the young woman half-visible at the doorway. “So tactless. How could those official matters be as important as you?”

Only then did Youye realize that Hua Jian had taken precious time out of her busy schedule to visit her.

Aside from being moved, she also seriously told Hua Jian that she did not need to worry so much about her; she would definitely recover as soon as possible.

“Go do your own things. I can take care of myself.”

“All right. If anyone dares neglect you, don’t be afraid. Tell me directly, and I’ll beat them to death.”

Hua Jian crossed her arms over her chest and gave a soft hum, telling Youye not to fear trouble, because she, a Saintess, would back Youye up.

“Then I’ll go first. Rest well~”

…

“Hiss… no, I’m about to get goosebumps.”

As soon as she walked out of Youye’s room, closed the door, and set up and activated a Sound Isolation Formation, Hua Jian hugged her arms and shivered.

Xia Hui, who stood beside her playing the villain, looked at her with admiring eyes that said, ‘You really are amazing.’

As for Hua Jian’s acting just now, it was absolutely first-rate.

Youye had not doubted her at all and accepted Hua Jian’s performance, and had even been led by Hua Jian into resolving to return to Tianmomen.

“She didn’t suspect a thing. Miss Hua Jian is really amazing!”

“Don’t praise me for being amazing. She’s just a fool right now; anyone could fool her.”

Hua Jian quickly waved her hand. Her acting could only be called average; the key was that the preparatory work had been done well.

The effect of those fake memories was too strong.

Youye’s initial favorability toward her was already high, and now with this performance, it was simply invincible.

“Keep giving her the medicine over the next few days. We need to plant a deep-rooted thought in her head… Is the medicinal stock enough? If not, I’ll go ask Wanhua Valley’s Fox Spirits for more.”

“Not enough! We need at least this much more!”

Looking at the fingers Xia Hui held up, Hua Jian curved her lips and gave Xia Hui a thumbs-up.

You’ve learned how things work, little Xia Hui. You know how to open your lion’s mouth wide and ask for resources.

“Anyway, they’re Wanhua Valley’s Fox Spirits’ things. There’s no reason not to take them.” Xia Hui gave a soft hum.

Using an enemy’s things to improve her own abilities was simply double happiness stacked together!

With one side weakening and the other strengthening, she won twice over!

“Exactly. I’ll ask for more for you. You’re just starting out, so you should ask for more materials to practice with. As everyone knows, the more patients a doctor kills, the better their medical skill; naturally, the more failed pills a Refining Alchemist or Alchemist refines, the better their technique…”

Xia Hui’s expression became a little awkward.

She was now very curious about Hua Jian’s thought process. How on earth did Hua Jian come up with such strange words?

Did Miss Hua Jian not think those words made no sense at all?

But as a qualified Little Follower, Xia Hui had always upheld the principle of saying less when she should not speak.

Since Miss Hua Jian was speaking so happily and enthusiastically, she only needed to clap at the side.

Clap, clap, clap! Xia Hui clapped like an emotionless machine. “Miss Hua Jian is absolutely right!”

Sigh, the originally good child Xia Hui was also gradually dyed with bad colors by the big dye vat.

…

“Are you serious? All these medicinal materials are for that little brat alone?”

Looking at the medicinal materials list Hua Jian handed over, Huaxinhu could not help patting the table and asked with an annoyed face.

“You two want to draw empty pay, fine, but at least make it look a bit more convincing and give a more suitable reason, okay?

Just for one person’s practice, you need this much material. Isn’t that a bit too excessive?”

“What’s wrong? Doesn’t a Saintess like me even have the right to ask for some medicinal materials?” Hua Jian tilted her head.

There was no reason, no explanation, only the purest form of throwing a tantrum.

Just say whether you’ll give them or not!

Could Huaxinhu refuse? She was just asking. This little bit of medicinal material was nothing to Wanhuagu.

Hua Jian did not even need to go through the process with her; she could just go to the warehouse and take it herself.

She could even buy it herself and get reimbursed afterward.

With Hua Jian’s current status, as long as she was not truly moving Wanhuagu’s resources over to the Holy Emperor’s side, no one would refuse her requests.

…Actually, even if she did move some, as long as it was not much, Wanhuagu would choose to turn a blind eye.

If she flirted with the Right Path’s Holy Emperor, then so be it.

It was not a bad thing. Having someone serve as a bridge of communication between Wanhuagu and the Right Path was quite good.

“Yes, of course. With such a sufficient reason from you, how could I not give them to you?”

Huaxinhu made a grand stroke and pressed her seal on the slip Hua Jian handed over.

“How is that little brat from Tianmomen doing?”

“Quite well. Soon she’ll be completely fooled by me.”

This news made Huaxinhu nod in satisfaction.

As long as there was actual progress, it meant the medicinal materials were indeed being used for real work.

As for Hua Jian’s plan, Huaxinhu would not comment. It would be best if it succeeded, but if it did not, so be it.

Even if it failed, the loss would not amount to much.

These matters concerning Tianmomen were basically small skirmishes.

What could truly affect the overall situation were the games between high-tier combat powers.

Even if Hua Jian inserted more than ten Ling Wang Realm pieces into Tianmomen, she could not cause too great an impact.

The best result would merely be letting Wanhuagu grasp more intelligence on Tianmomen… Wanhuagu had already planted quite a few hidden agents inside Tianmomen.

Hua Jian’s action could only be considered a casual move that added flowers to brocade.

Still, it was good that Hua Jian was willing to do things. Never mind what her purpose was; just say whether she did it or not!

What she was doing also counted as in line with Wanhuagu’s interests, so Wanhuagu naturally would not stop her.

They also wanted to see just how far Hua Jian could go in the end.

“That’s good. Oh, right, I have some news here that should interest you.”

Huaxinhu seemed to suddenly remember something and handed a jade slip to Hua Jian.

“This is news sent back from the Ice Plain. It says someone else claims to have sighted traces of the Spiritual Flower.”

Hua Jian’s recent whereabouts were not much of a secret in Wanhuagu.

Huaxinhu knew very well where Hua Jian had been sneaking off to while leaving early and returning late.

And the purpose of Wanling Sect coming to Beijing was that Spiritual Flower on the Ice Plain.

According to the elders in the valley, they could provide a certain degree of assistance to Wanling Sect this time and help Wanling Sect obtain that Spiritual Flower.

And so Huaxinhu delivered the intelligence Wanhuagu had obtained into Hua Jian’s hands.

“Ooh, can this thing be shown to other people?” Hua Jian glanced at the contents and felt there was not much difference from the sighting reports she had seen before.

“If it couldn’t be shown to outsiders, I wouldn’t have shown it to you.” Huaxinhu rolled her eyes.

Everyone knew you were in Cao’s camp but your heart was in Han; how could truly confidential information concerning Wanhuagu’s life and death be shown to you?

“Wow, those words are way too hurtful. I’ll cry, you know.” Hua Jian reached up to wipe the corner of her eye, putting on a wronged expression as if Huaxinhu’s words had wounded her heart.

Your acting has improved after not seeing you for a few days.

Looking at Hua Jian, who had successfully squeezed out tears, Huaxinhu had not the slightest possibility of being fooled.

We’re all Wanhua Valley’s Fox Spirits here. What’s the point of pretending to be a pure little white flower?

As if I don’t know your background.

“Anyway, this matter has little to do with Wanhuagu. Keeping this intelligence is useless, so we might as well give it out as a favor.”

Huaxinhu waved her hand, signaling Hua Jian to tone it down.

Acting a little was fine; don’t keep acting like this, or others would misunderstand.

If rumors spread that ‘the former Wanhua Saintess candidate actually retaliated against the current Wanhua Saintess out of jealousy, making the Saintess cry sadly,’ that would be troublesome.

“You don’t want this Spiritual Flower?” Hua Jian obediently stopped her tears and asked in confusion while holding the jade slip.

Logically speaking, for a specialty of Beijing like this, Wanhuagu should not be so indifferent, right?

This was a Spiritual Flower ranked near the top of the Hundred Flowers List. Its value was unspeakably high!

“I’m not clear on how the elders think, but this kind of Spiritual Flower really isn’t very useful to Wanhuagu.” Huaxinhu wagged her tail.

Wanhuagu had ‘flower’ in its name, and their Cultivation Methods and Spirit Techniques also had flower elements, but they truly were not that concerned about Spiritual Flowers.

No matter how good a Spiritual Flower was, in their hands it could only be raw material for various Alchemy Pills.

That was actually somewhat wasteful.

“If it were a Spiritual Flower with hallucinatory properties, we would still compete for it, but this You Xue Lian… sigh.” Huaxinhu let out a soft sigh.

To Wanhuagu, this Spiritual Flower was truly tasteless to eat yet a pity to discard.

On the contrary, Jade Pool might be more interested in this You Xue Lian.