Chapter 7

"我要继续修炼了！" Xiao Ninger's clear eyes looked at Nie Li, and she said with a cold expression.

Xiao Ninger did not want to be disturbed by others, and her expression was one that kept people at a distance. She rarely interacted with her classmates, especially boys, and had no friends, making her seem somewhat isolated.

"I'm about to leave!" Nie Li said with a faint smile, then scrutinized Xiao Ninger from head to toe.

Xiao Ninger's fine brows furrowed slightly. Nie Li's scrutiny was extremely impolite, which made her a bit angry. Many people in Saint Orchid Academy pursued Xiao Ninger, but she always ignored them. She was solely focused on her cultivation, and Nie Li's behavior was no different from those other boys, which was annoying!

"Are you still not leaving?" Xiao Ninger said somewhat unhappily, as Nie Li had already disturbed her for a long time.

Nie Li's gaze fell on Xiao Ninger's feet. Xiao Ninger was not wearing shoes, and her feet, like congealed fat, were small and delicate, crystal clear, and slightly red in the moonlight. "Whenever night falls, do your feet feel as if they are burning?" he asked.

Hearing Nie Li's words, Xiao Ninger was slightly taken aback. "How do you know?" Because her feet were hot and scorching, she usually did not wear shoes when cultivating at night.

"Of course I know!" Nie Li smiled. "Not only do I know this, but I also know more. Your feet feel as if they are burning, but your body is extremely cold. At midnight, you feel as if you are falling into an ice cave, which is very painful! You also find it difficult to cultivate soul power, right?"

Xiao Ninger's heart trembled. She had always endured these things alone, never even telling her family. How did Nie Li know?

Seeing Xiao Ninger's expression, Nie Li knew his guess was mostly correct. It turned out that Xiao Ninger's problem in her previous life was this, called the Extreme Cold Syndrome. This condition often occurred due to the cultivation of soul power at night, leading to the invasion of yin cold energy and the blockage of meridians. The Extreme Cold Syndrome could cause serious illness or even death. In her previous life, Xiao Ninger was lucky to have only been bedridden for two years.

"Besides these symptoms, your body must have some bruises that are painful and do not dissipate easily, and are spreading." Nie Li said confidently. "Once you reach the Bronze Rank One level, you will either fall seriously ill and lose your cultivation, or even die."

Hearing Nie Li's words, Xiao Ninger was stunned for a moment. She clenched her fists, her eyes reddening. How could this be? Even though she was very strong, she could not bear such a blow when she heard this news.

Nie Li could see her condition at a glance, so what he said should be mostly correct.

From a young age, she knew her family wanted to marry her into the Sacred Family, to Shen Fei. As she grew older, Xiao Ninger gradually understood what kind of person Shen Fei was. She did not want to marry that playboy, so she worked hard to cultivate, hoping to escape this cruel fate. But it seemed that fate did not want her to succeed. Just as she was about to reach the Bronze Rank One level, she suddenly heard this terrible news.

Seeing the usually strong Xiao Ninger on the verge of tears, Nie Li could not help but feel a bit of pity.

"Nie Li, you know what disease I have, you must have a way to treat it, right?" Xiao Ninger was at a loss, her strong defenses finally breaking down. "Can you help me?" After all, Xiao Ninger was just a thirteen-year-old girl.

Xiao Ninger was a strong-willed person and rarely asked for help. Hearing her words, Nie Li's heart softened. After a moment of silence, he said, "This disease is not incurable. You can go to the Saint Orchid Academy library and look up the Extreme Cold Syndrome."

"Really?" Xiao Ninger suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. "How do I treat it?"

"You need to use a special meridian-nourishing technique to massage and disperse the bruises. You should take a potion made from Golden Thread Grass and Heavenly Mansion Grass every day. With your current condition, you should recover in about a month, or even faster in ten days or so," Nie Li said. This was the method to treat the Extreme Cold Syndrome.

"Meridian-nourishing technique?" Xiao Ninger's fine brows furrowed. She came from a wealthy family but had never heard of anyone who knew this technique.

"Besides these treatment methods, you must also ensure that you do not cultivate soul power at midnight in the future!" Nie Li extended his hand. "Take out your soul power cultivation technique and let me see it."

Xiao Ninger looked up at Nie Li. If a stranger asked her to take out her soul power cultivation technique, she would think they were trying to steal it. But when she saw Nie Li's serious expression, she felt a strange sense of trust. After hearing so much from Nie Li, she completely trusted him and took out the soul power cultivation technique from her spatial ring.

It was a small piece of sheepskin paper, somewhat old, covered with dense text.

Nie Li reached out to take the sheepskin paper from Xiao Ninger's hand, unintentionally touching the back of her hand, which was as smooth as congealed fat. However, Nie Li did not pay much attention to it and carefully read it.

After being touched by Nie Li, Xiao Ninger quickly pulled her hand back, her heart pounding. She was in a mess of emotions. What if Nie Li used this to threaten her or had some ulterior motives? But when she looked up, she saw that Nie Li had not noticed her unease, and she felt a bit relieved. Nie Li's serious expression as he looked at the sheepskin paper made Xiao Ninger lose herself for a moment. After a while, she came to her senses and lowered her head, not knowing what to think.

"In such a large noble family, even the direct disciples cultivate with such inferior soul power techniques. No wonder the City of Light eventually fell..." Nie Li muttered.

"What did you say?" Xiao Ninger opened her eyes wide. She heard a few words but did not clearly understand what Nie Li said.

"Nothing!" Nie Li smiled faintly. "This soul power cultivation technique is too poor. Cultivating with it will inevitably damage your meridians. The reason you have the Extreme Cold Syndrome is closely related to this technique. Change 'Heart Eye Spirit' to 'Heart Spirit Spirit,' and change this sentence to 'Soul and Spirit Merge, Heart and Spirit Connect'..." Nie Li spoke fluently, completely altering the soul power cultivation technique.

At first, Xiao Ninger was somewhat不服气 (unconvinced) when she heard Nie Li modify her soul power cultivation technique. This technique was passed down from her ancestors and ranked sixth among all the soul power cultivation techniques in her family. How could Nie Li just change it? But Xiao Ninger listened to everything Nie Li said. As the cultivator of this technique, she had a deep understanding of its contents. Gradually, she realized that the changes Nie Li made seemed to make a lot of sense and were indeed more profound and intricate than the original.

Xiao Ninger opened her eyes wide, looking at Nie Li in disbelief.

"Nie Li, can you repeat that? I'll write down everything you said!" Xiao Ninger quickly said.

"Sure!" Nie Li slowed down his speech and repeated all the changes needed in the soul power cultivation technique. After cultivating soul power, Xiao Ninger had the ability to remember things easily. Although she did not fully understand everything Nie Li said, she still remembered it all. The more she pondered, the more she realized how profound and intricate the modified technique was, far beyond her imagination.

Xiao Ninger's gaze, which was initially confused, gradually turned to admiration.

How much soul power knowledge must one have to modify such a high-level soul power technique? Even a Black Gold Demon Spirit Master might not be able to do it. Could it be that Nie Li's understanding of cultivation had already surpassed that of a Black Gold Demon Spirit Master, even reaching the level of a Legendary Demon Spirit Master?

Xiao Ninger treasured every word Nie Li said, deeply etching them in her mind. She could not describe her feelings towards Nie Li now—was it reverence? Admiration?

Nie Li was only her age, yet Xiao Ninger realized how great the gap between them was. It was laughable that she had always thought Nie Li was the worst in the class. Now she realized how ignorant the ridicule from Teacher Shen Xiu and the other students towards Nie Li was. She almost firmly believed that Nie Li would become a Legendary Demon Spirit Master as he had said.

Everything Nie Li said in class was true!

Xiao Ninger, from a young age, had always been far superior to her peers in both talent and intelligence. This was the first time she began to look up to someone of her own generation.

When Nie Li said he would marry the most beautiful woman in the City of Light, Xiao Ninger's thoughts became chaotic. She lowered her head, not speaking. Suddenly, a figure flashed in her mind—it was Ye Ziyun. Although Xiao Ninger was very confident in her appearance, she had to admit that in terms of beauty, she might not be able to compare to Ye Ziyun.

"What are you thinking about?" Nie Li looked at Xiao Ninger, puzzled by her strange expression.

"Nothing, nothing..." Xiao Ninger quickly shook her head, driving away her thoughts. "Nie Li, do you know the meridian-nourishing technique?"

"Of course." Nie Li nodded. "But the meridian-nourishing technique requires massaging the bruised areas, and it might not be appropriate for me to do it."

Xiao Ninger looked up at Nie Li's face. His face had distinct features, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and his black eyes sparkled with a profound light, giving him an indescribable handsome aura. This image slowly overlapped with the one in her mind. Xiao Ninger lowered her head. "I don't mind. You're just helping me treat my illness, right? I don't want to become a cripple." The latter part of her sentence seemed to be comforting herself.

In front of Nie Li, Xiao Ninger finally lowered her cold guard.

"Uh..." Nie Li was silent for a moment. If the girl did not mind, it would be a bit petty of him to refuse. He already had feelings for Ye Ziyun and only had a slight liking for Xiao Ninger, without any deeper thoughts. "Alright, I'll use the meridian-nourishing technique to treat you every three days. Go back and take the herbs I told you about. I believe you will recover soon."

"Okay." Xiao Ninger nodded, remaining silent.

"Where are your bruises?" Nie Li asked.

Xiao Ninger's slightly cold face flushed with a hint of shyness. She pointed to her foot and said, "Here!"

Nie Li looked down and saw a deep bruise on Xiao Ninger's white foot. It was already very serious.

"So serious." Nie Li frowned. "Fortunately, it's on your foot. If it were elsewhere, it would be more troublesome. Your foot is also more convenient, so it will be fine!" Nie Li squatted down and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Okay." Xiao Ninger nodded. She did not mention that this was just one of the bruises and slowly sat down, lifting her foot onto Nie Li's lap. Her eyes flickered, not knowing what she was thinking.

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