The underground spiritual energy surged like a massive inverted tornado, dragging nine long glowing spiritual veins that continuously fed energy into the Spirit Condensation Pavilion.

  At this moment, no one noticed that the "tornado" began to tremble violently!

  The nine glowing spiritual veins, as if pulled from one end, slowly dragged into the tornado, forming a smaller vortex. Under the pressure of the spiritual energy, it shattered into countless points of light, rushing upward and flooding into Nan Gong Huan’s body.

  A calm voice echoed in her mind, "Don’t rush. Absorb it slowly. You’ve just built your spiritual core, and your body is still mortal. It can’t handle such immense power in such a short time. Remember the spiritual body refinement technique I taught you. A strong spiritual core needs an equally strong body to support it."

  "I remember!" Nan Gong Huan flipped her hand and formed a seal. The incantation for spiritual body refinement was something she had memorized long ago.

  Although she hadn’t been able to cultivate for the past three years, she had trained her body every day, laying the foundation for spiritual body refinement!

  With the immense power of these spiritual veins, today she would shed her mortal form and be reborn anew!

  Guiding the spiritual energy into her body, refining her bones and tendons, strengthening her meridians, and stabilizing her spirit!

  Her spiritual core spun rapidly, absorbing the power of the spiritual veins and then feeding it back into her body, gradually expelling the toxins deep within her marrow and unblocking her meridians.

  Spiritual body refinement wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight. It was a long-term cultivation method that worked subtly over time.

  Even though this was her first time, it brought her immense benefits.

  The toxins in her body slowly seeped out through her skin, quickly evaporating into dark smoke and disappearing.

  Especially the black blemishes on her face, their color gradually lightening.

  ...

  Nan Gong Qian’er sat in her room, her hands clenched tightly, her face dark with anger.

  She had washed herself repeatedly, but the nauseating stench of bird droppings still lingered.

  A delicate and fair-skinned woman sat down beside her, gently taking her hand and smiling. "Qian’er, don’t be angry. Remember the mother-child gu worms I gave you?"

  At the mention of the mother-child gu worms, Nan Gong Qian’er’s expression softened slightly. She walked to the bed, pulled out a delicate box from underneath, and slowly opened it. Inside lay a plump gu worm.

  The worm was about the size of a thumb, its milky-white body slightly dull in color. This was the mother worm of the mother-child gu pair.

  "Mother, when will that ugly freak Nan Gong Huan die?" Nan Gong Qian’er placed the box on the table, staring at the worm with a twisted expression of resentment and jealousy.

  The mother worm was here, and the child worm was naturally inside Nan Gong Huan’s body!

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  When they were young, Nan Gong Qian’er had planted the child worm in Nan Gong Huan’s body. As long as the mother worm lived, the child worm would continue to secrete toxins, causing black blemishes to grow on her skin, making her hideously ugly.

  "Don’t rush," Shen Ye Rong picked up a teacup and took a sip, speaking slowly. "She still has some use. She can keep the old master in check. If you really see her as a thorn in your side, you can control the mother worm to make the child worm go berserk. It won’t kill her, but it will cause her excruciating pain, making her wish she were dead."

  "Really?" Nan Gong Qian’er’s face instantly brightened, a sinister smile spreading across her lips.

  "Don’t you trust your mother? But remember, the effect only works when the mother and child worms are within ten zhang of each other," Shen Ye Rong smiled gently.

  Nan Gong Qian’er’s eyes lit up, already scheming. "When the disciple trials come, I’ll find a chance to teach her a lesson!"

  But soon, her expression darkened again. "She’s not a waste anymore. Getting close to her might be difficult."

  "Don’t worry. Mother will help you improve your strength. My Qian’er is naturally the best. You’ll definitely take first place in the disciple trials," Shen Ye Rong’s smile widened, but in her outstretched hand appeared two tiny, transparent gu worms!

  "What’s this?" Nan Gong Qian’er asked, puzzled.

  Shen Ye Rong placed two teacups on the table, dropped the gu worms into them, and mixed them with the tea. The worms were completely invisible.

  "Xiao Qing, Xiao Cha," Shen Ye Rong called out to the maids outside.

  "Madam, Miss, what do you need?" The two maids entered. They were Nan Gong Qian’er’s twin personal attendants.

  "You’ve been standing for a while. You must be tired. Have some tea. I’ll need you to do something later," Shen Ye Rong smiled gently.

  Nan Gong Qian’er understood what her mother was planning but said nothing, instead putting on a gentle and serene smile. "Go ahead and drink."

  The two maids, feeling honored, picked up the teacups. "Thank you, Madam! Thank you, Miss!"

  But as soon as they finished the tea, their expressions changed, and they collapsed to the ground, dead with their eyes wide open.

  Shen Ye Rong smiled sweetly, but beneath her gentle facade was endless coldness and cruelty. "Their spiritual roots are now yours. Absorb the power of these roots, and breaking through to the second level won’t be a problem."

  She also took out a bottle of second-level promotion potion and placed it on the table. Everything was part of her plan!

  To her, two lives were no more significant than squashing two ants.

  Nan Gong Qian’er immediately showed a look of disdain and greed. She walked over to the two corpses, took out a dagger, and ruthlessly extracted their spiritual roots!

  Her practiced movements suggested this wasn’t her first time.

  "In the disciple trials, I’ll definitely surpass that ugly freak!" Nan Gong Qian’er said through gritted teeth, her bloody hands clutching the glowing spiritual roots, her expression full of malice.

  "Nan Gong Huan..." Shen Ye Rong looked down at the red polish on her nails, deep in thought.

  Two hours passed quickly.

  The dense spiritual energy in the Spirit Condensation Pavilion began to thin.

  The spiritual energy surging from the spiritual veins had been completely absorbed by Nan Gong Huan. Of the nine spiritual veins, she had absorbed two-thirds!

  From now on, the Spirit Condensation Pavilion’s spiritual energy would be greatly reduced.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want to leave a path for the other disciples, but when she thought of the mocking faces of those disciples over the years, she felt that leaving even a third was being generous.

  It was only now that Nan Gong Huan felt her spiritual core was saturated. Her cultivation had risen to the peak of the first level.

  All she needed now was a promotion potion to break through to the second level.

  Taking a deep breath, Nan Gong Huan opened her eyes. A hint of a smile flashed in her clear peach-blossom eyes. Her body felt much lighter, and her strength and flexibility had greatly improved.

  Her cheeks felt slightly warm, and she knew it was a sign of the toxins being expelled.

  She took out a bronze mirror from her Di Ming Ring and looked at her reflection. The black blemishes on her face had faded significantly. Although the large patch was still there, it looked much better than before.

  The toxins that had accumulated over a decade couldn’t be completely expelled in just two hours.

  Nan Gong Huan touched her cheek. It seemed that as long as she continued with spiritual body refinement, getting rid of the black blemishes was only a matter of time!

  "Master~" Xiao Jiu’s excited voice echoed in her mind. It had also absorbed a lot of earth spiritual energy fed back by her spiritual core, and its strength had improved significantly!