Bai Shengyi hadn't expected that the spiritual mansion guarded by the mantis demon would be found by her in such a roundabout way.
"Master, the spiritual energy here is so rich!"
Qingmeng Vine rolled around happily in a spiritual pool, its vine leaves curling up in comfort.
The spiritual energy was indeed incredibly abundant. In the short time Bai Shengyi had been there, she noticed that the cultivation threshold that had remained stagnant had actually loosened slightly.
However, in correspondence, her mind became even more restless.
"Little Samsara, are you still awake?"
After receiving a response from the Samsara Brush, Bai Shengyi asked, "You told me to grab the lotus lamp stand earlier, did you know something?"
As soon as Bai Shengyi finished speaking, Qingmeng Vine eagerly chimed in, "Master, it wasn't the boss, it was Little Vine Leaf who discovered it! The spiritual energy from that lotus lamp stand was inexhaustible, like a mobile spirit stone mine."
As for why Little Vine Leaf discovered it but the Samsara Brush relayed the information to Bai Shengyi, it was naturally due to the Samsara Brush's little schemes.
Qingmeng Vine's open and covert exposure angered the Samsara Brush, which proceeded to reprimand Qingmeng Vine in her sea of consciousness.
"Little Vine Leaf, we had a deal. I give you spiritual power, and this discovery is attributed to me. Why did you tell Master?" The Samsara Brush was so angry that it, as the boss, was actually outmaneuvered by its subordinate.
Qingmeng Vine replied innocently, "Boss, I didn't do it on purpose. I just accidentally blurted it out."
Seeing its demeanor, the Samsara Brush became even angrier. In its fury, its main body went to attack the vine. Qingmeng Vine, while fleeing, cried out to Bai Shengyi for help.
"Master, save me! The boss is going to kill this vine. Little Vine Leaf already explained, but the boss still wants to bully me, *yingyingying*..."
"Serves you right," Bai Shengyi said indifferently.
In order to correct Qingmeng Vine's somewhat unorthodox nature, she ignored the squabble between Qingmeng Vine and the Samsara Brush and looked around.
It was called a spiritual mansion, appearing ethereal and radiating profound spiritual energy, but in reality, it only contained a meditation cushion, a milky white spiritual pool, and a chessboard.
It seemed to pose no danger.
As Bai Shengyi walked towards the chessboard, the lotus lamp stand in her hand suddenly transformed into a smooth, lustrous chess piece. With a "clatter," it landed on the chessboard and then merged into it, like a star embedded in the dark night sky.
"Heavenly Star Chessboard?"
The Samsara Brush flew over in surprise and tapped the chessboard with its shaft, saying dejectedly, "Oh, it's a fake. Brush Brush knew it, how could such a broken world possibly have a Heavenly Star Chessboard."
"What is that?" Bai Shengyi asked.
The Samsara Brush replied, "Have you heard of 'The heavens serve as a chessboard and the stars as pieces'? The Heavenly Star Chessboard is a Dao Destiny Plate, something that evolves the principles of all things."
The Samsara Brush then corrected itself, "The chess pieces on this board should represent the locations of spiritual mansions."
"With each chess piece lit up, it signifies that someone has found a spiritual mansion," Bai Shengyi continued, oblivious to the Samsara Brush's evasion.
She understood!
The academy's so-called trials were this simple and crude. Students, by fighting demonic beasts in the secret realm for spiritual mansions, would not only improve their combat awareness and skills if they won, but also gain spiritual mansions to enhance their cultivation. If they lost, they would naturally lose everything.
Having grasped this, Bai Shengyi memorized the layout of the chess pieces on the board and then sat down on the meditation cushion.
The dense spiritual energy instantly seemed to be activated and poured into her body.
"Master!"
Qingmeng Vine, worried, wanted to go forward to help Bai Shengyi but was stopped by the Samsara Brush.
"Calm down. This spiritual energy contains chaotic energy. Master will surely fall into an illusion soon. You and I will have to find a way to wake her up."
The Samsara Brush was correct.
Bai Shengyi did not know what chaotic energy was.
She only knew that she had very carefully refined the spiritual energy in the spiritual mansion with the Ten Directions Underworld Fire, and then cleansed it with her mental power as if filtering it. Yet, upon inhaling the spiritual energy, she still felt an uncontrollable surge of restlessness within her.
The spiritual power in her dantian spun rapidly, the scenes of vine leaves and flames shattered inch by inch, transforming into a pattern of overlapping blue, white, and green.
"Boss, this isn't entering an illusion! Has Master gone mad?" Little Vine Leaf's vine tapped the Samsara Brush.
The normally normal Bai Shengyi, after her cultivation surged, actually opened a pair of crimson eyes, so red as if blood had dripped.
The Samsara Brush's heart jolted. The backlash of the chaotic energy was even greater than it had imagined.
"Quick, come with me to the sea of consciousness."
...
Bai Shengyi did not know if she was in an illusion. In the illusion, she and Qin Si got married in the capital.
Ten miles of red bridal sedan chairs, four countries came to congratulate, eighteen noble families offered blessings. On their wedding night, Bai Shengyi sat happily in the bridal chamber waiting for Qin Si to return. But the first words Qin Si spoke upon his return were:
"Why aren't you wearing a veil?"
Bai Shengyi was stunned for a moment. "Aren't we cultivators?"
When cultivators married, wearing wedding attire and a wedding crown was sufficient. Such superficial courtesies were not particularly emphasized. For cultivators, the vows of becoming Dao companions were more important.
"Ah Si, we should make our vows together," Bai Shengyi reminded him.
Qin Si frowned. "What's the rush? Let's wait until after the palace banquet tomorrow."
As he spoke, he pulled the veil back over Bai Shengyi's head and instructed, "Your status is different now. You are not only an alchemist of the Alchemist Association but also my wife, representing the face of the princely manor. You must abide by the rules..."
Qin Si's stern lecture was extensive. Bai Shengyi felt something was amiss but didn't overthink it, assuming he was talking nonsense from drinking too much today.
The stench of alcohol made Bai Shengyi uncomfortable. "Ah Si, you should go bathe first."
"What, you dislike this King?" Qin Si said unhappily. "Bai Shengyi, we've just gotten married, and you already dislike me this much? I've truly misjudged you!"
With that, he flicked his sleeve and walked out.
"Ah Si?"
Qin Si's sudden outburst startled Bai Shengyi. She hurriedly chased after him, but all she was met with was the cold, resounding slam of the door.
This change seemed to have opened a Pandora's Box. From that day on, Bai Shengyi discovered that Qin Si had changed.
He began to accuse Bai Shengyi of being immersed in alchemy and cultivation every day and neglecting the household's affairs, of disliking her lack of gentle attentiveness, and of blaming her for not being considerate enough towards his nephew and nieces...
"Bai Shengyi, yesterday was the Summer family head's birthday. Why did you forget to prepare a gift for the Xia family again?"
"Bai Shengyi, who was that man who came to you for medicine a few days ago? How could you be so cheap, wanting to pounce on any man you see?"
"Bai Shengyi, I love you so much, why haven't you had a child for me yet? You've disappointed me so much!"
"Bai Shengyi, if your parents weren't dead, I would really ask them how they raised you. You don't even know how to cook! The only thing you're good at is alchemy, but now you don't even have the talent for alchemy anymore."
"Bai Shengyi..."
Sentence after sentence of questioning, sentence after sentence of criticism, made Bai Shengyi cover her head in pain. "No!"
How could it have become like this?
She clearly loved Qin Si so much that she was willing to enter into marriage for him. Qin Si had also loved her so much before, willing to tolerate her flaws.
These must all be false!
"How could it be false? Bai Shengyi, you're truly useless. You're still a soul from another world, stop deceiving yourself. Look at Qin Si, isn't he exactly like the former Qin Zhao?"
"For a Qin Si like this, you might as well kill him, right?"