What was even more remarkable was that despite the many ingredients in the pot, they did not clash at all. Instead, they blended together to create a uniquely delicious flavor.
"Truly a supreme delicacy of the mortal world!"
Dongfang Su could not help praising it.
Guyue looked utterly shocked.
His Majesty hadn't shown such an expression in many years.
He quickly picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted a bite.
"Tsk tsk, it really is delicious."
With that, only Bai SuyI was left who had yet to pick up her chopsticks.
It wasn't that Bai SuyI didn't want to eat; she actually wanted to try it very much.
However, looking at the churning red oil in the pot, the jumble of ingredients all boiled together, and everyone else reaching their chopsticks into the same pot, Bai SuyI felt a natural aversion.
She had suffered from mysophobia since childhood, and the idea of sharing a pot of food with others was simply unacceptable to her.
"Susu, aren't you going to eat? This is really good."
Chu Yanyu was eating until her face was glistening with fragrant sweat and her lips were bright red.
Bai SuyI gave an awkward smile.
"I won't eat, you guys go ahead."
"Well, alright then."
Chu Yanyu continued to feast with great gusto.
Seeing everyone eating with such relish, Ye Qingyun was delighted as well, enjoying this hot pot session far more than any he had ever had before.
It was just a pity that the two fellows, Damao and the Rabbit, had crouched off to the side waiting for a long time without getting a single bite.
Soon, the large pot of food was completely finished.
Zhao Wangchun didn't seem satisfied yet; he picked up the pot, wanting to drink a few sips of the hot pot broth.
Ye Qingyun quickly stopped him.
"This brother is truly fierce, even wanting to drink hot pot broth, not afraid of choking to death from the salt."
Failing to get the hot pot broth, Zhao Wangchun reluctantly put the pot back down with lingering regret.
"Everyone, are you satisfied with the meal?"
Ye Qingyun asked with a smiling face.
"Satisfied, very satisfied!"
"Delicious!"
"This is truly the happiest meal We have ever had!"
......
Everyone offered endless praise, still feeling that they hadn't had enough.
Just at that moment, Li Chenyuan's expression suddenly shifted.
"My cultivation..."
Rumble!!!
Li Chenyuan felt as if a fire was burning in his belly.
The very next moment, his realm directly broke through.
Chapter 13: The Effects of Hot Pot
"I... I think I've broken through!"
Li Chenyuan said in a daze.
Everyone looked toward him.
Li Chenyuan circulated his cultivation; his aura was indeed much stronger than before.
"I've broken through to Origin Gathering (middle)!"
Li Chenyuan was pleasantly surprised.
His original cultivation was at Origin Gathering (early), and stepping into Origin Gathering (middle) would have taken him at least another half a year or so.
Yet now, after eating a single hot pot meal, Li Chenyuan had inexplicably broken through just like that.
It felt completely effortless.
It was precisely that smooth, natural feeling of things falling into place.
"Wait, I think I'm going to break through too!"
As Zhao Wangchun spoke, the aura around his body also surged abruptly.
He broke through from Spirit Opening Great Perfection to Origin Gathering (early)!
"Ah! I've broken through too!"
Xu Jing'er cried out in surprise.
Her cultivation climbed directly from Spirit Opening (late) to Spirit Opening Great Perfection.
The three martial siblings had broken through one after another.
Moreover, each of them had advanced by a small realm.
This could no longer be described as a mere coincidence.
At this moment, Chu Yanyu's expression also changed.
"I'm going to break through as well!"
Before her voice had even faded, Chu Yanyu's aura doubled.
She stepped directly from Spirit Opening (late) into Spirit Opening Great Perfection.
Beside them, Bai SuyI watched in dumbfounded amazement.
When Chu Yanyu returned last time, stepping from Spirit Opening (middle) into Spirit Opening (late) had already astonished Bai SuyI.
And how much time had passed since then?
Chu Yanyu had actually broken through again.
She had stepped straight into Spirit Opening Great Perfection.
In one bound, she had caught up to her.
"Your Majesty! I feel like I'm going to break through too!"
Guyue suddenly cried out in alarm.
"What? You're breaking through as well?"
Dongfang Su looked at Guyue in disbelief.
Sure enough!
Guyue had broken through.
As his aura doubled, Guyue smoothly stepped from Core Condensation (early) into Core Condensation (middle).
The breakthroughs of the others were somewhat acceptable.
After all, their cultivation bases were not high to begin with.
But Guyue was different.
He was an expert of the Imperial Palace and a personal guard by the side of Martial Emperor Dongfang Su.
He possessed the cultivation of the Core Condensation Realm.
And within the three major sects, the Core Condensation Realm was already enough to hold the position of an elder.
Stepping from Core Condensation (early) to Core Condensation (middle)—
Generally speaking, this would require at least ten years of time to possibly achieve a breakthrough.
Yet Guyue had accomplished it in the span of a single breath.
This was simply miraculous.
These successive breakthroughs made everyone realize that this was definitely no coincidence.
They turned their gazes toward Ye Qingyun one after another.
Then, they all thought of the hot pot they had just eaten.
"Could it be that the hot pot we ate earlier caused us to break through?"
Li Chenyuan could not help saying.
"Very likely!"
Guyue nodded repeatedly.
At the same time, Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su both sensed certain changes within themselves.
Although the cultivation of the two men had not broken through, a surge of profound comprehension had welled up in their hearts.
An epiphany!
At this very moment, both of them experienced an epiphany, an extremely rare occurrence.
A single moment of sudden enlightenment cleared the spiritual platform.
The boundless Great Dao was close at hand!
Xu Changfeng wore a look of utter shock.
Dongfang Su was pale with astonishment.
The two men exchanged glances, each able to feel the other's current state.
For a moment, their composure was somewhat shaken.
This was quite simply a miracle.
Just by eating a meal of hot pot, the two of them had actually attained an epiphany.
It was simply too unbelievable.
"Never did We expect that even with Our current cultivation, We could still experience an epiphany. This hot pot meal was truly well worth it."
Dongfang Su sighed with deep emotion.
"I have also attained an epiphany. Many past perplexities in my cultivation have suddenly become crystal clear. It truly makes one's mind and spirit feel immensely refreshed."
Xu Changfeng said.
Everyone was shocked.
These two bigwigs had actually experienced an epiphany as well?
Wasn't this far too terrifying?
Listening from the side, Ye Qingyun was left in a daze.
First breakthroughs, and now an epiphany.
It left Ye Qingyun thoroughly bewildered.
"Isn't it just eating a meal of hot pot? Is it really that exaggerated?"
Ye Qingyun was very puzzled.
The hot pot only contained ordinary ingredients; how could it possibly have such a massive effect?
Besides feeling full in the stomach, he himself hadn't experienced any reaction whatsoever.
"Could it be because I have no cultivation that eating hot pot had no effect on me?"
Ye Qingyun thought to himself.
At this time, Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su both stood up and executed a solemn bow toward Ye Qingyun.
"Many thanks for the senior's bestowal!"
Both of these heavyweights had offered formal bows.
Naturally, the others could not simply stand by and watch.
Except for Bai SuyI, everyone else bowed deeply toward Ye Qingyun together.
"Many thanks for the senior's bestowal!"
Ye Qingyun felt rather awkward.
"Please don't be like this, I really didn't do anything, and I'm no senior expert."
When the others saw this, their hearts were deeply moved.
"An expert remains a true expert; so indifferent to fame and wealth. Clearly, whatever gains we attained were entirely his doing, yet he doesn't take credit for it at all."
"This is the demeanor of a true expert, something we can truly never hope to match."
"Perhaps in the eyes of this expert, allowing us to break through and comprehend the Dao was merely a casual gesture, not worth mentioning at all."
......
The more Ye Qingyun denied it, the more they believed he was deliberately acting humble, and the greater their admiration grew.
"Expert, might the ingredients boiled in that hot pot earlier be various supreme treasures of heaven and earth?"
Xu Changfeng asked tentatively.
Ye Qingyun shook his head.
"What supreme treasures? They're just very common things from my courtyard, hardly worth mentioning at all."
Hearing this, everyone felt a fresh wave of awe in their hearts.
Things that could be found everywhere in this expert's courtyard, tossed together at random into a pot, had such powerful effects.
If used for alchemy, wouldn't one soar straight to the heavens?
At this very moment, there was one person filled with deep regret.
And that was Bai SuyI.
Because of her mysophobia and psychological barrier, she hadn't touched the hot pot with her chopsticks.
Yet watching everyone else achieve breakthroughs and gain epiphanies while she remained completely untouched—
Bai SuyI regretted it.
If she had known there would be such immense benefits, why would she have held back her pride?
Look at her now.
Everyone else had eaten to their heart's content and reaped a rich harvest.
Only she had gained nothing, and her cultivation had even been surpassed by her best friend.
Bai SuyI looked pitifully at Ye Qingyun.
"Expert, I want to eat too..."
Everyone looked at her with sympathetic expressions.
Chu Yanyu curled her lips.
"When you were told to eat earlier, you wouldn't. Now you want to eat?"
With a bitter expression, Bai SuyI could only nod.
"Let's wait for next time. The next time I make hot pot, you can come over and I'll treat you."
Ye Qingyun said.
Bai SuyI looked somewhat disappointed: "But I..."
"In the presence of the expert, how dare you be so persistently troublesome?"
Xu Jing'er looked somewhat displeased.
"Earlier, the expert invited all of us to eat, yet you alone refused to appreciate the gesture. Now you still wish to trouble the expert—do you think you have the qualifications?"
Li Chenyuan also cast a sideways glance at Bai SuyI.
A disciple of the Nine Spirits Sect truly lacked a sense of proportion.
Bai SuyI wore a grievance-filled expression.
She only wanted to ask the expert to heal the hidden injury within her body.
Apart from that, she harbored no extravagant hopes of breaking through her cultivation or anything of the sort.
Seeing Bai SuyI like this, Chu Yanyu felt a pang of sympathy and immediately spoke up on her behalf.
"Young Master Ye, Susu actually has a favor to ask."
Ye Qingyun looked curiously at Bai SuyI.
"If you have something to say, just say it. I'll help if I can."
Chapter 14: Cupping Therapy
"Susu suffered an injury when she was young that has never fully healed. It flares up every year, causing her excruciating agony."
"We ask Young Master Ye to deign to take action and help Susu."
Chu Yanyu pleaded.
Bai SuyI also bowed deeply toward Ye Qingyun.
"I beg Young Master Ye to save me."
Ye Qingyun rubbed his chin.
Treating an illness?
That scoundrel of a system had indeed taught him about that.
However, Ye Qingyun had never tried it himself, nor did he know if it would be reliable.
But now that someone had come asking for help,
refusing would seem rather heartless.
"Alright, I can give it a try."
"But I don't guarantee that I can cure it, oh."
Ye Qingyun said.
Hearing this, Chu Yanyu and Bai SuyI were overjoyed.
"Many thanks, Young Master Ye!"
In their view, as long as this expert was willing to act, there shouldn't be any problem.
The others also grew interested upon hearing that the expert was going to treat an illness, eager to see how this expert went about healing people.
"Tell me in detail, what kind of hidden injury is it?"
Ye Qingyun asked.
"When I was six years old, I accidentally wandered deep into the mountains and was bitten by I know not what creature. The cold Qi penetrated my bones and damaged my internal organs."
Bai SuyI recalled her past.
"Although I sought many physicians for treatment at the time, it was never fully cured. Every year when autumn turns to winter, the cold Qi flares up from within my body and lasts for two days."
"Later, when I entered the Nine Spirits Sect, my master also examined me and said that there were still venomous insects lingering inside my body, but even he had no way to drive them out."
Hearing this, Xu Changfeng nearby could not help looking surprised.
"Even Gongsun Yue has no way?"
Bai SuyI nodded: "My master was helpless as well."
Xu Changfeng fell into deep thought.
No wonder this Bai SuyI had followed Chu Yanyu to pay respects to Ye Qingyun.
Since even Gongsun Yue was helpless, within the borders of the Tianwu Dynasty, only the mysterious expert before them stood a chance of curing Bai SuyI.
"Cold Qi inside the body?"
Ye Qingyun pondered.
Got it!
Isn't it just having cold Qi?
Wouldn't cupping therapy do the trick?
He happened to have the tools for cupping right on hand.
He immediately went inside the house and retrieved a wooden box.
"Ahem, it's not very convenient out here. Why don't you come inside the house with me?"
Ye Qingyun said to Bai SuyI.
Bai SuyI was startled: "Can't we do it outside?"
Ye Qingyun scratched his head.
"We can, but my method of treatment requires you to take off your outer garments and expose your back, so..."
Hearing this, Bai SuyI's face instantly turned red.
And the others also cast strange looks.
Why did this medical method sound somewhat odd?
Was it a proper method at all?
Fearing they might misunderstand, Ye Qingyun quickly adopted a serious tone: "This method is called cupping. I reckon none of you have ever seen it before. It requires removing the upper garments to completely expose the back, and covering the back with fire jars."
"If the upper garments are not removed, the procedure cannot be carried out."
This was telling Bai SuyI that if she wanted to be cured, she had better cooperate honestly.
If she felt too embarrassed, then the matter was dropped.
Chu Yanyu gently pulled on Bai SuyI's sleeve.
"Give it a try. Perhaps this expert really can cure you."
Bai SuyI bit her lip.
"Young Master Ye, let's go inside."
Hearing those words, they still sounded rather strange.
Ye Qingyun almost let his imagination wander, but quickly reined in his focus, carrying the wooden box as he walked toward the house.
Bai SuyI followed closely behind him, entering the room together.
"Young Master Ye, can I come in and watch?"
Chu Yanyu suddenly remembered that she was a woman too.
There shouldn't be any harm in her going in to watch, right?
"You may."
Ye Qingyun's voice came from inside.
Chu Yanyu immediately entered the room as well.
"Dad, I'm going to take a look too."
Xu Jing'er was also burning with curiosity.
"Go ahead, but don't disturb the expert."
Xu Changfeng cautioned.
"I know."
Xu Jing'er skipped happily into the house as well.
As for the rest of the old men, they naturally had no choice but to wait outside.
Ye Qingyun brought over a folding chair and unfolded it.
It was just large enough for someone to lie down on.
"Take off your upper garments, then lie face down on this chair."
Ye Qingyun said with a straight face.
Bai SuyI bit her lower lip, feeling rather awkward.
After all, she was a woman, and undressing before a full-grown man like Ye Qingyun was truly embarrassing.
"Do I need to take it all off?"
Bai SuyI asked shyly.
"Mn, not a single piece left."
Ye Qingyun nodded.
At the same time, he muttered inwardly to himself.
"I'm not trying to take advantage of you here; cupping really does require taking off your clothes."
"Then please, Young Master Ye, turn around."
Bai SuyI's voice trembled slightly.
Ye Qingyun let out an "oh," and immediately turned around.
Ah well.
Can't see anything now.
Seeing that Ye Qingyun had turned around, Bai SuyI slowly began to remove her outer garments.
One piece, two pieces...
Soon.
Her fair skin was revealed.
Chu Yanyu and Xu Jing'er both stared with wide eyes.
Especially Xu Jing'er.
She stared at Bai SuyI, then lowered her head to look at herself.
"Why is she so big?"
Although Chu Yanyu was Bai SuyI's best friend, she had never seen Bai SuyI like this before.
Seeing it now, a pang of envy stirred in her heart.
Stared at by two women, Bai SuyI blushed deeply and hurriedly lay face down on the chair.
"Young Master Ye, I'm ready."
"Oh."
Ye Qingyun turned back around, and at a glance—
His eyeballs almost popped out of his head.
This!
Is!
Way!
Too!
Big!
Ye Qingyun's mind drifted for a moment, but fortunately, having seen plenty of things in his original world, he collected his thoughts after a brief daze and quickly returned to normal.
He opened the wooden box and took out several bamboo tubes.
Ye Qingyun lit a candle and heated the bamboo tubes over the flame.
"Miss Bai, we're going to begin."
Before his voice had even faded, Ye Qingyun directly clapped the bamboo tubes onto Bai SuyI's back.
Bai SuyI let out a soft murmur.
A burning sensation spread across her back.
Although it didn't hurt much, this novel experience still made Bai SuyI somewhat nervous.
Soon, all eight bamboo tubes were affixed to Bai SuyI's back.
Chu Yanyu and Xu Jing'er, standing off to the side, were dumbfounded.
What kind of medical treatment was this?
It was simply unheard of.
"Alright, after half an hour, we can take the bamboo tubes off."
Ye Qingyun wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Not because he was tired.
It was to exercise self-restraint.
Lying before him was a fair and flawless beauty, and he had to perform cupping on her with a pure and undistracted mind.
This truly wasn't something ordinary people could endure.
"Is it really that simple?"
Chu Yanyu asked in a daze.
"It's just that simple."
Half an hour later.
Ye Qingyun removed the bamboo tubes.
Eight dark circular marks appeared on Bai SuyI's back, looking somewhat fierce and terrifying.
Xu Jing'er and Chu Yanyu both furrowed their brows, feeling it looked a bit repulsive.
Ye Qingyun examined the bamboo tubes.
"There really are venomous insects!"
"What?"
The three of them were startled and looked over simultaneously.
Ye Qingyun used a bamboo slice to scrape inside the bamboo tubes, and sure enough, several silvery-white insect carcasses fell out.
Chapter 15: Playing Matchmaker
Out of the eight bamboo tubes, the carcasses of white insects were shaken out of every single one.
These insects were minuscule, looking even smaller than ants.
Ye Qingyun reached out and touched the insects, finding each one extremely cold, resembling flakes of ice.
"These should have come out of your body."
Ye Qingyun said to Bai SuyI.
Bai SuyI looked terrified.
There were actually so many insects inside her body?
No wonder her hidden injury had never been able to heal completely.
"Then does this mean Susu's injury is cured?"
Chu Yanyu asked with concern.
Ye Qingyun shook his head: "It's probably not fully healed yet. Come back in half a month for another round of cupping, and that should pretty much do it."
This was Ye Qingyun's own deduction.
If he performed cupping again and no more venomous insects were drawn out, it would prove she was completely cured.
If more insects still came out, treatment would need to be continued.
"Many thanks, Young Master Ye! I feel my entire body is relaxed—a relief I've never felt before!"
Bai SuyI had dressed herself, her face filled with excitement.