Mu Jinyu laughed, "I was just teasing you because you always keep such a straight face, don't take it seriously..."
Jian Ruyan said calmly, "What a pity, I always keep my word. I can accept this dress, and you should bring out your dirty clothes, I'll wash them for you."
"This..."
Mu Jinyu wanted to tell her not to take it seriously, but seeing Jian Ruyan's determined expression made him feel a bit uneasy. He muttered, "Fine, fine, go wash them then."
Saying so, he went back to his room to fetch a few articles of clothing and handed them to Jian Ruyan.
Jian Ruyan took them with a slight look of disdain on her face, then, without a word, she first returned to her own room to set aside the box holding the white dress and went to the lakeside with Mu Jinyu's dirty clothes to wash them.
Mu Jinyu, watching the figure of Jian Ruyan washing clothes, touched his nose and whispered to himself, "I didn't intend to bully her; she's just taking it too seriously."
Thinking to himself, since Jian Ruyan was so stubborn, he might as well wear his clothes more sparingly this month.
Having her wash his clothes every day, Mu Jinyu felt quite embarrassed.
Moreover, when Xiang Mantang came back, if Jian Ruyan complained to him, Xiang Mantang would probably blow up at him as well.
Shortly after.
Jian Ruyan had already washed Mu Jinyu's clothes, which were actually not that dirty, and hung them on a drying rack nearby. She didn't say much to Mu Jinyu and went straight back to her room.
Closing the door behind her.
Jian Ruyan took out the elixirs that Mu Jinyu had given her earlier, and the dress, her expression slightly complex.
As for the elixirs Mu Jinyu gave her, she didn't think much of it, after all, as a member of the Dragon King Hall, and him being the Hall Master, it was expected to provide his subordinates with elixirs for their cultivation.
But this dress...
It was the first time Jian Ruyan had ever received such a gift.
Indeed, not even Xiang Mantang had given her clothes or jewelry as gifts.
After all, Xiang Mantang did not know that Jian Ruyan was Xiang Yinxui, his sister, and he felt a resistance to being close to her, so naturally, he wouldn't think of giving her any presents.
And by the time Xiang Mantang knew that Jian Ruyan was his sister, it was already during the period of chaos and darkness, when they were busy imprisoning the rebelling demons, leaving no time to think of ways to cheer her up.
Jian Ruyan stared blankly at the set of white long dress in her hands, then, cheeks trembling slightly, she lifted her wrist and began to undo the white dress she was wearing.
After changing into the new dress in a few moments, Jian Ruyan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, examining herself.
The dress Mu Jinyu had given her was indeed much nicer than the few sets she usually wore.
After all, it had been bought at an auction, and it must have cost at least several hundred thousand, so how could it not be superior to the ones she had bought casually?
"It doesn't look too bad."
Gazing at her reflection in the new dress, Jian Ruyan murmured softly.
Then, without dwelling on it further, she reached for the elixirs placed aside, ready to continue her cultivation practice.
As she unscrewed the bottle cap,
a rich fragrance of elixirs immediately filled the air, stronger than what she had sensed that morning. Jian Ruyan's divine sense swept into the bottle, and her expression immediately changed.
She then clutched the bottle and flattened her other hand, tilting the bottle to pour out the elixirs.
In the bottle, there were a total of nine elixirs, all top third-grade pills suitable for martial artists at the peak of Energy Transformation up to the early stage of Divine Realm, but what mildly shocked Jian Ruyan were the patterns on these pills...
Each and every one had seven pill patterns!
"This..."
Jian Ruyan's eyes were filled with a hazy, unbelievable shock and horror.
That morning, she was greatly shaken by almost seeing Mu Jinyu refine an elixir with seven pill patterns and had gone back to her room for secluded cultivation, not daring to watch any further.
She had also pondered whether Mu Jinyu would succeed in refining the Seven-Pattern Supreme Elixir after she ended her seclusion, thinking it was possible...
But Jian Ruyan had truly not expected that not only had Mu Jinyu really refined a Seven-Pattern Supreme Elixir, but he also gave her a whole big bottle of them!
Wait...
Suddenly, Jian Ruyan thought of something, put the elixirs back into the bottle, then took several other bottles, opened the stoppers, and poured out all the elixirs inside!
"Is this... is this even human?"
Looking at the table full of Seven-Pattern Supreme Elixirs, some of which even faintly showed an eighth pattern on their surfaces.
Jian Ruyan's mind buzzed, feeling that Mu Jinyu, this monster, was truly inhuman!!
Those Alchemy Masters in Kunlun Ruins, who had immersed themselves in the Alchemy Dao for their whole lives, had not managed to successfully refine a Seven-Pattern Supreme Elixir to date.
Yet this guy, on his first foray into alchemy, upon his first attempt, started with refining Three-Pattern Fine Grade Pills, and by the time he became familiar with the process, he was able to refine Seven-Pattern Supreme Elixirs within the first day.
And it wasn't some unstable, fluke that he had managed to refine; he could produce them in batches, which was simply outrageous!
Other Alchemy Masters exhaust all sorts of methods and pondered tirelessly their whole lives just to ensure that every time they practiced alchemy, the quality remained at the Fine Grade Level.
Yet Mu Jinyu, after just a bit of contemplation, could stabilize the quality of his pills at the Top-Quality Grade!
"If these pills were to enter Kunlun Ruins, wouldn't a bunch of people go crazy scrambling for them? Those Alchemy Masters, upon seeing the top-quality pills, would probably cry..."
Jian Ruyan eventually calmed down, muttering to herself with a dazed expression.
Afterward, she extended her Divine Sense out of the bamboo house and searched the vicinity, only to see that Mu Jinyu had not gone back to his room to continue cultivation or to rest but was instead enjoying the moonlight and drinking wine with Yu Linglong and a few others.
Yu Linglong and Xu Qingya, who had not yet entered the Divine Realm, were unaware of Jian Ruyan's Divine Sense snooping.
But Mu Jinyu noticed instantly.
Then, he raised his wine cup, gently lifting it towards Jian Ruyan's bamboo house and displaying a light smile.
It was a gesture suggesting if she wasn't cultivating, she could come out and join them for a drink.
Jian Ruyan withdrew her Divine Sense and disregarded Mu Jinyu's invitation, lips slightly pursed, her face filled with complex emotions.
How could such a wild and uninhibited person possess such a monstrous talent in the Alchemy Dao, a talent that had neither precedent nor, for the time being, any successors that were known, though there might very well be soon...
"If only this bastard's talent in alchemy were my brother's, that would be perfect..."
Jian Ruyan muttered quietly.
If Mu Jinyu ever found out her thoughts, he would probably regret giving her both elixirs and clothes.
After murmuring to herself, Jian Ruyan dismissed these impractical thoughts and began to miss Xiang Mantang, who was trapped in the Demon World.
"Brother, when will you be able to come back..."
In Jian Ruyan's eyes, a rare glimpse of grievance and sadness appeared.
She curled up on her bed, hugging her knees, feeling loneliness washing over her, wondering if Xiang Mantang in the Demon World felt as lonely as she did.