After absorbing the Broken Pill Grass, Yan Jiaojiao's once dark and narrow spiritual consciousness sea was no longer the same. It was like a soft, transparent sphere, flickering with a faint light.
What pleased Yan Jiaojiao the most was that in the center of her spiritual consciousness sea, a red core was slowly circulating.
Wait.
Yan Jiaojiao quickly withdrew from the joy of regaining her core. Wasn't she supposed to return to her former state and even surpass it?
Why was it only a third-tier Red level?
This was completely the level of a beginner!
Yan Jiaojiao hurriedly examined her entire meridians and found that her vast spiritual energy was still filling them, even mixed with the cool spiritual energy of the Broken Pill Grass. However, for some reason, they were momentarily at peace, as if dormant.
Focusing her spiritual gaze on the core again, Yan Jiaojiao confirmed that this core was not temporarily condensed, but truly formed!
Directly reforming a core was even more remarkable than the temporary condensation of a core by the Broken Pill Grass.
However, for Yan Jiaojiao, this stroke of luck was not what she had hoped for.
It was just a low-level core. She would have preferred to risk using a core that surpassed her previous life to try and return to her peak after reshaping it.
What exactly happened?
Yan Jiaojiao tried hard to recall, and fragments of images flashed in her mind, showing Dongfang Cangwu's cold and stern face, close and distant, angry and surprised.
However, Yan Jiaojiao couldn't remember anything that happened after taking the Broken Pill Grass.
Yan Jiaojiao pondered for a while longer and decided to give up.
Her core was formed, and nothing else mattered.
She reluctantly accepted the third-tier Red level core within her, thinking that she could quickly fuse with the spiritual energy within her and ascend through the levels at a rapid pace.
Therefore, Yan Jiaojiao attempted to mobilize the spiritual energy in her meridians. To her surprise, as soon as she awakened a trace of spiritual energy, the cool spiritual energy from the Broken Pill Grass became entangled with her original spiritual energy. The intense pain almost made Yan Jiaojiao cry out.
Yan Jiaojiao immediately stopped.
She was still too weak. The small core couldn't control the circulation of such potent spiritual energy. Letting them remain dormant was the best option for now.
Dongfang Cangwu's face flashed in her mind again. Did he make the spiritual energy in her body dormant?
As Yan Jiaojiao speculated, she ended her meditation and her thoughts drifted away.
The current situation had two options: first, temporarily abandon the spiritual energy from her previous life and cultivate new spiritual energy to raise her core cultivation.
Second, cultivate while using external forces, whether they were elixirs or spiritual artifacts, to gradually refine the spiritual energy from her previous life and make it usable again.
However, such high-level elixirs and spiritual artifacts were not easily found. It was a stroke of luck to encounter the Broken Pill Grass. Where else could she find such things?
Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but sigh.
The troubles she had encountered during her time in this foreign world were truly more numerous than those in her previous three thousand years.
"Young Miss?"
Rong'er's voice called out to her again from outside the door, hesitantly.
Yan Jiaojiao got up and opened the door. "What is it?"
Rong'er said timidly, "Young Miss, it's truly late. You still need to pay your respects to the Second Madam."
Chen Wenyu had been too busy to bother with Yan Jiaojiao these past few days, and although she couldn't do anything about her, she still harbored a desire to discipline her. Thus, she began to torment her through etiquette.
The supervising matron standing at the door was proof of this.
"It's already past noon and you're still not dressed? How unbecoming!"
The matron, around sixty years old, had a wrinkled face, her lips drawn into a straight line. She was dressed impeccably, not a single strand of hair out of place. Years of disciplinary experience exuded an aura of rigidity and seriousness.
Her eyes, however, were somewhat unfocused as she coldly regarded Yan Jiaojiao. There was only sternness and no respect in her gaze.
In the memories of the original Yan Jiaojiao, this supervising matron was the wet nurse of Yan Zhengfeng, the head of the Yan family, and a person who greatly revered etiquette. Her understanding of etiquette was a standard known throughout the streets and alleys.
Therefore, even though this matron was a servant, her status in the Yan manor was not low. Everyone respectfully called her Mama Chen.
Most importantly, Chen Wenyu was her distant niece.
Unsurprisingly, no matter how much Mama Chen revered etiquette, she still favored Chen Wenyu, a concubine, and showed little regard for Yan Jiaojiao, the legitimate daughter of the main wife.
Yan Jiaojiao smiled and stepped out of the room wearing her white undershirt and underpants. She addressed the matron standing at the courtyard gate from afar, "I am the mistress. You are being disrespectful by not even addressing me as 'Young Miss.' How unbecoming!"
Mama Chen was startled, then regained her composure. Her face remained impassive as she said, "A mistress should act like a mistress. Young Miss, quickly change your clothes and follow this old servant to pay your respects to Madam."
The implication was that Yan Jiaojiao's conduct was lacking and she did not deserve to be a mistress.
Yan Jiaojiao, too lazy to argue with her, simply turned and slammed the door shut. "I'm not going."
Since the façade had already been torn down, why should she pay attention to Chen Wenyu's repeated attempts to set traps for her? It would be truly foolish to go to Chen Wenyu's courtyard to pay respects.
Mama Chen was accustomed to being respected in the Yan manor. Even the original Yan Jiaojiao dared not treat her rudely. Today, she had merely asked Yan Jiaojiao to pay her respects, yet this ill-mannered girl had not only retorted but also shut her out!
At this moment, Mama Chen's face resembled a flat coffin lid, blackened with anger.
Rong'er stood trembling by the door. She had wished she could cover her mistress's mouth just moments ago. Now, her mistress was safely inside, but she was about to suffer the consequences.
As expected, Mama Chen's previously unfocused gaze sharpened, and she fixed it on Rong'er. "You, as her personal maid, failed to properly guide your mistress. This is your grave mistake. Punishment!"
As soon as she finished speaking, several guards behind Mama Chen flashed in and quickly subdued Rong'er, pressing her to the ground.
One of the guards drew a whip from his waist and raised his hand to strike Rong'er!
"Ah!"
Rong'er closed her eyes and screamed in fear. However, the expected pain did not land on her back.
"How dare you act so outrageously and commit violence within my domain!"
Yan Jiaojiao's voice rang out above Rong'er, her hand firmly gripping the tail of the guard's whip.
Mama Chen hadn't even seen how Yan Jiaojiao appeared. She was shocked. Hadn't Yan Ruoliu confidently stated that Yan Jiaojiao's cultivation was completely ruined and she could only rely on summoned beasts for protection?
But Chen Wenyu's face was injured by Yan Jiaojiao, and the short-distance teleportation just now was obvious. This made Mama Chen suspect that Yan Jiaojiao's core might not have been completely destroyed.
Yan Jiaojiao saw through Mama Chen's suspicion at a glance. Of course, she wouldn't reveal that she had re-cultivated her core. Instead, she deliberately concealed it and pretended to accidentally drop a talisman on the ground.
Mama Chen, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized it as a low-level teleportation talisman. Her suspicion gained a direction, and her expression became somewhat calmer. She reprimanded with sarcasm, "Being skilled in unorthodox methods is useless. Young Miss should focus on cultivating properly; that is the righteous path!"