Guanyue heard the Sixth Elder's words and thought to herself, "My legs, which are stimulated by life spiritual energy to promote the proliferation of my body, are naturally the same as before."
"Sixth Elder, you're busy, I'll be going now." Seeing the Ninth Elder approaching, Ling Luoyi said, "Ninth Elder, shall I call the disciples in now?"
"Mm, alright," the two elders replied.
Ling Luoyi walked out of the tower and said to the disciples, "You can all go in. The Ninth Elder is waiting for you."
"So soon!"
"Hasn't even a cup of tea passed?"
...
"Alright, enough talk, go in," Ling Luoyi interrupted their discussions and said.
"Yes, Eldest Miss."
The disciples entered the tower in an orderly fashion. They had never seen such a thing before, so they were all very curious.
The spiritual energy within the tower was dense, twice that of the outside.
Following the rules, they chose their rooms. Upon entering, they discovered that the spiritual energy within the rooms was five times that of the outside.
Seeing this, their respect for the Eldest Miss increased by another degree.
Ling Luoyi returned to Qingyin Pavilion and went directly to rest, ignoring everything else.
It wasn't until dinner time that Ling Luoyi realized no one else was in the flower hall. She immediately wondered if they had gone too far.
Ling Luoyi didn't disturb them. Perhaps it was just a fleeting novelty, and they would be fine later. They would surely come out when they were hungry.
Even after the maids had served the food, and Ling Luoyi had waited for two quarters of an hour, no one had come. Ling Luoyi was getting angry.
"It seems they won't be coming. Take the food to their courtyards," Ling Luoyi instructed.
"Yes."
On the morning of the second day, during breakfast, Ling Luoyi looked at the flower hall with only herself in it and felt speechless.
"Haven't the other young masters and ladies arrived yet?" Ling Luoyi asked, suppressing her anger.
"Yes, Eldest Miss. Fifth Master is in his own courtyard, and Second Master, the Madams, and all the other young masters and ladies have not yet arrived," the maid replied respectfully.
"What about the food sent to them last night?"
"When we went to clear up this morning, we found that none of it had been touched."
Ling Luoyi took a deep breath and said, "Heat up the food, I'll go find them."
"Yes, Eldest Miss."
Ling Luoyi clenched her fists and stormed towards the cultivation tower.
The time flow within the tower was twice that of the outside. As the owner of the cultivation tower, no matter how long she stayed inside, it had no effect on her.
However, for them, apart from not consuming their lifespan, everything else was the same as the outside.
From the time they entered the tower yesterday until now, although only a little over eight hours had passed outside, seventeen hours had already passed inside.
These guys! Are they so engrossed in cultivation that they've lost track of time!
Ling Luoyi entered the tower. There was no one in the hall, but the doors to the rooms were all closed.
She picked up the booklet on the table and checked it. She discovered that these people had not come out of their rooms since entering!
Ling Luoyi suppressed her anger, went up to the fifth floor, and removed the orange crystal stone in the center of the fifth floor. This crystal stone was the source of the tower's spiritual energy. After its removal, the spiritual energy within the tower, having no source, was quickly absorbed by them.
Upon realizing there was no spiritual energy in the tower, everyone came out of their rooms, murmuring in confusion.
"What's going on?"
"Why is there no spiritual energy?"
"Is it because we cultivated too much?"
...
"I say, you lot, even if you're engrossed in cultivation, you must pay attention to time. Your current cultivation is not enough to achieve辟谷 (bì gǔ - abstaining from grain), so now, all of you go back and eat and rest!"
Ling Luoyi's voice echoed in the hall. Everyone looked around for her but couldn't find her.
"Hurry up and go!"
Ling Luoyi's voice carried a clear hint of anger.
"Yes."
"Those who wish to cultivate today can come again after lunch. If this happens again, I will set a time limit for this place, and you will only be allowed to cultivate within the specified time."
"Understood, Eldest Miss. We promise it won't happen again."
Everyone left one by one.
After sensing that there was no one left in the tower, Ling Luoyi reinserted the orange crystal stone into the formation, and the spiritual energy within the tower began to become dense again.
When Ling Luoyi returned to the flower hall, she found that everyone else had already arrived and were eating without her, as if she wasn't there.
Ling Luoyi had not been seated for a quarter of an hour when they all stood up together, preparing to leave.
"I say, you lot, it's not that serious."
"Luò'er, you're here," Ling Qí said with a wry smile.
"Second Uncle, I've been here all along. It's just that you didn't see me."
Ling Qí laughed a few more times and said, "Luò'er, Second Uncle has something to do, I'll be going now."
The others said the same.
"All of you go back and rest!" Ling Luoyi said, word by word. "I've placed a restriction at the entrance of the cultivation tower. The restriction will not disappear until the third quarter of the afternoon today, so you cannot enter now."
"Luò'er, it's not like that," everyone said guiltily.
"I remember telling the Ninth Elder that the time inside the tower is twice that of the outside. Don't you know? You've been in the tower for seventeen hours, don't you feel tired? Go back and rest!"
"Alright, alright, we'll go back and rest. Don't be angry, don't be angry," everyone said.
The crowd dispersed, and Ling Luoyi also returned to Qingyin Pavilion. She had nothing to do these days and was a bit bored.
She took out a book about alchemy from Fengxi Realm and began to read it.
Leisurely time passed quickly. When Ling Luoyi's thoughts returned from the book, it was already afternoon.
Ling Luoyi put the book back into Fengxi Realm and walked to the window, stretching.
A knock sounded at the door, followed by Zhushuang's voice: "Miss, the new maids have finished learning the rules. Do you want to inspect them?"
"Zhushuang, you come in first."
"Yes, Miss."
Just as Ling Luoyi and Zhushuang were arranging the affairs of the new maids, a young woman suddenly burst into the Ling Mansion's main hall.
"Uncle Liang, I'm back! I've brought the medicinal herbs, and also, I heard that Luò'er is back, is that true?" the woman asked anxiously.
Uncle Liang looked at the woman before him and replied kindly, "Miss Li, the medicinal herbs are no longer needed. Young Master's injury has already been healed by Eldest Miss. Eldest Miss is indeed back, and she should be resting in Qingyin Pavilion right now."
This is the youngest daughter of the Ling family patriarch, Ling Li, who is only twenty-five years old and an alchemy apprentice.
"So, what the outside world says is also true?"
"Miss Li, those things are also true."
There had always been rumors about Ling Luoyi in the outside world, and Ling Luoyi had not stopped them.
"Then Uncle Liang, you carry on with your business, I'll go to Qingyin Pavilion to see Luò'er."
"Alright, Miss Li."
*
In Qingyin Pavilion, just as Ling Luoyi and Zhushuang had finished arranging the affairs of the new maids, they heard a maid knock on the door.
"Miss, Miss Li is here to see you."
"Miss, Miss Li is your paternal aunt," Zhushuang explained, fearing Ling Luoyi might have forgotten who Miss Li was.
"Please let her in," Ling Luoyi instructed.
"Yes," the maid outside replied.
"Zhushuang, let's go down too."
"Yes, Miss."
As Ling Luoyi went downstairs, a new maid led a young woman over.
The woman was wearing a light green dress, and she looked very fresh.
Her face had matured considerably compared to her memory, and her eyes were much steadier.
"Little Aunt is back," Ling Luoyi said with a smile.
Looking at Ling Luoyi's smiling face, Ling Li's eyes welled up with tears. She suddenly stepped forward and hugged Ling Luoyi, bursting into tears.
Ling Luoyi's forehead was covered in dark lines. She remembered that Ling Luoran had acted similarly when she saw her before.
Ling Luoyi gently patted Ling Li's back. From her previous experience of comforting Ling Luoran, when someone wants to cry, let them cry it out. Otherwise, you'll end up crying yourself.