As for harnessing energy from the elements, she still hadn't managed to cultivate correctly and ended up becoming exhausted after every single attempt. Despite feeling the spirit powers welling up inside her dantian, she was unable to ascend higher even though she had already reached the peak of the foundation stage.

By the time the week had nearly ended, Li Meirong realized that she had barely seen Zhu Qingyue except for her brief training sessions with him. Yet, whenever she wished to see the enigmatic senior, he would appear within minutes, knocking on the door as though she could somehow summon him by sheer force of will.

After ending each daily martial arts lesson, Senior Zhu would march straight to the bamboo enclosure and take a shower, only to disappear right after.

That strange man...

The more time she spent with the enigmatic senior, the more she felt herself becoming attached to him. Li Meirong's continuous, daily meetings with the man had only driven her to put more effort into her research, so she could find a cure for his ailment.

Inside the cabin, Li Meirong sat down for a moment to relax after several hours of sorting through her collection of scrolls. Whilst rubbing her face in Snowball's fur for comfort, she suddenly paused, her limpid eyes narrowing in thought.

Each time she had attempted to read the scrolls pertaining to the complex world of poisons and the myriad of venoms that eluded her mental grasp, the little fox would tug at her sleeve, gazing at her with tear-filled eyes as he begged for affection.

Today was no exception to the spoiled fox's behaviour. With a sigh, Li Meirong carefully placed Snowball onto the ground before securing the scrolls inside the green storage bag. She wasn't able to leave any of her items lying around anymore due to her broken wooden board wall. A small gust of wind was now capable of blowing all of her notes and papers straight out and scatter them all over the garden.

A few hours ago, Senior Zhu had sent a note, inviting her to come over to his courtyard for an evening meal instead of conducting the regular martial arts lesson.

She knew it was not a common practise in this day and age for people to date, yet she still considered the invitation as such.

Li Meirong didn't have a large variety of clothes in her wardrobe, but she primped to the best of her ability. She adorned herself with a pair of seashell earrings and applied subtle red eyeshadow around her eyes to match the cinnabar rouge in her possession, the scarlet tint enhanced the glow of her milk-white skin. After thoroughly brushing it down, she chose to leave her hair loose to flow free in the evening breeze.