42 - The Divine Physician’s Overbearing Wife

**Chapter 42** Yan Zhu Guang felt a warm sensation in her heart from her elder sister's thoughtfulness. However, she couldn't afford to waste her elder sister's kindness and needed to get everything done quickly. It would be inconvenient to take action once the Qiao family arrived. With Yun Mi Xue absent, Yan Zhu Guang didn't have to bother concealing her actions. She immediately stretched her legs out and took out a few spirit stones, arranging a spirit-gathering formation around herself. Sitting cross-legged, Yan Zhu Guang folded her hands, placing them on her crossed legs. With her eyes closed, a wisp of spiritual consciousness emerged, heading towards Qiu Qiao, who was entranced by an illusion. The system, seeing Yan Zhu Guang at work, held its breath, wary of disturbing its host. Cultivators develop a strand of spiritual consciousness upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, though it remains fragile without being honed by heavenly tribulations that occur during the Golden Core stage. Thus, they rarely extend it recklessly. Yan Zhu Guang had not long ago developed her spiritual consciousness, and now she was about to employ it in a high-risk operation—understandably, the system was tense. Upon reflection, its host had undertaken many risky endeavors, from extending her spiritual consciousness to enduring lightning tribulations with only a first-stage Qi Refining ability. Hence, using spiritual consciousness seemed trivial for her. Moreover, the host was always prudent, surely knowing what she was doing with a grasp of certainty. There wouldn't be any issues, the system reassured itself. Yan Zhu Guang ignored whatever the system was contemplating, immersing herself fully in her spiritual consciousness. Though indeed fragile, she wasn't afraid, thanks to her past life's experience. She knew precisely how to finely manipulate her spiritual consciousness and protect it from damage. At this moment, the strand of spiritual consciousness she had condensed into a line had already invaded Qiu Qiao’s sea of consciousness, taking advantage of his muddled state under the illusion. Yan Zhu Guang's intention was to guide Qiu Qiao into revealing the location of the secret realm. With both illusion and spiritual consciousness at play, as long as Qiu Qiao hadn't undergone special training, he wouldn’t resist Yan Zhu Guang's control. There was, of course, a more direct method: accessing Qiu Qiao’s memories. This approach was straightforward—as long as the reader's spiritual consciousness was stronger than the target's and the mystical method was known, achieving one's aim was easy. The only drawback was that the person whose memories are being accessed would suffer varying degrees of damage, from minor memory loss to ending up a fool. However, the reader wouldn't be affected much by this. This method was not something practiced by righteous factions. While Yan Zhu Guang used it often on those with malicious intentions towards her in her past life, considering her sister now, she decided to avoid using it whenever possible. Recently, she had asked her elder sister to promise to always accompany her. Doing something now that her sister could not accept—if the truth came out—would create a chasm between them, potentially harming their relationship. Yan Zhu Guang wouldn't be that foolish. As she smoothly entered Qiu Qiao's sea of consciousness, it felt as though she'd traversed into another world again. This world seemed familiar to Yan Zhu Guang—she'd only recently visited this place outside Dan Ye City, where she'd previously saved Su Qian Er. It seemed like she wouldn’t have to create another illusion. Qiu Qiao, hoping to avoid becoming a prisoner despite being trapped in an illusion, first thought of the blueprint. While concealing her spiritual consciousness, she surveyed the situation in the sea of consciousness. Still anchored in the previous location, Qiu Qiao and his companions stood while Su Qian Er and her servant lay on the ground. By now, Su Qian Er was dead; Qiu Qiao approached her solemnly and gently cradled her. "Qian Er, don't blame me. When I cultivate to the highest level, I will find your reincarnation. By then, I will fulfill your wishes and make you my wife." Qiu Qiao's display made Yan Zhu Guang uncomfortable. She resisted the urge to retch, which could expose her presence, and tightly controlled her spiritual consciousness. The illusionary space briefly brightened, and the scene accelerated rapidly from Yan Zhu Guang's perspective. As an outsider, she was acutely aware of the illusion's nature, but Qiu Qiao, submerged in the illusion, perceived everything as normal life. Perhaps due to his fear of Yan Zhu Guang, Qiu Qiao subconsciously avoided thoughts of her. In his illusion, the original notion of obtaining the blueprint from "Yan Zhu Guang" vanished, and he procured it directly from Su Qian Er. Qiu Qiao framed the deaths of Su Qian Er and her servant on the beasts outside the city, obliterating their remains without a trace. Later, he nonchalantly returned to Qiu Ming Dan Hall with his subordinates, continuing operations as though nothing had happened. Days passed, and when the Qiao family found something amiss and approached him, he feigned ignorance, collaborating with them in searching for Su Qian Er. The traces of Su Qian Er were thoroughly erased by the beasts, leaving no clues for quite some time. The Qiao family, pressed for answers but unable to proceed, merely urged Qiu Qiao to keep searching, rendering the matter stagnant over time. Once the commotion subsided, Qiu Qiao began planning a journey to that secret realm. He harbored indifference towards his fiancée Su Qian Er, but treated his subordinates rather well, even taking them with him to the realm. Yan Zhu Guang meticulously remembered the path and method to the secret realm. At this juncture, she should have exited the illusion, but she lingered a bit longer. What she saw was Qiu Qiao and his storekeeper using the blood of the two old servants as keys to open the secret realm, mercilessly sacrificing them to gain entry. Following this was a predictable betrayal and clash between master and servant. Ultimately, Qiu Qiao found a way to kill the storekeeper, becoming the sole beneficiary of the treasure, beginning his rise in the cultivation world with what he acquired from the secret realm. With that, Yan Zhu Guang dismissed the notion of Qiu Qiao’s loyalty towards his subordinates. No longer intrigued by Qiu Qiao’s imagined rise in the cultivation world, she focused her thoughts and withdrew her spiritual consciousness. The system was relieved to see its host safely retract her spiritual consciousness back into her body. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. Yan Zhu Guang calmed her breath, replenishing the spiritual energy she'd expended. When she opened her eyes, those four people were still trapped in the illusion, likely experiencing dreams of their own. "Host, do you know the secret realm's location?" the system inquired. "Hmm," Yan Zhu Guang replied softly. "What should we do now? Wait for your elder sister to return?" Yan Zhu Guang remained silent, a gleam in her eyes as she started to move again. Seeing this, the system wisely closed its mouth. As Yan Zhu Guang worked, her spiritual consciousness slowly engaged with the talismans in the illusion. A few strands of ghostly light flickered across the talismans, and then an unseen force descended, marking the storekeeper and the two old servants. When Yan Zhu Guang finished, she smoothed out the spirit-gathering formation and stood up. "What did you do, host?" the system asked curiously. Yan Zhu Guang arched an eyebrow, "Just ensuring they understand their young master's character thoroughly." It would be amusing to watch them turn on each other upon waking. System: ... Without further explanation, Yan Zhu Guang collected the spirit stones she had used. The spiritual energy within the stones hadn't been fully depleted. She decided to repurpose them, setting up another array surrounding the illusion space. The system, still without a definite answer from earlier and now witnessing another spell being cast by Yan Zhu Guang, felt a growing headache. It also thought, The host is really busy. Being a host wasn't easy. The spirit stones turned to powder under Yan Zhu Guang's manipulation, eventually forming various shapes. Four peculiar symbols emerged in front of her. She infused a few threads of her spiritual consciousness into them, tossed them into the area, and they vanished seamlessly into the foreheads of the four individuals. The system watched with tension, "Host, what did you do now?" Yan Zhu Guang closed her eyes briefly, "I'm ensuring Qiu Qiao and his group can't divulge anything about the secret realm. I placed a restriction on them." With Qiu Qiao's personality, if he could not benefit from the secret realm, he surely wouldn't let Yan Zhu Guang and Yun Mi Xue gain any advantage either. Given the chance, he would publicize the realm to ruin things for them. Even though he might gain nothing, Yan Zhu Guang and her sister would face numerous obstacles. Yan Zhu Guang was determined to prevent issues concerning the secret realm from arising. Since her poisonous spiritual energy wasn't sufficient, imposing a restriction that stopped them from disclosing secrets was the best approach. The most straightforward solution was, naturally, killing them. However, despite being only a branch, Su Qian Er’s family, the Qiao family, wielded significant influence in the cultivation world, and Feng Hua Immortal Sect's current situation wasn’t suitable for accumulating more enemies. Her elder sister likely wouldn't wish to clash with the Qiao family. Killing them would undoubtedly evoke dissatisfaction from the Qiao family. To avoid putting her sister in a tough spot, Yan Zhu Guang chose this more roundabout tactic. Though slightly more troublesome, if it benefited her elder sister, a bit of busyness was well worth it. The only issue left was finding a reasonable explanation for Su Qian Er’s disappearance, one that wouldn’t reveal the blueprint but could satisfactorily address the Qiao family’s inquiries. The system couldn't help but admire its host, marveling at how Yan Zhu Guang's mind worked—it was like she could see several steps ahead, planning each move meticulously. Yet, living with such foresight must surely be exhausting for her. Having completed her tasks, Yan Zhu Guang felt a wave of fatigue wash over her. Not only had she expended a significant amount of mental energy, but she'd also used up several strands of her spiritual consciousness. Even for Yan Zhu Guang, this left her somewhat weary. She pulled over a chair, sat down, and closed her eyes for a brief rest. Before she knew it, she had dozed off, leaving only a sliver of awareness outside to guard against any sudden danger. Seeing this, the system quietly heightened its vigilance, silently vowing to protect its host's rare moments of rest and prevent anyone from approaching her and causing harm. However, just as the system made up its mind, it sensed a presence drawing near. It glanced at the sleeping face of its host, chiding itself inwardly, and then decided to feign ignorance. Whew, it couldn’t bring itself to wake the sleeping host. Anyway, the person approaching posed no threat to her; hopefully, the host wouldn't be angry about that. A cool aura drifted into the room where Dan Tang Zhi was, a long, pale hand gently touching Yan Zhu Guang's forehead before carefully retracting. With a subtle flick, a dove-egg-sized, snowy white flower blossomed at the fingertips, releasing a soft fragrance that sent Yan Zhu Guang into a deeper sleep. Gracefully, the visitor adjusted Yan Zhu Guang’s clothing and took out a thick blanket to tuck around her, ensuring she slept more comfortably. After these tasks were done, a soft sigh echoed in the quiet room.