After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 4

Under the cold, secluded stone wall, Ye Li slowly opened her eyes.

A night of cultivation had stabilized the meridian she had initially opened, and the faint stream of spiritual energy within her body had thickened slightly. Like a nascent creek, though slender, it could now circulate on its own, continuously nourishing her tattered body.

The broken bones in her chest felt less painful under the faint saturation of the spiritual energy, and the speed of healing seemed to have accelerated slightly. However, full recovery was still a long way off. More importantly, the foundation of this body was simply too poor. The elimination of impurities from opening just one small segment of a meridian was merely a drop in the ocean.

The “Ethereal Emperor Scripture” is a supreme cultivation method, demanding extremely high standards for the physical body. If she couldn’t quickly improve her constitution, widen her meridians, and purify her Qi Sea, subsequent cultivation would be twice the effort for half the result, or she might even encounter an insurmountable bottleneck again.

She needed resources! Vast amounts of resources!

Elixirs, spirit herbs, minerals containing pure energy… none of these were things she, who was currently penniless and still targeted by Ye Lang, could easily obtain.

Her gaze swept over the imminent dew-gathering grass and the mysterious cold spring. The dew-gathering grass still required patience, and the cold spring… her near-suicidal use of it yesterday had made her realize that the frigid energy was too extreme. At this stage, it could only serve as auxiliary stimulation and could not directly provide the massive energy she required.

She had to find another way.

Ye Li stood up, stretching her still stiff and cold limbs. Waves of hunger assailed her. The original owner was already malnourished, and the severe injuries coupled with a night of cultivation had pushed her body to its limit. She needed food, and even more, she needed medicinal materials to aid in body quenching.

Memories surged, and the vast knowledge base belonging to the Venerable Li was opened. She quickly filtered through low-level medicinal formulas suitable for her current situation. She remembered countless high-level elixir formulas, but even a clever cook cannot make a meal without rice. What she needed now was a method to achieve the best effect using the most common and cheapest medicinal materials.

Soon, several simple but extraordinarily effective medicinal liquid formulas took shape in her mind. These formulas seemed crude and inferior to her, but in this lower realm, especially for a small family like the Ye Family, they would be considered astonishing.

“Purple Cloud Flower… Three-Leaf Vine… Corrupt Bone Grass… Scarlet Flame Fruit Peel…” she muttered to herself. These were low-level herbs, almost entirely ignored and even regarded as weeds or poisonous plants, that could be found on the outskirts of the back mountain. However, in her formula, when prepared in a specific ratio and sequence, they could produce an unexpected body-quenching effect, comparable to, or even surpassing, some expensive First-Grade Body Quenching Elixirs available on the market.

No sooner said than done. She carefully concealed the traces around the dew-gathering grass to ensure it wouldn’t be easily discovered, then dragged her still weak body into the dense outer woods of the back mountain again.

Relying on her powerful divine soul perception and extreme understanding of herbal properties, she quickly found the necessary herbs beneath thorns, beside rotten wood, and in rock crevices. The process was not smooth; she almost slipped while picking a Purple Cloud Flower growing on a cliff face, and when collecting the Corrupt Bone Grass, she narrowly avoided disturbing a poisonous snake coiled beneath it.

By the time she returned to the hidden spot by the stone wall with a small bundle of what looked like “weeds,” the sky was already bright. Her clothes were damp with dew and sweat, and she had acquired a few more scratches, making her look even more wretched, but her eyes shone brilliantly.

She had no medicine cauldron, no tools. She found a relatively flat stone slab to serve as a cutting board, selected suitable stones for grinding, carefully started a small fire using dry branches she had gathered, and used a washed, slightly worn stone bowl (which seemed to be the original owner’s stash) as a container.

The entire process was primitive and arduous. Yet, her movements were fluid, her expression focused, and every step—the control of the fire, the timing, and the precise measurements of the herbs—was executed to a frightening degree of precision. If any alchemist were to see someone processing medicinal materials with such rudimentary tools, they would undoubtedly be astonished.

Different herbs were either crushed, squeezed, or roasted, and then added sequentially, in a specific order and ratio, into the stone bowl containing a small amount of the cold spring water. Soon, a peculiar medicinal scent diffused, not fragrant, but a mixture of pungent and bitter notes, and the liquid in the stone bowl gradually turned cloudy, displaying a deep brown color.

When the last bit of Scarlet Flame Fruit Peel was added, the medicinal liquid suddenly boiled, and its color instantly cleared slightly, revealing a dark red hue, with extremely fine energy light spots faintly flickering within it.

Success!

Ye Li carefully removed the slightly warm stone bowl from the fire. Although it was only the simplest medicinal liquid, not even truly a First-Grade Elixir, the medicinal power it contained was just right for her current body.

She didn’t hesitate for a moment. Once the liquid cooled slightly, she drank it in one gulp.

“Boom!”

As the liquid entered her stomach, it felt like a ball of fire suddenly exploded! The fierce energy instantly rushed to her limbs and hundreds of bones! This was entirely different from the gentle absorption of spiritual energy; it was more like a domineering force, aggressively flushing out impurities from her body, tearing at her fragile meridians, yet simultaneously bringing a burning sensation of rebirth!

Pain! No less than the pain of guiding the Qi into her body yesterday!

Ye Li grunted, her face instantly flushed, and her veins bulged again. She immediately sat cross-legged, fully circulating the “Ethereal Emperor Scripture,” guiding the violent medicinal power, in conjunction with the faint thread of spiritual energy, to more effectively temper her body and assault those blocked meridians.

Sweat poured from her pores like a stream, murky in color and carrying a stronger, foul odor. Her body trembled violently, her teeth grinding, but her eyes grew increasingly brilliant.

She could clearly feel her muscles becoming denser, impurities being squeezed out of her bones little by little, and her meridians being laboriously widened under the dual impact of the medicinal power and spiritual energy…

This process lasted for nearly an hour.

When the medicinal power finally subsided, Ye Li was almost completely exhausted again. She was drenched, as if pulled from the water, and a small puddle of foul sweat had accumulated on the ground beneath her. But an unprecedented feeling of lightness and strength surged from the depths of her body!

Although still frail, this body was clearly much tougher than before! The healing speed of the broken bones in her chest accelerated once more. More importantly, several more minor meridians were initially opened, significantly increasing the speed at which she could absorb spiritual energy!

“The effect is good,” she murmured, her voice still hoarse but less weak.

Looking at the slight residue at the bottom of the stone bowl and the remaining herbs beside her, a thought arose in her mind.

These herbs could be used to prepare two or three more portions of the medicinal liquid. She could keep one portion for backup, and perhaps… she could take one portion to the market to exchange for some urgently needed items—such as food, a few clean pieces of clothing, or, if she could exchange it for some money, perhaps she could buy other cheaper auxiliary medicines to concoct even better medicinal liquids.

After all, relying solely on picking wild herbs wasn’t a long-term solution.

After a short rest to recover some strength, she carefully hid the remaining herbs, then thoroughly cleaned her body and the tattered clothes with the cold spring water. After drying them as best she could, she put them on. She poured the last prepared portion of the medicinal liquid into a small, cleaned skin pouch (also a relic of the original owner) and tucked it into her bosom.

Taking a deep breath, she walked out of this secluded place that had granted her a new life, heading towards the Ye Family Market area.

…

The Ye Family Market was located on the edge of the family’s compound. It was a bustling place for trade among the Ye Family, their dependents, and some surrounding minor families and rogue cultivators. Shops lined both sides of the street, and there were countless stalls, with cries of vendors and haggling filling the air.

Stepping back into this place, Ye Li’s state of mind was completely different. She was no longer the frightened, bullied, lowly girl, but the Venerable Li with a clear objective and calm observation.

Her appearance immediately drew the attention of some people.

Her washed-out, torn clothes, her pale and frail face, and the faint, lingering medicinal scent mixed with a trace of blood—all made her stand out in the crowd, drawing glances of contempt, curiosity, or schadenfreude.

“Tsk, isn’t that the notorious trash from the collateral branch?”

“I heard she beat up Young Master Ye Lang’s men yesterday? Is that true?”

“Looking at her, it doesn’t seem like it… must be a rumor.”

“Stay away from her, bad luck!”

Whispers reached her ears, but Ye Li acted as if she hadn’t heard. Her eyes quickly scanned the stalls and shops, evaluating the price and quality of the medicinal materials.

She first used the few worn copper coins she had on her to buy two of the cheapest coarse flour cakes from an old farmer’s stall. She hastily swallowed them, temporarily alleviating her hunger. Then, she began to look for a suitable target to sell the bottle of medicinal liquid.

She knew very well that with her appearance and an unknown medicinal liquid, going to a proper pharmacy wouldn’t fetch a good price and might lead to questioning or even trouble. The best targets were rogue cultivators who were desperate to improve their strength but weren’t wealthy, or the owners of small stalls.

She stopped in a relatively quiet corner, in front of a stall selling various low-grade ores and miscellaneous items. The stall owner was a sallow-faced, somewhat troubled middle-aged man whose cultivation hovered around the middle stage of the Qi Enlightenment Realm. He had clearly been stuck at a bottleneck for some time.

Ye Li crouched down, her eyes casually sweeping over the dusty ores, a few tattered cultivation manuals (mostly fakes), and some rusty weapon fragments picked up from unknown ruins.

Her gaze finally rested on an inconspicuous, mud-caked, dull metal shard in the corner of the stall. The shard was only half the size of a palm, with irregular edges, looking like a piece of armor or a weapon, completely devoid of energy fluctuations, like scrap metal.

But the moment her eyes touched it, the fragment of the Reincarnation Mirror deep within her soul quivered again, extremely slightly, almost imperceptibly!

Something was strange!

Ye Li’s heart stirred, but her expression remained calm. She pointed at the shard, then at a few equally unremarkable, dull small stones nearby (which looked like some kind of inferior forging material), and asked in a hoarse voice, “How much for these?”

The stall owner’s eyes lit up when he saw a customer, but upon seeing Ye Li’s attire and the items she pointed to, he immediately deflated. He impatiently waved his hand, “A pile of junk. If you genuinely want them, take them all for five copper coins.” He didn’t care about these items at all; he just used them to pad his inventory and try his luck.

Ye Li didn’t immediately agree. Instead, she took out the small skin pouch from her bosom and uncorked it.

Instantly, a pungent scent mixed with a strange medicinal fragrance diffused. Although not strong, it made the initially careless stall owner sharply inhale, his eyes widening immediately!

As a low-level cultivator, he could naturally sense the pure energy fluctuation contained in the liquid in the pouch! This was definitely a good thing! It was far more attractive than the First-Grade Body Quenching Elixirs he had seen!

“This… this is…” The stall owner’s voice trembled slightly.

“A medicinal liquid I prepared myself. The body-quenching effect is better than an ordinary First-Grade Elixir,” Ye Li said, her voice calm, as she handed over the pouch. “Have a sniff.”

The stall owner cautiously took it, sniffed it carefully, and poured a tiny bit onto his palm to examine. The more he looked, the more excited his expression became. Although he didn’t understand profound pharmaceutical principles, having frequented the market for a long time, he had some eye for quality. The liquid was pure in color and contained internal energy—it was certainly not an ordinary item!

“Little girl, you… what do you want to trade it for?” The stall owner’s attitude instantly became incredibly enthusiastic, even a little fawning.

“All these,” Ye Li pointed to the pile of “junk,” then pointed to a few other pieces of low-grade ore on the stall that looked slightly more valuable but were useless to her, “plus those few pieces of Scarlet Iron Ore, and…” She paused, her gaze sweeping over the old waterskin hanging from the stall owner’s waist, “…this waterskin, in exchange.”

The stall owner was stunned. He looked at the pile of garbage in his eyes, then at the few pieces of Scarlet Iron Ore that could sell for a little money, and then at his worthless waterskin. He almost thought he had misheard! This was practically trading gold for a pile of scrap metal!

“Trade! Trade! Of course, I’ll trade!” Fearing Ye Li would change her mind, he quickly bundled up everything she had pointed to with a piece of rags, along with the waterskin, and shoved the package into her hands. Then he snatched the small skin pouch containing the medicinal liquid, clutched it tightly, and beamed with joy.

The transaction complete, Ye Li picked up the items and turned to leave without any lingering attachment.

The stall owner watched her retreating figure, then looked at the medicinal liquid in his hand. Amidst his excitement, a hint of doubt and greed flickered in his eyes: “This girl… she’s a bit strange. Where did she get such a good thing? Did she just get incredibly lucky?” But he was quickly distracted by the medicinal liquid, eager to try its effect.

Ye Li hadn’t gone far when a sarcastic voice sounded beside her.

“Well, who do we have here? If it isn’t our Ye Family’s famous trash miss? What, have you started scavenging in the market?”

Ye Li paused and turned her head. She saw two arrogant youths in brocade robes blocking the way, looking at her with sneers. They were Ye Lang’s two lackeys, Ye Ming and Ye Liang, collateral branch disciples who fawned over the main family. They had clearly been sent to search for her in the market.

Ye Li’s eyes slightly chilled. She ignored them and continued to walk forward.

“Stop!” Ye Ming stepped forward, blocking her path, his gaze contemptuously sweeping over the torn cloth bundle in her arms. “What’s in your hands? Something stolen? Open it up and let us see!”

They had received Ye Lang’s explicit command to find Ye Li and teach her a lesson. Running into her now, they naturally wouldn’t let the opportunity slip.

The surrounding crowd was instantly attracted and began to gather to watch the commotion.

“Get out of the way,” Ye Li raised her head, looking at them with calm eyes, saying only two words.

That gaze was so cold and dead that Ye Ming and Ye Liang felt an involuntary chill in their hearts, subconsciously recalling the rumors about Old Woman Wang and Li San from yesterday. But in front of a crowd, how could they be intimidated by a piece of trash?

“Impudent! How dare you speak to us like that? Looks like we didn’t beat you enough yesterday!” Ye Liang roared, reaching out to grab the bundle in Ye Li’s arms, intending to forcibly snatch it and give her a beating.

However, just as his hand was about to touch the bundle—

Ye Li’s body, seemingly weak, subtly tilted backward, as if losing her balance.

At the same time, her ankle made an extremely concealed, gentle hook at a wooden stick jutting out from a nearby stall.

Ye Liang, lunging forward with all his strength, lost his center of gravity, and, tripped by the stick, let out a cry of “Ouch!” He immediately lost his balance and stumbled forward, crashing directly into a stall selling pottery!

“Clatter!” A crisp sound as several pottery jars and bowls were smashed to pieces!

“My jars!!” The stall owner instantly screamed, grabbing the dizzy Ye Liang. “Pay up! You must pay for this!”

The scene instantly descended into chaos. Ye Ming was also dumbfounded and quickly rushed to help his companion.

And Ye Li, taking advantage of the confusion, had already slipped into the crowd like a fish, silently disappearing around the street corner, clutching her bundle.

Only Ye Ming and Ye Liang were left, fiercely entangled by the stall owner, hopping mad in the wreckage but utterly helpless.

Having distanced herself from the clamor, Ye Li stopped in an unpopulated corner and slowly loosened her clenched palm, which was slightly sweaty. In that moment just now, if Ye Liang hadn’t retreated, she had been prepared to use the faint thread of spiritual energy to give him an unforgettable lesson, even though it would have exposed her strength.

She lowered her head, opened the torn cloth bundle, and first picked up the dull metal shard that had triggered the Reincarnation Mirror’s response.

It felt cold and was unusually heavy. She carefully wiped away the mud, revealing some extremely ancient and blurry patterns on the surface, but still sensed no energy fluctuations. She tried to channel that faint thread of spiritual energy into it.

The spiritual energy vanished as if into a mud ox entering the sea, yielding no reaction.

But the fragment of the Reincarnation Mirror deep within her soul once again transmitted an extremely faint, eager throb.

“It’s indeed not simple…” Ye Li’s eyes flickered. She carefully tucked the shard away. Now was not the time for research, but this item was certainly extraordinary.

She then looked at the few small stones, which were just ordinary, inferior materials and held nothing special. As for the Scarlet Iron Ore, she could use it to trade for other things next time.

She re-bundled her items, replaced the water in her old waterskin with the new one she had acquired, and quickly left the market.

This trip to the market had been quite fruitful. Not only did she solve her temporary food problem and acquire a clean waterskin, but more importantly, she obtained the mysterious shard, and her bottle of medicinal liquid seemed to have attracted attention.

Trouble might follow, but opportunity often coexists with risk.

She needed to grow stronger, faster.

Her figure disappeared once more into the small path leading to the desolate back mountain, the young girl’s gaze already fixed on the distant future.