Yino took the fruit basket and examined it carefully, then widened his eyes in surprise: "Yunjin, when did you break through to the Core Formation stage?"
"I... I don't know either. It seems like after returning from the Secret Realm, I felt like I was about to break through. Last night when I cultivated, I indeed experienced some growth..." Yunjin was still quite shy, as there were some things she couldn't openly tell Yino.
First, Yunjin knew that Yino wasn't actually sick. Second, regarding her cultivation breakthrough, she felt it was largely due to receiving Lily's gift that day in the Secret Realm. After all, Lily was an ancient tree spirit, and even a small portion of natural power she casually bestowed was enough to immediately boost Yunjin's cultivation.
Moreover...
Compared to what Lily gave to Wangxue, Yunjin's improvement wasn't that dramatic.
"I see." Although Yunjin didn't say it, Yino could guess most of it just by looking at her face. Look at that, Lily was truly generous after all.
Back when they saved Wangxue at the Mountain Temple, that poor deer had nothing of value except a little spiritual energy and some antler powder from Snow Village. Yino didn't see Wangxue give any gifts of nature, and instead Yino had to contribute quite a few pills to help Wangxue recover and regain strength...
"Speaking of which, everyone has improved in cultivation, except Sister Jinyue who is still at the Foundation Establishment stage?" After inviting Yunjin into the courtyard, Yino couldn't help but turn his gaze toward the familiar little fox.
Jinyue was stunned for a moment, looking at Yino with twitching lips.
"Humph... if you don't cherish me, I'll just leave!" Jinyue puffed up her face, her enchanting eyes fixing meaningfully on Yino.
Yino was momentarily dazed, thinking of something and finally understanding Jinyue's true purpose for coming today.
"Sorry, it's my fault for not speaking properly..." Yino sighed, taking the initiative to apologize to Jinyue.
He looked at Jinyue, then at Daoist Li in the courtyard, and couldn't help but smile: "Although I'm very grateful to both ladies for visiting me, Daoist Li is about to check my pulse. I hope you two can rest on the side for a moment."
"No problem! I'll just sit here watching and won't cause any trouble!" Jinyue smiled sweetly, obediently pulling over a small stone stool to sit nearby.
Although she was in human form, in Yino's eyes, the three demon tails behind her were practically wagging into the sky.
Is Jinyue really that confident? What if Daoist Li is a Divine Transformation stage? Isn't Jinyue afraid her illusion techniques will be seen through?
And...
What made Yino even more puzzled was that in the game, Jinyue officially removed her disguise in the third volume, the Demon Abyss arc, appearing before the protagonist as the Pleasure Demoness.
But by the third volume, Jinyue was already at the late Core Formation stage. This clearly didn't match Jinyue's current Foundation Establishment level.
That's why Yino had casually mentioned Jinyue's cultivation when chatting with Yunjin earlier. He was very curious about Jinyue's cultivation level.
Being at Foundation Establishment yet having illusion techniques that could fool Nascent Soul stage like Yuebai was already pretty far-fetched. Now even a novice guide like Yunjin had advanced to Core Formation, how could Jinyue, who had been fully present since the first volume, still be at Foundation Establishment?
And what made Yino even more suspicious was...
Using illusions to deceive people was one thing, but this fat elder was a Daoist from the Celestial Medicine Temple. Being a Daoist meant he had some connection to Daoist traditions, and in the game's setting, characters and forces designed with Daoist, Buddhist, and other orthodox religions as prototypes all had some natural restraining power against villains classified as demons and evil.
Despite this, Jinyue didn't seem afraid at all. She even gave Yino a meaningful look, clearly indicating that she had come today to help Yino by casting illusions in front of Daoist Li.
[This foxy woman has such courage...]
[Earlier, Yuebai was so scared she wouldn't dare betray the so-called Celestial Master, but Jinyue betrayed the Celestial Master as soon as she entered the Secret Realm, and now she doesn't even seem to care about a Daoist from the Immortal Alliance with unknown cultivation...]
[Come to think of it, both Yuebai and Liuli were very wary of Jinyue, but later Liuli and Yuebai both failed, while Jinyue has never revealed her true cards and secret weapons...]
[It seems the villain demoness who runs through the main storyline of the original game isn't just for show.]
Yino observed the foxgirl's profile, thinking lightly to himself.
But since Jinyue was so confident, Yino stopped worrying and returned to his seat, extending his left arm to Daoist Li for pulse diagnosis. At the same time, Yuyan also came out from the room, standing by Yino's side.
The courtyard fell into a long silence.
Tick...
At some point, Daoist Li opened his eyes from the lengthy pulse-taking.
"Daoist Li, does Yino still have hope of recovering his cultivation?" Yuyan anxiously asked first.
Meeting everyone's gaze, Daoist Li nodded lightly, speaking somewhat casually: "Well, this child's problem can be serious if we consider it serious, or minor if we consider it minor."
"The main issue is that he was burned by the demonic abyss, with evil energy attacking his heart, leading to blockage in his meridians and inability to cultivate..."
"In my humble opinion, this condition needs slow nurturing. Forcefully expelling the evil energy might damage the meridians, and once the meridians are damaged, he would truly be ruined."
"So it's better to gradually purify the evil energy day by day. I hear that Miss Yuyan possesses the innate Frost Holy Physique. Being a holy physique makes this condition much easier to treat... If Miss Yuyan is willing, this humble Daoist can pass on some evil-purifying cultivation methods and prescriptions. Afterwards, Miss Yuyan can use her Frost Holy Physique to help this young man purify and refine the evil energy daily, gradually treating him."