Chapter 348 - A Seamless Exchange and a Timely Gift

Chapter 348: Chapter 348 - A Seamless Exchange and a Timely Gift

Su Bai finished adjusting the final circulation while Ji Ruyue waited beside the stone table.

The changes occupied only a small portion of the technique, although he examined that portion several times before recording it in the jade slip.

Both spatial commands now remained inactive until the replacement robe was fully prepared and the body map had settled. The final hand seal would release them together, allowing the exchange to proceed whenever the preparations were complete.

He passed the jade slip back to Ji Ruyue.

"I changed the final trigger. You can take your time with the circulation now."

Ji Ruyue studied the revised instructions, then returned the slip to him. Her spiritual sense entered her storage ring and found the robe that had remained there throughout the earlier failure.

She raised her hands, but before beginning, her eyes settled on Su Bai’s face.

He understood the question without her asking it.

"I’ve checked the connection. I’ll keep watching."

Ji Ruyue held his gaze for another moment before nodding. Her fingers formed the first seal, and Qi followed the familiar route through her wrist and arm.

Su Bai observed closely as the circulation spread across her body and established the spatial reference.

This time, when her Qi reached the point that had caused the previous failure, the storage command remained quiet.

The replacement robe was still being aligned.

Su Bai watched that preparation finish before the two commands joined beneath the final seal.

Ji Ruyue’s sleeves flickered, and the robe she wore disappeared into her storage ring as another emerged around her. The fabric settled across her shoulders, the sash tightened gently at her waist, and the last trace of spatial movement faded without leaving a single misplaced fold.

Ji Ruyue lowered her hands and looked down.

Her fingers brushed the sleeve as though confirming that it had truly arrived.

A faint breath escaped her lips before she seemed to notice it herself, and Su Bai pretended that his attention was still entirely on the circulation.

He felt considerably better now that his technique had managed to dress its user properly. Asking someone to trust him a second time after destroying her clothes had placed an unexpected weight on his conscience.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

Ji Ruyue moved her arm and glanced at the sash.

"Normal."

Su Bai smiled. Under the circumstances, he could hardly have asked for a better answer.

He had her repeat the exchange at a slower pace, then asked her to allow a deliberate pause before the final seal.

The prepared commands waited throughout both attempts and activated cleanly when she completed the sequence.

During the fourth exchange, Ji Ruyue shifted her posture after identifying the replacement robe, giving him an opportunity to observe how the body map adjusted. The cloth appeared around her correctly, and his spiritual sense found no strain where the two spatial movements met.

By the fifth attempt, Ji Ruyue’s hands had become noticeably more familiar with the seals. Her Qi moved smoothly through the revised route, and the exchange finished almost as soon as Su Bai confirmed that the preparations were ready.

She looked down once more while he followed the final settling pulse across the fabric. After checking the circulation from beginning to end, he finally allowed his shoulders to relax.

"That should do."

Ji Ruyue turned slightly, examining the robe from another angle. The technique had survived changes in speed, a deliberate pause, and a shift in posture without repeating the earlier mistake.

Su Bai could no longer find the timing flaw that had troubled him. A cultivator with the necessary spiritual sense, a storage artifact, and prepared robes should now be able to learn it through ordinary practice.

The thought gave him a satisfaction he had rarely felt while creating things solely for himself. His own body had made the first version easy enough, but teaching it had forced him to understand every part of the process.

Even a technique for changing clothes became troublesome when another person had to follow the instructions. Fortunately, he had reached the end with both his confidence and Ji Ruyue’s latest robe intact.

"Junior Brother Su," she said, "may I continue using this?"

"Of course. I made this version so other people could learn it." Su Bai picked up the jade slip and checked the revised passage once more before handing it to her. "You can keep this copy. I’ll prepare another for the sect after organizing the instructions."

Ji Ruyue accepted it and lowered her eyes to the title.

"Cloudshift Dressing Art," she read softly.

"It should become faster as you get used to the seals. Just remember to prepare the robes beforehand."

She nodded with her usual composed expression, although her hand briefly smoothed the sleeve again.

After thanking him, she returned the spare robe that had entered her ring during the successful exchanges. Su Bai told her she could keep the one she was wearing, since her own clothes had been ruined by his experiment. Ji Ruyue hesitated only briefly before accepting, then took her leave along the mountain path.

Su Bai watched her departing figure until the trees obscured it.

Unfortunately, the quiet gave his memory an opportunity to revisit a scene he had been doing his best to ignore. His thoughts became unhelpfully vivid, and he drew a slow breath before turning toward the scattered practice robes.

There were still things to put away, and tidying the courtyard required far less imagination.

He considered himself a gentleman.

That belief had survived several difficult tests over the years, and he felt no particular need to summon the Soul-Scorching Interrogation Mirror to discuss the latest one.

A person should possess some confidence in his own character. Su Bai decided that excessive verification could become an unhealthy habit and gathered the remaining robes into storage.

Only then did he remember the gift.

The storage ring Ji Ruyue had delivered rested where he had placed it earlier.

Shen Youran had called it a small token of gratitude, but Su Bai had already learned to treat such descriptions cautiously when they came from an elder.

He picked it up and sent his spiritual sense inside, expecting pills, materials, or perhaps something connected to cultivation.

A moment later, his eyebrows rose.

There were Spirit Stones inside, neatly arranged beside several sealed containers. Farther away stood rows of small bottles, dark cases, and tightly bound pouches, each separated from its neighbors with considerable care. Several objects carried warning labels. One vial bore three layers of sealing paper around its stopper.

Su Bai’s attention immediately left the Spirit Stones.

A folded note lay above the nearest container.

He withdrew it first, recognizing the clean, restrained handwriting even though he had rarely seen Shen Youran write anything.

The message explained that the objects inside had been confiscated from demonic cultivators over the years. Their dangerous properties had made ordinary disposal troublesome, so she had preserved them whenever there had been a possibility of future use.

The final lines caused the corner of his mouth to lift.

[Your circumstances appear to differ from those of ordinary cultivators. These may be useful to you. The attached descriptions contain what we have confirmed, so examine anything unfamiliar carefully.]

Su Bai read that portion again.

"So Martial Aunt Shen noticed..."

He was hardly surprised that she had drawn some conclusions. She had seen enough of his behavior to recognize that his preferences required an unusual approach, especially after the tribulation.

Still, there was something quietly considerate about the effort she had made. Even the dangerous objects had been sorted and labeled before being placed in the ring.

He folded the note carefully and retrieved one of the bottles.

The dark liquid within barely moved when he tilted it. A narrow strip of paper was attached to the side, bearing the name Black-Marrow Corrosive Dew.

Beneath it, Shen Youran had written a short description stating that the substance corroded bone and marrow after entering the body. The warning concluded with instructions to prevent it from touching untreated skin.

Su Bai almost laughed.

The explanation was direct enough that he could practically hear her voice while reading it.

He held the bottle toward the light, watching the thick liquid cling to the glass.

His Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body had recently taught him the value of encountering different forms of damage, and something that worked its way into bone and marrow deserved examination. Whether it would produce a new response or deepen an existing record could wait until he tested it.

Several neighboring vials contained other toxic or corrosive substances. Shen Youran had marked the confirmed effects and left a few uncertain properties clearly identified as such.

Su Bai’s mouth began watering as he inspected them, although he kept every stopper firmly in place. Tasting several unfamiliar things together would make it difficult to discover which one had produced the most useful result.

He returned the bottles and opened a dark case.

Three dull pearls rested within separate recesses. Their surfaces carried a faint gray sheen.

According to the accompanying label, Soul-Withering Pearls gradually eroded spiritual sense and weakened the soul when their power was absorbed. The effect had once made them useful for keeping certain prisoners incapable of recovering enough strength to resist.

Su Bai’s expression softened into appreciation.

He had recently begun thinking about Soul Cultivation, and Shen Youran had sent him something that might help him begin.

He closed the case, deciding to test the pearls individually when he could devote his full attention to their effects.

His spiritual sense moved farther through the ring and stopped over the pouches.

For several breaths, he remained motionless.

Then he withdrew one and turned the attached label toward himself. The name written there was familiar enough to make his heartbeat quicken.

He loosened the binding slightly and looked at the dry gray ash inside.

"Withered Weeds Ash."

He read Shen Youran’s description beneath the name. It coated the meridians and temporarily prevented the Spirit Root from absorbing ambient Qi.

The wording matched the properties he remembered from the system, and the powder itself looked exactly as it had before. Su Bai carefully closed the pouch and immediately checked the others.

There were several.

A genuine laugh escaped him as he leaned back beside the table. He had been considering a detour to the mortal villages where he had obtained the original sign-in reward, hoping to replenish the supply Ning Shuang had already exhausted.

Shen Youran’s gift had placed the very substance he needed into his hands before he even left the sect. The timing was good enough to make him want to thank her immediately.

Withered Weeds Ash could send the Heart-Sealing Blood Gu into a temporary coma while leaving it alive. He had already used that property to give Ning Shuang a brief period in which she could speak freely, and he remembered how much that freedom had meant to her.

Su Bai placed the pouch back inside the ring with unusual care.

His earlier delight settled into a warmer feeling as he looked at the note again.

Shen Youran had prepared the gift according to what she believed he might need, with no knowledge of how much one seemingly ordinary substance could change his plans.

He had accepted it intending to examine a token of gratitude, and already he owed her another thank-you.