Su Wan couldn’t meet her eyes. She stared at the damp collar of Ji’an’s tunic, where the fabric clung to her collarbones. "I swear, I didn’t mean to..."

"Didn’t mean to what?" Ji’an interrupted smoothly, leaning in just a fraction closer. The scent of lavender soap and clean water enveloped Su Wan. "Didn’t mean to play the peeping tom? Or didn’t mean to get caught?"

Su Wan gasped, her hands flying to cover her burning cheeks. "Senior Brother! Please, you must preserve my reputation! I saw nothing! I closed my eyes immediately!"

"Oh?" Ji’an raised an eyebrow, a roguish smirk playing on her lips.

She had zero interest in this girl romantically, but punishing a manipulative White Lotus by completely overloading her emotional circuits was just too entertaining to pass up. "You closed your eyes? That’s a shame. I work out quite a bit. Wielding an iron spatula does wonders for the lats."

Su Wan peeked through her fingers, and her brain was short-circuiting.

The cold, calculating manipulator who usually twisted men around her little finger was entirely defenseless against a guy who owned his attractiveness with such shameless, confident swagger.

"So tell me," Ji’an teased, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Were you satisfied with the view, Junior Sister? Or should I turn around so you can give it a proper critique?"

"S-Satisfied!" Su Wan squeaked, completely losing her composure. "Very satisfied! I mean—no! I mean, I shouldn’t have looked! I am deeply sorry, Senior Brother!"

Ji’an burst out laughing, a genuine, hearty sound that broke the tension entirely. She stood up and offered a hand to the flustered girl.

"Relax, Junior Sister Su Wan. I’m not going to turn you into mince meat," Ji’an said, her tone softening back into the reliable Senior Brother persona. "Just... next time you want to inspect someone’s physique, maybe knock first. Now, come on. The barrier won’t hold forever, and I need sleep. If you tell anyone about the waterfall, I’ll start charging admission."

Su Wan hesitantly took the offered hand. Ji’an hoisted her up effortlessly.

As they walked back to the cave, Su Wan walked a half-step behind, her eyes glued to Ji’an’s back.

The manipulation, the plotting, the desire to use the Princess to climb the social ladder, all of it was temporarily wiped clean, replaced by the overwhelming, dizzying realization that she had just developed a massive, undeniable crush on a chef from Class 9.

***

The morning sun broke through the canopy, signaling the beginning of day two in the Myriad Illusions Lower Realm.

The Class 9 squad, now permanently bolstered by the terrified but obedient Class 6 guards, Princess Ling’er, and a strangely docile Su Wan, moved out like a well-oiled military unit. Or rather, a highly efficient kitchen brigade.

"Tang Bo! Flank left! Bang those pots together to disorient the bees!" Ji’an shouted from the center of the formation.

"Yes, Boss!" Tang Bo, wielding two heavy iron skillets, charged toward the massive, buzzing hive of the Armored Murder-Bees, clanging the metal like a deranged cymbal player.

The giant, steel-plated insects swarmed out, completely distracted by the noise.

"Guys! Throw the damp pine needles! Smoke them out!"

The Class 6 guys, having realized that obeying Lin Ji’an meant surviving, threw bundles of smoldering pine.

The thick, fragrant smoke incapacitated the bees, causing them to drop out of the air in a sleepy stupor.

Ji’an dashed in using her Shadow Step, a glass jar in hand. With surgical precision, she bypassed the sleeping guards and scooped up exactly one pint of glowing, golden Murder-Bee Nectar.

"Quest Three: Complete!" Ji’an cheered, sealing the jar. "And we have enough leftover for honey-glazed roast duck!"

Over the next few hours, they systematically dismantled the Lower Realm’s challenges.

The Golden-Horned Boar was lured into a pit trap using the leftover fermented rice wine, and Ji’an cleanly extracted its left tusk while the beast was snoring off a hangover.

They were back and forth, crossing swamps and scaling hills, completing not only Ji’an’s quests but helping the others secure their minimal requirements as well.

Under Ji’an’s leadership, no one was injured, no one was left behind, and most importantly, no one went hungry.

By mid-afternoon, the squad was exhausted, covered in sweat, pollen, and mud, but their morale was higher than ever.

"Boss," Tang Bo panted, leaning on his skillets. "Where to next? I think my legs are going to fall off."

Ji’an consulted the holographic map on her Lifeline Token. The fog of war had cleared significantly.

"Just over this ridge," Ji’an announced, a spark of genuine excitement in her eyes. "I sense a massive concentration of Water and Earth Qi. The topography matches the rumors. We’re heading to the Luminous Jade River."

They crested the hill, and the sight that greeted them stole the breath from their lungs.

The Luminous Jade River lived up to its name. The water wasn’t just clear; it was a brilliant, glowing aquamarine, pulsing with visible currents of liquid Qi. The mist rising from the surface was thick, carrying the revitalizing scent of pure spiritual energy.

The riverbanks were lined with smooth, white stones and weeping willows whose branches dipped lovingly into the glowing water.

"Whoa," Liu Liu whispered, dropping her heavy pack. "It’s beautiful."

But for Lin Ji’an, it was more than beautiful. It was a catalyst.

The moment she inhaled the mist, the Harmonious Five-Grain Constitution inside her flared to life.

Her meridians, which had been stretched and fortified by the constant consumption of premium monster meat and high-grade herbs over the past 24 hours, eagerly drank in the ambient Qi.

She felt the familiar, trembling pressure against her dantian.

She was currently at Foundation Establishment Stage 5. But standing near this river, she felt the barrier to Stage 6 thinning like wet rice paper.

’My luck is insane today,’ Ji’an thought, a wide grin spreading across her face. ’All these premium ingredients, no psychotic assassins jumping out of the bushes, and now a high-density Qi river?’