Back in their room, Lin Songmei and Yan Mingqing sat down on their... shared bed? They really hadn’t discussed it, so for now... they’d just continue to sleep in the same bed.

Ripping open the packaging from their master, Mingqing was greeted with two pills encased in similar packaging to the pills they received from the assignment hall. The pills were a dull white-ish color, nothing too special to look at, and it was inside of a small recyclable wrapper.

Songmei, holding the two pills in her hand, couldn’t help but compare them to candy...

They were packaged like candy and even... even kinda looked like candy.

Also in the package though, was a letter, not handwritten because... why, but it had a nice message on it.

“Want me to read it out loud? Might as well, right?” Mingqing asked, looking inside the packaging to see that there wasn’t a second copy in it, then, looking up with a smug expression, “I’ve always had to practice things like public speaking or reading out loud since I was young, so I got this!”

Not really in a position to say no, Songmei gave a small wave to let Mingqing read, she was curious about Mingqing’s out loud reading skills anyway.

[Dear my two lovely disciples,

... I forgot to give you two these pills when you left.

So here they are now! I hope you enjoy them, these are both 75% efficacy body cleansing pills.

You two might be wondering, well... I don’t think Mingqing would wonder as much, but these body cleansing pills are critical at this stage.

When opening your twenty meridians, twelve main and eight extraordinary, you’re considered a body cultivator. At this point, you’re trying to really purify your body and set up a foundation blah blah you know this stuff.

So body cleansing pills are especially useful at this stage!

Also, the effect of these pills will also happen somewhat every time you open one of the 8 extraordinary meridians... so look forward to that.

Also again, I’d recommend taking these pills either while sitting on a towel, or maybe sitting in the bathroom shower area? Or the bath area? I’m not sure which you two have.

It’d be such a shame to do it on your beds, I saw from last night’s call that you two have such pure white sheets, don’t ruin them! Take care of your belongings!

Anyhow, just hold the pills in your mouth, letting them dissolve like a candy, and circulate your Qi while you do it. It probably won’t help you immediately open another meridian, but it will certainly aid in progress towards the next meridian.

Bye-bye~ Take care my lovely disciples~

Liu Xueli

Co-Head of the Martial Pavilion in the Starlight Lake Sect]

Mingqing’s reading skills really were... quite good.

Songmei didn’t know how to feel about the whole “my lovely disciples” part though. It made her feel warm and fuzzy, but also... cringe a little inside.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“So... We follow the advice, right?” Songmei mused, fidgeting with the two pills in her hand. “Also, do we like... take the pills one at a time or both at the same time? I don’t think Xueli expected us to have another pill to take too.”

Mingqing, being the beacon of knowledge she was as usual, answered, “Take them one at a time, order doesn’t matter. So... I mean there’s only one shower, bath area, but I think it's big enough that we can both sit in it together.”

Pushing herself off the bed and stretching, Songmei grabbed her two pills. “Let’s go then~ wohoo! Cultivation~, my only hobby these days~”

----------

Sat in the showering area, Songmei crossed her legs, unwrapping the first piece of can... no, the first body cleansing pill.

Having unwrapped the 50% efficacy pill first, it being the one that was laying on top, Songmei held it in her mouth, closing her eyes and beginning to circulate her Qi.

Inhale.

Exhale.

In... and out.

It was a weird feeling.

Songmei wouldn’t say that it hurt... but it wasn’t... wasn’t comfortable.

As she circulated her Qi with the pill in her mouth, she first felt a rush of coolness spreading through her body every time she breathed. That part was comfortable. It was like washing the insides of her body, as gruesome as that sounded, the coolness really was... it was so comfortable!

However, at the same time, as she felt the coolness rush through her body starting from her mouth where the pill was every time she breathed, Songmei also felt like she was sweating, from every pore of her body.

That part wasn’t very nice.

Sweating already wasn’t the best, but now, it felt like there was something... leaving, oozing out of her body from every pore.

Doing the laundry was going to be hell...

Pushing on though, Songmei’s eyebrows furrowed for a second before she remembered to relax them once more.

Inhaleeeeee.

Exhaleeeeee.

Ignore the weird sweating...

Just concentrate on letting the Qi circulate through the body as if it was the lychee jelly entering Han Youhong’s mouth, smooth as melted butter.

As the clock in the main room ticked on, as the sun dipped in the sky, Songmei and Mingqing concentrated on absorbing the pills, lunch having become a distant thought that occupied no part of their minds.

Done with the first pill after what felt like an eternity, Songmei let out a long exhale, unwrapping the second pill before diving back into absorbing its effects. Similar to the first pill, the second pill also caused a coolness to rush through her body starting from her mouth every time she breathed. At the same time though, with this second pill and its 75% efficacy rate, the weird... uncomfortable sweating feeling continued.

Songmei hated this feeling, it felt... felt... so...

It felt so ew, that’s all she could call it...

In a certain sense, to Songmei, it was similar to being sick and sweating so much even when she already had 2 blankets over her. Then again, she never had proper blankets until she got to the sect...

Clearing her mind, Songmei focused back on her Qi, letting it circulate through her body as the body cleansing pill did its work.

Inhale.

Exhale.

In the bathroom, one that, luckily, had no windows, Songmei was unaware of the passage of time. However, as she finished up, the last of the pill in her mouth dissolving, Songmei observed the changes in her body.

There wasn’t too much of note, just that her body felt more... pure. Internally, there wasn’t much. Her Qi circulation had become a lot more smooth, not only in the areas where she hadn’t opened her meridians, but the places she had already opened as well.

Opening her eyes though, Songmei rolled her neck a few times, feeling it crack as she pushed herself up with difficulty as her joints all screamed in annoyance.

‘Maybe this is what Xueli feels like...’

Looking down as she felt her stomach grumble, Songmei realized... she couldn’t go eat.

There was a layer of... black... mud-like grime that was caked on all her skin.

Shower it is then.