Chapter 173 Hot Springs

In a room on the third floor of Granny Xia's bathhouse, Chitiao and Miko were leisurely playing shogi. Lolota, holding her sword, watched with great interest.

This kind of nine-by-nine square grid chessboard with pieces like the jade general, flying chariot, and rook was a unique game specific to Mt. Kakuritsu.

The three of them had been taking turns for two days and two nights.

The loser had a punishment sticker placed on their face. Now, Chitiao and Lolota were covered in them, looking like lions with manes. Miko had fewer, but there were still some. These "decorations" added a touch of humanity to the refined and elegant shrine maiden.

The atmosphere was harmonious.

On the other side of the room, a wooden lattice door separated an isolated space. Various Shinto barriers were set up around it to prevent energy leakage. Although it was impossible to see what was happening inside, the oppressive aura and terrifying dark spiritual power that occasionally leaked out frequently interrupted the three players' thoughts.

Moreover, the frequency and intensity of the energy leaking out today were increasing, showing no signs of stopping. They had reinforced the barrier several times to prevent it from being noticed by outsiders.

Sure enough, just as she moved a piece, Miko was drawn to the gloomy energy fluctuations from the room next door.

As a shrine maiden from Ise Grand Shrine, she was particularly sensitive to dark attribute energy fluctuations.

The exaggerated energy exceeded her understanding of any equivalent professional. It felt as if a hellish monster was evolving in that room, rather than a person advancing.

As she placed her piece, she casually asked, "Miss Chitiao, isn't Mr. Su Lun's energy overflow a bit exaggerated? And it's been going on for so long. Could there be a problem?"

Lolota, who was blowing on the stickers covering her face, added, "Yeah, Teacher. Didn't Mr. Su Lun advance to Tier 4? Why is there such a commotion?"

Chitiao glanced over, blinking her eyes. "Well, that guy's dark spiritual power is indeed exaggerated. Even ordinary professionals advancing to Tier 5 don't make such a big fuss. But the energy is already showing signs of waning, so it should be soon..."

Even though she said that, there wasn't a hint of worry on her face.

Chitiao understood Su Lun too well. His foundation was far deeper than any professional of the same rank. It wasn't strange to have such an exaggerated commotion.

Besides, the stronger the curse properties of the advancement materials, the longer it would take for the body to digest them.

As for the possibility of failing to digest the cursed materials and becoming distorted, there was even less to worry about. For Su Lun, who possessed the All-Knowing Eye, it was virtually impossible.

Also, with his steady personality, there was nothing to be concerned about.

...

The three of them weren't just idly playing shogi here. They were also protecting Su Lun.

After all, an advancement as important as this couldn't be disturbed.

Chitiao didn't say she cared, but this gambling addict, who was usually nowhere to be seen, had been staying in the house these past two days. She hadn't even gone to the hot springs, patiently guarding the room.

The three of them chatted as they played. Lolota yawned.

Chitiao casually said, "Lolota, go to sleep if you're tired."

Lolota replied earnestly, "No, I want to stay with Teacher."

Chitiao turned and asked Miko, who was sitting across from her, "Miss Miko, you can go to sleep if you're tired."

Miko smiled slightly. "I'm fine."

As the hostess, she naturally couldn't go to sleep alone. Besides, she was happy to help Su Lun in any small way.

Hearing this, Chitiao's expression flashed with amusement. She suddenly teased, "Miss Miko, what do you think of that kid Su Lun?"

"He's very impressive."

Miko moved a piece.

After thinking for a moment, she then responded seriously, "Mr. Su Lun is the most knowledgeable person I've ever met, besides my teacher. He seems to know everything and be proficient in everything. He's truly very impressive. I've learned a lot from asking him questions these past few days, and I'm very grateful."

She had gained a better understanding of Su Lun after spending these past few days together.

After losing her initial wariness towards this "stranger," she found that Su Lun was actually a very good person. He was strong, knowledgeable, talented, self-disciplined, humble, focused, and handsome... It was almost impossible to find any faults in him.

Most importantly, he had good character.

He could perfectly control his emotions. Although he occasionally had some inadvertent glances, that was human nature. But he didn't indulge in lewd thoughts, which was a rare quality.

That was why Miko felt very comfortable spending the past few days under the same roof, without any reservations.

As a shrine maiden, she could clearly sense people's emotions.

Hearing this response, Chitiao raised her heroic eyebrows. "Oh? I knew you'd fall for him."

She stared at Miko's pretty face with a playful gaze, as if trying to detect any unusual emotions.

Miko was used to this kind of teasing. Her expression didn't change at all as she corrected, "I have admiration for Mr. Su Lun, not romantic feelings."

She paused and then smiled. "On the contrary, I think Miss Chitiao and Mr. Su Lun are a very good match."

Chitiao rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue. She just lazily said, "That kid once told me a strange story called 'Condor Heroes', with a line like 'Meeting so-and-so ruins your life', I think it suits you quite well..."

Miko ignored her and moved a piece, simply saying, "Mr. Su Lun has also told me some very interesting stories."

"..."

Chitiao looked down at the chessboard and realized that she seemed to be losing again. Her expression turned strange.

She frowned and thought for a moment, unable to find a way to break the situation. She could only gain the upper hand verbally. "Have you ever met a man who's more handsome and outstanding than him? Tsk, tsk... If you don't seize the opportunity, you'll probably never meet one again."

Hearing this, Miko remained noncommittal and said calmly, "Of course, I haven't. And I probably won't in the future. But... Miss Chitiao, you forget that I'm a Shinto shrine maiden."

She said, moved a piece, and smiled. "You lost again."

As soon as she finished speaking, a white paper strip was stuck to Chitiao's face.

Chitiao rolled her eyes.

Lolota laughed heartlessly on the side, urging, "Teacher, you lost! It's my turn!"

...

Chitiao and the others continued to play shogi. Just as there was almost no room left on Chitiao's face for stickers, the energy fluctuations in the other half of the room suddenly stopped completely.

Chitiao immediately realized something and breathed a sigh of relief. "He succeeded!"

These past two days, nothing unexpected had happened after all.

Miko also noticed and smiled, saying, "It seems Mr. Su Lun has finished his advancement."

Lolota watched the two of them suddenly stop and finally realized what was happening. She looked at the wooden door and whispered, "I wonder if he succeeded..."

Before she could finish speaking, the lattice door was suddenly pushed open, and Su Lun walked out, looking radiant.

Because he had just advanced, he couldn't perfectly conceal his aura. The overflowing Tier 4 energy fluctuations caused surprise and anticipation on the faces of the three people in the room.

Lolota was impatient and asked, "Mr. Su Lun, did you succeed in your advancement?"

Su Lun nodded. He had succeeded.

Chitiao narrowed her eyes and examined the subtle runes that flickered on Su Lun's skin. She asked, "How does it feel to advance?"

"Very strong."

Su Lun only said two words.

He couldn't describe his current experience, but the feeling was truly excellent!

If obtaining the heritage scroll of the Rune Warlock lineage before was like finding a piece of gold in the wild, then now he had mastered the method of "turning stone into gold"!

After advancing, he not only gained a lot of knowledge related to runology, but his understanding of this field, as well as his logical thinking ability, learning, extension, deduction, variation, perception... and other abilities, instantly jumped countless levels.

That [Replica of the Primordial Rune] was truly a treasure!

The essence of runes was "magic patterns," using intuitive, concrete patterns to express abstract concepts of laws. Through special combinations and arrangements, various magical effects could be created.

At this moment, Su Lun felt as if he had seen a lighthouse in the vast, endless sea of knowledge, making him feel as if he had touched the threshold of the ultimate mysteries of the laws.

Choosing this direction for his Tier 4 advancement felt extremely good!

Improving his attainments in "Runelogy" was crucial for a Puppet Master. After this advancement, Su Lun's combat power in making Rune Puppets would increase exponentially.

Those previously incomprehensible high-level Tier 6 and 7 runes, various variations of Runic languages... felt like a college student doing elementary school problems, readily available, and the ideas immediately became clear.

Before, he was a "Rune Master," but now he was a "Rune Grandmaster"!

Moreover, there were many rune secrets in the "Rune Warlock" lineage's heritage. After mastering them, Su Lun's own combat power would also increase several times!

Looking at the wisdom in Su Lun's eyes, Miko smiled and said softly, from the bottom of her heart, "Congratulations, Mr. Su Lun."

Su Lun glanced at her and said in a deep voice, "I was able to advance successfully thanks to Miss Miko's help..."

He couldn't express his gratitude with just words.

From the recipe and materials to the subsequent refinement, this princess of Mt. Kakuritsu was directly involved.

If it weren't for Miko, if Su Lun had to prepare everything himself, his advancement would probably be far off.

He truly owed her a favor.

Miko bowed slightly and replied, "Mr. Su Lun, you're too kind."

Chitiao rolled her eyes, planning to interrupt the two of them's polite exchanges. "Can you two stop thanking each other?"

Su Lun was amused.

Suddenly, he looked at the runes on Chitiao's arm and said, "Chitiao, I'm confident that I can now undo the 'Anti-Magic Rune Sealing' on your arm!"

With his previous rune level, it would take him ten days to half a month to find the correct method to break a seal placed by a Tier 6 Rune Grandmaster.

But now, after advancing, he could immediately find the patterns in the arrangement of those runic languages with just one glance.

"Oh?"

Chitiao raised her eyebrows, her expression brightening.

She wouldn't stand on ceremony with Su Lun. The rune seal on her arms had caused her a lot of trouble in recent times, so it would be best to solve it.

But suddenly, she seemed to smell something strange. She wrinkled her nose and said with a look of disgust, "Su Lun, what's that smell on you?"

Su Lun asked, "There's no smell, is there?"

Lolota made a face, reminding him, "A sour smell..."

Miko covered her mouth and smiled without saying a word.

"..."

Hearing this, Su Lun finally realized something.

Even though this was a hot spring inn, he hadn't even gone to the pool since arriving so many days ago. He had been immersed in tinkering with his advancement.

Plus, with the days on the pirate ship before that, he hadn't taken a bath in what felt like half a month? He had also been refining materials for a few days, so his body definitely didn't smell good.

Thinking of this, he laughed awkwardly. "Should I go take care of that first?"

He had been cooped up in the room for two days and two nights for this Tier 4 advancement. He felt that he should wash up as well. He made a gesture to walk towards the courtyard.

Hearing this, Chitiao glanced at Miko out of the corner of her eye, a hint of playfulness flashing in her eyes. She waved her hand and said, "Let's go to the hot springs! I found a good place on the mountain before. It's definitely a top-notch experience. It's been two days since I've been out, so let's go see the 'scenery'..."

Su Lun thought it sounded good. "Okay."

Chitiao made a gesture to walk outside, and then casually put her arm around Miko's shoulder. "Let's go, Miss Miko, let's go together."

"Ah?"

Miko had a feeling that Chitiao was going to tease her, but if she refused, it would seem too distant. Before her brain could react, Chitiao had already pulled her outside. She could only respond absentmindedly, "Okay."

The group of four left the small courtyard and quietly went up the mountain.

...

Su Lun and the others were all skilled, so they didn't take the main road, but climbed through the forest and over the mountains.

Mt. Chanari's geothermal hot springs were abundant, but all the bathhouses were built on flat terrain. The higher they went, the fewer people there were.

Before long, the group had reached above the snow line, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.

Watching them go further and further towards the main peak of the volcano, Su Lun was curious and asked, "Chitiao, where are we going?"

Chitiao didn't stop at all, looking forward to it. "Lolota and I came out to practice swordsmanship before, and we stumbled upon a natural hot spring on the mountain. The scenery is excellent, and the spring water is very good!"

Su Lun: "Oh."

At this time, Chitiao asked Miko, who was next to her, "Miss Miko has probably never been to such a wild hot spring, has she?"

"Ah...yes."

Miko seemed a little distracted, nodding. "I came to Mt. Chanari when I was a child, but I only ever went to the bathhouses. I haven't been on the mountain."

She looked at the surrounding snow scene, like a caged canary, and a different look flashed across her pretty face. "I didn't expect the scenery here to be so magnificent."

Chitiao raised her eyebrows. "Oh, then you really should try it. That hot spring will definitely leave a lasting impression on you."

Miko didn't know why, but she always felt that Chitiao's smile had a mischievous meaning today.

Was she going to get revenge for her winning too many shogi games these past two days?

...

"It's above there!"

Before long, Su Lun and the others arrived at the foot of a cliff that was almost ninety degrees. Chitiao pointed to the top of the nearly hundred-meter-high cliff, where there was a dead tree, gurgling water, and large ice waterfalls.

"Hurry up and follow me!"

Chitiao exerted force under her feet, stomping on the ground and rushing up. Like an agile chamois, she stepped on the protruding cliffs on the rock wall a few times and jumped up.

Lolota, not wanting to be outdone, climbed up with a short knife, inserting it into the ice crevices along the way. She didn't forget to say to Su Lun and the other below, "Mr. Su Lun, Miss Miko, hurry up!"

"Okay."

Su Lun replied.

Climbing the wall was easy for him, but he glanced at Miko beside him, who looked a little embarrassed at the rock wall. He asked, "Miss Miko, shall I take you up?"

"Ah?"

Miko's eyes were blank for a moment.

It wasn't that she couldn't climb up, but she felt that climbing the wall didn't seem appropriate. She was a royal princess, and she had never climbed a wall like this before. Even if there was such a situation, the guards would have arranged the route.

She kept asking herself in her mind:

Would climbing the wall be rude?

It seems like the etiquette instructor never allowed the princess to do this?

Also...would Mr. Su Lun think it was strange?

But while she was still confused, she was suddenly hugged by a hand, and her body lightened. Someone said in her ear, "Miss Miko, hold on tight, I'm going up."

Su Lun wouldn't be so twisted and verbose. He saw Miko's embarrassment and directly took action.

With the Eight-Armed Spider Spear dissolving, he hugged one person and easily climbed the cliff.

ps. This is a catch-up from yesterday. If I have time, I will try to write another chapter. Don't wait, it might be very late.