Ultimately, Qi Zhe and his party returned as expected, having achieved nothing, and Yu Qingtan was once again locked in the reflection room.


    Yu Qingtan took out several pieces of clothing to pad the stone bed before she drifted off to light sleep.


    The next day, feeling that her body had mostly recovered, Yu Qingtan began to practice her Chess Skill, Calligraphy, and Painting Skill within the confines of the reflection room.


    She yed chess against her left hand with her right hand; when she grew tired, she would practice calligraphy or paint.


    Time, indeed, seemed to pass quickly.


    As evening approached, Yu Qingtan heard a noise at the small window and quickly put everything back into her System Space.


    The small window opened, admitting a beam of dim light into the reflection room, while Shen Wanning’s voice came from outside.


    "Qingtan, how are you?"


    At the same time, a food box was lowered into the room through the small window with a rope.


    "Wanning, I’m fine!"


    "Hang in there; I’m waiting for you outside."


    "I will, don’t worry."


    Yu Qingtan took out the food from the box, which was quickly pulled away, and then the small window closed again.


    Those in the reflection room were provided with only one meal per day, which was still the fare from the dining hall.


    However, having grown used to Spirit Food, Yu Qingtan had lost interest in these meals that she used to find tasty.


    Unfortunately, though the Spirit Rice was now in her System Space, she didn’t know any fire-type spells, nor did she have any cooking utensils with her.


    Having no other choice, Yu Qingtan could only eat the meals provided by the building.


    Before eating, Yu Qingtan let out Xiao Tao and shared a small portion with it, cutting a small piece of Spotted Pig meat for it as well.


    Xiao Tao was not picky, eating the evening meal together with Yu Qingtan.


    Afterward, Yu Qingtan continued to hone her skills while letting Xiao Tao out for some fresh air.


    After more than twenty days passed, Yu Qingtan felt her Chess Skill, Calligraphy, and Painting Skill had significantly improved.


    Shen Wanning woulde every day, taking the opportunity during the servant’s dinner delivery to chat briefly with Yu Qingtan.


    This evening, however, Shen Wanning did note.


    As it happened, it was their quarterly day off, and Shen Wanning, along with some fellow disciples from the inner floors of Tianxiang Pavilion, had made ns to stroll through the market and dine together at the Drunken Fairy Building.


    This was something Shen Wanning had mentioned to Yu Qingtan the day before.


    However, as Yu Qingtan was about to eat her evening meal that day, Xiao Tao suddenly began howling at the food.


    "Ao ao, ao ao, ao ao ao ao ao ao!"


    "Ao ao, ao ao, ao ao ao ao ao ao!"


    After days ofpanionship, the rtionship between Xiao Tao and Yu Qingtan had grown much closer.


    Although Xiao Tao could not speak, it could roughly understand Yu Qingtan’s words, so sometimes the two of them could have a chat—a human and a wolf.


    This had alleviated much of the loneliness Yu Qingtan felt in this enclosed environment.


    At this moment, Xiao Tao’s howling quickly made Yu Qingtan realize there was something wrong with the food being delivered.


    This realization made Yu Qingtan shudder—she had been far too careless, knowing that Tianxiang Pavilion might still harbor the person behind the attempt on her life.


    "Thank you, Xiao Tao!"


    Since there was something wrong with the food, of course, Yu Qingtan dared not eat it, so she bagged it up and stashed it in her System Space.


    Then she cut another piece of Spotted Pig meat for Xiao Tao.


    Yu Qingtan considered for a moment and decided she couldn’t bring herself to eat raw Spotted Pig meat, so she took out a grain of Spirit Rice and threw it into her mouth.


    Crunch.


    There was a faint scent of rice.


    It wasn’t exactly delicious, but it wasn’t bad either.


    Yu Qingtan then ate another one.


    One more.


    …


    The next day, Shen Wanning came to see Yu Qingtan again.


    "Qingtan, you cane out in four days. That Spirit Food from Drunken Fairy Building yesterday was really good, and it was Sister Xiao Yan who treated us."


    "When I get out, I’ll make you something delicious to eat."


    That day, Xiao Tao no longerined about the food delivered by the Servant, but Yu Qingtan still decided not to eat it.


    Eating Spirit Rice was fine too.


    …


    Four dayster, Yu Qingtan was finally released.


    Shen Wanning naturally came to pick her up the moment she could.


    The two returned to Yu Qingtan’s home and made a table full of sumptuous Spirit Food, enjoying a good meal.


    "Qingtan, your cooking skills are getting better and better, soon you’ll be able to match the head chef of Drunken Fairy Building. I’ve almost vomited from eating the food at the canteen this past month!"


    "I also feel like vomiting. But don’t just tter me; the Drunken Fairy Building has a genuine Spirit Chef."


    "Hehe, if my Qingtan is willing to learn, she can definitely be an outstanding Spirit Chef."


    "Hmmph, and then be your personal chef, right? I’m already nning on bing a Spirit Tailor, and you’re still not satisfied?"


    "The capable shouldbor more. But speaking of Spirit Tailor, Teacher Yun came looking for you; remember to go see her tomorrow."


    "Hmm, yes!" Yu Qingtan naturally didn’t hide the fact that she was learning tailoring from Teacher Yun.


    "By the way, Tianxiang Pavilion announced you were closing for a month. Quite a few people came with high hopes but had to leave disappointed."


    "Really?" Yu Qingtan narrowed her eyes; she had lost a lot of Charm Points, Affection Value, and Spirit Stones this month.


    "Yep, but recently something big happened in the city, and even the business at the pavilion has been quite ck."


    "What happened?"


    "Lately, the number of Demonic Beasts outside the city has clearly increased, making life very hard for the Loose Cultivators living in the shantytowns. So not long ago, a group of them gathered at the City Lord’s Mansion to petition, hoping they could temporarilye into the city or that the rent for housing within the city could be temporarily reduced.


    There were several thousand of them, but their requests were rejected. They even encountered eviction from the Enforcement Team, and shes broke out, resulting in a great number of casualties."


    "I didn’t expect that even in cultivation, one would fight so hard for a ce to live." Yu Qingtan felt emotional after hearing this.


    "I heard you say that there are more than three hundred thousand Loose Cultivators in the shantytowns, almost half the poption of Cultivators in the city. If they all came into the city, could it amodate them?"


    "Heh, of course, it can. When Suichuan Immortal City was at its most prosperous, it had over one and a half million Cultivators living here. You have no idea how many houses in the city are empty now. You see the rent is just over a dozen Spirit Stones a month, but they rent by the year, and those poor Loose Cultivators can’t afford it."


    "Do these houses all belong to the City Lord’s Mansion, the three big families, and other powers?"


    "Exactly. Even Tianxiang Pavilion owns quite a few properties, like this whole area we’re in now; it actually belongs to Tianxiang Pavilion."


    "Ah, I had no idea!" Yu Qingtan hadn’t realized that her own house was also a property of Tianxiang Pavilion.


    "Sigh, it’s just a pity for those shantytown Loose Cultivators who died or got injured. They just wanted to avoid the danger of Demonic Beasts for a while, but they were persecuted to this extent by their own Human Race."


    "Sigh, it’s a pity we are only small fry ourselves and can’t help them." Yu Qingtan also remembered the scene when she went to Qi’s house to save people and saw the Enforcement Team driving away Loose Cultivators who lingered.


    Loose Cultivators without a residence in Suichuan Immortal City can only stay in the city for up to three days, and generally only enter the city twice a month.


    "But it’s said that this year the number of Demonic Beasts outside the city is indeed abnormally high, and there’s even the potential for a beast tide to form," Shen Wanning said with a somewhat worried expression.


    "A once in a hundred years beast tide, it has indeed been over eighty years since thest one." Yu Qingtan also recalled the information about beast tides she had read in the relevant records.