How Did the Reborn Empress Become My Bootlicker? - Chapter 36:

Chapter 36: Ironstone Grove, Spiritual Force Masters’ Association, Kindred Spirits

After mentally filling in the blanks and coming up with a reason why Su Yuan left the house, Xu Anyan was ready to sleep.

Condensing a Source Aperture had taken her nearly nine hours. It was already 4 a.m.

At her current level, she was far from the point where she could forgo sleep altogether.

This wasn’t something that willpower alone could change—it was still a physiological necessity of her unevolved human body.

However, just as she was about to turn off the lights—

Su Yuan’s light in the next room…

Came on again?

She didn’t care at first.

She assumed he had simply gotten up to use the bathroom.

But then—

In the silence of the night, she heard the door open twice, the faint click of the lock being turned.

Su Yuan…

Why would he be going out at this hour?

The sky wasn’t even light yet. What could he be doing?

“…”

“Could it be that after failing to condense a Source Aperture, he couldn’t fall asleep and ended up tossing and turning for hours, then finally decided to go out and clear his head?”

That was the most logical explanation Xu Anyan could think of.

Of course.

She had no intention of following him.

Truthfully, she didn’t really care much about Su Yuan at all.

After mentally rationalizing things with a reasonable excuse, she let it go and drifted off to sleep.

…

“Hoo—”

At 4 a.m., the streets were still shrouded in darkness. The sky had yet to lighten, and everything was cloaked in a dim hue.

But the air—after a whole night of stillness—felt exceptionally fresh.

Feeling the gentle warmth flowing from his newly formed Shenhe Aperture, Su Yuan was in a great mood.

“Even though I only slept a bit over four hours, I don’t feel tired at all, and I don’t have that mental fuzziness from post-cultivation fatigue either…”

“The Great Sun Visualization Scripture is really effective for tempering the mind.”

At the moment, he was heading toward the nearby Yuhe Mountain to watch the sunrise.

It wasn’t because he suddenly felt poetic or artsy, but because the Rising Sun Chapter of the Great Sun Visualization Scripture stated:

To maximize the effects of the visualization technique, the imagined rising sun should closely match its real-world appearance.

Thus, observing and sensing the true sunrise was a highly beneficial auxiliary method of cultivation.

…

Thirty minutes later.

On Yuhe Mountain, a lean figure steadily climbed the stone steps.

Partway up the mountain, Su Yuan paused briefly.

Looking at the iron-brown grove in the distance, he recalled something he had heard before:

Because of Yuhe Mountain’s unique soil composition, it was ideal for cultivating a special type of tree called Ironstone Tree. Thus, halfway up the mountain, there was a grove of these trees—belonging to the Lan City Spiritual Force Masters’ Association.

Spiritual Force Masters’ Association—

Only martial artists with extremely strong spiritual power could join.

And spiritual power could only be sensed and used by martial artists at 4th stage or higher. As such, the association’s minimum entry requirement was 4th stage—making it an elite organization.

Since there was still no globally standardized training method for spiritual power, most Spiritual Force Masters relied on simple, physical-style training—like muscle training, but for the mind.

And Ironstone Trees were one of the most commonly used training materials.

The trunks of these trees were extremely hard and, as studies showed, had an excellent capacity for bearing spiritual force.

Martial artists with strong spiritual power would channel their force into the Ironstone Trees, imagining it as a ‘hand,’ and leave a ‘handprint’ on the trunk.

This was the most basic form of training.

And the depth of the handprint directly reflected one’s spiritual strength.

“If I could join the Spiritual Force Masters’ Association before even reaching 4th stage, it’d probably cause quite a stir, huh?”

Thinking that, Su Yuan withdrew his gaze and continued climbing toward the peak.

…

At the mountaintop, the sky still hadn’t brightened.

The biting wind howled, tugging at his clothes, but Su Yuan didn’t feel cold at all.

He found a large boulder, sat cross-legged on it, and took out a Level-2 Source Crystal, holding it in his hand.

While absorbing Source Energy, he waited for the sunrise.

…

Thirty minutes later.

Hearing soft footsteps behind him, Su Yuan paused his cultivation state.

He turned to see an elderly man with a walking cane.

The old man was small and lean, with white brows and white hair, his face calm and kind. Only his right pant leg hung empty, giving away a hidden disability.

“Huh?”

Seeing Su Yuan, the old man was clearly a little surprised.

His gaze fell on the Source Crystal in Su Yuan’s hand, and after a slight pause, he gave a gentle, apologetic smile.

“Sorry about this, young man. Usually, I’m the only one up here at this hour. Didn’t expect to interrupt your cultivation.”

“It’s alright,” Su Yuan replied with a smile, not bothered at all.

Su Yuan had an easygoing nature, and this old man was both friendly and chatty.

In just a few minutes, the two became familiar.

From their conversation, Su Yuan learned that the old man’s surname was Tang. He was a Lan City native and a former soldier. The injury to his right leg was from his time in the military.

Of course, the two didn’t go too deep into personal matters. Their talk mostly revolved around light and casual topics.

Soon, the horizon began to turn pale.

Sunrise was near.

Just as Su Yuan was about to find an excuse to end the conversation and focus on his visualization, the old man beat him to it.

“Young man, let’s continue this talk later. This old fellow doesn’t have many hobbies, but I do love watching sunrises. I don’t want to miss even a second.”

Su Yuan paused briefly, then smiled in return.

“Uncle Tang, we’re kindred spirits. I just recently took an interest in sunrises myself. This is my first time, but I plan to come every day from now on.”

Hearing that, a flicker of emotion passed through Uncle Tang’s eyes, and he laughed heartily.

“Good! Good! Good! I didn’t expect to have such a fateful meeting with Brother Su. In that case, let’s pause here and enjoy the sunrise!”

“Alright!”

…

The sun slowly rose.

The first ray of morning light bathed the land, and the city began to stir from slumber.

Down the mountain, activity gradually picked up, but atop the peak, all was still.

Only the rustling breeze and the two silent figures seated atop the giant rock.

Unlike the blinding noon sun, the morning sun was much gentler.

Even staring at it didn’t hurt the eyes. Instead, it filled the heart with a strange, renewed vitality.

“Divine sense rises, the rising sun ascends. Morning light falls, bathing the Divine Palace…”

Su Yuan kept his eyes fixed on the rising sun, silently reciting the Great Sun Visualization Scripture as he tried to imprint the image deep into his mind for future visualization.

Uncle Tang, beside him, was doing the same.

He gazed at the sun with glowing eyes.

Behind his calm expression was a turbulent inner world.

…

More than half an hour passed.

The sunrise came to an end.

Su Yuan slowly withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes, replaying in his mind the feeling of “sun rising, all things awakening.”

Uncle Tang also wore a thoughtful look, still immersed in the impression of the sunrise.

After a moment—

Su Yuan stood up and bid farewell.

“Uncle Tang, see you tomorrow.”

Uncle Tang finally came back to his senses and nodded with a smile. “Alright then, young man. See you tomorrow.”

…

Not long after Su Yuan left—

Uncle Tang also stood and walked down the mountain.

But when he reached the halfway point, he turned toward the Ironstone Grove.

Outside the grove was a protective barrier and a strict identity verification system.

Only officially registered association members could enter.