The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

After Yun Yao returned to the palace, she did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried back to her room. She knew that these herbs were hard to come by, and she had risked great danger to collect them from the back mountain. They were like keys to a higher realm, and they were of immeasurable value to her cultivation.

After entering the room, Yun Yao carefully placed the herbs on the table and examined them carefully. The leaves of these herbs were still covered with dew from the woods in the back mountain, and they sparkled in the candlelight, as if telling of the powerful spiritual energy they contained. She gently stroked the leaves of the herbs, feeling the fluctuations of spiritual energy, and her heart was full of expectations for cultivation.

Yun Yao took a deep breath to calm herself down, and then began to prepare for the practice according to the requirements of the exercises. She first found a comfortable position to sit on the bed, crossed her legs, put her hands naturally on her knees, straightened her back, and entered a state of relaxation and alertness. Then, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate, trying to establish a connection with the spiritual energy around her.

At first, her thoughts were a little chaotic, and the scene of the fight with the wolf just now kept flashing in her mind. The wolf's blood-red eyes, sharp claws, and low roar were like shadows shrouding her thoughts. But Yun Yao knew that if she couldn't get rid of these distracting thoughts as soon as possible, she wouldn't be able to effectively absorb the spiritual energy in the herbs for cultivation. She bit her lower lip hard, using the slight pain to bring her attention back to the present.

Gradually, her mind became clearer, and the spiritual energy around her began to slowly gather towards her. She could feel that the spiritual energy was like a group of smart little fish, swimming around her, waiting for her call. Yun Yao slowly opened her eyes and her eyes fell on the herbs on the table. She stretched out her right hand, gently picked up a herb, and placed it in her palm.

As the herbs touched her skin, a rich and pure spiritual energy instantly gushed out of the herbs, spreading along her arms and into her body. This spiritual energy was different from the surrounding spiritual energy she had sensed before. It was more mellow, as if it had been precipitated over the years. Yun Yao guided this spiritual energy to merge with the original spiritual energy in her body. This process was not easy, just like merging two rivers with different flow rates, and their flow direction and speed needed to be carefully controlled.

During the fusion process, Yun Yao felt as if her meridians were slowly nourished by a warm force. She remembered the pain of the spiritual energy running through her meridians when she was in the early stage of the Body Tempering Realm. At this time, although there was some swelling and pain, it was more of a feeling of fullness and comfort. She knew that this was because the spiritual energy in the herbs was of higher quality, and her body had been tempered to a certain extent and could withstand more spiritual energy.

As more herbal spiritual energy was absorbed and integrated, Yun Yao began to guide this powerful spiritual energy to flow through the meridians according to the route of the practice to temper the body. The spiritual energy flowed slowly in the meridians, and every time it passed through an acupoint, it would cause a slight tremor. This tremor was like a signal, conveying the information that the body was being strengthened. Yun Yao could feel that her muscles became tighter, and her bones seemed to become harder under the nourishment of the spiritual energy.

However, as she practiced more, problems gradually emerged. As the spiritual energy in the herbs was too strong, Yun Yao found it difficult to completely control the speed of their flow. Sometimes, the spiritual energy would gather in a certain meridian, forming a strong pressure that made her feel a sharp pain. Beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead and slid down her cheeks, but she still gritted her teeth and persisted. She knew that this was a critical moment. If she could not successfully guide the spiritual energy to complete the quenching, not only would all her previous efforts be wasted, but it might also cause damage to her meridians.

Yun Yao began to adjust her breathing, trying to control the flow of spiritual energy through the rhythm of her breathing. She took a deep breath, let the spiritual energy pause in her body for a while, and then exhaled slowly, while guiding the spiritual energy to continue flowing forward. This method had a certain effect, and the flow of spiritual energy became slightly smoother. However, new problems followed one after another.

When the spiritual energy flowed to the meridians in her legs, Yun Yao felt a huge resistance. It was as if the meridians were refusing to accept this powerful spiritual energy. No matter how hard she tried to guide it, the spiritual energy could not pass smoothly. Her legs began to tremble involuntarily, and this trembling gradually spread from her legs to her whole body. Yun Yao was a little anxious. If she couldn't break through this bottleneck, she would not be able to break through to the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

At this critical moment, Yun Yao suddenly remembered some records in ancient books. The ancient books mentioned that when encountering difficulties in cultivation, one can try to find the source of strength from the depths of the heart. Yun Yao closed her eyes and began to explore deep in her heart. She recalled her experiences since she came to this world, from the initial confusion and helplessness to the current firm cultivation, each experience is the cornerstone of her growth. She thought of the days when she was searching around in the palace in search of ancient books, Xiao Cui's help, her persistence in rummaging through sundries, and her brave response to Liu Yan'er's suspicion and frame-up. These memories are like flames, burning deep in her heart, bringing her endless strength.

Yun Yao regained her spirits. She combined this inner strength with her will and attacked the resistance of the leg meridians again. She concentrated all her energy, condensed the spiritual energy into a sharper force, and then rushed towards the resistance point. This time, she succeeded. The spiritual energy passed through the leg meridians smoothly and continued to flow through the meridians of the whole body.

As the spiritual energy completed one cycle after another in the meridians, Yun Yao could feel that her body had undergone earth-shaking changes. Her physical strength was greatly improved, and every inch of her skin seemed to have been reshaped, full of toughness and strength. Her strength was much greater than before. Before, when she saw a heavy box in the room, she had to work hard to move it a little, but now, she easily lifted the box, just like lifting a light toy. Her movements also became more agile, and when she walked back and forth in the room, it was like a gust of wind passing by, with almost no sound.

Yun Yao successfully broke through to the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm. She slowly opened her eyes, her eyes flashing with excitement. She knew that she had taken another solid step on the road of cultivation in this world. This step was not only an improvement in strength, but also a guarantee for her survival in this world full of challenges and dangers. She stood up, moved her body, felt the surging power in her body, and her heart was full of expectations for future cultivation.

Dear readers, in this chapter, Yun Yao's cultivation process is full of hardships and challenges. I want to make you feel through this description that cultivation is not smooth sailing, but requires overcoming many difficulties. Every breakthrough is hard-won, just like when we pursue our dreams in life, we will encounter various obstacles, but as long as we have firm beliefs and draw strength from the depths of our hearts, we will be able to overcome difficulties and achieve our goals. I hope that everyone can find the shadow of their own struggle in Yun Yao's cultivation journey, and look forward to her wonderful performance in the future cultivation path.