Perhaps due to the support of the serpent's inner core, Qin Shu's treatment lasted longer this time.

When she finally withdrew her hand, a sudden thought emerged in her mind.

The serpent's condition was terrible—worse than before. It could barely maintain its human form, likely because it had lost its inner core.

Qin Shu wrinkled her nose, suddenly understanding why he had wanted to strangle her earlier.

She reached up to touch her neck, a lingering sense of fear in her heart.

Her gaze fell once again on the serpent's pitch-black scales. Noticing it had seemingly fallen asleep, she tiptoed toward the training room.

She didn't know the serpent's true origins, but it was evidently far stronger than she was. If he suggested that the cultivation manual from Wen Chi's family might help, she decided it was worth trying.

Besides, there were no other options left for her.

After sitting to regulate her breathing and recovering her state to its peak, she touched her storage ring lightly, and a booklet appeared in her hand.

"The Art of Overcoming Tribulations."

The original novel didn't elaborate much on Wen Chi's family, but Qin Shu felt that any cultivation technique with the words "overcoming tribulations" in its name must not be ordinary.

She opened the manual and read the first line on the first page: "Each life has its own tribulations. To overcome and escape them is the way of overcoming tribulations."

Qin Shu's interest was immediately piqued. After all, who could be more plagued by misfortune than she was?

She had drowned and died just after being accepted into her dream university. Upon transmigrating into a book, she was stabbed to death. After being reborn, she ended up with this cursed serpent, teetering on the brink of life and death daily.

If there truly was a method to smooth out her misfortunes and live a stable life, she wouldn't mind having mediocre talent. At the very least, she could carve out a place for herself in the cultivation world.

With determination, she flipped to the next page. There, detailed diagrams of the human body and instructions on how spiritual energy should flow through it were presented, along with which acupoints to prioritize.

After finishing the book and taking some time to digest the knowledge, Qin Shu put it away. She assumed the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture and began her first attempt at operating the technique as instructed.

The Art of Overcoming Tribulations was indeed a high-level cultivation method. At her mere third-level Qi Refinement cultivation, she found it challenging to control the spiritual energy as required.

As the energy completed one cycle through her acupoints, Qin Shu held her breath.

Every time she reached this stage in her previous attempts, the gathered spiritual energy would dissipate, rendering her efforts futile.

Yet this time, as the energy returned to her dantian, it stubbornly refused to enter the Guan Yuan acupoint.

Sweat gradually formed on Qin Shu's forehead as she struggled, biting her lips so hard that they bled.

The problem, she realized, lay with the gold-green inner core in her dantian. It seemed to clash with her spiritual energy, preventing her from completing the process.

Furious, Qin Shu gritted her teeth, wishing she could dig out the core and shove it back into the serpent.

He had truly brought her nothing but trouble!

The edges of the smoky purple energy she had gathered began to show signs of collapsing. Qin Shu's heart sank, and her face twitched uncontrollably.

Was it all going to be for nothing again?

Just hold on a little longer.

Her face turned pale as she pushed her mental energy to the brink, desperately controlling the energy.

At that moment, a golden light suddenly emerged on her forehead. If Qin Shu could see it, she would have recognized it as the drop of blood Wen Chi had given her.

The golden light burst into countless smaller particles, merging into her body.

With the golden light's reinforcement, the smoky purple energy suddenly gained the upper hand over the gold-green inner core.

The thick, smoky purple energy slowly flowed into the Guan Yuan acupoint, wrapping around the gold-green inner core in her dantian.

Sensing the threat, the inner core tried to escape from her sea of energy but seemed to sink into quicksand, being dragged back little by little.

When the inner core was finally enveloped entirely, Qin Shu opened her eyes. For a moment, a golden light seemed to flash across her pupils.

The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and a look of joy spread across her face.

It had worked!

But before she could celebrate for long, the serpent lying on the stone bed suddenly vomited blood, and the luster of its scales grew even dimmer.

Qin Shu froze. She hadn't expected that keeping the inner core within her would also harm him.

Panicked, she looked at the serpent, who raised its head and hissed, its forked tongue flicking menacingly.

Qin Shu felt a chill run down her spine, her heart sinking like ice.

Frantically waving her hands, she exclaimed, "I swear! I didn't do anything! It's not my fault!"

In truth, she knew the real reason. The technique was called the Art of Overcoming Tribulations, but the serpent's core was a source of calamity.

The domineering nature of the technique likely wouldn't stop until the core was purified entirely.

Based on Qin Shu's reasoning, the serpent probably wanted to tear her apart right now. Yet surprisingly, the serpent only gave her a cold glance before lowering its head again.

If Xie Shiyuan had suggested she practice this technique, he had surely anticipated the impact it would have on his inner core.

All things in this world had both advantages and disadvantages. While the Art of Overcoming Tribulations would harm his core, it would also help shield him from certain celestial forces.

Seeing the serpent settle back down, Qin Shu patted her chest in relief and let out a sigh.

Just then, someone triggered the restriction at her door.

Startled, Qin Shu turned to look outside and saw that the visitor was none other than Chi Yu.

Not wanting to entertain guests in her messy state, Qin Shu quickly cast a cleansing spell to tidy herself up before stepping out.

As always, Chi Yu was dressed in fiery red robes. Qin Shu stepped forward and clasped her hands in greeting. "Senior Sister."

Chi Yu nodded and asked, "Did you practice the technique I gave you?"

Caught off guard, Qin Shu nodded slightly and respectfully handed back the manual. "Thank you, Senior Sister. I've already practiced it, but I don't seem to have any affinity with this technique. Alas..."

She genuinely felt disappointed. The Great Sun Flame technique was more compatible with her fire attribute, but it was just too demanding.

Frowning slightly, she missed the strange expression on Chi Yu's face.

The Great Sun Flame was notoriously difficult to master. Concerned it might injure Qin Shu, Chi Yu had come to deliver healing pills. Yet Qin Shu seemed perfectly fine.

It seemed her junior sister, with her three-attribute spiritual root, might not be as simple as she appeared.