Seeing Zhen Shi gawking at her, Isolde couldn't help but blush, her face turning into a bright sheen of red. She shouted out with great embarrassment, "Get out already! Weren't you supposed to be the number one gentleman?! Where are your manners? Get out!"

Zhen Shi couldn't help but grin at the sight of her flustered actions. But he didn't feel too great about acting like a peeping tom either. As such, he immediately began to close the door while shouting, "I'm sorry, Isolde! I'm sorry! It was a mistake! But you should've closed the door behind you as well!"

Hearing that last sentence, Isolde felt like hurling another pillow, but almost as if he knew, Zhen Shi quickly closed the door.

Staring at the closed door, Zhen Shi grinned once more with the refreshing sight he had just witnessed still fresh on his mind. However, his face grew serious almost immediately.

Even if Isolde looked fine, he had noticed the weariness on her face and the weakness of her aura. The fact that her room had been destroyed, the remnant aura of death, and those splashes of blood were still unexplained. Most worryingly, he hadn't sensed the old Butler in his previous search.

With such thoughts, Zhen Shi quickly spread out his spiritual sense throughout the rest of the mansion and searched the areas he hadn't covered before.

Instantly, his head turned towards a certain direction.

Zhen Shi could sense Butler Alec in a room not too far away. He was currently being tended to by some weak cultivators who had to be servants of the mansion.

Trying to sense the old man's condition, Zhen Shi was surprised to realize that he was unable to examine Butler Alec. The fact that his spiritual sense being bolstered by the Vermillion Bird feather couldn't see through a soul transformation old man was very strange...

Rather intrigued, Zhen Shi dashed forwards with a draconic wind step. Shortly after, he arrived in front of the room where Butler Alec was in.

Remembering what had happened before, Zhen Shi who had no intention of seeing an old man naked, raised his hand and politely knocked on the door.

Jiya!

The door was opened by an old maid, who immediately recognized Zhen Shi. A hint of surprise appeared on her face, but she still allowed him to enter.

She spoke out in a worried tone, "Young master, Butler Alec is currently resting. The court physician has said that his condition is stable."

Zhen Shi nodded in reply and turned his eyes to the bed with the unconscious old man.

At first glance, Butler Alec seemed to be fine, almost as if he was only resting. But Zhen Shi felt a very bad premonition...

He hurriedly dashed forwards and placed his hand on the old man's forehead. He tried to send his spiritual sense to check the old man's condition, but it was immediately repelled by a strange overbearing force.

Zhen Shi was surprised, but he had no time to wonder about this. He quickly activated <Aether Vision> and <Odin's Missing Eye> to examine the old man's body. 

Zhen Shi's eyes widened in disbelief.

Butler Alec's meridians were almost completely shattered and his body was completely devoid of qi and aether! His current condition was no different from a mortal!

While that strange overbearing energy made it impossible for him to examine the old man's dantian region, he was still sure that the old Butler had been crippled!

Zhen Shi felt a deep sense of pain and grief as he was reminded of the kind old man who had taught him archery.

He had always wondered why the old man had given him [Descending Bow]. Teaching such a powerful and important skill to some random stranger made no sense. He didn't even ask for anything in return.

The old butler must've had his reasons for doing this...

In the end, it didn't change the fact that the old butler had helped him. 

Without that skill, Zhen Shi never would've comprehended Bow Intent. Without Bow Intent, he might've died in his fight with the crazed Vivienne back in the Valley of no return.

If that had happened, both Myne and Vivienne would've fought to the death. Zhen Shi didn't even want to think about what could've happened...

Without the old man's guidance, he would've blindly focused on Arrow Intent. Without the old man's help, he would've been permanently limited to half of the capability of the Archer class.

Having thought this far, Zhen Shi turned to the various servants and spoke with a calm and determined gaze, "Leave."

The old maid frowned and spoke out, "Young master, Lady Isolde ordered us to keep watch over--"

Zhen Shi scowled in displeasure. The powerful pressure of a Soul Formation cultivator was released as he shouted, "Leave!"

The mortal and elementary qi servants shivered as a powerful force that made them feel powerless pushed them out of the room, and closed the door behind them.

Having cleared the room of an unnecessary audience, Zhen Shi called out mentally, "System, I'm going to need another divine boon."

???

In a room not too far away, Isolde who was now dressed in a silver-white dress was thinking back to what had happened with a face that was both infuriated and blushing.

As she remembered how Zhen Shi had kept staring at her body with laser focus, she huffed with anger and rage.

While she felt rather humiliated by Zhen Shi's actions, she was unable to truly hate him. The wonderful week she had spent with him and Grandpa Alec, ran through her mind leaving her rather confused.

As she continued to think back to what had happened just now, she remembered that Zhen Shi's face had initially looked strange.

It had been a face of worry, fear, and anger...

Isolde's eyes widened as she speculated about what that could mean, 'C-Could he have been worried about me? He couldn't have seen the destroyed room and rushed to see if I was fine, right? M-Maybe he dashed in to help?'

As that thought arose in her mind, most of the anger Isolde felt towards Zhen Shi's actions was washed away.

At the same time, Isolde felt the presence of that simple necklace and her hand involuntarily grasped it.

This was the necklace that had smashed the lecherous prince away, this was the necklace that had protected her, this was the necklace that had helped save Grandpa Alec's life.

Even after resting and healing, she still couldn't help but shiver when she remembered the fear she had felt during that dark night.

This was the necklace that had kept her company through that night, this was the necklace that had given her a sense of protection in a nightmarish time.

This was the necklace that Zhen Shi had placed on her neck before he left. Back then, he had promised to come back and he had.

The moment she realized this, Isolde's anger towards Zhen Shi completely vanished. In fact, she began to feel guilty for getting angry.

Grandpa Alec had become crippled trying to save her, and here she was being angry at the person who had saved them, over such a small matter.

Zhen Shi hadn't done anything but help or try to help, but she had chased him away. 

With her weak Core Formation spiritual sense, she could barely sense that Zhen Shi had left and was no longer outside her room.

'D-Did he leave? I told him to 'get out', but he didn't actually leave us, right?'

Worried that Zhen Shi might've been hurt by her outburst, she hurriedly stood up. Quickly opening the door, she dashed into the corridor.

Isolde was extremely surprised to see all of the servants she had sent to watch over Grandpa Alec was outside. Most of them were staring at that room with fearful expressions.

The old maid immediately noticed that Isolde had come out. She shouted out with a worried expression, "Young lady! The young master forced all of us outside! He's doing something to Butler Alec, but we can't get in!"

Isolde was both surprised and confused, 'What could he be doing?' 

She was well-aware that cultivators could use the crippled body of another cultivator for various nefarious purposes, but with her belief in Zhen Shi's character, she didn't believe that was the case for even a second. 

Still, she was quite curious and hopeful. Isolde would never forget the overbearing power that Zhen Shi's necklace had revealed in her time of need.

'Maybe, just maybe, he could also help Grandpa Alec?'

Realizing that Zhen Shi must've asked the servants to leave since he required privacy, she commanded the curious servants to leave and engage in some other activities.

As the various servants left the area, Isolde excitedly walked forwards and slowly cracked the door open. 

A blinding white light leaked out causing her eyes to squint. As her eyes adjusted to the immense brightness, Isolde could just barely see what was happening. 

Seeing the object in Zhen Shi's hand, releasing the blinding light, Isolde was completely shocked. 

???

Zhen Shi stared at the Undying Healing pill which had cost him 300 OP. 

He had requested for something that could heal Butler Alec, and the system had delivered extremely fast. 

In fact, the system had been so fast, he didn't even have time to complain about bad customer service.

Observing the pill, Zhen Shi was confident that this was a pill far above the Sovereign level. 

This was a pill that had developed intelligence and was leagues beyond his current level. But for some reason, he could still make some sense about its make-up and structure. 

While Zhen Shi was sure that his structure wasn't completely correct, he could still think of some ingredients that he could use to make something similar. 

'Hmm... I can see the aura of the Vermillion bird's Undying flame in this pill. This must be the reason that even a divine pill remains obedient in my hands. If it was any other divine pill, it would've already escaped from my grasp. In that case, the primary ingredient would have to be a strand of the Undying Flame.'

But even as he thought this, Zhen Shi was completely lost on how to use fire as an ingredient in alchemy.

Alchemy was already a profession that used fire in the refining process. Then, how could he use fire as an ingredient? 

Putting this confusing matter aside, Zhen Shi was still quite excited by what he could make with the inspiration from this pill and his strange new knowledge.

As such, he spent a few minutes and carefully memorized everything he could get out of this pill. Having done this, he turned back towards Butler Alec.

With a sense of deep concentration, he smacked the pill onto the old man's stomach. 

Weng!

The pill glowed with a mysterious fiery light and disappeared into the old man's body. 

Having analyzed the pill, Zhen Shi had some knowledge on how to maximize its efficiency. Considering that Butler Alec was unconscious and his injuries were worse closer to his dantian, this was the best method to use the pill. 

This was a pill that could even be useful to him, but considering his debt to the old man, Zhen Shi didn't think twice about using it. 

As he continued to observe Butler Alec's condition, he was extremely surprised. A strand of undying flame had appeared within the old butler's body!

Compared to Zhen Shi's own flame, it was extremely impure. But bolstered by the medicinal power of the pill and an immense amount of divine energy, it's healing prowess was leagues above Zhen Shi's weak flame!

The flame streaked about Alec's body quickly healing and recovering all of his injuries.

His shattered meridians reformed, far stronger than before. His body automatically began to absorb and recover the lost aether and spiritual energy. His bones, tendons, and flesh grew stronger and thrummed with vital energy. 

All of this happened in a single second!

Zhen Shi continued to observe the work of the pill with analytical and shining eyes. If he could replicate a pill with even a portion of this healing ability, he could venture into any battle without fear! Not even a Sovereign would be able to keep up with a healing speed as fast as this! 

Even after Butler Alec's injuries were completely healed, there was a large amount of medicinal energy left. It continued to fill his body with vital energy and greatly increased his ability to cultivate. 

Even then, there was some medicinal energy left which slowly disappeared into the depths of the old butler's body. 

Zhen Shi's eyes shone with intrigue. If he was correct, that remnant medicinal energy would come out if Butler Alec was injured and immediately heal him once more. And it would continue to do this, again and again, until that energy was completely used up! 

Slowly, the old butler's eyes fluttered open and he stared up in disbelief. He muttered, "I'm not crippled after those injuries? Even my cultivation has recovered slightly? And what's this powerful vital energy in my body?" 

Zhen Shi cracked a grin at the old man and was just about to say hello when suddenly, the door crashed open. 

Isolde dashed into the room, and lightly hugged the old butler with muffled sobs, "Grandpa Alec you're okay! I thought you would be crippled! Why did you fight against him? You promised you wouldn't!" 

A relieved smile appeared on the old man's face as he began to pat Isolde on the back and tried to calm her down as best he could. 

Witnessing this sight, Zhen Shi couldn't help but smile. Seeing Isolde so happy after the old man recovered from his injuries, his thoughts ventured towards the Zhen Clan and the injured Zhen Wei. 

Once the Appraisal Competition was taken care of, even if he didn't feel like the actual son of Zhen Wei, he owed it to himself to pay a visit to the Zhen Clan.