Set Out for the Tagor Desert!

A moment later,

Inside a quiet courtyard, Xiao Yi Xian was carefully tending the medicinal herbs growing there. Her slender fingers brushed lightly over the leaves, her movements gentle and focused.

"Xian'er, pack up. We're leaving."

Lu Yu's voice came from behind her. Hearing him, Xiao Yi Xian flicked her sleeve and deftly stored several medicinal herbs in her Storage Ring.

She turned around, the purple Dou Qi swirling faintly around her body clearly showing that she had reached the One-star Great Dou Shi realm.

Over the past six months, she was no longer the frail apothecary who needed protection.

Otherwise, she could not have helped Lu Yu effortlessly poison two One-star Great Dou Shis to death yesterday.

"We're leaving already?"

Xiao Yi Xian's expression remained calm. She raised her delicate hand and ran a fingertip over the Storage Ring at her waist. "Healing medicine, Qi Recovery Pills, a map of the Tagor Desert, food and water, insect repellent..."

As she listed each item, she took it from her Storage Ring and placed it on the stone table. "Is everything ready?"

Lu Yu froze at that and subconsciously rubbed his nose. "This... That's quite a lot..." His gaze swept over the dazzling array of supplies on the table, and his voice gradually weakened. "We won't need this much, will we..."

"How could we not need it?"

Xiao Yi Xian rolled her eyes at him, then took another exquisite jade bottle from her sleeve and gently set it on the stone table. She said crossly, "Some people only care about cultivating and even forget the most basic supplies, don't they?"

"I prepared all this for you. Take it with you. I still have another set in my Storage Ring."

Lu Yu sheepishly gathered the supplies from the table. "But you're with me."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your Xun'er younger sister?"

Xiao Yi Xian suddenly spoke, her tone so calm that it was impossible to discern her feelings.

Lu Yu coughed lightly, his eyes flickering as he said somewhat awkwardly, "I already did." He quickly changed the subject. "We should leave. Let's try to reach the Tagor Desert within a month."

Xiao Yi Xian gave him a faint glance and did not press further. Over the past six months, because of their dual cultivation of the Great Pagoda Art, the two had grown increasingly close, but they had always remained in an ambiguous stage. Xun'er's existence was like an invisible barrier standing between them.

If only I had met you sooner... The thought flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's mind, and a trace of gloom involuntarily surfaced in her eyes.

Not long afterward, two figures quietly left the Xiao Family.

After they had traveled far from Wutan City and found themselves in an uninhabited place, Lu Yu suddenly reached out and wrapped an arm around Xiao Yi Xian's slender waist.

"Hold on tight." He spoke in a low voice. Purple light surged behind him, and a pair of gorgeous purple wings suddenly spread open. Before Xiao Yi Xian could react, she was carried into the air, the powerful current sending her hair flying.

"You!" She instinctively gripped Lu Yu's collar, a flash of embarrassment and annoyance crossing her purple eyes. But soon, her attention was drawn to the scenery below—mountains and rivers raced backward beneath their feet, while the clouds seemed close enough to touch.

The corners of Lu Yu's lips lifted. The Purple Cloud Wings suddenly beat hard, raising their speed another notch.

Xiao Yi Xian had no choice but to press close to his chest. Beside her ears was the powerful sound of his heartbeat, mixed with the howling wind.

After several days of flight and a few stops along the way,

the familiar Qingshan Town appeared on the horizon. Lu Yu slowly descended outside the town and put away his Purple Cloud Wings. Xiao Yi Xian immediately broke free from his embrace and straightened her wind-tousled dress, the tips of her ears faintly red.

"Qingshan Town hasn't changed at all after a year..."

Lu Yu looked at the familiar Bluestone Slab road at the town entrance. His gaze swept over the mercenaries coming and going before he turned to Xiao Yi Xian. "Would you like to take a look at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion?"

Xiao Yi Xian shook her head, a complicated look flashing through her eyes. "No need. Let's go straight into the mountains."

By the time the sun sank in the west, the two had already entered the outer reaches of the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

Lu Yu deftly set up a campfire and took a dressed Snow Spirit Rabbit from his Storage Ring, placing it over the flames. As fat dripped down with a sizzling sound, an enticing aroma gradually spread through the air.

"Not bad." Xiao Yi Xian accepted a roasted rabbit leg and took a small bite.

Lu Yu smiled, picked up another rabbit leg, and began eating heartily.

After dinner, night fully descended.

The two sat around the campfire. Lu Yu took out a jade bottle. "Want to try this? I used the Earth Core Flame to purify Ghost Soul Grass and Silver Egret Flower, then combined them into this bottle of Desperate Powder."

Xiao Yi Xian accepted the jade bottle and lightly touched a fingertip to it for a taste. A satisfied expression appeared on her face. "Having an apothecary by your side really is wonderful. Even poison tastes this good."

"As long as you like it," Lu Yu said with a smile and a shake of his head. "We can dual cultivate later..."

Before he finished speaking, Xiao Yi Xian had already tilted back her snow-white neck and downed the entire bottle of poison. Her cheeks instantly flushed with an intoxicating redness, her purple eyes filling with hazy, watery light, while a satisfied sigh escaped between her red lips.

For someone with the Calamity Poison Body, being able to swallow such potent poison so freely was indeed a rare pleasure.

Lu Yu's eyes widened as he snatched the jade bottle away. "Why were you in such a hurry..." He shook the now-empty bottle and said, both amused and exasperated, "That was a month's worth of extract!"

Xiao Yi Xian lazily leaned against the tree trunk. Poison Mist uncontrollably spilled from around her body, corroding the surrounding grass and trees with sizzling sounds. She tilted her head toward Lu Yu, her voice carrying a rare trace of childish coyness. "What? Are you reluctant to part with it?"

"I was worried you..." Lu Yu swallowed the rest of his words, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Forget it. Let's begin dual cultivation. In your current state, if you don't guide the poison inside you soon, I'm afraid it'll run wild."

Xiao Yi Xian chuckled. Her slender jade hands clasped Lu Yu's, and pure Poison Dou Qi flowed into his meridians like a gentle stream. "Then what are we waiting for?"

As the night deepened, the campfire in the forest had long since gone out.

The two figures intertwined, their hazy outlines traced by the moonlight. The energy of heaven and earth around them was continuously drawn inward, and time slowly passed...

The next morning,

as the final thread of energy revolved back into place, the two opened their eyes simultaneously and tacitly stopped circulating their power, ending this bout of dual cultivation.

Dou Qi surged around Lu Yu's body, his robes fluttering without wind. Clearly, his cultivation had improved once again. Meanwhile, the purple hue in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes had become somewhat clearer.

"The poison has been temporarily sealed inside the poison core. From here, it needs to be refined slowly." Lu Yu rubbed his throbbing temples, his tone stern. "You can't be so reckless next time."

Xiao Yi Xian lazily stretched her waist and said carelessly, "Isn't there still you?"

"You..." Lu Yu shook his head helplessly and said, "Before the Great Pagoda Art reaches the Tower Transformation Realm, the Calamity Poison Body could backlash at any time."

"Wait until you've truly condensed the Pagoda Tower before thinking about devouring poison without restraint."

Xiao Yi Xian waved dismissively and rose to gently pat her dress. Ever since she began cultivating the Great Pagoda Art, her poison body had not acted up for nearly a year.

She understood her physical condition better than anyone. At present, for her poison body to act up, she would have to deliberately detonate the poison core inside her. Otherwise, it was simply impossible for her to lose control.

But how could she possibly do something so foolish and suicidal?

"All right, let's continue on our way."

"If we cross the Monster Beast Mountain Range sooner, we can find a safe place to rest."

"All right..."