No New Tricks?

After much difficulty, he finally placated Di Nüfeng, feeding her a whole string of bad things about Liu Qiushui.

Having escaped from Di Nüfeng, Li Xuanxiao hurried off to find Liu Qiushui again.

He had now confirmed that the one who had fought Liu Qiushui was Di Nüfeng.

It was a case of dogs biting dogs.

There had been no righteous figures trying to kill the two of them at all.

So, if he wanted to survive between these two...

By the time he thought of that, Li Xuanxiao was already standing outside Liu Qiushui's cave.

Liu Qiushui raised her eyes slightly, clear and lovely as a pool of autumn water.

As her gaze shifted, it seemed as though countless stars flickered within it. When her eyes casually swept over Li Xuanxiao, that single instant of exchanged glances seemed to contain a thousand unspoken words.

Li Xuanxiao remained utterly unmoved, his smile still hanging on his face.

The next second, a black pill dropped into his mouth.

Li Xuanxiao clutched his throat.

"This is a pill I refined. It can greatly increase your cultivation, but it is also poison."

Liu Qiushui spoke blandly.

Li Xuanxiao: ...

(O_o)??

Again!?

Couldn't you demon cult people come up with something new?

You all played this same trick, huh?

Li Xuanxiao felt somewhat unwell.

He had swallowed two pills in quick succession, each with side effects and each capable of boosting cultivation. It would have been strange if he felt comfortable.

"It is normal to feel unwell. Digest it for a while, and you will be fine," Liu Qiushui said. "Do not blame me. It is not that I do not trust you; this is merely an insurance measure. Everyone who joins my cult is treated this way."

"However, only those intimate with this venerable one are qualified to take the pill I gave you. You saved this venerable one's life, so from now on, stay by this venerable one's side and attend to me."

Li Xuanxiao was already lying on the ground.

He clearly sensed the pills that Liu Qiushui and Di Nüfeng had each fed into his mouth.

At this moment, they erupted inside him like two bombs whose fuses had been lit.

Those two powerful, mysterious energies were like two well-trained, superbly equipped armies, waging a breathtaking battle to the death upon the narrow battlefield of his body.

They tangled, collided, and tore at each other. Every clash sent violent tremors through him.

One current of energy blazed like fire, seeming ready to burn everything in its path to ashes.

The other was cold as frost, freezing whatever it touched into ice sculptures in an instant.

The two currents traded blows without yielding an inch, and for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

They rampaged through his meridians and acupoints, wantonly disrupting the previously steady flow of his blood and qi.

He felt as though his internal organs were being pulled until they ached, while every bone in his body seemed ready to fall apart at any moment.

My life is over...

Li Xuanxiao no longer had the strength to speak.

"Save... save... save me..."

That was it!?

Li Xuanxiao opened his eyes.

His tiny eyes were filled with enormous confusion.

What was going on?

He sensed the violent power within his body rapidly settling down.

His cultivation swiftly rose.

Yet the side effects contained within the pills—

In other words, the toxins—

The two pill poisons had... canceled each other out!?

Li Xuanxiao was overjoyed. Heaven had not forsaken him after all.

Not only had the two pills raised his cultivation, forcibly pouring a great deal of power into him—

They had even thoughtfully eliminated the side effects.

Even someone with Li Xuanxiao's temperament could not help wanting to laugh at this moment.

Still, with such a massive increase in cultivation, he needed time to digest the power within his body.

It was not like in wuxia novels, where an expert poured a hundred years of internal power into the protagonist—

And the protagonist simply gained a hundred years of internal power.

If that really happened, the protagonist would most likely explode and die.

Even with something like this, merely breaking through a Minor Realm—

Li Xuanxiao needed sufficient time to digest it.

Thus, over the following days—

Li Xuanxiao wandered between Di Nüfeng and Liu Qiushui while digesting the cultivation within his body.

Di Nüfeng was more like an underworld big sister: more impulsive and easier to deceive.

Though Liu Qiushui loved fiery red, she was not fiery-tempered. On the contrary, she was calmer.

Thanks to Li Xuanxiao's attentive care, both women gradually became more familiar with him.

It was not difficult to notice that both of them had, to varying degrees, lowered their former lofty airs.

The Bridge Effect could explain it rather well.

The Bridge Effect referred to how, when someone crossed a suspension bridge in a state of fear and anxiety, their heart would involuntarily beat faster.

If they happened to encounter another person at that moment, they would mistake the accelerated heartbeat caused by the situation for a physiological reaction born of being moved by that person, and thus develop feelings of love for them.

Di Nüfeng and Liu Qiushui had always commanded a hundred responses with a single call.

In their daily lives, they were practically emperors, never lacking attendants at their sides.

Now, gravely injured and lying in caves—

The only one caring for them was an unfamiliar Shushan Disciple. Naturally, they would feel quite favorably toward him.

That was also why the male and female leads in so many film and television dramas fell in love through such scenes.

After several peaceful days passed—

Li Xuanxiao finished cultivating. Though he had not completely digested his cultivation, he had temporarily reached a state of saturation.

He could begin the next step of his plan.

"..."

That day, Li Xuanxiao changed Liu Qiushui's medicine.

Li Xuanxiao carefully lifted Liu Qiushui's arm and set a clean white cloth beside him for later use.

Then, he slowly peeled away the gauze wrapped around her wound, exposing the scar beneath, which had yet to heal completely.

Liu Qiushui could not help furrowing her brows as a sharp pain flared when the wound was disturbed.

But when she saw the youth's focused, earnest expression, the pain in her heart seemed to lessen somewhat.

"The injury is healing faster than I expected," Li Xuanxiao said.

Liu Qiushui nodded.

"Then get some proper rest."

As usual, Li Xuanxiao went out again.

Liu Qiushui had already grown accustomed to it and blurted out—

"Come back early."

The moment the words left her mouth, even Liu Qiushui found them strange.

Li Xuanxiao glanced back at her, his expression unchanged, then left the cave.

Half an incense stick's time later—

A figure staggered back outside the cave.

"Run... run!! It's... people from the Heavenly Fiend Hall!"

Having said that, Li Xuanxiao toppled headfirst to the ground.

"The Heavenly Fiend Hall!!"

Liu Qiushui's expression changed. She hurriedly caught Li Xuanxiao.

Li Xuanxiao had already lost his breath.

Liu Qiushui stood frozen in place like a statue, unable to react for a long while.

The lake of her heart, once tranquil as still water, suddenly rippled almost imperceptibly, followed by a faint tremor.

That youth—that lively, vigorous youth.

He now lay lifeless in her arms, peaceful and tranquil as if asleep.

His body gradually turned cold, while the breath of life slowly seeped away from him bit by bit.

Thinking back on the brief days they had spent together, though they had not been long, they were so different, so one of a kind to Liu Qiushui.

Every day had been simple and pure.

They had even been somewhat dull and monotonous, yet for some reason, that unremarkable life had given her an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

She still remembered when they first met. An awkward silence had hung between them, and neither had wished to be the first to break the stillness.

Yet as time passed, they gradually grew familiar with one another. They began quietly watching the beautiful distant sunset together, sharing their joys and sorrows, laughing and talking...

With a clang—

Her sword left its sheath, battle intent surging from her entire body.

Liu Qiushui gritted her silver teeth.

Just then, another figure burst inside.