Breaking the Awkwardness and Gathering Materials

"Um... can I come in?" Just as Qing Ye worried about her companions' safety and resented how severe her injuries were—she could barely walk two steps, otherwise she would have gone looking for them herself—a slightly childish voice sounded from outside the cave.

It's him! Remembering how that brat had seen every inch of her body, Qing Ye could not help feeling both embarrassed and furious. However, he had discovered this cave in the first place, so she could not very well stop him from entering. "Do as you please, Young Master." Her cool voice came from within the cave.

"Oh, alright." Hearing the woman's words, Ye Qiu tiptoed into the cave. He gave her an awkward smile, then headed toward a corner of the cave, where a huge pile of miscellaneous items lay scattered about.

"This won't do. This one... would be hard to work with..." Ye Qiu rummaged through the pile, searching for something. What was he looking for? Naturally, materials for forging. During the more than a month Ye Qiu had spent in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, he had encountered quite a few magical beasts. Some of those beasts had useful parts, such as fangs, claws, and tendons. Ye Qiu had learned from the system that Inuyasha himself was only a Three Star Dou Spirit, yet when wielding the Final Version Tessaiga, he possessed the strength of a Four Star Dou Ancestor. This made Ye Qiu extremely envious. Thus, he had collected the claws and fangs of the magical beasts he had slain that seemed worthwhile, intending to have someone forge weapons for his subordinates someday.

But unexpectedly, he soon obtained the inheritance of the Level One Forging Technique. As a result, he collected materials even more diligently, intending to use them as experimental materials. However, he had not used the forging technique even once yet.

Watching the youth turn over the pile of magical beast bones, Qing Ye could not help feeling curious. What was he doing?

"Alright, this will do." Ye Qiu ultimately selected the tendon of a Tier 2 Magical Beast Wall Patterned Snake, the fangs of a Wild Tiger, and a jar of blood from a Third Order Magical Beast Demon Shadow Wolf. Holding these items, Ye Qiu gave the woman another awkward smile before slowly walking out of the cave.

"A fine weapon, but..." Ye Qiu looked at the three items on the ground and frowned slightly. These were all very ordinary materials. Right, Crystal Release! Ye Qiu opened his right hand and slowly gathered the power of Crystal Release in his palm. A crystal gradually condensed in his hand. "I can't use an ordinary crystal. I should make it better." Ye Qiu curled his palm into a claw and compressed the crystal energy. The crystal, originally the size of a pencil case, was compressed to the size of an egg, and its pink color turned purple.

"Ah!" A startled cry suddenly rang out. Turning around, Ye Qiu saw that Qing Ye had found him strange and come outside the cave to take a look, only to witness the process of him condensing the crystal.

"Hehe." Scratching the back of his head, Ye Qiu smiled sheepishly. At that moment, he looked like nothing more than the boy next door. Setting down the egg-shaped crystal, Ye Qiu said to Qing Ye, "Miss Qing Ye, you've been unconscious and haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Are you hungry now? Would you like something to eat?"

"No, I'm not..." Grrr. A sound rang out, and Qing Ye's face immediately flushed red. One hand went to her uncooperative stomach.

"Haha." Ye Qiu jumped in front of the woman and took out a Cream Jam Cake and a bottle of fruit juice from the system storage, offering them to her.

"This..." Qing Ye was not surprised that the youth had conjured things from thin air, because she had seen the rings on his hand. Storage rings! There were three of them. What surprised her was that the food Ye Qiu had brought out was something she had never seen before.

Still, unfamiliar or not, she had to eat. Otherwise, her stomach would not let her off. As for whether there was anything wrong with the food, if the person before her wanted to harm her, would he even need such methods?

Ye Qiu reached out and supported the woman by the arm, helping her slowly sit down. Qing Ye had wanted to refuse when Ye Qiu touched her arm, but for some reason, she did not. Perhaps she felt that since he had already seen her body, touching her arm was nothing. Besides, he was only afraid she might fall.

Qing Ye sat at the cave entrance and began tasting the twenty-first-century delicacies: cake and fruit juice. Mm, delicious. She had never eaten anything like this before. Mm? This seemed to be fruit juice, but it tasted better than Ci Gu Fruit juice.

"By the way, I still don't know your name, Young Master?" After taking a bite of cake, Qing Ye suddenly asked Ye Qiu. People who lived near the Demon Beast Mountain Range and made their living as mercenaries really were different—bold enough to adjust their mindset so quickly.

She's finally asking my name? This is a good start. "Ye Qiu."

"My name is Qing Ye."

"I know."

"I know you know. I was just saying it again." The woman spoke quickly, a faint blush appearing on her bronze-toned pretty face. Then she suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Young Master Ye, when you saved me, did you see my companion? He should have been nearby at the time, right?" Clearly, Qing Ye was referring to the White-Clothed Youth who had fought the Wild Tiger alongside her.

"No. I only saw you at the time," Ye Qiu immediately replied.

"I see."

"Hehe, take your time eating. I'll go get busy first." Seeing that the woman seemed to want to wolf down the food but was forcing herself to take small, refined bites in front of him, Ye Qiu found it rather amusing. It seemed that although she was a female mercenary, a woman was still a woman. Because I saw her body, I already occupy a place in her heart.

"By the way, what were you doing earlier? I saw you condense a crystal." Hearing Ye Qiu's words, Qing Ye suddenly asked.

"Oh? I'm a forger, and I'm planning to forge a weapon. As for that crystal, it's because I have a Special Ability—uh, the ability to create crystals out of thin air," Ye Qiu explained.

"You actually have such an ability? And I never expected you to be a forger." Qing Ye was astonished. In truth, the status of forgers on the Dou Qi Continent was far inferior to that of alchemists, but to ordinary Dou Zhe, forgers were still quite impressive.

"Hehe, you can't judge a person by their appearance."

"Hehe." Hearing Ye Qiu's words, the woman gave a soft laugh. The slight upward curve of her lips was incredibly charming.

"Uh." Ye Qiu was momentarily entranced.