Hope for Pregnancy

"What about the third step?" Murong asked.

Zhou Hao shrugged. "The third step and everything after it are actually trials couples go through after the honeymoon phase. They have little to do with us, since we're not a real couple yet."

Murong raised an eyebrow slightly and said faintly, "Then why did you make it sound so deadly serious? You even divided it into steps. Wouldn't it have been enough to just tell me the second step?"

She had actually been looking forward to it.

Zhou Hao gave an awkward laugh. "If I didn't divide it into steps, how would I show that my thinking is clear and organized?"

Murong rolled her eyes, then said, "It's about time. Spend these three days thinking carefully about what we should do to strengthen our relationship. See you in three days."

Her words still seemed to linger in the air, yet she had already vanished.

Zhou Hao stretched out a hand, then helplessly lowered it again. He had wanted to say that if she did not want the Phoenix Egg, she could break the restriction on it and give it to him.

He fully believed that Murong possessed the ability to break the restriction on the Phoenix Egg.

But she had already left, so he could only wait until next time.

Zhou Hao then entered cultivation, determined to reach the Spiritual Consciousness Realm as quickly as possible so he could leave.

In truth, he could leave even now, as long as Zhou Yuanbao took him out. Still, he wanted to follow the proper procedure.

Du Tianhong had required him to reach the Spiritual Consciousness Realm before leaving the secret chamber because he was naturally worried that Zhou Hao was not strong enough and might die young outside.

And once he reached the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, Zhou Hao guessed that he should have the ability to protect himself outside and live a more carefree life.

Ice and Snow Divine Realm

Murong took out the Ring of Holding Zhou Hao had given her and muttered, "It would be nice if it could bring living people back."

Unfortunately, the World Stone did not have that function. Its function was to return her to wherever she had come from. It could carry inanimate objects, but it could not carry living beings. Otherwise, she would have brought Zhou Hao back to the Ice and Snow Divine Realm long ago.

She gathered her thoughts and looked at the Ring of Holding in her hand. It had a restriction that required blood to acknowledge its owner before it could be used, and there was also a soul projection within it that was already half-activated.

This was similar to the restriction on the Fire-Phoenix Egg, meant to prevent Zhou Hao from keeping everything for himself.

Luckily, Zhou Hao had not acknowledged it as his owner with blood earlier. Otherwise, he would probably have met Du Tianhong again.

Murong swiftly acknowledged it as her owner. The soul projection within did not fully activate. On one hand, the activation conditions had not been met, since Murong qualified to acknowledge it as her owner.

On the other hand, Murong possessed a Chaos Body that embraced all things in the world. The moment she acknowledged it as her owner, every restriction on the Ring of Holding was broken.

The same had happened with the Spirit-Womb Ring back then. It was not that Murong had refused to be teleported to the Sky Dome Continent. Rather, the instant she acknowledged it as her owner, all the restrictions within the Spirit-Womb Ring disappeared, so naturally it could no longer open a teleportation passage and summon Murong over.

If Murong had known that she had once missed an opportunity to spend every waking moment with Zhou Hao, who knew what she would have thought? She would probably have been quite depressed!

Of course, she did not know that now.

Murong took everything out of the Ring of Holding.

Just like Zhou Hao's Ring of Holding, it contained two Jade Slips, three bottles of pills, an exquisite longsword, and a large pile of crystal stones.

She had no use for the crystal stones or pills and ignored them outright. The longsword was not bad, but judging from its design, it should have been one half of a paired Dragon-Phoenix Sword.

The other one was most likely in Zhou Hao's hands. Its quality was fairly decent.

She merely glanced over those items. The only things she cared about were the two Jade Slips.

According to the explanation Du Tianhong had left on the Jade Slip, the Jade Slip on the left was the Spirit-Womb Art Zhou Hao had mentioned.

Murong picked up the Jade Slip and sent her Spiritual Sense into it to examine it.

She directly ignored the opportunity for enlightenment Du Tianhong had left behind.

After she finished reading the Spirit-Womb Art, she fell silent for a long while before suddenly revealing a stunning smile.

"Genius. The founding patriarch of the Spirit-Womb Sect was truly extraordinary. There's hope for me to get pregnant."

After Murong finished learning about the Spirit-Womb Ring, she was overjoyed. Within it, she saw hope for pregnancy. Though the chance was still slim, it was hundreds of times better than all the uncertainty before.

As long as she and Zhou Hao cooperated properly, they would definitely be able to conceive a child.

Murong was in high spirits and immediately ordered her subordinates to prepare a banquet. She wanted to celebrate properly.

While her subordinates prepared the feast, she quietly made her way to the Pill Hall within the Imperial Palace.

"Your Majesty's arrival truly leaves this subject overwhelmed by favor," the white-haired old man hurriedly said as he came forward to greet her.

Murong got straight to the point. "I came this time because I want you to refine several Truth Serum Pills. Nothing else. There's no need to be afraid."

Zhu Danzi smiled. "Your Majesty, please give your orders. This subject will certainly do everything in his power and never refuse."

He was visibly much more relaxed than before.

Murong waved her hand. "Go refine them. I'm giving you three days."

Zhu Danzi hesitated before asking tentatively, "Your Majesty, how many do you require?"

Murong thought about it. Given Zhou Hao's level of lying, she needed to prepare at least ten.

She nodded slightly and said softly, "Ten."

Zhu Danzi's smile grew even brighter. Ten pills in three days—he was still confident he could manage that.

Murong glanced at the tall pill furnace in the center and asked, "It's repaired?"

The moment he heard that, Zhu Danzi's smile vanished. He looked at Murong warily.

Murong gave him a speechless look. "I was in the wrong back then for smashing your pill furnace, but I compensated you, didn't I? I even built you a Pill Hall."

Zhu Danzi secretly rolled his eyes so hard they nearly turned over, cursing inwardly, Did you merely smash a pill furnace? That was the work of my life. I was only one step away from success, and I had to start all over again. And what do you mean, built me a Pill Hall? Wasn't it just house arrest, making me refine pills for all of you?

Still, he only dared to complain in his heart. He understood the saying: when under another's eaves, one had no choice but to bow one's head.

Seeing his poor expression, Murong guessed that he had recalled some unpleasant memories.

She did not stay any longer to provoke Zhu Danzi, but there was still one thing she had to mention.

"When you have time, teach your disciple more. It takes him a whole day to refine a Foundation Strengthening Pill. His skills are lacking."

Zhu Danzi's face darkened even further. That so-called disciple had been forcibly shoved onto him by them.

But what could he do? The same saying applied: when under another's eaves, one had no choice but to bow one's head.

Besides those unpleasant matters, life in the Pill Hall was actually quite satisfying. Whatever materials he wanted were available. If he wished to research new pills, he could squander materials as he pleased, and no one disturbed him. It could be called the sacred ground of research he had always dreamed of.

But that did not change the fact that he had been kidnapped.