An Ordinary Qi Refining Cultivation Method
Seeing this, An Bulang could not help but sigh softly.
Ji Changwu was bound to die. Tonight had been a fight to the death. If Ji Hongxue let him go, what would Ji Wuye think? If Ji Wuye was cruel enough to vent his anger on others, everyone in Prince De's Estate would have to die. Only if Ji Changwu died in battle could he be said to have died for the mission, allowing Ji Wuye to focus all his attention and hatred on Ji Hongxue.
"Rumble..."
Muffled thunder rolled across the sky.
This was not An Bulang's doing.
The night sky was dark. It had been about to rain anyway.
Splash, splash, splash...
The heavy rain came down without warning.
It washed away the thick stench of blood in the small garden.
Ji Hongxue's soft, silky red dress was soaked through, clinging to her snow-white skin and revealing her tall, seductive figure in full.
Yet she seemed utterly unaware of it. She slowly pulled the dagger from Ji Changwu's heart, covered his wide-open eyes, then rose to her feet. The dagger in her hand was still trembling slightly.
The moment An Bulang saw that, he could no longer sit still. He immediately stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Ji Hongxue's wet, slender waist, grinning. "Sister Hongxue, on a dark and stormy night like this, with rain pouring down in torrents, shouldn't we find somewhere else to go?"
The anger he had expected never came.
Just as An Bulang was wondering about it, the woman beside him suddenly turned around, hugged him tightly, and burst into loud sobs.
This...!
The woman's soft yet faintly warm touch stood in stark contrast to the icy rainwater.
An Bulang recalled his father's teachings. As an outstanding man, when a woman was emotionally low, he should hold her and go along with her.
Without another word, he wrapped his arms around the woman in his embrace, one arm around her slender waist and the other against her back.
An Bulang could clearly feel the soft, curvaceous body in his arms shiver lightly.
Then Ji Hongxue held him even tighter and cried even more freely.
The rain fell heavily.
It was nearly enough to drown out the woman's sobs.
Splash, splash...
Boom, boom, boom...
After Ji Hongxue clung to An Bulang and willfully vented her emotions, the two of them found an inn to stay in.
They both washed up, changed into fresh clothes, and met again.
By then, Ji Hongxue had recovered somewhat. Her lovely face, clear and beautiful with a touch of charm, was slightly flushed. She seemed a little embarrassed as she said, "Earlier, I held you for so long in the rain. I lost control of myself..."
"It's fine. It's not like I lost out," An Bulang said cheerfully.
Ji Hongxue shot An Bulang an irritated glare.
"Eh, no, that's not right. I did lose out. You three-point girl took advantage of me." An Bulang came to his senses.
Ji Hongxue was about to hit him!!
Then, considering that An Bulang had saved her again, she held herself back.
Ji Hongxue looked at the handsome young man before her, bit her red lip with pearly teeth, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "An Bulang... you... you should leave."
"Leave? Impossible!" An Bulang said at once.
Ji Hongxue raised her beautiful eyes, autumn ripples stirring within them.
"You think thirty-six spirit stones are enough to send me away? My fee isn't that cheap," An Bulang said.
Ji Hongxue: "..."
The woman's gaze dimmed. "But I have nothing left now... My eldest brother wants to kill me, my second brother wants to kill me, and my royal father can barely protect himself. I'm alone. I can't do anything, and I can't give you any spirit stones..."
"If there's truly no other way..." Ji Hongxue took a deep breath, her delicate red lips parting. "I can only give myself to you..."
An Bulang sucked in a sharp breath. "Dream on!"
Ji Hongxue's mentality collapsed.
An Bulang knew he had misspoken and hurriedly comforted her.
After all, she had just gone through the most painful event of her life.
It took quite some effort before he finally coaxed the red-eyed woman into calming down.
"I really have nothing now..." Ji Hongxue said aggrievedly.
"Didn't you say your royal palace has lots of spirit stones?" An Bulang asked.
Ji Hongxue frowned. "But Ji Wuye has everything under one hand now. If we return to the royal palace, we'll be walking straight into our deaths."
An Bulang patted Ji Hongxue's fragrant shoulder. "With me protecting you, what are you afraid of? It's settled, then. We're going to the royal palace to collect spirit stones."
"But..."
"No buts."
An Bulang looked straight into Ji Hongxue's eyes and said seriously, "You keep saying Ji Wuye is powerful, but do you know how powerful I am? Whoever blocks our path, we take them out. It's that simple!"
Seeing An Bulang's serious expression, Ji Hongxue's heart trembled once more. At last, she made up her mind and nodded. "Alright! Then I'll go crazy with you just this once!"
"Haha, this isn't crazy. I'm so strong, I can fool around however I like," An Bulang reassured her.
"..." Ji Hongxue seemed to understand why his parents had given him that name.
"But before that, we need to make some preparations," An Bulang added.
"What preparations?" Ji Hongxue felt a little more at ease. At least An Bulang was not the sort to charge in blindly. He still knew to plan and prepare.
That night, the moon was dark, the wind was high, and the rain was merciless.
The cultivator attendants of Prince De's Estate cried out miserably one after another.
Two powerful figures in black with covered faces beat every cultivator in Prince De's Estate senseless, seized their spirit stones, and departed in grand style.
Inside the inn.
A candle was lit.
An Bulang removed his mask and looked at the pile of spirit stones on the table with a grin. "Ji Changwu really was lying to me. He said there weren't a hundred spirit stones, but there are a full hundred and twenty-one here!"
Ji Hongxue removed her mask and stared at An Bulang speechlessly. "This is the preparation you were talking about?"
She felt that the man before her had led her astray. She had actually taken up a profession she had never dared imagine herself doing in this lifetime.
"What do you know? I need spirit stones urgently to cultivate a divine ability. The energy in my body isn't enough for me to master it, but with the energy inside spirit stones helping me, it'll be much easier..."
An Bulang pulled a glittering golden egg from inside his clothes.
Ji Hongxue's eyes brightened slightly. "Great Chicken Tyrant's egg!"
"It's Yang's Crystallization." An Bulang curled his lip. "Since we're going to clash head-on with Ji Wuye, I naturally need to prepare thoroughly. First, I'll finish cultivating the Glazed Sun Pupil divine ability. I'll have to trouble you with guarding me after that."
Ji Hongxue nodded obediently, stood up, and waved her fist before An Bulang encouragingly. "Bulang, do your best!"
Seeing Ji Hongxue like this, An Bulang inexplicably felt that she had the air of a young girl.
He looked at her, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Wait..."
Under Ji Hongxue's puzzled gaze, An Bulang took out a brush and began writing something on paper with swift strokes.
"Take it." An Bulang handed several sheets of white paper densely covered in tiny writing to Ji Hongxue.
"This is..." Ji Hongxue accepted the papers somewhat blankly.
"My family's Qi Refining Cultivation Method. Stop using the one you had before and use this instead. It'll be enough for you to cultivate until... a very high realm," An Bulang said.
"Your family's?" Ji Hongxue froze, then shook her head repeatedly. "No, no! This is too precious. I can't take it!"
An Bulang was such a monster that his lineage could not possibly be ordinary. Therefore, his family's Qi Refining Cultivation Method certainly could not be simple.
"Hey, it's just an ordinary Qi Refining Cultivation Method. Is there really any need for this?" An Bulang waved a hand. "To tell you the truth, this is the worst Qi Refining Cultivation Method in my household. It was discarded to the point where nobody wanted to cultivate it anymore. Still, it might be a little better than your Qi Refining Cultivation Method..."
"Fine! You're giving me garbage to cultivate!?" Ji Hongxue laughed and scolded him. Still, she finally accepted An Bulang's cultivation method. Then she bent her knees gracefully, swept her sleeve aside, bowed at the waist, and performed a princess's salute. "Thanks!"
Watching Ji Hongxue walk out the door and voluntarily stand guard outside, An Bulang smiled and shook his head.
It was true that his Qi Refining Cultivation Method was so poor it was nearly discarded, but the "little" by which it surpassed Ji Hongxue's original Qi Refining Cultivation Method was probably about as vast as an entire Central Star Domain...
After all, no matter how poor it was, it was still a cultivation method capable of letting one Undergo Tribulation to Ascend...