In the alley.
Xie Xiaojiu, dressed in a black outfit, stopped.
Then a figure appeared before her with a whoosh.
Looking at that tall back, Xie Xiaojiu immediately lowered her head.
"Milord!"
"No need to be so formal!" Jiang Ning's voice rang in her ear.
Xie Xiaojiu looked up and saw Jiang Ning's chin. Then her gaze moved upward, revealing his well-defined features and warm, gentle face.
Her eyes fell into a daze.
Last year, Jiang Ning had still been an ordinary nobody from Luoshui County.
Now, he had become an important figure far beyond her reach.
"What are you spacing out for?" Jiang Ning smiled, his voice bringing Xie Xiaojiu back to her senses.
Then he took out the drop of Essence Blood he had prepared beforehand, which looked like Blood Jade.
Under the sunlight, the drop of Essence Blood in his hand resembled flawless jade, radiating a faint red glow.
"Swallow it. It should help your strength greatly!"
At those words, Xie Xiaojiu's eyes flickered slightly.
"Thank you for the reward, milord!" she said softly before swallowing the Essence Blood that floated before her.
"Digest it properly. In a few days, I'll test your strength!" Jiang Ning said.
"Yes, milord!" Xie Xiaojiu replied.
Then she watched Jiang Ning disappear before her eyes without leaving behind the slightest trace.
The scene just now seemed to have been nothing more than an illusion brought on by excessive longing.
But she knew it was not an illusion.
The scorching heat in her abdomen, and the constant streams of warmth surging into every part of her body, proved that the scene had not been an illusion.
Elsewhere.
Jiang Ning returned to his own courtyard.
"Going to Divine Sword Villa isn't urgent. With my pace, I can arrive in at most the