Who knew how long the two of them had been playing when Hua Min'er suddenly shrieked. One hand covered her little mouth, while the other pointed toward the creek nearby. Her face had gone pale, and she looked afraid. "Brother, look! What's that?"
Seeing her reaction, Ling Tian hurriedly stopped splashing water and followed her gaze. His expression darkened too. "A corpse. That's a corpse."
"How do you know it's a corpse? Maybe he's still alive," Hua Min'er asked curiously, her fear easing a little.
"Can't you smell the stench of decay? He was probably bitten to death by a zombie. At least he hasn't undergone Corpse Transformation yet." Seeing Hua Min'er's confusion, Ling Tian explained.
Hua Min'er sniffed delicately. A moment later, her brows knitted tightly. "You're right. It smells awful."
Ling Tian said nothing. He went straight to the corpse, took a spear from his Storage Ring, and gently prodded the body. After a moment, he frowned too. "He really is dead. There are two deep bite marks on his neck, and his face is pale. He must have died after losing all his blood."
"Brother, stop touching the body. Be careful you don't get infected with corpse poison." Hua Min'er watched Ling Tian with concern.
"Don't worry. I'm not touching it directly. Wait, we have to burn the body. Otherwise, it might undergo Corpse Transformation before long." Ling Tian gestured for Hua Min'er not to worry, then realized the seriousness of the situation.
"All right. Brother, drag the body farther from the creek. I'll conjure Spirit Fire." Though Hua Min'er was a little afraid, she gritted her teeth and said it.
Ling Tian said nothing. He flicked his spear, and the corpse lifted gently into the air before landing steadily on a nearby rock. Ling Tian must have used just the right amount of force; he couldn't bear to mistreat the dead man's body any further.
Hua Min'er took two steps toward the corpse, then suddenly felt nauseous. She hurriedly turned away and forced herself to hold it back.
"Min'er, are you all right? Should I send a signal for the other senior sisters to come?" Ling Tian's heart ached. He couldn't conjure Spirit Fire; otherwise, he would never have made a girl do this. He asked her with concern.
"No need, Brother Ling Tian. I can do it." Hua Min'er took a deep breath and answered stubbornly.
Ling Tian was helpless. He knew how stubborn Hua Min'er could be and knew she wouldn't give up. She flicked a finger, and a wisp of green flame appeared. With another flick, the Spirit Fire flew toward the corpse. In moments, the body was blazing, sending up a thick plume of black smoke. The stench in the air grew even worse.
"Ugh!"
Hua Min'er couldn't hold it back any longer and vomited up bitter bile. Ling Tian hurriedly patted her back, took a waterskin from his ring, and handed it to her, his face full of concern.
"Min'er, are you all right?" Ling Tian looked at her with such heartache that he wished he could take her place.
Hua Min'er took the water and rinsed her mouth several times before finally straightening up. Trembling, she said, "I'm fine, Brother Ling Tian. I'll get used to throwing up. Don't look so miserable. It's not a good look."
"You stubborn little girl." Ling Tian gently held her in his arms, feeling a tenderness he had never known before.
"Brother, I don't want to be so useless. I know we'll encounter things like this often from now on. I have to be strong." Hua Min'er murmured so softly that her voice was barely audible. Ling Tian was too worried about her to hear.
"All right, Brother. I'm fine now. Go gather the ashes and scatter them over the water. That can count as a water burial." Once the corpse had burned away, Hua Min'er pushed Ling Tian, who was still holding her tightly, away. Her cheeks flushed, and she hurried to cover her embarrassment.
"Oh!" Ling Tian was awkward too. He had held Hua Min'er before, but now she was soaked through, and her lovely curves were plain to see. Pressed so close together, the sensation was utterly intoxicating. He gave an awkward exclamation, then hurried off to gather the ashes.
"Min'er, um... you should change your clothes." With his back to Hua Min'er, Ling Tian spoke awkwardly.
"Ah!" Hua Min'er gave a soft cry, instantly understanding what Ling Tian meant. She hurriedly changed her clothes. She wasn't worried that Ling Tian would peek; in fact, deep down, she even hoped he would. Naturally, that hope went unfulfilled.
A little while later, Ling Tian had gathered the ashes, and Hua Min'er had changed. They looked at each other without a word as a hazy, flirtatious air hung between them.
"Min'er, let's go back." Ling Tian was the first to break the awkward silence. He didn't want Hua Min'er to keep standing there feeling miserable. She had just vomited until she was nearly bringing up bile, so she must be feeling awful. He wanted her to go back and rest as soon as possible.
"Oh." Hua Min'er felt a little disappointed and secretly chided Ling Tian for breaking the flirtatious mood. But she knew he was worried about her, so she agreed.
Hand in hand, they walked away, each lost in their own thoughts.
After they left, an excited growl came from a hidden cave beside the creek. The cave was very deep, probably more than a thousand meters.
"Ke ke... that woman... her aura... is excellent..." The voice was low and halting. A moment later, it fell silent again, as if it had never made a sound.
Just then, the air suddenly rippled, and an old man appeared out of nowhere. It was Old Man Ling, who had been ordered to protect Ling Tian.
"Oh? I didn't expect there to be a zombie that had cultivated a Corpse Core. Should I get rid of it? Never mind. I'll let them use it for training." Old Man Ling pondered for a moment, decided against acting, then concealed himself again.
Meanwhile, Ling Tian and Hua Min'er headed for their temporary lodgings. Neither spoke along the way. Once they returned, Hua Min'er went inside to cultivate, reluctant to part from him. She sensed that something was different: the spiritual energy within her surged like a great river. Not knowing what was happening, she could only sit cross-legged and try to control its flow. She still didn't realize that these were signs she was about to break through.
After Hua Min'er left, Ling Tian watched her go with a helpless look. Then he found a fairly large tree, leaped lightly into its branches, took out a jade slip, and immersed himself in studying formations.
Time passed slowly, and the disciples who had gone out gradually returned. Some of them looked troubled, probably because they had encountered something much like what Hua Min'er and Ling Tian had. Many were seeing such things for the first time and had yet to get used to them. When the group returned, they said nothing and went straight into the house. Soon, faint sobs came from inside, along with the soothing voices of several others.
Outside, Ling Tian gave a helpless, bitter laugh. The unease in his heart grew stronger, but he didn't dwell on it. A moment later, he immersed himself in studying formations again.
Time slipped away unnoticed as he cultivated. After who knew how long, a strange spatial fluctuation suddenly startled Ling Tian awake. He opened his eyes. He didn't even need to probe it to know the fluctuation was coming from the magical house.
"This fluctuation feels familiar. It must be someone fusing their spiritual sense. Someone's breaking through to the Qi Solidification Stage. I wonder who it is." Ling Tian murmured to himself, then released his spiritual sense toward the magical house.
The magical house belonged to him, so his spiritual sense easily penetrated it.
"Oh? It's Min'er!" Ling Tian was overjoyed. Hua Min'er must have been stirred by what they encountered on their outing and made a breakthrough.
"I should go take a look." Ling Tian thought this, then flashed into the house.
The girls inside had stopped sobbing. More than a dozen of them were anxiously gathered around Hua Min'er. She sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, evidently in the middle of a breakthrough. Many of them had yet to reach the Qi Solidification Stage and had no idea what to do when someone broke through. Fortunately, Yun Ying and Yao Yu had been through it before. They told everyone not to panic and to protect Hua Min'er while she cultivated.
"Senior Sister Yun Ying, how is Min'er...?" Ling Tian asked, his face showing some worry.
Ling Tian had never cultivated spiritual energy and didn't know how Hua Min'er's breakthrough differed from his own fusion of spiritual sense, so he couldn't help worrying.
"Ling Tian, you're here. Don't worry. Junior Sister Min'er is exceptionally gifted. She's only breaking through to the Qi Solidification Stage, so there shouldn't be any danger." Yun Ying reassured him.
Though Yun Ying said this, Ling Tian noticed the trace of worry in her expression. Hua Min'er held an exceptionally high position on Qingdie Peak and even within Qingyun Sect. Though she probably wouldn't be in danger, Yun Ying still feared something might go wrong. As the leader of their group, she bore great responsibility and worried that she might fail to protect Hua Min'er.
"Oh." Ling Tian gave a soft reply. He knew Yun Ying was worried, but there was nothing else he could do. All he could do was wait patiently.
A moment later, two powerful soul auras began to gather. One came from the void, carrying a hint of life and death blending together; the other came from the cosmos. The two auras grew stronger and stronger, circling above Hua Min'er's head. Before long, they wove together and flowed toward the space between her brows. A moment later, the people around her could no longer sense them.
"Oh, so it's similar to when I fused my spiritual sense. But both the gathering and fusion of the two souls are much faster than mine. I suppose fusing all Three Souls must be many times faster." Ling Tian carefully sensed Hua Min'er's progress and noticed the difference: her spiritual sense was fusing dozens of times faster than his had.
"Sigh, so it's that easy. I worried for nothing." Seeing that Hua Min'er's spiritual sense was nearly fused and she would wake at any moment, Ling Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Comparing it with his own experience, he couldn't help complaining that heaven was unfair.
Yun Ying and the others wiped away the sweat brought on by their tension and breathed a great sigh of relief too. For a moment, the room filled with a sweet fragrance from all the girls' glistening sweat, and the atmosphere turned rather suggestive. The girls, however, were oblivious.
Not long afterward, Hua Min'er finally finished breaking through. When she opened her eyes and saw everyone staring at her, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"Senior Sister Yun Ying, why are you all staring at me?" Hua Min'er asked timidly.
"Hmph. You were about to break through and didn't even tell me. What would I have told Master if something had happened to you?" Yun Ying scolded her, sounding a little reproachful.
"Hehe, Senior Sister, I didn't know why it happened either. Relax, I'm fine, aren't I?" Hua Min'er answered with a carefree laugh.
"You really are something. You're always making people worry." Yun Ying was exasperated with Hua Min'er. Then she suddenly remembered something and asked, "How are you feeling now?"
Hua Min'er didn't answer right away. She closed her eyes and carefully sensed things for a while, then exclaimed happily, "Hehe, it feels wonderful! The world seems so much clearer. My spiritual sense has already fused halfway, and I can release it now."
"As long as you're all right. You scared me half to death. All right, keep fusing your souls, and tell me if anything feels wrong." Only then did Yun Ying finally relax. She carefully reminded Hua Min'er.
"Mm, I know, Senior Sister. My spiritual sense should be fully fused by this afternoon." Hua Min'er knew her senior sister was only worried about her and felt a little touched. Then she gazed at Ling Tian beside her, affection shining faintly in her eyes, as if no one else were there.
Seeing that Hua Min'er was fine, the others went back to cultivating too. In truth, they had seen the affectionate looks exchanged by Hua Min'er and Ling Tian and knew it wasn't polite to play the third wheel, so they made room for them. But they pretended to cultivate while secretly watching. Weren't they all peeking at the two of them out of the corners of their eyes?
"Brother Ling Tian, let's go for a walk." Hua Min'er blushed. She knew the senior sisters were peeking, so she grabbed Ling Tian and fled outside as if her life depended on it.
"Hehe..." After they left, laughter filled the room.
Before you continue