Greatly Increased Strength

Reaching Body Tempering Layer 14 was within Li Ye's expectations.

Due to the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art, he wouldn't be able to break through to the Qi Gathering Stage anytime soon.

After entering Body Tempering Layer 14, Li Ye clearly felt his physique had been further refined. His blood surged, his skin was taut, and his internal organs shimmered with a soft glow.

Between his organs, a thin, luminous membrane separated them. This membrane was incredibly tough and extraordinary.

His entire being was brimming with vitality and vigor.

While ordinary humans lived for a few decades, Li Ye felt his current vitality would allow him to live for at least over a hundred years.

The power of the nine wisps of light flowed within Li Ye's body, though he had only absorbed a small portion of it.

His strength continued to grow rapidly.

Forty-two thousand jin, forty-three thousand jin, forty-four thousand jin...

After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he broke through to fifty thousand jin of strength.

Another cup of tea's worth of time later, Li Ye's strength stabilized at sixty thousand jin.

His overall combat power had undergone a world-shattering transformation.

This level was already equivalent to the foundational power of a Qi Gathering Stage Level 5 cultivator.

But Li Ye possessed the Immortal Slaying Devil Sword and the Destructive Sword Intent.

His strength clearly couldn't be calculated this way.

"These nine flying swords..."

Li Ye hesitated.

Based on his previous experiences, if he threw weapons into the Corpse Incineration Furnace, he would still receive rewards.

If he threw these nine flying swords in, would they be refined into a mid-grade flying sword?

Or perhaps some other bizarre, heaven-defying weapon?

Li Ye was unsure.

"I'll keep them. They might be useful later."

"Or perhaps I'll accumulate more, and when I have a certain amount, I'll have the Corpse Incineration Furnace burn them."

Li Ye thought to himself.

Dawn was approaching.

A moment later, Li Ye returned to the Corpse Refining Courtyard.

He lit a candle and excitedly took out the Golden Ginseng.

A dense spiritual energy fluctuation immediately spread throughout the room, bathing it in a golden light.

The Spiritual Ginseng had a spirit and struggled violently, but it couldn't break free from Li Ye's grasp.

"As expected of a spiritual medicine cultivated by a Demonic Sect elder. With my current cultivation, I might not be able to withstand such immense medicinal power."

Li Ye mused.

The best way to process the Golden Ginseng was as an ingredient in medicine or for alchemy.

The next best method was to eat it raw.

However, the Holy Son's memories contained no inheritance related to alchemy. After much thought, Li Ye decided to absorb the medicinal power using the most primitive method.

--Soaking it in wine!

He would extract the medicinal power with wine and drink a small mouthful daily. In less than half a year, or at most a year, he would be able to fully refine it.

But he had finished all his wine. Thus, he thought of the Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag.

Li Ye opened it and began to examine its contents carefully.

Wow, there were quite a lot of things. More than half of them were the Flower Demon's clothes.

Red dresses, white dresses, black dresses, purple dresses, and so on – no less than twenty to thirty of them.

In addition, there were fifty to sixty pieces of clothing embroidered with exquisite patterns in various colors like red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Each one carried a peculiar fragrance.

There were fewer short pants, only a dozen or so. Each pair was also embroidered with beautiful small patterns, such as birds, phoenixes, peonies, and roses, mostly in pink.

A dozen pairs of pants and twenty to thirty pairs of boots.

Scoff, women!

Li Ye set aside the Flower Demon's belongings and continued his search.

Before long, he discovered several jars of aged wine.

One of them was amber-colored and looked like top-quality wine, very viscous.

"This one it is."

Li Ye made his choice. This jar of fine wine was likely the Flower Demon's prized possession. It had the highest alcohol content and would be perfect for soaking medicinal ingredients.

"Whoa, a big gourd."

Li Ye exclaimed, rummaging through his Spatial Storage Bag and pulling out a bright orange gourd, about thirty centimeters tall, with enough capacity to hold ten catties of wine.

However, there was still some leftover wine dregs inside the gourd.

Could this be the gourd the Flower Demon usually drank from?

It's so huge.

She's such a delicate little thing.

Li Ye couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the delicate and beautiful Flower Demon using such a massive gourd to drink.

The contrast was just too amusing.

Did she use chopsticks that were half a meter long? Did she use a ladle similar in size to the ones chefs use to cook? Were her cups, ceramic bowls, and the like also incredibly exaggerated?

The image was hilarious.

Li Ye felt that given the Flower Demon's personality, she might actually do something like that.

Besides these items, Li Ye also found one hundred thousand taels in silver notes, as well as some gold and silver ingots, in the Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag.

The total came out to about one hundred and twenty thousand taels.

"What? The great Flower Demon only has this much money?"

Li Ye was very dissatisfied.

He had already pocketed one hundred thousand taels in silver notes from just those nine people from the Cao Family.

For someone as famous as the Flower Demon, this amount was surprisingly little.

"Is this... Spirit Stones?"

Suddenly, Li Ye's gaze sharpened. He pulled out over thirty milky-white Spirit Stones from the Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag.

Each stone was about the size of a baby's fist, warm and smooth to the touch like jade, crystal clear.

Li Ye immediately realized these were Spirit Stones from the cultivation world, more precious than gold.

Spirit Stones were divided into four grades: Low, Medium, High, and Supreme.

The conversion rate between each grade was one hundred.

The Spirit Stones the Flower Demon had were all Medium grade, which were extremely valuable cultivation resources.

"Good stuff!"

Li Ye marveled.

Adding nine idle flying swords, this was Li Ye's current total wealth.

Li Ye opened the mouth of the gourd. Faint lipstick marks remained on it.

Indeed, this was the Demoness's personal wine gourd.

Li Ye opened his mouth and gulped down the remaining wine. He then poured in the jar of aged amber wine, filling it almost to the brim, and finally placed the Golden Ginseng inside.

All done!

"In three days, it should be ready to drink."

"When I broke through to the twelfth level of Body Tempering, I had the strength of ten thousand jin. At the thirteenth level, it was twenty thousand jin. At the fourteenth level, it was forty thousand jin. My next breakthrough should grant me eighty thousand jin of strength. Sigh, it's getting harder and harder."

"I wonder what level this Golden Ginseng will help me reach."

Li Ye was filled with anticipation.

By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten.

Knock, knock, knock!

A loud knocking sound echoed from outside.

Who's looking for me?

Li Ye walked to the door, puzzled, and opened it.

"Little Brother Li Ye, you're indeed awake."

A middle-aged man of average build said.

Li Ye remembered him as the Corpse Incinerator from Courtyard Number One.

His ancestors were coffin bearers, and he supposedly inherited some knowledge about suppressing corpses. His name was Sun He.

Sun He had been at the Corpse Refining Courtyard for half a month without any issues, proving that his ancestral inheritance was indeed effective.

"Brother Sun, is something the matter?"

Li Ye asked curiously.

Sun He chuckled, "Nothing much for me, but this young lady has something to discuss with you."

After speaking, Sun He moved aside, revealing a graceful figure.

She was dressed in white, with long hair, long eyelashes, bright eyes, a high-bridged nose, a delicate red mouth, and neat, white teeth. She wore light makeup.

She was smiling at Li Ye.

Li Ye's eyes widened.

The Flower Demon, has this woman reformed?

That's right, the woman before him was indeed the Flower Demon.

Her attire almost made Li Ye not recognize her. She looked like a proper young lady from a good family, with none of the demonic aura she possessed as a Demoness.

How did she find me?

When the Flower Demon saw Li Ye, she was also stunned, her smile freezing on her face.

Sun He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. His eyes were fixed on the Flower Demon's exquisite face, and he kept swallowing.

In his eyes, the Flower Demon was as beautiful as a fairy descended from heaven.

"Miss, this is the Li Bai you were looking for," Sun He explained.

As he spoke, he sniffed, catching a scent on Li Ye.

Huo, the scent of women's rouge.

Little brother Li Bai is quite the Casanova, huh.

Sun He gave Li Ye a knowing look that any man would understand.

Li Ye didn't notice, and said to the Flower Demon, "Miss, do we know each other? Are you looking for the wrong person?"

He had already taken off the Shapeshifter Mask. His appearance and demeanor were completely different from the Li Bai she knew.

Especially in his dirty Corpse Incinerator clothes, he looked like a young beggar.

"I... I'm sorry, I think I really am looking for the wrong person."

The Flower Demon said, and turned to leave.

Li Ye quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

How did this woman find me?

Did she follow my footprints?

No way, my Qinggong is unrivaled. The distance between each step is huge.

Could she have tracked me all this way?

Also, this is the Corpse Refining Courtyard. Next to it is the Divine Concealment Sect.

Isn't this woman afraid at all?

"Hey!"

Li Ye yelled at the dazed Sun He.

Sun He was staring at the exquisite retreating figure of the Demoness, lost in thought. Li Ye's shout startled him.

Sun He chuckled awkwardly, still unable to hide the stunning impression the Demoness had left on him. "Little brother Li Bai, did we just see a fairy descend to earth?"

Li Ye said irritably, "Or maybe it was a man-eating... Demon!"

"Bye-bye!"

With that, he closed the door and went back to his room.

In the dim, messy, and dark room, a woman in white was sitting on the bed, with one leg crossed over the other, looking relaxed.

It was the Flower Demon who had left.

Li Ye's expression changed slightly. "You!"

Hahahaha...

The Flower Demon stood up, pointed at Li Ye with one hand, and clutched her flat stomach with the other, bending over with laughter.

Her smooth, long hair cascaded down her back naturally.

But the Flower Demon didn't care.

She laughed without restraint, wildly and happily