Strength Surges

Body Tempering Fourteenth Layer was just as Li Ye had expected.

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

After entering the Body Tempering Fourteenth Layer, Li Ye clearly felt his physique had been elevated once more. His blood and qi surged, his skin was taut, and his internal organs shimmered with a faint glow.

A thin layer of light separated each organ from the next. This membrane was extraordinarily tough and clearly no ordinary thing.

His whole body brimmed with vitality and vigor.

Ordinary people lived for a few decades. Given his vitality at present, Li Ye felt he could live for at least a hundred years.

The power of the nine Light Mists flowed through Li Ye's body, and he had absorbed only a tiny fraction of it so far.

His strength was still increasing at a furious pace.

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

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, he broke through to fifty thousand catties of strength.

Another cup of tea later, Li Ye's strength settled at sixty thousand catties.

His overall strength had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

At this level, his basic power was already equivalent to that of someone at the fifth layer of Qi Gathering.

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

Clearly, his strength couldn't be measured that way.

"These nine flying swords..."

Li Ye hesitated.

Going by his previous experiences, if he tossed weapons into the Corpse Incineration Furnace, he would receive a reward as well.

If he threw these nine flying swords inside, would they be reforged into a Middle Grade flying sword?

Or would he get some other strange weapon with an absurd ability?

Li Ye wasn't sure.

"I'll keep them. I might have a use for them later."

"Or I could save up a few more and have the Corpse Incineration Furnace burn them once I have enough."

Li Ye thought it over.

Dawn was close.

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

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

A rich wave of Spiritual Qi immediately spread through the room, bathing the entire place in a golden glow.

The Spirit Ginseng was alive and struggled violently, but it couldn't break free from Li Ye's grip.

"As expected of a Spiritual Medicine raised by an elder of the Devil Sect. With my cultivation, I'm afraid I can't withstand such immense Medicinal Power."

Li Ye pondered.

The best way to prepare Golden Ginseng was to use it in medicine and refine it into pills.

The next best option was to eat it raw.

But the Holy Son's memories held no inheritance related to alchemy. After thinking it over, Li Ye decided to absorb the Medicinal Power in the most primitive way.

—Soak it in wine!

The wine would draw out its Medicinal Power. He could drink a small sip each day, and in as little as half a year—or a year at most—he would surely refine it all.

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

Li Ye opened it and carefully examined its contents.

Whoa, there was a lot of stuff. More than half of it was the Flower Demon's clothes.

Red skirts, white skirts, black skirts, purple skirts—at least twenty or thirty of them.

Besides those, there were fifty or sixty little embroidered bellybands in all sorts of colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple—each decorated with exquisite patterns and carrying a strange fragrance.

There were fewer pairs of short underwear, only a dozen or so. Each one was embroidered with pretty little designs: birds, phoenixes, peonies, roses, and so on. Most of them were pink.

A dozen pairs of pants, and twenty or thirty pairs of boots.

Heh, women!

Li Ye sorted the Flower Demon's things to one side and continued looking through the rest.

It didn't take long for him to find several jars of aged wine.

One jar was amber-colored, obviously a fine wine. It was thick and rich.

"This one, then."

Li Ye made his choice. This fine wine must have been one of the Flower Demon's treasured bottles. It was the strongest, making it perfect for soaking the ginseng.

"Huh, there's a big gourd."

Li Ye was surprised to pull a yellow-orange gourd from the Spatial Storage Bag. It was over thirty centimeters tall and could hold ten catties of wine.

There was still some wine left inside, too.

Was this the gourd the Flower Demon used for drinking?

It was way too big.

She was such a delicate little thing.

Thinking of the Flower Demon, such a delicate beauty, drinking from a huge gourd like this, Li Ye couldn't help laughing.

The contrast was just too much.

Were her chopsticks more than half a meter long, too? Was her spoon about the size of the ladle a chef used at the stove? Were her cups and porcelain bowls just as absurdly oversized?

The mental image was hilarious.

Knowing the Flower Demon's personality, Li Ye figured she really might do something like that.

Besides all this, Li Ye also found one hundred thousand taels in banknotes in the Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag, along with some gold and silver ingots.

It all added up to about one hundred and twenty thousand taels.

"What the heck? The dignified Flower Demon only has this much silver?"

Li Ye was very dissatisfied.

He had looted one hundred thousand taels in banknotes from just those nine people from the Cao Family.

For someone as famous as the Flower Demon to have so little was rather disappointing.

"Are these... Spirit Stones?"

Suddenly, Li Ye's gaze sharpened. He took more than thirty milky-white Spirit Stones from the Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag.

Each was about the size of a baby's fist, smooth and warm as jade, crystal clear.

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

Spirit Stones came in four grades: Low Grade, Middle Grade, High Grade, and Supreme Grade.

The exchange rate between each grade was one hundred to one.

All of the Flower Demon's Spirit Stones were Middle Grade, an extremely precious cultivation resource.

"Good stuff!"

Li Ye exclaimed.

Along with the nine unused flying swords, this was everything he owned.

Li Ye opened the gourd's mouth. A faint lipstick mark remained around the rim.

Sure enough, this was the Demoness's personal drinking gourd.

Li Ye opened his mouth and gulped down the remaining wine, then poured in the jar of amber-colored aged wine until the gourd was nearly full. Finally, he put in the Golden Ginseng.

Mission accomplished!

"Three days should be enough before I can start drinking it."

"When I broke through to the Body Tempering Twelfth Layer, I had ten thousand catties of strength. At the Thirteenth Layer, I had twenty thousand. At the Fourteenth Layer, I had forty thousand. The next breakthrough should take eighty thousand catties, right? Sigh, it's getting harder and harder."

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

Li Ye was filled with anticipation.

By now, dawn was breaking.

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone rapped on the door outside.

Who was looking for me?

Li Ye went to answer it, puzzled.

"Little Brother Li Bai, I knew you'd be awake."

A middle-aged man of average build spoke.

Li Ye remembered him. He was the Corpse Incinerator at Courtyard No. 1.

His ancestors had carried coffins, and supposedly passed down a knack for warding off corpses. His name was Sun He.

Sun He had been at the Corpse Refining Courtyard for half a month without incident, which showed that his family's inherited craft really did have something to it.

"Brother Sun, what is it?"

Li Ye asked curiously.

Sun He chuckled. "Nothing's up with me, but this young lady has something she'd like to discuss with you."

As he spoke, Sun He stepped aside, revealing a graceful figure.

She wore white, with long hair and long eyelashes. Her eyes were bright, her nose high-bridged, her small lips vivid, and her teeth pearly white and even. She wore light makeup.

She was smiling at Li Ye.

Li Ye's eyes went wide.

The Flower Demon—had this woman gone straight?

That was right. The woman standing before him was the Flower Demon.

Her outfit had nearly fooled Li Ye. She looked just like a refined young lady, with none of the demonic aura of a Demoness.

How had she found him?

The moment the Flower Demon saw Li Ye, she froze too, her smile stiffening on her face.

Sun He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. He stared unblinkingly at the Flower Demon's breathtaking face, swallowing repeatedly.

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

"Miss, this is the Li Bai you're looking for."

Sun He explained.

As he spoke, he sniffed and smelled Li Ye.

Whoa, rouge and powder on him.

Little Brother Li Bai sure was a romantic fellow.

Sun He gave Li Ye a knowing look.

Li Ye didn't notice. He turned to the Flower Demon and said, "Miss, do we know each other? Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

He had already taken off the Shapeshifter Mask. His looks and bearing were poles apart from the Li Bai the Flower Demon knew—completely different.

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

"I... I'm sorry. I really might have the wrong person."

The Flower Demon turned and left.

Li Ye quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

How had this woman found him?

Had she followed my footprints?

That couldn't be right. My lightness skill was unrivaled, and my footprints were spaced far apart.

Could she really have followed them all the way here?

Besides, this was the Corpse Refining Courtyard, right next to the Divine Concealment Sect.

Was this woman not wary of them at all?

"Hey!"

Li Ye shouted at Sun He, who was standing there in a daze.

Sun He had been staring at the Demoness's breathtaking departing figure. Li Ye's shout startled him.

Sun He smiled awkwardly, still unable to shake off the impression the Demoness had made on him. "Little Brother Li Bai, did we just see a fairy descend from heaven?"

Li Ye said irritably, "Could've been a man-eating... demon!"

"Bye-bye!"

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

In the dim, filthy, cluttered room, a woman in white sat on the dark, filthy bed with her legs crossed, looking perfectly at ease.

It was the Flower Demon, who had just left.

Li Ye's expression shifted. "You!"

Hahahahahaha...

The Flower Demon stood up, pointed at Li Ye with one hand, and clutched her flat stomach with the other as she bent over, laughing loudly.

Her smooth, silky hair slid naturally down her back.

But the Flower Demon didn't care.

She laughed without restraint, wild and delighted...