Sleeping to Increase Strength? She Went All In! Ning Rongrong's Bold Decision!

A tempting aroma of food drifted through the little courtyard shortly afterward.

Bai Li Shou Yue emerged from the kitchen carrying two steaming plates of plump dumplings with thin wrappers and generous fillings, setting them on the stone table.

Lin Jiang's spiritual power naturally and clearly detected that the two figures hiding outside the courtyard, their auras in disarray, were still there.

He deliberately raised his voice and called toward the courtyard gate.

"What are you two little girls doing sneaking around outside? Since you followed us all the way here, come in and join us."

His voice was like thunder striking level ground, exceptionally clear amid the silent night!

Behind the rockery, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing had been listening intently, faces flushed and hearts racing as they eavesdropped—and wildly let their imaginations run away with them. This sudden call-out scared the souls out of them!

"Ah!"

They cried out almost simultaneously. Like startled deer, they no longer cared about concealing themselves.

They spun around and fled back the way they had come at the fastest speed of their lives, without daring to look back!

Their pretty faces were red as ripe apples, the flush spreading all the way down their necks.

They ran all the way back, panting and with their hearts pounding like drums. Only after rushing into a side room of Lin Jiang's courtyard, slamming the door shut, and leaning against it did they dare to take deep breaths.

Ning Rongrong patted her heaving chest, her beautiful eyes full of lingering fear and disbelief.

"He... he actually noticed us! And... and he even told us to go in together?!"

Zhu Zhuqing's cool face was also covered in a red blush. Her breathing was hurried, and even she, usually so calm, was somewhat incoherent.

"This... this... is too embarrassing..."

She wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

(Zhu Zhuqing illustration)

After the brief shame and awkwardness passed, Ning Rongrong's thought process began taking a strange turn again.

Lin Jiang's extraordinarily handsome face, his unfathomable strength,

and those words that sounded full of implication to her—"come in together"...

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

Master was... so handsome, and his strength was outrageously powerful.

Even if... even if cultivation really required that kind of method, it seemed... it seemed she, Ning Rongrong, would not be losing out!

Once that thought arose, it grew wildly like weeds.

She abruptly grabbed Zhu Zhuqing's hand, her eyes carrying a desperate determination and inexplicable excitement as she lowered her voice.

"Zhuqing! It seems... it seems that if we want to increase our strength quickly and catch up to Sister Mulan and the others, we... we'll have to go all in!"

Zhu Zhuqing shuddered at her bold words and flung away her hand as though burned. She stumbled backward repeatedly, her face so red it practically steamed, her voice full of embarrassed anger.

"Y-you... what nonsense are you saying! No! Absolutely not!"

Seeing how fiercely she reacted, Ning Rongrong's eyes shifted as she put on an expression of self-sacrificing resolve.

She patted her modestly developed chest and whispered with the heroic air of someone marching to her death.

"Fine, fine, fine. If you don't want to, forget it! Then... then I'll go test the waters for us first!"

"If... if it really works and the results are obvious, I'll come back and call you!"

"When my Soul Power Level starts shooting up and I leave you far behind, don't regret it!"

As she spoke, she even winked at Zhu Zhuqing, her expression clearly saying: I see through you. You're tempted too; you're just too embarrassed to admit it.

Zhu Zhuqing could only watch her with a flushed face as she looked ready to sacrifice herself for their cause, her thoughts a complete mess.

Lin Jiang enjoyed a delicious, fragrant late-night meal with Bai Li Shou Yue before returning to the little courtyard where he lived in high spirits.

The moonlight was like water, and the courtyard was quiet.

He pushed open the door to his bedroom, ready to rest, only to be thoroughly startled by what he saw!

A girl was sitting on the edge of his bed, which was covered with plain-colored sheets—it was Ning Rongrong!

Yet Ning Rongrong looked completely different from how she had during the day.

She had actually changed into an extremely daring sapphire-blue strapless mini dress, its hem reaching only the tops of her thighs and outlining the graceful curves of her newly matured figure.

Her pretty face was covered in blush, as though she had applied the finest rouge.

Her small hands were nervously twisted together, her gaze evasive yet carrying a trace of desperate resolve.

Lin Jiang's eyelid twitched as he asked in astonishment, "Rongrong... y-you... what is this?"

He had a faintly bad feeling about this. What was this little girl planning, coming to his room in the middle of the night dressed like that?

Upon hearing his voice, Ning Rongrong's delicate body trembled slightly. She gathered her courage and lifted her watery eyes.

Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, carrying an enticing shyness.

"Master... I... I want to improve so badly... I want to become as strong as Sister Mulan and the others..."

Lin Jiang said, "...This..."

He understood immediately. This girl had definitely misunderstood something! And this misunderstanding... seemed rather outrageous!

Once Bian Que brought back those Immortal Herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye, he would naturally use the safest method to help them build a solid foundation and improve rapidly.

But who had filled her head with such strange ideas? Why would such a method be necessary?

Seeing Lin Jiang merely standing there in a daze without reacting, Ning Rongrong felt both humiliated and anxious.

A wave of inexplicable courage—or perhaps impulse—surged through her. She huffed coyly, "Dummy Master!"

Before her words had even faded, she suddenly rose from the bed's edge and jogged toward Lin Jiang, carrying a fragrant breeze with her.

Before Lin Jiang could react, she rose onto her tiptoes and lifted her pretty face, red enough to drip blood.

Then, like a dragonfly skimming the water, she quickly planted a soft kiss on his cheek!

The faint sensation, carrying the unique sweet fragrance of a young girl, imprinted itself clearly upon Lin Jiang's cheek.

It was soft and moist, filled with youthful fluttering and scorching warmth.

Lin Jiang's entire body stiffened.

Having done all that, Ning Rongrong seemed to have exhausted every ounce of her strength. She did not dare look at Lin Jiang's reaction at all.

Like a startled rabbit, she turned and dashed out through the door even faster than she had arrived, vanishing into the night with a whoosh and leaving behind only a faint lingering fragrance.

Lin Jiang raised a hand and gently touched the spot she had kissed, as though he could still feel the lingering warmth of that softness.

He looked at the empty doorway and recalled the little girl's embarrassed, flustered, outwardly fierce but inwardly timid appearance.

In the end, he helplessly shook his head, finding it somewhat amusing. A faint curve appeared on his lips.

"What is this little girl thinking about all day...?"

Ning Rongrong, who had run all the way back to her own room, slammed the door shut and slid down against it to sit on the floor.

She covered her burning cheeks with both hands, feeling both ashamed and annoyed.

"Ahhh! Ning Rongrong, you idiot! Why did you run away?! You were obviously... obviously so close!"

She hated herself for failing to live up to expectations. She had clearly gathered the courage to make a move, only to become a deserter at the final moment.

Yet when she thought of the clean, pleasant scent on Master's body when they had been so close,

and his handsome profile when he had frozen in surprise, her heart began racing uncontrollably again.

"Next time... next time, I'll definitely... definitely win him over!"

She clenched her little fists and waved them at the air, cheering herself on...