In the Tree Hollow

Shi Yan slowly moved off Di Ya Lan, pulled up his pants, and sat down silently to regulate his breathing.

Di Ya Lan lay limp on the ground, her whole body flushed red. It was a long while before she came back to herself. Blushing, she tugged her short leather skirt up and slowly sat upright in the tree hollow.

The three of them returned to their original positions.

Mu Yu Die was the first to recover. Her face flushed as her beautiful eyes wandered between Shi Yan and Di Ya Lan, as if waiting for something.

Shi Yan's expression was calm. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on digesting the strange power that had appeared within his essence, guiding it slowly through his body and seizing every opportunity to grow stronger.

He had clearly felt earlier that the strange power purified within his acupoints had split in two: one part had merged with his essence, while the other had merged with his vital essence and flowed into Di Ya Lan's body.

Di Ya Lan kept her eyes closed, but she knew Mu Yu Die was watching her. Ashamed, she didn't dare open them. She wished she could find a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

Right in front of Mu Yu Die, Shi Yan had forced himself on her in this tree hollow, and she hadn't put up much of a fight. In the middle of it, she had even acted so... so shamelessly. Though she was a frank and easygoing person, even she couldn't take such madness in stride. She was so embarrassed that she didn't know how to face Mu Yu Die.

A strange power slowly seeped from the sensitive spot between her legs. Her whole body shuddered, and Di Ya Lan almost couldn't stop herself from crying out again.

She shifted uneasily, then slowly breathed and focused her attention inward.

As she examined herself carefully, Di Ya Lan discovered that part of the strange power was slowly flowing toward her lower abdomen, while another part was taking root in the meridians and flesh of her chest, seemingly changing that area in secret.

She could clearly feel the bones, flesh, and meridians in that part of her chest undergoing changes she couldn't begin to understand.

After the strange power flowing into the essence in her lower abdomen merged with it, a surging current of energy burst forth.

Her essence surged!

Di Ya Lan's body trembled. She hurriedly concentrated all her attention and did her utmost to guide her transformed essence through its circulatory cycle along a special path.

The moonlight was bright and clear, spilling into the tree hollow and keeping it from growing dark.

Shi Yan woke slowly and drew in a long breath.

The Xiantian Second Heaven!

With the help of that strange power, he had taken another step forward and smoothly broken through to the Xiantian Second Heaven.

When he woke, he found that the wound on his shoulder no longer hurt. With the help of his Undying Martial Soul, the damaged bones and tendons were slowly repairing themselves.

At this rate, he would be back to normal in a few days.

He slowly opened his eyes and saw a pair of bright eyes staring intently at him. When he looked over, they hurriedly turned away.

"Miss Mu, why aren't you asleep yet?" Shi Yan asked calmly, his expression perfectly composed.

Mu Yu Die had hurriedly looked away as soon as Shi Yan opened his eyes. She turned her head aside, her lovely face red as if she were drunk, and muttered, "With all that noise you two made, how could I sleep?"

"Hey, sorry for disturbing you. I'll be more careful next time." Shi Yan gave an awkward chuckle and explained naturally, "That strange illness in my body suddenly flared up. I lost control of myself. I really am the worst."

"You're saying you were unconscious the whole time?" Mu Yu Die gave a cold laugh and snorted. "I was watching you carefully. Later on, you were definitely awake! Otherwise, otherwise you wouldn't have moved like that, so... so..."

Mu Yu Die's face turned red, and she couldn't bring herself to continue. She had seen Shi Yan try out all sorts of tricks.

Someone who had lost control of himself wouldn't remember so many tricks during something like that. She was certain Shi Yan had woken up much earlier.

"Uh..." Shi Yan froze. After a long moment, he gave a bitter smile. "So Miss Mu was watching so carefully. Then I won't bother making excuses. I really was a bastard."

"You? How can someone like you even exist!" Mu Yu Die angrily pinched Shi Yan's thigh. Shi Yan obligingly cried out in pain.

Seeing him grimace and yelp, Mu Yu Die felt a little better. But when she glanced over, she saw Di Ya Lan sitting there with her face red and her eyes tightly shut.

Her anger flared up again, and without warning, she smacked Di Ya Lan hard on the leg.

Di Ya Lan felt guilty, and her body jolted. Still, she kept her eyes tightly shut, thinking Shi Yan was up to something. She cursed him in her heart for being a bastard and daring to tease her even now.

"Sis Lan, how long are you going to pretend to be asleep? Your face is bright red, and you're still pretending to cultivate? Do you think we're idiots who can't see what happened?" Mu Yu Die puffed out her cheeks and cried angrily.

"Ah!" Di Ya Lan let out a soft cry and finally opened her eyes, reluctantly. "...I-I just woke up too. What... what were you talking about?"

Mu Yu Die suddenly fell silent. Her beautiful eyes gleamed as they wandered between Di Ya Lan and Shi Yan, her meaning plain: Did they really think they could act as if nothing had happened?

Under Mu Yu Die's pressing gaze, Shi Yan remained perfectly composed, his expression unchanged and his face thick enough to build a wall with. He acted as though nothing at all had happened.

He could tell that Di Ya Lan didn't really mind what had happened. In fact, she even seemed a little... enamored with it. Knowing she wasn't going to make a scene and demand his life, he wasn't worried at all.

Di Ya Lan couldn't be as brazen as he was. Under Mu Yu Die's questioning gaze, she hesitated, but still felt she ought to show some anger. Otherwise, she'd seem far too shameless.

Although... although she had experienced an indescribable pleasure, a wonderful sensation that even her husband had never been able to give her while he was alive.

"You brat!" Di Ya Lan abruptly stood up, pointed at Shi Yan, and shouted furiously, "What did you just do to me? How could you do that?"

"Keep your voice down. Don't attract the demonic beasts. And the people from Dark Nether are still hunting us," Shi Yan reminded her.

"Oh." Di Ya Lan nodded, all her bluster gone. Lowering her voice, she said, "You little bastard, what do you think you should do?"

Seeing her reaction, Shi Yan immediately knew his judgment had been right. She really didn't mind that much. She had stood up to accuse him only because her feminine sense of shame demanded it.

Delighted, Shi Yan had a plan. He wore a miserable expression and drooped his head, looking entirely ready to admit fault. "I was wrong. Sis Lan, what do you think I should do?"

Di Ya Lan froze and stood there, deep in thought. She had only stood up to scold Shi Yan because she couldn't save face. She hadn't actually thought about how to punish him. His question left her completely stumped.

"How about you just hit him a few times?" Mu Yu Die suggested, her pretty face full of peculiar amusement. She could see that her Sis Lan had never even thought of beating that bastard to within an inch of his life!

"Fine, he deserves a few hits." Di Ya Lan nodded fiercely. "When he's healed, I'll give him a good lesson. I promise you'll be satisfied, Xiao Die!"

Mu Yu Die rolled her eyes, utterly speechless. What did that have to do with anything? Why bring her into it? Was Di Ya Lan going to teach him a lesson just to make her feel better?

"Do whatever you like. I'm going to sleep." Mu Yu Die finally understood that she was meddling where she had no business. She muttered under her breath, "Dry kindling and a fierce flame, huh? You two have been at it for ages, haven't you? Poor me. Not only did you poison my mind, you sullied my eyes too..."

Her muttering wasn't loud, but the three of them were sitting close together, so Di Ya Lan and Shi Yan naturally heard every word.

Shi Yan chuckled and half-closed his eyes to rest.

Di Ya Lan couldn't take it. She gave a light snort and muttered, "You little brat!"

Mu Yu Die opened one eye and shot her a sidelong glance. She snorted and said, "You two better behave yourselves for the rest of the night. I really am going to sleep, so please don't make a fuss. I can't take it anymore."

Di Ya Lan's face turned crimson. Embarrassed and annoyed, she said, "Got it. Go to sleep, you little brat!"