"Disciple, what do you mean, I'm not clean?"
Dongfang Xuetong opened her bleary eyes. Her languid voice sounded utterly bewitching.
Xiao Yao pulled the thin blanket up to his neck with both hands, squeezing out two tears as he looked as though he'd been taken advantage of.
"Master, no matter how much you crave my body, you can't do something like this!"
Dongfang Xuetong's mouth twitched. The scene made it look as if she'd done something to Xiao Yao.
She immediately turned onto her right side, showing off her graceful figure as she explained, "Disciple, just hear me out."
"I won't listen, I won't listen!" Xiao Yao shook his head vigorously, deliberately acting like a child.
For a moment, Dongfang Xuetong didn't know what to do.
All she could do was ask helplessly, "Disciple, why won't you hear me out?"
"My father said, 'An explanation is a cover-up, and a cover-up means it really happened.' So you must be craving my body," Xiao Yao said.
Dongfang Xuetong raised a slender, fair hand to her forehead, thinking that her disciple's father was quite the character!
In truth, those weren't Xiao Yao's father's words at all. Xiao Yao had made them up himself.
Seeing his master struck speechless, Xiao Yao felt delighted. It was so satisfying to launch a fierce attack from the moral high ground!
No wonder there had been so many keyboard warriors on the internet in his previous life.
Just then, Xiao Yao felt a powerful force move his body.
When he looked again, his master's flawless jade-like face, no longer veiled by the White Immortal Light, was right before his eyes.
Her raven hair was lustrous and smooth, carrying a faint fragrance.
Her features were lovely: a delicate nose, cherry-red lips, teeth white as jade, willow brows as faint as spring mountains, and eyes rippling like autumn waters. At that moment, everything else in the world seemed dim beside her.
Her bearing was peerless and transcendent, as though she could not possibly have been born into this world. She was like a celestial maiden descended from the ninth heaven.
"Disciple, look into my eyes."
Xiao Yao looked at once and saw Dongfang Xuetong's eyes shining brightly, full of life.
"First, you didn't arrange a place for me to stay yesterday."
Xiao Yao remembered and immediately nodded.
Seeing this, Dongfang Xuetong knew she could talk to him normally again, so she continued explaining. "Second, I possess the Emperor Tier bloodline, the Innate Sword Embryo. Through the Nourishing spell, I can improve your swordsmanship."
"Lastly, no matter how starved I might be, I wouldn't lay a hand on a child like you."
Xiao Yao understood that this was his master's principle, but he still teased her. "Master, does that mean you can lay a hand on me once I'm grown?"
"..." Dongfang Xuetong fell silent.
Why did this disciple always take things in the wrong direction?
Seeing his master's face turn stern, her expression radiating boundless coldness, Xiao Yao grinned. "Master, I was only joking. Don't take it to heart."
"Don't let it happen again!" Dongfang Xuetong said coldly.
After getting out of bed and washing up, Xiao Yao began circulating his cultivation technique. He discovered that his cultivation had advanced to the peak of the second layer of the Mortal Transformation Realm.
On top of that, his Sword Intent had advanced from the first level to its peak.
Was this the improvement from his master nourishing him with her Innate Sword Embryo?
The improvement was seriously huge. He wanted more of it in the future.
But remembering the joke he'd made earlier, he hurried over to Dongfang Xuetong. Before he could speak, he heard her exclaim in shock.
"The bottleneck I've been stuck at all this time is loosening? My Sword Intent has even broken through the ninety-ninth level and reached the hundredth. What's going on?"
After ruling out one possibility after another, the least likely explanation surfaced in Dongfang Xuetong's mind.
"No way! The Nourishing spell does indeed improve both people, but their cultivation levels have to be roughly equal. Improvement through bloodline alone is extremely slight."
"But the Chaos Body is the strongest bloodline in the Human Realm, and it's different from all the others. Perhaps it really can do this. It looks like I've struck gold!"
Hearing the delight in his master's voice, Xiao Yao felt immensely proud and happy. He immediately said, "Master, I'll be counting on you to keep nourishing me from now on."
Dongfang Xuetong's delicate body trembled, her curves becoming even more alluring.
She'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Xiao Yao coming up beside her. Quickly regaining her composure, she asked, "When did you start listening?"
"Maybe when your bottleneck started loosening..."
Before Xiao Yao could finish, Dongfang Xuetong cut him off. "That early? It's over, my image as your master is completely ruined!"
"Master, you're imagining things!" Xiao Yao protested. Seeing the disbelief in her eyes, he continued, "In my heart, even though you're not as aloof and imposing as you were at first, you're still exactly the master I imagined. I like you best just the way you are now!"
Dongfang Xuetong's pretty face flushed faintly. She'd never imagined Xiao Yao liked her so much.
After a moment, she finally responded to what he'd said earlier. "Disciple, don't ever say I'm not clean again!"
"Mm-hm!" Xiao Yao readily agreed.
After that, things returned to normal. Xiao Yao thought that now, with No-Self activated, defeating Xiao Ting would be easy.
But to be safe, he still asked, "Master, could you check Xiao Ting's current cultivation and strength for me?"
"Of course!" Dongfang Xuetong readily agreed, a satisfied smile appearing on her pretty face.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you'll win a hundred battles.
Many people knew that saying, but few remembered it after making a huge breakthrough of their own!
A moment later, Dongfang Xuetong's smile froze.
Xiao Yao immediately realized something was wrong and asked, "Master, how is he?"
"Xiao Ting's cultivation is currently at the peak of the ninth layer of the Transcendent Realm, and his strength has reached the first layer of the Dharma Condensation Realm. That's probably the result of Shātu Demon Sage tempering him with demonic energy, but it also comes from Xiao Ting's years of accumulated cultivation. Otherwise, he couldn't have built up so much and then made such a huge leap in cultivation and strength."
Xiao Yao agreed with his master's analysis, so he immediately activated No-Self and asked, "Master, how strong am I now?"
"The fifth layer of the Transcendent Realm," Dongfang Xuetong said.
There were only six days left. Even with her disciple's fast cultivation speed, his improvement wouldn't be too great. At most, he'd reach the strength of the peak of the ninth layer of the Transcendent Realm.
With that level of strength, fighting Xiao Ting would be like throwing an egg against a rock.
So she said, "Disciple, don't take your fight with Xiao Ting too seriously. In the future, you'll be beyond his reach."
"Master, I know!" Xiao Yao didn't insist otherwise.
He knew better than anyone that success depended on effort, but he also wanted more than anyone to defeat Xiao Ting in the contest six days from now.
"Master, I'm going to cultivate!"
With that, Xiao Yao returned to his room, his face solemn. Dongfang Xuetong couldn't help feeling troubled by it.
But her disciple had only just begun cultivating, and this was the crucial time to build a solid foundation. If he used various methods to force his strength higher, he wouldn't be able to reach the peak of his potential in the future.
[Drip! Host, you haven't checked in today!]
"Check in!" Xiao Yao shouted inwardly, a little annoyed.
[Drip! Check-in successful. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained a Sect Tier Flash Time Golden Fruit. This fruit can increase your cultivation speed tenfold, and the effect will last until you reach the Sect Realm.]
Tenfold cultivation speed?
That meant the next six days of cultivation would be equivalent to sixty days.
That was enough!
More than enough to defeat Xiao Ting!
Xiao Yao's eyes lit up again, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
Before you continue