Breaking Through; the Queen's Shyness (2)

Cailin sat quietly before him, her usual calm still resting between her brows, as though countless words were buried in her heart, never spoken aloud.

Su Baichen did not press the matter. Everyone had secrets hidden in their hearts. Since she did not wish to speak of them, she naturally had her reasons, and there was no need for him to pry.

Right now, the Snake-People Tribe's queen was about to attempt a breakthrough to the Dou Zong realm. That was what mattered most.

He was ultimately just a passerby, destined to leave this land sooner or later. The Snake-People Tribe's rise and fall, honor and disgrace, would ultimately have to be borne by Cailin herself.

Only by becoming truly strong could she free the Snake-People Tribe from the fate of remaining in the desert, lead them out of it, and establish a firm foothold on this continent.

"As for helping you break through to Dou Zong, I have two methods." Su Baichen's voice shattered the silence in the chamber, steady and clear.

"First, the Breaking Sect Pill." With a flip of his palm, a lustrous pill wreathed in a rich medicinal fragrance silently appeared. As its pill patterns flowed, pure energy nearly spilled out. "I have already prepared this pill. Its efficacy far surpasses those made by ordinary alchemists. It can raise your chance of breaking through by a full fifty percent. It is safe and reliable, with virtually no risk."

Cailin's gaze fell upon the pill, and her lashes trembled almost imperceptibly. A trace of emotion flickered in her eyes. A fifty-percent chance of success was already an opportunity that defied the heavens.

"Second, tempering with Heavenly Flames." Su Baichen put away the pill, his tone abruptly turning grave. "Your Snake-People Tribe's ancient texts should contain records of this ancient method."

"Using Heavenly Flames as a furnace to temper the body, Dou Qi, and soul—cleansing the marrow, reforging the meridians, and remolding one's foundation."

"But this method is exceedingly dangerous. The slightest mistake will result in being consumed by the flames, body and soul destroyed. There is no retreat."

He paused, a solemn temptation coloring his voice. "But if you succeed, the benefits will be immeasurable. After being tempered by Heavenly Flames, your body will become unbreakable, your Dou Qi far purer and more condensed than that of those at the same level, and your Soul Power will undergo a qualitative leap."

"Most importantly, your bloodline will achieve its ultimate sublimation within the Heavenly Flames. Your aptitude will transform completely, and reaching the Dou Sheng realm in the future will no longer be empty talk."

As his words fell, Su Baichen raised his eyes to Cailin and calmly awaited her choice.

This was a crossroads that concerned the rest of her life. No one else could make the choice for her.

Cailin lowered her eyes in thought, her fingertips unconsciously clutching her skirt. The two choices weighed upon her heart like opposite ends of a scale.

The first method was safe and dependable. A fifty-percent chance of breakthrough was already heaven-defying, but she knew her own potential. If she relied on a pill alone to break through, she might stop at Dou Zun for the rest of her life, unable to advance further. Was the Snake-People Tribe's future to be guarded by a mere Dou Zun queen?

The second method offered only a sliver of survival. Its chance of success was so slim it was nearly a gamble, but if she succeeded, the Dou Sheng realm would be within reach.

That was a height she had never dared to hope for, the foundation that could allow the Snake-People Tribe to truly stand at the pinnacle of the continent.

But if the elders learned of this, they would certainly choose the first, more conservative method without hesitation.

Yet she, Cailin, had never been content with being ordinary. She wanted to become stronger, to possess enough power to protect her people, and even more... someday, to stand beside the person before her as an equal.

Seeing Cailin sunk in deep thought, with even her aura growing solemn, Su Baichen said nothing more.

She had to reach this decision herself. No matter how much others said, it would be futile. He rose to his feet and began strolling leisurely through the elegantly furnished chamber.

Cailin's chamber was much like its owner, exuding maturity and composure everywhere. Its furnishings were simple yet dignified, without excessive ornamentation. Unfinished tribal affairs were piled upon the table, the ink still wet, showing how tirelessly she worked each day.

Su Baichen could not help but nod. Compared with that girl's room, Caidie's is indeed far more elegant, and her taste is much steadier.

He still remembered how, when he had first arrived among the Snake-People Tribe, Caidie had eagerly invited Cao Ying and him into her room.

Flowers filled the entire chamber, every corner brimming with a young girl's lively innocence. The pink-and-white furnishings and even the sweet fragrance lingering in the air had nearly made him think he had gone to the wrong place and wandered into some young lady's boudoir. Cao Ying had liked it immensely, exclaiming that it was full of girlish charm.

Cailin's room, meanwhile, possessed a woman's delicacy as well, but held several more shades of a ruler's calmness and competence. Even the green plants on the windowsill were drought-resistant, easy-to-grow varieties that conveyed a resilient spirit.

As he paced about, Su Baichen's gaze was drawn to a finely bound book with a dark blue cover in the corner of the bookshelf.

That book seemed completely out of place among the surrounding classics. There were no words on its cover, only a lifelike embroidered blue scale-flower. The stitches were fine and meticulous, making it clear that its owner treasured it greatly.

Driven by curiosity, and seeing that Cailin remained immersed in her thoughts without noticing him, he reached out and took the book down.

As he gently opened it, a faint scent of ink mingled with an elusive, elegant fragrance wafted toward him. But when Su Baichen saw what was written on the page, his pupils contracted slightly, and his expression gradually turned astonished.

He has a humorous personality and treats those around him very well...

The graceful, neat handwriting recorded his preferences, personality, daily habits, and even the little habit he occasionally had of staring blankly at the stars alone late at night.

A trace of confusion arose in Su Baichen's heart. Why was Cailin investigating these trivial details of my life? Was she worried that I might not be used to living among the Snake-People Tribe and wanted to take care of me in secret?

He instinctively turned to glance at Cailin. She was still looking down in thought, her brows slightly furrowed, her fingertips lightly tapping the table. Clearly, she was still weighing the methods of breakthrough and had not noticed what he was doing. Su Baichen suppressed his surprise and continued turning the pages.

But when he reached the next page, Su Baichen's breath abruptly caught, and the book nearly slipped from his hand.

At the top of that page, four bold characters had been written in striking vermilion ink—"Courtship Plan."

Below them was a detailed list of romantic advice and techniques for getting along with someone.

As Su Baichen looked at those words, his mind boomed, and countless fragmented scenes instantly connected.

Cailin's unusual composure today, her hesitant manner, the strange emotion buried deep in her eyes whenever she looked at him, and everything recorded in this book...

That look—gentle yet carrying a cautious probe, shy yet concealing an unmistakable admiration—was exactly the same as the way Xuanyi looked at him.

Putting together all the clues, an unbelievable yet utterly clear answer surfaced in Su Baichen's heart—Cailin liked him!

That realization left him frozen in place. The book in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and even the air around him grew heated.

He instinctively looked up at Cailin, only to meet the gaze she suddenly raised.

Within those deep eyes was a flicker of panic and shyness at having her secret exposed. It vanished in an instant, so quickly that one might have thought it an illusion.

The silence in the chamber instantly became somewhat delicate. A faint medicinal fragrance and an elegant scent intermingled in the air, along with an indescribable hint of ambiguity and embarrassment.