When it came to martial techniques, the two of them talked for nearly two hours.
Li Yuan took the initiative to stop the conversation and let her continue cultivating and recovering.
As for himself, he conserved as much energy as possible.
There was not much food. Saving even a little strength was still worth it.
As night approached, he reapplied Xia Zhao's medicine.
By tomorrow, her wounds should have fully scabbed over.
Judging from Xia Zhao's condition, the infected wounds no longer affected her much.
He only needed to treat them completely to prevent further complications.
Over the next few days, Li Yuan went out for around two hours each day.
He observed the surrounding environment and prepared in advance for any unexpected dangers.
Li Yuan was not particularly worried about the Fierce Beasts.
He was more worried about the people and the faction hidden behind this incident.
He had to make it back alive. He could not die here!
He had finally earned a chance to enter the Youth Martial Tournament. He could not lose his life before even taking part.
There were still so many regrets he had yet to make up for.
Thinking of this, Li Yuan's resolve grew even firmer.
Over these past few days, Li Yuan and Xia Zhao became increasingly familiar with one another.
Whenever Xia Zhao rested, she sat with Li Yuan beside the observation point.
They chatted while keeping watch over the surrounding area.
During their conversations, Xia Zhao offered Li Yuan little guidance in terms of understanding martial techniques.
Instead, she gained a great deal from what Li Yuan told her.
The Feather Blade she cultivated was an extremely difficult saber technique to master.
Its difficulty even exceeded that of the Cloud Extreme Fist by a considerable margin.
Yet after Li Yuan listened to her descriptions and explanations of such a difficult technique, he was able to offer her pointers.
He even solved problems that had troubled her for a long time.
As dusk approached on the sixth day, Xia Zhao took a string of keys from her old clothes.
A flash drive hung from the keys.
She removed the flash drive and handed it to Li Yuan.
"Fortunately, it was hanging on me and wasn't lost along with the luggage.
Inside is a cultivation method that an elder in my family obtained by chance.
Neither I nor my elders could make sense of what it says.
Perhaps you can read it and see whether you gain anything from it.
But don't force it. It might just be a bunch of nonsense."
After saying this, Xia Zhao suddenly seemed to remember something.
She immediately added a few more words.
Once they got out, she would still find Li Yuan a basic cultivation method.
She was only giving him this now because she felt that Li Yuan's comprehension was truly outstanding.
Perhaps he might find some clues even in something no one had ever understood.
Li Yuan accepted the flash drive and expressed his gratitude.
Their conversation had not yet ended when Xia Zhao continued talking about the cultivation method stored on it.
This method was called the Heavenly Refining Body.
Xia Zhao told him what little she knew about it, which could serve as inspiration when Li Yuan studied it later.
Li Yuan listened intently, but the more he listened, the more he felt there was something seriously wrong with what she was saying.
After finishing that, Xia Zhao casually brought up an amusing story related to the method.
"This method nearly caused a huge mess.
Four Grandmasters fell out with each other and nearly came to blows.
In the end, after all that fighting over it, it amounted to nothing.
No one could understand it. Several Grandmasters said it was full of nonsense..."
At this point, Xia Zhao could not help wanting to laugh.
"The rumors made it sound so extraordinary. People were willing to risk half their lives to obtain it, only for it to be worthless.
Even the strongest people in the world can be troubled by external things."
They did not chat for long each day, keeping it within two hours.
The compressed food and water Li Yuan had brought had already been consumed by two-thirds.
There would be more pressure later, so they had to conserve what remained.
The good news was that Xia Zhao recovered every day, her condition visibly improving.
It was obvious just from her complexion.
At the same time, she seemed to have become even prettier.
She wore Li Yuan's loose-fitting clothes, and her lovely, snow-white figure was faintly visible beneath them.
Whenever that happened, Li Yuan usually turned his head away and forced himself to focus seriously on something else.
As a top martial artist, Xia Zhao's perception was naturally sharp.
She did not expose him.
She merely curled her lips into a slight smile and secretly chuckled.
On the sixth day of hiding inside the Observation Station,
Xia Zhao moved her cultivation, recovery, and sleep to Li Yuan's side.
In terms of martial strength, she was certainly several times stronger than Li Yuan.
Even in her current state, she was still far stronger than him.
Yet sitting close beside him gave her a rare sense of security.
For her, that sense of security was indeed hard to come by.
Besides, staying close to Li Yuan brought plenty of amusing moments.
For instance, whenever she lowered her head and leaned over, Li Yuan would catch a glimpse and become somewhat conflicted.
He wanted to look, but was too embarrassed to...
Such playful moments could only happen here.
If she truly made it out alive, Xia Zhao would return to how she used to be: aloof, composed, and indifferent.
The sixth day passed peacefully.
After one night, the seventh day arrived.
All the poison in Xia Zhao's body had been completely purged.
From then on, she only needed to focus on recovering her condition and restoring her Eighth-Rank Martial Dao strength.
Feeling the state of her body, Xia Zhao prepared to reduce her own food intake.
She divided the remaining food into two portions and had Li Yuan eat more than before.
Without needing to fight the poison inside her body, her daily consumption would be much lower.
But Li Yuan still insisted that she eat more.
If they truly wanted to escape this place, they could only rely on her in the end.
His condition could not determine the final outcome.
Xia Zhao did not argue. While eating, she suddenly stuffed half her food toward Li Yuan's mouth.
Li Yuan was a little startled and instinctively shrank back.
"Do you dislike it? Or are you afraid of letting down someone waiting for you at home?" Xia Zhao teased.
She had spoken casually, with a teasing tone.
But after the words left her mouth, she froze first.
Xia Zhao suddenly realized that she had always assumed Li Yuan was single, without ever actually confirming it.
Li Yuan was around the same age as her. Both of them had already turned thirty.
For a martial prodigy like Xia Zhao, this was still the golden age for martial cultivation.
What prodigy would marry and start a family at such a young age?
But Li Yuan had only reached Fifth Grade at thirty. While that was not bad, he definitely could not be considered outstanding.
Progress in martial cultivation did not increase linearly with age.
After the age of thirty-five, a martial artist's advancement would become slower and slower.
Geniuses possessed Fifth Grade perfection strength in their twenties.
Before turning thirty, they would certainly advance to Sixth Grade.
After that, every rise in rank would take years, perhaps even decades.
Li Yuan's comprehension was indeed exceptional, but with this level of martial strength, it was possible that he had married and started a family early.
When Xia Zhao came back to herself, she unexpectedly felt nervous and uncomfortable.
Her gaze fell on Li Yuan, and she waited expectantly.
Though she did not want to admit it, Xia Zhao knew that she was hoping Li Yuan would give a negative answer.
"The only people waiting for me at home are my parents. They probably wouldn't mind this.
I just don't think there's any need for me to eat an extra share.
No matter how full I get, I still won't be able to deal with a Mutant Beast..."
Before you continue