Teasing

In that valley, where the masculine energy was incredibly dense, Chu Xiaotian busied himself for the better part of the night. It was not until the sky turned bright that he finally succeeded in mastering the introductory techniques of the Heavenly Corpse Art. Now, he could successfully use that technique to draw out the Corpse Poison lurking within his body.

However, since it was already broad daylight, Chu Xiaotian did not continue his training. He stood up, left the valley, and went into the woods to fashion a garment of grass to cover his long-exposed body. He then used a tree branch to kill a small wild boar, and like a primitive man returning from a hunt, he walked toward the valley where Xia Xue resided.

Whether Xia Xue was still angry about Chu Xiaotian's liberties the day before or because he had left her behind the previous night, she did not give him a pleasant look. She simply walked out of her room, took the roasted boar meat Chu Xiaotian had prepared, and ducked back inside, refusing to come out again.

Chu Xiaotian was preoccupied with thoughts of practicing the Heavenly Corpse Art, so he did not bother with Xia Xue. He walked to the side of the small pond, sat down cross-legged, and began to practice according to the techniques in the Heavenly Corpse Art.

During the day, the corpse energy was suppressed quite severely. Chu Xiaotian cycled through the technique from the Heavenly Corpse Art three full times before he managed to draw out even a tiny bit of the Corpse Poison. Without attempting to draw out any more, he began to try and control that wisp of poison. Manipulating Corpse Poison was no simple task; even the Heavenly Corpse Art warned the practitioner repeatedly to be careful lest the poison invade their spirit.

All practitioners, regardless of their cultivation level, relied on their spirit and intent to manipulate the energy of heaven and earth. Therefore, spirit and intent were of the utmost importance to everyone; once damaged, the consequences were something no one could bear. Chu Xiaotian concentrated his mind, using his intent to control that wisp of Corpse Poison, but the moment he made contact, he felt a sharp pain in his brain. Terrified, he immediately stopped and allowed the Jade Pendant and the solar energy of the world to suppress the poison once more.

After resting for a full half-hour to recover, Chu Xiaotian drew out another wisp of Corpse Poison and tried to control it again. As the saying goes, "Read a book a thousand times, and its meaning will reveal itself." This principle held true for cultivation as well. For this cold, yin-natured Corpse Poison, in the absence of absolute talent, the only way to control it was through constant, arduous practice. If once wasn't enough, he would practice ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times. With enough repetition, he would slowly find the method to control the poison, making it possible to master it.

This was a painful and lonely endeavor; those without a strong mind could never succeed. Chu Xiaotian tried from morning until noon without much progress. After catching a few fish in the river for lunch and leaving some at Xia Xue's door, he sat back down by the pond to continue. When night fell, he still did not stay in the valley; before the sun had completely set, he headed back to the high-temperature valley where he had practiced the night before. He used the special environment of the valley in tandem with the Jade Pendant around his neck to keep his mind clear as he continued to practice the Heavenly Corpse Art.

For the next two days, Chu Xiaotian spent all his time—aside from eating and sleeping—in cultivation, not even finding the time to speak a word to Xia Xue. Of course, with such diligent practice, it was impossible not to have any results. After two days of uninterrupted training, on this night, Chu Xiaotian was finally able to control the Corpse Poison within his body and use it to strengthen his physical form.

"Whew... this damn Heavenly Corpse Art is really not an easy thing to cultivate." After controlling a small wisp of corpse energy to circulate through his body for a while until it was suppressed once more, Chu Xiaotian let out a long breath, stood up, and muttered to himself. The cold, yin-natured corpse energy had made him suffer quite a bit over the past two days. Now, whenever he thought of that Corpse Poison, he couldn't help but feel a chill run through his body.

He looked at the sky and saw a glimmer of light on the horizon. Chu Xiaotian stretched and walked toward the exit of the valley.

After roasting a wild rabbit, Chu Xiaotian did not immediately start eating as he had before. Instead, he looked toward Xia Xue's door. He had been too busy practicing to reconcile with her, but now that he could control the Corpse Poison, his cultivation path was on the right track, and he finally had time to resolve the matter. After waiting for a while, Xia Xue emerged from her room, her pretty face still frosted with cold as she walked over.

"Little Xue, are you still angry?" Seeing her appear, Chu Xiaotian immediately greeted her with a smile and led her to the campfire where the meat was roasting.

Xia Xue glanced at him without a word, but she didn't take the food and walk away as she had before. She sat down by the fire, lifted her head, and stared at Chu Xiaotian with an expressionless face.

"Little Xue, don't be angry anymore. It's just that your allure was too great, and I couldn't help myself. If you're really that angry, why don't you hit me twice? Hit me twice to vent your frustration, and you'll feel better. Just please don't drive me away; I'll have nowhere else to go." Chu Xiaotian felt his skin crawl under Xia Xue's gaze, and in his nervousness, he grabbed her hand, speaking in a flustered manner. He had taken advantage of her earlier and ignored her for so many days; he was genuinely afraid she was furious.

"And now? Are you being too nervous?" Seeing Chu Xiaotian holding her hand again, Xia Xue looked at him with a hint of amusement and spoke slowly. In truth, Chu Xiaotian had only grabbed her hand that one time, and aside from being annoyed in the moment, her anger had long since faded. The main reason she had ignored him was that he went out every night, and she couldn't follow him, leaving her wondering what kind of mischief he was up to.

"I, I, I... this, this..." Chu Xiaotian quickly let go, feeling flustered again. Even though he was a man from the twenty-first century, he had only left the mountains a few days ago, and when it came to matters between men and women, he was quite dense. With Xia Xue's teasing, his heart was in a state of turmoil.

"Hee hee, I was just teasing you. I stopped being angry a long time ago. But you have to tell me where you've been going at night, or I really will be angry." Seeing Chu Xiaotian's reaction, Xia Xue smiled brightly.

"I knew Little Xue was the best. Come, have some more roasted meat; this is good stuff. However, I can't tell you what I've been doing at night just yet. I have to wait until I've completely succeeded, and then I'll tell you. You'll be happy when you hear it." With Xia Xue saying that, Chu Xiaotian finally felt at ease. However, he still had no intention of revealing his nightly activities; he wanted to wait until his cultivation had truly borne fruit before sharing it with her. After all, the fact that he was turning into a zombie was not something he could let just anyone know.

"You really won't tell me now? Then I really am going to be angry." Xia Xue pouted at Chu Xiaotian, looking as if she would ignore him if he didn't speak.

However, Chu Xiaotian had already figured out Xia Xue's temperament and knew she wasn't truly angry. He walked up to her with a smile and said, "Little Xue, don't be impatient. When I succeed, I will definitely tell you. You can do whatever you want then. For now, just finish your food, and then I'll accompany you to gather herbs. You're out of ingredients, aren't you? The weather is so nice today, it's the perfect time to go." Without waiting for her to react, he tore a leg off the roasted rabbit and held it out to her lips.

Chu Xiaotian successfully diverted her attention. Under the influence of his words, Xia Xue completely forgot what she was going to say and began to eat the fragrant roasted meat in earnest. Seeing that she stopped questioning him, Chu Xiaotian began to eat as well.

"Alright, I'm full now. You promised, so you have to accompany me to gather herbs. I haven't refined any pills for two days, and my hands are feeling a bit rusty." After slowly finishing half the rabbit leg, Xia Xue set down her food and looked at Chu Xiaotian with a beaming smile. Yet, looking at that smile, Chu Xiaotian felt there was something like a conspiracy hidden within it.

The two packed up and headed into the forest. Xia Xue had run out of herbs days ago, but she had been resting and hadn't gone out to gather any. Now that Chu Xiaotian had brought it up, she was eager to gather ingredients for alchemy.

"This, this, this, and this—these are all materials I urgently need. Help me collect them." As they walked through the dense forest, Xia Xue would occasionally point to flowers or herbs growing in the high cracks of tree bark, having Chu Xiaotian climb up to pick them. She would then store them in a small pouch she had traded for with Ba Dao. Before long, Chu Xiaotian had climbed over a hundred trees, each ten zhang high, and gathered a pile of herbs, all of which Xia Xue tucked into that small pouch called a Qiankun Bag.

Xia Xue remained empty-handed, looking as if she were out for a leisurely stroll, but Chu Xiaotian was having a rough time. The herbs grew on trees over ten meters tall, and the constant climbing up and down left him drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. If his body hadn't been sufficiently tough, he would have collapsed on the ground long ago.

Yet, Xia Xue acted as if she didn't notice, instead praising him while pointing to even more herbs on even taller trees for him to pick. Chu Xiaotian just wanted to lie down on the ground, but whenever he heard her praise and saw her radiant, sun-like smile, his feet couldn't help but carry him toward the giant trees she pointed out.