Little Brother Tian, I Want You

Before, when Chu Xiaotian was recovering on his own, Xia Xue had been too preoccupied with the shock of him possessing such immense mental energy to notice his recovery speed. Now that they were refining and recovering together, the disparity became glaringly obvious. She had begun her recovery before him, yet Chu Xiaotian finished before her. She knew exactly what that meant.

Regarding Xia Xue's question, Chu Xiaotian did not hide anything. He nodded and smiled slightly, "I was half a quarter-hour faster than you."

Xia Xue was stunned. A full half-quarter-hour faster—this figure was somewhat hard for her to accept. As the only Alchemist in all of Greenwood Town, she had always harbored a sense of superiority. But now, in front of Chu Xiaotian, that sense of superiority had vanished without a trace. What she couldn't quite figure out, however, was where Chu Xiaotian had obtained these techniques. When they first met, he had still been searching everywhere for cultivation methods. Yet, in such a short time, his strength had reached this level; the contrast was simply too great.

He is often not in the valley at night. Could it be that he encountered an expert outside who guided him? Or perhaps he obtained some kind of inheritance? Xia Xue wondered to herself, and the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Otherwise, it was truly difficult to explain why Chu Xiaotian could possess such ability in such a short time.

"Be a good girl, Xiaoxue. Come here, and I'll teach you my method for recovering mental energy. But you mustn't tell anyone else, or I'll have to spank you." Seeing Xia Xue's surprised expression, a smug smile tugged at the corners of Chu Xiaotian's mouth. He beckoned her over, signaling for her to lean in and listen.

"Ah, Brother Xiaotian, are you really going to teach me that method? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the senior who passed it to you?" Xia Xue's face was filled with undisguised joy, yet she was also afraid that Chu Xiaotian might be punished for it. Techniques could not be passed on casually; otherwise, one would face the discipline of sect rules. This was the first thing every martial artist on the Moon-Refining Continent learned when they began their cultivation.

"Of course not. You're my treasure, not some outsider." Chu Xiaotian paused, immediately realizing that Xia Xue was overthinking it. However, he only smiled slightly without offering much explanation. Given his current situation, letting Xia Xue misunderstand that he had encountered some stroke of luck was far more convincing than explaining that he had arrived here from another world.

Xia Xue's face flushed red. Chu Xiaotian's words made her feel shy, but also incredibly happy. After all, girls always have a very low resistance to sweet talk. She pressed her body close to Chu Xiaotian, listening as he whispered the incantation into her ear.

In this valley where only the two of them resided, Chu Xiaotian didn't actually need to be so cautious, but the faint fragrance lingering on Xia Xue intoxicated him, and he couldn't help but want to be close to her. It took a quarter-hour for Xia Xue to master the incantation Chu Xiaotian had given her, and the two continued to refine the talisman paper.

Two hours passed. The large bowl of paper pulp Chu Xiaotian had prepared was completely used up, and on the ground before them lay twenty-one yellow talisman papers.

In the absence of special cultivation techniques, the constant use of mental energy is the best way to train it. Having refined talisman paper for several hours, both of them saw a significant increase in their mental energy.

With the talisman paper refined, the next step was to draw the talismans, turning the paper into true paper talismans. In his previous world, due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, talismans were drawn using cinnabar. But here, there was no need for such trouble; one could simply use mental energy to condense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing the runes and imprinting them onto the paper. Moreover, compared to talismans drawn with cinnabar, the effect was countless times more powerful. The purpose of the talisman paper was to act as a vessel for the runes, preventing the spiritual energy condensed within them from dissipating over time. This was the reason why Green Bamboo Grass and Ink Needle Grass were used to refine the paper—the function of these two herbs was to preserve spiritual energy.

Xia Xue was filled with longing for the wonders of the paper talismans Chu Xiaotian described. As he drew, she rested her chin on her hands and watched quietly from the side. Chu Xiaotian had mastered thousands of different runes, but there were few he could draw right now that would be useful for tomorrow's struggle over the Spirit Beast cub. The ones he intended to draw were the Invisibility Talisman, the Godly Speed Talisman, and the Explosive Flame Talisman.

The Invisibility Talisman, needless to say, allowed one to enter a state of invisibility. The lowest-grade Invisibility Talisman lasted for about a minute; the higher the grade, the longer the duration. The Godly Speed Talisman was a paper talisman that could drastically increase one's speed. The legendary "Godly Speed Taibao" of the past, who could travel a thousand miles in a day, relied on this type of talisman. Unlike the Invisibility Talisman, even the lowest-grade version of this could last for a quarter-hour. Finally, the Explosive Flame Talisman was an offensive paper talisman. A single sheet could conjure a small sea of fire; if an opponent were careless enough to fall into it, even an expert in the Essence-Transforming Realm would likely meet their end.

Of these three, the Explosive Flame Talisman was undoubtedly the simplest. Despite its terrifying offensive power, the rune itself was much simpler than the other two. Chu Xiaotian decided to start with this one. Although he had only known about it in theory and had never actually drawn one, the relative simplicity meant he did not fail. Under his careful control, he succeeded on his first attempt.

Drawing talismans consumed far more energy than refining the paper. After drawing just one, Chu Xiaotian's mental energy was more than half depleted, forcing him to sit and recover. Once recovered, he continued. In an hour and a half, five Explosive Flame Talismans appeared before him. The rune for the Explosive Flame Talisman looked somewhat like a burning flame, a design that certainly lived up to its name.

"Brother Xiaotian, are these things in your hand really as powerful as you say?" Looking at the five small yellow papers in Chu Xiaotian's hand, Xia Xue was truly skeptical of his claim that they could kill an expert in the Essence-Transforming Realm.

Chu Xiaotian was a bit doubtful himself—not of the talisman's power, but of his own abilities. After all, this was his first time drawing such a talisman, and the process had gone so smoothly that it left him feeling uneasy. Thus, he decided to test it.

Paper talismans were easy to use. As long as a martial artist possessed even a sliver of mental energy, they could touch the rune within the talisman with their mind and then throw it out. Chu Xiaotian took out one Explosive Flame Talisman and tossed it onto the grass ten meters in front of them. A flash of yellow light erupted as the talisman landed.

"BOOM..." A deafening roar echoed out. Before Xia Xue's disbelieving eyes, the small yellow paper exploded, and a ring of fire a full zhang wide appeared before them. Even from several meters away, they could feel the rolling heat waves radiating from it. With the fire ring as the center, the grass within a five-meter radius quickly turned yellow and withered; those closer to the center even burst into flames. The fire burned for a full minute. When the flames died down and the smoke cleared, a large pit shimmering with seven-colored light appeared before them. The intense heat of the Explosive Flame Talisman had directly melted the ground, turning the soil into a seven-colored glaze. Although it had only burned away a layer about two inches deep, the extreme temperature was evident.

Xia Xue was completely stunned. Her small mouth hung open in a cute "O" shape as she stared at the seven-colored pit ahead. She blinked her eyes a few times, and after a long while, she turned back to look at the remaining four talismans in Chu Xiaotian's hand with eyes full of hope. Her adorable expression made Chu Xiaotian feel incredibly smug. It was truly impossible for any man not to feel proud when holding something that attracted a girl so intensely.

"Brother Xiaotian, I want one," Xia Xue said, her voice soft and delicate, filled with a mix of shyness and anticipation as she stared at the talismans in his hand.

A man's favorite thing to hear a woman say is "I want." Therefore, Chu Xiaotian didn't hesitate at all to take one Explosive Flame Talisman and hand it to Xia Xue.

"Brother Xiaotian, I want more," Xia Xue said, giving Chu Xiaotian a look of dissatisfaction and resentment since he had only given her one out of four, her voice once again soft and delicate.

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Chu Xiaotian's forehead. This phrase from Xia Xue was exactly what men feared most to hear from women. Thus, he did not give her another Explosive Flame Talisman. Of course, the real reason wasn't that, but rather that he needed to save these talismans to deal with the situation tomorrow.

"Be good, Xiaoxue. Once I snatch that little Spirit Beast cub back tomorrow, I'll give you as many as you want, alright?" Seeing Xia Xue's resentful gaze, Chu Xiaotian had no choice but to explain the purpose of the talismans.

"Ah, Brother Xiaotian, you're going to catch that Spirit Beast cub tomorrow too? There are so many experts there; it's too dangerous for you to go," Xia Xue said, looking at Chu Xiaotian with surprise and deep concern. He hadn't told her his plans before, and hearing it now caught her off guard.

With Chu Xiaotian's strength, he could handle experts in the Pi-Hai Realm, but facing those in the Essence-Transforming Realm was dangerous. The Huang Family was throwing their entire weight into capturing the cub, and there were over a dozen Essence-Transforming Realm experts present, including the only Poxue Realm expert in their family. Faced with such strength, how could Chu Xiaotian possibly obtain the cub? He would likely lose his life if he were even slightly careless.

"Don't worry. If it's truly impossible, I won't take the risk. You haven't married me yet, so I'm not willing to die. Besides, once I draw the Invisibility and Godly Speed Talismans, it'll be a question of whether they can even find me at all." Chu Xiaotian held Xia Xue's shoulders, pressed his forehead against hers, and looked into her eyes as he spoke softly.

Although Xia Xue was still worried, she did not try to stop him again. She knew that sometimes, a woman just needs to stand behind her man and offer silent support. Moreover, after witnessing the power of the Explosive Flame Talisman, her confidence in his Invisibility and Godly Speed Talismans had grown significantly; she knew that with such miraculous items, Chu Xiaotian should be able to escape safely.

Chu Xiaotian teased Xia Xue for a while longer until she was at ease, and only then did he begin to draw the other two types of talismans.