Pledge of Love

"Seven-Colored Poison Manual?!" Little Fairy Doctor's surprised voice rang out, mixed with a faint trace of delight. If Xiao Yan had not anticipated it, he truly might not have noticed.

"What? Are you interested in it?" Xiao Yan knowingly asked.

"What's so strange about that?" Little Fairy Doctor naturally stepped forward, took the Seven-Colored Poison Manual into her hands, and said, "Don't you know that healers and poison masters come from the same family?"

"This belongs to me now." Little Fairy Doctor smiled at Xiao Yan and said somewhat provocatively, "I'm telling you, if you dare do anything you shouldn't to me again, just see how I deal with you. Hmph!"

After saying that, the young girl proudly raised her fair little chin. Even her delicate nose seemed to lift a little higher.

Despite her words, Xiao Yan was not so easily intimidated. He stepped forward, slipped his hands around her slender waist, and with a squeeze, Little Fairy Doctor's soft body pressed against his.

Lowering his head, he looked at Little Fairy Doctor's startled, blushing face. "Oh? Then tell me, what exactly am I not supposed to do, so I can avoid it."

"You!" Little Fairy Doctor stomped her foot in irritation and viciously stepped on Xiao Yan's instep. Yet with the strength of Xiao Yan's body, that bit of force was no different from a massage.

"Do you know? Some poisons can make a man impotent. Want to try one?" Little Fairy Doctor said darkly in her anger.

Yet Xiao Yan was not afraid at all. Instead, he held her even tighter. "Haven't you noticed that I possess a Heavenly Flame? Ordinary poison is useless against me. The Heavenly Flame inside me will burn it away directly."

"A Heavenly Flame?" Little Fairy Doctor, who had still been embarrassed and annoyed, instantly widened her eyes. "That's impossible! You're only a Dou Fighter. How could you possibly refine a Heavenly Flame?"

"Then if it isn't a Heavenly Flame, why would a mere Dou Fighter like me possess the attack power of a Dou Master?" Xiao Yan countered.

"This..."

"So, there's no need for you to hide certain things from me. I'm not afraid of your poison," Xiao Yan suddenly said gently, abandoning his earlier teasing tone.

"Hide something? What am I hiding?" Little Fairy Doctor looked puzzled, but her gaze kept drifting away, like a child caught lying by an adult.

Although Little Fairy Doctor still did not want to say it, Xiao Yan would not let her off so easily. "You were born with a poison body, also known as the Woeful Poison Body, weren't you?"

"I'm not! I don't have one! I..." Looking into Xiao Yan's resolute eyes, Little Fairy Doctor's voice gradually weakened. "You... already knew?"

"Of course." Xiao Yan gently brushed his hand across the young girl's cheek. "I saw it from the very first day I met you."

"Then why did you still approach me? Aren't you afraid?"

"I told you, I have a Heavenly Flame. Ordinary poison is useless against me. Besides, I once inherited the legacy of an alchemist, and it included a method for resolving the Woeful Poison Body." Xiao Yan spoke gently as he raised his right hand and brushed it across his Storage Ring. A scroll appeared before them.

"This is?" Looking at the scroll floating in the air, Little Fairy Doctor realized something. She looked at Xiao Yan in disbelief, hope flickering in her eyes.

"This is the solution I told you about—the Poison Pill Method."

Dou Qi swept out, and the scroll unfurled in midair, lines of profound text appearing upon it.

"The Woeful Poison Body is one of the most unique and powerful constitutions on the Dou Qi Continent. It feeds on deadly poison and grows by using deadly poison as nourishment. Yet as poison accumulates within the body, it will gradually spiral out of control. Once the toxins erupt, all humans and beasts within a thousand miles will perish, not a blade of grass will survive, and all life will be extinguished. Even the bearer of the Woeful Poison Body will find it difficult to escape. This Poison Pill Method uses the power of Heavenly Flames to gather all toxins within the body into the dantian and transform them into a poison pill. Once the pill is formed, the poison body will reach perfection and become invincible beneath the Dou Saint realm!"

"To condense the poison pill, three things are required: first, three Heavenly Flames; second, the magic core of a seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast; third, Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva."

Little Fairy Doctor's gaze swiftly swept over the scroll, but the more she understood the Poison Pill Method, the more hopeless it seemed. Her initial excitement gradually faded. The resources required by the method recorded on the scroll were simply too terrifying. First was the magic core of a seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast. Even a Battle Venerable might not be able to produce a magic core of that level, so how could she possibly obtain one? Then there were the Heavenly Flames. Even one Heavenly Flame was extraordinarily rare, let alone three! As for the final Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, Little Fairy Doctor had never even heard of it. Yet since it was listed alongside the first two, it clearly could not be anything ordinary.

The cruelest thing in the world was being given hope, only to have it snatched away again! The harsh requirements sank Little Fairy Doctor's heart into silence, and a shadow dimmed her eyes.

"Xiao Yan, thank you. I'll work hard to find these materials." Little Fairy Doctor forced herself to perk up and tried to pull out a smile.

"Mm." Xiao Yan looked deeply at the young girl's face as she pretended to be strong. "Little Fairy Doctor, once the matter of your Woeful Poison Body is resolved, will you marry me?"

"Xiao Yan!" Little Fairy Doctor's heart trembled, and tears shimmered in her eyes.

After pondering for a long while, the young girl took the initiative and wrapped her arms around the youth's waist for the first time. She gently leaned into his chest and softly said, "All right."

If Heaven does not favor me, and the Poison Pill Method fails... then I'll leave. Little Fairy Doctor silently thought.

But Xiao Yan would certainly not let Little Fairy Doctor cling to such pessimistic thoughts. "Little Fairy Doctor, look at this."

A cluster of eerie white flames appeared out of thin air within the stone dwelling. Yet rather than bringing warmth to the cold stone dwelling, the flames instead plunged the surroundings into an icy abyss.

"This is!" The sudden change interrupted Little Fairy Doctor's tragic vow. She stared blankly at the scene before her.

"This is a Heavenly Flame from the alchemist legacy I obtained. Together with my own, I have two in total." Seeing Little Fairy Doctor's expression of delighted disbelief, Xiao Yan continued, "Furthermore, the alchemist whose legacy I inherited had connections to the legendary holy land of alchemists—the Central Plains Pill Tower. The other two materials for the poison pill may be precious, but the Pill Tower should still be able to produce them."

"Xiao Yan..." Little Fairy Doctor murmured without speaking further. She was not foolish. Xiao Yan made it sound easy, but the Pill Tower was not somewhere one could enter merely through a master's lineage. Even taking a step back, if Xiao Yan truly were such a peerless genius that he could enter easily, what did that have to do with her?

"Little Fairy Doctor, do you know what I thought when I first saw you?"

"What did you think?"

"I thought, this beauty and I are a perfect match!" Xiao Yan returned to his teasing tone and gently pinched Little Fairy Doctor's delicate nose, trying to pull the atmosphere away from its former heaviness.

Yes, they really were a perfect match. Even Little Fairy Doctor herself felt that way. The person before her was like the window Heaven had opened after closing a door, rescuing her from the shadow of the Woeful Poison Body.

"You only know how to take advantage of me." Pouting, the young girl feigned dissatisfaction as her little fists thumped against the youth's chest. An ambiguous atmosphere spread between them.

When the two left the stone dwelling, the moon was already high in the sky. Cool breezes swept past, yet they could not extinguish the burning hearts within them.