Xiao Yi Xian: Is Everything Truly Fated Beyond One's Will? My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's!

"Woeful Poison Body?" Xiao Yan froze for a moment and accepted the scroll Yao Lao handed over from his Storage Ring.

Shading his eyes with one hand, Xiao Yan gauged the distance. After a brief thought, he put away the Heavy Xuan Ruler, casually patted his waist, and summoned a crimson carriage. He pulled Yao Lao aboard, and the carriage sped ahead at an astonishing pace.

Qingshan Town was only a few hundred li away. If Xiao Yan used the still-incomplete Fire Release, transforming into streaming fire to fly, he could arrive before long.

There had been no need for it before, but it was clearly no longer appropriate to make the journey at a leisurely pace.

Seated on the exceptionally spacious sofa inside the carriage, Xiao Yan's expression grew stranger the more he read the scroll.

The Woeful Poison Body was an extremely terrifying constitution. It naturally leaked dreadful poison that could not be controlled, and it could absorb all manner of strange poisons to advance its cultivation at a staggering pace.

At first glance, it seemed like a peerless constitution.

But the most infuriating part was that the Woeful Poison Body had no poison immunity. Its owner could still be harmed by poison. Those with this constitution would have a seven-colored poison line above their lower abdomen. As toxins accumulated, it would spread upward. Once it reached the heart, no medicine could save them, and they would die when the poison erupted.

It could even affect the mind. In Xiao Yan's understanding, it was like taking too many pills—after suffering intermittent episodes, one would become utterly indiscriminate and unstoppable.

It was also somewhat addictive. Once someone experienced absorbing poisons and rapidly advancing their cultivation, they would no longer be willing to cultivate honestly.

But this was different from Xiao Yan taking pills. Although the Woeful Poison Body's cultivation was not unstable, being unable to control one's own strength at will was far too fatal a flaw.

"..." Xiao Yan's face scrunched up. Yao Lao's scroll contained a solution, but that was not what concerned him now.

Was Xiao Yi Xian's constitution really this? Wasn't that too much of a coincidence?

They had formed quite a bond while gathering herbs in the mountains before, and they had even bared themselves to each other while suppressing poison. But for someone who wanted to become a physician to possess such a constitution...

Xiao Yan felt that fate had indeed set him up. If someone said he would stumble upon some ancient inheritance in the mountains and encounter another beautiful confidante, he would not even find it surprising.

"Forget it. I'll know once I see her."

Shaking his head, Xiao Yan stopped dwelling on it. Once they met, the truth would reveal itself.

Qingshan Town.

Hundred Herb Hall.

This clinic had only opened two years ago, yet it had already crushed the long-established Myriad Medicine Store in Qingshan Town.

The physician here was not only highly skilled, but also pure and kind-hearted, with healing hands and a compassionate heart. Her reputation was excellent.

Especially when facing the poor, she offered free consultations and prescriptions without charging a fee. Sometimes, she even gave injured people medicinal herbs she had gathered in the mountains for free.

Upon entering town and nearing Hundred Herb Hall, one could see a small table at its entrance, with a long line stretching before it.

Behind the table sat a gentle woman in a white dress. Her temperament was exceptionally fresh and ethereal, giving people an exceedingly soft and comforting feeling.

"Tsk, tsk. Every time I come back from a trip and see Xiao Yi Xian providing free treatment, my soul feels healed." A burly mercenary with bandages wrapped around his waist, who had just returned from the Beast Mountain Range, watched Xiao Yi Xian's figure from afar and waggled his brows at his companion.

"Heh, are you really admiring her good deeds? I can't even bear to expose you." The skinny man beside him curled his lips, though his gaze was equally fixed on Xiao Yi Xian.

His gaze was not offensive, however. It was full of appreciation for beauty.

Who would not want a good meal after working themselves to the bone, then enjoy such a pleasing sight?

More than half the mercenaries in Qingshan Town had been treated by Xiao Yi Xian. As long as their own interests were not at stake, whether out of sentiment or benefit, standing on Xiao Yi Xian's side was never wrong.

"Come on, let's go take a look too. That feathered beast got me good this time. Feels like my ribs are broken." As he spoke, the big man winked at his companion again, took out a medicinal herb he had specially picked, and headed toward Hundred Herb Hall.

The free consultations had just come to an end, and the crowd was dispersing. It was the perfect time to go strike up a conversation.

Though he knew better, the big man still harbored a little fantasy. What if the goddess happened to favor him with a glance?

But at that moment, his eyes suddenly widened. Before he knew it, a youth carrying a pitch-black ruler on his back had taken a seat before Xiao Yi Xian's table and extended his hand for diagnosis.

Xiao Yi Xian, who usually wore a sweet and gentle smile, revealed an exceptionally radiant smile.

"You're here?" Xiao Yi Xian beamed as she took Xiao Yan's pulse.

"I'm here." Xiao Yan removed his hood, took a Storage Ring from his robes, and handed it to her. "Here. The consultation fee."

Hundred Herb Hall was actually his property, though officially, it belonged to the two of them jointly.

"...It's enough that you came." Looking into the youth's bright eyes, Xiao Yi Xian felt an immense weight lift from her. Although her circumstances over the past two years had improved countless times over compared to before, the instant she saw Xiao Yan, every barrier she had erected melted away.

Countless words filled her heart, yet her hands instinctively continued examining Xiao Yan's condition. It would have been better if she had not checked him. The moment she did, Xiao Yi Xian was completely dumbfounded, and all her words caught in her throat.

What did it mean to have intact Primordial Yang, yet be in a state of kidney deficiency?

Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened further. For cultivators, Primordial Yang was more of a conceptual thing. Simply put, as long as one had not had intercourse, it still counted, regardless of whatever else they had done.

Because the foundation had not been harmed.

It was like a raw egg. The yolk was Primordial Yang. As long as the yolk was unbroken, everything else could be replenished.

But someone as depleted as Xiao Yan, with only the egg yolk left... she had truly never seen anything like it.

Xiao Yi Xian: Was Xiao Yan still a good boy?

Xiao Yan: I think I was.

Xiao Yi Xian's expression was especially colorful. In all her years of practicing medicine, this was the first time she had seen such symptoms.

What surprised her even more was that, during the time her hand rested on Xiao Yan's wrist, she could feel his condition constantly recovering.

At this rate, she even suspected Xiao Yan refreshed every day.

"You... were you ravaged by a pig?" Xiao Yi Xian could hardly accept it. Xiao Yan had pulled her out of the mud when she was at the lowest point of her life. After drifting for so many years, he had given her a place to rely on.

And now the cabbage she had been reluctant to touch had been ravaged by a pig?!

And it had not even been her who did it!

The more she thought about it, the more violently Xiao Yi Xian's chest rose and fell.

This was no ordinary cabbage. This was cabbage sent down by heaven! Cabbage with merit! Cabbage that had saved her life! Cabbage worthy of entrusting one's life and death to!

Could it be that fiancée he had mentioned before? Or that younger sister he had met during his last trip to Wutan City, the one who obviously liked Xiao Yan at first glance?

The more Xiao Yi Xian thought about it, the more the veins on her forehead bulged. Beneath her innocent appearance, a little devil was awakening.

No, she could not let this cabbage run away like that. She had to save him from those demonic claws!

Feeling Xiao Yi Xian's wildly shifting gaze, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"It's actually hard to explain... If I said it began with feelings but stopped at propriety, would you believe me?"

Xiao Yi Xian immediately rolled her eyes. If Xiao Yan had not seemed to still be a good boy, she would have turned dark on the spot. Even so, she felt the poison inside her stirring restlessly.

They had only been apart for such a short time, yet her heaven-sent male idol had been stolen by some unknown person!

Xiao Yi Xian conveniently ignored the fact that she herself seemed to be the latecomer.

Fuming, she dragged Xiao Yan into Hundred Herb Hall. The free consultations were over for the day anyway.

She had to interrogate this guy properly!!

Misty Cloud Sect.

Nalan Yanran's strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, but for some inexplicable reason, she kept feeling as though something was pressing down on her head from time to time. Especially recently, her already-heavy head felt even heavier.

She had a vague sense of foreboding.

But then she remembered that Yun Yun had told her today that all the other materials for the pill she was refining for her had been prepared. Only the final main ingredient from the Beast Mountain Range remained, and she would be leaving soon.

Nalan Yanran temporarily set her mind at ease. There could not possibly be a problem with her master. Could it be that some strange person had seduced Xiao Yan instead?

She immediately took out the jade pendant Xiao Yan had given her, intending to send him a message and ask what was going on.

At the Xiao Clan, Xiao Xun'er was cultivating in seclusion inside her room. Golden flames surged around her body, yet while her cultivation advanced rapidly, she felt her head growing a little heavy.

Why do I feel like someone is cursing me?

Xiao Xun'er's first thought was whether that damned Nalan Yanran had gone to bother Brother Xiao Yan again.

But when she remembered that she had already left Brother Xiao Yan with both kidney yin and kidney yang deficiency, Xiao Xun'er felt that it should not be possible.

It was not as though his condition could refresh every day, right?

The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she became. Xiao Xun'er opened her eyes and took out the jade pendant Xiao Yan had given her.

Hundred Herb Hall.

"Sister Xian, you have no idea how miserable I've been lately. They're practically demons!"

Xiao Yan buried his head in Xiao Yi Xian's embrace and poured out his grievances. As he spoke emotionally, he kept rubbing his head against her, as though only Xiao Yi Xian's embrace could offer him any comfort.

Xiao Yi Xian felt a dampness against her chest, as though Xiao Yan were truly weeping bitterly.

"Hehe, then you really have had it terribly hard." Xiao Yi Xian's face was cold, but she did not push Xiao Yan away.

"Ding~" At that moment, the jade pendants at Xiao Yan's waist suddenly gave two soft chimes, one after the other, almost simultaneously.

"Hmm?"

Xiao Yi Xian's delicate brows immediately rose. A woman's intuition told her there was an unpleasant presence here.

Xiao Yan silently cursed that things were bad and abruptly raised his head, only to meet Xiao Yi Xian's coldly smiling gaze.

"Hehe, Little Brother Xiao Yan, you were crying so sorrowfully." Xiao Yi Xian suddenly revealed an exceptionally brilliant smile and pointed one slender jade finger at the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Yan: "..."

He wiped the dampness from his lips. Realizing he had failed to suppress his smile, Xiao Yan instantly became intensely alert.

Damn it, his wings seemed to be joining forces to ruin him!

Just as he was about to say something, Xiao Yi Xian's hand suddenly lit up with a bluish-purple glow. Her smile remained brilliant, sending a chill down Xiao Yan's spine.

He immediately raised both hands.

"Sister, I was wrong. I'll do anything you want."

"Oh?" Xiao Yi Xian's eyes brightened, and a malicious smile appeared on her face.

She slowly picked up several medicinal herbs from beside her and leisurely waved them around before Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan blinked. He recognized them. None of the individual herbs were poisonous, but combined, they formed a colorless, odorless, deadly poison.

That kind of poison, too.

Xiao Yan simply closed his eyes and opened his mouth, waiting for Xiao Yi Xian to feed him.

He really was a scoundrel, so he would endure a little suffering. No matter what poison Xiao Yi Xian wanted him to take, he would accept it.

Yet after a long while, the poison he expected did not come. Instead, a soft, warm body pressed against him.

Xiao Yan froze slightly, only to see that Xiao Yi Xian had somehow thrown herself into his arms and was hugging him tightly.

"You..."

Before he could finish, Xiao Yi Xian raised her head and pressed a slender jade finger against his lips.

"Don't speak. Just hold me like this."

Xiao Yan pursed his lips and fell silent, wrapping both arms tightly around Xiao Yi Xian.

After a long while, Xiao Yan let out a soft sigh. He pressed his head against Xiao Yi Xian's, and seeing that she seemed to have fallen asleep, he gently stood and placed her on the bed.

After drawing the bed curtains, Xiao Yan rose to leave, but a jade hand tightly seized the hem of his clothes.

"Don't go... Hold me..."

The next day.

The outskirts of the Beast Mountain Range.

Two figures slowly made their way toward a mountaintop.

Walking ahead was a woman in a white dress who occasionally crouched to gather herbs, her sweet laughter especially bright.

Following behind was a youth with a pitch-black ruler on his back. He had a blade of grass in his mouth, his hands clasped behind his head as he chatted and laughed with the woman.

"Hey, Xiao Yan, can you even do this? Why are you so slow? Didn't I prescribe medicine for your kidney deficiency?" Xiao Yi Xian carefully dug a medicinal herb from the soil, placed it into the herb pouch at her waist, and called back to Xiao Yan.

"I was wondering why you pervert behaved so honestly yesterday. So you didn't have the ability, huh?"

Xiao Yan's expression darkened further.

He was not some beast. He was merely a little more affectionate, had a little more romantic luck, and was a little too shy and bad at refusing people... Ahem.

Who knew that after just one night, he had gone from being a beast to being worse than a beast?

"What have I become in your heart?" Xiao Yan pursed his lips.

"A traitor, kidney-deficient, a big pervert..." Remembering something Xiao Yan had said before, Xiao Yi Xian looked at him teasingly.

After one night, she had thought it through. Meeting Xiao Yan back then had been heaven's decree. Why should she let others take him away?

Xiao Yan had helped her change the miserable fate that had destined her to wander alone and die lonely. Then why could she not fight for him herself?

What was this nonsense about everything being fated beyond one's will?!

She, Xiao Yi Xian, did not believe it. Her fate was hers, not Heaven's!!!

She refused to believe that cabbage already in her mouth could fly away again!

After bickering for a while, Xiao Yi Xian, thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere, pointed toward a distant cliff.

"I passed by there when I was gathering herbs last time. Something inside my body stirred, and I accidentally fell down. There's a cave there.

I had wanted to ask you to explore it with me, but since you happened to come, that will be our goal today."

Xiao Yan immediately frowned and put away his playful expression.

That morning, he had asked Yao Lao to investigate. Xiao Yi Xian did indeed seem to possess the Woeful Poison Body, though it had not fully awakened.

Could that cave have been left behind by a previous generation's Woeful Poison Body?

As he pondered this, Xiao Yan suddenly froze.

He pointed in a certain direction and asked Xiao Yi Xian, "Is it there?"

Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened. She had only given him the general direction and had not pointed out the location. Yet Xiao Yan had directly indicated the cave.

Xiao Yan's frown deepened. The Natal Flame within his body had actually stirred as well.

There seemed to be an extremely unusual wisp of fire energy there.