Abundant Cultivation Resources, Explosive Growth in Power!

She forced a more genuine smile. "Thank you, Mother."

But in the days that followed, Immortal Ziyang never appeared again.

Forget higher-grade pills—she didn't even catch sight of a single spirit herb.

Her cultivation was too slow. Even cultivating day and night, she gained only a little at a time.

After experiencing the delicious rush of her cultivation soaring in her previous life, she couldn't settle down and cultivate at this pace.

Ran Zirou finally couldn't stand it anymore.

She needed to find a man.

[Host, Ran Zirou has decided to seduce your godmother's cultivation partner.]

Li Zi was soaking in a medicinal bath in her room.

During her recovery, her scrawny body had filled out a little.

Her features were gradually coming into their own: curved willow brows, clear, bright eyes, luscious red lips. She was delicate and lovely.

Now she sat in dark-green medicinal liquid, enduring the pain of its potency forcibly widening the meridians throughout her body.

It felt as though every inch of her meridians was being pried open by an outside force. The pain was unbearable.

Her fair, tender cheeks had turned a sickly white.

Even the system felt sorry for her. It reported gossip as it happened, hoping to distract Li Zi and make the pain easier to bear.

Li Zi shuddered as an elegant figure flashed through her mind.

[Wait, is there anything Ran Zirou won't go for? My godmother's cultivation partner—isn't he the one who likes both men and women?]

[Yep. Your godmother hasn't given Ran Zirou any cultivation resources since she arrived at the Hehuan Sect, so she wants to cultivate a Dual Cultivation art. But there aren't many men in the Hehuan Sect. The only talented ones left are the Sect Master and your godmother's cultivation partner. She can't get close to the Sect Master, but she can get close to your godmother's partner.]

The system sounded a little gleeful. [That man is probably finished.]

Outside the door, Ji Zheng, Fu Chaoqing, and the Second Elder heard every word of the system's chatter with Li Zi.

The Fifth Elder had six disciples besides Li Zi. Only these two were at the Sect; the others were either in seclusion or had gone down the mountain on missions.

Over the past few days, the two had put considerable effort into addressing Li Zi's constitution.

As for the Second Elder, he was deeply grateful to Li Zi after the matter with Immortal Ziyang was resolved. He had volunteered to come help study how she could cultivate.

They had been pouring top-grade spirit medicines and pills into Li Zi.

At that, all three lowered their voices mid-discussion and listened closely to Li Zi and the system.

That Ran Zirou really was nothing but trouble.

She could even seduce men in the Hehuan Sect?

Li Zi asked curiously, [System, why do you make Dual Cultivation sound bad? Don't people in the Cultivation World often become cultivation partners and practice it together?]

[That's different,] the system said. [Ordinary Dual Cultivation is a mutual exchange. Both people have similar cultivation levels, practice gentle arts, and share a bond. Cultivating together benefits them both.]

[But a Dual Cultivation art is different. It forcibly absorbs the other person's cultivation. It's ruthless and insidious. And the art Ran Zirou practices is the most terrifying of all: the Devouring Cultivation Art. Once mastered, it can even absorb other people's cultivation arts for her own use.]

[Worse, she can bewitch people. After practicing Dual Cultivation with her once, they become addicted. The craving keeps growing until they willingly pass their cultivation to her.]

Li Zi was stunned. [Then in the original story...]

[Exactly. That's where all Ran Zirou's cultivation came from in the original story. Once the men in your Sect practiced Dual Cultivation with her, they couldn't stop.]

The three outside were shaken too.

They looked at one another.

Would the three of them have...

The Second Elder cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

"Immortal Ziyang and I discussed this before. We both suspected Ran Zirou was practicing a Demonic Dual Cultivation Art. Immortal Ziyang said he would take her to the Hehuan Sect and observe her. Such sinister arts spread from the Demon Realm. Perhaps we could find traces of the Devil Lord through her."

He paused, then his voice turned colder.

"It seems we were right."

They had suspected as much when they first heard Li Zi's thoughts.

A woman might be breathtakingly beautiful, but surely that alone couldn't make every man chase after her.

When something was that strange, a demon had to be behind it.

And there it was. They had guessed right—it really was her cultivation art.

Ran Zirou was practicing a Demonic Cultivation Art.

Ji Zheng scratched the back of his head, shaken.

"Good thing I never..."

The Second Elder shot him a cold look. "Once this Secret Realm closes, I'll speak to your master and have you enter seclusion. With your constitution, everyone who practices a Dual Cultivation art will have their eye on you."

Ji Zheng immediately straightened his back. "Yes, Martial Uncle!"

Listening to Li Zi and the system chatter inside, the Second Elder sighed softly, warmth flickering in his eyes. "We owe our escape from this calamity to little Zi."

Without Li Zi, Ran Zirou would likely have succeeded long ago.

The Spirit Sword Sect might have faced annihilation.

After she passed out from the pain for the tenth time, the liquid in the bath finally turned a pale, fluorescent green.

Li Zi's meridians had widened threefold.

Light-headed and unsteady, she dressed and staggered out.

When she looked up and saw Fu Chaoqing holding a tray, her heart clenched.

These days, merely seeing Fu Chaoqing made her ache all over.

Fu Chaoqing wore his handsome, gentle smile.

"Little Junior Sister, I have a fourth-grade Bone-Regenerating Pill to strengthen your Root Bone, a third-grade Dust-Cleansing Pill to widen your meridians, and a sixth-grade Essence-Gathering Pill that will let you reach the Fourth Tier of Qi Refining within two days. Which would you like to take first?"

That smile belongs to a devil!

Li Zi swallowed nervously. "Which one won't hurt too much?"

Fu Chaoqing smiled. "Then let's start with the Bone-Regenerating Pill."

After taking it, every bone in her body tingled and itched, as though ten thousand ants were crawling through the gaps between them.