"Riiip!"
Before Dongfang Hao could react, however, Ma Xiaotao suddenly yanked with both hands!
Under the young man's stunned gaze, she briskly stripped off her already pitifully scant scarlet armor and casually tossed it onto the floor!
Then Ma Xiaotao stepped lightly with her delicate feet, shifting her long, straight legs as she slipped out of her leather trousers as well!
In that instant, the entire spacious, elegant inner chamber was engulfed in a breathtaking expanse of snowy skin and sensual beauty!
Great swathes of dazzlingly fair, smooth skin lay completely exposed to the air. Her full peaks trembled heavily with each breath, while her long, shapely legs gleamed enticingly in the moonlight...
"Gulp..."
Dongfang Hao's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He froze in place, the veins on his forehead twitching uncontrollably.
"You... you crazy woman! What are you taking your clothes off for?!"
"Hehehe... why make such a fuss? Only by meeting each other completely bare can our soul power resonate and mingle to the fullest!"
Ma Xiaotao giggled as she pressed her tantalizing body against him without the slightest restraint. Her long legs wrapped directly around Dongfang Hao's waist, and she hung from him like a boneless octopus.
She brought her wildly beautiful face close to Dongfang Hao's already flushed one and laughed softly, her breath fragrant as orchids:
"Come on, you little lecher. Focus on circulating your cultivation art! Tonight... I'll stay right here and cultivate with you until morning. If your self-control fails and your cultivation goes berserk... don't blame me for bullying you!"
"Hiss..."
Feeling the scorching, almost entirely naked body in his arms, Dongfang Hao sucked in a sharp breath. He was nearly driven mad on the spot!
Such torment truly was the most soul-melting, unbearable torture under heaven!
Clenching his teeth, Dongfang Hao closed his bloodshot eyes and frantically circulated his cultivation art to resist the towering flames of desire within him, snarling viciously in his heart:
Crazy woman... just you wait!
Once I get that hundred-thousand-year whale glue tomorrow... I'll make you temptress cry and beg for mercy!!
Morning.
Only when the first ray of dawn broke free of the clouds and spilled through the window lattice into the room did the intertwining vortices of ice and fire finally subside after raging all night.
On the cushioned couch, Dongfang Hao slowly opened his tightly closed eyes. Two deep violet-gold gleams, almost tangible, flashed through them and vanished. Then he slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air tinged with faint icy-blue and scarlet light.
After an entire night of almost inhuman torment and arduous cultivation, the dark-gold divine heaven soul power surging through his body had clearly become considerably stronger and more concentrated than yesterday.
"At this rate of improvement... in another five days or so at most, the soul power in my body should undergo another qualitative transformation, bringing me naturally into rank twenty-four..."
Looking inward at his increasingly crystalline and resilient meridians, Dongfang Hao could not help curling his lips into a satisfied smile.
For an ordinary Soul Master, such a pace of advancement would have been an extravagant dream they would never dare entertain. But with the Supreme Divine Art and such a powerful human-shaped cultivation furnace beside him serving as a catalyst, everything fell into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
"Mmm... that felt amazing!!"
Just as Dongfang Hao finished circulating his cultivation art, a lovely cry filled with deep satisfaction and utter languor suddenly rose from his arms.
Ma Xiaotao, who had been tightly coiled around him like a boneless snake, now stretched her long, graceful body contentedly.
Her bones crackled in a crisp series of pops like beans roasting in a pan, while an immensely powerful, domineering wave of phoenix flames faintly pulsed from deep within her pores.
"If I keep cultivating at this pace... in a month at most, I'll be absolutely certain of breaking through the shackles of rank sixty-five in one go and becoming a rank sixty-six Soul Emperor!"
Ma Xiaotao's long, lustrous phoenix eyes brimmed with unprecedented delight, and her body trembled slightly with excitement.
At the Soul Emperor realm above rank sixty, even the ordinary prodigies of the Inner Court needed months, if not the better part of a year, of arduous cultivation just to advance a single rank.
Yet now, a single night of mingling yin and yang had equaled ten days to half a month of her usual painstaking cultivation!
The profound wonders and overwhelming potency of this dual cultivation method were truly breathtaking!
"If you keep moving around like that, Senior Xiaotao... I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress the fire inside me again."
A slightly hoarse, dangerous young voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.
Only then did Ma Xiaotao abruptly come to her senses. She lowered her eyes, and an alluring, scorching blush instantly spread across her wildly beautiful face.
She was still almost entirely naked, great stretches of dazzling snowy skin exposed without concealment. After her earlier stretch, her astonishingly full, proud peaks pressed unguardedly against the young man's sturdy chest, reshaping themselves into heart-stopping curves.
At some point, his hands had settled quite naturally on her slender waist, warm, supple, and free of any excess flesh. He even gave her round, pert bottom a squeeze, neither too hard nor too light.
"Smack!"
"Hehehe... you greedy little bastard. You took advantage of me all night, and now, first thing in the morning, those hands of yours are getting even bolder..."
His brazen action made Ma Xiaotao shiver. She rolled her lovely eyes at him, but rather than push him away, she leaned closer with a wealth of seductive charm. Beneath the brocade quilt, her long, shapely legs teasingly brushed his lower body. Her red lips curved upward as she challenged him, her breath fragrant as orchids:
"What's wrong? Didn't you do a fine job last night pretending to be an upright gentleman who could sit with a woman in his lap without losing control? Feeling heated again this early... shall I take good care of you right now?"
The astonishing softness pressed so close to him, together with her rich maidenly fragrance, made Dongfang Hao's eyelids twitch twice. His throat bobbed slightly as he inwardly cursed this tantalizing little temptress.
Even so, he ultimately forced down the desires churning within him.
The opportunity to obtain the hundred-thousand-year whale glue was not yet safely in his hands. He absolutely could not ruin his entire plan for a fleeting moment of pleasure!
"I'll keep your kind offer in mind for now, Senior."
Dongfang Hao released his hold and withdrew somewhat reluctantly from that astonishingly smooth, soft embrace. He nimbly jumped off the couch, straightened his fitted black outfit, and said with a faint smile:
"I have some important personal business to attend to in the outer court today, so I won't linger here and spend the morning with you, Senior."
"The outer court?"
Hearing Dongfang Hao's answer, Ma Xiaotao paused, then gave him a suspicious look and pursed her lips. "Being so mysterious... what's worth visiting over there?"
Dongfang Hao smiled but offered no further explanation.
Naturally, he could not tell Ma Xiaotao that he was going to deliver an immense "opportunity" to his innocent, clueless junior, Huo Yuhao!
Without lingering any longer, Dongfang Hao waved to Ma Xiaotao. His figure flickered into a black afterimage as he lightly pushed open the door and swiftly vanished into the dense woods beyond the courtyard.
"Tch. Leaving in such a hurry. What a heartless little wild wolf."
Watching Dongfang Hao's decisive retreat, without the slightest hesitation or dawdling, Ma Xiaotao gave a dissatisfied little snort. A nearly imperceptible trace of resentment and disappointment flickered through her lovely eyes.
A moment later, however, she tossed her long, fiery-red hair and rose from beneath the brocade quilt.
Bathed in the glow of dawn, her tantalizing body, like the Creator's most perfect masterpiece, radiated endless mature allure.
Taking a fresh set of fitted red leather armor from beside her, Ma Xiaotao briskly slipped it on, once more tightly enclosing her long, straight legs and full bosom that seemed poised to burst free. Restored to her usual air as the Inner Court's decisive, formidable senior sister, she pushed open the door, stretched, and strode out of the villa.
Yet the very instant Ma Xiaotao stepped through the courtyard gate, her footsteps suddenly froze!
The slightly chilly morning breeze swept past, setting the bamboo leaves rustling.
Before the courtyard gate of the equally elegant and peaceful detached residence next door, a graceful figure had appeared at some unknown moment and stood silently.
Before you continue