Dividing the Spoils

Seeing her so embarrassed that she did not know what to do with herself, Xiao Yuan chuckled and hurried to explain before her imagination ran away with her.

"Don't overthink it. It isn't the kind of dual cultivation you're imagining."

His voice was calm as he slowly explained, “Ordinary dual cultivation involves two people exchanging their Origin Dou Qi to increase their cultivation together. But ours would be different.”

"Your poison body constantly produces deadly poison. I would use my cultivation method to draw Dou Qi into your body and absorb the poisonous energy overflowing from it. You would stabilize your poison body, while I would absorb the poison's power and turn it into cultivation."

"Essentially, the excess poison your body produces would become nourishment for my cultivation. You would use my cultivation method to resolve your crisis, and I would use your poison's power to improve.

"We would lend each other strength in a mutually beneficial relationship. From the perspective of energy circulation, it could just barely qualify as another form of dual cultivation."

Xiao Yi Xian froze for a moment. Some of the blush faded from her face, but an unfamiliar feeling still lingered in her heart. She stole a glance at Xiao Yuan, then quickly lowered her eyes and murmured,

"So that's what you meant... You gave me a fright."

She pondered for a moment, carefully considering this third path. There would be no need to search for a seventh-tier magic core or risk venturing deep into a poisonous region to find netherworld poison flame. As long as Xiao Yuan helped, he could suppress the toxins constantly accumulating inside her.

But this method would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Xiao Yuan would still need to channel Dou Qi into her meridians at regular intervals.

Xiao Yi Xian gently bit her lower lip and asked softly, "Then... would doing this hurt you? Could those deadly poisons turn around and harm you?

Seeing the worry she could not hide in her eyes, Xiao Yuan slowly shook his head, his gaze gentle.

He raised his hand slightly. A faint wisp of purplish-red Thunderfire quietly swirled around his fingertips, releasing a trace of pressure.

"My attributes are all of the utmost hardness and yang nature. Combined with the unique properties of my cultivation method, that gives me an extremely strong resistance to poison.

"The toxins your poison body produces at its current stage would certainly have a hard time affecting me."

After a pause, Xiao Yuan continued in the same steady tone, explaining the benefits and drawbacks without deliberately concealing the risks.

"Still, it isn't entirely without a cost. Both circulating Dou Qi and refining toxins require mental effort. Every time I help suppress your poison body, I'll need to devote considerable attention to guiding the flow.

"If too much poison surges in at once, it could also cause me some backlash in the short term.

"As long as we control how often we do it and drain the toxins before they accumulate to the brink of an outbreak, the danger will be extremely low."

Xiao Yi Xian listened quietly, her slender fingers unconsciously clenching until her fingertips turned white.

Her eyes were lowered, her long lashes trembling slightly, and her voice was faint.

"Even so... you would have to bear that risk every time. If one day my poison body suddenly went out of control and the toxins erupted, would you..."

She could not finish. A terrifying scene had already surfaced in her mind.

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan stepped half a pace closer and said with certainty, "That's why we'll suppress the poison body and delay its outbreak, buying ourselves time.

"When we find the right opportunities in the future, we can still search for a way to cure the woeful poison body at its root."

The stone chamber fell silent for a moment.

The moonlight stones cast a gentle white glow, illuminating the old marks covering the floor and the ancient wooden boxes on the stone platform, as well as the ice spirit flame grass swaying softly in the corner, entwined with ice and fire.

They set their tangled worries aside for the moment. They were still inside the cave abode, with treasures before them, so naturally they should first sort out all the resources here.

Xiao Yuan swept his gaze around the stone chamber and broke the silence. "Let's stop dwelling on the poison body for now. We've already secured these treasures, so let's divide the resources in this cave abode first."

Xiao Yi Xian came back to her senses at his words and nodded gently. Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, she raised her eyes to the three wooden boxes on the stone platform.

This predecessor's cave abode had proven richly stocked: two high-level Dou Techniques, an unparalleled Poison Scripture, and a one-of-a-kind ice-and-fire Spirit Herb. Each was a treasure most people could spend a lifetime seeking in vain.

Xiao Yuan thought for a moment, then pointed at the three wooden boxes before them and began dividing their contents.

"As for cultivation arts... I want the Flying Dou Technique and the sonic Dou Technique.

"These two Xuan-class Dou Techniques will be immensely useful to my cultivation and combat abilities at this stage."

He reached out and put away the two ancient scrolls containing "Eagle Wings" and "Mad Lion's Roar," his movements brisk and decisive.

"The Seven-Colored Poison Scripture contains most poison formulas, as well as a detailed description of the woeful poison body. It suits you very well."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded in agreement. Although the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture was worth far less than those two Xuan-class cultivation arts,

in terms of compatibility, it was the cultivation art best suited to her.

"As for the other resources in the cave abode, I won't take much."

Xiao Yuan looked at the gold coins scattered across the floor, numbering in the tens of thousands. “We'll split the Gold Coins here evenly. We'll each get several thousand.”

With that, he looked up at the herb bed in the corner.

Medicinal herbs grew thickly in the bed, wreathed in spiritual energy. Apart from its centerpiece, the precious ice spirit flame grass with its intertwined ice and fire, there were more than a dozen varieties of rare herbs that had been growing for a considerable number of years.

"Other than this ice spirit flame grass, you can take all the herbs and supplementary ingredients in the bed."

Xiao Yuan took a deep breath and finished speaking, settling the division of the cave's resources in a few simple words.

"No."

In a rare refusal of Xiao Yuan's proposal, Xiao Yi Xian pointed at the ice spirit flame grass in the center of the herb bed with her right hand, her gaze resolute.

“I have no objections to how we divide the cultivation arts and Gold Coins. But among the herbs, I only want the ice spirit flame grass in the middle.”

Xiao Yuan paused, then looked up at Xiao Yi Xian. Following her finger toward the ice spirit flame grass at the center of the herb bed, entwined with ice and fire and shrouded in spiritual radiance, a trace of surprise flickered through his eyes.

He had originally intended to leave all the other dozen or so rare supplementary herbs to her. He had not expected her to decline them of her own accord and ask only for this one treasure.

But after a brief consideration, Xiao Yuan shook his head gently, his tone firm as he rejected her suggestion outright.

"You can't have this ice spirit flame grass."

His words left no room for negotiation.

Xiao Yi Xian stiffened. Her clear, gentle eyes widened in an instant, and she stared at Xiao Yuan in astonishment.

She had never imagined that Xiao Yuan would refuse her the one thing she wanted.

Just moments ago, he had generously offered to split the Gold Coins scattered across the floor and let her have all the medicinal herbs. Yet this single Spirit Herb had become a sticking point.

"I have another, more important use for this ice spirit flame grass. I absolutely need it.

“Of course, as compensation, I can give you my entire share of the Gold Coins.”

Looking at Xiao Yi Xian's stubborn expression, Xiao Yuan's face grew more serious as he spoke firmly.

He had already planned to take this herb to Xiao Yan and Yao Lao and exchange it for cultivation resources.