Reunion

The smile on Mu Li's face froze for an instant. Still holding the box of Jade Beads, he refused to give up and edged another half step closer, his tone carrying what he imagined was sincerity.

"Miss Xiao Yi Xian, I know you're proud and aloof, but the Wolf Head Mercenary Group has considerable wealth. As long as you agree to be with me, all the riches and honors you could want will be yours.

These Jade Beads were polished from high-grade spirit jade. Wearing them can nourish your body. Please accept them."

The onlookers whispered among themselves, and quite a few shook their heads inwardly.

The Wolf Head Mercenary Group was accustomed to running roughshod over Qingshan Town. Relying on his father Mu She's influence, Mu Li behaved arrogantly and tyrannically. Many people despised him, but none dared speak up to stop him.

Xiao Yi Xian's brows knitted tighter. A faint, dark cyan aura began to rise around her—the poisonous energy unconsciously leaking from her woeful poison body.

Then, afraid of accidentally harming the people around her, she withdrew the aura in an instant.

"I told you, I don't need them." Xiao Yi Xian stepped back, her eyes filled with impatience. "Please leave. Stop pestering me here."

After being rejected repeatedly, Mu Li could no longer save face. His pretense of gentility began to fall away, and a trace of belligerence entered his voice.

"Xiao Yi Xian, don't throw my kindness back in my face! How many women in Qingshan Town want to marry into the Wolf Head Mercenary Group? Don't fail to appreciate a favor!"

At those words, the crowd immediately fell silent, apprehension appearing on many faces.

Outside the crowd, Xiao Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze icy.

After three months of secluded cultivation deep in the mountains, his cultivation had soared to Six-Star Dou Shi, and his lightning and fire Dou Techniques had reached the pinnacle of mastery. He was no longer the youth who could only rely on ambushes and evasive maneuvers.

Mu Li was merely a Dou Zhe. In his eyes, he was no different from an ant.

Yet he did not immediately rush forward to attack. His gaze settled on Xiao Yi Xian, thoughts surging through his mind.

In three months, she had gone from a mortal without a trace of Dou Qi straight to Two-Star Dou Zhe.

The potential of the woeful poison body was truly terrifying beyond belief.

An ordinary cultivator starting at Dou Zhe would need at least several years of arduous cultivation to reach Two-Star Dou Zhe, yet Xiao Yi Xian had accomplished it in only three months.

But the dangers of that poisonous constitution followed her like a shadow. The higher her cultivation rose, the more fiercely the toxins accumulated within her. Without a suitable method of suppression, those toxins would turn on her sooner or later, sending her completely out of control.

It seems Xiao Yi Xian hasn't stopped cultivating these past three months either, Xiao Yuan thought.

Seeing that Xiao Yi Xian remained unmoved, Mu Li's anger began to rise. He reached out to grab her sleeve.

"Keep your filthy hands off her!"

A cold shout suddenly rang out.

Xiao Yuan's figure flickered. Without using Thunderflash, he merely stepped forward, passed straight through the crowd, and placed himself in front of Xiao Yi Xian.

A trace of purplish-crimson Dou Qi seeped out. Although he deliberately restrained it, the pressure of a Six-Star Dou Shi still spread silently like a rising tide.

Mu Li's outstretched hand abruptly froze in midair. A crushing pressure bore down on him, seemingly suppressing all the blood in his body, and an inexplicable chill rose in his heart.

He looked up at the young man blocking his path. Dressed in simple, close-fitting clothes, the youth had handsome features and faint lightning glimmering deep in his eyes. Merely standing there, he made Mu Li's heart quail.

"Who are you? You dare interfere in the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's affairs?"

Mu Li forced himself to maintain his imposing manner and barked the question, but a barely perceptible tremor had already crept into his voice.

The surrounding onlookers turned toward him as well, not having expected an unfamiliar young man to suddenly intervene.

At the sight of Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yi Xian froze briefly. A flicker of delighted surprise crossed her clear eyes, and she blurted out,

"Xiao Yuan? You're back!"

Three months earlier, Xiao Yuan had ventured deep into the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and she had heard nothing from him since. She had often thought of him, worried that he might encounter danger deep in the mountains.

Now, suddenly seeing her old acquaintance, much of the frustration in her heart melted away.

Xiao Yuan turned his head and gave Xiao Yi Xian a slight nod, then looked back at Mu Li with an indifferent gaze.

"Harassing a woman in public here in Qingshan Town—is that how your Wolf Head Mercenary Group conducts itself?"

Mu Li's face alternated between livid and pale. Relying on his status, he still refused to back down.

"I'm courting Xiao Yi Xian because we share mutual affection. It's none of an outsider's business! Get lost if you know what's good for you, or don't blame the Wolf Head Mercenary Group for showing you no mercy!"

"Mutual affection?"

Xiao Yuan scoffed, his gaze turning cold.

"She's clearly rejected you time and again, yet you keep clinging to her like a pest. That's harassment, not courtship."

He took a step forward, quietly circulating his Dou Qi. Faint arcs of lightning crackled in his palm.

Mu Li was horrified. He could clearly sense that the young man before him possessed cultivation far beyond his own!

The aura of the Ninefold Thunder Spear faintly emerged. Although no spear had formed, its fierce, murderous intent made every hair on Mu Li's body stand on end.

"Y-you... what exactly are you trying to do!" Mu Li instinctively retreated two steps, fierce on the outside but trembling within.

"Scram."

That single, simple word erupted with the overwhelming pressure of a Six-Star Dou Shi.

Mu Li felt his head buzz and his blood surge violently. The box of Jade Beads fell from his hands with a clatter. The jade box broke open, scattering beads across the ground.

He staggered, nearly collapsing onto the ground. His arrogance vanished without a trace, leaving only fear.

He no longer dared linger. After shooting Xiao Yuan a venomous glare, he turned away in disgrace without daring to utter another word, stumbled through the crowd, and hurried off.

At the sight, the onlookers began murmuring among themselves, their gazes toward Xiao Yuan filled with awe.

Once Mu Li had disappeared completely, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Only Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yi Xian remained before the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

Xiao Yi Xian bent down to collect the scattered Jade Beads and casually tossed them into a nearby swill pit. Then she looked up at Xiao Yuan, her eyes full of concern.

"Xiao Yuan, were you in the Magical Beast Mountain Range all these past three months? Are you all right?"

Xiao Yuan withdrew his released Dou Qi. All the lightning faded, and he once again looked like an ordinary young man. He smiled faintly.

"Fortunately, I managed to gain something from cultivating in seclusion in the mountains."

His gaze settled on Xiao Yi Xian. Sensing the Dou Qi flowing through her body, as well as the restless poisonous power concealed deep within her bloodline, he spoke gravely.

"Your cultivation has risen very quickly. Two-Star Dou Zhe in only three months. But you must have felt the dangers of the woeful poison body too, haven't you?"

At his words, Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face paled slightly. She nodded gently, worry coloring her expression.

"Yes... when I cultivate, deadly poison sometimes surges through my body. At times, it's very difficult to suppress.

I'm frightened too. Frightened that one day, I won't be able to control the toxins inside me."

The woeful poison body was blessed by nature, yet carried destruction within it. The higher its wielder's cultivation, the stronger its toxins became. Without a way to suppress them, she would one day be consumed by those toxins and become a Poison Monster that knew only slaughter.