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Three million words reached!
Li Xiaoya seemed to have been away a little too long. Both women were delighted to see him and kept him company, chatting without end, which left him itching for more. Given his long history of failures, however, he made no particular move. The three discussed their cultivation insights and divine abilities for most of the day. Once their conversation gathered steam, they even sparred. Li Xiaoya had returned from refining the Nine-Turn Spirit Communion Pill at the bottom of Spiritlight Lake before fully recovering his magic power, and, for the first time ever, he actually lost to Liu Xian'er and Zhang Hong working together. The two women were beside themselves with delight. Of course, his unrecovered magic power was only one reason; their improvements in cultivation and divine abilities also played a major part. Zhang Hong's strength, especially, had risen to another level after she broke through to the late Nascent Soul realm. Liu Xian'er had also spent most of these past years cultivating and honing her divine abilities alone, making considerable progress. When Zhang Hong and Liu Xian'er joined forces to unleash their Water-Fire Combined Strike, its power had increased substantially. That was how they defeated Li Xiaoya.
Seeing the two women so pleased and even teasing him, Li Xiaoya refused to concede. He argued with great conviction that his magic power had not recovered, then went into seclusion to restore it before doing anything else.
The two women said nothing more. They did not leave either, instead practicing their divine abilities in the sealed chamber housing the Spirit Stone Furnace in Li Xiaoya's cave abode.
However...
Li Xiaoya emerged after only one night in seclusion. He had remembered that he still had plenty of matters to handle, so naturally, he could not