The Amethyst Winged Lion King's bestial pupils abruptly contracted, and his enormous body trembled slightly with excitement.
It stared fixedly at the jade box, its nose twitching as it greedily inhaled the Pill Fragrance.
"The Transformation Pill... it really is the Transformation Pill!"
He suddenly stepped forward, spreading his amethyst wings as his aura surged, ready to seize it by force!
"Heh."
Facing the crushing pressure of the Amethyst Winged Lion King's aura, Xiao Lin remained motionless. He merely raised his eyes slightly, a faint, eerie light swirling within his double pupils.
"I came here to make a trade. If this were about taking things by force, you wouldn't be the one making the first move."
"If you still intend to act rashly, I'm afraid... this Transformation Pill will never be yours, Lion King."
Xiao Lin plucked the Transformation Pill from the jade box with two fingers. Dou Qi gathered in his hand, flickering like firelight; it seemed that the slightest pressure would crush the pill and burn it to ashes.
"Stop!"
The Amethyst Winged Lion King's enormous body abruptly halted. The violent arrest of his aura sent fierce winds roaring through the cave, filling the air with dust and shattered stone.
With nowhere to release the force he had suddenly reined in, his massive claws pressed deep depressions into the ground.
"Heh, that's more like it."
Seeing this, Xiao Lin nodded in satisfaction.
"Do you remember the trade you proposed to that female Dou Emperor? Complete it, and this pill is yours."
"Who are you? You dare trespass in my cave-aren't you afraid I'll kill you as soon as I have the pill?"
Looking at the human's smiling, utterly fearless expression, the Amethyst Winged Lion King narrowed his eyes and demanded sharply.
"Forget about killing me. You aren't capable of it."
Xiao Lin paused, the curve of his lips deepening. "But even if you obtain the Transformation Pill, you may not truly be able to fuse with that 'seed' inside you."
"What?!"
The Amethyst Winged Lion King's body suddenly stiffened, a flash of incredulous horror crossing his bestial eyes.
This man... how could this man know about the primordial purple qi seed?!
That was his greatest secret, one he had never revealed even to his closest subordinates! How exactly had this human learned of it?
"You... human! What else do you know? Tell me the truth!"
Sensing the Amethyst Winged Lion King's increasingly turbulent urgency, Xiao Lin could not help finding it amusing.
Here on the outskirts of the Jia Ma Empire, where the matter of the inheritors had already become public knowledge, a casual remark had made him volunteer the admission that he carried an extraordinary opportunity within him.
A magical beast's way of thinking and intelligence were still those of a magical beast, after all. No wonder he was so desperate to become human.
Spreading his hands slightly, Xiao Lin pointed behind the Amethyst Winged Lion King, toward the center of the cave's interior.
There, amethyst stone had been piled into a square platform over a meter high.
Resting quietly atop the amethyst platform was a purple sphere fully the size of a human head.
"Trading this seventh-rank high-grade Transformation Pill for that mass of companion amethyst source behind you, plus the pile of purple spirit crystals next door-that isn't unreasonable, is it?"
"If you agree, I can consider telling you a little about the seed inside you. Whether you can achieve your goal will be your own problem."
Inside the cave, Yun Yun sat alone, cross-legged on a slab of gray stone.
Nearly an hour had passed since Xiao Lin left. Nourished by the sixth-grade pill, her injuries had mostly healed, and the seal on her Dou Qi had loosened considerably.
Yet her heart would not settle.
Who... exactly is this man? Could he really be the personal disciple of some old monster from the Central Plains?
She lowered her head to look at the small green jade bottle in her palm, which had once held the Blood-Replenishing Vitality Pill. She could not help recalling how Xiao Lin had pried her mouth open without the slightest hesitation to feed her the medicine.
"High-grade pills... a Dou Wang... an inheritor..."
She murmured to herself, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through her eyes. As the Misty Cloud Sect Master, she had never felt such intense curiosity about someone as she did today, or such... helplessness.
After a long while, Yun Yun's gaze unconsciously drifted toward the collection of bottles and jars Xiao Lin had left out. Beneath the moonlight stones' glow, the jade bottles and boxes shone with a soft luster, their mingling Pill Fragrances dazzling her senses.
Just taking a look... should be harmless, right?
She hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out and picked up the bottles and jars one by one to inspect them.
"A sixth-grade Emperor's Extreme Pill... a seventh-grade Heaven Soul Blood Fusion Pill... this is..."
Her fingers suddenly stopped on a pink jade bottle. Exquisitely fashioned, it was painted with grasses and living creatures, and its label bore a few distinctive little words-
"Spring Returns to the Earth?"
Yun Yun froze.
What did that mean? Was it the name of a pill? It didn't really sound like one.
Could it suggest spring awakening all living things, with new life flourishing everywhere? Was this another pill that restored vitality?
She pulled out the stopper, and a peculiar Pill Fragrance immediately gushed forth. It was not pungent, yet it possessed an indescribable richness, as though it could pierce the soul and reach the deepest recesses of the heart.
"It smells so good..." She instinctively inhaled deeply. At once, she felt her blood flow quicken and surge, a faint blush rising to her cheeks.
This pill... really does seem to have an extraordinary effect on restoring vitality?
She desperately wanted to regain her strength, break through the seal as soon as possible, and return to the Misty Cloud Sect...
Under the lure of the Pill Fragrance, that urgency grew stronger still.
Taking just one... should be fine...
As if moved by some unseen force, she tipped the pill into her mouth.
It dissolved immediately, becoming a stream of warm energy that spread through her limbs and every part of her body. At first, she felt warm all over, as though she were soaking in a hot spring, utterly comfortable.
But a moment later-
"Hm...?"
Yun Yun's eyes flew open, a flicker of horror passing through them.
That warm energy was surging wildly inside her! Wherever it passed, her blood burned as though boiling. What flowed through her meridians was no longer Dou Qi, but some sort of... some sort of scorching heat too shameful to name!
"This... this is..."
Her body trembled violently, her pale face turning as crimson as sunset clouds in an instant. An uncontrollable craving welled up from the depths of her heart, as though countless ants were crawling through her marrow, as though a flame were burning in her lower abdomen, blazing hotter and hotter!
That wasn't a healing pill!
It was... it was...
"Ah-!"
She tipped her head back and let out a stifled moan, her voice soft and beguiling, utterly unlike her usual cool demeanor.
Her pale white dress, which had long since dried, was once again drenched in sweat. It clung tightly to her skin, tracing every exquisite curve of her figure.
She struggled to circulate her Dou Qi and suppress it, only to discover that the scorching heat had fused with her Dou Qi. The more she tried to suppress it, the more violently it surged!
"Damn it... damn it..."
She clenched her teeth, sinking them deep into her red lip, trying to stay lucid through the pain. Yet the pill's effects were far too strange and overbearing-even her will was being eroded, little by little!
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