Treating her wounds

"First, I only wanted to help apply medicine. Second, I have no improper intentions toward you. And third, since you're awake, you can apply it yourself. I'll give you some privacy!"

The moment she opened her eyes, Xiao Yan retreated several dozen meters away.

This was no joke. She was a Dou Emperor who could sneeze him to death. If she went berserk, wouldn't he meet a gruesome end?

Seeing Xiao Yan behave like this, the beautiful woman was so exasperated that she laughed.

"Relax. I understand my situation. You saved me, so I won't hurt you."

Her voice was soft and tinged with weakness. She struggled to get up, only to feel a dull ache in her wounds.

Then she began circulating her Dou Qi to heal her body, only to discover that a purple, triangular pillar of light had completely sealed her Qi vortex. She couldn't mobilize even the slightest trace of Dou Qi.

"Damn it! That creature's Sealing Technique got me!"

The beautiful woman clenched her teeth, but there was nothing she could do. This Sealing Technique was immensely powerful. Once it struck, all her cultivation would be temporarily sealed.

The only solution was to wait for time to pass. Until then, she would be extremely weak, even weaker than a Dou Zhe.

On top of that, in the final moments of the battle, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's claw had struck her chest, tearing several gashes into it.

With her Dou Qi unable to circulate, she could only rely on her body's natural healing ability to recover slowly.

But the wounds were far too large. She would probably bleed to death before her body could heal.

"Could you... help me apply the medicine? I can't move."

In the end, the beautiful woman could only compromise, even if he was a man.

"Of course, but let me make this clear first. If I accidentally see something I shouldn't, you can't settle the score with me afterward."

Xiao Yan laid his terms out in advance. After all, he didn't know what she was like. If she killed him once her wounds healed, he would have nowhere to plead his case.

"Don't worry. I'm no fiend or heretic. I understand the principle of repaying kindness. Go ahead and apply the medicine. As long as you don't do anything out of line, I won't harm you. On the contrary, I'll owe you a great favor afterward."

The beautiful woman was clearly someone of standing, and her words earned Xiao Yan's trust.

"All right, then. No going back on your word."

Only then did Xiao Yan slowly approach the beautiful woman and gently remove her outer robe.

"Mm..."

When Xiao Yan touched her, the beautiful woman instinctively let out a soft murmur.

Clearly, despite her profound cultivation, she still reacted to this sort of thing.

To avoid the awkwardness, the beautiful woman simply turned her head away and stopped looking at Xiao Yan, sparing them both some embarrassment.

Once he removed the clothing covering her upper body, he found a suit of protective soft armor beneath it, with a shallow claw mark left on its surface.

It was precisely this specially made Inner Armor that had kept her alive. Otherwise, after her Dou Qi had been sealed, a swipe from that lion would have torn an ordinary person into pieces.

"Shall I take off the Inner Armor too?"

Xiao Yan tentatively asked her, and the beautiful woman merely murmured her assent.

Little by little, Xiao Yan removed her Inner Armor, revealing her snow-white body before his eyes.

But four horrifying claw marks marred that jade-like body, their wounds deep enough to expose bone.

"I'm going to apply the medicine now. It might hurt a little, so bear with it."

"Go ahead. Don't worry about me."

The woman kept her head turned aside, her lovely face already flushed bright red.

Although she was a Dou Emperor, she knew next to nothing about romance between men and women. As for her body, no grown man had ever seen it before.

Now, however, she was gravely wounded and had no choice but to let him treat her.

She had reminded herself countless times that they were merely a patient and a physician, but she still couldn't help blushing crimson with embarrassment.

In fact, Xiao Yan had already noticed it from the color of her neck. He simply felt too awkward to point it out.

Xiao Yan arranged the medicine bottles one by one. First, he disinfected the wounds with medicinal liquid, then carefully cleaned away the damaged flesh. Next, he sprinkled medicinal powder over them to promote healing, sutured them with fine thread, and finally wrapped layer after layer of bandages around them. With that, the job was done.

"All right, that's as much as I can do. As for the seal on you, you'll have to deal with that yourself."

After her wounds were sutured, the beautiful woman regained a little vitality and could even try sitting up.

"Thank you. I still don't know your name."

Now that her life was no longer in danger, the beautiful woman took the initiative to speak to Xiao Yan.

"Yan Xiao. And you?"

"Yun Zhi."

They exchanged names, though Xiao Yan hadn't used his real one.

There was no Dou Huang expert called Yun Zhi in the Jia Ma Empire, either. Unless this woman had come from elsewhere, she must have given him a false name.

Still, Xiao Yan didn't mind. After all, he hadn't given his real name either.

"Judging by your technique, are you an alchemist?"

After recovering a little, Yun Zhi began chatting with Xiao Yan again. Her voice was gentle and calm, entirely lacking a Dou Emperor's imposing presence. She seemed more like an older sister from next door.

"I'd like to become an alchemist, but it's hard to even get started without a teacher."

Xiao Yan shrugged helplessly. So far, the highest-ranked alchemist he had met was the Second-Rank Alchemist at the Mittel Auction House.

"Hehe, I happen to have an alchemist friend. If you're interested, I could introduce you."

Yun Zhi's words made Xiao Yan's eyes light up. "Really?"

Apparently, becoming an alchemist required both wood and fire attributes, and Xiao Yan possessed exactly those. But with no one to teach him, he had never managed to get started.

His study of medicine with Xiao Yi Xian had also been preparation for becoming an alchemist.

"Of course. My friend might not accept an ordinary person who wanted to become his disciple, but if I ask, he'll certainly agree. Naturally, that depends on you actually having the talent to become an alchemist."

Yun Zhi was quite confident that her friend would grant her that much consideration.

Xiao Yan had no doubts either. It was hardly unusual for a Dou Emperor to know an alchemist.

He also marveled inwardly at how valuable a favor from a Dou Emperor could be. Just two or three sentences had opened a door he had long struggled to find.

"By the way, during this

time, stay in this cave and focus on recovering. You're a Dou Emperor, so you'll probably recover in a few days. Also, don't go outside under any circumstances. Leave everything to me. The low-rank magical beasts nearby seem to have received orders from that lion, and they're searching for you like mad. Understood?"

"Mm, I understand."

Yun Zhi didn't object. She merely nodded obediently.