Hills in Her Heart, Rivers and Mountains in Her Eyes

The Sect Tour Ceremony had ended.

The watching disciples returned to their respective peaks, their minds still numb, as if they had undergone a world-shaking baptism that overturned everything they knew about geniuses and trash.

There was a kind of person who looked like they possessed the Heavenly Waste Talent of Balanced Five Elements, yet actually held the pinnacle talent that even Senior Brother Lan Daozi could not match.

Because their Balanced Five Elements... meant they were a Pentagon Warrior with every element outstanding!

However, to Xiao Bai, standing at the heart of the whirlpool of public opinion, he had merely earned respect through the rules.

His Qi Refining strength was still insufficient to protect himself.

Countless people wanted him dead. This world was dangerous; he needed to grow stronger as soon as possible!

After returning to the summit of Hundred Herbs Peak.

Xiao Bai immediately handed over his private stash—the One-Eyed Octopus's flesh and organs.

Yu Hu said that only its Beast Core was a valuable medicinal ingredient.

Aside from that, she squeezed a great deal of corrosive blue Octopus Blood from its tentacles.

The remaining parts were placed into the pill furnace and pickled with special medicinal salt, to be grilled that night.

The promised lavish lunch had become a lavish dinner instead.

Recalling the noodles the elder had made—that indescribable color and that slick, clinging texture... Xiao Bai shuddered all over and no longer dared eat her grilled meat.

Yet Xiao Bai himself was not skilled at grilling either.

Thus, after nightfall, Xiao Bai called Mu Yun over to help, as thanks for her instruction the previous night.

Mu Yun had not wanted to come, but in the end, she could not withstand a single sentence from Xiao Bai...

Night fell.

Inside the Pill Room, Yu Hu used the One-Eyed Octopus's Beast Core and blood for some strange experiments.

At the mountaintop.

Xiao Bai set up a bonfire beside the lake.

Mu Yun was in charge of grilling the meat.

Her green gauze dress had been changed to a soybean-yellow one, and her attire had grown slightly warmer and more playful in style.

The open undergarment over her chest was wrapped in a translucent white gauze robe, scattered flower petals and leaves adorning it just right, concealing that fair, tender scenery.

It seemed she, too, was a woman with hills in her heart and rivers and mountains in her eyes.

That was what Xiao Bai thought.

There was no snow tonight, only a gentle mountain breeze teasing the bonfire and the tips of their hair.

The octopus tentacles and organs pickled in the pill furnace had shrunk to less than one-tenth of their original size.

They had become oversized squid.

The sword skewered the squid tentacles and organs, undergoing nirvana in the crackling blaze born from green bamboo branches.

The scene was magnificent and fervent.

"Can this thing really be eaten?"

Mu Yun frowned, questioning it with utter disgust.

Xiao Bai smiled.

"You don't understand. The best barbecue is the funky stuff—sheep kidneys, oysters, things like that. This One-Eyed Octopus is even funkier, so there's no way it won't taste good."

Mu Yun curled her lips, pinched her nose, and frantically added seasonings to the octopus meat.

Once the fishy stench had faded somewhat, a bizarre fragrance burst from the cracks in the splitting meat.

Only then did Mu Yun release her pinched nose.

In the flickering firelight, the girl deliberately—or perhaps unintentionally—stared at Xiao Bai's armpit.

After waiting for a long while without Xiao Bai saying anything, she could only hint wildly.

"Why are you still wearing clothes after they've torn?"

Only then did Xiao Bai realize it and say.

"Senior Sister, could you mend my clothes for me?"

"I'd rather it were your flesh that had split open."

The girl spoke fiercely, but her body was honest.

"Raise your arm."

She knelt beside Xiao Bai, took out a long, thin sewing needle, and began mending his clothes with extreme seriousness.

"I hope you truly meant it when you called me Senior Sister. After all, you beat Lan Daozi with the body arts I taught you. It's already generous enough that I'm not making you call me Master."

After mending his clothes, the girl spoke with a proud expression, unable to conceal her delight.

Only by pursuing an equal relationship could the strange feelings in her heart seem reasonable...

Xiao Bai smiled and played along.

"Of course I meant it. I've only just reached Qi Refining; both Senior Sister and Lan Daozi went easy on me."

The girl immediately became unhappy.

"Don't belittle yourself. I went easy on you, but Lan Daozi simply lost!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Senior Sister is right."

Xiao Bai nodded and bowed as he agreed.

"By the way, why does Senior Sister know how to grill meat? Cultivators generally eat raw meat to preserve its spiritual nourishment, don't they?"

With a cold snort, Mu Yun said.

"That's because they don't know how to grill it! The meat I grill can extract its essence; its spiritual nourishment is no worse than pill refinement. Watch and learn."

Xiao Bai secretly nodded.

At last, his Grilling Skill was about to reach max level!

—If a transmigrator didn't know how to barbecue, they would be too embarrassed to claim they were a transmigrator when they went out.

"Senior Sister truly is ingenious and deft-handed."

Mu Yun's heart sweetened at the praise, and she casually replied.

"How could it compare to your Butcher's Sword Technique?"

Xiao Bai frowned.

"Senior Sister, are you exchanging commercial flattery with me, or mocking me?"

Mu Yun shook her head without confirming or denying it, then asked what she was most curious about.

"Have you always learned things this quickly?"

Xiao Bai neither came clean nor lied.

"Not really. I'm only quick when I'm interested."

Mu Yun's little face froze, visibly astonished.

"I never expected... you to be interested in the Xiahou Family's body arts."

Xiao Bai smiled and shook his head, staring into the firelight reflected in the girl's eyes.

"I mean, I only learn quickly when the person teaching me interests me."

The instant those words fell!

Ding—Congratulations, Host, for learning the Barbecue Technique taught by the Female Lead Mu Yun. It has automatically been deduced to max level. Please raise your cultivation as soon as possible to unleash the Barbecue Technique's greatest effect!

The person who interested him...

The girl blushed beneath Xiao Bai's gaze, her ears burning hot.

Even the fire had not burned them hot.

"I'll tell Master later. Then you'll be finished."

Xiao Bai trembled in fear inside, yet he gave a cold snort and said without a change in expression or heartbeat.

"She's your master, but she's my wife. We're of the same generation; Couple's Fist can't touch me."

Mu Yun shook her head, feeling that Xiao Bai was still far too naive. She leaned close and whispered into his ear.

"I'm telling you, don't be fooled by Master's detached, otherworldly appearance. She's actually incredibly petty... Be careful, or she might dissect you later."

Xiao Bai smiled without speaking, calm as ever.

It had to be said, the girl before him was so innocent that she did not seem like a Demoness at all.

This meant that either she was extraordinarily scheming, or she had been infected with demonic miasma at a very young age.

Demonic miasma differed from the Inner Demon brought on by Cultivation Deviation. It was a poisonous plague that spread only among geniuses.

However, cultivators who suffered Cultivation Deviation were indeed more likely to become infected by demonic miasma and fall into the demonic path.

By that reasoning, the extraordinarily gifted Lin Xizi also faced the risk of becoming a demon.

This matter of inheriting the sword was not looking good...

But the Swastika Spirit Sword was a rare earth-grade spirit artifact. There was no reason not to take it!

With that thought, Xiao Bai tested the waters.

"During my battle with Lan Daozi, I realized that I was still too weak. So I want to reach Foundation Establishment soon and go to Sword Wielding Peak to obtain the Swastika Spirit Sword."

A barely noticeable flicker of strangeness surfaced in Mu Yun's eyes, then vanished in an instant. Pretending to be surprised, she reminded him.

"You must not trust someone who has suffered Cultivation Deviation. An Inner Demon can destroy their minds; whether they are still the same person as before is uncertain. She told you to inherit the sword—who knows what traps may be waiting for you?"

Xiao Bai's expression remained unchanged as he said with perfect composure.

"It's fine. If the Myriad Laws Elder still had a man's body, perhaps I would be afraid. But as long as he becomes a woman, he definitely can't harm me."

Mu Yun froze and tilted her head in confusion.

Yet inwardly, she thought that Charm Arts truly were terrifying. She absolutely could not fall for his tricks.

Xiao Bai's chain of logic was perfectly sound—

First, Lin Xizi was beautiful enough and strong enough.

If she was a good woman, Lin Xizi would not harm him.

If she was a Bad Woman, Lin Xizi would be even less likely to harm him.

He had to obtain that earth-grade divine sword!

Just as Xiao Bai finished speaking, the bonfire suddenly swayed, splitting into nine surging tongues of flame.

There was no fierce wind, only a female voice, cold as ice and chill as snow, drifting from the Bamboo Hut...

"You seem to be very popular with women."