Only after swallowing the thing in his mouth did Mu Cheng truly realize what had happened.
He silently stood up from the ground.
He lifted his head.
But he saw that Lian Yunzhi had already lain back down, turned over, and fallen asleep fully clothed, his expression weary yet satisfied.
.
Mu Cheng’s mind went blank.
With a vacant expression, he walked toward his scattered bundle on the ground, picked up the water flask, and took a sip of water.
He had originally intended to rinse his mouth.
But somehow, he swallowed it again.
Mu Cheng: “.”
Mu Cheng set down the water flask and expressionlessly rummaged through his bundle for the ointment. He applied it to the various wounds on his body—there wasn’t much of this ointment; he had planned to save it for Lian Yunzhi, but Lian Yunzhi had already recovered his spiritual power and could open the Storage Bracelet, so it was no longer needed.
Mu Cheng’s wounds were easy to treat, thanks to Lian Yunzhi casting the Dust Removal Technique on him twice before he had even touched him.
He had only used his hand and his mouth, yet Lian Yunzhi still complained about the dust on his hair tips.
He even found the scars on his face ugly and refused to let him lift his head from beginning to end.
……
After treating the obvious wounds on his body, Mu Cheng expressionlessly took out another type of ointment and extravagantly applied it to his reddened knees from kneeling too long and his shoulder and neck, which had been kicked several times for inadequate service—he had already done very well, considering he had no prior experience even with himself.
After finishing all this, Mu Cheng casually swallowed a Clear Heart Pill, leaned against the wall, quietly closed his eyes, and pondered how to face Lian Yunzhi’s fury.
.
When Lian Yunzhi woke up, he only felt it was absurd.
How could he have had that kind of dream?
He was a cultivator who had always been ascetic. Even if he had accidentally come across his married younger clan’s fire-repelling diagram, he wouldn’t have such a debauched erotic dream.
Fortunately, it had only been a dream.
A cultivator’s progress would slow after Breaking Yang. He was going to break through to Golden Core, to Nascent Soul, to Ascension—he absolutely could not…
Lian Yunzhi’s body stiffened because he suddenly noticed something wrong with his body—his skin felt sticky, his waist was soft, and his kidney energy seemed faintly deficient.
His Primal Yang had leaked.
The originally hazy dream instantly became as clear as if it had been redrawn.
He remembered everything.
He remembered how his body had become unbearably hot, losing rationality like a wild beast. He remembered striking Mu Cheng flying with a palm and reaching down to pleasure himself. He remembered… he remembered when his hand grew tired, using the Beast Taming Contract to forcibly summon Mu Cheng before him, stepping on his shoulder to make him kneel and serve…
Lian Yunzhi’s face alternated between green and white.
After lying rigidly on the bed for several breaths, Lian Yunzhi finally moved, sat cross-legged in meditation, closed his eyes, and used his spiritual power to probe his body.
But this probe made his expression even uglier.
Most of his previously drained spiritual power had recovered, but his body seemed to have developed a hole along with the Yang leakage, continuously draining his cultivation and spiritual power outward.
If this continued, forget breaking through to Golden Core—he might not even hold onto Foundation Establishment Peak.
But why was this happening?!
Not every cultivator abstained from desires—why hadn’t this happened to others?!
Lian Yunzhi began to panic. He opened his Storage Bracelet and started swallowing pills: Spirit Replenishing Pills, Blood Replenishing Pills, Qi Nourishing Body Pills…
He even began consuming the supplements he had prepared for his elders: Royal Jelly, Hundred Flowers Honey, Mutant Giant Goji Berries…
But it was no use, no use. His body continued to leak spiritual power endlessly.
Just as he took out a Qi-Gathering Spirit-Replenishing Pill to stuff into his mouth, a rough large hand suddenly gripped his wrist, stopping him: “What are you doing? Stop eating things indiscriminately.”
“Get lost!” Lian Yunzhi flung Mu Cheng away.
But when he raised his head, Mu Cheng saw not anger on his face, but fear.
Lian Yunzhi’s face was as pale as paper. He said in panic, “My spiritual power keeps leaking away.”
Mu Cheng’s expression changed, and he immediately checked Lian Yunzhi’s pulse.
A moment later, his own face also turned grim.
Lian Yunzhi stuffed the Qi-Gathering Spirit-Replenishing Pill into his mouth; this time, Mu Cheng did not stop him.
Lian Yunzhi circulated his spiritual power again to probe his body.
But it was no use, no use!
There was no sign of improvement in his body; the spiritual power continued to leak away endlessly!
No, it couldn’t be—there must be another way!
Lian Yunzhi quickly scrambled off the stone bed and began rummaging through the cave frantically.
He needed to find the second Purple-Gold Immortal Pill.
As long as he consumed the Immortal Pill, his body would surely recover!
Mu Cheng noticed Lian Yunzhi’s intent and immediately began searching as well.
But Lian Yunzhi had already searched this cave once before; this time, they found nothing.
It wasn’t until Lian Yunzhi vented his frustration by slashing the stone bed with a sword that Mu Cheng suddenly noticed a clue.
“Don’t move. There’s a Formation here.”
Mu Cheng crouched down, pushed aside the debris from the stone bed, and saw an ancient, dilapidated dark-gray Formation.
Mu Cheng: “Give me some spiritual power.”
Lian Yunzhi’s spiritual power was actively leaking; how could he bear to give more away? He immediately pulled out tens of thousands of Spirit Stones from his Storage Bracelet and piled them at Mu Cheng’s feet with a clatter—
“Use these.”
Replenishing spiritual power with Spirit Stones was faster than transferring it palm-to-palm. Soon, Mu Cheng’s Dantian had gathered the required spiritual power. He lowered his head and seriously began cracking the Formation.
Lian Yunzhi was extremely anxious and feared making too much noise would disturb Mu Cheng’s Formation-breaking, so he paced back and forth on the side, popping Clear Heart Pills into his mouth like candy.
After a while, he pulled out the ancient book he had previously found in the cave and racked his brains trying to break its Restriction.
“Pa.”
The dark-gray Formation emitted a faint golden light after Mu Cheng repaired it. He placed a Spirit Stone in one of the Formation’s nodes—
“Boom!”
The ground trembled, dust rained down, and the ordinary cave wall before the stone bed ruins suddenly cracked open, then slowly parted to both sides like a gate—
Lian Yunzhi and Mu Cheng looked over.
They both held their breath.
They beheld a luxurious spectacle they had never seen in their lives.
They saw sunlight pouring down like molten gold, warmly sprinkling over a lawn paved with thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Spirit Herbs. They saw ripples on a lake where every drop of water brimmed with spiritual energy, like jade liquid and spirit marrow.
They saw a palace with its doors flung wide open to them: beams forged from gold and jade, floors tiled with Spirit Stones, unnamed but exquisitely beautiful jewels adorning the curtains at will.
The wind blew the red curtains aside, revealing a bed of extravagant opulence, naturally infused with spiritual energy, studded with countless gems, crafted from Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade… a grand bed.
…What a massive bed it was.
It occupied half the space of the palace; even thirty people lying on it simultaneously would not feel crowded.
Mu Cheng’s gaze shifted upward to the palace’s plaque.
—Extreme Pleasure Hall.
Mu Cheng: “.”
Something felt off.
But Lian Yunzhi noticed nothing amiss. He pinched Mu Cheng’s arm, his voice light and ethereal, as if fallen into an illusionary dream: “Am I dreaming? Is this an Illusion Realm?”
“No.” Mu Cheng answered truthfully. “At least, it’s not a dream.”
Lian Yunzhi wanted to say more but suddenly felt scalded by the thing in his other hand. He jolted and abruptly let go.
“Pa da.”
The Nameless Ancient Book, which Lian Yunzhi had failed to open despite exhausting efforts, fell to the ground and emitted a beam of green light. Its blank cover abruptly displayed several large characters—
Hehuan Sect Furnace Cauldron Great Accomplishment Technique.
