Shang Ningye had a gut feeling that Mu Qiuhan’s tone was a bit off.
She rarely felt such a direct, oppressive aura from Mu Qiuhan.
Yet now…
The feeling was almost fleeting, so quick that Shang Ningye wondered if she had imagined it.
She looked up at Mu Qiuhan, a little puzzled.
As far as she could see, Mu Qiuhan had already hidden all her emotions.
With a calm expression, she turned and walked towards the inner room.
Shang Ningye subconsciously followed.
Upon entering the bedroom, just as Shang Ningye was about to ask Mu Qiuhan about her meeting with Feng Yi in the Yao Clan’s territory that day, she saw Mu Qiuhan slowly undoing her sash.
Mu Qiuhan casually tossed her outer cloak onto the couch.
Seeing her reach for her inner clothes, Shang Ningye bit her lip and closed her eyes.
Mu Qiuhan placed her hands on her shoulders but didn’t move further.
She glanced back at Shang Ningye, who stood behind her with tightly shut eyes and a flushed face, and the smile at the corners of her lips couldn’t help but reappear.
This time, the smile made the slender corners of her eyes curve up slightly.
For a moment, it was an incredibly bright smile.
“Why are you following me?”
She complained half-jokingly, with a hint of feigned annoyance.
“I’m going to soak in the hot spring out back. Want to join?”
Seeing Shang Ningye’s eyes squeeze even tighter, the curve of Mu Qiuhan’s lips widened.
Shang Ningye, head down, quickly replied, “No, thank you. I already soaked during the day.”
With that, she slowly turned, took a few steps back, and slipped out, closing the door behind her.
Only then did Mu Qiuhan feel the frustration in her heart lessen a bit.
Elder Sister Feng…
This person usually seems so wooden, I didn’t expect her to address others so affectionately!
The Demon Lord finished her bath in this resentful mood.
After getting out of the hot spring, she began to think about what she had heard from Feng Yi today.
Mu Qiuhan had indeed gone to the Yao Realm today for the Golden Lingjiao.
Shang Ningye had once said her antidote was still missing this main ingredient.
Although the previous Golden-Edged Chonglou had healed eighty to ninety percent of Shang Ningye’s old injuries, and with the one Wu Ling brought back to the clan from the secret realm, treating external wounds wasn’t an issue.
But to completely remove the residual poison from Shang Ningye’s body, the Golden Lingjiao was needed as a medicinal catalyst.
Mu Qiuhan had used this as a reason to visit Feng Yi again.
Just because Feng Yi wouldn’t trade the Golden Lingjiao to her didn’t mean she wouldn’t use it to save Shang Ningye.
She had thought that with their relationship, getting this medicinal herb wouldn’t be difficult, but things still hadn’t worked out.
However, the trip wasn’t entirely fruitless.
Mu Qiuhan learned from Feng Yi about Shang Ningye’s special constitution and another way to completely neutralize the Snow Artemisia poison.
Shang Ningye’s Silk Flower Essence could transfer the toxins in her body to someone else.
This could be achieved simply through dual cultivation.
I just don’t know if Shang Ningye is willing or not.
Mu Qiuhan pondered this as she walked out of the room.
Seeing Shang Ningye reading the Annals of the Demon Realm by lamplight, she smiled.
She walked to the window, gently took the scroll from Shang Ningye’s hand, and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“What’s so interesting about books? Once things in the clan settle down, I’ll take you out to see things for yourself.”
Having just soaked in the hot spring, the warmth radiating from Mu Qiuhan was still quite noticeable.
Shang Ningye hummed softly in response, her ears instantly turning red.
Mu Qiuhan’s lips brushed, intentionally or unintentionally, against Shang Ningye’s cheek.
The anticipated return kiss didn’t happen.
Shang Ningye turned her head away rather unnaturally and shifted her body to the side.
Mu Qiuhan waited a moment. Seeing Shang Ningye just kept her head down without any other movement, she thought for a second and leaned in with her lips again.
But Shang Ningye dodged again.
This time, her avoidance was quite obvious; it definitely wasn’t due to shyness.
Mu Qiuhan frowned slightly.
There’s no point in continuing this.
She sighed silently and instead grabbed Shang Ningye’s wrist.
Seeing her struggle slightly to pull her hand away, Mu Qiuhan quickly checked her pulse.
Before Shang Ningye could try again, Mu Qiuhan had already let go.
Mu Qiuhan reined in her earlier romantic feelings and said seriously, “You should have mostly absorbed the Golden-Edged Chonglou from last time. I’ll start refining the other one now.”
She glanced at Shang Ningye, still seeming a little worried.
“This Golden-Edged Chonglou is different from the previous young one. It contains too much spiritual energy; I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it. I plan to divide the herb into ten portions for refining. Any more than that would be difficult.”
The medicinal power of the Golden-Edged Chonglou needed to be sealed into pills with spiritual energy the moment the plant was divided, or it would dissipate.
Seeing Shang Ningye finally look up, Mu Qiuhan added an explanation.
“This will inevitably take more effort. If anyone comes to the door during this time, use this token of mine to turn them away.”
Shang Ningye understood Mu Qiuhan’s meaning.
Refining ten portions of pills from one herb simultaneously would naturally require several times the effort and mental energy.
At such a time, she couldn’t be disturbed.
She looked deeply at Mu Qiuhan, then lowered her eyes again.
“There’s no need for such trouble. Pills can also be divided.”
But Mu Qiuhan shook her head.
“I can’t yet ensure that every component in the pill is evenly distributed. If something goes wrong because of that, it would be troublesome.”
The Golden-Edged Chonglou was used by cultivators breaking through to the Mahayana Realm; one could imagine the spiritual energy it contained.
Shang Ningye’s spiritual energy was weak. Even dividing the plant into ten portions, Mu Qiuhan felt it wasn’t entirely safe.
If she accidentally consumed the medicinal power of the entire spiritual plant, Shang Ningye would probably explode and die instantly.
Shang Ningye knew Mu Qiuhan was right, so she said nothing.
But the difficulty of refining ten portions of pills at once was also clear to Shang Ningye.
She thought for a moment and said to Mu Qiuhan, “I don’t need that much of the herb. This Golden-Edged Chonglou was hard to come by; you might be able to use it when you break through to the Mahayana Realm later. If I help you seal the plant’s medicinal power and assist your alchemy with spiritual energy, could we possibly refine two completely different types of pills at the same time?”
Mu Qiuhan pondered for a moment and shook her head.
“I’m afraid it won’t be easy.”
Not to mention, it was still unknown how much medicine Shang Ningye needed, making it difficult to divide the herb accurately.
Besides, refining two different types of pills simultaneously was even more difficult.
Although it sounded like fewer pills than refining ten identical ones, different pills had different flame requirements.
Simultaneously controlling two spiritual fires of completely different intensities was a huge challenge for both spiritual energy and mental strength.
Mu Qiuhan wasn’t confident she could do it at her current stage; perhaps she could try in the future.
Although Shang Ningye’s words were somewhat unrealistic, they inexplicably rekindled a warm flame in Mu Qiuhan’s heart that had already died down.
She looked up and saw her own reflection in Shang Ningye’s eyes.
A gust of wind blew in through the window, disarranging their hair and also stirring their hearts.
Mu Qiuhan raised her hand and gently tucked down the strand of hair by Shang Ningye’s temple that had been lifted by the night breeze.
She walked to the window and closed it.
Turning around, she saw Shang Ningye silently watching her.
Mu Qiuhan smiled at her.
“The wind is strong at night. I haven’t had time to get someone to repair the barrier here these past two days. Don’t stay in the draft for too long.”
With that, she headed towards the inner room.
Shang Ningye didn’t know what kind of mood she was in as she watched Mu Qiuhan leave.
Just now, I was the one who dodged her. If I were to follow her now…
She silently felt the yao energy stirring again in her dantian. Raising her hand, she picked up the remaining half-cup of Nine Flowers Jade Dew from the table and poured it all into her mouth.
The cool liquid flowed down, extinguishing the small flames in her heart along with the strange sensation in her dantian.
After entering the room, Mu Qiuhan didn’t delay. She directly took out ten pill cauldrons and arranged them together.
She took out all the medicinal ingredients to be used, divided them, and then carefully removed the Golden-Edged Chonglou that Wu Ling had brought over the previous day under orders from its sealed container, enveloping it in spiritual energy.
The bright flame in her palm slowly extracted the medicinal power from the Golden-Edged Chonglou.
Several hours later, the plant completely disappeared in the flames.
Only then did Mu Qiuhan cautiously divide the flame in her palm into ten wisps, injecting them separately into the ten pill cauldrons.
The other medicinal ingredients weren’t so troublesome.
Shang Ningye, in the outer room, could vaguely hear the activity inside.
The last time Mu Qiuhan refined the Golden-Edged Chonglou, she hadn’t deliberately avoided her. Shang Ningye remembered it took her the better part of an afternoon.
Now, the sun had already set in the west after rising in the east, but there was still no sound from the room.
Shang Ningye couldn’t help but feel anxious.
During the day, she had followed Mu Qiuhan’s instructions and had the guards turn away the demon soldiers who came to repair the palace.
Fortunately, apart from the soldiers who came to deliver morning dew, no one else had come that day.
Seeing the sky darken again, Shang Ningye’s worry deepened.
Refining ten portions of pills at once, can she handle it alone?
Shang Ningye somewhat regretted her hesitation at that moment, which prevented her from following Mu Qiuhan into the inner room.
