With three supreme masters, they were invincible upon descending the mountain.

After an unknown amount of time, Ye Yaocheng slowly woke up, his head still throbbing.

He covered his forehead, propped himself up, and frowned.

The sensations from last night are still vivid in my memory, flashing with chaotic and scorching images.

A ray of golden sunlight shone through a crevice in the rock at the top of the mine, landing squarely on his face.

He squinted; it was already the next day.

"I was overconfident." He shook his head with a wry smile, his voice hoarse.

I should have refined some antidote pills and prepared them. If I had had the antidote pills to suppress the poison last night, perhaps... that wouldn't have happened.

Thinking of last night, his heart sank.

Guilt and heartache welled up in his heart.

He turned his head.

Beside her, Lin Qingxue lay on her side, still fast asleep.

His coat covered her body, but her exposed shoulders and arms were dazzlingly white, with a few faint red marks on them, like some kind of ambiguous imprint.

Although he was in a daze last night, he remembered clearly the soft trembling of that body and the tearful pleas for mercy at the end.

They charged countless times until they were both exhausted and fell asleep in each other's arms.

Ye Yaocheng reached out and gently brushed aside the sweat-dampened hair on her forehead.

I moved very gently, afraid of waking her.

His eyes were full of tenderness, and a hint of... possessiveness that he himself was unaware of.

Now, she is his woman.

After calming himself down, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his inner energy.

After a week, he was stunned.

Not only were the weakness and toxin residue from last night completely swept away, but the flow of true energy was smoother and more powerful than ever before!

Moreover, he focused his inner vision on his dantian.

There, a golden pill the size of a longan was quietly floating.

The golden elixir was perfectly round, with nine golden lines winding around its surface, like nine small dragons coiling around it, radiating a faint halo and a vast aura.

Golden Core Realm!

He broke through!

Ye Yaocheng was both surprised and delighted, but doubts soon followed.

The problem of depletion of the source has not been solved, so it should be impossible to break through the bottleneck.

Could it be...? He seemed to have thought of something and suddenly looked at Lin Qingxue, who was still fast asleep.

The master said that in order to completely solve the fundamental problem, it is necessary to find a woman with a special constitution who can seize the creation of heaven and earth, and to gently talk to her for a long time through the method of yin and yang harmony, which can be effective.

But he hadn't sensed any special physical characteristics in Lin Qingxue before.

Could it be that last night, through some coincidental counteraction, her constitution was activated?

Or is there some other reason for this?

Can't figure it out.

But in any case, this is a fantastic thing.

His original essence was partially restored, and his strength even broke through to the Golden Core Realm.

Ye Yaocheng let out a long sigh of relief, and his gaze toward Lin Qingxue softened even more.

He gently pulled his coat up to cover her bare shoulders, his fingers lingeringly tracing her delicate cheeks.

This time, it can be considered a blessing in disguise.

"Um……"

Perhaps it was the touch on her cheek that made Lin Qingxue's eyelashes flutter and slowly wake up.

She blinked in confusion for a moment, then saw Ye Yaocheng standing right in front of her.

Last night's memories flooded back instantly.

"what!"

She gasped softly, her entire face turning bright red!

Like a ripe tomato, even the tips of its ears have turned pink.

She instinctively tried to pull her coat tighter to hide herself.

"woke up?"

Ye Yaocheng's voice was gentle and apologetic: "Last night... I'm sorry."

"I couldn't control myself back then."

Lin Qingxue shook her head, burying half her face in her coat, leaving only her large, watery eyes showing, and whispered, "It's not your fault..."

She paused, then suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and closed her eyes to feel her body.

When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with surprise: "Brother Cheng! I...I think I've broken through!"

"Foundation Establishment stage! I've reached Foundation Establishment!"

"Congratulations." Ye Yaocheng smiled, genuinely happy for her.

At that moment, he noticed the pendant on the girl's chest.

The Key to the Secret Realm was emitting a soft blue halo, and as the light flowed, it seemed to resonate with Lin Qingxue's body in some way.

"Qingxue, feel this pendant."

Lin Qingxue did as she was told and focused her attention on the pendant.

A few seconds later, her eyes lit up even more: "How amazing!"

"It feels like a cool, pure energy is constantly seeping into my body!"

"And my mind is exceptionally clear; I feel like I learn everything very quickly!"

Ye Yaocheng nodded. It seemed that the pendant was not only a key, but also a treasure in itself.

He grasped Lin Qingxue's wrist and sent a wisp of true energy into it.

really!

A pure and mysterious energy has appeared within her, slowly transforming her meridians and constitution.

Moreover… Ye Yaocheng’s eyes narrowed.

He vaguely sensed that Lin Qingxue seemed to possess some kind of extremely subtle and special physical aura hidden within her body!

We hadn't noticed it at all before, but now it's like the tip of an iceberg has been activated.

Even with his extensive knowledge, he couldn't discern the specifics of her constitution.

It seems I need to find some time to look up some information, or perhaps go back and ask my master when I have time.

"Brother Cheng, it's so great to have you."

Lin Qingxue suddenly rushed over, hugged him tightly, and buried her burning face in his chest.

The girl's soft body pressed against him, her fresh scent lingering around his nose.

Ye Yaocheng's body stiffened.

The crazy and beautiful scenes from last night kept flooding back into my mind.

A surge of anger suddenly rose up.

"You said it yourself..."

He lowered his head, looking at the shy girl in his arms, a wicked smile playing on his lips: "So... how are you going to thank me?"

Lin Qingxue trembled all over.

She understood the implication in his words, her face turned even redder, but she didn't push him away.

She simply buried her face even deeper and let out a soft "hmm" as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

It's like tacit approval.

Inside the mine, the temperature seemed to rise again.

This time, Ye Yaocheng was not driven by instinct.

He was patient and gentle, as if he were appreciating and exploring a priceless treasure.

Every detail, every reaction, captivated him.

Although Lin Qingxue was too shy to open her eyes and her eyelashes trembled slightly, her body gradually relaxed and she even began to respond awkwardly.

She knew that she had belonged to this man since last night.

Since I've made up my mind, then... I'll give it my all.

I don't know how much time passed.

The wind stopped and the rain ceased.

The two snuggled together, quietly enjoying the afterglow.

The mine was quiet, with only the sound of each other's calm breathing.

"It's time to go back," Ye Yaocheng said softly.

"Um!"

Lin Qingxue nodded, looking around the mine with some reluctance.

This place holds all her memories from girlhood to womanhood.

Although the beginning was somewhat unpleasant, the ending was heartwarming.

The two got dressed and tidied themselves up.

Ye Yaocheng held Lin Qingxue's hand, took one last look at the "secret place" that had changed their relationship, and then stepped into the blue light curtain they had come from.

The figure disappeared.

The mine has returned to silence.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Only the faint scent lingering in the air and some messy marks on the ground testify to the heat and madness that once existed here.

……

Shortly after the two left.

The once calm, bluish-green pool of water suddenly began to move without any wind.

Ripples spread out in concentric circles.

Then, as if controlled by an invisible hand, the water in the pool slowly rose, gathering and shaping itself in mid-air...

Finally, it solidified into a blurry, water-based human figure.

Her features were slender, resembling those of a woman.

She stood above the pool, her blurred face turned toward the direction where Ye Yaocheng and Lin Qingxue had disappeared.

Although she has no facial features, one can sense that she seems to be... staring.

"interesting."

A clear and ethereal voice echoed through the mine, its gender indistinguishable: "Even with your life force so depleted, you can still be so lively and energetic."

"At such a young age, he has already condensed a nine-patterned Golden Core just after entering the Golden Core stage. It seems that there must be a master behind him who is helping him to defy fate."

The figure seemed to be deep in thought.

A few seconds later, the corner of the blurred mouth seemed to turn up slightly.

"Little fellow, I have been silent for too long. It is fate that I see you today."

"Consider that 'gift' from earlier a small token of our meeting."

I hope you like it.

The words fell.

The water-formed human figure quietly dissipated, turning into countless water droplets that splashed back into the pool.

The pool returned to calm.

The mine returned to its deathly silence.

It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

Only the black-robed corpse lying quietly in the corner, which Ye Yaocheng had ignored, was telling a story in silence.