He had just been reborn when he was imprisoned by his nemesis, the Empress?

In the inn room, Xu Yi suddenly opened his eyes, his body covered in cold sweat, and his spiritual energy surging within him.

The image of Jiang Xuange crying kept flashing through his mind, and his heart felt heavy, with a lingering sense of reluctance and guilt.

Xu Yi quickly got up, opened the window, and took deep breaths.

It was so real, so incredibly real, that it made it impossible for him to calm down.

Just then, a flippant voice came from behind, tinged with mockery.

"Wow~ where did you get this level of skill from? How did you become so powerful after just a short nap?"

Xu Yi turned around abruptly and saw Su Qingluan, who should have been lying on the bed, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

His sharp gaze swept over him, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.

Xu Yi also scanned her body with his eyes, but found that he could not see through the woman's realm.

How is that possible?

He is now at the Dharma Aspect Realm, and cultivators of lower realms should be able to detect him without his knowledge.

Could it be that this woman was already at the Dharma Aspect Realm or higher at this time?

That shouldn't be the case...

Tsk, perhaps it's possible that she was reborn earlier than me, and then rapidly improved her skills using the techniques from her previous life, which allowed her to reach such a level.

That makes even more sense!

In my previous life, how did I, who died first, get reborn later than her, who died later?

Su Qingluan watched his changing expression, a faint smile curving her lips, and asked...

"What, are you thinking about whether you can defeat me?"

Damn, my thoughts were guessed.

Xu Yi looked up at her directly and shamelessly asked a question.

"What level are you at?"

Su Qingluan raised an eyebrow and said casually.

"Emperor Realm".

Good, good, this woman has brought over her entire past life's cultivation level, hasn't she!

Xu Yi scoffed subconsciously, his face full of disdain.

"Pah! He's just bragging without thinking!"

Although he knew she was bragging, Xu Yi understood that he probably couldn't beat her now, since he couldn't even see through her level of cultivation.

The grudges of those days may never be avenged.

However, even if he couldn't beat her, he was unwilling to continue being bullied by Su Qingluan; he had had enough of it these past few days.

Run, we must run.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Yi no longer hesitated. He moved and jumped directly out of the open window.

Seeing this, Su Qingluan did not move to stop him, but simply stood there quietly, watching his departing figure.

Outside the inn, Xu Yi's spiritual energy suddenly surged, and his figure transformed into a blur as he raced towards the city's outskirts.

Two incense sticks later, Xu Yi stopped by a river and used his spiritual power to carefully investigate the movements within a radius of several miles and sense the surrounding atmosphere.

Seeing that he could not detect Su Qingluan's presence, Xu Yi gradually relaxed.

He caught his breath, walked to the riverbank, bent down, scooped up a handful of water to wash his face, and then subconsciously took a sip.

As soon as he swallowed it, he vomited it out violently.

"Pfft! How come this river water is salty? And so salty!"

The bitter, salty taste made Xu Yi frown.

At that moment, a slender, fair hand held out a water bag to him, and a clear, cool voice rang out.

"Give."

Xu Yi subconsciously reached out and caught it, casually replying...

"Oh, thank you."

He unscrewed the water bag, tilted his head back and took another big gulp, but spat it out as soon as it entered his mouth.

This time, the problem wasn't with the water itself, but with the person who handed it to them.

He turned around abruptly and saw Su Qingluan's cold, aloof face, looking at him with a half-smile.

Su Qingluan raised an eyebrow at him, her tone indifferent.

"Go back yourself, or shall I drag you back?"

Xu Yi took a deep breath, then stood angrily in front of her and roared.

"Fine, I'll get out!"

Su Qingluan was amused by his appearance, a slight smile curving her lips as she gently pinched his ear.

"Admitting defeat but still so tough?"

Xu Yi abruptly slapped her hand away and stiffly walked past her.

Su Qingluan watched his awkward back as he slowly followed, and asked leisurely.

"Now can you tell me why you were able to transform from an ordinary person into a Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator just by sleeping?"

Su Qingluan suddenly quickened her pace, reached out from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her warm body against him, her fragrance enveloping Xu Yi's entire body.

She leaned slightly forward, her red lips close to Xu Yi's ear as she whispered, her voice carrying a hint of seduction.

"You don't know? It doesn't matter, I do. It's because of that dream... what was it?"

Xu Yi's pupils contracted, and he abruptly turned to look at her, his voice filled with shock as he gazed at Su Qingluan.

How did you know?

Su Qingluan chuckled softly, resting her chin on his shoulder, her tone tinged with amusement.

"Master guessed right? Sigh~ Then you're in for a rough time, because I won't let you sleep anymore."

Xu Yi's face darkened, and he roared in full resistance.

"Then you might as well just kill me!"

Su Qingluan raised her hand and slapped his mouth lightly, the force not strong but carrying a warning, her tone turning colder.

"Don't say such things again. You say the same thing every day, and I'm tired of hearing it."

After being hit, Xu Yi began to struggle and twist violently.

"You! I'm furious right now, I advise you to let me go!"

Su Qingluan couldn't help but laugh at his futile struggle, tightening her grip on his arms and speaking with a hint of teasing.

"You look like a newborn piglet."

Xu Yi was completely enraged by her words. His chest heaved with fury, and he roared towards the sky.

"ah!!!"

In the end, Xu Yi couldn't escape Su Qingluan's grasp. She grabbed him by the back of his collar and tossed him lightly back into the inn's room.

Xu Yi slumped angrily onto the stool at the table, his chest still heaving, and gritted his teeth.

"I'm sleepy, I want to go to sleep."

Su Qingluan was already sitting on the bed, quietly flipping through an ancient book in her hands. She didn't even look up when she heard this.

"I'm not going to say anything more. You're not allowed to sleep."

Xu Yi's temper flared up again, and he retorted defiantly.

"You think you can just stop sleeping like that? I'm going to sleep anyway!"

After saying that, he took off his shoes and clothes and squeezed onto the bed, taking up half of it before closing his eyes.

Seeing this, Su Qingluan didn't say anything, slowly closed the ancient book and put it aside, then moved to sit opposite Xu Yi.

Her skirt slipped down, revealing two long, slender, white legs. She slowly raised her jade-like foot, her toes slightly curled, and leisurely stepped towards Xu Yi's face.

Xu Yi sensed the disturbance, opened his eyes abruptly, and reached out to grab her fair and rosy soles.

His fingertips touched the smooth, warm skin, and he instinctively tightened his grip, angrily questioning...

"What are you trying to do!"

Su Qingluan looked down at him, her phoenix eyes carrying a hint of a smile.

"I said, you are not allowed to sleep."

Xu Yi was both angry and anxious, and gritted his teeth.

"You've gone too far!"

Consumed by rage, he disregarded everything else and began to frantically tickle Su Qingluan's soles with his fingertips.