Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

He watched coldly, a chill spreading silently around him.

With a dark expression, Cui Xiu ripped off the fragrant outer robe that Yu Luoning was wearing.

He tossed the robe over Yu Luoning's head, then stretched out his long arm and ripped Shi Shangxu's robe off her, draping it over himself with a self-righteous air.

"What kind of image would I, a dignified man, have of myself dressed as a woman?"

Yu Luoning: "..."

Shi Shangxu: "..."

But after saying that, she completely ignored them, turned her head away, and curled up in a corner.

A strange feeling of exhaustion rose faintly from the Qihai point in my abdomen.

As night deepened, the three lay side by side around the campfire.

Yu Luoning lay in the middle, with Cui Xiu on her left and Shi Shangxu on her right.

The cave was eerily quiet. Yu Luoning didn't know if the two people beside her were asleep, but she couldn't sleep.

Why? Because it's beautiful!

On the left is Consort Cui, and on the right is Lady Shi.

With beautiful women by his side, he secretly rejoiced, though no one knew.

Yu Luoning silently added two lines of doggerel in her mind, but couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?"

In the darkness, Cui Xiu's voice suddenly rang out from the left, her tone vicious.

Yu Luoning was startled, feeling as if she had been seen through. She quickly suppressed her smile and stammered, "N-nothing...it's nothing..."

Cui Xiu gave a long, cold laugh and said nothing more.

Feeling guilty, Yu Luoning dared not move again and drifted off to sleep with a secret joy in her heart.

No one knows how much time passed, but the next morning, as dawn broke, Cui Xiu groggily opened her eyes through the cave.

As a malevolent corpse, he had not slept for hundreds of years. If he had not been in the illusion of inner demons and felt a strange weakness in his body, he would never have slept so soundly.

He instinctively looked to his side, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Yu Luoning had rolled to the right side at some point and curled up in Shi Shangxu's arms. The two were so close that they were like a perfect couple, and no third person could possibly interfere.

Choi Soo stared intently at the scene.

My heart felt as if it had been stabbed, followed by jealousy and anger.

He sat up abruptly, his face darkening, grabbed Yu Luoning's wrist, and pulled her away from his unsightly embrace.

Yu Luoning was startled and opened her eyes abruptly, her face filled with fear and confusion. "What's wrong? What happened? Is there anything unusual?"

Beside him, Shi Shangxu opened his eyes instantly. He quickly sat up, his eyes regaining their clarity.

Cui Xiu crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Sleeping soundly, huh? What? Did I disturb your sweet dreams? Should I get out and make room for you two? Aren't you feeling cramped hugging so tightly?"

Upon hearing his sour tone, Yu Luoning knew that Cui Xiu was jealous again.

She coughed lightly, then, employing her diplomatic skills, smiled and said, "It's too cold at night, and people tend to move around a lot when they sleep. I was just trying not to disturb you, wasn't I?"

Shi Shangxu straightened his disheveled clothes, his expression still gentle, and said calmly, "Ningning is afraid of the cold. Senior's body is as cold as frost. People unconsciously move closer to heat sources when they are asleep. It's just human nature."

Upon hearing this, Cui Xiu's aura instantly turned so cold that no one dared to approach her.

These words struck a nerve; as a malevolent corpse, his body temperature was lower than that of a normal person.

Cui Xiu gave a soft snort and said nothing more.

Yu Luoning sensed the subtle change in the air. She quickly climbed up from the haystack, pointed outside the cave, and said, "Hey, the snow outside seems to be getting lighter. Let's hurry and find the Nine Nether Cauldron."

After leaving the snow cave, the three of them began their climb again, braving the swirling snowflakes.

The closer you get to the frozen summit, the thinner the surrounding air becomes, and the cold seeps into your very bones.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, we finally reached the flat ground at the summit.

At the center of the howling wind-swept peak, there suddenly appeared a huge and deep cave.

The three of them slowly stepped into the cave. Unlike the raging wind and snow outside, the cave was unusually quiet, and there was a musty smell of medicine in the air.

As soon as the three of them stepped into the cave, it suddenly became brightly lit.

Yu Luoning then noticed that the spacious cave dwelling was surrounded by densely packed mahogany medicine shelves, filled with various precious herbs and alchemy materials.

In the center of the cave is a giant bronze cauldron, as tall as two people, with the Nine Netherworld Totem engraved on it.

Yu Luoning's face lit up with joy. She hadn't expected to find the Nine Nether Cauldron so easily. Just as they were about to get closer, an old voice rang out in the air. The three of them looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man in a gray robe sitting behind the huge Nine Nether Cauldron.

The old man was dressed simply, with clear and slender features, and had a somewhat otherworldly air about him.

The old man saw that the others had indifferent expressions and did not show any surprise.

"It's quite a coincidence that you've come all this way and found this place. It's windy and chilly, why don't you sit down and have a bowl of hot soup to warm yourselves up?"

The scene inside the cave changed instantly, with three tables set up in a row.

The four people each occupied one side.

The old apothecary sat at the head of the table, with Shi Shangxu on his left and Cui Xiu on his right, while Yu Luoning sat at the very bottom.

This is the inner demon illusion realm of the Nine Nether Medicine Elder, where he is the absolute law of everything.

The group dared not make any rash moves, waiting quietly and maintaining proper posture.

Immediately afterwards, a bowl of light medicinal soup appeared on the red table in front of them.

No one moved. The old apothecary chuckled and said, "What? Are you afraid I'll poison the medicine?"

Cui Xiu chuckled softly, her slender fingers gripping the rim of the bowl, and tilted her head back to drink it all in one gulp.

He put down the empty bowl and said calmly, "This is your inner demon illusion, and you are its absolute master. If you want to make things difficult for us, you can do so with just a thought. Why bother using poison?"

The old doctor gave him an appreciative look and nodded slightly. "Not bad, young man. You actually managed to see through this illusion of my inner demons. You do have some skill."

He paused, his cloudy gaze sweeping over the three people in the shadows, and his tone turned somber.

"I know why you've come. If you want my things, then you'll have to follow my rules."

The three sat upright, listening attentively.

The old physician surveyed the three men, his gaze deep and unfathomable, and spoke in a clear, ethereal voice, "My first question is: If someone is critically injured and on the verge of death, and you know that this person is inherently wicked, and that saving him will inevitably lead to him harming the innocent in the future, as a healer, would you save him or not?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Xiu scoffed, "What's so difficult about that? The strong can do whatever they want; they can save someone if they wish."

"But he committed numerous evils and harmed the innocent."

Cui Xiu frowned impatiently, seemingly finding such concerns ridiculous. "What does it have to do with you if he does evil? If you can't stand it, just kill him."

Cui Xiu acts without any scruples, always doing whatever she pleases, and is completely incapable of empathizing with the so-called conscience of a doctor.

Upon hearing this, the old doctor could only shake his head helplessly and give a bitter smile.

Clearly, this was not the answer he wanted.

After a moment of contemplation, Shi Shangxu solemnly replied, "This junior will choose not to save him. This man is wicked and extremely evil by nature. Saving him will inevitably result in the deaths of innocent people. Therefore, this junior would rather break his medical oath and sacrifice the life of one person to bring peace to more people in the world."

Upon hearing this, the old doctor shook his head again and sighed softly, saying, "But as a doctor, it is one's duty to heal the sick and save lives. If one were to let a person die in front of him in order to save the world, then the medical profession would be completely ruined, and one would be ashamed of the words 'benevolence of a doctor'."

Cui Xiu leaned lazily against the table, her purple eyes filled with mockery.

He said, "If you feel that it goes against your conscience to watch someone die, then go ahead and save them."

"If we save him, this man will surely bring chaos to the world," the old doctor reiterated.

Cui Xiu sneered, "That's why I hate your hesitant, indecisive nature the most. If you can't even bear this much karma, what are you trying to achieve immortality for? If he does evil, then you can just kill him."

The old doctor shook his head again, his despair deepening, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

Yu Luoning pondered for a long time before answering.

Cui Xiu had previously stated that this was Yao Lao's inner demon illusion, and his inner demon was that he had saved an executioner who had slaughtered millions of lives.

Kind people are often prone to getting caught up in endless internal conflicts.

The old doctor took all the blame for this heinous crime upon himself. What tormented him was not saving the wrong person, but the guilt of not killing Bo Ren, yet Bo Ren died because of him.

He considered himself to be the same as a murderer.

Shi Shangxu fell silent. If he were Yao Lao, he would also be consumed by endless self-blame.

Yu Luoning cleared her thoughts and said, "Senior, I think the question itself is flawed."

"It was the one who harmed the person, not the doctor. You can't say that a doctor who saves a person is responsible for that person's good or evil deeds; these are two different things. A doctor saves a life, not a person's good or evil deeds, so why should they bear the burden of the karma the person creates later?"

The old doctor didn't refute him after listening; he simply smiled and said, "Easier said than done. What if this karma were to fall on you?"

The old doctor pointed to the teacup on the table and tapped it gently.

Suddenly, concentric circles of patterns appeared on the inner wall of the cup, rippling outwards.

The next instant, an irresistible golden light surged from the cup, and Yu Luoning's figure swayed as she was pulled into an unfamiliar illusionary world.