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

Outside the light barrier, Yu Luoning stared wide-eyed in astonishment, unable to hear what the two inside the barrier were saying.

No, what kind of riddles are these two playing? Is there some secret that she can't hear?

At this moment, inside the light screen, Bai Rongling chuckled softly, and blood stained his fair skin.

"Your Excellency is truly devoted to Miss Yu; he even hesitated to kill me for her sake."

Cui Xiu: "You are quite clever, knowing what to say and what not to say in front of her."

"It's not that I'm clever, but rather that Your Excellency has too many flaws."

"You want to kill me? Go ahead, I'm curious whether your palm strike will kill one or two people. After all, I'm not sure myself."

His words instantly struck a nerve with Cui Xiu. The reason Cui Xiu had kept Bai Rongling around was because he was unsure whether Bai Rongling was carrying a Dao fetus or not.

If not, he would never keep this person; but if he does?

Dao Tai has half of Yu Luoning's bloodline, how could he possibly kill her child himself?

Cui Xiu took a deep breath and warned, "If you dare to say another word about this, the consequences are clear."

Bai Rongling replied calmly, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I have no interest whatsoever in spreading the truth for others."

The light screen slowly dissipated the next moment.

"What are you talking about?" Yu Luoning couldn't help but ask.

Cui Xiu's gaze was fixed on the distance, clearly not intending to explain: "It's nothing."

Nothing?

I don't believe you!

Just a moment ago, he seemed to want to grind Bai Rongling to dust, so why did he suddenly stop after saying a few words?

Yu Luoning's gaze swept between the two men. One of them kept his eyes downcast and remained silent, while the other was seriously injured and looked like he was about to die.

However, neither of them clearly intended to explain to her.

Yu Luoning was too lazy to ask any more questions.

What she cared about was that Cui Xiu had reclaimed 30% of the evil corpse's essence.

Bai Rongling is cunning; Cui Xiu must have his reasons for beating him up.

At this moment, having lost 30% of the evil corpse's essence, Bai Rongling's cultivation continued to be suppressed by the rules of this world, regressing to the Nascent Soul stage.

He almost died this time. Blood kept rolling down his chest, and a small patch of glaring dark red had already seeped into the snow beneath him.

But he stood ramrod straight, as if he didn't care about his injury at all.

Yu Luoning's expression was complicated, and she couldn't help but sigh, "You managed to survive in his hands, you're really amazing."

Bai Rongling smiled wryly, "It's all thanks to someone."

Yu Luoning clicked her tongue twice. No wonder she wasn't allowed to listen. This person who could make Cui Xiu stop was probably not simple.

A lowly cultivator like her probably couldn't even bear to hear that person's name.

Some beings are beyond description, and it is taboo for people to even call them by their names; they can only be referred to as "He".

Could there be a powerful figure behind Bai Rongling?

Yu Luoning's gaze towards him suddenly became complicated.

Bai Rongling: "What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing," Yu Luoning replied, mimicking Cui Xiu's tone, then handed him a healing pill. "Eat it! Healing is the priority!"

Bai Rongling glanced down at it but didn't take it. "You won't die."

"I know you won't die, but if you really die on Zhexue Peak, wouldn't the Bai family really be dragged into it?"

Bai Rongling was forced to swallow the pill in her mouth, while Cui Xiu, who was standing not far away, watched coldly without stopping her.

As Bai Rongling had predicted, Cui Xiu wouldn't kill him easily before she could be sure whether he was pregnant with a Dao fetus.

Bai Rongling was seriously injured and left first to focus on healing.

For a moment, only Yu Luoning and Cui Xiu remained on the vast snow-capped peak.

Cui Xiu's wide purple robe billowed and danced in the wind.

The portion of the evil corpse's essence that he had forcibly extracted earlier was reintegrated into his body without leaving any trace.

Yu Luoning remembered that he had been experiencing abdominal pain and occasional unexplained vomiting a few days ago.

She walked up to Cui Xiu, looked him up and down, and asked, "After the evil corpse's essence is retrieved, will your body return to normal?"

Cui Xiu scoffed at this, "What? You only think of asking me this now?"

"I saw you helping him feed his medicine just now, busy as a bee. I thought you were blind to everyone else."

There was an inexplicable sour smell in the air.

Yu Luoning blinked. Sigh, this person is even jealous of a seriously injured person.

She said irritably, "You almost beat him to death, how could I just ignore it?"

Choi Soo's face grew even colder. "So all you care about is him?"

Yu Luoning stepped forward, buried her head in his broad chest, and gently massaged his waist with her palms.

"My concern for Bai Rongling stems from my fear that he might actually die on Zhexue Peak. I'm already being harassed by the seven outer clans, and now another one is coming. How am I supposed to handle this?"

Cui Xiu asked, and after a moment of silence, he slowly raised his hand to hug her back, resting his chin on the top of her head, and solemnly promised, "Don't worry, with me here, no one can bully you."

Yu Luoning believed that Cui Xiu had the confidence and ability to do so.

But she didn't want to always hide behind others, without any room for resistance.

This feeling of being passive is really unpleasant.

/

For the past seven days, the entire Dongbao Upper Sect has been under a sense of impending doom, as if a great battle was about to begin.

Those disciples who were training outside were urgently summoned back.

Shi Shangxu and the others were still trapped in the secret realm. After learning about this, their expressions changed, and they became even more anxious to find the exit of the secret realm.

Thinking of the day Feng Qiguang fell into the secret realm, it was also to go to Dongbao Shangzong to find Yu Luoning. Shi Shangxu suddenly said, "You already knew about this matter. The seven families from the outer realms questioned him, and the sect closed its mountain."

Unexpectedly, Feng Qiguang was completely taken aback upon hearing this.

A storm raged within him.

"What? What about the seven families from the outer realms questioning me? I'm looking for Luo Ning because someone is searching for the Phoenix's true blood."

"Phoenix True Blood?"

Seeing that Shi Shangxu seemed completely unaware, Feng Qiguang was speechless for a moment.

The ancestor told him not to expose Ningning's bloodline, but is Shi Shangxu an outsider?

At this point, jealousy and rivalry are completely unimportant.

Since Shi Shangxu is someone Ningning cares about, he has the right to know the real danger she is facing.

He always has a clear understanding of right and wrong when faced with major issues.

Shi Shangxu did not press further. He solemnly and earnestly said, "I swear by my Daoist heart that I will never reveal what happened today."

Feng Qiguang's expression softened slightly. Seeing that Shi Shangxu had sworn an oath with his Dao heart, he had no more worries. Only then did he briefly recount what had happened in the Northern Sword Alliance.

The Northern Sword Alliance once intended to massacre the town.

Yu Luoning came to their aid, and the two infiltrated the Sword Alliance's underground territory, intercepting the Northern Region Sword Alliance's thousand-year-old spiritual vein.

The two of them also awakened the Phoenix bloodline.

As for Yu Luoning's purer phoenix bloodline, Feng Qiguang didn't mention it. It wasn't that he didn't trust Shi Shangxu, but the implications were too great, and the fewer people who knew, the better.

Shi Shangxu listened quietly to the whole story. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on his sword, and a strange sense of unease rose in his heart.

He was unaware of these things.

Having come this far, how could he not guess that Yu Luoning was Yu Xiaoguai, the female cultivator who made Feng Qiguang and Li Yunyu fight to the death, and who ultimately sacrificed herself to make them stop?

He knew this wasn't the time to dwell on these things. But the thought of all the shared experiences Luo Ning had with other men made it hard for him to remain calm.

Feng Qiguang saw his expression and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He then comforted her, saying, "Ningning has been with you at the Dongbao Upper Sect for so long, she must have been with you every day..."

Upon hearing this, Shi Shangxu nodded earnestly.

Feng Qiguang completely misunderstood; he thought Shi Shangxu was unhappy because Yu Luoning had given him the extremely precious Phoenix Blood Stone.

So he said, "Although Ningning is affectionate, she is always generous to those she likes. She gave me the Phoenix Blood Stone probably because my Feng family is associated with the phoenix, since my surname is Feng."

Shi Shangxu was slightly taken aback, but immediately understood the meaning behind Feng Qiguang's words.

It turns out he was showing off the things Ningning gave him.

Shi Shangxu remained silent for a moment, then raised his hand and flicked it from his Qiankun bag, sending out several beams of spiritual light.

Shi Shangxu calmly said, "This is the 'A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains' painting, this is an ice-type Dao pattern stone, this is a fragment of 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon', and these are milk tea that Ningning made for me herself..."

Phoenix Hikaru: (｀へ´)