The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Shen Yifei left Su Wuwang's bedroom and walked back along the path behind the mountain. It was just dawn, the fog had not yet dissipated, and the stone path was wet.

He didn't walk fast. He'd been up all night, his back ached, and his legs felt like lead. His cultivation at the late Golden Core stage was stable, but the feeling of being completely drained was real.

"Master." Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron, sat on his shoulder, and swung her legs back and forth. "I give you a nine out of ten for your performance last night."

What's the maximum score?

"Ten points. One point is deducted because your legs went weak at the end."

"Try being frozen by the pure Yin energy of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator for a whole night, and see if your legs go weak."

Liu Mengli giggled, and after laughing enough, she said, "But to be honest, Su Wuwang's pure Yin energy is indeed domineering. You had to take three Yuan Yang Pills to withstand it; anyone else would have been an ice sculpture by now. All her savings of five hundred years have gone to you."

"Cheap?" Shen Yifei rubbed his lower back. "I risked my life for this."

Shen Yifei walked down the stone steps and stopped halfway up the mountain.

A person was sitting in a pavilion beside the mountain path.

Sun Yiran.

She was wearing a light blue dress, and her hair was casually tied up with a silver hairpin, which was covered with water droplets, indicating that she had been sitting for a long time.

Shen Yifei paused for a moment, then walked over as if nothing had happened and sat down opposite her.

"Senior sister, you're up really early."

Sun Yiran didn't look at him. "I went to find you last night and saw you go to the sect leader's palace."

Shen Yifei had just reached out to hug her when he heard what she said, and his hand froze in mid-air.

"Senior sister, let me explain..."

"No need to explain." Sun Yiran finally looked up at him. There were two dark circles under her eyes, and her expression was hard to tell whether she was crying or laughing. "Your dual cultivation with the sect leader is your skill. I'm just a Golden Core disciple, it's none of my business."

"Senior sister, what you're saying..."

"Did I say something wrong?" Sun Yiran stood up, walked to the pavilion, and turned her back to him. "For over a month after you were kidnapped by the Blood Soul Sect, I couldn't sleep a wink. Elder Gu said you might be dead, but I didn't believe it. I led men to search the area within a 500-mile radius three times!"

She turned around, her eyes reddening, but she stubbornly held back her tears.

"The day you came back, I was overjoyed like a fool. And what happened? On your first night back, you went into the sect leader's bedchamber."

Shen Yifei stood up and walked up to her.

"Senior sister, Su Wuwang is at the Nascent Soul stage. She wants me to enter her bedchamber. Can I refuse?"

Sun Yiran stared at him for a long time.

"So you stayed in her bedchamber all night, was that because she forced you?"

Shen Yifei nodded. "Last night, I almost died at her hands!"

Shen Yifei's words were half true and half false. The first part was that he was almost frozen to death by Su Wuwang, and the second part was that he almost tormented Su Wuwang to death.

After saying that, he felt a little guilty and communicated with Mengli through his consciousness, "Mengli, do you think I'm a bastard?"

"Yes," Liu Mengli answered crisply, "and he's a complete scoundrel. He has a saintess wife in the Qingyun Sect, senior and junior sisters lovers in the Hehuan Sect, a 300-year-old sect leader's lover in the Blood Soul Sect, and now he's even slept with his own sect leader. Master, your harem is bigger than the emperor's."

"Sigh, I don't want this to happen, but the smell on me..."

Seeing that he remained silent, Sun Yiran assumed he was angry with her. She knew in her heart that Shen Yifei had too many women around him, and she was just an insignificant presence.

She felt that she had worried about him for so long for nothing, but when Shen Yifei came back, he went straight into the sect leader's bed. This feeling made her very sad.

Shen Yifei walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. Sun Yiran's shoulder stiffened, but she didn't flinch or turn around.

"Senior sister, to tell you the truth," Shen Yifei said softly, "Su Wuwang's pure Yin energy circulated through my body, causing my Golden Core to crack once. It took time for it to re-condense before I could break through to the later stage. If I hadn't taken those three Yuan Yang Pills last night, I would be a frozen corpse by now."

Sun Yiran was silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and hugged his waist, burying her face in his chest. Her arms were very tight, as if she wanted to dig him into her ribs.

"I have no other requests, I just want to be with you as soon as possible!" Sun Yiran's words were full of tenderness.

"Okay, senior sister, I'll definitely come to see you first when I come back."

Sun Yiran released her grip and took a step back. "Wait for me tonight!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

After Sun Yiran left, Shen Yifei sat in the pavilion for a while.

Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron and sat on the stone table.

"You're waiting for me tonight? The way she said that makes it sound like she's going to settle scores with you."

"Let's just leave it at that." Shen Yifei rubbed his lower back. "Anyway, it's the same whether you serve one or two."

"You're quite open-minded," Liu Mengli said, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him. "But let me remind you, Sun Yiran is different from Su Wuwang. Su Wuwang used you as a vessel, each getting what they wanted. Sun Yiran, on the other hand, was truly in love!"

"Sigh, having too many emotional debts is exhausting. I'll have to take it easy from now on," Shen Yifei said with a hint of helplessness.

"Can you handle it tonight? Su Wuwang almost drained you dry last night, and Sun Yiran will go for another round tonight. Your body is probably going to fall apart."

"It can't be dispersed. Sun Yiran is at the Golden Core stage, which is not on the same level as Su Wuwang."

"That's true, but I still suggest you rest more during the day."

Shen Yifei returned to his residence and fell asleep immediately. He slept soundly for a long time, and when he woke up, it was already dark outside.

He sat up, his back still aching. Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron.

"You're awake? Your senior sister has been pacing around outside three times already."

Shen Yifei rubbed his face, stood up, and pushed open the door.

Sun Yiran was indeed standing in the courtyard. She had changed into a light red dress, let her hair down over her shoulders, and applied light makeup. The moonlight shone on her, making her appear as if she were wrapped in a veil.

"Senior sister, come in."

Sun Yiran followed him into the house, and the door closed behind her.

Shen Yifei turned around, but before he could speak, Sun Yiran had already pressed herself against him, hooking her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his.

Shen Yifei was taken aback. Sun Yiran wasn't usually like this; her initiative today was unusual.

But he didn't think much of it.

Soon, the two became entangled, their spiritual energy flowing within each other's bodies.

Sun Yiran's spiritual energy was fire-oriented, warm and gentle, completely different from Su Wuwang's pure yin energy. Shen Yifei guided her spiritual energy towards his dantian, where it merged with his dark golden core.

The golden elixir began to spin, faster and faster.

Suddenly, Shen Yifei felt a sharp pain in his dantian!

He groaned, and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Sun Yiran was startled.

"What's wrong with you?"

"My lower abdomen... hurts..."

Sun Yiran quickly got off him, placed her hand on his dantian, and probed it with her divine sense. Her expression changed as well.

"Your golden core... has a crack on it."

Shen Yifei closed his eyes and used his divine sense to look inward.

The cracks on the golden core were very fine, like strands of hair, running from top to bottom and covering almost half of the core. If it weren't for the intense pain, it would be completely undetectable with a mere glance using divine sense.

Sun Yiran hurriedly rummaged through her storage bag and pulled out a bottle of healing pills, poured one out and stuffed it into his mouth.

Shen Yifei swallowed it, and the medicinal effects dissipated, easing the pain in his dantian somewhat, but the cracks on the golden core remained.

"I'll go call the sect leader." Sun Yiran stood up, put on her clothes, and ran outside.

Shen Yifei tried to call out to her, but his mouth opened and he was in too much pain to speak.