It turns out, they were the main characters.

In other words, if Mu Zhian could wait until he had refined the Nine Cauldrons Refining Void Pill before performing the spiritual energy exchange ceremony with Luo Tan, his success rate in breaking through to the Enlightenment Realm would increase by another 10% to 20%.

It's no wonder that the princess thought Luo Tan was a bit impatient at this moment.

"What does Your Highness mean?" the maid asked softly.

"It's nothing, you may leave now. I want to go out for a walk alone to clear my head," the princess said.

The night wind carried a slight chill, causing her dress to flutter and outlining the sexy, voluptuous curves of the married woman.

The princess strolled along the palace gardens, and suddenly found herself in front of a palace.

Last night, it was in this very bedchamber that she was... taken advantage of by that mere cultivator who had just entered the Void Returning Realm...

However, it was purely a misunderstanding caused by her disguising herself as Luo Tan.

Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, the person who is with Mu Zhian is Luo Tan.

Thinking of this, she recalled the celestial energy she had felt and the boy's gentle kiss... The princess felt a strange mix of emotions.

"His Majesty has decreed that no one is allowed to enter tonight. Your Highness, please return."

Just as she was about to enter the bedchamber, a guard's respectful voice came from the doorway, stopping the princess outside.

The princess raised an eyebrow slightly: "Didn't she tell you that I don't need to be stopped from going wherever I want?"

The guard looked troubled and said, "Her Majesty did say that, but she also said that no one is allowed to enter tonight..."

The princess nodded: "Very well, then I will not disturb her tonight..."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Pretend I was never here tonight, understand?"

Although her beautiful eyes remained gentle, her words seemed to carry an undeniable air of authority.

The guard felt a chill run down his spine and replied, "Yes."

The princess turned and left the bedchamber.

Then, in the next moment, the figure vanished from the guards' sight like a ghost.

Before long, the woman appeared in the bedchamber.

The princess was a gentle woman and wouldn't make things difficult for a guard, after all, he had his own difficulties.

But there's no place she can't go wherever she wants to go.

The bedchamber was completely silent; not a sound could be heard.

At this time of day, there would usually be servants serving in the bedchamber, but tonight there is not a single person in sight.

At this moment, the princess seemed to vaguely hear a sweet and alluring voice in her ear. Following the direction of the voice, she concealed her own presence and gracefully approached the door of the bedchamber in front of her.

For some reason, even though she wasn't directly involved, the princess felt her heart inexplicably racing.

She instinctively held her breath and peered through the crack in the door.

"Your Majesty, according to what you just said, as long as one concentrates enough, even a near-third-grade alchemist can refine pills of the third or fourth grade?" Mu Zhian's voice came from inside the room.

The fact that she didn't see the scene she had imagined surprised the princess.

At this very moment, Mu Zhi'an was sitting at a square table, holding a book on elixirs and asking Luo Tan for advice.

The empress sat opposite Mu Zhi'an, patiently instructing him.

They weren't... but simply talking about alchemy?

But if that's the case, what was that dense spiritual energy above the bedchamber just now...?

At that moment, countless question marks seemed to appear above the princess's head, and her charming face beneath the veil was filled with disbelief.

The spiritual energy of the innate furnace was clearly filling the entire bedroom, and the faint phantom of nine fox tails could be seen quietly blooming inside, seemingly possessing endless allure.

But they didn't appear to be engaging in any intimate behavior...

what is the problem?

The princess gazed at the harmonious scene inside the room, her eyes flickering slightly, and for a moment she seemed somewhat bewildered.

The world was filled with the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Court... This spiritual energy of the Heavenly Court was countless times more concentrated than the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill refined by Mu Zhi'an.

If one could fully absorb the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Court, perhaps one could truly reach the threshold of the Ascension Realm... This absurd thought popped into the princess's mind.

At this moment, Luo Tan, who was inside the room, seemed to sense something unusual outside the door. Her hair was loose and she casually looked up and stared.

The two best friends locked eyes. Luo Tan's eyes showed a hint of surprise, but she quickly smiled and said, "Why didn't you let anyone know you were coming? My discussion with him is almost over. Come in and tell me what's on your mind."

The princess composed herself and said in a gentle and pleasant voice, "Since Young Master Mu is here tonight, I'll come again tomorrow. Originally, I only came to see you tonight to play a game of chess with you."

"Okay, then I'll come see you again tomorrow." Luo Tan smiled slightly.

After taking one last look at Mu Zhian, the princess turned and left the palace. The inner turmoil she had felt vanished at that moment.

She had originally come to the bedchamber tonight simply to find out if her best friend was planning to get intimate with Mu Zhian, the natural-born furnace, tonight... but the scene inside the room proved that she was just worrying unnecessarily.

However, if the princess were to fully open the bedroom door at this moment, she would actually see a completely different scene.

For example, the alchemy empress sitting opposite Mu Zhi'an had a snow-white jade boot casually draped over Mu Zhi'an's leg under the table.

Even someone like Mu Zhian, who has experienced many ups and downs, was almost taken aback by Luo Tan's actions. He hadn't spoken just now not because he didn't want to, but because he had been giving Luo Tan meaningful glances.

However, Luo Tan simply rested her chin on her hand, gazing at Mu Zhi'an with seductive eyes, while explaining the key points of alchemy to him in an elegant and calm tone. Her jade boots rubbed against his legs, and at the same time, she was chatting casually with her best friend... She even planned to invite her in to play chess with her.

Only at this moment did Mu Zhian understand why the Dao Integration Realm was called the Dao Integration Realm... This mindset was something that ordinary people could not possess.

……

Aren't you worried that she might actually come in?

After hearing the footsteps around him gradually disappear, Mu Zhian looked at Luo Tan sitting opposite him and said helplessly.

"If I'm not worried, why are you?"

Luo Tan smiled brightly, playing with a strand of hair, and said calmly, "Besides, nothing happened between you and me tonight... Even if she came in, she wouldn't say anything."

Mu Zhian thought to himself, "Of course you're fine when the princess comes in, but as soon as she entered the room, she saw you stepping on the Lord of Heaven... I'll be dead on the spot from now on."

Fortunately, the results were all good.

"The princess and the others probably won't be coming again. Don't you plan to sit a little longer?"

Luo Tan looked at Mu Zhian, who had already gotten up and was about to leave, and couldn't help but ask softly.

"According to what you just said, we need to wait until the Nine Cauldrons Refining Void Pill is refined before we can perform the spiritual energy exchange ceremony to maximize my benefits... So what am I still doing here?" Mu Zhian asked lazily.

Luo Tan tilted her head slightly, her tone elegant and charming: "Just as you said before, there's more than one way to exchange spiritual energy, isn't there?"

She took off one of her snow-white jade boots, revealing glimpses of her fair skin beneath. Resting her chin on her hand, she smiled at Mu Zhian and said, "Of course, if you want to go back and focus on your cultivation, I can't stop you."

"How would you like to choose?"

……

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

For the past three days, aside from going to Luo Tan's bedchamber every night to ask him about alchemy, Mu Zhi'an has spent most of his time cultivating in his own villa.

At this moment, in a courtyard of the palace, Luo Tan was sitting under a pavilion, sipping tea and holding a chess piece in his hand.

The voluptuous princess sat opposite her, her beautiful eyes gazing quietly at the chessboard, seemingly deep in thought about the game.

"Given the Great Roc Emperor's personality, he'll probably come looking for you in less than seven days. What do you plan to say to him then?" The princess suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"The Cauldron of All Things Transformation is a sacred object of Yuzhou, and no one can take it out of Yuzhou... I naturally gave him the truthful answer."

"As for offending the Great Roc Emperor... it doesn't matter. After all, he probably knows that it's unrealistic to borrow the Myriad Things Transformation Cauldron. He probably didn't have any expectations in the first place."

Luo Tan placed a white piece, moved the surrounding black pieces aside, and looked at the princess with a smile: "As for you, aren't you going to try to persuade me on his behalf?"

"If you were the one to speak, I would seriously consider it."

Princess slowly shook her head: "Let's not even talk about whether the Great Roc Emperor can really refine immortal pills with the help of the Myriad Things Transformation Cauldron. Even if he can, it has little to do with me."

She paused for a moment, then casually asked, "If Mu Zhi'an asked you to borrow the cauldron, would you lend it to him?"

"No," Luo Tan replied decisively.

“However, I will help him refine elixirs,” she added.

"Because he's your secret lover?" The princess emphasized the word "lover".

Luo Tan smiled without saying a word.

"The Azure Emperor will probably be back in a day or two, so you'd better be more discreet then," the princess reminded her close friend.

It's fine to secretly get intimate with the Azure Emperor's Daoist partner, but at least one should know how to restrain oneself... Even if you steal cake, you should know how to wipe your mouth clean. For the past two days, Mu Zhi'an has been in Luo Tan's bedchamber almost every night. Although she didn't see it with her own eyes, she didn't believe that the two were simply chatting and playing chess.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Besides, the Azure Emperor's trip to the Southern Wilderness is for the ingredients of the Nine Cauldrons Refining Void Pill, and I'll be needed to refine it then."

Luo Tan chuckled softly, and seeing the maid enter the courtyard, asked, "Has Mu Zhi'an arrived?"

The maid nodded slightly: "Your Majesty, shall we invite Young Master Mu in?"

“Let him in. I also have something to say to him,” Luo Tan said.

Seeing this, the princess put down her chess piece and was about to leave the courtyard.

"If you don't mind, you can stay here too, at least until we finish this game of chess," Luo Tan said with a smile.

"After all, you'll be going back in a day or two, right?"

The rulers of Yunzhou are the Queen and the Great Peng Emperor. Although they have the ability to create clones, it is still more convenient to have their original bodies present in case of emergencies.

"You and Mu Zhian might have something to talk about. Am I just here to annoy you two?" The princess rolled her eyes at Luo Tan.

She truly deserves to be called a beauty; even her gaze is incredibly alluring.

“I don’t mind, and I think he won’t mind either.”

Luo Tan looked up at the boy who had walked into the courtyard and smiled, "Right, Mu Zhi'an?"

"This is Yuzhou after all. If His Majesty doesn't mind, how could I possibly mind?"

In the distance, in front of the courtyard, Mu Zhi'an walked in with his maid, revealing a bright smile: "Besides, since His Majesty trusts Princess Consort so much, I naturally trust her as well."

A hint of shyness flickered in the princess's gentle eyes, but her tone remained as soft and calm as ever: "I am, after all, a cultivator from Yunzhou. The Azure Emperor has always been at odds with Yunzhou. Aren't you worried that she will be angry if she finds out?"

Mu Zhian walked to the front of the courtyard and sat down opposite Luo Tan at her suggestion. He smiled and said, "It's alright. Sister Qingdi can tell right from wrong. Even if she knows what I said today, she won't be angry. She might even be very pleased."

The princess glanced at Mu Zhi'an, but this time remained silent.