Hey, don't think I'll let you off just because you're pretending to look like this. I won't fall for your tricks!
Ji Yun looked at the pale-faced Yuan Shu beneath him and scolded her with suspicion.
When this woman bullied him, she was fierce and valiant, with agile movements. Just now, she had deliberately delayed for time and secretly cured herself of the muscle-relaxing powder he had administered.
Her current state might very well be an act too.
He could not let his guard down!
But Yuan Shu had no extra strength to speak. Looking inward with her divine sense, she saw a dark shadow coiled around the Hehuan Divine Tree.
However, before her divine sense could get close, it was repelled by a powerful soul force.
The massive rebound heavily injured her divine sense, and pain began to spread.
Yuan Shu's expression grew increasingly awful, her stunningly beautiful little face now scrunched up in agony.
Ji Yun's heart skipped a beat. Looking at her, it really didn't seem like she was acting!
Hey, are you alright? What's going on?
Wasn't she just acting all capable a moment ago? What was the situation now?
Ji Yun released his grip on Yuan Shu's arms and reached out to pat her cheeks. She kept her eyes tightly shut, showing no reaction.
For some unknown reason, an indescribable tension rose in his heart.
He quickly bent down, scooped her up from the ground, and walked briskly into Ziyang Hall.
He was the only one living in Ziyang Hall, so there was only his bed.
Left with no choice, he placed Yuan Shu on his own bed and reached out to check her pulse using his spiritual energy.
The pulse at her wrist was weak and chaotic, intermittent. One moment it was as rapid as a beating drum, and the next it was as faint as a silk thread, so erratic that it didn't seem human.
He tried to investigate using his spiritual energy.
But sending spiritual energy into someone's body was a highly intimate matter. The moment his spiritual energy touched Yuan Shu's meridians, it was unceremoniously blocked and pushed back.
Having no other options, Ji Yun took out two Vitality and Blood Pills from his robes and fed them to Yuan Shu.
Meanwhile, in her divine sense space, the Hehuan Divine Tree lit up with a dazzling azure light, illuminating the dark shadow clinging to it.
Only then did Yuan Shu realize that the dark shadow was actually a giant snake!
A giant snake?
Wait, it was that Xiushe!
Yuan Shu remembered now. Back when the Xiushe was undergoing its tribulation and was on the verge of death, its soul power had entered her divine sense space.
It had even signed a lifebound contract with her!
Seeing that it posed no threat and had been quietly cultivating beside the divine tree, Yuan Shu had ignored it.
Who would have thought this fellow had secretly grown so large?
Now it was entangled with the Hehuan Divine Tree. What did it want to do?
Just as the thought arose, the Hehuan Divine Tree's alarmed cry echoed in her sea of consciousness.
Shushu, it... it wants to devour my divine sense!
The Hehuan Divine Tree sounded pained. Its entire towering trunk trembled within the divine sense space, bursting with azure light.
Waves of powerful divine sense energy surged outward, trying to shake off the snake's shadow from its trunk.
But since that Xiushe dared to make a move, it was naturally fully prepared.
Its long, thick body tightly coiled around the trunk of the Hehuan Divine Tree. No matter how much the tree shook, the Xiushe remained firmly attached to the trunk, unmoving!
Shushu, I have just gained sentience and my divine sense is weak. I... I am no match for it.
The divine tree let out a mournful cry, its words tinged with sorrow.
It could feel its divine sense power being absorbed by the Xiushe. If this continued, its divine sense power would not be enough to sustain its sentience.
When that happened, all of Yuan Shu's hard work in helping it gain sentience would be wasted!
Now is not the time to lose heart. Think of a way quickly, we need to deal with it first!
Yuan Shu had just tried to communicate with the Xiushe and discovered that this fellow seemed to be only an energy body, not the Xiushe's true divine sense entity.
All of this was likely an unconscious act brought about by the evolution of the Xiushe's energy body.
While thinking of a solution, Yuan Shu controlled her divine sense to crash against the Xiushe's defenses.
But clearly, she had still underestimated the strength of this Xiushe.
That was an existence that had nearly survived the shape-shifting lightning tribulation, requiring the sect master of the Luoxian Sect, along with the peak masters and elders, to join forces against it.
Even though it had barely survived the tribulation with little residual power left, it was still not something Yuan Shu could handle.
In her sea of consciousness, the Hehuan Divine Tree's whimpers grew louder, and the azure light on the tree continued to weaken as the Xiushe relentlessly coiled and absorbed it.
Yuan Shu watched with burning anxiety.
It had taken her a lot of effort to help the Hehuan Divine Tree gain sentience back then. How could she just watch it be eaten by the Xiushe now?
Hehuan, would fresh dual cultivation power be of help to you?
Suddenly thinking of something, Yuan Shu widened her eyes slightly and hurriedly asked.
The Hehuan Divine Tree's whimpering paused, leaving only the hissing sound of the Xiushe absorbing its power.
A moment later, the Hehuan Divine Tree nodded heavily. Yes, dual cultivation power. The stronger the dual cultivation power, the more useful it is. Shushu, where... where will you find dual cultivation power right now?
Don't worry about that. Yuan Shu took a deep breath. Almost the instant her words fell, her divine sense exited the divine sense space directly.
Opening her eyes again, she was lying on a dark red canopy bed.
The dull pain in her body persisted. Yuan Shu took two heavy breaths before suppressing some of the agony.
This was Ji Yun's room. Just like the courtyard outside, this room also housed many venomous creatures.
A casual glance revealed poisonous insects locked in glass boxes.
It was evident that Ji Yun's greatest hobby was likely raising venomous creatures and making poisons.
The only variable was probably that night when he was hit with an aphrodisiac.
He was quite handsome. Stripping off his clothes revealed a great physique—broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, and sharply defined chest and abdominal muscles.
Although he looked cynical and careless on the surface, this man was actually quite innocent.
At the time, Yuan Shu had only teased him with the intention of punishing him.
Just a few touches on his chest had caused Ji Yun's body to tremble uncontrollably.
He was so sensitive that tears had actually flowed from his eyes.
Yuan Shu hated seeing men cry the most, but... handsome men were an exception.
So, that night, she hadn't made things too difficult for him and had even helped him out once.
However, the drug's effects were strong, and in the end, they still had to rely on feeding him an antidote to stabilize the situation.
With such a sensitive body, it was obvious enough that Ji Yun had never dual cultivated with a woman; his primal yang was still intact.
And this was exactly why Yuan Shu had made her promise to the Hehuan Divine Tree.
The primal yang of a Golden Core stage man should be enough for the Hehuan Divine Tree to suppress that Xiushe, right?
Thinking this, Yuan Shu lifted her gaze and looked at Ji Yun, who was currently rummaging through cabinets and chests in the room looking for medicine.
Ji Yun was searching for medicine that would benefit the divine sense.
Seeing that Yuan Shu had no physical injuries yet was in such pain, he guessed that there might be a problem with her divine sense.
But without a doubt, what he had most of here were poisons. He searched through all the cabinets and shelves but couldn't find the medicine he wanted that would be useful for the divine sense.
He reached up to scratch his head, growing more panicked and anxious by the second.
He was terrified that Yuan Shu would just die on his bed like this!
Just as he was looking utterly frustrated, pondering whether he should go to Chiyang Hall to snatch some useful medicine, Yuan Shu's soft and gentle voice came from behind him.
Ji Yun.
Ji Yun paused slightly and turned to look. Yuan Shu was lying on her side on the bed, her small face still pale, but her eyes were looking at him brightly.
