Yun Sheng rose from the grass, his face alight with delight as he hurried over to Yuan Shu and took her hand.
His beautiful cherry-pink eyes gazed at her without blinking. As he reined in his spiritual power, the cherry-blossom mark between his brows slowly sank into his flesh and vanished from sight.
Yuan Shu was affected by his joy as well and gave him a firm nod.
“Yes, you’ve broken through—not just to the Foundation Establishment Stage, but all the way to the Core Formation Stage! I never imagined that such a powerful spiritual-plant bloodline would be hidden within you.”
Yuan Shu had to admit that she had misjudged him before, assuming Yun Sheng truly lacked natural talent.
Who would have thought there would be such a pleasant surprise?
The children of powerful demon spirits had a chance of inheriting their parents’ abilities.
It wasn’t that Yun Sheng had failed to inherit them. Something had simply gone wrong after the inheritance, concealing the power of his spiritual-plant bloodline.
He had appeared no different from an ordinary person.
But now, after this experience, the bloodline power within him had awakened. In the future, his cultivation speed would likely be no slower than that of the sect’s favored geniuses.
Yun Sheng pulled Yuan Shu into a tight embrace. His voice was low and solemn.
“Thank you, Miss Yuan.”
If not for Yuan Shu, he would never have had the chance to step into the true path of cultivation. If he had not entered that realm, he would never have met Elder Mu, much less broken through to the Core Formation Stage.
Everything he had now had been brought to him by Yuan Shu.
She was the person in his heart—and, at the same time, his benefactor.
Yuan Shu gently patted him twice, accepting his gratitude.
A moment later, Yun Sheng collected himself and released her.
Two faint blushes spread across his handsome face. He began to speak hesitantly.
“Miss Yuan, I—I’ve reached the Core Formation Stage now. Does that mean I’ve met the standard?”
The standard?
Yuan Shu froze for a moment. Then, as if she had suddenly understood what he meant, she looked up at him in surprise.
“Yun Sheng, you…”
“Miss Yuan, would my primordial yang at the Core Formation Stage be more helpful to you?”
Yun Sheng suddenly clasped her hand. His handsome face was flushed, his cherry-pink eyes trembling slightly, yet he stared at her with stubborn determination.
The Yun Sheng in the nightmare had ultimately been nothing more than an illusion. No matter how vivid and real the sensations had been, it had not been reality.
He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.
Yun Sheng gazed at Yuan Shu with sincerity and fervor. Even someone as thick-skinned as Yuan Shu felt her cheeks grow warm once she realized what he wanted to do.
Yuan Shu coughed lightly. “Ahem… You’ve only just broken through to the Core Formation Stage. You should consolidate your cultivation first…”
But Yun Sheng shook his head so vigorously that he looked like a rattle drum. His tone was earnest.
“Miss Yuan, dual cultivation can also help stabilize a breakthrough. I know you have a dual-cultivation technique!”
“Miss Yuan, I’m willing to give you my primordial yang. Please, don’t refuse me!”
Yun Sheng bit his lip, a pleading, wounded expression appearing on his handsome, beautiful face.
Without a doubt, Yun Sheng had always known exactly what worked best on Yuan Shu.
That expression, that look, those eyes—all of it made it difficult for Yuan Shu to resist.
Yuan Shu swallowed hard. In the end, she couldn’t bear to refuse him.
“Do as you please.”
Yun Sheng’s eyes lit up. “Then… why wait for another day when we can do it today?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he cast a Dust-Cleansing Art, sweeping the dirt from their bodies.
Then he raised a hand and waved it through the wood-element space. The thick trees suddenly closed in around them, blocking the empty view in every direction.
The soft grass on the ground rapidly arranged and intertwined itself, weaving a three-meter-wide bed.
Yuan Shu stared in amazement at the flexible way he wielded his spiritual-plant bloodline power. Before she could recover, Yun Sheng wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
The next moment, he had carried her onto the soft three-meter grass bed.
“Miss Yuan… No, Shushu. I want to call you that. Is it all right?”
He held her in his arms, gazing at the reflection of himself in Yuan Shu’s dark eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly, and deep emotion surged in his gaze.
Yuan Shu gave a soft laugh and reached out to stroke his handsome face.
“You’re already my dao companion. Naturally, you can call me whatever you like.”
A radiant smile bloomed across Yun Sheng’s handsome face.
“Shushu…”
He called her softly, and before Yuan Shu could say anything else, he lowered his head and kissed her.
Just like that time in the nightmare, he knew every sensitive inch of her body. With ease, he set a spark alight within her.
He lowered his head and deepened the kiss, unable to stop himself, while his powerful arms held her firmly in place.
This time, unlike all those previous times, he no longer had to rely solely on a jade phallus or their souls.
This time, he truly possessed her—completely and wholly.
…
Surging spiritual power coursed through their meridians, seeping into every inch of their blood, muscles, and bones.
Held tightly in Yun Sheng’s arms, Yuan Shu felt as though she had fallen among the clouds, overwhelmed by the sensations brought on by the merging of their bodies and the advancement of her cultivation.
She felt the barrier before the Nascent Soul Stage begin to loosen.
After Yun Sheng rested for a moment and embraced her once more, the barrier before her Nascent Soul Stage shattered with a resounding crack.
And Yuan Shu officially stepped into the long-awaited Nascent Soul Stage.
“Shushu, we’re finally together. Shushu, I like you so much. Shushu, from the very first moment I saw you, you were the only one in my mind.”
His low, hoarse words of affection continued murmuring beside her ear. Before Yuan Shu could respond, he drew her into another round of blank, breathless sensations.
…
The quiet wood-element space held nothing but the tall, sturdy wall of trees swaying gently in the breeze.
Amid the rustling wind were the uncontrollable sobs of a woman, mixed with intertwined low growls.
The sounds drifted into the gaps between the trees and vanished among the overlapping layers of the forest.
…
Yuan Shu had no idea how long Yun Sheng had been holding himself back to possess such ferocious stamina.
Had she even rested?
Yuan Shu could hardly remember.
But when her puppy looked at her with those glistening eyes, never once looking away, she couldn’t bear to refuse him—and she didn’t want to.
So she let him have his way.
Only after he held her and remained still for a full quarter of an hour did Yuan Shu finally push against him.
“We should go out now, Yun Sheng.”
Yun Sheng’s cherry-pink eyes reddened, the color seeming to spread to the corners of his eyes as well.
“Shushu…”
He was reluctant to leave. This was their private world, just the two of them.
Once they returned outside, Shushu had so many other dao companions. Would he ever have another chance to spend time alone with her like this?
Yuan Shu reached up and pinched his cheek, smiling.
“You’re not going anywhere. We have plenty of time ahead of us. Or are you saying you want to die on top of me today?”
At those words, Yun Sheng’s cheeks turned bright red. The distress in his cherry-pink eyes slowly faded, and when he called her name again, his voice carried an even deeper tenderness.
“Shushu, I like the sound of ‘a long future together.’”
Yuan Shu smiled, lifted her head, and kissed his thin lips.
“Good boy…”
But that kiss seemed to trigger some hidden mechanism.
A dark red glow rose in the depths of Yun Sheng’s eyes. As his Adam’s apple rolled, he tightened his arms around Yuan Shu once more, his voice growing hoarse.
“Shushu, I…”
Yuan Shu seemed to sense something as well. Shock flashed through her eyes.
“Isn’t that enough yet?”
Yun Sheng bit his lip, his expression uneasy.
Was he being too bothersome and making Yuan Shu unhappy?
But he had been waiting so long for this moment.
In the past, he could only sit in the courtyard and listen to her bewitching voice.
Now that he had finally managed to make her let out such an alluring sound for him, he truly couldn’t hold himself back!
Yuan Shu was soft-hearted, especially when faced with a beauty’s aggrieved expression.
Forget it—it was only human nature!
She let out a soft laugh, paying no heed to the time or place. Reaching up to hook her arms around Yun Sheng’s neck, she kissed him again.
……
