Zu An was taken aback. “You’re awake?”

“If I hadn’t woken up, were you going to give all of my possessions away to other women?” sneered Mi Li.

Zu An scratched his head sheepishly, feeling awkward that he’d been caught in the act. He immediately engaged his expert-level skill of changing the topic and asked, “How did you manage to speak inside my head? Are you able to hear my thoughts?”

“The Life-and-Death Contract we sealed tied our souls together, in a manner of speaking. This naturally means that we can communicate via our souls. As for listening to your thoughts…” Mi Li paused for a moment to sneer, “… you need not worry about that. I have no interest in those filthy thoughts in your mind.”

“Not listening and not being able to listen are two different things!” Zu An immediately felt nervous. It felt as though he had been stripped naked in front of another person.

“Anything involving souls and thoughts tends to be extremely cryptic. Unless one uses the Soul Searching Art, it won’t be that easy to listen in on another person’s thoughts. In fact, even with the Soul Searching Art, one can only listen to bits and pieces of the target’s mind, and it would inflict irreversible damage on them as well,” explained Mi Li coldly. “If you’re still uncertain, why don’t you try listening to my thoughts?”

Needless to say, there was no way Zu An would feel safe, given the possibility of having his mind read. He immediately tried to listen in on Mi Li’s thoughts using his strength of will, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hear anything at all.

Could this woman be lying to me? Zu An wondered. After all, he lacked a great deal of general knowledge regarding this world, and it was obvious that Mi Li was an extremely knowledgeable person, well-versed in many arts. Perhaps, the art of reading another person’s mind might be a skill requiring some sort of special technique.

An idea popped into Zu An’s mind, and he immediately visualized the image of Mi Li kneeling on the floor and calling him ‘Master’…  

*Pah!*

The Tai’e Sword suddenly leaped up and slapped him full in the face before slotting back into its sheath. It happened so quickly that Zu An had no time to react.

“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t read my mind?!” roared Zu An angrily.

“There was something amiss with your gaze,” replied Mi Li nonchalantly.

Zu An was speechless.

Please. You’re hiding in the Tai’e Sword, and the sword is right behind me. How in the world are you able to see my gaze?

“All right, I’ll be going back to sleep now.” Mi Li harrumphed. “You aren’t allowed to give my stuff away to anyone. If you do, I’ll kill anyone I see who is in possession of my items. You’re a man. Don’t you feel embarrassed, using another woman’s items to flirt around? Have some pride, you scumbag!”

Mi Li made sure to thoroughly put down Zu An before going back into hibernation.

Zu An was utterly speechless. She said earlier on that she was going into a deep sleep in order to repair her soul, but she leaped out as soon as I took out her stuff… Is she really sleeping, or feigning it?

“What are you doing, muttering to yourself?” Qiao Xueying asked, eyeing Zu An doubtfully. She noticed many emotions flashing across his expression, as if he was deep in thought. “Also, what’s wrong with that sword of yours? Why is it moving on its own accord?”

Zu An and Mi Li had exchanged quite a few words via their telepathic communication, but hardly a second had passed in real time, so Qiao Xueying didn’t sense anything amiss.

“It’s nothing much,” replied Zu An. “I just thought of a new sword art, so I tried to simulate it a little.”

Qiao Xueying was unconvinced by the excuse Zu An had thought up. “Your new sword art involves smacking your own face with your sword?”

“Of course not. That’s why it’s a failed simulation,” replied Zu An. He couldn’t allow others to think that he had some weird masochistic tendency.

Qiao Xueying finally snapped out of her daze and remembered her primary intention. With a huff, she demanded, “Wait a moment, why are you thinking about some other sword art when I’m asking you to give me a present? Forget it! Since it’s that difficult for you, I don’t want it anymore.”

Juse the thought that Ji Xiaoxi had received a ki stone larger than hers made her incredibly displeased, and from Zu An’s expression, it seemed like he didn’t have anything larger. After all, he couldn’t possibly take back what he had already given to Ji Xiaoxi, right?

It was one thing to understand his difficulties rationally, but emotions simply did not conform to logic. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 333 Rage points!

Seeing the inflow of Rage point gave Zu An a slight headache. Mi Li had already made her stance clear—he couldn’t give away any of her items to another woman. Then again, he couldn’t possibly let Qiao Xueying walk away empty-handed after all she had done for him… 

What else do I have? I left the underground palace in a hurry, so I didn’t manage to get anything good at all. 

Zu An searched his body, and all of a sudden, he thought of something—the Marrow Cleansing Pill!

He quickly took a look at his Rage points balance and saw that he had managed to bank up 33,595 points within such a short period of time.

Oh my, I’m really a prodigy! I really have to thank those cute classmates of mine for their generous contributions.

He quickly bought a Marrow Cleansing Pill with 10,000 Rage points, only to remember how he had remarked previously that only a fool would waste so many Rage points to buy that item… 

Damn it, I really should stop raising flags!

As he took out the Marrow Cleansing Pill, he suddenly noticed the price of the Marrow Cleansing Pill flicker. He quickly took a closer look. At first glance, nothing seemed to be off, but upon careful inspection, he realized that there was an additional ‘0’ behind it now.

The price had jumped to a whopping 100,000 Rage points!

What the hell!

Zu An leaped up in fury. How could the price of it go up?! It used to be 10,000 previously, and now it’s 100,000? Doesn’t that mean that it’ll leap to 1,000,000 the next time I buy one?

His complexion turned incredibly awful. He’d been planning to give one to everyone around him, but it seemed like he couldn’t afford it anymore.

On second thought, though, it did make sense. In this world, items that could raise one’s aptitude were precious and rare. He’d felt that 10,000 Rage points was expensive in the past, but upon learning how important a cultivator’s aptitude was, it was actually a pretty good deal.

It’s understandable why the Keyboard would gradually increase its price. I guess I should exchange for it only when I really need it. Otherwise, if its price jumped to ten million points or something, it would put it far out of my reach.

Zu An gently leaned Ji Xiaoxi against the tree before walking over to Qiao Xueying’s side. He handed the Marrow Cleansing Pill to her and said, “I don’t have any other heaven grade ki stones, so I’ll give you something more precious.”

Qiao Xueying eyed the inelegant pill presented to her, then scoffed in disbelief. “What else could possibly be more valuable than a heaven grade ki stone?”

“Try eating it, then.” Zu An said, bringing the pill up to her mouth.

“What is this?” Qiao Xueying instinctively leaned backward to avoid the medicine, eyeing him warily. “It can’t be aphrodisiac, can it?”

Zu An was utterly infuriated.

Do you think I’m that sort of person?

“Yes, it is. Are you going to eat it or not?” Zu An shot back, his patience close to hitting its limit.

Qiao Xueying’s face reddened a little. She could smell the fragrance coming from the pill, and oddly enough, something in the depths of her soul seemed to crave for it, inducing her to swallow her saliva. “I reckon that you wouldn’t have the guts to feed me aphrodisiac!”

So, she opened her mouth and swallowed the pill whole.

Her tongue accidentally flicked across Zu An’s finger, and his body shuddered a little. Even her mouth feels soft as well.

Across from him, Qiao Xueying felt her heart skip a beat, and an unnatural expression appeared on her face. She quickly changed the topic and asked, “What does your pill do?”

“It can raise a person’s aptitude by a level,” replied Zu An.

“How could such a convenient pill exist in this world?” asked Qiao Xueying with a frown, refusing to believe his words. 

Zu An couldn’t be bothered to explain. “You’ll know it soon enough.”

Qiao Xueying was just about to say something else when she suddenly felt a wave of heat spreading throughout her body, gushing through her veins. Every pore of her body seemed to be tingling with delight.

Astonished, she quickly focused her attention on assimilating the medicinal energy.

Some time later, she slowly opened her eyes. Her pupils seemed brighter than before, and the surrounding air smelled sweeter and fresher than ever. She could clearly see the fluttering wings of a dragonfly in the distance, as well as the rhythmic swaying of the grass. These were the same changes Zu An had experienced when he previously consumed the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

“T-this… It really can raise a person’s aptitude!” exclaimed Qiao Xueying in disbelief.

Zu An rolled his eyes. “You didn’t believe it when I told you earlier. Do I look like the kind of person to hand out empty promises?”

Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes right back. How am I to know whether you’re lying or not, when you keep boasting all day long?

That being said, she was still fully immersed in her shock and delight, and ended up apologizing. “I’m sorry.”

Zu An was taken aback. “Why are you apologizing to me?”

Qiao Xueying had a complicated look on her face. “A medicine that increases one’s aptitude is completely unheard of. This is undoubtedly one of the most precious medicines in the world. If anyone else got wind of it, it would cause a huge uproar. If I hadn’t pressured you for a present, you wouldn’t have had to waste such a precious pill on me.”

“How could this be called a waste?” replied Zu An with a smile. “Besides, nothing else is more valuable than your Half Life’s Fate. We’re comrades who have braved death together. You’re being too polite.”

“Comrades…” Qiao Xueying felt a tingle in her heart when she heard those words. She lowered her head suddenly, making it impossible to see her expression. A plethora of words welled up within her, but they eventually coalesced into two simple words. “Thank you.”

“Putting that aside, I think you should put more emphasis on your hygiene. You don’t smell too good at the moment,” Zu An teased, fanning his hand in front of his nose.

Qiao Xueying froze for a moment, then noticed the layer of filth on the surface of her skin. They seemed to be impurities that had just been forced out of her body because of the effects of the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Women tended to put great emphasis on their appearance, so she glared at Zu An in a mixture of anger and embarrassment as she exclaimed, “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

This fellow really is a bastard! Just a moment ago, I was touched by his actions, but he instantly infuriates me with his words again!

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 250 Rage points!

Zu An tried his best to stifle his laughter and said, “There’s a river over there where you can wash up and change.”

He noticed that the male students had run in that direction to wash their eyes earlier.

“Do you need to borrow a set of spare clothes from Xiaoxi?”

“There’s no need for that!”

Qiao Xueying struggled to sit upright before taking out a clean set of clothes from the ring on her finger.

Zu An was surprised to see that she had a storage ring. He couldn’t help but remark, “How selfish. I was in such an awkward get-up earlier, but you didn’t offer me a change of clothes.”

“Oh? Are you sure you want to try on women’s clothes?” 

Qiao Xueying slowly got to her feet. Elves naturally recovered quickly from their injuries because of their great life force, and she had already consumed Divine Physician Ji’s pills and the Marrow Cleansing Pill. While she wasn’t yet fully recovered, she was just well enough to be able to move around.

“No thanks!” Just the thought of being known as a cross-dresser in the academy made Zu An shudder in horror, and je quickly shook his head. “You seem to still have difficulties moving around. Do you need me to wash your body for you?”

“Scram!” replied Qiao Xueying sharply before heading to the river on her own.

Zu An subconsciously glanced at the Keyboard, only to shake his head in frustration. Where are the Rage points?

Qiao Xueying suddenly halted her footsteps and beckoned towards him with her hand.

Zu An’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Have you given it more thought and decided to have me wash your body for you? You should know that I used to be known as a master scrubber!”

Qiao Xueying rolled her eyes and said, “I need you to stand guard for me lest someone comes by.”

“But what if I were to see your body?” asked Zu An.

“Then I’ll dig out your eyes!” Qiao Xueying gave an angry huff before walking away. Her neck was visibly turning red.