Zu An looked at the sleeping Ji Xiaoxi, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone, so he decided to ask her along. However, her rhythmic breathing was that of someone in deep slumber, and he could not bear to wake her up. So, he carried her instead.

“Mmm~” Ji Xiaoxi seemed to sense his movements and mumbled a bit as she adjusted her posture to a more comfortable one, leaning her head against his chest.

Zu An felt as if he was holding onto a cat in his arms, and gradually, he found his heart calming down.

Qiao Xueying, on the other hand, was delighted to see the clear waters of the river. She immediately turned around to say something to Zu An, only to be met with the sight of him holding Ji Xiaoxi in such a doting fashion. 

Her mood immediately soured, and she said in annoyance, “Make sure you keep a proper lookout! Don’t allow anyone to approach!”

“Don’t worry. It’s my loss if anyone gets too close, so I’ll make sure to do a proper job at it,” replied Zu An.

Tsk, I’m the one who’s going to make a loss. “Also, you mustn’t peek as well,” reminded Qiao Xueying. “Otherwise, I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“Hey, that’s going a little overboard! We’re comrades who braved death side by side, remember? Besides, I’ve already seen everything that you have. It’s not as if you’ll lose a piece of flesh just because I take a peek at you right now,” mumbled Zu An in dissatisfaction.

“You!!!” Infuriated, Qiao Xueying’s hair began growing once more.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 404 Rage points!

Zu An was appalled. “Wait, calm down! Fine, I won’t look, all right? It’s not as if you have any assets worthy of peeping at anyway.”

This woman sure has a fiery temper. She only just recovered a little bit of energy, and now she doesn’t hesitate to use force. Isn’t she afraid of causing her injuries to worsen?

Qiao Xueying gnashed her teeth in fury, seriously contemplating whether she should whip him into submission. However, she knew how exhausted he was at the moment, and how this was simply his character. Therefore, she eventually chose to let the matter slip.

She waved her hand, and a wall of water formed behind her. Only then did she finally disrobe, and slowly walked into the river. She was unable to swim, so she chose to remain close to the shore. Fortunately, the river wasn’t too deep, so there was nothing for her to be afraid of.

To be honest, even though Zu An was on guard to keep any peeping toms at bay, there was actually no need for him, since the students that were here earlier had already left. There was no one in the area anymore.

Knowing this, Zu An relaxed a little, and calmly sent a discreet glance toward the river.

It was a pity that he didn’t see what he wanted to see. There was only a veil of water, similar to what he’d seen when he’d first met Ji Xiaoxi in the river. Qiao Xueying had used her ki to cover her surroundings, preventing anyone from peeping on her.

“Tsk! Who are you on guard against?” murmured Zu An in displeasure.

He could hear the splashing of water sounding in the river, and his mind amazingly filled in the gaps for him, painting out an erotic scene in his head. If this was a novel, a venomous snake would appear at this very moment and bite her sensitive parts. This way, not only would he be able to play the hero, but he could make use of this opportunity to suck out her poison too.

Hm, which novel did I read this from? I don’t remember it anymore.

As Zu An was laughing at himself for being a dolt, a sudden exclamation cut through the air, coming from the river.

“Ah!”

It was Qiao Xueying’s voice.

“Holy shit, is it really happening?”

Zu An hurriedly looked over, and was met with a sight that left him dizzy.

Qiao Xueying had leaped out of the river into the air. There was nothing left to veil her body, her fair skin and beautiful waist were revealed for all to see. Her skin was covered in droplets with water which glistened under the brilliant sun, giving her complexion a ravishing glow. For a moment, she looked like a goddess.

Then, a massive red snake rushed into the sky as well, opening its gaping jaws to bite down on Qiao Xueying.

Zu An was utterly speechless. Am I actually a prophet or something?

Not daring to hesitate, he quickly drew the Tai’e Sword and rushed in to save her.

Qiao Xueying twisted her body and forced herself to the side by a few inches, barely dodging this possibly fatal attack. Following that, she flicked her finger and sent two needles directly toward the snake’s eyes.

The snake hissed in agony before spewing a pink mist from its mouth.

Qiao Xueying was already severely injured from the very start, and the earlier evasive maneuver had taken up all of her strength. She wanted to dodge the pink mist, but her body wasn’t moving as smoothly as she wanted, and she was struck squarely by the oncoming mist.

She tried to hold her breath, but it was of little help. Vertigo swiftly consumed her, and she found herself losing control over her body and falling back to the ground.

“This is not good!” 

There were many rocks along the river. Even if she wasn’t impaled by their sharp edges and killed, it was likely that she would wind up being disfigured. Unfortunately, her ki seemed to have been sealed by the pink mist, refusing to respond to her will. She could only watch helplessly as she came closer and closer to the jagged surface underneath her.

It was then that she felt herself falling into a warm and reassuring embrace, and she heard a familiar voice. “Snow, are you all right?”

Qiao Xueying shook her head and said, “Be careful. This is a Crimsonscale Python, a fourth rank beast. Its fighting prowess is not noteworthy, but its poison can be hard to deal with.”

Zu An nodded in response. Aren’t pythons supposed to be non-poisonous? Hah, I guess anything is possible in the world of cultivation.

Qiao Xueying couldn’t help but feel incredibly worried. Zu An might be stronger than the average third rank cultivator, but it would still be extremely dangerous for him to do battle with the Crimsonscale Python. Had it not been for her severe injuries, she would have been able to deal with a fourth rank beast with ease.

Nevertheless, she still tried to step in to help, but the numbness enveloping her body prevented her from gathering any strength. She knew that this was the effects of the python’s poison, and it made her incredibly frustrated. Left with no choice, she could only pray for the best outcome for Zu An.

The python was thrashing furiously in the water, infuriated by the loss of its vision. Zu An made use of this opportunity to push the Tai’e Sword toward the python’s heart. There was no way the python could survive if he could land a critical blow on it.

However, his heart immediately skipped a beat. He had subconsciously resorted to Sunflower Phantasm, but his body had already regained its yang energy. The clash in ki caused his body to come to an abrupt halt.

At this exact moment, the python lashed at him with its tail. Even without its eyes, it could still perceive the surroundings through vibrations on the ground.

Zu An quickly pulled his sword in front of him, but was still struck by an immense force that sent him flying tens of meters away.

“Ah Zu, are you all right?” Qiao Xueying quickly rushed forward, her heart filled with worry. It was common knowledge that beasts tended to be more powerful than human cultivators, and such a strike would be hard for even a fourth rank cultivator to take, let alone Zu An. 

Unexpectedly, Zu An hadn’t suffered any fractures or ligament tears as a result of the blow. He picked himself off the ground as if nothing had happened at all.

It wasn’t just Qiao Xueying who was surprised; even Zu An was puzzled. He knew that he shouldn’t have been able to withstand such an attack under normal circumstances. To his surprise, however, he seemed much stronger than before.

He quickly examined his own internal condition, only to find that the seventh and eighth formations had been filled up.

The seventh formation would have required 987 Ki Fruits, and the eighth formation, 1597 Ki Fruits. It would have taken him a long time to fill them up using just the lottery system.

How did they get filled up so quickly?

He quickly recalled what had happened to him thus far, and he suddenly remembered how he had been struck by Mi Li multiple times in order to save Qiao Xueying, leaving him on the verge of death, and just barely holding on with the power of the Heiress’ Ball of Delights. This was the first time he had suffered such grievous injuries.

He couldn’t even remember how many times he had risen from the bloody ground around him. The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra had worked its magic through this endless cycle of suffering severe injuries and standing back up, causing a huge jump in his cultivation.

Damn it, Mi Li sure is vicious!

Just thinking about it awoke a deep fear within Zu An. He was fortunate to have had the Heiress’ Ball of Delights back then, which helped keep him just this side of death. However, he had also expended his final use of the item, which meant that he would have one less trump card to resort to in the future.

The Crimsonscale Python charged in his direction once more. This time, Zu An didn’t use Sunflower Phantasm but chose to dodge it with his own physical prowess instead.

To his surprise, he moved incredibly quickly. It was true that he had made a breakthrough, but his speed and strength were far too exaggerated. In fact, he could almost match a fifth rank cultivator. 

What’s going on?

“You fool! The Primordial Origin Sutra tempered your body too, remember? It goes without saying that your physical capabilities have been greatly enhanced as a result of that. On top of that, you’ve cultivated the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. These two secret arts complement one another, increasing your speed far beyond that of the other cultivators in your rank. You should be around the pinnacle of the fourth rank at the moment, and possibly on par with the weaker fifth rank cultivators,” said Mi Li.

Zu An was both surprised and delighted. “You’re awake?” 

Given Mi Li’s discerning eye, it was unlikely that her judgment was off.

Previously, he’d had to enter a severely injured state and activate the berserker mode of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra in order to achieve such strength and speed, but he was already at this level now, even while he was still at full health.

“Hmph! How can I remain asleep when you’re in danger? I have no intention of dying a dog’s death with you. I thought that you’d encountered some thousand-year-old monster, but it turns out to just be a measly snake. How pathetic,” sneered Mi Li in scorn.

“Measly snake?” Zu An looked at the python, which was thicker in girth than the rim of a bucket, and he fell speechless. Then again, a fourth rank beast was probably no different from an ant in Mi Li’s eyes.

The Crimsonscale Python suddenly lurched forward once more. By this time, Zu An was already starting to get used to his newfound strength and speed. He looked for an opportune moment to whip out Poisonous Prick and stab it into the python’s body.

Black runes swiftly formed around the nick he had left on the python, and the snake convulsed in a sudden, intense spasm before collapsing to the ground. It was dead.

“That dagger of yours is quite intriguing,” remarked Mi Li. “I’ll have a good look at it when I have time. I’ll be returning to my rest now. You actually awoke me over such a small fry. Tsk.”

Mi Li’s voice soon faded.

This woman really appears and disappears like a ghost. I really wonder if she’s just feigning sleep.

However, Zu An was in no mood to ponder over this. He quickly rushed over to Qiao Xueying’s side to check on her condition. 

Qiao Xueying saw that he had killed the massive python, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as the tension had left her body, she finally succumbed and began falling to the ground. Luckily, Zu An just managed to catch her.

“Clothes… Help me put them on…” Possibly out of embarrassment, Qiao Xueying’s fair skin was colored a deep shade of red, as if someone had smeared rose extract over her body.