With the vibration of the Tian Zhen (Heavenly Needle), it drove the other eight needles, causing them to hum and tremble within Long Xi’s body. Though Nie Kong could not directly channel his spiritual energy into the gold needles at this moment, he was, after all, a Spirit Master of the sixth stage of Spirit Perception. Executing the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu (Nine Revolutions Gold Needle Technique) was significantly easier than in his past life.

The nine gold needles thrashed violently, and Long Xi’s meridians gradually began to boil. However, the condensed spiritual energy within the meridians showed no movement even after the first cycle of the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu concluded.

Nie Kong frowned slightly, gently manipulating the needles with a measured technique for a minute or two before accelerating his movements again. A deliberate pause was built between each cycle of the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu, primarily to allow the patient's body to regulate and their emotions to calm, preventing continuous tension.

The nine revolutions grew more intense with each turn, yet to Nie Kong’s disappointment, after the second, third, and fourth cycles ended, the spiritual energy inside Long Ting remained still. Nie Kong, unwilling to give up, spent a longer period conditioning Long Ting’s body before initiating the fifth cycle.

“Buzz… Buzz…”

When the speed of Nie Kong’s finger manipulation reached its apex, the room was filled with what sounded like countless buzzing bees, the loud humming pervasive everywhere.

Suddenly, Nie Kong’s heart skipped a beat; he sensed a faint, minute fluctuation within Long Ting’s meridians.

It was as if a tiny pebble had been dropped into a still lake—the ripple was so subtle it was almost negligible. But for Nie Kong, who had faced four consecutive disappointments, this minute disturbance felt as significant as catching a glimpse of dawn after being shrouded in darkness for so long, causing an irrepressible surge of ecstasy to well up in his chest.

That ripple lasted only a few seconds before fading as the golden needles’ tremors lessened. Nie Kong was not impatient; a few minutes later, he began the sixth cycle.

The fifth and sixth cycles of the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu marked a distinct dividing line.

The most obvious change was in Nie Kong’s movements; the sixth cycle was nearly twice as fierce as the fifth. In his past life, Nie Kong rarely employed this step, and after arriving on this Tian Ling Continent with the aid of spiritual energy, he had never pushed the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu to such extremes—until today.

Almost the instant Nie Kong began the sixth cycle, the gold needles let out a loud BOOM, like a clap of thunder suddenly erupting in the room, startling the two young maids into stunned silence. Nie Kong’s manipulation of the needles also underwent subtle alterations; every ten-odd seconds, his middle finger had to lightly tap the needle shaft.

Under the intense resonant vibration, in the span of a mere finger-snap, Long Xi’s body began to burn fiercely, her skin flushed crimson and dewy. Her meridians felt like boiling water, constantly expanding and contracting, and the condensed spiritual energy within them quickly began to exhibit subtle fluctuations again.

When the sixth cycle was nearly halfway complete, wisps of emerald green spiritual energy finally flowed out of the meridians into the Yao Chi Acupoint. Gathering at the needle tips, this energy traveled up along the Tian Zhen, soon dyeing the entire needle shaft a deep green. This green then merged seamlessly with the green pads of Nie Kong’s thumb and forefinger.

“Th-this is…”

The heat billowing off her made Long Xi gasp, her cheeks flushed scarlet. Long Ting, sensing it as well, mirrored her sister’s appearance. Seeing Nie Kong’s gold needles stained green by spiritual energy, the sister pair stood frozen in shock, speechless for a long moment.

“Tap!”

Suddenly, Nie Kong tapped the needle shaft with his middle finger. The drastically intensified vibration stimulated Long Xi’s delicate body into trembling, causing her to emit a sharp cry unintentionally. Beside her, Long Ting also opened her mouth simultaneously, their sharp voices combining to sound even more high-pitched.

At this moment, Nie Kong felt relatively relaxed inside. If the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu failed to draw out Long Ting’s spiritual energy even by the sixth cycle, he might have to resort to being a brute and employing the most cliché method Long Xuechan had mentioned to absorb the spiritual energy from both Long Xi and Long Ting.

“Humm… Buzz…”

The room was filled with an incessant humming. The spiritual energy within Long Xi surged back and forth, being absorbed by Nie Kong thread by thread through the continuously vibrating needle shafts.

When the sixth cycle concluded, the violent tremors finally ceased, leaving only a lingering echo. This time, Nie Kong did not proceed to the seventh cycle but began preparations for needle removal. The speed of his finger manipulation slowed progressively until it came to a complete stop, only then did he open his eyes.

By now, Long Xi was gasping for breath, her chest heaving violently. Her exposed skin was flushed crimson as blood. The sweat pouring from her had not only dampened her hair and upper body but had even soaked the skirt covering her lower half, making her look as if she had just been pulled from water.

It wasn't just Long Xi; Long Ting was the same, leaning limply against the headboard, breathing heavily, her damp skirt revealing the curves of her young body.

Nie Kong’s gaze shifted between their faces, feeling a slight astonishment. Long Ting’s reaction was normal, but why was Long Xi looking like this? After all, it was her sister enduring the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu, not her. Even for identical twins, the psychic connection shouldn't be this intense. Could it be that because they were both Spirit Bodies, their sensitivity to spiritual induction far surpassed that of ordinary twins?

As this thought crossed his mind, Nie Kong rapidly moved his right hand around Long Xi’s front and back, retrieving the gold needles one by one. When the final needle, the Tian Zhen, detached from the Xin Hai Acupoint on her left chest, Long Xi collapsed onto the bed as if utterly drained, unable to move even a finger, only panting heavily. The two mounds on her chest, the size of an infant's fist, rose and fell rhythmically, quite captivating.

After a fleeting glance, Nie Kong averted his gaze, closed his eyes, and mentally replayed the entire process of administering the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu as if watching a movie.

Nie Kong’s focus was primarily on the fifth and sixth cycles.

After nearly three hours of intense work, although he succeeded in the sixth cycle, the actual amount of spiritual energy he absorbed was minimal—less than one percent of what was inside Long Ting. However, upon careful consideration afterward, Nie Kong quickly discovered a very distinct pattern: the first fluctuation of spiritual energy in Long Xi’s body occurred precisely when the fifth cycle’s needle tremors were at their fiercest. Furthermore, during the sixth cycle, the energy was drawn out in waves, and each time Nie Kong tapped the needle shaft with his middle finger, it coincided with the peak intensity of those spiritual energy waves.

At that time, immersed among the nine gold needles, Nie Kong was entirely focused, unconcerned with external matters. Though his eyes were closed, preventing him from seeing Long Xi’s reactions, he could sense her emotions through the changes occurring within Long Ting’s body. The moments when the spiritual energy spiked seemed to align with the peak of her physical and emotional excitement.

Vaguely, Nie Kong suddenly realized he might have overlooked a crucial issue. Since Long Xuechan mentioned that absorbing their spiritual energy required the method of male-female intercourse, it must be because that method instantly dissolved all the spiritual energy condensed within their bodies.

“If that’s the case, perhaps I can…”

Nie Kong suddenly conceived a possibility. He sharply clapped his hands together, stood up with a beaming smile, and paced back and forth in the room. If his guess was correct, he might soon be able to absorb all their Wood Spiritual Energy and rapidly elevate his cultivation to the seventh stage of Spirit Perception!

After a moment of thought, Nie Kong suddenly realized the room was too quiet. He glanced over and saw the two young maids lying on the bed, fast asleep.

Shaking his head slightly with a wry smile, Nie Kong walked over, gathered them together, and suddenly unleashed a brilliant green light from his palms, hovering about an inch above their bodies. Then, moving from head to toe, a warm, soothing heat spread out, causing misty vapor to rise continuously from their bodies.

After doing this several times, Long Ting and Long Xi’s sweat-soaked bodies dried out. After covering them with quilts, Nie Kong finally collected the gold needles and left the room.

As evening approached and candlelight illuminated the room, Long Ting and Long Xi simultaneously stuck out their index fingers from under the covers, licking their lips a few times before groggily opening their eyes.

“Awake?” a gentle voice came from the bedside.

“Mmm-hmm,” the Xi sisters mumbled indistinctly, their eyes narrowing again. But after only a few seconds, their eyelids snapped open like springs, their eyes widening roundly. They abruptly sat up and looked towards the bedside, seeing Nie Kong watching them with a faint smile.

“Ah!”

Long Xi cried out—she had suddenly realized her upper body was still bare. She scrambled frantically to put on the clothes that were only just beginning to take shape on her body. Long Ting quickly helped her sister, and after a flurry of awkward movements, Long Xi was fully dressed.

“Master!”

Their faces flushed crimson as they prepared to get off the bed, but Nie Kong stopped them. He then turned to Long Ting and asked with a smile, “How did it feel when I administered the needles?”

Long Xi’s watery eyes darted quickly toward Nie Kong, a blush spreading across her rosy cheeks, “Tingly, numb, not painful at all. It was just warm at first, then very hot.”

“Haha, hot is right,” Nie Kong laughed heartily.

When performing the Jiu Zhuan Jin Zhen Shu on others, he had tried his best to control the intensity; otherwise, it wouldn't just be hot, it would be agonizingly painful.

At this moment, Long Ting suddenly blinked, looking at Nie Kong. Mustering her courage, she asked, “Master, since you could draw out Sister’s spiritual energy with those gold needles, does that mean we don’t need you to… that… that?”

Long Xi was also very concerned about this question. Though her head was bowed, her ears were perked up.

“That’s right. This way, your bodies are preserved, and you can temporarily escape danger. Isn’t that much better?” Nie Kong smiled.

“It is good, but…” Long Xi murmured, stammering, “But… but…” She couldn't voice her final words, and her face grew even redder.

“What ‘but’? Do you actually want me to do that to you?” Nie Kong teased when he saw their hesitation.

“No, no!” Long Xi and Long Ting vigorously shook their little hands, their eyes full of shyness.

Seeing them display the exact same expression again, Nie Kong’s interest was piqued. He deliberately put on a stern face: “Oh, no? Does that mean you feel wronged, and only reluctantly agreed to be my maids because you wanted me to absorb your spiritual energy?”

“No, no!” The two shook their hands wildly again, their little faces turning red with anxiety. Finally, Long Ting pouted and said, “Master, we are your maids, our bodies belong to you. You can absorb the spiritual energy within us when you want us. Isn’t that simpler than using those needles?”

By the time she finished speaking, not only was Long Ting’s face burning hot with shame, but Long Xi also lowered her head deeply, her eyes darting away. After all, what she had just said sounded as if they were both eagerly anticipating Nie Kong taking their bodies, making them both a little afraid to meet Nie Kong’s eyes.

“Using the needles isn’t troublesome either; you’ll know soon enough,” Nie Kong said with a sly smile. He suddenly pointed at the table: “Come on, drink these.”

Long Xi and Long Ting looked over and finally noticed two small, steaming bowls placed on the tabletop, containing what appeared to be medicinal liquid, pale red in color, with a faint medicinal fragrance drifting out. They exchanged a look, and Long Ting blinked confusedly: “Master, what is this?”

Nie Kong chuckled: “It’s a potion that will make you wake up tomorrow morning to find that the spiritual energy in your bodies has completely vanished. Hurry, drink it while it’s hot. When you wake up tomorrow morning, you’ll find that the spiritual energy threatening your lives is completely gone.”

“Really?” The two young girls were first delighted, then skeptical. Long Ting shyly asked, “Master, are you going to prick us with needles while we sleep?”

Nie Kong nodded: “You could put it that way.”

“Oh.” The sisters pouted but ultimately chose to believe him. They picked up the two bowls of hot liquid and downed them in one gulp.

“So bitter!” After saying this with puckered faces, they both collapsed backward onto the bed with a soft thud, falling unconscious.

Nie Kong extended both arms, catching the two small bowls that had slipped from their grasp and placing them on the table. Then, he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting quietly.

After two or three minutes, the unconscious Long Xi suddenly opened her mouth slightly, letting out a moan, her face flushing with a drunk-like crimson hue. Evidently, the potion had begun to take effect, while Long Ting remained lying peacefully. This was mainly because the two bowls of medicine Nie Kong had brewed were slightly different; one acted quickly, the other slowly.

A few more minutes passed. Long Ting’s moans grew more urgent, and her delicate body began to twist awkwardly. Beside her, although the medicinal effect had not yet fully manifested in Long Xi, she occasionally hummed and swayed slightly, likely influenced by her sister.

Time slipped by quietly. Long Xi’s twisting became more violent, and her cries grew louder. After another five or six minutes, Long Xi’s writhing body suddenly stiffened. In that instant, Nie Kong’s eyes darted out, and the already prepared Tian Zhen flashed like lightning, piercing into Long Xi’s lower abdomen at the Yao Chi Acupoint. He began to manipulate it rapidly.

“BOOM!”

Immediately following this, a long cry, seemingly a mixture of pain and release, erupted from her throat. As Long Xi’s body convulsed violently in that spasm, the Tian Zhen roared, and a brilliant flash of green light burst forth. A torrent of majestic emerald spiritual energy, like a massive flood from a breached dam, poured ceaselessly through the Tian Zhen and into Nie Kong’s body.