Li Yundong cursed, then pushed off with his feet, launching himself toward Ruan Hongling like a cannonball. Ruan Hongling was utterly horrified; before Li Yundong even got close, she felt her Yin spirit body was like snow meeting the scorching sun, almost melting away!
With a shriek of terror, Ruan Hongling’s Yin spirit zipped back into her physical form in the blink of an eye. Just returned to her senses, Ruan Hongling stood up, her face the color of ash.
Her heart hammered wildly; she was seized by an unbearable chill. Women were naturally constitutions of Yin energy, and Ruan Hongling had not cultivated to the realm where the Yang spirit could travel externally.
She could only manage an egress of the Yin spirit, which was the ultimate Yin essence within a person and naturally feared Yang energy the most. Li Yundong was not only a virgin himself, possessing the primal Yang of a pure youth, but his body also housed powerful, surging Golden Core vital energy.
The moment this majestic primal Yang energy approached, if Ruan Hongling had been even a fraction slower in retreating, her Yin soul would have been entirely vaporized by the potent vital Yang emanating from Li Yundong’s body, leaving her a living corpse! Ruan Hongling’s accompanying magical artifact had been snatched away by Li Yundong’s bare hands.
Since her Yin spirit couldn’t even approach Li Yundong’s body, she naturally dared not linger. Glaring at the direction Li Yundong stood, she stomped her foot, and her body instantly transformed into a streak of cyan light, vanishing back into her own room.
After driving Ruan Hongling away, Li Yundong cautiously surveyed the room for quite a while until Su Chan told him, "It’s fine now, she’s gone." Only then did Li Yundong turn around, hurry to Su Chan’s side, and ask with concern, "How are you? Were you injured anywhere?" Su Chan possessed the body of a fox demon, and the energy flowing within her was demonic qi.
Demonic qi and immortal qi were mortal enemies, incompatible like water and fire. She had been struck by Ruan Hongling’s artifact, allowing immortal qi to invade her body, which naturally caused a stabbing pain in her chest.
However, this invading immortal qi was an external force fighting on Su Chan’s home turf, quickly losing momentum and gradually being expelled from her body. Su Chan circulated her qi for a moment, then smiled and said, "I’m fine!" Li Yundong looked Su Chan up and down, finding no place where she was bleeding.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, pulling her tightly into his embrace, saying with lingering fear, "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come back so late! Who was that just now?
Why were they causing trouble for us?" Su Chan’s heart gave a jolt. She cast a timid glance at Li Yundong, afraid that Ruan Hongling's earlier curses of ‘demoness’ and ‘evil creature’ might have instilled apprehension in him.
She spoke softly, "Six months ago, Wàn Zhènyuán, the Sect Master of Gézào Sect, refined a Human Origin Golden Core. Once this news spread, Gézào Sect faced attacks from many sects and rogue immortals.
Later, I obtained that Human Origin Golden Core, and then coincidentally you swallowed it. But those pursuers don't know, and they’ve been searching for my whereabouts..." Li Yundong understood somewhat.
He recalled that Su Chan had mentioned these things to him before, but at the time, he was preoccupied with the question of "Are there really immortals in this world?" and hadn't taken it to heart. Li Yundong asked again, "Then who was that just now?
She looked a bit familiar?" Su Chan replied, "It was that woman who knocked on the door last time, the one who introduced herself as Ruan Hongling, the forty-fifth generation disciple under True Master Wáng of the Linggong School of the Shangqing Sect from Dragon Tiger Mountain, Southern Path Daoism." Li Yundong gasped, slapping his forehead in realization: "I remember now! It was her!
She seems to live around here!" Li Yundong couldn't help but spit out a curse: "Damn it, what are the odds? Having an enemy living nearby?" Su Chan sighed, "It’s all my fault for only thinking about finding a good place for cultivation, without realizing that what I fancy, other cultivators will fancy too." Li Yundong snorted, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes: "Should we go bother her later?" Su Chan was startled and quickly grabbed Li Yundong’s arm: "No!
The Zhengyi Sect is powerful; don't provoke them, it will bring disaster upon us!" Li Yundong sneered, "The barefoot aren't afraid of those wearing shoes; what is there to fear!" He suddenly remembered something and looked at Su Chan in confusion: "Were you invisible and hiding in the room the whole time?" Su Chan nodded: "Yes, watching you blunder around the room foolishly." Li Yundong laughed in exasperation, reaching out to pinch the little girl’s cheek: "Seeing me like that, you didn't say anything!" Su Chan said aggrievedly, "I was afraid that opponent would discover me!" Li Yundong laughed, "Then why did you speak later? Weren't you afraid of being discovered then?" Su Chan gazed at Li Yundong with pleading eyes: "Because I was afraid you'd worry about me.
Seeing you unable to find me made me feel so distressed that I couldn't hold back, so I..." Li Yundong’s heart shook. His gaze toward Su Chan softened increasingly, and he forcefully pulled the little girl into his arms, saying affectionately, "Silly girl, don’t do foolish things like that again!" Su Chan let out an "Aiyo!" shriek, startling Li Yundong, who quickly let go: "What’s wrong?
Does it hurt somewhere? Where did I bump you?" Su Chan said with a flushed face, "My chest hurts!" Li Yundong smiled wickedly; "That’s good, this master will give you a massage, and then it won’t hurt anymore." Su Chan giggled: "Bad guy, you still think about bullying me at a time like this!" Li Yundong’s face hardened, and he spoke with grave seriousness: "Nonsense, this master’s massage technique is authentic and profound, an inherited secret skill!
Use it once, and I guarantee your satisfaction!" Su Chan clutched her chest, laughing merrily as she stood up. The moment she stood, her brow suddenly furrowed, and she crouched down, holding her ankle, her face contorted in pain.
Li Yundong’s heart tightened, and he quickly squatted down too: "What’s wrong?" Su Chan looked at Li Yundong pitifully: "I twisted my ankle!" Li Yundong cursed roundly: "That damned woman, she actually caused my little darling to twist her ankle. Next time I see her, I'll break her legs directly!" Su Chan looked at Li Yundong and suddenly burst out laughing, saying with great admiration, "Master, you were so amazing just now!
You actually snatched Ruan Hongling’s artifact barehanded!" Li Yundong puffed up with pride: "Of course! Who do you think I am!
If I weren't amazing, how could I be your Master?" As he spoke, he reached out to pinch the soft flesh of the little girl’s cheek. Su Chan laughingly slapped his hand away: "Stop it!
Let’s leave this place quickly and find somewhere else to live. If she calls for backup later, we won’t be a match for them." Li Yundong, having defeated his opponent effortlessly in the initial skirmish, was feeling a bit arrogant.
He laughed: "Let them come! I’ll kill one for every one that comes, and wipe out a pair for every pair that arrives!" Su Chan, however, shook her head with a serious expression: "No, no.
Ruan Hongling was just momentarily careless; her magic is still above mine. You haven't even completed Foundation Establishment; you are no match for them.
Let's go, we must leave immediately." Li Yundong rarely saw Su Chan so serious. He considered it for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll pack a few things and we’ll go." Meanwhile, just as Li Yundong and Su Chan were discussing changing their lair, Ruan Hongling transformed into a streak of cyan light and flew back to Dragon Tiger Mountain in an instant.
At the foot of the lush green mountain, a flash of cyan light appeared, and Ruan Hongling's graceful figure materialized on the stone steps paved with bluestone slabs. Ruan Hongling’s personal artifact had been with her for ten full years; it was as precious as her life.
But now it had been snatched away by Li Yundong with a mere wave of his hand. The more she thought about it on the journey back, the more unwilling and distressed she became.
She had never suffered such humiliation and grievance in her life! Upon returning to her sect, Ruan Hongling couldn't help but cover her mouth and weep, her tears plopping onto the bluestone slabs.
She sobbed her way up the mountain, cursing Li Yundong and Su Chan tens of thousands of times in her heart. When she reached a small Taoist temple halfway up the mountain, just as she raised her hand to knock on the wooden door, the door creaked open to the left and right, revealing a stunningly beautiful young Taoist nun dressed in robes, stepping out from within.
This Taoist nun appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old; her expression was aloof, her figure slender and exquisite. Her flower-like beauty was such that the moment she emerged from the temple gate, the bright moon in the sky seemed ashamed, pulling clouds to veil its face, unwilling to reveal its own appearance before such exquisite beauty.
The moment Ruan Hongling saw the nun, she burst into loud sobs and threw herself into her embrace: "Sister Ziyuan, my artifact was stolen!" Ziyuan seemed entirely unsurprised. Her usually cool expression softened into a faint smile.
She gently and warmly patted Ruan Hongling’s back: "Stop crying, stop crying. Isn't it just a piece of Red Silk Ribbon?
Sister will go pluck you another one later!" Ruan Hongling cried with tear-streaked cheeks: "It’s not the same! My Red Ribbon has been with me for ten years, and Master picked it for me personally!" Ziyuan smiled without speaking, simply stroking Ruan Hongling’s back gently.
After a while, Ruan Hongling grew tired of crying. She sniffled, lifted her head, and said through teary eyes, "Sister Ziyuan, how did you know I was coming back?" Ziyuan smiled and said softly, "I performed a divination before I left; I foresaw a trial coming for you, and the timing was today.
So, I estimated you should be returning around this time." Ruan Hongling choked back her tears into a smile: "Sister Ziyuan, you are always so divinely calculating, truly amazing!" Ziyuan smiled, using her hand to wipe away the tears on Ruan Hongling’s cheeks: "Look at you, so old already, and still crying like this! Tell me, who exactly stole your artifact?
Didn't they know you belong to the Zhengyi Sect?" Although Ziyuan’s tone remained gentle, a hint of her inherent pride and spirit surfaced at the end. In her view, although Ruan Hongling was impulsive, she was an inner disciple of a prestigious sect with an extremely solid foundation in her cultivation since childhood, and she possessed a powerful artifact.
Even cultivators with greater magical power might not defeat her, let alone manage to steal her artifact. To steal Ruan Hongling’s artifact would require a great cultivator, and such cultivators should clearly understand the power and status of the Zhengyi Sect in the cultivation world; they would absolutely not dare to easily offend the Zhengyi Sect.
Hearing Ziyuan say this, Ruan Hongling suddenly remembered Li Yundong. She ground her teeth and said, "It was a degenerate, lustful scoundrel!" Ziyuan frowned slightly: "Oh?" Ruan Hongling suddenly recalled the pure and immense Golden Core vital energy emanating from Li Yundong.
She suddenly grabbed Ziyuan’s hand and said anxiously, "That’s right, Sister Ziyuan, I almost forgot! I saw the inheritor of the Golden Core!" Ziyuan's body shuddered violently, and her cool, indifferent eyes suddenly shone with divine light.
She stared intently at Ruan Hongling: "The Human Origin Golden Core was consumed? By whom?" Ruan Hongling said hatefully, "By that scoundrel!" "What?
How could this be?" Ziyuan gasped, frozen in place. Her lips moved, as if she couldn't believe what she heard.
She stood in a daze for a long moment before finally saying to Ruan Hongling, "Go to my bedroom and fetch the Purple Gold Luo Jade Plate and the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror. We will go down the mountain shortly."