Clouds of excitement sparkled in Yunxi's eyes as she leaned toward Mu Ningzhu. "Senior Sister Mu, that female cultivator, is she drugged?"
Mu Ningzhu's face darkened. The male cultivator, clearly affected by the pink mist, was already pressing against the woman in red, holding her in his arms. Though he tried to restrain himself, his voice had grown hoarse. "Daoyou, what's... happening to you?"
The red-robed woman was already tugging at her own garments in disarray, moaning faintly."I'm hot..."
While stripping off her robes, she also reached for the man's clothes, the scene rapidly heading toward something far more explicit.
Mu Ningzhu quickly waved for Yunxi and Qin Tongshuang to shut their eyes. Even Zhang Yan's face was flushed red. Yet despite closing their eyes, the three of them discreetly extended their divine sense to observe.
Yunxi's divine sense was the sharpest of them all. The moment she released it, her expression shifted. Her divine sense sharpened like a blade, lashing out toward an unseen point.
A heartbeat later, a sharp, bestial screech pierced through the air.
Yunxi stepped out of the formation, wielding her Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff, and brought it down hard with a resounding crack. The entire ruined temple rippled outward in response, centered on her.
Mu Ningzhu and the others, who rushed out just after her, all flinched. What they saw made their expressions shift.
The male cultivator who had been embracing the young woman in red had fallen face-first to the ground. And what lay in his arms now... was not a woman, but a white skeleton.
With a single hand, Yunxi stowed her staff and muttered, "Tch. Just like the books say—beauty is but a fleeting cloud, nothing more than bones in red silk."
She even seemed a little disappointed. She had been curious about how dual cultivation actually looked in practice, and now she'd been robbed of the opportunity to find out.
Mu Ningzhu had already used the tip of her sword to flip over the corpse Yunxi had crushed, murmuring, "A Dreambeast. I can't believe one of these things showed up here."
Yunxi came closer, eyeing the rat-ferret-like creature. "This is a Dreambeast? It doesn't look like the records described."
Mu Ningzhu studied it a moment longer, then conjured a fireball with a flick of her fingers. "It must be of mixed blood. Its bloodline's impure. Even though it reached the second rank, it could only strike from the shadows."
Yunxi recalled the entries she had read on Dreambeasts. These spirit beasts were tricky. While they didn't possess strong combat strength, their ability to weave realistic illusions made them dangerous.
By pulling a cultivator into a constructed dream, a Dreambeast could harm their mind. As their divine sense weakened, the cultivator would be drained without even realizing it. In death, their body would become nourishment for the beast.
This particular Dreambeast's illusion had been nearly flawless. If Mu Ningzhu hadn't stopped her junior sisters from watching the illusion unfold further, Yunxi might never have released her divine sense to investigate. She wasn't exactly an innocent girl inside.
It was only by acting quickly, disrupting the dream with a divine sense strike, that Yunxi shattered the illusion and exposed the true attacker.
Qin Tongshuang glanced at Yunxi, then said thoughtfully, "Yunxi, your instincts are really sharp. No wonder you didn't want to enter the temple earlier."
Yunxi didn't know how to explain that her hesitation was pure superstition. She'd simply thought this kind of place always spelled trouble. And the Dreambeast's illusion had matched her imagination perfectly, conjuring exactly what she had subconsciously expected.
She still didn't know that, to a certain extent, the Dreambeast had woven its illusion based on her own thoughts. Her divine sense, far stronger than her cultivation level, had influenced the creature's innate ability.
The male cultivator, now free of the illusion, had come to his senses. He cast a wary look toward the group, then glanced down and saw the skeleton still cradled in his arms. With a start, he tossed it out of the temple.
He cleansed himself with a Cleanse Dust technique, then hastily straightened his half-undone robe before frowning at Yunxi, who was now extracting the demon core from the slain beast. "Daoyou, what just happened here?"
Mu Ningzhu stepped forward, speaking on the group's behalf. "My companions and I were resting here when we were caught in an illusion cast by a Dreambeast. Fortunately, my junior sister saw through it when it exposed a flaw."
The man's brow remained furrowed, but he still offered them a polite salute. "Many thanks for helping me escape that illusion."
The mutated Dreambeast's corpse was still on the floor. He had no choice but to believe them.
Yunxi quietly tucked the second-rank demon core into her pouch. Since she was the one who had slain the creature, the reward was hers by right.
The ruined temple remained the same, but the earlier events cast a strange air between both parties. Since they didn't know each other, they simply kept to opposite ends of the temple, waiting for dawn to break.
Mu Ningzhu reactivated the protective formation. Thankfully, it had kept the pink mist at bay earlier, or they might have suffered the same fate as the man.
Yunxi pulled Dian Dian from her robe and poked his fuzzy forehead to wake him. "A second-rank Dreambeast tried to ambush me. Why didn't you say anything?"
The little beast's cowlick stood on end. He rubbed his eyes, clearly still drowsy, and sent a mental message. "Master, Dian Dian didn't sense any danger. Your divine sense is too strong, so I thought you wouldn't be tricked. That's why I didn't warn you..."
Then he rubbed his eyes again and started nodding off.
Qin Tongshuang couldn't bear to watch anymore and said gently, "Yunxi, your spirit beast is probably about to evolve. That's why he's sleeping so much. Don't bully him."
Yunxi grumbled a response and stuffed Dian Dian back into her robe.
The rest of the night passed without incident. When the sun rose, Mu Ningzhu's group quietly swallowed their Fasting Pills and left the temple. None of them bothered greeting the male cultivator.
Once they had traveled far enough from the temple, Yunxi finally muttered, "That guy's self-control is terrible. He nearly offered himself up to a skeleton. If we hadn't stepped in, what would've happened?"
Mu Ningzhu cleared her throat. "He would've been drained of all his essence and died."
Yunxi immediately turned to look at Zhang Yan with mock seriousness. "See? Boys need to learn how to protect themselves too. It could've ended really badly."
Mu Ningzhu took the chance to instruct them, "The three of you, remember this. Until you reach the Golden Core stage, don't lose your yuan yin or yang essence. It'll slow your cultivation by a lot."
"Understood," all three answered in unison. When it came to cultivation, none of them dared to be careless.
Yunxi knew Mu Ningzhu wasn't exaggerating. She'd come across this warning in the sect's records. It might be an unwritten rule, but it had persisted for generations, so it must hold some truth.
After three more days of travel, the four of them finally entered the next cultivation city, Chongming City.
This was a mixed city where both mortals and cultivators lived. It bustled with travelers, and even mortals were allowed to reside here.
They followed their usual routine, finding an inn to rest.
The next morning, the innkeeper brought them a piece of good news.
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Here I will attach the link for more information about yuan yin and yuan yang
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kTipH0kfv3auPNBhGSe6jWhCHQMpOYMgU5yorTvXf0Y/edit?tab=t.0
Please comment below, and I will paste it again in there