A Bold Kiss, Chasing a Breakthrough
Zhang Lingxiao circulated the Devouring Heaven Demon Art, and the pill's potency burned down fast under it.
Within moments, the first Supreme-Grade Gathering Spirit Pill had been fully refined, its power converted into Spirit Qi flowing through his body.
He frowned as his eyes opened.
"I was right on the edge of breaking through to Spiritual Martial Realm Sixth Heaven, and one pill still wasn't enough to push me over?"
"Unbelievable."
He gave in, popped a second Supreme-Grade Gathering Spirit Pill into his mouth, and got to work refining that one too.
A while later, the second pill fully dissolved, and with a low boom from somewhere deep inside him, Zhang Lingxiao broke through to the Spiritual Martial Realm Sixth Heaven.
One more Heaven, and he'd be standing at Spiritual Martial Realm Late Stage.
Two pills refined clean gave him all the confidence he needed in the Devouring Heaven Demon Art and in his own body's limits, enough to try something reckless. He struck while he had the momentum, shoving all six remaining Supreme-Grade Gathering Spirit Pills into his mouth at once and swallowing them in a single gulp.
The moment they hit his stomach, a Spirit Qi fluctuation of staggering size erupted inside him. He didn't waste a second; the Devouring Heaven Demon Art was already circulating, pulling every scrap of that power in to refine.
Even Gu Yue Ningbing, watching from within the Life Ring, found the scene a little much.
This reckless little man. She'd never once seen a cultivator swallow pills with so little caution; most treated even a single dose with care, and here he was choking down six Supreme-Grade pills back to back like they were nothing.
Time passed.
Ouyang Shishi surfaced from her cultivation trance first.
"Hoo... the Spirit Qi in that Gathering Spirit Pill was unbelievable. It carried me through two minor realms, and I still have power left over that's terrifying."
She let out a slow breath, opened her eyes, and let her curious gaze drift to Zhang Lingxiao across from her.
He was still deep in refinement, his Spirit Qi already reading at Spiritual Martial Realm Sixth Heaven, mid-stage. She studied him without meaning to: sword-straight brows, sharp bright eyes, features cut clean and well-proportioned, a clear complexion, lips that struck exactly the right balance between full and thin. Something in her wanted, badly, to kiss him.
She swallowed hard.
Before she could stop herself, she was leaning in toward his mouth, moving like something outside her own control.
"What are you doing?"
Zhang Lingxiao's eyes opened just as his cultivation finished, and the last thing he registered before hers was a lovely face rushing toward him, filling his vision.
"Ah! No...nothing!"
Ouyang Shishi jerked back, startled.
Too late.
"If you wanted a kiss, you could've just asked," Zhang Lingxiao said, releasing her from where he'd caught her, that familiar mischievous grin spreading across his face.
Her face burned red, and for a second she had no idea what to say.
She looked up, caught the wicked amusement dancing in his eyes, and scrambled up off the ground.
"You pervert! Who said you could kiss me?" Her cheeks puffed out, indignant.
"You're the one who leaned in first. Some pervert you are, all the nerve to want it, none to admit it," Zhang Lingxiao shot back.
"Ahh! Zhang Lingxiao! I have nothing left to say to you! You've ruined my reputation. Either take responsibility for me, or meet me in the Life-and-Death Arena and settle this properly!" Ouyang Shishi shouted, flustered.
"Fine, then. I'll take responsibility."
Zhang Lingxiao flashed a charming grin, pushed himself up off the floor, and lunged toward her.
She yelped and bolted for the door, Zhang Lingxiao's sudden move sending her into a full panic.
He watched her flee, laughing under his breath, then let his Divine Sense drift into the Life Ring.
"You pervert. What do you want now?"
Gu Yue Ningbing sat on a swing, turning the Snow Moon Butterfly Cocoon over in her hands, rocking lazily back and forth, every bit the picture of a carefree girl, right up until she noticed him and snapped back into her usual cool detachment.
"Pervert? Were you eavesdropping on me again, beautiful lady?"
"Tch. Pervert," she said, unimpressed.
Zhang Lingxiao crossed over anyway, unbothered, and lifted the Snow Moon Butterfly Cocoon out of her hands. That was the whole reason he'd come.
The cocoon had filled out considerably since he'd last checked in half a month ago, round now, plump, its snow-white body soft to the touch. He held it up, teased it for a moment, then pulled out a Supreme-Grade Gathering Qi Pill and offered it over.
"Eat up, Little Snow Moon. Grow big and strong."
His tone came out embarrassingly doting, and Gu Yue Ningbing rolled her eyes at him for it.
The cocoon started nibbling at the pill right away. Satisfied, Zhang Lingxiao set her down on a bed of spirit herbs, gave Gu Yue Ningbing a nod, and pulled back out.
Her voice followed him as he withdrew, cool as ever.
"I'm still a soul right now. Cultivating the Reincarnation Creation Scripture takes time; there's no rushing it. Once you reach Xuanwu Realm, we'll be fine."
"And in the meantime, if you want to find someone else... I won't stop you."
"Heh. That Ouyang Shishi seems decent enough, from what I've seen."
Zhang Lingxiao laughed at that.
He didn't answer her. Instead, he crossed to the bed, kicked off his shoes, and lay down. No meditation this time, no cultivating, just lying there, mind empty.
He wasn't dense enough to miss the edge in her voice. What caught him off guard was that Gu Yue Ningbing, of all people, that ice-cold beauty, could actually get jealous over him.
Interesting.
After a while, stretched out like that, his thoughts drifted to Ma Yinger and to Dragon Mengxian.
I wonder how Ma Yinger's holding up these days.
Knowing now that she hadn't abandoned him at the ancestral land that she'd been dragged away from against her will, the small ache he'd been carrying about it finally eased.
He'd been on Qingyun Mountain a few days now, and he'd all but forgotten his fiancée in that time.
He made up his mind to find time in the next couple of days to see her and to meet with Zhang Yuyang while he was at it.
After everything with the Sky Tiger Gang, the thought had started forming in the back of his mind: maybe it was time to build a power of his own here on Qingyun Mountain.