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Mo Bai slowly withdrew his hand and carried her out of the water, wrapping her wet body with a large, dry towel. Ning Rongrong was like a frightened rabbit, curled up in his arms, still trembling slightly, her face indistinguishable between tears or sweat.
"Soul power has risen by one level, and meridians are thirty percent cleared." Mo Bai carried her toward a small bamboo house used for resting by the hot spring. "That's all for today. Rest for a bit; continue basic training in the afternoon."
Ning Rongrong buried her face in the towel, not daring to look up at him. The afterglow and emptiness of the climax still lingered deep in her body, and the feeling of soul power flowing smoothly in her meridians was real. Level twenty-eight... she had been stuck at level twenty-seven for half a year, and she had actually broken through just like that?
She raised her hand and summoned the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. The Seven-Colored Glazed Tower rotated slowly in her palm, radiant and colorful, more solidified than before, its light also purer. The tower body seemed... to vaguely possess a hint of agile charm?
"Price..." she murmured to herself, the lewd images from the training ground last night flashing before her eyes again, along with the stimulation in the hot spring that had made her collapse and become addicted.
Perhaps... father was right. To obtain power, one always has to pay something. And... that feeling... seemed... not entirely bad...
Ning Rongrong buried her burning face in the towel, her legs unconsciously rubbing together slightly again. It was still wet there, carrying a strange, sticky sensation.
An uncontrollable thought popped up: What would tomorrow's training... be like?
Ning Rongrong did not remember how she returned to the dormitory.
The memory in the hot spring pool was like a chaotic and scalding dream, intermittent, carrying the smell of steam and herbs, and that strange pleasure that made her legs weak and her heart tremble. She curled up in the soft bedding, still wrapped in that large towel Mo Bai had given her, which seemed to still carry that clean and cold scent from his body.
Her face was still burning, and that strange soreness and throbbing deep in her body had not completely faded. She raised her hand to look at her palm; with a movement of her mind, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda quietly emerged. The tower body was radiant and colorful, more solidified and translucent than ever before, and the soul power fluctuation as it rotated was steady and powerful—Level twenty-eight, truly.
But the price of this breakthrough...
She rolled over and buried her burning face in the pillow. Her head was a mess; at one moment it was her father's expectant gaze and that sentence, "Study his skills at any cost," at another it was Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Dugu Yan's completely devoted and submissive appearances before Mo Bai, and at another it was the intense stimulation brought by Mo Bai's fingers pressing her lower abdomen in the spring water.
"Power is never obtained out of thin air."
"They got what they wanted, so naturally, they had to pay a corresponding price."
"You think that is humiliation, that it is a fall. But to them, that is 'cultivation,' that is 'serving'..."
Mo Bai's calm voice repeatedly echoed in her mind. Ning Rongrong bit her lip forcefully. She was the Eldest Miss of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the future sect master successor; how could she... how could she be like those women, using that method to exchange for power?
But... what if that method was truly effective? What if it wasn't just pure... but really could make her stronger, let the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda evolve? Wasn't this what her father had spent his life pursuing? The thousand-year wish of the sect...
And... that feeling...
Ning Rongrong's hand unconsciously slid below her lower abdomen; when her fingertips touched the skin that still carried a hint of wetness, she pulled back as if struck by lightning. Her heart beat fiercely, an emotion mixed with shame, curiosity, and a hidden excitement churning in her chest. She had never experienced such a feeling; it was as if her entire soul had been thrown into the clouds and then fell heavily; after the surge of extreme pleasure, there was the fulfillment of soul power racing and breaking through bottlenecks.
That wasn't just a bodily sensation. The unprecedented smoothness and sense of control when soul power flowed were real.
She tossed and turned in bed until the sky was slightly bright before falling into a dazed sleep. The dream was bizarre; at one moment it was Mo Bai's deep, calm eyes, at another it was herself kneeling at his feet, like Xiao Wu... She woke up abruptly, sat up, gasped for air, and found the sky was already bright.
Her body still carried the fatigue from training, but her soul power was full and active. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. After washing up and changing into a clean academy uniform, looking at the girl in the mirror with slightly red cheeks but eyes possessing a more complex brilliance than before, Ning Rongrong clenched her fist.
She was going to ask clearly. She wanted an answer.
In the morning's basic training, Mo Bai did not appear; Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing supervised. It was still the dull and torturous physical and soul power control exercises. But Ning Rongrong discovered that she could do the items she found painful yesterday much more easily today. Soul power circulation was more proficient, and her physical endurance had significantly increased.
Xiao Wu leaped lightly beside her, completing a set of high-difficulty flexibility movements, then smiled and leaned over: "Rongrong, did Teacher give you 'special training' yesterday? How was it?"
Ning Rongrong's face reddened, and she stammered: "It... it was okay..."
"Just okay?" Xiao Wu blinked her pink eyes, her smile carrying a hint of mischief. "Soul power rose by a level. Teacher is quite attentive to you." She leaned closer and lowered her voice, "When it was my first time, it wasn't this 'gentle.' Teacher directly... well, anyway, there wasn't so much foreplay."
Ning Rongrong's face turned completely red, and she was at a loss. Zhu Zhuqing spoke indifferently from the side: "Xiao Wu, stop fooling around. Rongrong, focus on training. Teacher said that after a soul power rise, one needs to consolidate the foundation even more."
Her tone was calm, but Ning Rongrong noticed that in Zhu Zhuqing's gaze toward her, there was a bit less of the initial coldness and more of... something like recognition? Was it because she had also experienced these things?
The training ended, and Ning Rongrong was panting with exhaustion, but her soul power circulation was exceptionally smooth. She gathered her courage and asked Xiao Wu: "Where is... Teacher Mo Bai now?"