That gentle voice melted into Qin Xiu’s heart like spring snow. Although what happened that day was under a haze of uncertainty, both had already tasted the sweetness of it. Especially now that even Yun Nishang called him husband—if he didn’t take the initiative, he’d truly be missing the moment.
He immediately leaned in closer.
Yun Nishang’s breath quickened from the heat, her heart fluttering wildly, “I… I didn’t mean it like that… it’s not even dark yet.”
But the moment she said it, her pretty face flushed even redder. A rosy glow spread from her snowy neck like blooming peach blossoms. She couldn’t help but recall how just yesterday, while Qin Xiu was helping her get dressed, he had teasingly said it was still daytime. Now, where did she have the face to say that to him?
Clothes slipped off, slender waist quivered, their entanglement blooming like fragrant petals in spring.
Worthy of being part of the Royal Academy—this bed was big, the quilt was white, and the pillows were soft.
Perhaps it was due to his awakened divine body, but Qin Xiu’s physique was abnormally powerful. It wasn’t until more than half an hour later that Yun Nishang’s sweet moans began carrying a trace of tears. Only then did Qin Xiu snap out of his passion, finally remembering to be tender with her…
“Ahh~”
As the moon rose past the willows, Yun Nishang’s soft, waterfall-like hair shimmered with sweat. It couldn’t hide the beautiful blush on her cheeks. Her breathing slowed, and the quilt gently rose and fell with each breath as she drifted into sleep.
After all the fear and pressure she’d endured, tonight, snuggled in Qin Xiu’s arms, she finally found peaceful rest.
Qin Xiu tucked the blanket around her lovingly, also preparing to take a nap.
But just as he began to dream, a world of pale white burst into view, stunning him awake.
“Did I just enter the Dream-Refining Divine Mechanism on my own?”
Qin Xiu quickly checked and confirmed that with a thought, he could exit the dream. But instead of leaving right away, he decided to make use of it—since he had nothing else to do, he might as well keep tempering his soul.
“In Lingqu City, even if I could refine pills, few could afford them. But in the imperial capital of Great Li, it’s a different story.”
Here, there was not only a vast market that could support his alchemy but also many of the pill recipes left behind by his father—some of which were unheard of even in the capital.
Gazing at the ten-tiered stone staircase, Qin Xiu’s fighting spirit surged.
Soon, grunts echoed through the dream as Qin Xiu was blasted off his feet again and again.
Each attempt honed his strength. At first, just touching the second step felt like carrying a mountain on his back. But eventually, his trembling foot stepped firmly onto it.
“Finally… another step forward!”
Lying in the dream after being blasted back again, his soul utterly exhausted, Qin Xiu still felt great satisfaction.
When he awoke in the real world, his eyes snapped open. As he expected, his soul had grown stronger.
His sharpened perception allowed him to count every single leaf on the blooming peony beside the bed without even turning his head—his spiritual will detected it all clearly. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“My improvement jumped another fifty percent. I was right. With each step up, my soul doubles in strength.”
Now, refining pills should be as easy as breathing.
Yun Nishang was still asleep, her jade-like back facing him, smooth and flawless like sculpted crystal.
Qin Xiu smiled warmly and reached toward the tea cup on the table.
He had just brewed a cup earlier. After all that sweat, his throat felt dry.
But as soon as his hand touched the cup, he flinched.
“Hiss… why is it so hot?”
He stared at the steaming cup in shock.
“What’s going on?”
He’d been training in the Dream-Refining Divine Mechanism, and only awakened after exhausting his soul. That process should have taken hours, at the very least.
He was sure the tea should’ve gone cold long ago. Why did it feel freshly poured?
“Did Nishang notice the tea went cold and change it for me?”
Qin Xiu glanced at Yun Nishang—but that look nearly broke his restraint again.
She was still fast asleep, her soft pink lips slightly parted, tender like cherries, irresistibly tempting. Her sleeping posture hadn’t changed, still as elegant and captivating as before.
Even her snow-white forehead, glistening with a faint orchid-scented sweat, looked stunningly radiant.
Then, Qin Xiu realized something truly shocking.
“In the Dream-Refining Divine Mechanism, time in the outside world practically stands still.”
“That’s right. Dream time flows chaotically. Sometimes it feels like years, but only moments pass in reality.”
He recalled his first experience with the Dream-Refining Divine Mechanism, when he focused on brewing medicine. That had seemed to last a long while, yet it barely took a second outside.
This realization made Qin Xiu’s eyes gleam. A bold idea emerged in his mind.
He pulled out the Starsteel Seven-Slaughter Sword scroll from the Library Pavilion and sank back into sleep.
Sure enough, the pale white dream world returned. Qin Xiu looked at the scroll in his hand with delight.
After all, this dream realm was formed from his soul. And the soul involved not only spiritual will but also memory.
Understanding martial techniques and cultivation methods—wasn’t all of that imprinted within memory?
With a thought, Qin Xiu summoned a longsword to his hand. Just as he expected.
“If time in the real world barely moves, then practicing swordsmanship in my dreams for one night is like training for ages in reality.”
Cultivators spent most of their lives on martial technique and cultivation method training. It was something no one could shortcut.
But with the Dream-Refining Divine Mechanism, Qin Xiu could save an immense amount of time to focus on other areas.
So he began.
He opened the sword manual, eyes sharp as blades, as if he could see the figure of the late senior Jian Xuan demonstrating every fine detail before him.
The Starsteel Seven-Slaughter Sword consisted of seven strikes, each named after a star in the Big Dipper.
The first was called Tian Shu. The last was Yao Guang.
Qin Xiu immediately began to wield his sword. His body was ethereal, each movement imbued with a fierce killing intent. Within moments, he could feel the profound depth of the sword technique.
“This sword technique was created by Senior Jian Xuan to defeat the ancestor of the Starseizing Pavilion. Fights between such powerhouses don’t involve probing—the first strike is a killing blow.”
The first sword made him feel as if his spiritual Qi had become a star brimming with boundless power, fusing with his blade as if guided by the cosmos.
With one strike, the stars trembled.
Though he couldn’t activate spiritual Qi—since its enhancement depended on the dantian and physical body—and although Jian Xuan had said the technique had high requirements for spiritual Qi, with his Chaotic Divine Body, Qin Xiu didn’t need to worry.
In that cold, white world, his figure danced with the sword in hand. Each slash was sharp and unstoppable.
His sword pointed at the stars, capable of slicing through the heavens.
Although his soul still grew weary, compared to climbing the stone steps, this felt effortless.
His well-tempered soul made wielding the sword as natural as breathing.
Time blurred as Qin Xiu continued. Only when his soul was finally worn out did he release a long breath, slicing out one final strike with full force.
The third sword—Tian Ji!