Yun Xiao took out the iron pot she had bought on the way back, adjusting the proportions of various medicinal herbs while taking meticulous notes. She was completely unaware that Xie Yunfan was already on his way to the Misty Forest.
She collected the freshly prepared pills into a bamboo tube and placed it alongside the pills she had made earlier.
Looking at the seven or eight bamboo tubes on the table, she fell into deep thought.
Without anyone to test the medicine, she didn’t know which of the pills was the true Suppressing Marsh Pill.
Should she try it herself?
Yun Xiao walked to the edge of the Cold Pond and found A’Luo meditating on a rock. Seeing A’Luo’s soft, beautiful profile, she hesitated to speak.
A’Luo lightly parted her crimson lips. “If you have something to say, just say it directly.”
Yun Xiao sat cross-legged opposite A’Luo and stated truthfully, “I need you to help me enter my ‘Prairie Fire Period’. Only then can I formulate an effective Suppressing Marsh Pill.”
According to Yun Xiao, the Prairie Fire Period was equivalent to A’Luo’s Flood Period.
A’Luo furrowed her brow slightly and reminded her, “Your ‘Passionate Heat Period’ is not over yet.”
“I understand, but only by successfully formulating the true Suppressing Marsh Pill early on can you smoothly pass your Flood Period even without me,” Yun Xiao said seriously.
Although the Flood Period and the Prairie Fire Period had some differences, the feeling of losing control over one’s body and completely losing all reason was too profound. In this cultivation world, where the strong prey on the weak, any carelessness could be exploited, leading to the loss of one’s life.
She wanted A’Luo to be well.
A’Luo opened her eyes, meeting a gaze filled with a mixture of concern and affection. Yun Xiao’s head was slightly tilted, her eyes staring unblinkingly at her, sparkling like starlight in the lingering twilight.
That light shone into A’Luo’s heart, bringing a slight warmth to her cold world.
She murmured softly, “Why?”
Weren’t they together only because of the lust in their bodies? Why was she being so kind to her?
Yun Xiao looked away, pretending to be nonchalant. “Didn’t I promise you? Besides, once I formulate the Suppressing Marsh Pill, I can use it myself in the future.”
At this moment, she admitted she was afraid—afraid that her affection would cause A’Luo disgust or difficulty.
Earlier, during their intimacy, she had mentioned responsibility to A’Luo.
A’Luo had replied: We are simply meeting each other’s needs. There is no need to take it to heart.
A’Luo had also said that she would set off to return to her sect in half a month.
In that case, it made sense.
Sweeping away the slight oddity in her heart, A’Luo responded, “Alright. What should I do?”
Yun Xiao composed herself, unsure of the specifics. “You might have a slightly harder time these few days. Also, to ensure we don’t delay the main task, I’ll have to trouble A’Luo to remind me.”
A’Luo immediately understood what Yun Xiao meant. Since her Passionate Heat Period wasn’t over anyway and she needed Yun Xiao to help alleviate her physical discomfort, she nodded. “Very well.”
Yun Xiao was now relieved. She took out a dark, black pill and tilted her head back to swallow it.
This pill was one she had created while attempting to make the Suppressing Marsh Pill. As soon as this batch of herbs went into the pot, the indescribable smell caused her body to feel slightly unwell, yet also familiar.
She quickly realized where that familiar sensation came from. As the medicinal scent grew stronger, her gland began to heat up and burn.
She guessed that the pill made with that specific ratio could stimulate her gland and push her into the Prairie Fire Period.
The exact effect would only be known after taking the medicine.
Of course, she didn’t tell A’Luo any of this.
In just thirty breaths, Yun Xiao felt her gland begin to throb. She quickly said, “Before I call you, maintain a distance of at least ten li from me.”
With that, she used her lightness technique to return to the cave dwelling, quickly put the bamboo tube and the pot into her storage bag, rushed out of the cave dwelling, and reached the edge of the defensive array.
She picked up a bamboo tube, poured out a pill, swallowed it, and rapidly wrote down her feelings while sensing the changes within her body.
No effect. She moved on to the next one.
She tried all the pills in the bamboo tubes, but the negative emotions within her still did not decrease.
Mobilizing her spirit qi to suppress them, Yun Xiao took out the pot and refined the herbs one by one according to the plans in her notebook.
She had only refined two pots before she could no longer concentrate. She frantically sought out A’Luo, roughly kissed her lips, and said in a trembling voice, “A’Luo, I want you.”
A’Luo didn’t blame Yun Xiao. Wrapping her arms around Yun Xiao’s neck, she actively took Yun Xiao’s earlobe into her mouth.
Yun Xiao no longer held back. She dragged A’Luo and indulged in the Cold Pond for the entire night. If A’Luo hadn’t called a stop, she would have gone even further.
Reluctantly leaving, she returned to the place where she had refined medicine yesterday to continue her experiments.
She had some progress today. The pill she took lessened her negative emotions and the internal frenzy.
Based on this, Yun Xiao once again adjusted the proportion of the medicinal herbs.
Five days flashed by. A’Luo saw firsthand how hard Yun Xiao worked during those five days.
While touched, she also didn’t let Yun Xiao stop.
Yun Xiao was right. Only by successfully formulating the Suppressing Marsh Pill would she not be so helpless during her Flood Period in the future.
If there were a pill to inhibit the Passionate Heat Period, that would be even better. She wouldn’t have to allocate time every year just to suppress it. Or perhaps, she could continue as she did this year, letting Yun Xiao help her alleviate the discomfort, since their Passionate Heat Periods coincided during this time.
After much thought, she felt this method was feasible and planned to ask Yun Xiao about it later.
At the edge of the defensive array, Yun Xiao held a freshly made pill. Without hesitation, she tossed it into her mouth and swallowed it.
In less than half an incense stick’s time, the burning sensation in her gland returned to normal, and the desire to destroy everything also dissipated.
She had succeeded.
Yun Xiao excitedly rushed towards A’Luo, presenting the genuine Suppressing Marsh Pill to her. She cheered, “Look, I succeeded! In the future, you won’t have to suffer during the Flood Period anymore!”
A smile bloomed on A’Luo’s lips, as bright as a spring flower. She said knowingly, “Thank you. I owe you a favor.”
Placing her hopes on Yun Xiao initially was an act of desperation.
Fortunately, Yun Xiao had indeed produced the Suppressing Marsh Pill, just as she had said she would.
It was precisely because of this that she was willing to grant Yun Xiao a favor.
In the cultivation world, a cultivator would not easily make a promise. Receiving a favor from A’Luo, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, was equivalent to obtaining a golden token.
But Yun Xiao couldn’t feel happy. Wasn’t this A’Luo drawing a clear line between them?
Swallowing the bitterness in her heart, she forced a smile. “Good.”
“Can you give me the formula? If I can’t find you, I can use it in an emergency,” knowing her suggestion was somewhat excessive, A’Luo added, “How about an exchange of goods?”
Yun Xiao turned around, facing A’Luo with her side profile, her voice slightly hoarse. “No need,” she said. She took out her notebook, tore off the formula with trembling hands, and handed it over. “Here.”
A’Luo instantly noticed Yun Xiao’s low mood and couldn’t help but be puzzled. She asked with concern, “Has something happened? You—”
Yun Xiao interrupted A’Luo before she could finish, denying it. “No. I’m just a little tired. I’ll go rest first.” Before her words finished, she had already used her lightness technique to leave.
She lay on the stone bed, staring blankly at the sword marks above her head.
During the period when she went alone to kill the City Lord of Tianlan City, whenever she saw a vibrant flower on the roadside, she subconsciously picked it to give to A’Luo. When she saw small trinkets in the market, she bought them to give to A’Luo. Even while scavenging for treasures in the City Lord of Tianlan City’s storeroom, she thought about whether a certain artifact was suitable for A’Luo.
It was then that she belatedly realized: her feelings for A’Luo were no longer just about the initial sense of responsibility. She wanted to be with A’Luo every day, see A’Luo’s smile, and live in A’Luo’s heart.
Alas, it was all unrequited affection. Just like when she presented those things to A’Luo, A’Luo only reluctantly accepted them after much persuasion.
Snap out of it! Don’t forget that the male lead is still hunting you. Do you want A’Luo to be hunted down with you?
Once this thought emerged, Yun Xiao dared not indulge in self-pity any longer.
Yes, she bore karma and had a tough battle to fight. She had no right to indulge in romance here.
She flipped over and sat up from the bed, took out a high-grade spirit grass from her inner space, threw it into her mouth, closed her eyes, and began to refine the spirit qi within the grass.
Whether it was because her Passionate Heat Period was nearing its end or because she had taken the Suppressing Marsh Pill, the lust in her body did not act up. In just two days, she completely refined the spirit grass, and her cultivation successfully rose to the peak Nascent Soul stage.
Seeing Yun Xiao emerge from the cave dwelling, a sense of relief that even A’Luo herself didn’t perceive flashed in her eyes. She asked warmly, “How are you? Is your body still uncomfortable anywhere?”
Yun Xiao was full of energy. “I’m bursting with energy now!” She smacked her lips. “I’m craving something. I bought a lot of seasoning in the market, so I’m going to hunt a demon beast for a hot pot.”
A’Luo, uncharacteristically, didn’t dampen her spirits. She asked, “What can I do?”
“Catch two fish,” Yun Xiao said. She took a step, then stopped and retracted it, instructing, “Just catch them; I’ll kill them when I get back.”
Leaving the defensive array, she spread her divine sense, finally locking onto a fifth-level Sky Devouring Giant Wolf two hundred li away.
Unbeknownst to her, barely had she left when someone triggered the array behind her.
A’Luo’s heart stirred. She saw four people wearing the robes of the Tianyan Sect disciples who had intruded. She flicked her hand, and the four people fell onto the ground simultaneously.
“Get out!” she harshly rebuked them.
The highest-cultivation disciple, late-stage Golden Core, climbed up from the ground. His gaze quickly swept over A’Luo, and he cautiously asked, “May I ask if Senior is Senior Sister Fang of the Qingyun Sect?”
He then introduced himself. “I am Zhong Qiu, a registered disciple of the Sword Peak of the Tianyan Sect. Uncle-Master Xie should arrive in three days.”
The Uncle-Master Xie he spoke of was none other than Xie Yunfan.