Zu An looked at the sleeping Ji Xiaoxi, but he couldn’t rest easy leaving her alone here, so he decided to call her along. However, her rhythmic breathing showed that she was having a good sleep at the moment, and he found himself unable to bear to wake her up. So, he carried her up instead.

“Mmm~” Ji Xiaoxi seemed to sense his movement and mumbled a bit as she adjusted her posture to a more comfortable one, leaning her head against his chest.

Zu An felt as if he was holding onto a cat in his arms, and gradually, he found his heart falling at ease.

On the other hand, Qiao Xueying was delighted to see the clear river, so she immediately turned around to say something to Zu An, only to be met with the sight of him holding onto Ji Xiaoxi dotingly.

Her mood immediately grew irate as she spoke annoyedly, “Make sure you keep a lookout properly and don’t allow anyone to come near!”

“Don’t worry. It’s my loss if anyone comes near, so I’ll make sure to do a proper job at it,” replied Zu An.

Tsk, I’m the one who’s going to make a loss here, Qiao Xueying thought. “Also, you mustn’t peek as well. Otherwise, I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“Hey, that’s going a little overboard! We’re comrades who have braved through life and death, remember? Besides, I’ve already seen everything that you have. It’s not as if you’ll lose a piece of flesh just because I take a peek on you right now,” mumbled Zu An in dissatisfaction.

“You!!!” Infuriated, Qiao Xueying’s hair began growing once more.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +404 Rage!

Zu An was appalled. “Wait, calm down! Fine, I won’t look, alright? It’s not as if you have any assets worthy of peeping at anyway.”

This woman sure has a fiery temper. As soon as she recovers a bit of energy, she doesn’t hesitate to use her force at all. Isn’t she afraid of worsening her injuries?

Qiao Xueying gnashed her teeth in fury, seriously contemplating whether she should whip him into place. However, recalling how exhausted he was at the moment, as well as the fact that this was simply the type of person he was, she eventually chose to let the matter slip.

She waved her hand, and a wall of water formed behind her. It was only then that she finally disrobed and slowly walked into the river. She was unable to swim, so she chose to remain close to the shore. It was fortunate that the river wasn’t too deep, so there was nothing for her to be afraid of.

To be honest, even though Zu An was keeping a lookout to keep any peeping toms at bay, there was actually not much need for it since the students that were here earlier had left. There was no one in the area anymore.

So, Zu An relaxed a little and calmly shot a discreet glance toward the river.

A pity it was he didn’t see what he wanted to see. There was only a veil of water mist, similar to what he saw when he first met Ji Xiaoxi in the river. Qiao Xueying had used her ki to cover her surroundings, preventing anyone from peeping on her.

“Tsk! Who are you guarding against?” murmured Zu An in displeasure.

He could hear the splashing of water sounding in the river, and his mind amazingly filled in the gaps for him, painting out an erotic scene in his head. If this was a novel, a venomous snake should appear at this moment and bite her sensitive parts. This way, not only would he be able to play the hero, but he could make use of this opportunity to suck out her poison too.

Hm, which novel did I read this from? I don’t remember it anymore.

Zu An laughed doltishly to himself when an exclamation suddenly sounded from the river.

“Ah!”

It was Qiao Xueying’s voice.

“Holy shit, is it really happening?”

Zu An hurriedly turned his gaze over, only to be met with a sight that left him dizzy.

Qiao Xueying had leaped out of the river into the sky, such that there was nothing veiling her body anymore, revealing her fair skin and beautiful waist. Her skin was covered in droplets with water which glistened under the brilliant sun, giving her complexion a ravishing glow. For a moment there, she looked like a goddess.

It was then that a massive red snake rushed into the sky as well and opened up its gaping mouth to bite down on Qiao Xueying.

Zu An was utterly speechless. Am I actually a prophet or something?

Not daring to hesitate, he quickly drew the Tai’e Sword and rushed in to save her.

Qiao Xueying twisted her body and forcefully moved sideward with a few inches, barely dodging this possibly fatal attack. Following that, she flicked her finger and sent two needles directly toward the snake’s eyes.

The snake hissed in agony before spurting out a pink mist from its mouth.

Qiao Xueying was already severely injured from the very start, and the earlier evasion had taken up all of her strength. She wanted to dodge the pink mist, but her body wasn’t moving as smoothly as she wanted, resulting in her being struck squarely.

She tried to hold her breath, but it was of little help. Vertigo swiftly consumed her as she found herself losing control over her body and falling back to the ground.

“This is bad!”

There were many rocks along the river, such that even if she wasn’t stabbed by the sharp edges to her death, it was likely that she would end up disfigured. Unfortunately, her ki seemed to have been sealed by the pink mist, refusing to budge at all. She could only watch helplessly as she came closer and closer to the jagged surface under her.

It was then that she felt herself falling into a warm and reassuring embrace. A familiar voice sounded, “Snow, are you fine?”

Qiao Xueying shook her head and said, “Be careful. This is a Crimsonscale Python, a fourth rank beast. Its fighting prowess is nothing worthy of note, but its poison can be hard to deal with.”

Zu An nodded in response. Aren’t pythons supposed to be non-poisonous? Haaa, I guess anything is possible in the world of cultivation.

Qiao Xueying couldn’t help but feel incredibly worried. Zu An might be stronger than the average third rank cultivator, but it would still be extremely dangerous for him to fight against the Crimsonscale Python. She could have been able to deal with a fourth rank beast with ease had it not been for her severe injuries.

Nevertheless, she still tried to step forward to help, but the numbness enveloping her body prevented her from gathering her strength at all. She knew deep well that this was the effects of the python’s poison, and it made her incredibly frustrated. Left with no choice, she could only pray for the best for Zu An.

At this very moment, the python was thrashing furiously in the water, infuriated by the loss of its vision. Zu An made use of this opportunity to push the Tai’e Sword toward the python’s heart. There was no way the python could survive if he could land a critical blow on it.

However, his heart immediately skipped a beat right after. He subconsciously resorted to Sunflower Phantasm, but his body had already regained its yang energy. The clash in ki caused his body to come to an abrupt halt.

It was also at this very moment that the python lashed its tail over. Even without its eyes, it could still perceive the surroundings through vibrations on the ground.

Zu An quickly pulled his sword in front of him, only to be struck by an immense force that sent him flying for tens of meters.

“Ah Zu, are you fine?” The worried Qiao Xueying quickly rushed forward in concern. It was common knowledge that beasts tended to be more powerful than human cultivators, and such a strike would be hard for even a fourth rank cultivator to bear, let alone Zu An.

Unexpectedly, Zu An didn’t suffer any fractures or ligament tears as a result of that. He climbed up from the ground as if nothing happened at all.

It wasn’t just Qiao Xueying who was surprising here; even Zu An was puzzled too. He knew that he shouldn’t have been able to bear such an attack under normal circumstances, but to his surprise, his strength was actually much greater than before.

He quickly took a look at his own internal condition, only to find that the seventh formation and eighth formation had been filled up.

The seventh formation would require 987 Ki Fruits and the eighth formation would require 1597 Ki Fruits, such that it should have taken him a long time to fill them up through the lottery.

How did it get filled up so quickly?

He quickly thought back about what had happened thus far, and he suddenly remembered how he had been struck to the verge of death by Mi Li multiple times in order to save Qiao Xueying, barely holding on with the power of the Heiress’ Ball of Delights. This was the first time he had suffered such grievous injuries.

He couldn’t even remember how many times he had risen from the bloodied ground around him. It was probably the endless cycle of suffering severe injuries and standing back up that the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra worked its magic and raised his cultivation greatly.

Damn it, Mi Li sure is vicious!

Just thinking about it made Zu An feel deeply fearful. It was fortunate that he had the Heiress’ Ball of Delights to maintain the final bit of his health bar back then. However, he had also ended up expending its final use, which meant that he would have one less trump card to resort to in the future.

It was then that the Crimsonscale Python charged in his direction once more. This time, Zu An didn’t use Sunflower Phantasm but chose to dodge it manually instead.

To his surprise, his movement speed was incredibly fast. It was true that he had made a breakthrough, but his speed and strength were far too exaggerated. It was no joke to say that he could almost match a fifth rank cultivator.

What’s going on?

“You fool! The Primordial Origin Sutra has tempered your body too, remember? It goes without saying that your physical capabilities have been greatly enhanced as a result of that. On top of that, you’ve cultivated the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. The two secret arts complement one another, increasing your speed to be far beyond that of the other cultivators in your rank. You should be around pinnacle fourth rank at the moment, possibly on par with the weaker fifth rank cultivators,” said Mi Li.

“You’re awake?” Zu An was surprised and delighted.

Given Mi Li’s sharp eye of discernment, it was unlikely for her judgment to be off.

Previously, he had to get into a severely injured state and activate the berserk mode of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra in order to achieve such strength and speed, but he was already at this level now even while he was still at full health.

“Hmph! How could I remain asleep when you’re in danger? I’ve no intention of dying a dog’s death with you. I thought that you have encountered some thousand-year-old monster, but it turns out to just be a measly snake. How pathetic,” sneered Mi Li in scorn.

“Measly snake?” Zu An looked at the python, which had a circumference even thicker than a bucket, and he fell speechless. But again, a fourth rank beast was probably no different from an ant in Mi Li’s eyes.

It was then that the Crimsonscale Python suddenly lurched forward once more. By this point, Zu An was already starting to get used to his newfound strength and speed. He looked for an opportune moment to whip out Poisonous Prick and stab it into the python’s body.

Black runes swiftly formed around the nick he had left on the python, and the latter suddenly shuddered intensely before collapsing to the ground. It was dead.

“That dagger of yours is quite meaningful,” remarked Mi Li. “I’ll have a good look at it when I have time. I’ll be returning to rest now. You actually awoke me over such small fries. Tsk.”

Mi Li’s voice soon faded.

This woman really appears and leaves like a ghost. I really wonder if she’s just feigning sleep over there.

However, Zu An was in no mood to ponder over that at the moment. He quickly rushed over to Qiao Xueying’s side to check on her condition.

Qiao Xueying breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that he had killed the massive python. Then, as if the tension had left her body, she finally succumbed and began falling to the ground. Luckily, Zu An managed to make it in time to catch her.

“Clothes… Help me put them on…” Possibly out of embarrassment, Qiao Xueying’s fair skin was dyed red, as if someone had smeared rose extract over her body.