One moment Chun Xu’s dagger eyes still stared at Xinzi, the next she was lying on the ground—frothing at the mouth and convulsing to no end. Alarmed by this turn of events, Dong Ling kneeled at Chun Xu’s side and checked her pulse.

“This doesn’t make sense. Although my spiritual pets can poison Foundation Building stage experts, senior sister has cultivated 1,500 Spiritual Drops. A simple rotation of her Spiritual Qi should be more than enough to expel the most threatening aspects of the venom. Why is her condition deteriorating at such a rapid pace?” Dong Ling’s eyes narrowed at Chun Xu’s spasming body. Veins pulsed across the Sword Fairy’s neck and her skin took a blue shade.

“Nothing surprising about this. A Nascent Soul expert—most likely your mom—used a spell to forcefully hold them together, but Chun Xu’s meridians are broken. Qi circulation relies on the meridians, so although her battle-power outpaces most, her Qi circulation is worse than the average Qi Refinement guy’s.” Leaning over Dong Ling’s shoulder, Xinzi appraised Chun Xu’s condition.

“What makes you say that?” Matriarch Zi Yao couldn’t allow her disciple’s condition to become public knowledge, and so used a Daoist spell to conceal it. Thus, unlike Xinzi who had no trouble seeing through the trick, Dong Ling couldn’t spot the anomaly.

“They have to be. Back when your mom had her refine the Wisp of Heaven’s Breath, Chun Xu had not even reached the first level of Qi Refinement. The Void Spiritual Root might allow its owners to refine all Cultivation Oddities, but all things have limits. Just like a Qi Refinement gal wouldn’t survive dual cultivation with a Nascent Soul elder, you can’t expect a mortal to absorb Heaven’s Breath and come out unscathed. That said, with enough preparations, you can bypass all rules. But the White Immortal sect doesn’t have the adequate tools. It’s a miracle that she isn’t dead. And if not for those defective meridians, she wouldn’t cap at a mere 1,500 Spiritual Drops.” To deflect potential doubts, Xinzi came up with a logical answer.

“Anyway, what are you waiting for? Don’t you carry the antidote? Quick, administer it!” While Xinzi’s wellbeing could use less of the Sword Fairy’s interferences, he didn’t plan to have her die here.

“Why do you care? If it was up to her, you’d lay six feet under.”

“Because there’s no more pleasant feeling than disciplining foul-mouthed hos.” These words hung on Xinzi’s tongue. But to prevent an explosive storm, he kept them to himself.

“The Lotus’ mercy is boundless. I dare not compare myself to it, but as a Lianist monk, if I don’t forgive my oppressors, how can I preach mercy?”

“You don’t preach mercy.”

“Minor detail, hurry and save the gal!” Annoyed by Dong Ling’s relentless probes, Xinzi lost his patience. Never did he expect to see the snakegirl’s face sink into a grimace of helplessness.

“Well...I can’t. My blood is the antidote and right now she can’t breathe—much less eat or drink. How the hell do I make her swallow it?” Dong Ling asked in a rhetorical tone and slammed her forehead in self-blame. No wonder her mother invested all her time and resources in Chun Xu. She likely blamed herself for making her disciple live with broken meridians.

“Useless race! The antidote must be consumed, but the poison prevents consumption? Then what purpose does that antidote serve?” Xinzi slapped his thigh, unable to believe what he’d just heard. The words struck Dong Ling hard, but with her senior sister’s life at stake, she didn’t care to refute them. Noticing that his words had more impact than intended, Xinzi patted Dong Ling’s shoulder and squatted beside Chun Xu.

“Never mind, I’ll take care of it,” Xinzi said and raised his mutant arm. The mouths across its surface opened wide, clacking their jagged fangs as if animated by a will of their own. Spurred on by Xinzi, two of the mouths extended from the mutant arm, retracting their fangs to become big fat suction lips. The elongated lips sneaked under Chun Xu’s dress—latching on her thighs where two snake bites wreaked havoc.

Xinzi’s chimeric limb involved the refinement of several beasts: Pyretic Monkeys, Twin-Headed Snakes and, more importantly in this case, Hopping Gluttons. Thanks to the Hopping Glutton’s suction skills, Xinzi could extract the poison in a flash—then have Dong Ling administer the antidote for a perfect treatment.

“Gross and shameless. A flawless combination.” Dong Ling said, raised a thumbs up, and shivered at Xinzi’s work. “It’s not my fault that your antidote serves no purpose. A life is at stake. I can strip her naked if you find that more appropriate.” The rebuttal silenced Dong Ling’s snides and, through the gluttonous lips’ suction work, Chun Xu’s condition grew more stable.

Once the Sword Fairy’s breath evened up, Dong Ling cut open her right hand and force-fed Chun Xu her blood. Thus, the Sword Fairy woke up with sugar-tasting blood dripping down her throat and a pair of big fat lips sucking poison out of her thighs.

“Aaar...AAARGH!” Overwhelmed by the freakish scene, Chun Xu let out a shrill scream. Her eyes glazed over and again she passed out. Still, Dong Ling fed and Xinzi sucked.

“Has the treatment failed?” After reaching the recommended dose, Dong Ling pulled her hand back and asked.

“Nah, this time it’s pure shock.”

“We make a pretty good team.”

“Can’t say I disagree. Use her blood to steal her storage ring. I refuse to do all this work for free.”

“Agreed.” As the exchange ended, Xinzi pulled the elongated lips back—the mouths closed afterward. Standing up, the immoral monk watched Dong Ling poke Chun Xu’s left thumb and dip the storage ring into her blood. The ring’s seals broke, enabling the monk-monstress duo to plunder Chun Xu’s wealth wantonly.

“I want the talismans and spirit stones. You can have the rest.”

“Give me one of her spirit stones. I need to experience the feeling of stealing money from her.”

“Fair enough. Now put the ring back before she wakes up.” By the time Chun Xu’s eyelids trembled, Dong Ling had cleaned her thumb, wiped off the traces of blood on her ring, and put it back on her finger.

Dragging herself off the ground, the Sword Fairy recalled the previous scene and checked her thighs to make sure that no monstrous lips lingered there. Reassured, she shifted toward Xinzi and Dong Ling—facing them with a blend of conflicting emotions.

Chun Xu wasn’t an entirely ungrateful bitch. Knowing that had the roles been reversed, she couldn’t find a reason to save Xinzi, she didn’t have the heart to spit venomous words at his face. In most other situations, Chun Xu would have checked her storage ring for a treasure to repay her benefactor with. But aware that the best ways to thank Xinzi involved spit, tongue and juice, she settled for a more traditional approach, forced a smile and said, “Thank you.”

Amused, Xinzi and Dong Ling exchanged a wicked grin, then answered with casual nods. Their looks alerted the Sword Fairy’s sharp senses, but with too many questions in mind—all revolving around Dong Ling—she couldn’t connect the dots. The surprise would come later on.

“No wonder you’re so dead-set on winning the contest. It’s the cultivation method and not the array that you want. In our Dongli state, only the Nine Paths of Yin and Yang can cure your broken meridians. But I guess even mother can’t just give it to you.” Eager to shift topics, Dong Ling probed Chun Xu’s goals.

The Nine Paths of Yin and Yang by itself didn’t provide strong battle advantages, but it enabled Foundation Builders to recast their bodies into stainless shells free from flaws, injuries and impurities. Granted that the problem didn’t exceed the heaven grade, there was nothing that the Nine Paths of Yin and Yang couldn’t take care of. But while Chun Xu’s talent and strength gave the female contest a foregone conclusion, Zi Yao didn’t intend to break thousands of years of tradition for her.

“That is only one reason,” Xinzi kept the thought to himself and pulled several teleportation talismans out of his storage ring. Aware that with the powered-up and ever-resourceful Xinzi to lead the charge, she had better chances to survive the Blood Spirit Valley, Chun Xu didn’t challenge his leadership and put one hand on his arm. More assertive, Dong Ling grabbed the mutant limb, and the trio vanished to reappear 9 km ahead. Another talisman kicked in, and following a series of three ranged teleportation jumps, the trio landed in a field of lush green trees. Blood-red fruits hung on the trees’ branches, each emitting sanguine rays that paired with the billowing red fog pervading the atmosphere to produce an unsettling feel.

Dozens of meters above the lush trees, several sinister figures flew in circles. Each wore a long white hooded cloak that failed to conceal their dark-blue skin and full-red eyes: Blood Spirits.