A sense of panic gripped Fenglong’s heart. “During the first time, did you not say the divine fire essence will only benefit her?”

Although Fenglong was communicating with Heihuo inside his mind, the ancient divine beast was able to sense the coldness radiating from Fenglong’s tone as well as the hidden concern he had for the human girl.

Deeply amused, Heihuo released a haughty chortle as the venerable divine beast replied: “Your woman will be fine. Divine elemental essence is extremely pure and volatile and can greatly improve one’s cultivation, but you’ll need to have an affinity with the respective elements; however, the body of a human is unable to cope with it and will end up exploding instead. The reason your woman hasn’t exploded is because of the phoenix. The young bird is absorbing the divine essence through the girl and mitigating the harmful effects. Thus, as long as your woman possesses the phoenix, the divine fire essence will only be beneficial to her.”

Unknowingly, the crease between Fenglong’s brows lessened as his expression turned much better after hearing “your woman” multiple times; but the sly Heihuo gauged all of these changes. In a low conspiratorial timbre, Heihuo casually slipped a remark. “Her phoenix will be waking up shortly and… he can take on a human form once two more seals are released.”

Fenglong underwent another facial expression change while Heihuo watched with interest. Ever since this lad met the girl, the block of ice had shifted through numerous phases. It was like watching a child discovering new emotions for the first time. Finally, Heihuo no longer had to die from boredom by always seeing the same indifferent face from this reticent human.

Outwardly, Fenglong had restored to tranquility as if he’d never heard the insinuation masked behind those words, but Heihuo was languidly swimming inside a sea of vinegar produced by Fenglong’s jealousy.

“The one behind this phenomenon is the Mermaid King?” Fenglong asked to distract himself from the sour feeling he was experiencing.

“No, the mermaids are only responsible for setting up this formation array. I can sense the residue left behind by a powerful divine entity, so it must be sealed by someone from the heavenly realm. After all, it’s not like the mermaids have no interactions with those from the upper realm,” Heihuo answered.

After a brief moment, Heihuo’s powerful voice echoed inside Fenglong’s head once more. “Do not arbitrarily use my full power or reveal your true strength. We are so close to assembling the last two missing soul fragments. We cannot afford to make a mistake at this point,” Heihuo warned before closing his eyes and withdrawing to mediate inside Fenglong’s space.

Within the all encompassing chamber, silence fell again. Fenglong was quiet as he studied Baihe. When his eyes landed on her frizzy puffed up Afro hair, his lips hooked up into a devious smile. Even with her black smeared face, unkempt hair and dirty attire, Fenglong found her enchanting — more beautiful than any of the powder face noble ladies or the imperial consorts from the Emperor’s inner harem.

This was also the first time he had seriously paid attention to any woman since Fenglong abhorred them in general, but when it came to this extremely assertive woman in front of him, not an ounce of disgust existed. Instead, he felt a sense of longing, an invisible attachment that chained him to her. He knew she was different — special even, but could not define the exact reason why.

It was almost a tangible feeling, except Fenglong was unable to grasp it. He, who prided himself in his perception and intelligence, was incapable of understanding this foreign feeling.

His dark sapphire eyes shifted to the grayish black liquid layered with a one inch thick smog. It was making a trail toward the unsuspecting Baihe. This was the melted stream of lead left behind by the chimera, highly toxic. At that time, Fenglong was pleasantly surprised by the tactic Baihe deployed. No one would have known that the stone pillars were mixed with lead.

The lead must had been modified to be toxic enough to poison and suffocate the chimera. With a wave of his hand, a beam of black light cracked the structure above at a precise position. The rocks tumbled downward and enclosed Baihe inside a circular wall, blocking the meandering liquid steam of toxic lead.

♦

Four days later, Baihe opened her eyes with a light smile. The cultivation process this time was a lot faster and she successfully made a breakthrough from Mid Dao Stage 5 to Late Dao Stage 5. A full rank increase! Those crimson red essence was truly magical and effective.

That her power would increase so rapidly was beyond her imagination; Baihe wished she could stay here and dig up more of these weird reddish essence, but she knew there was only a limited amount and everything available had been sucked dry by her.

While Baihe was busy probing Qian inside her space to check if there was any new update, a strong hand encircled her waist and lifted her up from within the enclosed rocky walls. Less than a breath of time, familiar warm lips seared hers and a wicked tongue pried its way inside her mouth.

His tongue began to invade and conquer; with a befuddled mind, Baihe fought back with her own tongue in equal force. Soon, it was like a battlefield between two lovers, each striving for dominance. The sensation felt electrifying with a touch of urgency.

It was anything but gentle. It was hard, rough, and intense. As if they were going to war with one another; as if they were trying to prove something; as if they were fighting each other but also themselves at the same time.

Since long ago, Baihe was careful when it came to her heart. So careful, that she carved it out and buried it six feet under. Assassins don’t need a heart — their only job was to kill. She eliminated any weakness that could drag her down, removed all attachments that could make her bleed, and dimmed every single spark that could burn her.

Except, nothing could douse this flame. Instead, it began to burn, brighter and fiercer each time she interacted with Fenglong. Now, the fire was spreading throughout her body.

Was it just lust? Hormones? Infatuation?

Disappointed in herself and angry at the man responsible, she poured her confusion into their kiss. Through their intimacy, there was frustration and vexation from both parties.

One of his hands was on the back of her head, keeping her in place while the other was still on her waist, but now it began to wander wantonly. Traveling upward over her curves, it fully covered one of her breasts and gave it a squeeze. The action caused her nerves to go haywire and the hard rod pressed against her jolted Baihe back to reality.

She was smeared black all over with soot and dirt; her robe tattered and hair filthy. Baihe knew better than anyone that at this moment, she resembled more of a beggar on the streets than an attractive woman. Yet, this crazy bipolar man acted as if he wanted to eat her alive.

Feeling embarrassed all of a sudden, Baihe ended their kiss and tried to push him away, but Fenglong held her in place. With a flushed face and erratic heart, Baihe glanced at the troublesome, but devilishly handsome man with jet black hair hanging loosely down his broad shoulders.

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