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Chapter 34

It took a while for Lian Ren and Shao Ling to get Lim Yuan's consent to cross the barrier because of his condition. Lian Ren spent two months on giving Lim Yuan his blood in order to expand Lim Yuan's meridians then drink Scarlet Rose Pill after. It was a torture because the feeling of Lian Ren's blood filling the container was painful, as if his very life force was slowly sucked out then get refilled again, and again and again while Shao Ling, on the other hand, locked himself inside the Manor to cultivate. Ever since Shao Ling absorbed the pill that the Village Chief gave him, his meridians changed drastically, it became very wide to the point that Shao Ling's full spiritual qi was now only half inside of him. It was as if his meridians were stretched to its core and expanded.

After Shao Ling woke up when the side effect happened at night two months ago, he didn't remember anything, and Lian Ren was relieved because of that. Lian Ren focused on cultivating his spiritual core with the help of the black fuball and also the Yun Sect's manual. He was able to advance to the Late Stage of cultivation that was close to the Peak Stage and the final stage where a cultivator would achieve immortality.

He was able to achieve the Peak Stage of cultivation in his Demonic core but it doesn't mean that he will also be in the Peak Stage of cultivation in his spiritual core. A cultivator must only focus on gathering in only one core when he or she meditate. It could be meditating just the spiritual core, or demonic core and maybe both. However, cultivating two cores requires a lot of time, especially to the people who doesn't have talent.

After giving Lim Yuan his blood, Lim Yuan also unseal Lian Ren's demonic core little by little. It takes a lot of sessions to unseal Lian Ren's core because the barrier that Lian Ren made to seal his demonic core was very strong and sturdy. It could take up to thirty or forty years for an alchemist or any cultivator to unseal the Demonic Core but it only took two months for Lim Yuan to get Lian Ren's demonic core unsealed. Before the day when Lian Ren and Shao Ling leave the Mount Hua Peak, Lim Yuan gave them the consent to cross through the barrier. It was a jade stone with a peculiar shape carved with a certain symbols of gold. The jade stone radiates a strong spiritual qi that Shao Ling believes that the spiritual qi comes from Lim Yuan.

When the morning came, it was already time for Shao Ling and Lian Ren to leave the Mount Hua Peak. Few of the Mount Hua Peak's disciples, Yin Meng and Lim Yuan attended the two on the gate of the peak, there were souvenirs and foods in a few bags and a carriage waiting for the two of them. Shao Ling, who was already in his Yun Sect robes as well as Lian Ren arrived on the gate. Shao Ling's relaxed expression immediately sharpened when he saw the bags of materials placed at the back of the carriage. He stared at it for a while then glanced at Lim Yuan with his glaring eyes.

Lim Yuan said with his eyes raised as a sigh of surrender.

Shao Ling glanced at the Mount Hua Peak's disciples with a straight expression, makih the disciples neevous and intimidated to even move or speak. The Mount Hua Peak's disciples were about to regret that they put souvenirs in Shao Ling and Lian Ren's carriage when Shao Ling just let out a low "hmph" then turned around with a swift of his sleeves, entering the carriage with a relaxed expression.

Lian Ren nodded at Lim Yuan as a sign of farewell and Lim Yuan grinned and nodded back as a response. Lian Ren then entered the carriage and sat on the chair in front of Shao Ling then the massive gate opened, the sound of horse gallops resonated inside the carriage followes by the carriage slowly moving. Shao Ling secretly looked back at the people in the Mount Hua Peak on the back window and heaved a breath before glancing straight on the road once again.

Lian Ren stared at Shao Ling closed eyes for a long time, it seems like Shao Ling's lashes as much longer and curled than usual. Lian Ren then lowered his gaze on his nose, it looks so soft and pointed. His gaze then lowered at Shao Ling's mouth, giving Lian Ren shivers down his spine. Shao Ling's lips were not dry and pale anymore. His lips was now painted with a coral color, not that pigmented and looks very natural and attractive, it was also moist, as if Shao Ling put layers of gloss on his lips that made it shiny and wet. It seems like the pill made drastic change to Shao Ling's appearance, making him even more beautiful as the day goes by.

Lian Ren's hand twitched as he stared at it. He wanted to touch it, caress it gently then press his lips against it. The thought of it made his chest feel heavy and gives tension in his groin that made him uncomfortable. Lian Ren heaved a heavy breath silently and closed his eyes tightly, opening it once again only to see Shao Ling looking at him with his brows arched, Shao Ling asked,

Lian Ren tried to fish some words but he wasn't able continue what he was saying, making Shao Ling gaze at him with suspicion. Lian Ren then said after he calmed down,

Shao Ling stared at him for a while, looking as if he was thinking deeply about what Lian Ren said and whether he would believe it or not. After a while, Shao Ling nodded, believing Lian Ren's words. After Shao Ling spoke, he then continued to close his eyes to rest.

Lian Ren silently let out a sigh of relief and leaned on the back of the carriage seat. Half of what he said was true because he was kind of tired when Lim Yuan successfully unsealed his Demonic Core. Lim Yuan also taught him how to hide his energy from others, especially to cultivators on the Peak stage of cultivation like Shao Ling. It was a very odd technique that Lim Yuan made himself because the process is interesting. A cultivator will gather energy in between his or her two core then absorb a little bit of qi from the two core, building a barrier that will shield the presence of a certain core that the cultivator decided to hide. Since Lian Ren was also a genius himself, he was able to master the technique only for a month.

A long time passed and Lian Ren is still not asleep. Not that he doesn't want to, but he can't. He can't sleep because of Shao Ling. The carriage was a bit shaky that made Shao Ling bounce and sway in the midst of his sleep. The road must've been rocky that made the carriage shaky. All of a sudden, the wheel of the carriage rolled over a steep stone and the carriage aggressively shook. Lian Ren immediately stood up and grabbed Shao Ling's waist. Because of the large impact, Shao Ling fell on top of Lian Ren and Lian Ren's back was slammed on the wall of the carriage, giving him unbearable pain.

The coachman spoke outside the carriage,

Lian Ren replied,

The coachman said, "Well then, i'll gallop slow."

The carriage then started galloping in a slow pace. Lian Ren heaved a breath of relief and glanced down at Shao Ling whose eyes was still closed, his cheeks were pressed on Lian Ren's chest and looking like he was is a deep sleep because he didn't even woke up when the carriage shook. Lian Ren tried to put Shao Ling back to his seat but Shao Ling pressed his body on Lian Ren that made Lian Ren fall back on his seat, unable to do anything because Shao Ling might woke up. Lian Ren sat properly as he leaned back on his seat, he gave Shao Ling space to sit down beside him and let Shao Ling's head lean on his chest. He stared at him for a while, staring at his peacefully sleeping face and for some reason, Lian Ren also feel drowsy. He leaned his head on the wall of the carriage and closed his eyes to sleep.

The sun had already set and the night already came, Shao Ling was slowly getting awake by the sounds of the galloping horse. His eyelash fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes, only to find out that he was lying on Lian Ren's chest. Shao Ling aggressively stood up, his cheeks were flushed red from the embarrassment and saw that Lian Ren was also waking up slowly. Lian Ren glanced left and right on his surroundings and shoved the curtains on the window of the carriage. He noticed that the sky was already dark and the moon was already big and bright outside. Instead of a proper road, large and thick trees were surrounding them as well as the sound of the crickets that was resonating all around the forest. Lian Ren glanced at Shao Ling who was staring down at his sleeves with a calm expression.

Lian Ren called out.

Shao Ling simply answered.

Lian Ren fidgeted his hands awkwardly and glanced at the window again,

As soon as Lian Ren said that, the carriage also stopped. The coachman said. Lian Ren and Shao Ling glanced at each other and Shao Ling went out of the carriage first before Lian Ren. As soon as they went out of the carriage, they saw bright pink barrier with a hint of gold in its color. It must've been the barrier that Lim Yuan was talking about. The coachman bid goodbye to them and started galloping back to the Mount Hua Peak while Lian Ren and Shao Ling approached the barrier, holding the jade stones on their hands. As they took a step forward to the barrier, the barrier automatically opened a hole when it sensed the energy on the jade stone, paving way to the both of them to lass through the other side of the forest.

The other side of the forest seemed magical. It looks like the Forest of Deception that Lim Yuan was talking about. The Forest of Deception was not that dangerous, but it was a very tricky forest because all the things you see can deceive you. You may be seeing golds on the ground, but it is actually a monster. You may be seeing the way out of the forest, but you are actually lost. You may be wondering that the person who accompanied you is still beside you, but you never know that it is actually a monster. The Forest of Deception was a monster's nest, especially, this forest is where the nine-tailed fox resides.

Shao Ling opened his spatisl ring and handed out two golden talisman and gave the other talisman to Lian Ren,

Lian Ren nodded and sticked it into his chest.

However, as the both of them entered the forest, a person from afar was watching, the person's lips curved into a smile that exposed the person's long and sharp fangs, looking at the two as if the person had found a prey.

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