The Demon Prince

late at night.

The lights were still on in the inner courtyard of the King's Palace in Zhenguo.

Xiao Xingyue was lying on the desk, with a thick stack of papers spread out in front of him.

On the left is the pharmacology that Li Miaoqing was forced to explain, and on the right is the annotation added by Chen Manfu.

As Xiao Xingyue looked at the lines of small characters on the paper, he dreamed back to his days as a doctoral student.

"Li Miaoqing and Man Fu, these notes are so detailed. Luckily, I've been used to memorizing textbooks since I was a child."

Xiao Xingyue was reciting medical principles when a thud suddenly came from outside.

Then a beautiful figure appeared, standing smartly and spiritedly outside the window.

Xiao Xingyue sighed softly:

"You're the eighth son, not the sixth. The front door is for walking through."

Outside the window, Princess Li Shunhua gave a soft snort, pushed open the window, and jumped in.

She wore a black robe, her long hair tied in a high ponytail. The lamplight shone on her face, making her look imposing and cold, yet it also added to her captivating beauty.

Xiao Xingyue leaned back in his chair and looked her over. If Li Wangshu was a gentle peach blossom, then Li Shunhua was a white rose, proud and individualistic.

"Hasn't the Eighth Princess's Sacred Dragon Skill been restored? What? You're here to ask me out while your Ninth Sister's not around?"

"I'm here to practice my skills." Li Shunhua said arrogantly, but her eyes flickered as she finished speaking, a little guilty. "Xiao Xingyue, if you say another word of nonsense, I'll nail you to the wall."

"What kind of kung fu do you practice?" Xiao Xingyue raised an eyebrow.

Li Shunhua walked to the table and saw it full of medical books and notes, and her eyes widened in surprise.

She had assumed that someone like Xiao Xingyue, who had profited from the Beitang Mansion during the day, would surely fall asleep at night.

I didn't expect him to work so hard in private.

Li Shunhua truthfully replied, "The Gou Li delegation is about to enter the capital, and there will be a military officer competition. I want to compete for real power as a military officer."

If I lose to Gou Li's military officer, the court will only be more convinced that I am not suitable to command troops.

Therefore, the progress of the Holy Dragon Technique must be accelerated.

Xiao Xingyue looked at her.

Li Shunhua never liked to show weakness, so she must have been really pushed to the limit to say this. "Understood, I will strengthen my dual cultivation."

Li Shunhua slammed her hand on the table: "It's martial arts practice!"

"Alright, let's practice. Sit over here and move yourself!"

The two sat facing each other, palms touching.

The moment the aura of the Holy Dragon Technique connected, it was like a golden breeze and jade dew meeting, causing the candlelight in the room to flicker.

Xiao Xingyue's blood and qi were stirred, and heat surged from his meridians, rushing up his arm and crashing into his chest.

Li Shunhua's aura was even sharper, carrying a battlefield killing intent as she entered.

While she was practicing her internal energy with her eyes closed, Xiao Xingyue reached into his sleeve with his other hand and put a Qi-replenishing pill into her mouth.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and the heat spread out, causing the progress of the Sacred Dragon Technique to advance rapidly.

Li Shunhua opened her eyes: "What did you do?"

Xiao Xingyue remained expressionless. "Eat chocolate."

Li Shunhua's breathing became disordered, and the temperature of her palms rose. She could clearly sense that Xiao Xingyue's Holy Dragon Technique was circulating much faster and seemed to be much smoother than before.

This is clearly the Li royal family's martial arts technique. She has practiced martial arts since childhood and was personally taught the Sacred Dragon Technique by her father. She has suffered no less than anyone else.

But this bastard in front of her, after only a short time learning, was already running faster than her.

Li Shunhua gritted her teeth and voiced her doubts:

"Why? The Sacred Dragon Technique is a royal family technique of the Li clan, so why are you practicing it more smoothly than I am?"

Xiao Xingyue sighed:

"Eighth Princess, you've gone astray."

Li Shunhua looked at him coldly.

Xiao Xingyue said seriously:

"The Holy Dragon Technique is extremely powerful and intense. It is too slow to practice it by brute force alone. You must use elixirs to replenish your qi and blood and protect your meridians in order to make it more effective."

Li Shunhua was skeptical: "Why didn't Seventh Sister tell me this?"

"She's just a lousy alchemist, what does she know about dual cultivation?" Xiao Xingyue popped another pill into his mouth: "To be precise, this is called balancing."

Xiao Xingyue guessed that Li Miaoqing didn't know how to practice the Sacred Dragon Technique, so she didn't dare to give Li Shunhua any random medicine.

But Xiao Xingyue had already conducted clinical trials himself, so he wasn't afraid anymore.

As soon as he finished speaking, his blood and qi surged again.

The Dragon-Capturing Technique manifested in his palm, even pulling Li Shunhua towards him.

Li Shunhua's breath hitched; it really worked, and it was very effective.

The two continued to practice their internal energy. Xiao Xingyue consumed more and more pills, and his blood and energy became stronger and stronger. The bottleneck of the second level of the Sacred Dragon Technique was broken through time and time again.

Li Shunhua, however, found it increasingly difficult to practice, and the gap between them widened.

She felt that Xiao Xingyue was catching up with her and surpassing her.

At the same time, the aura of national destiny emanating from her body was unconsciously drawn out by the Holy Dragon Technique.

Xiao Xingyue noticed it and was overjoyed. He quietly introduced it into his body.

The second bottleneck was suddenly relieved.

As if sensing something, Li Shunhua suddenly opened her eyes: "Xiao Xingyue, did you tamper with something?"

"What are you thinking about? Focus."

Xiao Xingyue answered very frankly, because after absorbing Li Wangshu's national fortune, he realized that the princess would not suffer any harm from having her national fortune taken away.

The nation's fate seemed completely beyond the control of these nine princesses; to be precise, it was as if the nation's fate was being entrusted to these princesses.

"Then why should I..." Li Shunhua started to say, but then swallowed the rest of her words.

The feeling of her aura being drawn away was too strange. She didn't know what it was, nor did she feel any discomfort.

Xiao Xingyue said seriously:

"This is a resonance of our cultivation techniques, which means we're a match made in heaven."

Li Shunhua's eyes blazed with anger. She wanted to withdraw her palm, but as soon as she did, her breath, which had just begun to settle, immediately became erratic, so she could only endure it.

Half an hour later, Xiao Xingyue's breathing became more stable, but she clearly couldn't keep up.

Finally, she looked at Xiao Xingyue's sleeve, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Give me one."

Xiao Xingyue feigned ignorance: "What?"

"Medicine!"

"No." Xiao Xingyue took out an ordinary Qi-replenishing pill from his medicine pouch: "This thing is precious, I can't bear to part with it."

Li Shunhua sneered: "You just ate three in one go."

Anyway, I got it for free from Li Miaoqing, so why not take it... Xiao Xingyue covered the medicine pouch: "That's because I'm taking it myself, so of course I should treat myself better."

Li Shunhua said in a deep voice, "Give it to me!"

The saddest thing in life is not never having had something, but having had it and then losing it... Xiao Xingyue sighed and handed over a pill: "Only refine a trace of it, don't waste it."

Li Shunhua took the pill and channeled a wisp of its medicinal power into her body.

The next moment, her eyes changed.

She felt that her blood and qi were recovering much faster, and her originally dry meridians were moistened by the medicinal power, making the circulation of the Holy Dragon Technique much smoother.

She was so shocked she couldn't contain herself; this medicine really worked.

Xiao Xingyue immediately took back the pill, and Li Shunhua's eyes turned cold:

"continue."

"That's all." Xiao Xingyue noticed the fierce look in Li Shunhua's eyes and cleared his throat. "However, considering that we're currently cultivating together, I can reluctantly concede."

Li Shunhua had a bad feeling. Xiao Xingyue picked up a pen and wrote a line on the paper.

[Eight Princesses' Martial Arts Revival Special Pill Support Program]

Li Shunhua's brow twitched as she read this, while Xiao Xingyue continued writing:

"Pay on credit first, interest calculated per unit."

If a military officer wins the contest, he/she will receive an additional fee for his/her success.

If successful in gaining command, additional long-term cooperation benefits will be required.

Li Shunhua's face grew darker the more she looked at it:

"You call this 'medicine support'? This is robbery!"