The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Thinking about this, Shen Yifei had an idea.

"Mengli".

"Um?"

"What happens to the lust within a snake demon when it reaches the Nascent Soul stage?"

Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron, tilted her head, and thought for a moment.

"There are two types. One is not to suppress it, but to let it happen naturally. These snake demons usually find a Daoist partner or keep a group of male concubines. The other is to forcibly suppress it, using some kind of cultivation technique or magic weapon to lock away their lustful nature. These snake demons advance in cultivation quickly, but they have a fatal weakness."

"What weakness?"

"Lust is a snake demon's instinct, and it's usually kept under control by its cultivation techniques. But once a crack is pried open, the lust that has been suppressed for hundreds of years surges out all at once..."

Liu Mengli made an explosion gesture.

"He was on fire. There was no way to control it."

After hearing this, Shen Yifei's lips slowly curled up.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Laugh at that snake demon." Shen Yifei leaned back against the stone wall. "It's not that she doesn't want to cultivate together, it's that she's afraid. Her lustful nature has been suppressed for hundreds of years, and it's long reached its limit. She's afraid that once she starts cultivating together, she'll lose control first."

"What do you want to do?"

"She raised me like a pig, so I'll just use her as firewood."

Liu Mengli stared at him for a long time.

"You're insane. She's in the late Nascent Soul stage, and you're in the late Golden Core stage. If you cultivate with her, she can drain you dry."

"Not necessarily! Her lustful nature has been suppressed for hundreds of years, like a barrel full of gunpowder. I only need to light a match and poke it in, and she'll explode on her own. After that, it's uncertain who will absorb whom."

"You're gambling with your life."

"She's treating me like a pig. Do I think I can turn things around without risking my life? I need to refine a batch of elixirs. They need to be potent, the more potent the better."

Shen Yifei stayed in the cave for two days.

He consumed all the Yuan Yang Pills, then rummaged through his storage ring for a pile of medicinal herbs to replenish Yang energy, and used the Myriad Things Cauldron to refine two batches of Rejuvenating Yang Pills.

After taking the elixir, the yang energy in his dantian grew stronger day by day. The emptiness that had been drained of 70% gradually filled, and his limbs regained their strength.

The following evening, he stood up and stretched his limbs. The dark golden core in his dantian slowly rotated, and the three cracks were stitched together by the threads of love, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

My yang energy has recovered to 80%, which is enough, although it is not at its peak.

The little monster woke up too. It crawled out of the Cauldron of All Things, kicked its four short legs, and shook its scales.

The black stain on its tongue had faded completely, turning back to a dark red. It squatted on the ground, tilting its head to look at Shen Yifei, making gurgling sounds in its throat.

"Awake?" Shen Yifei squatted down and gently patted its head. "Being knocked out in one move, aren't you ashamed?"

The little monster's head tilted to the side after being patted, its eyes darted around, and the gurgling sound in its throat turned into a pitiful whimper. It nudged Shen Yifei's hand with its head, its tail tucked between its two hind legs.

"Alright, it's not your fault. We couldn't even handle a snake demon in the late Nascent Soul stage, let alone you."

The little monster's tail immediately perked up and shook like a windmill.

Shen Yifei packed his things and walked out of the cave.

As dusk fell, darkness descended early in the Ten Thousand Mountains. Instead of heading south, he took a detour westward and found a new cave.

This cave was much larger than the one he had stayed in before, and the floor was covered with a layer of soft white sand. Inside the cave was a large, flat rock, like a natural stone bed.

Shen Yifei walked around the cave and was very satisfied.

The little monster squatted at the entrance of the cave, tilting its head to look at him, making gurgling sounds in its throat.

"Don't keep watch tonight," Shen Yifei waved his hand at it. "Go back."

The little monster rolled its eyes twice, then pushed off with its four short legs and burrowed into the Cauldron of All Things.

Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron and sat cross-legged in mid-air.

"Are you trying to lure us into a trap?"

"Let the snake go to its hole." Shen Yifei lay on the large rock. "She wants to absorb my yang energy, right? I'll let her. Anyway, I recover quickly; I'll be back in two days. She absorbs it once, I recover in two days. As long as I find an opportunity, hmph, I'll make her regret it!"

Shen Yifei closed his eyes. "Stop talking, you're disturbing my sleep."

Liu Mengli snorted and floated back into the cauldron.

At midnight, a figure appeared at the cave entrance.

She wore a light blue dress, and the moonlight shone on her face, making her face as clean as white jade just pulled from the water.

Bai Lu stood at the cave entrance, tilting her head to look at Shen Yifei.

Her gaze swept over him, from his closed eyes to his heaving chest, then from his chest to his lower abdomen. The scent of medicine wafted into her nostrils, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"Young Master," she called softly.

Shen Yifei didn't open his eyes, and his breathing didn't change.

Bai Lu stepped through the cave entrance, her footsteps making no sound on the fine sand. She walked to the stone bed, squatted down, and her face was only a fist's distance from Shen Yifei's.

"Young master, I know you're not asleep."

Shen Yifei opened his eyes.

Eyes facing each other.

"You're here?"

"Is the young master waiting for me?"

"I've been waiting for you half the night." Shen Yifei yawned, propping himself up on his elbows as he sat up. "Last time you absorbed seventy percent of my yang energy and left without even saying goodbye. Coming back again this time, aren't you treating me like family?"

Bai Lu blinked.

"Young master, you're not angry?"

"What's the use of getting angry? I can't beat you in a fight, and I can't run away. You're just a snake demon in the late Nascent Soul stage; you could crush me like an ant. Instead of getting angry, you should think more positively."

Bai Lu stared at him for a long time.

"How did you know I was a snake demon, young master?"

"Just a guess."

"Since you know I am a snake demon, why do you dare to live alone in this cave without even setting up any restrictions?"

"What's the point of setting up restrictions? You're in the late Nascent Soul stage, and I'm in the late Golden Core stage—two major realms apart. I could set up a hundred layers of restrictions, and you could pierce them with a single finger. Why bother?"

Bai Lu smiled slightly; she liked straightforward people.

"Miss Bai, I have a question for you."

"Please ask, sir."

"If you're going to absorb yang energy, just admit it. Why pretend you were injured by the black bear demon? You're a demon king in the late Nascent Soul stage; you could kill ten black bear demons with a single slap. What are you pretending to be, acting all pitiful?"

Bai Lu remained silent for two breaths.

"This servant wants to test whether the young master will save me."

"Why would you try this?"

"The young master saved him, which shows that he is kind-hearted. Kind-hearted people have sweet yang energy."

"Is there a difference between sweet and bitter yang energy?"

"Divide." Bai Lu's tone was very serious. "A kind-hearted person's yang energy is sweet, like honey. A wicked person's yang energy is bitter, like bitter herbs. A cold-hearted person's yang energy is weak, like plain water. Young master, not only is your heart kind, but your yang energy is also mixed with the fragrance of medicine, sweet with a hint of bitterness, and bitter with a hint of coolness. I have lived for three hundred years, and this is the first time I have tasted this flavor."

"So you're planning to treat me like a long-term meal ticket, coming to take advantage of me every now and then?"

Bai Lu remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Shen Yifei leaned against the stone wall, the moonlight shining on his face, and he squinted at Bai Lu.

That face was clean and innocent. If it weren't for the fact that she had pinned him to the ground and drained seventy percent of his yang energy last time, he would never have guessed that the person hiding under that face was a snake demon in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

He sighed and said, "Miss Bai, if you're going to absorb yang energy, could you please try a different method?"