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

Shen Yifei laughed, "In these Hundred Thousand Mountains, who dares to venture into the Demon King's cave?"

"She sleeps like a dead pig; even a snake could bite her."

Bai Lu has left, and Shen Yifei sits alone at the cave entrance. The moonlight illuminates the entire cold pool, making it shine silver, and a few fireflies fly on the surface of the pool.

He lowered his head and examined his dantian; the golden core was intact, and its spiritual energy was slowly recovering. Liu Mengli's voice quietly sounded.

"Master, you've hit the jackpot today."

"What did you earn?"

"Having cultivated with two demon kings at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, I've lent you this demonic energy, which has loosened your barrier to breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage."

Shen Yifei was taken aback. He carefully examined the thin membrane between his dantian and golden core and found that it indeed had many fine cracks. He had a feeling that he only needed a trigger to step into the Nascent Soul stage.

When will you break through?

"I don't know. I feel like it's almost there, just one breath away."

Liu Mengli chuckled, "That last bit of energy, once that vixen melts away the rest of her shell, you can help her one more time, and that should be enough."

Shen Yifei paused for a moment, then said, "She just kicked me out."

"If she says she doesn't need you, will you really not go? When a woman says she doesn't need you, she's usually saying the opposite of what she means."

Shen Yifei did not respond.

The snoring inside the cave stopped. Leng Shanyue mumbled as she turned over, "Water..."

Shen Yifei got up and went into the cave, placing a bowl of water on the edge of the bed.

Leng Shanyue opened her eyes halfway and saw it was him. She was startled at first, then took the bowl and drank half of it. The rim of the bowl covered her face, and her voice was muffled.

Thanks.

Shen Yifei took the bowl. "Your tail fur is burnt. Miss Bai went to find medicine."

"She went to find medicine? When did that fat-headed snake become so kind?"

"She's been doing well."

Leng Shanyue snorted but didn't refute. She buried her face back in the quilt, leaving only the nine ends of the fire poker sticks sticking out.

Shen Yifei put down the bowl and walked out. When he reached the cave entrance, Leng Shanyue suddenly called out.

"Feed".

"Hmm? Senior, what is it?"

"Once I've melted the remaining shell... I'll ask you for help one more time."

Shen Yifei turned around, but Leng Shanyue's face was buried in the blanket, so his expression was not visible.

He chuckled. "Okay. We'll see."

When Bailu returned, she carried a handful of herbs in her arms, a ball of purple, blue, and green leaves, still damp with dew.

She spread the herbs on the stone table, picked out a few purple leaves and blue flowers, crushed them, pasted them onto a piece of cloth, and carried them into the cave.

Leng Shanyue was lying down asleep, her nine tails dangling over the edge of the bed, their tips charred and curled.

Without saying a word, Bai Lu smeared the medicine paste on her tail.

Leng Shanyue jumped up with a yell, "What are you doing!"

"Apply the medicine. If you don't take care of your tail, it'll rot tomorrow."

Leng Shanyue turned to look at her tails; the tips of all nine tails were covered in a black, pungent, and cold ointment. She wrinkled her nose. "What smells so bad?"

"A combination of *Hemiberlesia lingua* and *Solanum nigrum* detoxifies and removes yin-heat toxins. If you find the smell unpleasant, go find your own medicine."

Leng Shanyue curled her tail in front of her, sniffed it closely, and scrunched up her face. "Did you put your saliva in this medicine?"

"I mixed it, I mixed it especially for you." Bai Lu said without changing her expression.

Leng Shanyue glared at her for a long time, then finally lowered her tail and stopped cursing. She lay down on the stone bed, resting her chin on her arm, and said, "Well... thanks for what happened earlier."

Which one? The one that saved your life, or the one you used to apply medicine?

"Count them all! But you saved me just to see me make a fool of myself. You're probably secretly delighted with my current state, aren't you?"

Bai Lu didn't deny it, "It was quite funny. I haven't seen you so disheveled in three hundred years."

"You wait. Once I break through the remaining shell and break through, the first thing I'll do is submerge you in the pool and pour water over you."

"Fine, you vixen, I'll be waiting for you."

Shen Yifei carried in a bowl of hot porridge and placed it on the edge of the bed. Leng Shanyue took it, drank a couple of sips, and looked up at him, "Did you cook this?"

Leng Shanyue finished the bowl in one gulp, then shoved the empty bowl into his hand. "Give me another bowl."

Shen Yifei went and got another bowl.

After Leng Shanyue finished drinking three bowls of porridge, she turned over and lay on her back, placing her hand on her lower abdomen, closing her eyes, and letting her spiritual energy slowly circulate within her body.

The 30% hard shell in my dantian was dissolving more slowly than I expected, but it was indeed thinning little by little.

For the next three days, Bai Lu applied medicine to her every morning and evening, and Shen Yifei cooked porridge and soup for her every day.

Leng Shanyue lay on the stone bed, the burnt hairs on her tail slowly receding, and the new hairs that emerged were silvery-white, even brighter than the original color.

On the evening of the third day, Leng Shanyue withdrew her hand from her lower abdomen and opened her eyes.

"The shelling is complete."

Shen Yifei poked his head in from outside the cave, "Is it all melted away?"

"Hmm." Leng Shanyue sat up, her nine tails unfurling behind her, the red light on the tips of her silvery-white tails returning. She looked down at herself, then up at Shen Yifei. "Come here."

Shen Yifei walked in. "What are you doing?"

Leng Shanyue reached out and grabbed his wrist, placing two fingers on his pulse. She closed her eyes and probed for a while before letting go.

"Your nascent soul's barrier is so loose it's practically just a thin layer of gauze, why hasn't it broken yet?"

"Just one breath away."

Leng Shanyue stared at him for a couple of seconds, then turned to look at the cave entrance. Bai Lu wasn't there; she'd gone out to hunt monsters.

She turned to him. "I'll help you make up for it tonight."

Shen Yifei was taken aback. "Are you trying to repay a debt of gratitude?"

"What favor are you repaying?" Leng Shanyue turned her face away. "Last time you used your yang energy to help me break through my outer shell. The shell did break through, but my demon core still has traces of your yang energy, it's not clean. I need to clean that stuff off before I can break through."

"So how do you plan to clean it up?"

Leng Shanyue flicked her tail, "You tell me how to do it. The way we came in last time, we'll go back the same way this time."

"Senior Leng, are you making excuses or do you genuinely dislike my yang energy?"

Leng Shanyue's ears turned red for a moment. "Whether I'm making excuses or genuinely disliking you, you're coming over tonight."

Shen Yifei was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about Miss Bai?"

"She went out to hunt monsters and won't be back until tomorrow morning."

As expected, Bailu did not return that night.

Shen Yifei's claim that he accompanied Leng Shanyue to purify the yang energy in her body was actually just an excuse.

Unbeknownst to the two, Bai Lu was nearby, listening to the sounds. "Hmph! You sly fox, you've finally figured it out. This is much better... Hehe, it'll be my turn tomorrow night."

It's unclear whether the two had developed a tacit understanding, but whenever Shen Yifei noticed Bai Lu around, Leng Shanyue would go hunting, saying she wanted to help Shen Yifei recover.

When Leng Shanyue was around, Bai Lu said she would go find herbs to replenish Shen Yifei's yang energy.

The two took turns, tormenting Shen Yifei to the point of near death.