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

Luo Qinghe fell silent when he heard Shen Yifei say he wanted to step down.

She stared at Shen Yifei for a long time, her cheeks puffing out and then deflated, then puffed out and then puffed out again.

"You really want to give in?"

"I really will. If you don't believe me, I'll summon the elders right now and pass the position to you tomorrow."

Luo Qinghe bit her lip, plopped back down on the stone bench, and remained silent.

"You really want to give in?"

"Really, wife, we're husband and wife. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours. It doesn't matter who becomes the sect leader. But if you want to be the sect leader, your current cultivation level..."

Shen Yifei's meaning was clear: you can become the sect leader, but your cultivation level is not high enough, and the people below will not accept it.

However, what he said makes sense; in the world of cultivation, strength is paramount.

"Stop talking nonsense," Luo Qinghe continued stubbornly. "The position of sect leader should have rightfully belonged to my Luo family."

"I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you." Shen Yifei pulled up a stone bench and sat down opposite her. "But, with your current cultivation level, do you think the elders below will accept you as sect leader? You're just a peak Nascent Soul cultivator; you can't control them."

"What should we do then?"

"Simple. Once you reach the Nascent Soul stage, I'll give you my position. It's fair and reasonable."

"Nascent Soul stage?" Luo Qinghe's eyes widened. "I'm only at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage right now, a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the Nascent Soul stage. How can you expect me to even mention it?"

"Cultivate with me."

Luo Qinghe's face flushed red instantly. "You...you're dreaming!"

Thinking back to dual cultivation, she recalled how she was initially bewitched by the medicinal fragrance emanating from him, and that dual cultivation did indeed improve her cultivation level. Later, in order to continue improving her cultivation, she humbled herself and married him.

What happened later, those despicable things, still make me grit my teeth with hatred when I think about them now.

Now he's even bringing up dual cultivation again!

Shen Yifei didn't notice Luo Qinghe's expression and continued to persuade her, "Wife, we are a lawfully wedded couple. Isn't dual cultivation a normal thing? Besides, look at my current realm, late stage of Nascent Soul. How did I get there? Through dual cultivation."

"Who do you cultivate with?" Luo Qinghe's voice rose eight octaves.

Shen Yifei then noticed Luo Qinghe's displeasure, but he didn't care and continued, "There's more: Su Wuwang, the sect leader of the Hehuan Sect; two mid-stage Mahayana demon kings from the Ten Thousand Mountains; and the Tribulation Transcending Pavilion Master of the Tianji Pavilion. They're all at a higher level than me. After they broke through while I was dual-cultivating, I also broke through."

Luo Qinghe was stunned after hearing the whole thing.

"You...you cultivated with the Demon King? You cultivated with someone at the Tribulation Transcending Realm? You..."

"What's wrong with me? I'm perfectly fine, and my cultivation level has even increased."

"Don't give me that nonsense." Luo Qinghe stood up. "I don't want the position of sect leader anymore. You can be the one yourself."

After she finished speaking, she turned to go inside, but Shen Yifei grabbed her wrist.

"Honey, don't go. We haven't seen each other in so long. Let's have a good talk."

"There's not much to say."

"How could I not have anything to say? You've been in seclusion for over half a year, and I've been thinking about you every day."

"You miss me?" Luo Qinghe turned and glared at him. "If you miss me, then go sleep with the Demon King? Sleep with the demonic cultivator? Sleep with Su Wuwang of the Hehuan Sect?"

"That's all for cultivation. Look at me now, I'm in the late stage of Nascent Soul. If you cultivate with me, you can also reach the Nascent Soul stage."

"I don't care!"

"If you don't care, why did you go into seclusion for half a year? Wasn't it to improve your cultivation level? Now that there's a shortcut, why don't you take it and insist on climbing it yourself?"

Luo Qinghe fell silent.

Shen Yifei is right. She had been in seclusion for more than half a year, hoping to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. But the bottleneck between the Nascent Soul and Nascent Soul stages is something many people struggle to overcome their entire lives. After more than half a year of seclusion, she had only reached the mid-Nascent Soul stage, still far from the Nascent Soul stage.

Seeing the relaxation in her expression, Shen Yifei knew there was hope. "The hurdle from Nascent Soul to Deity Transformation is so difficult that even a hundred years of meditation and arduous cultivation might not be enough to overcome it. I'm not trying to scare you, but look at the elders of the Qingyun Sect; there are plenty of them who have been stuck at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage for hundreds of years."

Luo Qinghe lowered his head. A hundred years is not a long time for a cultivator, but whether he can overcome this hurdle is still unknown.

"Reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage is a matter of one night. Breaking through to the Deity Transformation stage," Shen Yifei held up three fingers, "will take at most three days!"

"Three days?" Luo Qinghe could hardly believe his ears!

"At most! Three days!" Shen Yifei emphasized the word "at most."

Luo Qinghe bit her lip and remained silent.

It's not that she doesn't want to, it's that she doesn't dare.

The first time he tormented me in bed all night, I couldn't even walk the next day.

Later, he bullied me countless times in my dreams, and every time I woke up, my whole body felt like it was falling apart.

She hasn't forgotten any of these things.

"What kind of trick are you up to now?" Luo Qinghe took a half step back.

Shen Yifei stood up and walked up to her.

"Honey, what kind of crazy ideas could I possibly have? We're husband and wife, and those things between husband and wife are perfectly natural."

"I'm not talking to you anymore." Luo Qinghe turned to leave.

Shen Yifei wrapped his arms around her waist.

Luo Qinghe stiffened, struggling twice but unable to break free. Shen Yifei's arm was like an iron hoop, making it hard for her to breathe.

Shen Yifei felt that a hundred words were not as effective as one concrete action!

Shen Yifei lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.

Luo Qinghe groaned and pushed against his chest, but her strength gave out after a couple of tries. Shen Yifei's verbal skills had improved considerably since half a year ago; with a few flicks of his tongue, she was completely bewildered.

By the time they realized what was happening, the person had already been carried into the house and thrown onto the bed.

"Shen Yifei! You..."

Before he could finish speaking, his mouth was covered again.

This time, Luo Qinghe was truly unable to struggle any longer. The strength of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator far surpassed hers; he could easily hold her down with a single hand. She lay there, her chest heaving, her eyes wide open, staring at Shen Yifei.

Shen Yifei untied her skirt ribbon.

Luo Qinghe trembled and reached out to grab his hand.

"no."

"Why not?"

"I'm not ready yet."

"We're an old married couple, what's there to prepare?"

Luo Qinghe bit her lip, her eyes reddening.

"Shen Yifei, do you know what I was thinking when I was in seclusion?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about how to get back at you. You bullied me in my dreams on our wedding night, and then you tormented me in all sorts of ways. I'm going to settle the score with you once I'm out of seclusion."

"Then why are you not counting it now?"

"You're at the late Nascent Soul stage, what am I?" Luo Qinghe's voice trembled with tears. "I can't beat you, I can't out-argue you, I can't even win an argument with you, what am I supposed to do?"

After hearing this, Shen Yifei pulled her into his arms.

"Honey, the way you're saying that makes it sound like I'm bullying you."

"You're just bullying me."

"Fine, fine, I'll bully you. So how do you want to bully me back? Tell me, and I'll cooperate."

Luo Qinghe lifted her head from his embrace, her eyes and the tip of her nose were red.

"You made me the sect leader."

"Alright, you can be the one tomorrow."

"You just said that I need to reach the Divine Transformation stage to become one."

"I was just kidding you. If you want to be the one, you can be the one tomorrow. I'll step down, and you can take over. Anyway, you're Xie Liaochen's daughter, so it's perfectly legitimate."

Looking at the woman in his arms, Shen Yifei looked at her directly for the first time.

This is my real wife. She has her own thoughts and her own obsessions. Perhaps I didn't take her seriously enough before and even tormented her repeatedly.

In fact, he had this plan when he returned this time: to hand over the position of sect leader to Luo Qinghe, so that they would all become branches of the Tianyan Sect in the future.

"Wife, let's consummate our marriage tonight, and you'll be the sect leader tomorrow!"

"Keep your word!"

"count!"

Immediately afterwards, Luo Qinghe let out a scream!

"You're not human!"