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

Shen Yifei looked into Ao Ying's eyes, and it didn't seem like she was lying. A chill ran from his tailbone straight to the tips of his hair.

This woman is not joking at all.

"Miss Ao, listen to me. Before you kill me, you have to let me explain myself, right?"

"What else is there to say?" Ao Ying stood up from the bedside and approached him step by step. "If you don't want to marry me, I'll have to marry a demon who appeared out of nowhere. I don't want to, so I can only kill you and then commit suicide. That way I won't have to marry a demon."

"Who says I don't want to? Didn't I just say that from the first moment I saw you, I wanted to marry you?"

"Then why are you still hesitating? Why are you asking me all that nonsense?" Ao Ying's tears fell again. "Do you look down on me because I'm a dragon?"

"I swear to God, if I ever despise you, may I be struck by lightning and may my alchemy furnace forever explode!" Shen Yifei grasped her hand tightly. "I, Shen Yifei, swear to the heavens, if I ever despise you, may lightning strike me and may my alchemy furnace forever explode!"

Ao Ying's hand was held in his palm; it was cold and thin, and her fingertips were still trembling slightly.

She stared into Shen Yifei's eyes for a long time, as if trying to discern how much truth or falsehood was in his words.

Shen Yifei looked back at her, his expression more serious than ever before, even his usual playful demeanor completely gone.

"Are you serious?" Ao Ying's voice trailed off, tinged with a hint of probing.

"Really." Shen Yifei held both her hands in his palms. "I hesitated just now because it felt so sudden. You suddenly said you wanted to marry me, I have to think about it, right? A dragon princess's marriage isn't like buying a cabbage at the market, something you can just decide on anytime."

This was the second time Shen Yifei had held Ao Ying's hand, but unexpectedly Ao Ying pulled it away forcefully.

Before Shen Yifei could react, Ao Ying grabbed his hand and picked him up!

The moment Shen Yifei was picked up, he felt like the whole world had changed; he was actually being carried by a woman!

"Miss Ao, you...you put me down!"

Ao Ying completely ignored him.

"Miss Ao... um..."

Shen Yifei stopped struggling; he resigned himself to his fate.

As the saying goes, a wise man submits to circumstances. He also wanted to confess to Ao Ying that he had the blood of the demon royal family flowing through his veins, and that he might be the demon she was talking about.

But Ao Ying didn't give him a chance to explain.

Before Shen Yifei was ready, he heard her let out an "Ah!" and then she froze!

But she still didn't let go of Shen Yifei's mouth, perhaps afraid that he would say "no"!

Ao Ying leaned over him, her big eyes staring straight at Shen Yifei.

After a long while, Ao Ying recovered and opened her mouth, "Are you... are you human?"

Shen Yifei was startled by Ao Ying's words. Did she recognize that he had the aura of a demon?

Something's not right. The demonic energy in my dantian is behaving itself perfectly, without making a sound.

"What...what kind of question is that? What else could I be but a human being?"

"But..." Ao Ying bit her lip, her brows furrowed, "Your...that..."

Shen Yifei breathed a sigh of relief. "Isn't that normal?"

"Normal?" Ao Ying's eyes widened.

……

……

A night of arduous practice.

Dragons have a constitution that is different from ordinary people. Ao Ying grew up under the strict discipline of the Dragon Queen. Her reserve and shyness lasted for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before being overwhelmed by the brute force in her nature.

She was like a child who had received a new and exciting toy, fiddling with it over and over, wanting this one moment and that the next.

Shen Yifei's dantian had already gathered his spiritual energy, demonic energy, and the demonic energy after Gu Yunyan was purified. Now, Ao Ying's dragon power had been added, along with the pure demonic energy that had been hiding deep within his dantian and would surface at any time.

Shen Yifei observed for a while and found that not only did they not clash, but they also formed a subtle balance.

The demonic energy nourished the dragon's power, the dragon's power enhanced the demonic essence, and the demonic essence protected the golden core. Occasionally, a wisp of pure demonic energy would leak out and be consumed by several forces, transformed into purer energy that would be fed back to the dragon.

The small vortex spun faster and faster, compressing various spiritual energies until it finally transformed into a purer force that broke through the barrier of the late Mahayana stage.

The whole process lasted less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea. When Shen Yifei opened his eyes, he felt that the whole world had changed.

The pinnacle of Mahayana Buddhism.

Ao Ying looked at Shen Yifei with disbelief.

"You...you just...broke through?" Ao Ying's eyes widened.

"Hmm, it seems so. It was your dragon power that helped me break through..."

Before Shen Yifei could finish speaking, he was shocked by an even more powerful force emanating from Ao Ying.

Dragon women release a special dragon essence.

This essence is usually hidden deep within the bloodline, and it is said that it will only be activated on the first night of the dragon maiden's marriage.

Shen Yifei hadn't expected this, and neither had Ao Ying.

She had only ever known about cultivation and fighting since she was a child; no one had ever told her about these things.

The things the Dragon Queen said to her were limited to platitudes like "only your husband can remove your veil" and "a woman should know how to be reserved." She knew nothing about the details of such matters concerning men and women.

Moreover, she had no interest in these things before she met Shen Yifei.

The essence of the dragon's energy flowed wildly between the two of them, as if a huge treasure trove had been opened.

"What...what is this?" Ao Ying felt as if her spiritual energy had been ignited, her whole body was burning hot, and even her consciousness began to blur.

"Don't panic, calm yourself down!" Shen Yifei gritted his teeth, enduring the pain of the violent power surging through his meridians, and pressed firmly on Ao Ying's shoulders. "Follow my spiritual energy, don't resist!"

The small vortex in their dantian began to spin wildly, swallowing the dragon essence in and out, circulating repeatedly within their bodies.

Shen Yifei felt as if he were opening up a meridian that had never been opened before. Each impact brought intense pain, but after each breakthrough, there was a sense of openness and comfort.

The newly broken through peak Mahayana realm is showing signs of weakening again under the impact of the Dragon Essence.

The small vortex in the dantian was still slowly rotating, grinding away the remnants of the dragon essence bit by bit, transforming them into purer power stored around the golden core.

If this happens a few more times, he might be able to directly reach the threshold of tribulation.