Fairy, I'm going to control you tightly!

"My little apprentice, I owe you a favor this time. If I can return to my peak form someday, then..."

She lightly touched Ji Nanbei's cheek with her fingertips.

The silver-haired girl recalled her previous experience of being disturbed by that strange jade pendant.

Her cheeks flushed slightly.

She looked at Ji Nanbei and spat in a low voice:

"You little rascal, you're even more handsome than the celestial beings in heaven! It's outrageous! If some old hag kidnaps you, won't you be subjected to her sexual exploitation every day?"

Even so, her hand never left Ji Nanbei's face.

And at this moment—

Ji Nanbei had actually already woken up.

He had already woken up around the time the silver-haired girl approached.

Ji Nanbei's integration of his new talent was not slow, at least much faster than his master's recovery, so he simply fell asleep later.

As a cultivator, he still retained basic vigilance and woke up as soon as he noticed the commotion.

However, at that time, Master was talking to himself, and it would have been somewhat impolite to open his eyes abruptly.

So it's been delayed until now.

If I suddenly opened my eyes now, that would be truly embarrassing!

Ji Nanbei was worried that the other party would get angry and punch him.

This……

But if he doesn't wake up soon, the plot seems to be heading towards paid content!

Ji Nanbei: Master's behavior is somewhat like that of an old witch. I'm not sure. Let's observe further.

A moment later, the master finally removed his hand.

Ji Nanbei also gave timely signs of waking up, such as a slight tremor in his eyebrows and a subtle change in his breathing rhythm.

After a moment of preparation, when he opened his eyes, his master had already stepped back several steps, looking completely nonchalant.

Ji Nanbei then pretended nothing had happened and called out:

"Master."

"Um."

Ji Nanbei thought to himself: What are you pretending to be so aloof for? You were acting like a lovesick woman just now!

After a long silence, Ji Nanbei finally broke the silence: "Master, do you... have some kind of hidden illness?"

The silver-haired girl sighed softly and nodded.

"Since you've seen it all, I'll tell you a little. I once fought against two powerful figures and was severely injured by their combined attack. I still have a burn from Yang Fire inside my body, plus a curse."

"Every so often, the Yang Fire would erupt, devouring the spiritual energy around me. At the same time, the curse would also erode my body, causing me to gradually regress to my most vulnerable form."

"That's why, although I brought you and your senior brothers and sisters back to the sect, I was unable to personally teach them carefully... In truth, it was I who delayed you."

Ji Nanbei shook his head after hearing this.

"I don't know what my senior brothers and sisters think, but at least, Master saved my life, and for that alone, I am filled with gratitude. I imagine my senior brothers and sisters feel the same way."

The silver-haired girl's expression softened somewhat.

"Is that so..."

Ji Nanbei then asked:

"Master, is there any way to cure the yang fire and curse within your body?"

The silver-haired girl shook her head.

"There is almost no hope in this cultivation world, unless one can find the legendary ninth-grade immortal pill, or something even more elusive, the 'Medicine Immortal Body Healing Technique'."

Ji Nanbei's lips twitched slightly.

Ninth-grade immortal pill...

This was the first time he had ever heard of it.

The highest reward the system has ever given is an item of grade eight, and that was for a mission option that, if chosen, would likely result in certain death if the mission was not completed.

However, the Medicine Immortal heals the body...

"By the way, don't you still not know my name?"

The silver-haired girl suddenly remembered this.

Ji Nanbei was taken aback, then nodded.

"Remember this well, my name is Cheng Ling'er."

Cheng Ling'er—that's a rather unusual name.

"Disciple remembers, Master Cheng Ling'er!"

Ji Nanbei responded with a smile, but before he could finish speaking, Cheng Ling'er blasted him out of the cave.

Ji Nanbei: ? ? ?

While he was still full of questions, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead as a medicine bottle was thrown out and hit him on the head.

"Get your arm treated."

After leaving those words, the cave gate slammed shut and he ignored him completely.

Ji Nanbei picked up the jade bottle containing the medicine, feeling helpless.

Damn it, this little brat changes her attitude faster than turning the pages of a book!

He casually examined the ointment and was immediately stunned.

【Nine Lives Restoration Ointment】(Seventh Grade Spiritual Item)

Description: A legendary healing elixir with miraculous effects, capable of reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bones.

It can be exchanged for 700,000 Magic Points.

This is the ointment that Master casually tossed out for him to apply to his arm?!

This is absolutely outrageous!

Ji Nanbei carefully put the bottle of ointment into his storage ring.

He didn't plan to exchange it for magic points; these were life-saving treasures, and he had to keep them safe.

As for his own arm...

[Repairing the host's body...]

[Repair complete. This operation consumed 100 Magic Points.]

See, it's all done now?

After that, Ji Nanbei made a hasty escape.

Inside the cave, Cheng Ling'er sat alone on the Xuanbing couch.

She knew in her heart that she might be nearing the end of her life.

She had previously tried various methods to remove the double threat to her body, but both injuries were extremely difficult to treat.

And she has long lost the domineering confidence she had in her heyday.

However, Cheng Ling'er felt that she could calmly face her impending demise.

"When the time comes, I will pass on the legacy, and that will be the end of it."

Cheng Ling'er looked at the cave ceiling and muttered to herself.

At the same time, she remembered the three apprentices she had taken in when she was down on her luck.

Her criteria for accepting apprentices is very simple—good looks are paramount!

That's not really the case.

However, when Cheng Ling'er found the three of them, she saw something similar in their eyes.

It was a void, and a faint, lingering spark of survival hidden deep within.

Ji Nanbei's senior brother was like this, Lin Mengxi was like this, and Ji Nanbei was also like this.

Cheng Ling'er recalled the scene when she found Ji Nanbei.

It was in the dead of winter in the far north, amidst a blizzard, that a boy, dressed in tattered clothes and emaciated.

Using withered branches as a walking stick, they trudged inch by inch through the snow.

He may have been sheltered in some village before, otherwise he would have frozen and starved to death in such severe cold.

But later, it seems they were kicked out.

Or perhaps he escaped on his own.

The reason is not hard to guess.

Having lived long enough, one has witnessed many sights unseen by ordinary people. Therefore, Cheng Ling'er understands what might happen in this remote, snowy village in the far north, where food and cooking are scarce.

When people are in extreme hunger and cold, they gradually turn into wild beasts.

At that time, their fellow human beings were nothing more than food in their eyes.

The boy may have been unwilling to eat people, or he may have been unwilling to be eaten; in any case, he escaped.

However, after escaping from one village, where can one go in this vast sea of ​​snow?

Where in this vast, white world could he find refuge?

But the boy continued to move forward, little by little, at least towards a faint and unknowable hope.

And so, hope arrived.

"Become my disciple, join the Happy Forest Demon Sect, and become a demonic cultivator. At least you'll survive. What do you say?"

That's what Cheng Ling'er said that day.

Ji Nanbei looked up and saw that ethereal figure, like a banished immortal descending to earth, but he did not immediately agree. Instead, he squeezed out a sentence through his clenched teeth:

"I want to...live, but...live as a human being..."

Cheng Ling'er was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

Later, she took him back to the mountains.