You understand… my foot!
Ye Luqing stared speechlessly at the Sakura-haired ball of fluff cradled in her arms.
Though this pink-haired bundle looked delicate and gentle, the constant surge of affection radiating from within made Ye Luqing feel somewhat burdened.
A naive, lovestruck girl was like a blank sheet of paper, blatantly emblazoned with “I like you.”
No matter how hard she tried to hide it, every move and gesture betrayed her feelings.
Even though Ye Luqing had been an inexperienced little cook in her past life, she could easily detect this.
[Ying Qianqian Corruption Value increased to 48% (Stage One*)]
[Ying Qianqian Corruption Value increased to 50% (Stage One*)]
Listening to the System’s incessant chirping, Ye Luqing felt completely at a loss.
Her current priority was definitely Xiao Qingxuan, leaving little room to respond to Ying Qianqian.
And this seemingly innocent pink-haired fluffball was actually planning to push back against her.
“I have to come up with a way to make Xiao Ying drop that idea,” Ye Luqing thought.
The formation diagram of the Yin-Yang Meridian Array flashed in her mind, the intricate patterns twinkling like stars in succession.
But in her eyes, those stars had long been aligned.
Got it.
Leaning on Ying Qianqian’s shoulder, she whispered softly:
“Let’s give it a try. If you do well, Senior Sister has a reward for you.”
“A reward?”
Ying Qianqian’s water-blue eyes flickered with excitement, brimming with anticipation.
She didn’t care what the reward was—anything from Senior Sister was something she’d love.
Seeing this, Ye Luqing nodded in satisfaction and immediately released her spiritual power, concretely forming the array diagram for a dual formation.
“I’ve thought it through. I’ll control the formation core for the dual formation. Xiao Ying, you handle the guidance and follow-up parts, making sure to synchronize perfectly with the array I’m constructing.”
“Also, in the second dual formation, I want to add some patterns that transmit and guide true Qi. You’ll be responsible for those extra parts.”
Listening to Ye Luqing’s steady and detailed explanation of the formation, Ying Qianqian was utterly stunned.
In such a short time, Senior Sister had not only assigned formation tasks based on her capabilities but even improved upon the dual formation.
This was the very formation their master had created upon breaking through the Void-Seeking Realm, and yet Senior Sister could still modify it.
“What’s wrong? Don’t understand something?”
Ye Luqing tilted her head slightly.
“N-no… I get it all. Let’s try it!”
Fueled by determination, Ying Qianqian was ready to give her all—if Senior Sister carried the main load of the dual formation, how could she slack off on the minor parts?
***
Two hours later.
Darkness had fully settled, with only the Baiyu Platform and the surrounding night candles emitting a soft glow.
Seeing the exhausted little Ying Qianqian collapsed on the platform, seemingly asleep, Ye Luqing also collapsed backward.
Her true Qi was completely drained, leaving only a sliver of spiritual power to sustain her consciousness.
“Let’s call it a day…”
Ye Luqing panted.
After lying still for a moment, she slowly got up and walked over to Ying Qianqian.
Looking at the peaceful sleeping face of the pink-haired fluff, Ye Luqing tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“Really worked hard…”
Although leading the dual formation seemed more taxing, their reserves of true Qi and spiritual power were not comparable.
As a Golden Core cultivator who had dropped from the Nascent Soul Realm, she lacked only the ‘rank’ and ‘Nascent Soul’ of that realm; her true Qi and spiritual power still hovered at early to even mid-Nascent Soul levels.
Therefore, although she was the leader of the dual formation, it was the supporting Ying Qianqian who exhausted her true Qi and spiritual power first.
She picked up the sleeping Ying Qianqian from the ground and immediately slung her over her back.
“Pretty heavy…”
This petite pink-haired fluff, not even a meter and a half tall, required some effort from Ye Luqing, whose true Qi was depleted, to carry.
Ye Luqing turned her head slightly, gazing at Xiao Ying’s angelic sleeping face.
Pink strands of hair clung to her cheeks, her long eyelashes fluttered with each step, and her slightly parted cherry lips begged to be kissed.
“Senior Sister Ye… reward…”
Ying Qianqian murmured softly.
“Still thinking about that at a time like this,” Ye Luqing chuckled.
“Since Xiao Ying worked so hard, of course I’ll keep my promise.”
With that, she opened the Blackening Value Shop.
After completing the System Mission “Team up with Ying Qianqian for the Doubles Match,” her points had soared to 1,200.
The reward—a random discount on an Earth-grade skill combo—was the trio of Threadbinding Art, Cloud-Transcending Hand, and Flower Shadow Overlay.
Together, these three Earth-grade skills cost 2,800 points, but the combo package was 2,000 points.
Confirming the team completion with Ying Qianqian granted her a 50% discount, making the total only 1,000 points for all three.
If these skills didn’t belong to the Hehuan Path, she would have snapped them up without hesitation.
Ye Luqing sighed. Whether for Ruyi Pei’s Stage Two Corruption Value or her grand plan to train Xiao Qingxuan, these were indispensable.
Her combat strength paled in comparison to Xiao Qingxuan’s, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t catch up.
For now, she had to try a different approach.
Having chosen this path, there was no turning back.
She made up her mind and bought the trio.
With the Blackening Value points dropping back to 200, her mind was flooded with a series of peach-colored memories.
A vast amount of information on Threadbinding Art, Cloud-Transcending Hand, and Flower Shadow Overlay poured into her consciousness, as if she had executed these skills countless times.
“Ugh… ha…”
Just as her brain felt on the verge of overload from these Earth-grade skills, the System’s voice suddenly rang in her ear.
[Detected host wearing title “Heartthrob,” triggering hidden effect: Hehuan skills learning difficulty -50%]
The immense weight pressing down on her seemed to be cut in half, and the pressure eased significantly.
She gasped heavily for air and collapsed uncontrollably, using the last of her strength to brace herself on the ground.
Her originally azure-blue true Qi whirlpool gradually shifted into a seductive pink.
Compared to the profound-level formation skills she had previously mastered, these three Hehuan-path Earth-grade skills instantly transformed Ye Luqing’s true Qi attribute.
The sensation of bones melting and reforming after taking the Soulshaping Pill returned, but this time it was only her body that changed—her soul remained the same.
“Mmhm…”
Even Ying Qianqian on her back seemed affected, instinctively wrapping her arms around Ye Luqing like an octopus in her sleep.
After a while, Ye Luqing successfully mastered all three skills.
“Phew…”
She exhaled deeply.
Unlike the method of receiving teachings from Bai Yuhan, the skills bought from the Blackening Value Shop were forcibly imprinted directly into her brain, even including the experience of using the skills.
But the process was much rougher.
Fortunately, the Heartthrob effect reduced the difficulty, or it would have taken until morning to fully comprehend these three skills—and she wasn’t sure she could have held on that long.
Just as Ye Luqing stood up, she felt a pair of soft but firm thighs clamping tightly around her waist, radiating intense heat.
Between the two of them, sticky sweat coated their skin, gluing them together.
“Senior Sister Ye… so hot…”
“Senior Sister… Senior Sister…”
Feeling her waist tighten, Ye Luqing immediately activated Threadbinding Art, and the Ying Qianqian on her back instantly quieted.
“This girl…”
Ye Luqing clicked her tongue.
No wonder among the three potential romance options, she was the most eager to ‘push back’—her offense was really strong.
She stood up and headed toward the small courtyard by Azure Water Lake, glancing at the System prompt in her mind.
[Skill Chain Progress: Hehuan Physique, Intermediate (3/6)]
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