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Setting aside the childish embarrassment, Yuyan actually felt somewhat impressed.

She was increasingly convinced that Yino was a jack-of-all-trades; not only was he smart and good at chess, but he also had a high sword talent and was skilled in both medicine and massage!

"Don't worry, Senior Sister, I didn't taste anything!"

"So, as long as you feel good, that's all that matters. I learned some of this stuff from my aunt back at the Grand Tutor's Mansion."

Yino smiled earnestly while pursing his lips.

The results were naturally good because he had used dark magic formations, which were far more direct in regulating the meridians than regular acupressure.

A regular massage might not even be able to relieve the acupoints on the sole in an hour, but with the blood lotus mark infusing spiritual energy, he could manage precise micro-manipulation at the meridian level.

"You bring it up again—!"

On the other side, Yuyan almost blushed with anger.

She wanted to speak but decided against it, knowing he was teasing her. She wouldn't engage him in this banter, having learned over the past two months how cheeky he could be. The best way to deal with him was to ignore it.

"By the way, I heard you've been stuck at the Nascent Soul bottleneck for the past two years..."

"Actually, I've been studying ancient texts on the human body at the Scripture Pavilion. From what I've read, if someone's cultivation is stuck, excess spiritual energy will gather in the dantian. If not used or expelled, this energy will crystallize, putting a strain on the body."

"And once spiritual energy crystallizes in the dantian, it becomes extremely difficult to refine, and these crystals will take up space, hindering further cultivation breakthroughs..."

"So, I've learned a new trick that might help ease your Nascent Soul bottleneck."

Yino shifted his gaze from Yuyan's flushed feet, rubbing the tip of his nose, then spoke with the same seriousness.

For some reason, Yuyan now felt hypersensitive, and even the action of Yino rubbing his nose took on another meaning in her mind!

After all, he had just finished massaging her feet, so there was bound to be some of her scent on his hands...

But these peculiar thoughts were just in her head; she wasn't shameless enough to say them out loud.

"I know this principle; Sister Yanran told me to get out more, said the same thing."

"From my observation, it makes sense. The higher the cultivation, the more one needs daily consumption; otherwise, the excess energy accumulates, becoming a burden on the body..."

Yuyan cleared her throat, sat upright, and pushed away the odd thoughts.

Thinking about how she spent her days at Ranmo Peak playing chess and practicing swords, she did feel a bit anxious.

She raised an eyebrow at Yino, curious:

"So, what's your plan?"

"I've recently learned a new formation that might help disperse the crystals in your dantian and then draw out the excess spiritual energy you don't use, preventing it from solidifying in your body..."

Yino said earnestly.

He wasn't entirely making this up; from a scientific standpoint, crystallized energy was indeed hard to refine and would hinder absorption.

But utilizing external force to break the crystals and then extract them actually made cultivation smoother for the practitioner.

What Yino was actually fudging was that, although Yuyan was often indoors, she maintained high-intensity sword practice, and not long ago, she had a life-or-death battle with Gu Wanglan. The spiritual energy crystals accumulated over the past two years were likely shattered and absorbed during that fight.

In short, Yino had two real intentions:

One, to experiment with a dark technique that could "drain spiritual energy" on Yuyan.

Two, to legitimately siphon some spiritual energy from his senior sister to prepare for the potential battles in the Azure Forest.

"Hmm, it sounds reasonable, and it matches what Sister Yanran said."

Yuyan listened and nodded gently, feeling quite reassured.

In fact, her cultivation had always been swift, with the true bottleneck only coming in the last two years, stuck at the Nascent Soul stage.

So, to be honest, she felt anxious about her lack of progress. She was willing to try anything that could help with her cultivation, especially since she trusted Yino.

"What do I need to do then?"

"Senior Sister, I might need to place my hand on your dantian to channel the energy..."

"? ? ? !"

----

In the Western Region, the Ancient Demon Hall.

As the monthly witch tea party commenced, the long table, styled in classic Western fashion, was gradually filled by witch members who had traveled from all corners of the world. The so-called witch cult in common parlance wasn't truly evil; it referred specifically to the nine members of the witch tea party.

And beside each seat at the long table was a mark representing each witch:

Pleasure, Anger, Sloth, Depravity, Nihility, Consciousness, Vanity, Jealousy, Life...

The witch tea party wasn't a strict organization; its name reflected its purpose, merely a gathering place for witches to drink tea and chat.

So usually, not all nine witches would attend.

But today, several witches were surprised to see a cold, pale-haired girl, wrapped in bandages and vines, sitting in the seat marked with the "Life" symbol, which had been empty for a long time.

"Oh my~"

"Liuli Holy Maiden, what a rare guest indeed?"

At the seat marked with the "Pleasure" symbol, a beautiful girl, dressed in a lace evening gown with white silk gloves and elegant demeanor, smiled gently. Her slit-pupiled eyes twinkled with mirth.

But as everyone turned their curious gaze to the life witch, the elegant girl wrapped in vines and bandages remained in silent meditation, her cold and aloof disposition unmistakable.

That is, until the tea party doors were pushed open again, and a fox demoness, dragging three red tails and with a trace of blood on her lips, entered—

"Jinyue."

"You've finally decided to show your face."

The cold girl on the "Life" seat spoke suddenly.

She turned to look, her eyes opening wide to reveal the Full Moon Pupil, and at the same time, the blood-colored vines around her began to grow wildly, turning into tendrils reaching for the fox demoness at the door.

"About the whereabouts of Chen Jianxin's innate Sword Holy Physique—"

"Do you have any leads?"