Back at Immortal Rain Valley, six hours after the fight at red flame fortress...
"Why... why did they do it?" Xiao Lu's voice trembled, confusion filling her hazy beautiful eyes.
Sitting in the moonlit forest, Su Xiaobai remained calm, his gaze steady. "Because they can... People with power act ruthlessly when there are no consequences."
Under the pale moonlight, he gently fed her a 'Rejuvenation Pill', a small, round pill with a soft jade-green hue.
It emitted a faint herbal fragrance, its essence refined to heal minor wounds swiftly.
Pills like this were powerful medicinal items crafted by alchemists, each containing concentrated spiritual energy.
Whoosh!
The pill's energy dissolved into her 'dantian', the core of cultivation within every cultivator, where spiritual energy is stored and refined.
Almost immediately, Xiao Lu's torn hands began to regenerate.
The bruises faded, and the pain vanished in moments. She stared in awe. "It's... healing so fast," she whispered, marveling at the miraculous recovery.
Su Xiaobai smiled faintly, resting beside her with a sigh. As the pill worked its magic, something stirred within him.
Inside his 'dantian', a small 'Elemental Seed' shimmered—a sign of his breakthrough from qi refinement to qi condensation realm. At this stage, he could not only manipulate elemental energy but also condense true qi outside his body, making his attacks far more powerful.
The breakthrough had come unexpectedly.
His veins, half attuned to 'Yin Qi', had absorbed the cold, deathly energy lingering around the corpses of Li Gong and the others he had slain.
'Yin Qi' is present in places of death, shadows, and cold environments, often feared for its dark nature.
Yet, Su Xiaobai had unknowingly refined and absorbed it, allowing it to power his breakthrough.
Until now, he had never known his body could harness 'Yin Qi' so effectively.
As the yin qi helped him advance, the other half of his one-hundred-six veins pulsed with the volatile force of thunder, an energy tied to his second devouring sky serpant bloodline.
Both Yin and thunder now flowed within him, but his sea of consciousness remained turbulent, as his newly awakened azure dragon bloodline clashed with the others, fighting for dominance.
Despite the pain in his head from their chaotic fight, Su Xiaobai's smile remained — After nearly three decades of living a cursed existence, being able to cultivate like others filled him with quiet satisfaction.
After being healed, Xiao Lu, dressed in a feminine white and seductive red robe, glanced at Su Xiaobai. Her usual sly, calculating expression softened as tears welled in her eyes.
The woman who had always sought to seize opportunities now found herself at a loss.
"Hm?" Su Xiaobai raised his brows as she stood up, then knelt before him, bowing deeply.
Thud!
"Thank you for healing me... but I don't know how to repay you," her voice trembled, the usual confidence fading.
Su Xiaobai blinked, surprised by her sudden sincerity. "Repay me? You shielded the attack for me, didn't you?" His tone was casual, dismissing it as if it were nothing. In truth, his invincible body would have managed, but he hadn't expected her to take the hit.
After all, she had always seemed more concerned with her own survival.
"But... you saved me before, more than once. I can't just walk away as if it means nothing," Xiao Lu whispered, her eyes filled with guilt.
She wasn't used to this kind of indebtedness.
Su Xiaobai watched her carefully. Was she talking about the 'deflowering thorny flower' incident? He'd saved her for his own reasons back then, but seeing the conflict in her eyes now, he could tell something had changed, and she was quite determined all of a sudden.
"It would take you years worth of spirit stones to repay me," he said, hoping to deflect her growing sense of obligation.
Her eyes dimmed, her voice faltering. "I... I don't have that kind of wealth."
He sighed, not wanting to push her further. His mood was still good, and he had no interest in dragging this out. "If you're really so set on repaying me, work for me. I'll pay you a hundred spirit stones a month."
Thud!
To his surprise, Xiao Lu dropped to her knees, her voice trembling with emotion "... I don't want payment. From now on, I'll follow you—whether as your horse or your cow, I'll serve you for the rest of my life."
"..." Su Xiaobai groaned inwardly. "It's only for a few years, how did it become a lifetime?" He chuckled bitterly.
Xiao Lu, still kneeling before him, looked up, her eyes filled with determination. "You don't understand. No one has ever shown me such kindness... I've spent my life scraping by, taking what I could. But you... you've saved me more than once, even when you didn't have to."
Su Xiaobai scratched the back of his head, a wry smile playing on his lips. "I didn't save you to have you dedicate your life to me, just so you know."
"But it's different for me." Xiao Lu's voice was steady, though tears clung to her eyes. "I've been alone for so long. Having someone who 'values' my life... it's worth more than anything I could ever repay. If you'll allow it, I'll follow you. Not for money, but because I believe in you. Just food and shelter would be enough."
Su Xiaobai shook his head, groaning inwardly. He needed people, and he knew how to use their weaknesses to his advantage. If she were driven by spirit stones, he'd be happy to take her in as a maid to boost his strength.
But her offer of lifelong service made her... unpredictable.
"How old are you?" he asked suddenly.
"Thirty-two," Xiao Lu replied quickly, her nervousness showing. Was he looking for younger women?
"Thirty-two and still in the Qi Awakening realm..." Su Xiaobai muttered, sizing her up. Her cultivation was... mediocre at best. Unlike him, whose talent was restricted by locked meridians, she had no such excuse.
At twenty-seven, even with his meridians sealed, he'd reached the peak of Qi Refinement.
His talent wasn't lacking—he could keep pace with geniuses once his restrictions were lifted. But her? She'd likely never make it past her current realm.
Even if she started now — Unless she was some heaven-sent genius, catching up with him would be impossible.
He was wary of taking someone so weak into his ranks. It could slow him down.
"Was anyone in your family a cultivator?" Su Xiaobai asked, probing her background.
Xiao Lu shook her head, her voice dimming. "No..."
"Then how did you end up as a waitress?"
Xiao Lu bit her lip and began explaining. Her mother had raised her alone, her father missing for most of their lives. Su Xiaobai inferred she was likely a bastard child, but let her continue.
Her mother had once worked as a servant in the house of a powerful man in another part of the country, but after breaking something valuable, they lost everything.
Her mother had to sell off what little they had left to repay the debt. Even that wasn't enough, and when Xiao Lu was seven, they auctioned off everything—including her.
"And your mother? Any idea what happened to her?" Su Xiaobai asked, curious.
He wouldn't want someone bound by chains; it's too risky given his current situation. His enemies could easily kidnap her mother and force her to betray him.
Xiao Lu's face darkened. "She... she wasn't a practitioner. She had no value. She was either sold as a sex slave or killed for her organs...."
Su Xiaobai sighed. "Leave it. What about you?"
Xiao Lu nodded and told him about being brought to Silverblue City, where she worked for Fierce Tang. Fortunately, her body hadn't matured at the time, or she would have been sold as a sex slave. She worked as a waitress until her looks started attracting attention, and Fierce Tang kept moving her to different businesses, using her to lure customers.
Su Xiaobai's eyes blinked. He'd already made up his mind, but he had to ask, "You've never done anything like this before. So why did you choose me back at the inn?" His gaze sharpened with curiosity.
He looked her over, surprised she was still a virgin at her age, when she met him.
For a practitioner, preserving yin essence had immense benefits for cultivation, but for someone like Xiao Lu, there was no such advantage.
Xiao Lu hesitated, her eyes wavering before she finally spoke. "You... you looked innocent and easy to deceive."