The Soul Nourishing Pool was right behind Jing Ran. After saying those words, he immediately spun around on the spot.

As expected, Xiang Haikui, who had been lying casually on the ground, suddenly jumped up, attempting to kick him into the pool.

With his evasion, Xiang Haikui nearly fell headfirst into the water.

He hastily reached out to grab her arm. As she used the leverage to steady herself, she simultaneously exerted force with her arm, throwing him into the pool and splashing up a large spray of water.

“I think Di Jun’s eyes have been on top of his head for too long and haven’t looked in a mirror recently. Hurry and look down at your behavior!” Xiang Haikui stood by the poolside, her face dark as she berated him.

Her boss’s words could be venomous, too, but they were more teasing in nature, leaving one merely depressed after hearing them.

This idiot’s words, however, always made her furious.

The water only reached Jing Ran’s chest. After steadying himself in the pool, he wiped the water from his face, not understanding why, when he normally communicated seamlessly with others, even Han Qi, he always managed to provoke her anger.

Xiang Haikui walked back to her sword case and sat down with her back to him. Whatever anger she felt, since there was a powerful leg to cling to, she might as well focus on nourishing her soul.

“The Di Jun needn’t waste words on me. No matter how many difficulties you’ve faced, what do they have to do with me?”

Besides, that wasn’t the point.

No matter how vile his nature was or how unacceptable she found him, that wasn’t the point.

At most, she just felt disappointed. After all, she hadn’t been infatuated with him before because he was “noble and righteous.”

Her character wasn’t necessarily that good either—selfish and opportunistic, having knelt countless times just to survive. What right did she have to criticize others?

What truly made her unable to accept was being used as a weapon.

She had always lived in this fear—his kindness toward her was like thorns piercing her heart.

When Han Qi used her, she was merely angry.

Her senior was different; he had once been her “light.”

“It seems you don’t accept my explanation,” Jing Ran said from behind her.

“Senior didn’t use to talk so much. The Di Jun explaining too much seems more like a cover-up.” She turned her head with a cold smile.

Having lived for countless years, could she leave such a deep impression on him just by rushing to his aid without regard for herself?

Was it because she had pulled down his pants?

Taking such a great risk to reincarnate and undergo tribulation—was it just to meet a selfless accessory pet?

Even thinking with one’s toes, it was impossible.

“In the last thousand years, I haven’t spoken as much as I have with you in these few days,” Jing Ran leaped out of the pool, his black robe clinging to his body and dripping water. “If you don’t like hearing it, I won’t speak anymore.”

He was reluctant to speak anyway. Whether she understood or acknowledged him, what did it matter?

Jing Ran sat cross-legged again, a golden light appearing around his body, quickly drying his clothes.

Neither of them spoke anymore.

Two or three days passed, and Xiang Haikui noticed that the layer of golden light around him had changed from a faint halo to something increasingly dazzling and brilliant.

It forced her to move farther away; otherwise, she constantly felt a sense of pressure and suffocation.

He was unbelievably powerful.

Indeed, for bigshots like him, whose energy reserves could circle the equator twice, they could make tremendous progress in a short time.

She wondered how her boss was doing.

In a few days, the two of them would face off.

Come to think of it, Xiang Haikui had never really seen her boss fight anyone. The only time was when he kicked Luo Yunxiu in the face?

She always felt that her boss seemed more intellectually formidable but not particularly skilled in combat, especially with his serious waist injury.

Her boss was truly being too impulsive this time; he should have rescued her master and Brother Ba first.

“Why are you secretly watching me?” Jing Ran suddenly opened his eyes, the suspicion in his gaze visible.

Xiang Haikui was startled. “What’s wrong with me looking at you? Didn’t you say earlier that you liked the way I looked at you?”

Jing Ran’s facial lines gradually softened. “My perception of my surroundings is stronger when I’m nourishing my soul. Don’t have too many thoughts.”

“Oh.”

He closed his eyes again and continued soul nourishing.

How powerful! Xiang Haikui silently sighed. Just an evil thought in her mind, a moment’s hesitation, a couple of extra glances at him, and he could sense it?

As for that evil thought, she had been wondering whether she should employ some beauty strategy to entangle her senior and slow down his recovery…

She had only been thinking about pulling her senior into conversation, going shopping.

Tian Kuang had misunderstood her intentions and was excitedly howling.

Since Tian Kuang had entered the seventh level, her connection with it had grown increasingly strong, like a demon constantly whispering in her ear.

Every word is a bewitchment.

Like now, that voice was like a feather, continuously tickling her ear.

Little Kui, isn’t your dream to conquer heaven, earth, and your boss?

You’ve conquered your boss, now you can conquer heaven!

Just look at that Di Jun. Though he’s scum, he’s still the man you secretly loved for years.

Sleep with him, drain him, keep him in bed.

Fulfill your longtime wish, end it there, and your escape will be easier.

You can also cuckold Yin Changli, and I’ll jump directly from the seventh level to the ninth.

Trust me, once I reach the ninth level, no one in this world will dare bully you again.

Being heartless isn’t a good way to solve pain; having a wolf’s heart and dog’s lungs is.

Better to let me betray the world than let the world betray me.

Little Kui…

“Get away!” Xiang Haikui suddenly covered her ears with both hands, her eyes reddening, showing an expression of pain.

But this pain immediately disappeared as a gentle breeze carrying a faint mint scent wafted by.

She slowly opened her eyes to see a hand with chaotic palm lines covering the top of her spiritual platform, channeling spiritual energy to her.

Jing Ran was half-crouching in front of her, frowning. “Your cultivation has advanced too quickly, and your mental state can’t keep up. You’re showing signs of cultivation deviation.”

Xiang Haikui certainly knew this. Before, at the fifth level, when transforming into a flood dragon, she often couldn’t control herself and would bash her head against mountains.

In a short time, her cultivation had risen from sixth rank to the peak of eighth rank, and Tian Kuang had also risen from the fifth level to the seventh.

Even without transforming into a flood dragon, reactions were beginning to appear.

“Tian Kuang is a demonic sword. The demonic mental tribulations are heavier than human ones, increasingly difficult the higher you go, especially during Dao merging, which is extremely challenging.” Jing Ran glanced at the Tian Kuang sword case beside her. “Did Yin Changli give this to you?”

Xiang Haikui didn’t respond.

Jing Ran said, “To change his fate, he’s accelerating your growth like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, which is simply…”

“Isn’t this all because of your fucking Heavenly Race?” Xiang Haikui shouted at him, telling him to shut up.

She stood up, carrying the sword case as she walked out, wanting to get some fresh air.

It seemed she and Lu Xiqiao were facing similar problems.

Their cultivation had advanced, but their mental states couldn’t keep up.

He was affected by the Impure Fruit of Dao merging, while she was influenced by Tian Kuang’s demonic nature.

Since advancing to the seventh rank, she hadn’t transformed into a flood dragon to fight. She truly couldn’t imagine whether she would go mad and be unable to revert.

“By the way, let my friend leave the Other Shore City. He’s already susceptible to impure energy, and the Underworld’s impure energy is too heavy.” She turned to look at Jing Ran, taking the opportunity to make this request.

“No one is stopping him.” Jing Ran hadn’t sat down to nourish his soul and appeared ready to follow her out.

After leaving, Jing Ran didn’t say where to go, so Xiang Haikui walked randomly, taking the opportunity to visit the inner city.

It was surprisingly similar to a human city, with streets lined up and people coming and going.

Xiang Haikui didn’t know if these were humans, but they didn’t look like ghosts either.

Just as she was about to ask Jing Ran, the Tian Kuang in her hand hummed and vibrated, warning of danger.

Xiang Haikui was about to draw her sword when Jing Ran pushed her away.

A crack appeared in the air before them, and three black shadows flew out. Two people jointly wielded two brown chains, binding Jing Ran.

The third person raised a strange, silver-glowing crescent sickle and chopped toward his shoulder.

Jing Ran didn’t move and showed no signs of using magic.

When the crescent sickle struck, it was repelled by a suddenly erupting golden light, flipping back to cut off the head of the sickle wielder.

The others holding the chains were also toppled after the golden light broke the chains in the middle.

One person died on the spot, while the other didn’t die immediately and pointed at him, saying hatefully, “You’re…”

Then he died with blood flowing from his seven apertures.

There were no ordinary people in the city, so everyone remained calm when witnessing such an ambush, just watching.

Now, one by one, their faces showed shock.

Combined with recent rumors, some guessed his identity and began to kneel.

Xiang Haikui’s lips twitched. This was different from incinerating those two low-cultivation women with spiritual perception.

These three had cultivation levels high enough to trigger Tian Kuang’s seventh-level warning, yet they died in an instant…

Moreover, her senior hadn’t even made a move; he was using the three to test how well his protective golden light had recovered.

Seeing him frown and shake his head, he seemed quite dissatisfied.

It’s over.

Is her boss going to die?

And Xiang Haikui now understood how precious that kick she had given him earlier was.

Had she known, she should have kicked him more.

A voice transmitted to them: “Di Jun.”

This was Jing Ran’s guard from the upper realm.

“Since you’re waiting for Yin Changli to come, the Other Shore City is currently undefended. Some clans have learned that you’ve just awakened from tribulation and are gathering against you. Perhaps…”

“It’s fine.” Jing Ran quickly glanced at the corpses on the ground. “Which clan are these three from?”

Within the Three Realms, there weren’t just the Heavenly Race, Mountain and Sea Clan, and Human Race; there were countless other races, though none were significant.

“This subject will be investigated immediately.”

Jing Ran spoke calmly, “Exterminate those that haven’t been exterminated, and those that have been, exterminate them again.”

“Yes!”

After the commotion passed, Jing Ran looked at the kneeling people around. “Xiang classmate, it seems I’ve spoiled your mood. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Xiang Haikui followed him.

As they walked, he asked, “You took a breath earlier and then relaxed. What, did you think it was Yin Changli?”

Xiang Haikui rubbed her stomach. “I’m hungry.”

Jing Ran understood where to go now, but continued asking, “Do you also believe in your heart that he will come to take you away?”

Xiang Haikui was a very honest person. After witnessing his true power, she felt uneasy, walking beside him with her hair standing on end.

But she still forced herself to say, “Earlier you explained a lot, saying you’re good to me simply because you want to be, but in the end, aren’t you still using me to lure him?”

Jing Ran turned his head to look at her. “Is there a conflict between being good to you and using you to lure him?”

Xiang Haikui looked up. “I don’t understand Senior’s logic.”

“If it were another woman, I would hang her on the city tower and have someone cut a piece of her flesh every hour.” Jing Ran raised his arm, originally intending to scratch her delicate cheek with his fingernail, but seeing she seemed frightened, even her fine down stood up.

He hesitated and put his hand down. “Yin Changli has been sliced by a thousand cuts before and understands this pain best. He might come even faster.”

Xiang Haikui said, “Then I thank you.”

“Yin Changli is truly difficult to deal with,” Jing Ran massaged his brow in a headache. “I’m afraid the entire Mountain and Sea Clan’s brains are all in his head alone.”

That frail young man who had once knelt at his feet had grown up.

Jing Ran deeply regretted not eliminating him earlier.

But who could have imagined that this young master of the Dragon Torch Clan, famous for his weakness, weeping over flowers, would one day grow to be so indestructible?

“According to the Xuantian Mirror’s prediction, both I and the Heavenly Race will experience a great calamity. Xiang classmate, you are the chance of survival I earned by risking my life through tribulation…”

Xiang Haikui said, “But you said earlier that your weapon against Yin Changli isn’t me?”

“Indeed, it’s not you. I don’t want to hurt you, so I chose an indirect method, one that involves you.”

Jing Ran led her to a terrace. Standing there, one could see many dolphin-like creatures joyfully leaping on the surface. “As long as you have no feelings for Yin Changli, you’ll be safe.”

Xiang Haikui couldn’t understand. “What do you mean by ‘involves me’?”

Jing Ran didn’t explain. “You just need to stay obediently by my side, eyes only on me, and you won’t experience any harm. On this point, I can guarantee you.”

A group of serving maids entered in a line, setting up tables, chairs, and tableware on the terrace.

Then plates of fine wine and delicacies were served.

There was just one floor-level long table. They should have sat side by side, but Xiang Haikui chose to sit across from him.

Jing Ran waved his sleeve to dismiss everyone, lifted the wine pot, and looked at her. “Do you drink?”

Xiang Haikui shook her head and ate meat with her head down.

Jing Ran poured and drank by himself, not touching his chopsticks, watching her eat.

After finishing two plates of braised pork knuckle, she felt greasy and grabbed some plums from the fruit plate to eat.

In short, she ate for a long time without speaking. Jing Ran wanted to close the distance between them, but didn’t know if he would ignite this firecracker again.

He pondered for a moment. “Xiang classmate, back on Earth, you said I saved you. Because of my lack of a sense of reality, I don’t remember it clearly. Could you tell me about it in detail?”

Xiang Haikui’s hand paused.

The scene from that day, which she recalled every so often, had been imprinted in her mind.

She began to describe it like writing. “It was one night, around ten o’clock. I had just finished my part-time job and was passing through a dimly lit alley. Fine rain was falling from the sky, and I was cornered by five thugs…”

As she described it, Jing Ran gradually remembered. He took a sip of wine. “I recall now. That day, I had just finished watching a movie and was taking that alley home as a shortcut.”

But someone was blocking the entrance to the alley, telling him to take another route. He ignored them and walked in anyway.

Then he knocked down a group of people blocking the way.

Afterward, he found a girl huddled in the corner, hugging her shoulders and trembling.

He had saved her in passing, which made sense. Xiang Haikui continued her story.

As she spoke about these events, Xiang Haikui suddenly felt that her feelings for her senior returned. Looking at the “Di Jun” before her, he didn’t seem so detestable or frightening anymore.

“Then, Senior walked toward me, extending your black umbrella to me.”

Nowadays, most umbrellas are foldable. That straight-handled umbrella looked somewhat rigid and serious, but at that moment, Xiang Haikui truly understood the charm of a straight-handled black umbrella.

Like a black sword, it completely pierced her maiden heart!

“I grabbed the tip of the umbrella, and you held the handle, lifting me from the ground.”

Jing Ran continued to recall, taking another sip of wine. “Right, because I have a bit of a cleanliness obsession. You were huddled in a pile of garbage, all dirty, and I didn’t want to touch you, so I used the umbrella…”

Xiang Haikui:?

A breath caught in her chest, almost unable to rise.

“It’s alright, I can understand a cleanliness obsession…” Xiang Haikui said. “After that, Senior gave me the umbrella…”

Jing Ran remembered more. “I originally wanted you to hold the tip, but you grabbed more toward the front, dirtying the umbrella fabric, so I simply gave the umbrella to you.”

Xiang Haikui: …

She lowered her head to eat meat.

Suddenly, she heard Jing Ran say, “But I regretted it very quickly.”

Xiang Haikui found hope in despair, raising her head from the bowl, her eyes full of expectation.

Jing Ran pointed at the sky. “Not long after leaving that alley, it started pouring. I was stuck under an eave for half an hour, deeply regretting giving the umbrella to you…”

Xiang Haikui stuffed a chicken leg into his mouth. “Would you please shut up!”