This girl Er’er had been pampered throughout her life.

In the mortal realm, she was an imperial princess who lived in luxury for eighteen years, with extravagant food, clothing, and possessions. Under Taihe Xianshi, she was even more beloved by her senior brothers and sisters because of her pleasing appearance, never having to worry about cultivation matters.

In other words, her eight hundred years of cultivation contained much superficial advancement. Her physical body was considerably more fragile than ordinary immortals. Having just had her meridians disrupted by something of unknown origin, her internal energy was already in chaos. Now, being frightened by Li Ye, her blood surged upward, and she suddenly lost consciousness.

Falling from the cloud, she was as light and thin as a piece of paper.

Li Ye had no intention of catching her. Since he planned to kill her to silence her anyway, letting her fall directly would save him the effort of doing it himself.

But he hadn’t expected that as this minor immortal was falling, the lingering negative energy on her wrist suddenly ignited like sandalwood incense. Milky white smoke overflowed, wrapping around her entire body in graceful, lingering wisps.

Her descent stopped abruptly. The smoke cradled her, seeming to hesitate about something.

His expression changing slightly, Li Ye swiftly took action.

Scorching firelight tumbled and rolled directly toward her. The milky white smoke, as if seeing a ghost, immediately vanished without a trace.

…

…

Still trying to escape? Li Ye sneered, grabbing the minor immortal back with a reverse hand motion and firmly gripping her wrist.

He knew that old thief Kan Ze wouldn’t surrender to him so easily, but he hadn’t expected him to sacrifice his ten-thousand-year soul essence to play this shell game.

“Get out,” Li Ye narrowed his eyes.

The minor immortal before him remained unconscious, hanging limply as he held her by the waist, her small face pale and motionless.

Li Ye grew impatient and infused Li with fire energy into her Baihui acupoint, intending to catch the turtle in the jar.

But when he probed, he paused in surprise.

Empty?

Any immortal should have true energy within their body, but this one was remarkable—her dantian was empty, and many of her meridians remained unopened.

How had she even ascended to the Nine Heavens?

Giving her a look of complex emotions, Li Ye continued his investigation.

However, after exploring all her meridians, Kan Ze’s energy signature never appeared again. The white mist from earlier seemed like just his imagination. The minor immortal in his hands was truly weak and clean.

That old thief Kan Ze might lack other abilities, but his concealment skills were truly exceptional.

Anger rising, Li Ye pinched Er’er’s waist.

He had always believed in eliminating problems at their root, so this minor immortal certainly had to die.

But now, with Kan Ze’s soul essence hidden in her body, killing her without capturing it first would be like breaking open the host, setting the soul essence free. At that point, the soul essence could come and go as it pleased, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to form a new soul more quickly.

Yet if he didn’t kill her, as long as this minor immortal lived, Kan Ze would have a chance to return.

Li Ye coldly looked at the minor immortal in his hands.

In her unconscious state, Er’er was soaking in a hot spring.

Taihe Xianshi valued frugality, so naturally there were no such things as hot springs in his immortal gate. Having studied for several hundred years, she finally had a chance to enjoy one, so of course she was splashing about happily.

Just as she was enjoying herself, she suddenly felt a pain in her waist.

Er’er feared pain the most. She immediately frowned and whimpered softly, but before she could make more than a couple of sounds, her mouth was covered by a piece of roasted meat.

The meat smelled so delicious that she happily opened her mouth to bite it, but after several attempts, her teeth couldn’t reach it. Frustrated, Er’er extended her tongue and curled it, trying to pull the meat in to eat it. But after just a couple of licks, the roasted meat suddenly stiffened.

Immediately after, everything around her rapidly cooled down, and a murderous aura began to spread silently.

Unexpectedly sensing danger, Er’er jerked her head up to hide, but her waist hurt so badly that no matter how she tried to escape, her three souls and seven spirits returned to their rightful places, and she suddenly woke up.

The hot spring was gone, as was the surrounding light. Tall black pillars stood silently around her, making the palace seem extraordinarily vast.

Er’er moved her body slightly and found herself sitting in someone’s embrace. The person’s fiery red sleeves spread across the massive throne, one hand supporting his forehead, the other pinching her waist.

“You wake up quickly,” he spoke, his misty eyes falling on her face, cold and obscure.

Er’er hesitated, looking at him and then at her waist. Setting aside the murderous intent, she first puckered her lips pitifully: “Why are you pinching me?”

“I could also kill you.”

“I know,” Er’er waved dismissively, then pried his fingers away, her eyes welling with tears. “But that doesn’t mean you can pinch me.”

“…”

Do minor immortals with low cultivation also have poor cognitive abilities? If he could kill her, why couldn’t he pinch her?

Li Ye couldn’t understand, his brows furrowing.

Ordinary minor immortals avoided him at all costs. Being threatened by him would send them into seclusion for hundreds of years.

But this minor immortal was different. Upon waking, she began whimpering and clutching her waist. Not only was she unafraid of him, but she also settled comfortably in his embrace, blinking her eyes and asking: “Is there hot water here?”

Li Ye:?

This was the Li clan’s immortal gate, not an inn.

“No.”

“Ah.” Er’er drooped her head. “But my waist hurts.”

“When you’re dead, it won’t hurt anymore.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

Er’er climbed out of his embrace, completely ignoring his threat, merely wrinkling her nose as she surveyed her surroundings: “Why is it so empty? There’s nothing here.”

She scampered over to a space on the left and drew a circle with her hands: “Could you set up a bathtub for me here? I’ll feel better after soaking for a while.”

“No.”

“What about a warming pan, then?”

“No.”

“…” Er’er looked at him with extremely disappointed eyes, as if to say, someone with such high cultivation couldn’t manage even these simple things.

Li Ye’s temple throbbed.

He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t afraid, despite him displaying such obvious killing intent. Though he had decided to keep her alive to capture Kan Ze’s soul essence, in her eyes, he should have appeared as a demon god who killed without blinking.

What gave her the audacity to still want a bath?

“Are you injured somewhere that hasn’t healed, making it inconvenient to use too much true energy?” After thinking for a while, Er’er considerately said, “Then I’ll create one myself.”

Saying this, she formed hand seals and muttered incantations.

Li Ye frowned as he watched.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a small wooden basin appeared with a “poof” in the vast palace. It was only the size of a palm and had no water in it.

Er’er, however, seemed quite satisfied, clapping her hands and praising herself: “I’ve improved again.”

Li Ye: “…”

Had she spent eight hundred years of cultivation just on thickening her skin?

Snorting, he raised his sleeve.

Boom—

Half the palace floor split and sank, and a spring of water surged upward. In an instant, a hot spring formed with smooth edges, wild flowers sprouting around it, steam rising, and mist swirling.

Er’er’s eyes widened.

Could he create a hot spring?

She covered her heart with both hands, eyes sparkling as she turned back to look up at the great lord on the throne.

This expression was more pleasing than her previous look.

Li Ye lightly snorted, disdainfully flicking his sleeve.

How inexperienced.