Lu Ning was awakened by a waft of delicious food aroma.
She slowly opened her heavy eyelids, and the first thing she saw was the magnificent dome of the Phoenix Palace bedchamber.
“Awake?”
A cool, clear voice sounded at her ear.
Lu Ning turned her head with difficulty and saw Ji Linglong sitting at the bedside.
The proud Princess Royal looked somewhat haggard at the moment, her usually immaculate golden hair now a bit disheveled.
“How do you feel?”
Ji Linglong’s voice was very soft, with a kind of cautious tenderness, as if afraid of startling her.
Lu Ning moved her body slightly, only to feel a soreness all over.
She instinctively checked her dantian, and her heart instantly sank halfway.
Her dantian and qi sea were completely empty.
The bit of cultivation she had painstakingly restored to the Foundation Establishment stage was now utterly depleted after saving Ji Linglong.
Her meridians had also suffered trauma, hardly any better than when she’d been besieged by the three great heads of the righteous path.
“Don’t move around.”
Ji Linglong pressed her shoulder.
“You’re very weak right now. You need to rest.”
She helped Lu Ning, placing two soft cushions behind her back so she could sit up comfortably.
Leaning against the headboard, Lu Ning watched Ji Linglong busy herself and, for a moment, couldn’t quite process what was happening.
This woman… had she changed her ways?
Where had the princess who used to threaten her at the drop of a hat and take pleasure in humiliating her gone?
Who was this person, gentle in manner and with concern in her eyes?
“Your Highness…” Lu Ning’s voice was parched.
“Just call me Sister Linglong.”
Ji Linglong cut her off.
Lu Ning: “?????”
Ji Linglong seemed to realize that her words were somewhat abrupt, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red, though she still maintained her proud expression.
“You saved this princess. From now on, you are no longer a maid. I permit you to be a bit closer to me.”
Looking at Ji Linglong’s duplicity, Lu Ning was left speechless.
[What is this person up to? Changing faces every second, even harder to figure out than that rebel disciple Gu Qinghuan.]
“You must be hungry, right?”
Ji Linglong gave Lu Ning no time to think.
She brought over a bowl of soup that had been kept warm, scooped some up with a white jade spoon, and held it to Lu Ning’s lips.
“This is ‘Concentrating Jade Dew’ simmered for seven days and nights with ten-thousand-year snow lotus and a dozen rare spirit herbs. It will help restore your soul and meridians.”
The soup was milky white, exuding an invigorating fragrance.
Lu Ning instinctively wanted to refuse the spoon at her lips.
“Open your mouth.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Ning opened her mouth.
The warm soup melted as soon as it entered, transforming into a pure, gentle current that surged through her body.
Wherever the current flowed, her badly damaged meridians felt as if they were being nourished by sweet rain after a long drought, and the stabbing pain lessened considerably.
It worked!
And the effect was astonishing!
This ten-thousand-year snow lotus truly deserved its reputation as a legendary healing medicine.
With a bowl of Concentrating Jade Dew, Lu Ning felt some of her strength return, and her complexion grew noticeably rosier.
“Want more?”
Ji Linglong asked.
Lu Ning nodded unconsciously.
A barely discernible curve appeared at Ji Linglong’s lips.
She scooped up another spoonful, but this time, she didn’t feed it to Lu Ning directly.
Instead, she took it in her own mouth first, then, under Lu Ning’s startled gaze, leaned down and drew close.
The gentle touch was accompanied by the sweet scent of snow lotus.
Lu Ning’s mind went utterly blank.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the beautiful face so close, her whole body frozen.
[Again? What is wrong with this Princess Royal? It’s just medicine—does she have to feed it like this?]
After a long moment, Ji Linglong finally lifted her head, even licking her lips as if she hadn’t had enough.
Looking at Lu Ning, who was on the verge of tears, bullied yet afraid to protest, Ji Linglong felt inexplicably delighted.
“This way…the medicine is absorbed faster.”
She explained in all seriousness.
Lu Ning: “……”
I’ll believe your nonsense!
“You…”
For a moment, Lu Ning didn’t know what to say.
“What? You’re not happy to have this princess feed you herself?”
Ji Linglong raised an eyebrow.
“There are countless people who would beg for this blessing.”
Lu Ning took a deep breath and swallowed her retort.
Under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.
She was a cripple now and could only let herself be handled.
“Thank you, Your Highness… for your favor.”
Lu Ning lowered her head in reply.
“That’s more like it.”
Ji Linglong smiled with satisfaction.
She put down the jade bowl and picked up another plate of cut spirit fruits.
“Come, have some fruit.”
Lu Ning shrank back instinctively at her mischievous smile.
“Relax.”
Ji Linglong seemed to read her mind.
“I won’t feed you with my mouth this time.”
She speared a translucent, lychee-sized piece of fruit with a silver pick and held it to Lu Ning’s lips.
Lu Ning, half-believing, half-doubting, opened her mouth and ate the fruit.
It was crisp and sweet, full of juice, and also brimming with pure spiritual energy.
“This is ‘Ice Soul Dragon Eye’, which will help stabilize your soul,” Ji Linglong explained.
And so, Lu Ning spent the next while in this strange atmosphere of being force-fed.
Ji Linglong acted as if she meant to bring out every treasure from the imperial treasury for Lu Ning, feeding her all manner of rare heavenly materials that Lu Ning had only ever seen in game encyclopedias, treating them like snacks.
Although the feeding process was a bit shameful, the results were undeniably real.
Surrounded by piles of rare spirit medicines, Lu Ning could feel her internal injuries healing at an astonishing rate.
Her damaged meridians were gradually mending and expanding, becoming tougher than before.
However, her cultivation did not return.
Her Heavenly Demon bloodline and the Taiyin origin left by Gu Qinghuan seemed to have entered a dormant state.
No matter how she tried to rouse them, there was no response.
She understood that to truly recover her cultivation, she would have to “harmonize” with Gu Qinghuan’s Taiyin Physique.
“What are you thinking about?”
Ji Linglong’s voice pulled Lu Ning from her thoughts.
“Nothing.”
“Thinking of your precious disciple?”
There was a hint of jealousy in Ji Linglong’s tone.
Lu Ning didn’t reply.
“Hmph.”
Ji Linglong gave a cold snort, slamming the fruit plate on the table.
“You’d better forget her for this princess.”
“You’re mine now.”
She stood up, walked to the bedside, and looked down at Lu Ning, golden phoenix eyes brimming with possessive dominance.
“Everything about you belongs only to me.”
Ji Linglong’s voice was resolute.
Hearing this, Lu Ning’s heart sank.
So the Princess Royal finally showed her fangs.
She wanted to keep Lu Ning forever at her side, to make her a canary that could rely only on her.
Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the bedchamber.
“Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!”
A palace maid cried out in panic from outside, “At the ‘Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’ in the southwest corner of the palace, there are assassins!”
Ji Linglong’s expression changed at once.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was a forbidden area of the palace, heavily guarded, with even a royal ancestor presiding.
How could assassins possibly get in?
“Boom—!”
A deafening explosion sounded from afar, and the entire Phoenix Palace shook violently.
An unimaginably terrifying wave of energy erupted from the direction of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, sweeping through the whole imperial city.
Ji Linglong’s face grew grim.
“Late-stage Ascension!”
She instantly determined the invader’s cultivation level.
She stood up, ready to rush out of the bedchamber.
But after two steps, she stopped, glancing back at Lu Ning on the bed, worry flickering in her eyes.
All the other experts in the palace were surely drawn toward the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion by this sudden upheaval.
Right now, the Phoenix Palace was virtually unguarded.
If she left, and Lu Ning—now so weak she couldn’t even truss a chicken—ran into danger, what would she do?
As she hesitated—
A black shadow appeared in the chamber without warning.
The figure held a venomous black dagger, target clear—lunging straight for Lu Ning on the bed!
“Ah Ning, look out!”
Ji Linglong reacted in a flash, face changing, and dashed to shield Lu Ning without hesitation.
“Puchi!”
The black dagger plunged mercilessly into Ji Linglong’s back.