Chapter 163: Rescue

Watching Yang Zhen die under his sword, the obsession in Zhang Zongnian’s heart was finally released.

He looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, and whispered, “Mother, your son has avenged you! You can finally rest in peace.”

He felt the state of his own body and added silently in his heart, ‘I will be reuniting with you soon. Mother, wait for me.’

He only wondered if his mother would still recognize him, now that his appearance had changed.

Turning his head, he looked at Lin Xue by his side.

He felt that things were quite good this way; his enemy had been killed by his own hand, and the person he most wanted to see was right beside him.

He could depart in peace, without any regrets.

Tucking his robes tightly around himself, he struggled to maintain his poise.

He grinned at Lin Xue and said, “Miss Lin, it is truly good to see you again.”

After saying that, his vision went black. The world spun around him, and he fainted.

Lin Xue was startled when she saw Zhang Zongnian close his eyes and fall stiffly toward the ground.

She lunged to his side and caught him. His sturdy body slumped limply into her arms.

Through the physical contact, Lin Xue felt that the demon aura within him was in utter chaos.

Furthermore, his cultivation had already plummeted from late Body Tempering to the Body Tempering Middle Stage.

If this continued, he would drop to the early stage and wouldn’t even be able to maintain his human form.

Lin Xue began to panic.

What should she do? How could she stop his cultivation from falling further?

A solution occurred to her: feed Zhang Zongnian a serpent core and use the demon power within it to offset and replenish what he had lost.

However, she only had several dozen serpent cores at the Condensed Core Realm or higher and one demon pill from a Yao Wang; she didn’t have any serpent cores from lesser beasts at the Body Tempering Stage.

Zhang Zongnian was currently just a small demon in the Body Tempering Middle Stage; his body could not withstand the demon power of a core from the Core Condensation Stage.

Was she really going to watch him die right in front of her?

Lin Xue’s mind raced as she desperately searched for a solution. Then, she thought of the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Secret Manual.

This dual cultivation manual contained the dual pathways of Vitality and Extinction.

Healing and plundering were two sides of the same coin; it could harm people, but it could also save lives.

The Pulse of Vitality guided the harmony and resonance of Yin and Yang energy.

It focused on “giving” and “merging,” allowing the practitioner to bestow their own cultivation and life essence upon their partner to heal them.

Zhang Zongnian was currently in a critical state.

If she wanted to save him, her only option was to use this manual to transfer her own powerful cultivation and life essence to him.

This would stabilize his collapsing demon core, smooth out his chaotic demon aura, and pull him out of danger.

But the problem was that every spell technique in the manual required two people to perform dual cultivation.

To save Zhang Zongnian using this method, she would have to engage in dual cultivation with him.

Lin Xue fell into a conflict of heart.

As a straight man who had lived for over twenty years with a male identity, she found it difficult to accept—and was even extremely repelled by—having such an intimate relationship with another man.

But if she didn’t do it, Zhang Zongnian would die.

What should she do?

Lin Xue held the unconscious Zhang Zongnian, her expression flickering as she struggled to make a decision.

In the two months since she had transmigrated, every moment she had shared with Zhang Zongnian flashed through her mind.

She thought of the day Shu Er became a Grand Demon; Zhang Zongnian had sacrificed his future by destroying himself to possess a mouse just to deliver a Foundation Establishment technique to her.

He helped her escape while he was lost among the swarming rats.

If it hadn’t been for the stroke of luck where Shu Da possessed him and he gained the Wan Shu Chao Yuan, he would have remained an ordinary mouse for the rest of his life.

After becoming a rat demon, Zhang Zongnian could have followed the path step by step and eventually become a Yao Wang.

Yet, the moment he heard she had been kidnapped by the Hei Pi Yao Wang, he threw that bright future away without hesitation.

He had even been willing to sacrifice his life to come for her.

He had made such a great sacrifice for her; could she really just watch him die now?

Lin Xue clenched her fists.

In the short two months since her arrival, Zhang Zongnian was the person she was closest to, second only to Hong Yanzhi.

She had been a man for over twenty years, after all; how could she not understand the affection in Zhang Zongnian’s eyes when he looked at her?

‘Since I am already in a female body after transmigrating, why cling so stubbornly to my former male soul?’

Lin Xue looked at the unconscious Zhang Zongnian, bit her lip, and made her decision.

She hoisted Zhang Zongnian onto her shoulder and flew softly toward a secluded grove nearby.

……

In a daze, Zhang Zongnian felt himself wrapped in a warm, soft embrace. Waves of warmth continuously surged into his body.

As these currents entered him, his demon core stopped collapsing and began to mend. It grew larger and firmer, and the strength within his body gradually intensified.

It was an exquisite experience that made him feel incredibly comfortable and even a bit excited.

‘Have I died and gone to heaven?’ he wondered. ‘So this is the blissful feeling of death.’

He immersed himself in the sensation.

He had no idea how long the process lasted. Gradually, Zhang Zongnian’s consciousness cleared, and he woke from his coma.

Opening his eyes, he found himself lying in a dense forest.

His body was completely recovered, and that incredibly powerful demon power had returned to him.

His cultivation was back at the Core Condensation Stage. He felt exceptionally energetic, as if he had been reborn.

Zhang Zongnian was a bit dazed.

‘I’m not dead? Why has my cultivation returned? What happened to the backlash? What about my core collapsing?’

He tried to sit up, only to realize something was pressing down on him.

Zhang Zongnian looked down and saw a sleeping girl. Her head was lowered, so he couldn’t see her face.

Her delicate body lay atop him, feeling as light as a feather, and her waterfall-like long hair spilled across his chest, tickling him.

A faint demon aura lingered around the girl; she appeared to be at the Body Tempering Middle Stage.

He was shocked to discover that both he and the girl lying on him were naked.

Zhang Zongnian began to panic.

‘What happened? Did I do something reckless to this little female demon while I was unconscious?’

He moved instinctively, and the girl on top of him was startled awake. She lifted her head, and their eyes met.

Her features were as beautiful as a painting, her cheeks were flushed, and her beautiful eyes shimmered like water, looking incredibly charming.

It was Lin Xue!

Zhang Zongnian froze as if struck by lightning. He stared at Lin Xue, speechless and wide-eyed.

He didn’t understand why she was lying on him like this. Moreover, why had her cultivation suddenly plummeted to such a level?

He watched as Lin Xue brushed a stray hair from her face. Her cheeks were slightly red with a hint of shyness as she gave him a small smile.

“Brother, do you feel any better now?” she asked.

Lin Xue had just used the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Secret Manual to transfer the cultivation from her demon pill to Zhang Zongnian to repair his body.

This process had exhausted a massive amount of her energy.

Because she had given almost all her cultivation to him, her demon pill had reverted into a liquid serpent core, and she had returned to the realm of a small demon at the Body Tempering Stage.

She had planned to quickly put on her clothes and act as if nothing had happened before he woke up.

However, the spell was so taxing that she couldn’t resist the heavy fatigue and fell fast asleep right on top of him.

Now that she was awake and facing him while they were both naked, she felt a bit embarrassed.

But she told herself that since things had already reached this point, there was no need to hide.

She might as well face it calmly.

Hearing her question, Zhang Zongnian snapped out of his shock.

He suddenly understood. The warm, soft, and comfortable feeling he had experienced while unconscious was actually Lin Xue saving him.

She had used some method to transfer her own cultivation to him, restoring him to a Grand Demon at the Core Condensation Stage while she became a lesser beast again.

And that method clearly involved intimacy. To save him, Lin Xue had given him her most precious possession—her purity.

Zhang Zongnian’s eyes turned red. He looked at Lin Xue, his voice trembling with profound emotion.

“Miss Lin… you sacrificed so much for me. How can I ever repay this?”