Seeing Ji Linglong arrive, Lu Ning’s heart suddenly sank.
She hadn’t expected the other party to show up so suddenly at this moment.
Though the spiritual energy fluctuations on her body were faint, to a master like Ji Linglong at the Great Ascension stage, they were as conspicuous as fireflies in the dark—completely impossible to hide.
What should she do?
Should she admit that she’d lost her cultivation and was still in the recovery phase?
Countless thoughts flashed through Lu Ning’s mind, but she didn’t dare let any hint of weakness show on her face.
Instead, she put on an expression of utter confusion.
“Your Highness… What are you talking about? What spiritual energy fluctuations? This servant doesn’t understand.”
As she spoke, she quietly drew back her aura at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, hiding it deep within her dantian.
“You don’t understand?”
Ji Linglong walked in slowly, and the palace doors closed silently behind her.
She walked to the jade bed, looking down at Lu Ning from above, dangerous light flickering in those golden phoenix eyes.
“A-Ning, do you really think you can fool this princess so easily?”
Suddenly, Ji Linglong reached out, grabbing Lu Ning’s wrist.
A surge of pure and overbearing golden divine essence instantly poured into Lu Ning’s body, surging through her meridians.
“Ugh!”
Lu Ning let out a muffled cry of pain.
That trace of grayish-white true essence hidden in her dantian was immediately discovered by this overwhelming divine essence—there was no way to hide it.
“What is this power?”
A look of surprise and doubt flashed across Ji Linglong’s face.
She could sense that although the force within Lu Ning was faint, its nature was extremely strange.
It contained the same overbearing demonic power she’d sensed before, yet there was also an extreme coldness within it.
The two utterly opposing attributes were perfectly fused together.
“It seems, A-Ning, you have even more secrets than I imagined.”
Ji Linglong let go, withdrawing the probing divine essence.
Lu Ning collapsed weakly onto the jade bed, her face pale as paper.
Just now, that single probe nearly caused the meridians she’d just managed to repair to rupture again.
“Speak.”
Ji Linglong sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her with curiosity.
“What exactly is going on? The dignified Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, yet your cultivation is only at the Qi Refining realm…”
“You’d best think carefully before answering. This princess’s patience is limited.”
Lu Ning knew there was no way to hide it this time.
Lying further would only infuriate this temperamental woman, and the outcome would be even worse.
She took a deep breath, organized her thoughts, and decided to reveal half-truths.
“Replying to Your Highness…”
She spoke in a weak voice, “I am indeed injured, as the rumors say, but there is a force within me that is helping with my recovery.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Linglong frowned slightly.
Then, she sent out a thread of divine sense to carefully examine Lu Ning’s body.
This time, her probing was even more meticulous.
Very soon, she sensed an extremely pure trace of lunar origin qi deep within Lu Ning’s dantian.
“This is… the power of the Lunar Yin?”
A flash of realization appeared in Ji Linglong’s eyes.
She remembered.
The Heavenly Demon Sect’s Saintess, Gu Qinghuan, cultivated the rare Lunar Yin Physique.
It seemed that woman had left a hidden hand in Lu Ning’s body.
This discovery filled Ji Linglong with an inexplicable frustration and anger.
How could her person be marked by another woman?
“So it’s your precious disciple who left you this ‘gift.’”
Ji Linglong’s tone turned icy.
“She truly is devoted to you.”
Lu Ning lowered her head without a word, tacitly agreeing with her guess, pushing everything onto Gu Qinghuan—this was the best choice for now, since Gu Qinghuan wasn’t here anyway.
Seeing Lu Ning’s “acquiescent” appearance, Ji Linglong’s jealousy burned even brighter.
But she didn’t lose her composure.
She wouldn’t stoop to losing her temper over something like this.
She cared about something else more.
The Heavenly Demon power and the lunar power in Lu Ning’s body could actually fuse perfectly, even repairing her nearly crippled foundation.
What did this mean?
It meant that the demonic arts Lu Ning cultivated—or rather, her own Heavenly Demon bloodline—had some unknown special quality.
And perhaps this quality could be useful to her.
At this thought, Ji Linglong suppressed her anger, a playful smile returning to her face.
“It seems, A-Ning, your body truly is a treasure trove.”
She reached out, gently stroking Lu Ning’s cheek.
“Since your body can heal itself, this princess all the more cannot let you go.”
“This princess truly wishes to see just how much you can recover.”
With that, she stood up, apparently not intending to press further.
She took an ancient beast-skin scroll from her spatial ring, half-reclined on the bed, and began reading on her own.
Lu Ning was stunned.
What did this mean?
She wasn’t leaving?
Was she planning to spend the night here?
There was only one bed in this side hall—if she stayed here, where would Lu Ning sleep?
Time passed, bit by bit.
Ji Linglong read with great interest, showing no intention of leaving.
Lu Ning sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, thoroughly uncomfortable.
No idea how long had passed when Ji Linglong seemed to grow tired.
She yawned, tossing the scroll to the bedside.
The scroll, due to her movement, fell open to a few pages.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lu Ning inadvertently caught sight of a few flowing, ancient seal characters—”Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix Scripture: Fragment.”
Lu Ning’s heart skipped a beat.
She knew her chance had come.
Problems with Ji Linglong’s cultivation method occurred in the mid-to-late stages of the game’s storyline.
She hadn’t expected this hint to emerge so early.
It seemed that this late-night visit wasn’t solely for uncovering secrets.
Most likely, Ji Linglong had encountered a bottleneck in her own cultivation and, feeling vexed, came here seeking “distraction.”
…
“Come here.”
Ji Linglong spoke slowly.
“This princess is tired and wishes to rest.”
As she spoke, Ji Linglong lay down on the broad jade bed, taking up the center position.
She patted the empty space beside her.
“You’ll sleep here.”
Lu Ning looked to where she indicated—it was at the very edge of the bed, leaving less than a foot of space.
“Yes.”
Lu Ning replied softly.
She quietly lay down, her body pressed tight against the edge, afraid she’d fall off at any moment.
Once the candles were extinguished, Lu Ning could feel a burning gaze wandering over her body.
“A-Ning.”
Ji Linglong’s voice sounded in the darkness.
“What are your thoughts on cultivation methods?”
Lu Ning feigned ignorance, replying, “Replying to Your Highness, nothing in particular.”
“Is that so?”
Ji Linglong’s tone carried a hint of disbelief.
Her hand, without restraint, rested on Lu Ning’s waist.
“This princess’s ‘Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix Scripture’ is an ancient divine art—supremely yang, forceful, and overbearing. But lately, during cultivation, I often feel the divine fire in my body going out of control, my soul restless and irritable.”
She seemed to be talking to herself, but also deliberately speaking for Lu Ning to hear.
Lu Ning knew Ji Linglong wanted to extract some insight on cultivation methods from this so-called “Grandmaster of the Demonic Path.”
Lu Ning decided to use this opportunity, and tossed out some bait.
She feigned nonchalance, saying, “The more domineering a technique, the fiercer its backlash. If the supreme yang fire isn’t tempered by yin energy, after a long time, it will consume the cultivator from within. This is not so different from demonic path arts.”
“Oh?”
Ji Linglong grew interested. “Go on.”
Lu Ning turned to face her.
In the darkness, she could see those bright, golden eyes.
She spoke slowly, with a calm tone: “I once read an old text describing a situation very similar to Your Highness’s.”
“It is said there is a divine bird called the Phoenix, born to command divine fire. But whenever its power is about to undergo a transformation, it sets itself ablaze, suffering endless agony in the flames, with death always near.”
“Only by seeking the ‘Lunar Divine Water’ in a place of extreme cold before self-immolation and harmonizing yin and yang can it survive this trial and be reborn from the ashes.”
Lu Ning finished speaking, and said no more.
All this was game lore regarding the “Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix Scripture.”
She believed Ji Linglong would understand the deeper meaning.
Sure enough, after her words fell, Ji Linglong beside her fell silent.
At some point, the hand resting on her waist had also withdrawn.
After a moment, Ji Linglong’s voice rang out again.
This time, there was a touch of incredulous shock in her tone.
“A-Ning, what you said is exactly the ‘Phoenix Nirvana Tribulation.’ I never expected you to actually understand this. You are becoming more and more interesting to me.”
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