On the other side, Lu Ning felt like she was floating on clouds and sinking into the deep sea.
Her consciousness flickered between clarity and blurred confusion.
Su Yuexi, this newly appointed “Master,” demonstrated an astonishing talent and passion for teaching.
She performed every cultivation movement from the manual with Lu Ning, practicing them one by one.
Through this passive cultivation, Lu Ning gained unexpected benefits.
To help Lu Ning improve further, Su Yuexi channeled the peak power of her late-stage Mahayana cultivation—acting as the purest energy source—continuously into Lu Ning’s body.
Once converted by the cultivation technique, that energy merged perfectly with the Heavenly Demon bloodline in her body.
It transformed into the purest source power, nourishing her cracked Golden Core.
The fractures on the Golden Core were repaired at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Lu Ning’s cultivation also began to skyrocket at an incredible pace.
Golden Core early stage…
Golden Core middle stage… Golden Core late stage!
In just one day and one night, her cultivation soared from the Golden Core early stage all the way to the Golden Core late stage.
As her cultivation partner, Su Yuexi also received immense benefits.
To her, Lu Ning’s unique Heavenly Demon bloodline was like a key to a new world.
After that overbearing and pure demonic energy merged with the power in her own body, the bottleneck of the late-stage Mahayana peak—which had been stagnant for a long time—actually showed signs of loosening.
Boom—!
…
A long time passed.
A terrifying aura, several times stronger than before, suddenly erupted from Su Yuexi’s body.
Behind her, a massive phantasm of a green lotus slowly emerged.
Upon the lotus, the energies of immortals and demons intertwined, emitting a pressure that made heaven and earth tremble.
Mahayana Great Perfection!
After cultivating with Lu Ning, Su Yuexi had broken through the bottleneck that had troubled her for several years in one fell swoop, successfully stepping into the realm of Mahayana Great Perfection!
If Su Yuexi’s strength had previously been at the level of a first-class expert, she had now directly entered the ranks of the top-tier powerhouses.
“Phew…”
Su Yuexi slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
Her gentle eyes were now filled with unprecedented brilliance and confidence.
She looked down at Lu Ning in her arms, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.
“My good disciple, I really have you to thank this time.”
Su Yuexi’s voice was full of joy.
She gently caressed Lu Ning’s exquisite cheek, her eyes brimming with doting affection.
“As a reward, Master has decided…”
The corners of Su Yuexi’s mouth curled into a beautiful arc.
“To teach you how to cultivate properly one more time.”
Having said that, she slowly lowered her head.
Meanwhile, underneath the bed, Hua Lingyue—who was wrapped up like a sack and blindfolded—had completely dazed eyes as she fell into some kind of fantasy.
….
It wasn’t until Lu Ning fell into a deep sleep that Su Yuexi finally let her go, satisfied, and stopped forcing her to cultivate.
Looking at the quiet, sleeping face on the jade bed, the obsession Su Yuexi had suppressed for years finally dissipated completely at this moment.
She knew she had thoroughly conquered this woman who she once had to look up to.
From this day forward, Lu Ning would no longer be the high and mighty Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, but a new disciple who required her guidance.
“My good disciple, just stay here peacefully,” Su Yuexi whispered, gently pressing a kiss onto Lu Ning’s forehead.
“As long as you are obedient and well-behaved, Master will give you the best of everything in this world.”
After speaking, she gave Lu Ning a lingering look before standing up.
She walked to the edge of the bed and hooked her foot to pull the still-dazed sack out from underneath.
“Ma… Master…” Hua Lingyue’s voice carried a hint of trembling and excitement.
“Let’s go,” Su Yuexi’s voice returned to its usual gentle and calm tone.
She picked up the sack and turned to walk out of the immortal’s cave.
“Master! Master!”
The captured Hua Lingyue hurriedly began to struggle.
“I beg of you… Please untie the black cloth over my eyes and let me take a look…”
“As long as you let me see, I’ll do anything you ask…”
All she wanted now was to see for herself what state that Great Demon, who had been “taught” by her Master for a day and a night, was currently in.
However, Su Yuexi completely ignored her pleas.
“Lingyue, your temperament is still too flighty.”
Su Yuexi’s voice carried a hint of disappointment.
“It seems Master has not tempered you enough. From today on, go to the Repentance Cliff on the back mountain to enter secluded meditation. Do not come out until your cultivation breaks through to the Void Refinement stage.”
Hearing this, Hua Lingyue was completely dumbfounded.
To break through from the Soul Transformation stage to the Void Refinement stage, even with her talent and sleepless cultivation, would take at least several months.
Her Master was grounding her!
“Master! No! I know I was wrong!”
Hua Lingyue began to struggle and plead frantically.
But Su Yuexi remained unmoved, carrying her straight out of the cave.
With the departure of Su Yuexi and Hua Lingyue, the entire cave returned to its usual silence.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Ning slowly opened her eyes on the jade bed.
Her originally empty and dull eyes had now regained their usual clarity and calm.
All the so-called despair, helplessness, and even humiliation had vanished without a trace.
She slowly sat up from the jade bed, feeling the surging power within her body.
Golden Core late stage.
Although the price paid was somewhat heavy, the harvest was also immense.
“Su Yuexi…”
Lu Ning murmured to herself, a dangerous light flickering in her cold eyes.
Sooner or later, she would settle this debt and take her revenge.
However, her current strength was still no different from an ant in front of Su Yuexi.
But for a person of character, ten years was not too long to wait for revenge.
Her most important task now was to recover her strength as quickly as possible.
Thinking of this, Lu Ning issued a command to the system in her mind.
‘System, I have lived in Baihuagu for nearly six days. If I settle the mission early now, what level of reward can I get?’
[Ding! Evaluation in progress…]
[Evaluation complete! Based on the host’s current survival status and task completion, if settled now, the final rating will fluctuate between Grade B and Grade C.]
‘Between B and C?’
Lu Ning’s brows furrowed slightly.
This rating was a bit middling; a good reward would likely be out of reach.
It seemed she still had to wait.
[Host, the longer the survival duration and the higher the task completion, the better the final rating and rewards will be.]
Hearing the system’s reminder, Lu Ning came to a decision.
There was no rush.
In any case, Su Yuexi had just broken through to Mahayana Great Perfection and would need time to stabilize her cultivation.
She likely wouldn’t come back to cause trouble for a while.
Lu Ning could take advantage of this time to use the unique cultivation environment of Baihuagu to recover her strength.
Once her strength recovered to a certain level, paired with the trump cards rewarded by the system, it would be uncertain who was the hunter and who was the prey.
With that thought, Lu Ning’s mood calmed down a bit.
She took out all the sacred healing medicines she had previously obtained from Ji Lingqiu from her system space.
Looking at the sacred medicines and spirit fruits emitting thick spiritual energy, the corners of Lu Ning’s mouth curled up.
She picked up a spirit fruit radiating a dense aura of life and swallowed it.
The massive medicinal power instantly dissolved in her body.
Lu Ning immediately sat cross-legged and began to focus on refining the energy.
…
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
During these ten days, Lu Ning’s life was exceptionally peaceful and stable.
As she had expected, after Su Yuexi broke through to the Mahayana Great Perfection, she chose to go into seclusion and did not come to disturb her again.
Lu Ning was happy for the peace.
She put all her effort into increasing her strength.
With the help of those top-tier sacred medicines, her cultivation progressed rapidly.
Soon, she broke through the bottleneck of the Golden Core late stage and reached the realm of a Half-step Nascent Soul.
Whenever she wished, she could summon the lightning tribulation and break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
But Lu Ning did not do so.
The power she currently held was extremely complex; it was more like she was re-cultivating.
Stepping into the Nascent Soul realm again meant the lightning tribulation would likely be far more terrifying than she anticipated.
Once the tribulation was triggered, the commotion would be too massive and would definitely alarm the entirety of Baihuagu.
Su Yuexi would undoubtedly notice it immediately.
She had to find a safer, more concealed opportunity.
Just as Lu Ning was considering how to break through to the Nascent Soul stage silently, a beautiful figure wearing a pale green robe appeared at the entrance of the cave.
The newcomer was Su Yuexi.
She looked at Lu Ning, who was sitting cross-legged on the jade bed emitting the aura of a Half-step Nascent Soul, and a flash of surprise crossed her gentle eyes.
Immediately, a meaningful smile appeared on her face.
“My good disciple, it seems you have been practicing very hard during the days Master was away.”