Chapter 31: Salvation Lies Within

“No, my Spiritual Qi, my Spiritual Qi, waah!”

“Hmm… I did absorb a bit too much. Here, I’ll give it back to you!”

“Holy shit, don’t pour it in from down there!”

“Didn’t Young Master say earlier that you didn’t want it poured in from above? If not from above, then it has to be from below. Fine, I’ll just suck it back out then.”

“Mother of mercy!”

Ding Nan woke up from a heavy stupor.

His naked body was wrapped in layer upon layer of White Silk Ribbons, making him look like a trauma patient.

He habitually turned his head to look at the pillow beside him.

The light red embroidered pillow emitted a faint fragrance of cosmetics, and a few strands of black hair lay upon it.

The bedding on that side was already cold; it seemed his lady had been gone for quite some time.

Looking out the window, the day was already bright.

Ding Nan estimated it was somewhere around seven or eight in the morning.

However, in an ancient cultivation society where “dancing at the first cockcrow” was the standard and people worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, this was already very late.

Ding Nan pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed.

He took fresh clothes from the wardrobe, wiped away the lipstick marks on his neck, removed the water-stained White Silk Ribbons, and dressed himself.

Feeling the weakness radiating from his waist and knees, Ding Nan couldn’t help but clutch his lower back.

He was clearly still so young, so why did he have a kidney deficiency?

Ding Nan suddenly remembered the words of a young doctor from his previous life.

‘To use an RPG as an example, do you think stamina consumption is a fixed value for this kind of thing? I’m sorry, but it deducts stamina directly by percentage, while simultaneously increasing fatigue by percentage. The final blow even deducts a proportional amount of your maximum HP. When your max HP drops to a certain point, your level drops and your base stats are penalized.’

‘If you want to level up, you have to retrain. Medicine is just for healing wounds; it can only restore your HP, not increase your maximum HP. Furthermore, in this RPG called life, there is an aging mechanism similar to Sifu. The older you get, the better your technique, but your base stats will decline accordingly.’

Although that doctor had been talking about the relationship between illness, medication, and physical exercise, the logic could certainly be applied to Ding Nan’s current situation.

“Good morning, Young Master.”

Luo Yao pushed the door open and entered.

“G—Good morning, Yao’er!” Ding Nan gasped for air.

The large and small hair buns atop her head twitched slightly like rabbit ears.

Her face was fair and supple, and her eyes, like black pearls, curved upward.

“Come and eat breakfast,” she said with a smile.

It was the same scene as always, the same physical closeness as always.

But the food was different.

For rice, she used Three Immortals Rice. For the side dishes, they ate Demon Beast Meat and Spirit Plant Leaves.

Ding Nan had entered the Qi Refining stage, and his physical body could now accommodate a sufficient amount of Spiritual Qi, so he could finally eat Demon Beast Meat.

In professional terms, he had officially entered the stage of Refining Essence into Qi.

However, as early as the second day after Ding Nan restarted his cultivation of the Danxia Manual, he had already reached the Early Qi Refining Stage.

And because his mind was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous thoughts and ideas, he had completely mastered the Danxia Manual by the fourth day.

He should have been pushing for Foundation Establishment.

Unexpectedly, the moment Ding Nan reached the late stages of Qi Refining, Luo Yao used their double cultivation sessions to suck away his Spiritual Qi.

Occasionally, if she absorbed too much, she would reverse the process and pour it back into Ding Nan’s body.

This kept him stuck at the Early Qi Refining Stage level while simultaneously putting him through agonizing torment.

“Young Master, if you become too strong and leave me, what will I do?”

Luo Yao had said.

It had been nearly half a month since Ding Nan had been dominated by Luo Yao.

He had finally figured out what kind of person she was.

Originally, Ding Nan thought she was just a Gravity-type girl, but he was wrong.

Compared to the Gravity-type, Luo Yao leaned much more toward being a Yandere.

“It was terrifying.”

Sitting next to Luo Yao as she clung to him, Ding Nan felt as though he were sitting on a bed of needles.

This was due to both fear and the look in Luo Yao’s eyes.

Those eyes, which currently overflowed with a happy smile, could turn into eyes of surveillance and morbid excitement at any moment.

If Ding Nan made any suspicious move, it would immediately become “relaxation time”!

Therefore, Ding Nan could not move, and he would not move.

In this manner, they finished breakfast peacefully.

What followed was a normal day.

Ding Nan’s days were dull and monotonous.

Once he learned the Danxia Manual, he began learning Artifact Refining from Luo Yao.

Theoretical knowledge was boring, much like studying science in school.

“So, where did we leave off yesterday?”

Luo Yao asked, holding a book.

Ding Nan sat at the desk by the window, also looking at a book.

Inside the bedroom, Luo Yao wore a light yellow, low-collared top draped with a translucent thin gauze.

Her lower body was clad in a specially shortened skirt, and her exposed legs were covered in white Silk Stockings.

The Silk Stockings, shimmering with a silken luster, constricted the girl’s slender legs, blurring their natural paleness.

The delicate texture looked smooth and white; they surely felt wonderful to the touch.

“Young Master, are you tired?”

Suddenly, Luo Yao spoke right against Ding Nan’s ear.

‘This is bad!’

Her breath was like a fragrant orchid. Ding Nan was startled.

Just as he was about to reach out to touch his warm, tingling ear, he immediately stopped himself.

“I—I’m fine!”

Ding Nan said, his expression calm.

“Then, where was I?”

In an instant, Ding Nan broke out in a cold sweat.

He swallowed hard, staring at the dense clusters of words in the book.

Behind him, Luo Yao’s eyes were glowing, her cheeks flushed pink.

Her pink aura pressed down on Ding Nan until he was nearly trembling.

“You were talking about weapon styles.”

“Mhm… If Young Master is tired, you must tell Yao’er, okay?”

“Haha…”

Ding Nan’s chaotic mind relaxed slightly.

Luckily, he had answered correctly.

If he hadn’t, it would have turned into another story of the “Big-Headed Son and Small-Headed Dad.”

Theory class in the morning, practical class in the afternoon, and theoretical-practical class at night.

Luo Yao was simply too clingy.

Every night, he had to sleep with her.

If he didn’t act as Luo Yao’s bolster, it would trigger a “forced plot” event.

But that didn’t mean forced plots only happened at night.

The current Luo Yao loved to ask Ding Nan if he was tired during their lessons.

“As for the reason behind asking…”

“Well, how should he put it?”

As everyone knows, sleeping can relax the mind, while studying allows the body to rest.

Luo Yao firmly believed this.

The moment Ding Nan became distracted or showed any other change, Luo Yao would immediately change the curriculum and elbow him into the inner room to trigger a CG scene.

When that happened, it was no longer up to Ding Nan.

If there is love, then cling together more.

If there is no love, then cling together until love is formed.

Knowledge regarding Artifact Refining had instead become a sort of seasoning for the relationship between him and Luo Yao.

Therefore, Ding Nan now declared: I love studying!

However, Ding Nan’s body had already “broken” to some extent.

It was like finding out that the essence of spiciness is actually a sensation of pain, and then looking at those people who love spicy food and claim the spicier it is, the better it feels—there was no going back.

It was already impossible to return to how things were!

Association—it was an ability possessed by anything with a certain level of intelligence, even a dog.

Ding Nan could no longer easily ignore Luo Yao.

Their former childhood friendship had been dyed with lust; their sibling-like intimacy had transformed into the feelings of lovers.

He could feel the changes within himself.

Whenever Luo Yao was by his side, he felt a slight loss of control, wanting to be close to her.

Even though he felt like he was about to turn into a mummy and head to the Underworld to duel the Pharaoh and become a legendary duelist.

And from time to time, Luo Yao would act out in a frenzy, suspecting that Ding Nan liked other women.

Imprisoned, squeezed dry, treated like a slave.

Such an ending was far too bleak.

Ding Nan clutched the jade Tablet on his chest.

He had a plan in mind.