Seeing Shen Yuwei swaying unsteadily, Xu Ning didn’t have time to think. He reached out and supported her arm.
What met his hand was not the soft warmth of a woman’s skin.
It was hot. Through a thin layer of fabric, Xu Ning felt as if he had pressed his hand against a furnace that had just left the fire.
“Master Shen?”
Shen Yuwei’s eyes were tightly shut, and beads of sweat slid down her temples.
She gripped Xu Ning’s wrist tightly, as if even staying conscious had become difficult.
“Take me to the meditation room.”
Xu Ning immediately nodded and supported her arm as they walked out.
Moonlight covered the path on Zhaoyue Cliff, turning the stone steps white.
All around was silent, except for Shen Yuwei’s breathing close to his ear.
Each step she took was unsteady.
The heat from under her thin robe pressed close, and the scent of magnolia added a touch of confusion.
Xu Ning could only steady her arm, his gaze fixed on the stone steps ahead.
The meditation room was behind the bamboo hut.
Shen Yuwei raised her hand and brushed away the talismans on the door, and the lights inside lit up on their own.
The furnishings inside were very simple.
A jade couch, two meditation cushions, and a purple copper incense burner.
Shen Yuwei sat cross-legged at the edge of the jade couch.
Just as Xu Ning was about to step back, she reached out and pressed her fingers to his wrist.
“Sit closer.”
He paused. This scene reminded him of the time at Cold Sword Peak.
Sensing his hesitation, Shen Yuwei opened her eyes.
The corners of her eyes were still moist and red, but she tried her best to maintain clarity.
“Just channeling spiritual power.”
Only then did Xu Ning sit down on the edge of the couch and place his hand over the wrist she offered.
He had never imagined that a mere mortal pharmacist like him would one day feel the pulse of a Golden Core cultivator…
Shen Yuwei’s wrist bones were slender, but her pulse was wildly chaotic.
The fire poison hidden inside her body caused her breath to carry a burning heat.
“Don’t worry.”
Shen Yuwei closed her eyes and slowly regulated her breathing.
“First, try to sense the spiritual power in your dantian together with me.”
Xu Ning followed her instructions and sank his mind.
He had never truly cultivated before.
The so-called dantian was just a term he often saw in medical texts.
But now, under the guidance of Shen Yuwei’s spiritual power, he actually felt a faint light deep in his abdomen.
“Can you feel it?”
Xu Ning hesitated. “…I think so.”
Shen Yuwei sensed that the strand of spiritual power responded to him and was a little surprised.
It seemed he had quite some talent.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“Slowly feel it.”
“Let it follow my spiritual power.”
Xu Ning frowned and did as she instructed.
The spiritual power in his dantian responded to him.
A strand of azure vitality flowed out from his fingertips and gently entered Shen Yuwei’s wrist.
Shen Yuwei’s shoulders trembled.
Xu Ning immediately stopped.
“Does it hurt?”
Shen Yuwei’s eyelashes drooped, and she bit her thin lip.
After a moment, she said, “No, it doesn’t hurt. Continue.”
She didn’t explain.
That strand of azure entered her meridians like sweet rain after a long drought, making her lose focus for a moment.
Soon, the fire poison hiding next to her origin surged out.
The temperature on the jade couch suddenly rose.
Xu Ning noticed Shen Yuwei’s brows furrowing, and her pulse was not improving.
“Master Shen?”
“It’s fine.”
She said in a low voice, “You just need to help me protect the pulse gate next to it.”
Xu Ning heard this and continued his work.
He didn’t understand cultivation, but he understood pharmacology.
Once a violent drying poison enters the body, you can’t attack it blindly. If the righteous energy is depleted first, the evil heat can more easily run rampant along the meridians.
When Shen Yuwei asked him to protect the pulse gate, it was like a mortal doctor first supporting the righteous energy and then slowly driving out the root of the illness.
With that thought, he felt more confident.
The spiritual power inside him slowly traveled upward along Shen Yuwei’s wrist meridian.
At first, it went smoothly.
But when midnight came.
Shen Yuwei let out a muffled groan, and the hand that had been hanging at her side suddenly grabbed the edge of the couch.
Thin cracks appeared on the jade couch’s edge.
Seeing this, Xu Ning’s expression tightened.
“Master Shen?”
Shen Yuwei panted and gave a bitter smile.
“It’s nothing. It’s just that the wrist meridian can’t hold it anymore.”
He asked in a deep voice, “Then what do you need me to do?”
Shen Yuwei raised her head with effort and looked at him, her eyes dark and unreadable.
In the dim light, Xu Ning didn’t notice the look she gave him.
It was no longer as clear as usual.
The fire poison burned her mind, and his clear spiritual power was so close, making her instinctively want to get closer.
Seeing that Xu Ning looked worried and wasn’t looking at her,
Shen Yuwei’s fingertips tightened, and she was silent for a moment.
“Behind the shoulder.”
Hearing this, Xu Ning’s hand paused.
Seeing his hesitation, Shen Yuwei knew this request was inappropriate and averted her gaze.
“The fire poison has already passed the wrist meridian and is heading toward the heart. The pulse gate behind the shoulder connects to the Jade Hall, the last checkpoint before entering the heart.”
“You only need to do it through the fabric.”
With a Golden Core cultivator giving such instructions, Xu Ning was hesitant but didn’t say much.
Since they had come this far, there was no talk of turning back.
Xu Ning didn’t look at her face again; he stood up and moved behind Shen Yuwei.
Through her thin robe, he pressed his hand on the pulse gate she had indicated.
The thin robe was already damp with sweat, and the heat against his palm was even more obvious than at the wrist meridian.
Xu Ning lowered his eyes, looking only at the back of his own hand.
Shen Yuwei’s back was very straight.
After a moment, she said in a low voice, “Half an inch lower.”
Xu Ning complied.
The azure vitality reentered Shen Yuwei’s meridians.
This time, the fire poison didn’t retreat immediately but instead surged forward violently.
One strand even forced its way into Xu Ning’s meridians.
Ugh— That strand of fire poison collided with the spiritual power inside him and actually diminished by a thread.
Xu Ning felt a tightness in his chest, but didn’t notice what had happened.
He only thought he was too nervous and had messed up his inner breath.
Shen Yuwei didn’t notice either.
All her focus was on suppressing the fire near her core. Occasionally, she spoke only to remind Xu Ning.
When dawn was near, Xu Ning’s arm had become numb beyond recognition.
In the afternoon, Shen Yuwei briefly woke once and reminded him not to push himself.
When night fell again, the incense in the meditation room had long burned out.
Xu Ning hadn’t expected this session to last an entire day and night.
By nightfall, the fire poison was finally suppressed back near her core.
The heat on Shen Yuwei’s body slowly receded.
The meditation room was silent for a while.
Both of them were drenched in sweat.
Several damp patches showed through Shen Yuwei’s moon-white thin robe.
Xu Ning wasn’t much better; his face pale, he sat beside the jade couch.
Using a mortal’s meridians to drive spiritual power, his entire body ached and throbbed.
When he realized his hand was still resting on her lower back, Xu Ning quickly withdrew it.
Shen Yuwei still had her eyes closed, but sensing his movement, her eyelashes trembled.
The awkwardness in the room was too much.
“You’ve worked hard.”
She opened her eyes, her voice a little hoarse.
Shen Yuwei raised her sleeve to tidy her hair, but as soon as her hand lifted, it fell back from exhaustion.
Xu Ning saw it and looked away.
Finally, he asked in a low voice, “Is the fire poison temporarily stabilized, Master?”
Shen Yuwei gave a weak smile.
“It’s okay. At least for a short time, it won’t flare up again.”
She paused, then added, “This is all thanks to you.”
Xu Ning shook his head.
“It’s what I promised.”
Shen Yuwei looked at him and suddenly wanted to give him something.
Spirit stones, pills, magic tools, cultivation techniques.
She had all these things.
But the words reached her lips and were swallowed back.
He wouldn’t want a reward handed down from on high.
But the aura around Xu Ning seemed different from before.
Previously, the spiritual power inside him had only lain dormant deep in his dantian, not knowing how to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, acting purely on instinct.
But now, spiritual power rose and fell around him, clearly showing a connection with the outside world.
Shen Yuwei’s gaze sharpened. She was about to speak.
“You—”
Before she could finish, she suddenly looked up toward the door.
The fatigue in her eyes quickly vanished, and her expression became calm.
“Someone has touched the array on Zhaoyue Cliff.”
Xu Ning had just caught his breath. Hearing this, he supported himself on the edge of the couch and stood up, swaying slightly.
“Is it someone looking for you, Master?”
Shen Yuwei glanced at him, a strange look on her face.
“Have you ever seen anyone come looking for someone in the middle of the night?”
Xu Ning fell silent.