【Ding! System-chan’s warm reminder: Detected that the host is overly indulging in desires…】
—Warned by System-chan again!
Yan Zhen sat up, feeling rather down.
Just moments ago, he’d been squished between the two women, and in a moment of weakness, he’d slipped into Berserk Mode. That had thrown his adherence to the Protagonist Persona way off track again. Now he’d have to make up for it with extra posturing, face-slapping heroics, and damsel-rescuing exploits.
The plot had already veered so far off course that it left him deeply uneasy. If his persona collapsed too, there’d be no point carrying on the act—he might as well just drop a grenade and call it a day.
“Good little brother, don’t be mad. Your big sister was just playing around with you.”
Ji Ya wrapped her arms around Yan Zhen’s waist from behind. She stuck out her vivid red tongue and licked teasingly at the side of his neck, acting clingy in a way that didn’t match her usual image of an independent, no-nonsense powerhouse.
Thanks to refining that essence, Ji Ya still had plenty of energy left. The strength of her Cauldron Constitution lay precisely in this: with a bit of nourishment from Yu Lu, she recovered swiftly. She was the type who lost battle after battle yet persisted, defeated time and again only to charge back in.
Yan Zhen tilted his neck to dodge her affections, thinking to himself that if this kept up, someone was going to get hurt. He’d gotten carried away earlier and poured too much in—hopefully she’d refined it all clean.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take responsibility. It was just that the timing was all wrong from every angle, so he had to be extra careful.
“Sister Ji Ya, you should focus on regulating your breathing for now. Power growing too quickly in such a short time carries the risk of losing control. It’s best to sort out your energy flow right away.”
Ji Ya rubbed her face affectionately against Yan Zhen’s shoulder and back, savoring his warmth and smooth skin. In a voice as meek as a young bride’s, she replied, “Big sister understands. Big sister will do whatever you say~”
With that, she planted one last kiss on her beloved young man before finally letting him go.
Yan Zhen found it hard to resist his good big sister’s charms. He glanced at the two women and said, “In that case, I’ll go take a bath first. You two clean up properly.”
“Little Brother Yan Zhen, should we have a maidservant attend to you?”
“No need.”
Yan Zhen hurriedly slipped on his robe for a bit of cover and pushed aside the gauze curtain at the door—just in time to meet Aunt Mu’s gaze.
Both of them froze for a moment. Aunt Mu turned her face away first, and Yan Zhen scratched his head awkwardly. “Sister Ji Ya’s first treatment session went smoothly, Aunt Mu. You don’t need to keep guarding anymore.”
Aunt Mu gave a slight nod. “You’ve worked hard, little one.”
“I-It was okay. Not too exhausting.”
Yan Zhen wasn’t sure how to put it. Exhausting? Sure, but it had felt amazing. Easy? Hardly—he’d nearly been wrung dry.
“W-Well, I’m off to the bathhouse.”
With that, he slunk out of the room like a scolded child.
In the bathhouse, the water in the pool still held traces of Ice Mystic Force, keeping it refreshingly cool.
Yan Zhen summoned his Gold-Silver Fire and tossed a wisp of flame into the pool. In moments, the entire thing was steaming hot.
He shed his robe and stepped into the bath, settling down at the center of the pool.
The water lapped up to his chest, leaving only his shoulders and head above the surface. It felt incredible, and waves of fatigue washed over him.
Truth be told, he was worn out. Manipulating Mystic Master-level Mystic Power for “internal pill refining” as a Mystic Practitioner—if not for his mastery of the Emperor Flame Technique and the Ancestral Symbol Scripture, he never could have pulled it off so smoothly.
But he couldn’t rest yet.
He had harvested his good big sister’s long-cherished Primordial Yin. He needed to refine it as soon as possible, or it would slowly dissipate—a total waste.
Yan Zhen steadied his mind and pushed through his exhaustion to begin cultivating. Just then, he heard the sound of the door opening beyond the screen.
Moments later, Yi Xian’er strolled in, clad only in a tube top and short skirt that showcased her long, pale legs. Right there in front of him, she untied her tube top and let the skirt fall away. Her breasts bounced free like inflating balloons—from “apples” to “coconuts” in an instant. It was utterly mesmerizing.
Bare as the day she was born, her flawless pinkish-white body on full display down to her delicate bare feet, she descended into the water with elegant grace. Step by step, she approached Yan Zhen.
Her expression and movements were so utterly natural that Yan Zhen forgot to be shocked. He simply stared, dumbfounded, at his future confidante.
“What are you gawking at, you little pervert?” Yi Xian’er’s cheeks flushed faintly as she pressed one arm across her impressively ample, soft breasts, hiding the rosy peaks atop them. “You’ve been fooling around with Sister Ji Ya all night. Isn’t that enough?”
Yan Zhen snapped back to his senses and averted his eyes. “Why’d you come in here? I’m not done bathing yet.”
“I’m here to stand guard for you.”
Yi Xian’er sat down in front of him, the water rising to her chest as well. Her hefty “coconuts” bobbed gently on the surface.
“A woman’s Primordial Yin is hard to preserve once harvested. If you don’t start refining it now, at least thirty percent will be lost by dawn. What a shame that would be.”
“Thanks for the thought, but I don’t need a guardian. I can handle it myself.”
“Still acting tough? You look like you’re about to pass out from exhaustion. Let me wake you up a bit.”
Yi Xian’er gave a faint smile, but something dark tinged it. Blackish-purple Baleful Qi visibly emanated from her pristine white skin, and her bright eyes gleamed like twin amethysts. Even her silky black hair turned to flowing silver-white locks.
If the Yi Xian’er of moments ago had been a girl-next-door hiding a sensual figure, this version was an evil white-haired queen wielding forbidden power.
Almost instinctively, the Gold-Silver Fire in Yan Zhen’s body flared to life, coiling around him to ward off the chilling wave of Baleful Qi.
“Feeling awake now?”
The Baleful Qi vanished in an instant, and Yi Xian’er returned to normal, her lovely face still wearing that captivating smile.
Yan Zhen blinked, half wondering if he’d hallucinated. Was that the future Thousand Fiends? What a powerful aura. Could she already tap into a portion of her Fiend Body’s strength?
“That’s no way to scare a guy.”
“Then how about I perk you up another way?”
As she spoke, Yi Xian’er made a grabbing motion, her eyes sharpening predatorily on Yan Zhen.
He immediately clamped his legs together and shielded his underwater vulnerability. “Pass.”
Yi Xian’er giggled sweetly. “Then hurry up and start refining it. If you really can’t hold out, I’ll lend a hand. But it won’t be free, of course.”
Yan Zhen gazed at her innocent, beautiful face—so seemingly straightforward, yet impossible to read.
“Xian’er, why are you sticking with me?”
“Why? You did those things to me, so now I’m stuck with you.”
“You’re serious?”
“Just kidding~”
Happy with that little tease, are you? Yan Zhen shot her a look of disdain.
“So what’s the real reason?”
Yi Xian’er glanced at him and cleared her throat. “I’ll tell you after you’re done cultivating. For now, focus on refining Sister Ji Ya’s Primordial Yin~”
Yan Zhen stared at his would-be confidante for a long moment before finally closing his eyes. He sank his mind into his Dantian and began refining his good big sister’s Primordial Yin.
The night passed. Yan Zhen successfully refined the incredibly abundant Primordial Yin, his cultivation surging from Nine-Star Mystic Practitioner straight to Three-Star Mystic Scholar!
The explosive influx of power felt slightly out of control. As the breakthrough completed, his Mystic Power raged like a wild horse broken free from its reins, sending waves surging across the pool.
Yan Zhen circulated the Emperor Flame Technique, struggling to stabilize his power until the Mystic Power finally settled.
He opened his eyes and emerged from his meditative state, ready to pick up their earlier conversation. But when he looked around, he found himself alone in the bath.
