Whoosh—
A cold spring pool lay quietly inside a closed stone chamber, and the stone walls on all four sides were covered with glass-like frost because of the pure spiritual water energy.
"A sneak attack, huh?!"
"Gululu– Wooah--!"
"Hit me, eh?!"
"Woo– Gululu..."
"Uppercut, right?!"
Xiao Tian lay on her stomach on the edge of the cold pool lined with pebbles.
Xue'e stood beside her, holding her neck with one hand like a villain that bullied the weak. With a curse, she pushed Xiao Tian's head into the pool water to choke her.
Although the spirit of the scroll did not need to breathe like a human, it was still very uncomfortable after the abundant water spirit in the spiritual spring rushed into the nasal cavity.
"Gululu gurulu gurulu..."
Xiao Tian struggled desperately, waving her hands, but she was lying down while Xue'e was standing.
Xue'e stepped on the back of her head, pressing it into the water as she was making bubbles. After a while, she felt her consciousness fade away and lay motionless on the side of the pool.
"Hmph!"
Seeing that the golden fool fainted due to choking on the spiritual energy, Xue'e seemed to be still not satisfied, so she kicked her butt, directly into the cold spring. Then, she crossed her arms and looked around, hesitated for a while before taking a few steps back and jumping into the pool with a forward dive.
Gurgle~~
"Huha~~ Water spiritual energy..."
Xue'e stuck her head out, pursed her lips, and looked at the golden fool lying on the side and floating on the water. She simply ignored her and started swimming on her back.
However, before she could swim comfortably, she heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the stone chamber.
A wooden door was opened by someone, and Xue'e was so scared that she immediately shrank her head under the water and also pulled Xiao Tian beside her to hide her under the water.
Ye Anping, wearing a bathrobe, looked at the cold haze floating on the spring water in the stone room, and he inexplicably remembered the first time he and his sister immersed themselves in ice water during their harsh training.
He had dual spiritual roots of water and wood, and his sister had pure water spiritual roots.
The Hundred Lotus Sect had no spiritual springs, so in order to forge their bodies and reach the Qi Refining stage as soon as possible, he waited until the coldest time of winter and took Pei Lianxue, who was only five years old, to the frozen lake behind the sect. He chiseled a hole with a pickaxe and jumped in with his sister.
He thought they had already forged their bodies at that time, so they should be fine.
But in the end, they were still frozen and couldn't climb out anymore. They ended up frozen together, and they almost reincarnated directly. It was only later that Xiaodie found out that they were missing and brought his father over to fish them out.
Since then, every time he and his sister bathed in the ice pool, they took turns, one waiting on the top and the other soaking below, to prevent being frozen and unable to get out.
Ye Anping shook his head helplessly, cut off the memories, and walked to the pool. He squatted down, reached out to touch the cold spring water, then took off his bathrobe and held his breath before walking into the cold water that could instantly freeze living things into ice.
"Huh..."
Hua-Hua-Hua-
The eight-pack abdominal muscles strongly pushed away the spiritual energy on the water's surface.
After a while of adjusting, Ye Anping immersed his whole body in the pool water and leaned against the pool edge. He completely emptied his mind as he let the water spiritual energy in the pool slowly penetrate his meridians, exhaling a white mist with satisfaction.
"Ha~~~"
However, who knew if it was because he had been too idle, or if it was just a rare moment of relaxation.
But after a while of concentrating on his breath, he couldn't help but recall the silver-haired lovely girl he had just seen.
When he saw her at that time, there was no ripple in his heart.
But now, for some reason, Feng Yu Die's figure came to his mind...
In the steaming wood spiritual spring, a head could be seen, with long silver hair, the tips of which floated slightly on the water. Her entire body was surrounded by white mist, making her appear transparent...
Although she ate greasy roasted chicken every day, she still had a tight belly and jade-like white shoulders...
And the belly button had an extremely perfect shape, like a full moon...
Pah—
Ye Anping suddenly realized that there was something wrong with his thoughts. He raised his hand and slapped his forehead to stop the heating, and then smiled bitterly, looking at thick spiritual mist across the water.
"Hehe..."
Ye Anping couldn't help but ask himself, was he coveting Feng Yu Die's body?
"Maybe I do... Sigh—"
And it was probably not just about lusting after her body...
Ye Anping recalled the years of companionship with Feng Yu Die after they met. Only now did he realize that he seemed to have protected Feng Yu Die from the very beginning without even noticing.
When Feng Yu Die was seriously injured by Wu You, he only wanted to prevent her from dying, so he saved her and brought her back to the Hundred Lotus Sect.
But in fact, perhaps from that time onwards, he had inadvertently fallen prey to Feng Yu Die.
Later, he and Feng Yu Die went to rescue Yun Jiujiu and Yun Yiyi. When he used the water spirit pearl to blow up the alchemy furnace, he also subconsciously protected Feng Yu Die with his body...
In the Northern Region, when the Nascent Soul of the man named Jiang Mojiao exploded, he also involuntarily caught Feng Yu Die in mid-air and then buried her in the mountain with him...
Feng Yu Die obviously had the Spring Phase energy, so why did he risk his life so much those times, even using his body to protect a person who would never get seriously hurt?
Speaking of which, it seemed that every time he was badly injured, it was to help Feng Yu Die block something...
"Hmm..."
He wondered if it was that stubborn Heavenly Dao will for him to protect Feng Yu Die, the Heavenly Pivot?
Then again, what exactly were the Heavenly Pivot and the Heavenly Demon in this world?
While Ye Anping was daydreaming, a burst of bubbles suddenly appeared not far in front of him.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle...
Xue'e seemed to lose her grip underwater, causing Xiao Tian to float directly to the surface.
Seeing Xiao Tian's sorry state, Ye Anping froze for a moment, then held his breath and plunged his head into the water.
Although the surface of the water was covered with a thick layer of spiritual mist, under the water was extremely clear.
Xue'e pinched her nose, with a terrified expression as if she had seen something terrible. She froze and didn't move for a long time, until she met Ye Anping's eyes under the water. Then she choked, puffing up her cheeks and leaking air from her mouth as she struggled to float to the surface of the water.
"Ha! Cough cough cough—"
"..."
Speechless, Ye Anping looked down, a little surprised.
He didn't even feel the changes just now, how...
Without caring, he poked his head out of the water, narrowed his eyes slightly, and stared at the coughing Xue'e for a while. "When did you two get here?"
"Ah..." Xue'e shrank her neck and blushed. "We've been here all the time, um..."
Xue'e seemed to want to go down and take a look, her eyes a little erratic, and she looked down, but Ye Anping asked with a disdainful look, "Why are you blushing, you spirit of the Heavenly Demonic Scroll? It's not like you haven't seen it before..."
"I didn't see it so clearly... Last time when you and Mingxin were practicing together, I was standing guard outside obediently."
"But you used to see it often in the Heavenly Demon Sect, right?"
"But not as closely..." Xue'e pursed her lips like a shy little girl, then hesitated for a while before asking curiously, "Can I touch it?"
"?! No."
"Oh… then, I'll write it down in the Heavenly Demonic Scroll..."
Xue'e took out the Heavenly Demonic Scroll from her skirt without saying a word, but before she could write something, Ye Anping reached out and snatched the scroll without saying a word and threw it aside, staring at her.
"..."
Seeing his look, Xue'e gradually came back to her senses, patted her cheeks, and nodded. "Hehe, I… I was just scared. Hehe~"
"..."
Ye Anping was speechless. Sighing, he glanced at Xiao Tian who was about to float away, reached out and picked her up, put her on his shoulder, and then relaxed again.
"If you want to take a bath, then take it peacefully, otherwise get out."
"Oh~ Okay..."
Xue'e licked her lips, slowly waved her hands as she swam to Ye Anping, then pulled Xiao Tian by the legs, throwing her to the shore. Then, she leaned obediently against the pebbles by the pool and enjoyed her bath.
Ye Anping glanced at them but didn't react. He just closed his eyes again, thinking about his involuntary reaction underwater.
Just now, he seemed to be thinking about Feng Yu Die...
Speaking of which, when he was on the immortal ship before, Xiao Yunluo brought Feng Yu Die to him with ill intentions...
Since there was nothing to do in the next ten days, he should go and ask her later...
"Huh..."
Ye Anping let out a long sigh, thinking that it was better to let nature take its course. Not to mention that Gu Mingxin was there, and she would definitely come to take her share when the time came.
He should wait until the matter of the Heavenly Demon Sect was over and then take Feng Yu Die to Master Taixu's tomb to respond to her confession from back then…
Come to think of it, it was Feng Yu Die who mentioned the crane delivering a child.
Or maybe he could ask his dad to borrow his expensive red-crowned crane to help him out?
Maybe Yu Die will like it...
Ye Anping inexplicably felt like a boy who had just started falling in love, and suddenly a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face.
"Forget it… We'll talk about it later."
He emptied his mind again, rested his head on the pebbles behind him, and closed his eyes. He stopped thinking and calmed down again to let the water spiritual energy in the pool wash his meridians.
Drip-drip-drip-
The stone chamber became quiet as the mist of the cold spring rose to the stalactites above before condensing into water drops and slowly dripping into the pool.
Squeak—
After a while, there was a sound of a latch, and the wooden door of the stone chamber seemed to be opened by someone.
Then, there was the sound of footsteps, coming from afar and stopping behind Ye Anping.
When Ye Anping heard the noise, he subconsciously thought it was probably Gu Mingxin. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up behind him, but what he saw was a snow-white figure.
Feng Yu Die held the bath towel wrapped around her with both hands, standing behind him with a blushing face. When he opened his eyes and looked over, her eyes became a little erratic, and she moved aside. "Young Master Ye, that... can we take a bath together? Hehe..."
Hearing Feng Yu Die's shy voice, Ye Anping didn't know why, but he clenched his toes and didn't know what to say. He nodded subconsciously. "Ah... yeah."
Seeing that Ye Anping agreed, Feng Yu Die hunched her shoulders and squinted her eyes with a happy smile, then walked to the side and stretched out her toes to test the water.
Splash—
The water-based spiritual spring was extremely cold. Even Feng Yu Die would find it too cold to enter.
However, Feng Yu Die pursed her lips, looked at Ye Anping, held her breath, and decisively slid down from the edge of the pool, shivering and leaning on Ye Anping's shoulder, while looking in another direction.
Through the touch of their shoulders, Ye Anping felt her trembling and suddenly felt helpless. He grabbed Xue'e from his shoulder and threw her aside. "Most cultivators are not used to the water-based spiritual spring. If you feel cold, go to the one next door..."
"It's okay, I'll get used to it. Hehe..."
"Ah... well."
Ye Anping felt awkward for some reason. After he responded, he calmed his mind.
He silently recited the decision he had just made:
—Wait until we return to the Western Region...
—Wait until we return to the Western Region...
—Wait...
"Young Master Ye." Feng Yu Die turned her head to look at Ye Anping. "You blushed... Hehe--"
"Really?"
Feng Yu Die tilted her head, tied her silver hair into a bun, and whispered, "Young Master Ye, are you shy? Hehe..."
Ye Anping was speechless, and he looked away. "...Well, maybe."
"Then... do you want to practice dual cultivation with me?"
"... "
Drip-drip-drip--
After this question, the stone room became quiet again, leaving only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling.
Feng Yu Die waited for a while but did not get an answer from Ye Anping. Embarrassed, she changed the subject, saying, "By the way, Master Ye, you... eh?!"
Before she finished her words, Ye Anping took a deep breath, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into his arms, kissing her.
—Wait until we get back to the Western Region…
—Can't wait!!
Although Feng Yu Die was startled, she soon realized that this was the "foreplay" described in Sister Xiao's book, and she completely relaxed.
However, this kiss did not last long. Not long after Feng Yu Die closed her eyes, they separated.
Ye Anping exhaled lightly. He put his arm around her waist, picked her up to sit on the edge of the pool, and looked up at her. "Yu Die... I wanted to take you back to Master Taixu's tomb after the matter of the Heavenly Demon Sect is over."
"Eh?"
Feng Yu Die didn't quite understand, and she hesitantly reached out to hold Ye Anping's face and asked, "Young Master Ye, do you want to practice dual cultivation in front of my master's tomb?"
"? No…"
Feng Yu Die smiled with a blush. "How about now? I want to practice dual cultivation with you, Young Master Ye!"
Ye Anping looked at the flushed little face and was silent for a moment, then leaned forward, closed his eyes, and gently kissed the flawless belly button.
"Oh, Master Ye... It's so itchy!"
"Just Anping, just call me Anping..."
"Hmm~ Anping, hmm... Woo—"
Ye Anping relaxed, letting Feng Yu Die hug his head and clamp his neck with her legs, then closed his eyes and savored her sweetness on his lips...
Low moans sounded in the silent stone room, accompanied by a faint popping sound of water, rippling in the cold pool without waves.
Xiao Tian, who was lying on the shore nearby, woke up in a daze. Hearing the movement behind her, she glanced back, and her eyes widened. She thought that she had hallucinations.
"Ah?!!"
Bang—
Just as the first word came out, Xue'e's wooden sword followed closely and hit her on the head with her sword, knocking her unconscious.
The two people who were originally lingering were interrupted by it, stopped their movements, and turned their heads to look over.
"Young Master Ye... Anping..."
"Hold my neck, I'll carry you back to the house..."
"Okay~~ hehehe..."