Chapter 43: The Unlucky Seductress

  "Yawn!" Yao Jing yawned listlessly, reached out and grabbed the feather duster in Lao Dao's hand, slowly brushing the long, soft thousand-year-old snow silkworm silk on it.

  An old Taoist with a smile sat opposite Lin Xiao, glanced at Yao Jing lightly, and nodded: "It's rare for a green moss to transform into a demon, this is the first time in the cultivation world. Never mind, let her follow you as a maid." The old Taoist reached into his sleeve and pulled out a black iron token, handing it to Yao Jing, who quickly grabbed it and curiously played with it in her hand.

  Lin Xiao took a small teacup from Qing Yun's hand, and in one gulp, he swallowed the scalding hot tea water. Closing his mouth, he savored the rich aroma that rose from the tea for a moment before saying softly, "Thank you, senior."

  Yi Lao Dao smiled lightly and looked at Yao Jing, who was laughing a bit foolishly, and simply nodded: "It's nothing, no need to thank me."

  Four people sat under a very large ancient tree, the tree was over fifty or sixty feet tall, and its canopy stretched out in all directions for hundreds of feet. Qing Yun spread out a bamboo mat under the tree, placed two meditation cushions on it, and set up a small tea table. Lin Xiao and Yi Er sat facing each other with their legs crossed, savoring the fragrant tea that Qing Yun had handed them, along with two plates of fragrant pine nuts on the tea table. The ancient tree was in full bloom with a type of white flower that Lin Xiao didn't recognize, shaped like a dove's egg and as big as a bowl. As the gentle breeze blew by, the tree swayed and the flowers shook, releasing a light fragrance that lingered around their noses, refreshing their entire bodies and giving them a sense of freedom from worldly cares. After swallowing another mouthful of hot tea, Lin Xiao looked up at the few white flower petals floating gently down and said softly: "Tomorrow, I will start refining the Ying Xue Dan."

  "Is it the Yingshuo Dan?" A Taoist with a long eyebrow twitched, and he asked excitedly: "The one that can replenish true yuan, and one pill can make a Jindan period cultivator recover all their true yuan instantly? Hmm, this is a top-grade dan medicine in the Daluo Dan Dao's dan scripture, it's a rare treasure. Little friend, you..."

  Lin Xiao nodded, clenched his fists and said in a low voice: "The power is already sufficient, but the experience is still lacking. However, with the great Luo Dan Jing's countless ancestral enlightenment within, refining the top-grade spiritual elixir should have an 80-90% grasp. It's just that the various medicinal materials needed... will require more effort from seniors."

  One of the Daoist priests' long eyebrows twitched, and he hastily agreed. Lin Xiao used a month's time to refine all the medicinal materials he had collected from Yao Mountain last time, which was worth millions of jin, into spiritual pills. He replenished Yuan Zong's empty Dan room with a large stockpile. The low-grade spiritual pills refined by Lin Xiao were more potent and effective than those of the same kind refined by Yuan Zong's Dan Hall, and even their color was brighter. The low-grade spiritual pills sold at a good price in the pharmacy. Now that Lin Xiao is said to start refining higher-grade elixirs, Yi Yi is naturally overjoyed.

  Yingxue Dan, a great pill, very practical and useful! If Lin Xiao could also refine those basic pills in batches of tens of thousands like he does with the Yingxue Dan. A certain Daoist would really have to laugh so hard their teeth fall out. The basic Ling Dan sells well, but its profit margin is not high. However, the Yingxue Dan, which can rapidly replenish true yuan, is always the most sought-after and profitable type of pill.

  "Very well." Seeing that Yīyǐ Dào person had accepted the task, Lín Xiǎo nodded slightly and casually tossed a piece of Yíng Xuě Dān's medicinal formula to Yīyǐ Dào person. He then closed his eyes to cultivate his spirit. A gentle breeze blew past him, and the fragrance of flowers wafted by. Two snow-white flower petals quietly fell onto Lín Xiǎo's head, and a few fine white pollen grains stuck to his nose, leaving several white spots on it. Lín Xiǎo's spirit wandered within a hundred feet around him, quietly sensing the life and death changes between heaven and earth.

  Yi Wudao nodded slightly. He was already used to Lin Xiu's indifference, even coldness, and knew that Lin Xiu had a heavy burden on his mind. He didn't want to comfort Lin Xiu either. The heart of a cultivator is stable, but if a demon forms in the heart, it will be stubbornly persistent. Yi Wudao didn't think he had such a high level of cultivation, and just lightly comforting him wouldn't dispel the blockage in Lin Xiu's mind. As they floated up to the high clouds, Yi Wudao turned back to look at Lin Xiu with some concern: "Heart demons, still have to rely on yourself!"

  Yao Jing took the black iron token that represented her as a formal disciple of Yuan Zong and gnawed on it for a while, but found that her teeth couldn't move the token protected by Dao law. She got annoyed and threw the token aside, then jumped up lightly and landed beside Qing Chu. She hugged Qing Chu's waist from behind, rubbing her face against his back, humming: "Qing Chu, let's go eat medicine, purple ginseng, and blood lotus root, they're delicious." A drop of sparkling saliva dripped from Yao Jing's mouth, wetting a large area of Qing Chu's clothes. Yao Jing kept tugging on Qing Chu's ears, saying loudly: "Let's go eat medicine! This water is not good to drink!" She pointed at the teapot on the small stove.

  Qing Yun pursed his lips and looked at Yao Jing with a helpless expression, carefully picked up the scalding teapot, and slowly poured a cup of hot tea for Lin Xiao.

  Lin Xiao suddenly spoke up, "Qing Chu, take Yao Jing to play. These days there's nothing much going on, you don't have to always follow me around." He stretched out his hand and gently tapped Yao Jing's forehead, Lin Xiao smiled and said, "Go ahead, go ahead, I'll just rest here for a bit, when you two come back, wake me up." After finishing speaking, Lin Xiao tossed the cushion under his butt far away, lazily leaning his body on the bamboo mat, soon after, loud snoring sounds like thunder started to emerge. Along with Lin Xiao's snores, threads of spiritual energy sizzled and entered his body, gradually a thin layer of mist enveloped him.

  "Huh? That's incredible! Can you even increase your cultivation while sleeping?" Yao Jing looked at Lin Xiang in surprise, her right index finger inserted into her mouth, her teeth lightly nibbling on it, her eyes rolling around rapidly.

  "Really? Brother Lin can even practice his skills while sleeping? How did you learn this method?" Qing Yun also stared at Lin Xiao, puzzled by how he suddenly had this strange ability.

  Lin Xiao himself didn't know that while he was sleeping, his body could automatically absorb the spiritual energy from the outside world. Moreover, the speed of absorption was not much slower than when he was consciously practicing. The golden elixir in his dantian slowly rotated, and the Xuanwu ring spun even faster. A dark Xuanwu shadow floated above the golden elixir, its mouth open wide, constantly inhaling and exhaling towards the surrounding void. Each time it inhaled and exhaled, the speed of the spiritual energy rushing into Lin Xiao's body increased by a fraction. As the Xuanwu shadow continued to breathe, fine lines of text gradually appeared on the surface of the Xuanwu ring. The golden characters were ancient and mysterious, like wriggling tadpoles, giving off an otherworldly aura.

  Lin Xiao was completely unaware of the changes within his body, he lay comfortably on the bamboo mat, gradually stretching out his hands and feet, and began to snore. The misty aura transformed from the spiritual energy tightly wrapped around his body, rapidly being absorbed into his body, after being refined by the Golden Elixir into Heavenly Fire True Essence, was sucked clean by the Xuanwu Ring. The Xuanwu Ring's luster gradually became bright and transparent. The small Xuanwu shadow also gradually condensed and solidified. Suddenly, the Xuanwu shadow opened its mouth, and a tiny black water droplet sprayed out from its mouth, sprinkling onto Lin Xiao's Golden Elixir. Lin Xiao's Golden Elixir's luster dimmed, its size shrinking slightly, then its radiance surged greatly, as if it had condensed even more.

  Qing Yue and Yao Jing looked at each other, shook their heads in envy, and quietly got up. Hand in hand, they walked out of the woods for dozens of feet before skipping along a small path towards the nearest flying boat dock. Just as they had run over a mile, Yao Jing suddenly shuddered to a stop. Qing Yue looked at her in surprise, but before she could ask what was wrong, Yao Jing grabbed her and took off running again. As they ran, Yao Jing whispered to Qing Yue, "There's someone hiding by the road, and it smells like a very strong person."

  Yao Jing's face was full of sinister smiles, and she chuckled: "She hid in the forest, it's impossible to deceive me. Those trees with moss on their roots all have my ears and eyes."

  Qing Le stopped for a moment, looking back with some concern. However, Yao Jing displayed the cunning and variability of a small demon. She pulled Qing Le into a frantic sprint, covering hundreds of feet before pulling her into a thicket by the side of the road. The two little girls whispered to each other as they parted the dense grasses, crawling towards the ancient tree where Lin Xiang was sleeping. With Yao Jing by her side, Qing Le moved with ease through the underbrush, all the tall grasses silently parting before her, her body rubbing against them without making a sound. A faint green glow emanated from Yao Jing's body, and the grasses within several feet of her were already under her control. This was an innate ability unique to plant spirits.

  Lin Xiao was sleeping soundly, he smelled the aroma of roasted chicken in his dream, and it seemed that he saw Yao'er's dazed little face again. Suddenly, that pale face was covered with blood.

  A sharp pain in his heart, Lin Xiao suddenly woke up from his dream. The dense spiritual energy outside his body quickly dissipated, and a few pieces of faint white clouds suddenly appeared around the ancient tree. Lin Xiao looked around blankly, the bright sunlight was shining through the branches of the ancient tree, casting transparent beams of light on the ground in the somewhat dim forest, the spots of light swaying on the ground, the forest was empty and desolate without any human figure, the bamboo mat, tea table and other objects were clearly visible beside him, but they seemed to have a sense of nothingness.

  "Shifu Shiniang Hua Dajie Yaoer" Lin Xiao murmured, reciting the names of his former fellow disciples one by one. Thick cold sweat continuously gushed out from within him, and his Taoist robe quickly became soaked. A large patch on the back of his robe had turned dark. Lin Xiao wiped his forehead with his sleeve, then suddenly let out a sigh, hugged his head with both hands, and began to sob quietly.

  Qing Yue and Yao Jing looked at each other from a distance, watching Lin Xiao cry under the tree. Qing Yue couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. She only felt a sharp pain in her chest, and tears fell down as she watched Lin Xiao. This young man, if he could stop crying, Qing Yue was willing to die for his smile. Yao Jing, on the other hand, took out a piece of red lingzhi from somewhere, broke it open with her fingernail, and put it in her mouth, whispering: "Brother Lin can cry? Strange, no one is using a treasure sword to cut him?"

  A wisp of thin fog suddenly emerged from the forest, wrapping around Lin Xiao's body within a hundred meters, like an invisible wall that completely sealed off the area. In the fog, a girl wearing a white long dress, with a semi-transparent gauze skirt that outlined her beautiful figure in a tantalizing way, her long black hair fluttering behind her head. As the breeze blew by, her hair flew out, and half of her legs were exposed outside the skirt, the girl walked towards Lin Xiao with a shy smile on her face.

  He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a fierce sleeve, Lin Xiao looked at the girl coldly and said in a cold voice: "Qing County Master? If I'm not mistaken, the county master has arrived. What instructions do you have?" Lin Xiao frowned, his eyes quickly glanced over the two sections of Qing County's long skirt that were blown up by the clear wind, he subconsciously turned his head away, avoiding Qing County's body.

  Jie County Master looked at Lin Xiao with a timid gaze, slowly walking to within three feet of him before trembling and falling to her knees. Her body shook slightly, causing the delicate silk skirt to fall away from her body, revealing the white, tender flesh inside. Jie County Master's slender, beautiful, and flawless physique was completely exposed to Lin Xiao. She leaned forward, her small hands gently wrapping around Lin Xiao's calves as she softly spoke: "Junior, Huang Jie'er, greets Lin Xiao."

  Lin Xiao's calf was wrapped around by Ji Junzhu's two arms, Lin Xiao only felt his scalp tingling, clearly such a beautiful and lovely girl, but Lin Xiao felt as if he had seen a poisonous snake wrapping itself around him. Especially when Ji Junzhu's fingers lightly slid and tapped on Lin Xiao's calf, it made Lin Xiao's body tense up tightly.

  The elegant lady noticed the change in Lin Xiao's leg muscles, and a hint of a smile appeared on her delicate face. She gently lifted her head to look at Lin Xiao, and softly laughed: "I'm willing to serve you with my humble body. I've heard that Lin has inherited the Great Luo Dan Dao's Supreme Treasure, the Great Luo Dan Jing. So, I'd like to ask for your guidance." The elegant lady let out a soft giggle, and a faint pink mist floated out of her mouth. This mist spread rapidly, filling the surrounding air with a sweet fragrance in an instant. She softly moaned, and her body sprang up from the ground like a nimble monkey, pouncing towards Lin Xiao.

  The pure and noble young lady opened her arms, intentionally revealing her plump **and waistline. She cooed softly: "Serve the younger generation"

  Lin Xiao let out a loud cry. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen a ghost. His body sprang up from the ground like a spring, and with one foot, he kicked towards Jing Gu's chest. Then, he turned around and let out a series of ear-piercing screams, opening his legs wide and running rapidly towards the outside of the forest. Jing Gu was kicked in the chest by Lin Xiao, her cultivation and the golden elixir that Lin Xiao had formed were completely no match for him. With just one light kick from Lin Xiao, Jing Gu's body flew backwards for nearly ten zhang, her ribcage caved in, and large mouthfuls of blood spurted out of her mouth, staining her chest a deep red.

  In the bushes, Qing E gnashed his teeth and muttered in a low voice: "This is a bad woman!"

  Yao Jing quickly chewed on the lingzhi while shaking her head and saying: "Bad woman! Yes, bad woman. I understand why Lin brother is afraid of girls who don't wear clothes. No wonder he ran away so fast the other morning! And then he even made me fix the hole in the wall that he broke himself. Why did I have to repair it?"

  Qing glared at Yaojing and said in a low voice, "Xiaoqing, shut up! You sleep naked, you scared Lin Gege!"

  Yao Jing glared at Qing Tuo with a wronged expression, complaining: "I have nothing to do with it, I just sleep and recover to my original form. I ate so much purple bamboo shoots, my original form is too big, oh no! My clothes are all torn apart, I didn't mean to not wear clothes!" Seeing Qing Tuo's face looking extremely unpleasant, Yao Jing hastily pointed at the curled up and vomiting blood Ji Gu Niangzi on the ground, saying in a low voice: "I'm still better than her, I unintentionally tore my clothes, she deliberately stripped naked! Hmm, bad woman!"

  Qing Yue hesitated and looked at Jing Jun, saying in a low voice: "Although Jing Shijie is not good, can't just watch her die like this? Hmm, I have some wound medicine that Lin Ge gave me. If she dies, Lin Ge will also be in trouble." Qing Yue only considered it for a moment, and her kind nature took over, completely suppressing her resentment towards Jing Jun. She emerged from the bushes and walked to Jing Jun's side, who was constantly spitting up blood. From her waistband, she pulled out two white jade medicine bottles, poured out one red and one white pill, and fed them into Jing Jun's mouth.

  Lin Xiao's refined elixir had an excellent therapeutic effect on this purely physical injury. In just a moment, the Clean County Master stopped vomiting blood, and her chest's collapsed ribs gradually healed. She opened her eyes weakly and happened to see Qing Tuo. The Clean County Master's eyes widened in anger as she shouted: "Was it you, this little scoundrel, who saved me? I'm so angry I could die!"

  The thought of being kicked away after actively throwing herself at someone was likely to be seen by the little clown in front of her, and Duchess Jing couldn't help but get angry, her face turning purple with rage. But in an instant, she discovered the change on Qing Chui's face, and Duchess Jing shrieked: "You little slut, you little clown, where is the birthmark on your face? Ah! It can't be seen, you don't have that birthmark anymore, and you're actually a little beauty! Ha! Is it Lin Gong who helped you remove the birthmark? How many days did you sleep with Lin Gong before he gave you such a benefit?"

  A torrent of vile and filthy language poured out of the chaste young lady's mouth, her words were even more shameless than those of a lowly rascal from the streets.

  Qing Yue was frightened by the continuous flow of unpleasant words from Jing Jun, and retreated repeatedly. With a heart full of grievances and stifled sobs, Qing Yue's tears rolled down again.

  Jade's angry voice rushed to the side of the pure and noble lady, who loudly scolded: "You wicked woman! It was Jade who saved you!"

  The noble lady sneered coldly and turned her head away, saying disdainfully: "What status does this county lord have? Does she need to be saved by such a low-born ugly freak like you? Hmph!"

  Qing's face turned extremely ugly, she pulled Yaojing and said loudly: "Xiaoqing, let's go, don't mind her! She uses such an ugly trick to get close to Lin brother, she must have ill intentions!"

  The elegant young lady gave a charming smile, and she burst out laughing: "Ah, little cheap goods also understand what is romantic? This young lady approached Lin Gong only to try the taste of Lin Gong hehe, solo pleasure is not as good as shared pleasure, Qingchu little girl, why don't you invite Lin Gong out, we find a place, and have a joyful time together?"

  Qing Yue's face turned red, then green, then black. She didn't dare to speak with the young mistress again and pulled Yao Jing to turn around and escape.

  Jade's eyes sparkled with a hint of green light as she glared at the elegant and alluring pose of Clean County Lord on the ground. Suddenly, countless tall grasses burst out from the ground around her, densely packed and surging towards Clean County Lord. Amidst Clean County Lord's terrified cries, these tough and iron-like grasses wrapped her up like a cocoon, suspending her high above a large tree!

  Yao Jing smiled a few times and quickly ran away hand in hand with Qing Kuai.

  Lin Xiao was running wildly in the forest like a headless fly, when he suddenly stopped and exclaimed: "The Great Luo Dan Scripture? Why did the pure county lord mention this? Didn't the senior of the sect issue a gag order within the sect, strictly forbidding anyone from mentioning this matter? Why did she bring it up?"

  Standing under the tree in contemplation for a moment, Lin Xiao took out a paper crane from his wristband and whispered a few words to it. He pointed at the paper crane with his finger, and it suddenly emitted a soft hum, producing a white light that rapidly flew northwest.

  "This is Yuan Zong's business, let him handle it!"

  Lin Xiao looked in the direction the paper crane flew away and nodded lightly.