"Kind sir, could you use your horse to carry my grandfather back to the imperial city?" asked a young girl whose eyes were already red and swollen from crying.
"What is going on with you two...?" Ye Xiaoyao stopped, feeling a sense of caution in his heart.
Not only were the two of them dressed in luxurious attire, but the young girl, despite some injuries, possessed the cultivation of the Spirit Pill Realm Ninth Layer.
As for the old man, though more severely injured, his aura was surging and his cultivation was unfathomably deep, making him impossible to read!
Anyone capable of injuring them was certainly no ordinary person. Having been betrayed by Gu Qingqing, Ye Xiaoyao was all the more convinced that being a good person did not necessarily lead to a good end.
"It's all my fault!" said the girl with a sob.
"Grandfather accompanied me out to gain experience, but yesterday I sensed a chance to make a breakthrough. Although Grandfather said my foundation wasn't stable enough, I forced the breakthrough anyway!"
"Who would have thought the breakthrough would fail, leading to a qi deviation and putting me at death's door? Grandfather tried everything he could to guide the qi for me!"
"Though my life was saved, Grandfather was struck by the chaotic qi inside my body and fell unconscious with severe injuries!"
"I have no spiritual energy left at all, and there's simply no way I can take Grandfather back to the imperial city for treatment..."
The more she spoke, the more self-reproachful she felt, and her tears flowed like a spring.
"Let me take a look first!" Ye Xiaoyao said, reaching out to grab the girl's pulse.
"You... what are you doing...?" Clearly, the girl also realized that Ye Xiaoyao was a complete stranger.
By this time, however, Ye Xiaoyao had already confirmed that the girl's condition was just as she had described, and he proceeded to grab the old man's wrist.
Instantly, Ye Xiaoyao frowned.
It turned out the girl's internal qi was far too chaotic. When the old man guided the qi for her, fearing she would suffer the impact, he hadn't dared to suppress it with his own cultivation.
Instead, he had let that rampant qi continuously assail his own meridians. Now, severely injured, he was at death's door.
"I beg you, take my grandfather back to the imperial city..." the girl pleaded once more.
Ye Xiaoyao shook his head and said, "Your grandfather's current condition simply cannot withstand a long journey..."
"Then... then..." The girl was instantly at a loss for words.
How could she not know her grandfather's condition? But this was the only way she could think of to save him. Yet now, her last shred of hope had been shattered.
"Perhaps I can try, but I cannot guarantee I can save your grandfather. Do you agree?" Ye Xiaoyao said a moment later.
"You?" The girl looked at Ye Xiaoyao suspiciously.
After all, Ye Xiaoyao looked to be in his early twenties, hardly seeming like someone with such capability.
"So, what is your decision..." Ye Xiaoyao did not explain.
Having been an orphan since childhood, he was indeed somewhat moved by the old man's willingness to risk his life for family affection. At the same time, he wanted to test the healing arts found in the alchemy chapter of the Fire Control Formula.
After all, that was an Immortal Formula meant for immortals in the Immortal Realm, and Ye Xiaoyao had no idea if it would necessarily apply to people of the Qingyun Continent.
After frowning for a moment, the girl took a deep breath and said, "Given my grandfather's condition, it couldn't possibly get any worse anyway. Please, sir, make your move!"
The girl felt this wasn't even a gamble; it was simply a desperate final choice.
"Alright!" Ye Xiaoyao walked over to the old man.
He held his right hand in a sword-finger gesture, and the fire spirit Red Leaf in his Dantian trembled slightly, instantly condensing a scorching crimson qi-needle at his fingertips using fire spiritual energy.
This... Seeing this, the girl nearby revealed a look of deep shock in her eyes.
It wasn't that she had never seen alchemists use needles to save lives, but condensing qi into needles like Ye Xiaoyao was something she had never even heard of. Furthermore, she practiced the Earth-grade intermediate fire-attribute Cultivation Formula, the Blazing Flame Formula.
Yet she noticed that although Ye Xiaoyao was only at the Spirit Sea Realm First Layer, the purity of his spiritual energy already far surpassed her own and was not even inferior to her grandfather's.
While she was still in shock, however, Ye Xiaoyao had already driven a needle straight into the Baihui acupoint at the top of the old man's head.
Instantly, the qi-needle vanished into the old man's body.
Ye Xiaoyao immediately condensed another qi-needle, driving them in one after another. After repeating this more than thirty times, Ye Xiaoyao was already breathing heavily with exhaustion.
This... The girl stared blankly at Ye Xiaoyao.
Having seen extraordinary things since childhood, she had never even heard of such a needle-application technique.
At that moment, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. However, after giving Ye Xiaoyao a startled look, he immediately crossed his legs and began to cultivate.
"My grandfather..." the girl asked anxiously.
She could tell her grandfather's condition seemed to have improved, but she still wanted to hear a definitive answer from Ye Xiaoyao.
"Rest assured, he is out of danger. He just needs a moment of meditation to recover his mobility!" said Ye Xiaoyao.
Just then, however, a scorching wave of qi suddenly spread from the old man's body.
Startled by the other party's cultivation, Ye Xiaoyao hurriedly circulated his energy to resist it!
Ah... At that moment, a startled cry came from the girl's side.
Ye Xiaoyao turned his head and saw that the girl, who had lost all her spiritual energy, was completely powerless to resist the scorching heat. Not only was her expression one of extreme pain, but even her clothes were turning charred and black in the heat.
Without time to think, Ye Xiaoyao instinctively expanded his spiritual energy to shield the girl within it.
The girl's clothes were already brittle from the heat, and though the impact of the incoming spiritual energy wasn't enough to harm her, it caused her garments to continuously tear away.
Countless patches of snow-white skin were revealed before his eyes, and Ye Xiaoyao instantly froze as if struck by a paralysis spell, standing blankly in place and staring straight at the endless expanse of white.
"Ah..." Recovering her wits, the girl hurriedly covered her chest with both hands and squatted down.
Her pretty face flushed brilliantly red, and she didn't dare raise her head to look at Ye Xiaoyao. "You... turn around..."
"Oh..." Ye Xiaoyao also realized his lapse in composure just then.
Although he turned around with some embarrassment, his mind couldn't help but replay the scene he had just witnessed. Even though he had once been betrothed to Gu Qingqing, he had never experienced such a stimulating encounter.
By this time, the girl had already retrieved a set of clothes from her storage pouch and put them back on. "My grandfather..."
Clearly, the strange fluctuations of qi from her grandfather just moments ago still worried her.
Ye Xiaoyao said, "Your grandfather has a profound foundation. While meditating, he must have encountered an opportunity for a breakthrough and is currently trying to force past the bottleneck."
The girl looked up and saw that her grandfather had indeed brought his previously scattered aura under control. With his breathing steady and his complexion returning to normal, he certainly didn't look like he was in any danger.
Relieved, she turned to Ye Xiaoyao and said, "Sir saved my grandfather, a kindness akin to a second birth. Lin Yuyan has nothing to repay you with, so I can only offer myself to you in marriage!"
"What... what did you say?" Ye Xiaoyao looked at her in utter shock.
Although her pretty face was slightly flushed, Lin Yuyan bit her lip and said, "You saved my grandfather and saw me unclothed. Reason and emotion dictate that I have no choice but to marry you!"