Half a month later, Cao Yang pushed open the tightly closed chamber door with an expression of lingering satisfaction.
Compared to half a month ago, the aura around him was significantly stronger.
Perhaps due to his recent breakthrough, the spiritual power around his body was still somewhat unstable and churning.
Judging from the fluctuations of his spiritual power, he had successfully broken through to the Qi Condensation 7th Layer over the past half-month.
The reason he chose to come out of seclusion was that his twenty spirit stones had been completely depleted.
This outcome was within his expectations, so he felt no particular regret.
Walking out into the courtyard, Ning Ruifei was nowhere to be seen.
Just as he was wondering, a sudden surge of spiritual power emanated from another room.
It appeared that Ning Ruifei was about to make a breakthrough.
Naturally, Cao Yang had no intention of disturbing her, so he sat down cross-legged right there to stabilize his own cultivation realm.
By the time the spiritual power around him calmed down, Ning Ruifei had also successfully made her breakthrough and emerged from her room.
Cao Yang glanced at her and noticed that her cultivation had reached the Qi Condensation 5th Layer.
Breaking through two minor realms in half a month was not a slow progress for her.
After all, her aptitude had originally been merely inferior, and it only reached medium grade after being upgraded multiple times by the system.
Compared to his current aptitude, there was still quite a gap.
With a gap in aptitude, the speed of absorbing spiritual energy was naturally much slower.
"Cao Yang, you're out of seclusion?!"
Seeing Cao Yang meditating in the courtyard, Ning Ruifei called out softly and dashed over.
Her face was filled with pleasant surprise, and her bright, expressive eyes stared intently at Cao Yang, the tenderness in the depths of her gaze seeming ready to melt into spring water.
Seeing the affectionate tenderness in her eyes, Cao Yang's heart skipped a beat, and his gaze gradually grew heated.
Having not seen her for half a month, she seemed even more charming after her breakthrough.
Feeling the intensity of his gaze, Ning Ruifei instantly blushed.
Like a shy young wife, she lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.
Clearly, the relationship between the two of them was already extremely close, and she was no longer an ignorant young girl.
Yet for some reason, whenever Cao Yang fixed his gaze on her, her heart would race uncontrollably and her face would flush red.
Despite no longer being young, she behaved like a delicate maiden, blushing at the slightest provocation.
It made one want to dote on her thoroughly.
Ning Ruifei's figure was of the petite and delicate type; though not as voluptuous as Li Qing, the charming allure in her features made her all the more captivating.
Moreover, that charm carried a hint of shyness, which stirred the soul even more.
No wonder Su Qiang had been so obsessed with her.
Ning Ruifei had yet to reach the Foundation Establishment stage and had not practiced any inner sect cultivation methods.
Cao Yang estimated that once she began practicing the inner sect cultivation methods of the Hehuan Sect, her alluring charm would become even stronger.
By then, her attraction to men would probably be no less than Miao Tian's.
Miao Tian was someone he could only look at but not touch, but Ning Ruifei was already his woman.
Grinning broadly, he stepped forward, took her boneless, delicate hand, and led her into the room, slamming the door shut behind them.
Having practiced diligently in bitter seclusion for half a month, Cao Yang completely let loose.
So much so that over the next few days, Ning Ruifei looked at Cao Yang with a trace of apprehension.
Finally, a few days later, Ning Ruifei brought up the idea of having Cao Yang find another Dao companion.
This was the benefit brought by upgrading one's physique!
One must not assume that women in the world of immortality lack a sense of possessiveness.
In fact, the more capable a person is, regardless of gender, the stronger their possessiveness tends to be.
If Ning Ruifei hadn't been driven to her absolute limit, she would never have uttered such words.
Previously, Cao Yang hadn't told her about Li Qing precisely because he worried she wouldn't be able to accept it.After all, she was his former sworn sister-in-law and the first woman he laid eyes on when he arrived in this unfamiliar world.
Cao Yang still cared quite a bit about her feelings.
Now that he had Ning Ruifei's permission, he no longer kept it a secret and told her about Li Qing.
Upon learning that Cao Yang had managed to win over a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage just a few days after entering the inner sect, Ning Ruifei fell silent.
Yet, she soon accepted this reality.
Cao Yang had already been good enough to her.
He gave her pills and spirit stones—things she previously could never bear to use.
She had no reason to feel dissatisfied.
Moreover, considering his deep infatuation with her and his previous determination to protect her in front of Su Qiang, she believed that even if Cao Yang grew stronger in the future, he would not abandon her.
That was enough.
Ning Ruifei comforted herself in her heart, though she secretly made up her mind to cultivate even harder.
Cao Yang's strength was growing by leaps and bounds, and he had now become an alchemist.
If her own strength fell too far behind, she would only become a burden to him in the future.
This was the benefit of maxing out intimacy: Ning Ruifei would wholeheartedly consider things for Cao Yang.
Though she felt a bit jealous, she still thought about how she could help him.
"Cao Yang, bring that sister over to live with us."
She remained silent for a moment. Though there was still a hint of shyness and annoyance in her eyes, she finally spoke those words.
Hearing Ning Ruifei's words, Cao Yang felt a wave of emotion wash over him.
He reached out and pulled her soft, delicate body into his embrace.
......
Ning Ruifei reached out and pinched him on the waist, casting him a sideways glance.
She stood up and began to tidy things up.
Cao Yang chuckled and went out to find Li Qing.
He had been in seclusion for half a month, so the Senior Sister must have missed him.
After sharing some tender moments with Li Qing, he told her about Ning Ruifei.
"Senior Sister, would you like to move in with me?"
Li Qing did not feel jealous; she had already known about Cao Yang and Ning Ruifei.
Still, hearing that Ning Ruifei was willing to accept her made her quite happy.
Although her strength was greater than Ning Ruifei's, they were both Cao Yang's women, and such matters followed the order of seniority.
Ning Ruifei could be considered her elder sister.
However, after thinking it over carefully, she declined Cao Yang's proposal.
"Junior Brother, I will make time to go see Sister Ruifei, but I won't move over there."
Hearing this, Cao Yang said nothing more and respected her choice.
Perhaps the Senior Sister was still a bit shy.
In any case, since her intimacy was maxed out, there was no need to worry about any issues arising.
After spending a little more time with her, Cao Yang took his leave.
He went to the Alchemical Hall to pay his respects to his master.
Yao Yuqing was somewhat surprised by his speed of breakthrough.
For Cao Yang to break through three consecutive layers in half a month meant his aptitude must be quite good.
Why, then, had he only been at the Qi Condensation 4th Layer previously?
"You've reached the Qi Condensation 7th Layer already?"
Naturally, she had no way of knowing that Cao Yang possessed a system—and a rather improper one at that.
If she had known, she might have considered whether or not she should take Cao Yang as her disciple.
As for dual cultivation, while she could not say she abhorred it with every fiber of her being, she certainly did not hold much fondness for it either.
Cao Yang briefly recounted the process of his breakthrough and began checking his master's favorability rating.
To his surprise, however, his breakthrough had not increased his master's favorability at all.
It remained stubbornly at 80%.
He knew that back when he successfully refined the Spirit Gathering Pill, his master's favorability had spiked by a huge margin.
Could it be that he needed to refine alchemical pills in order to raise his master's favorability?