The two of them waited until evening, but Qi Hongyue never appeared.
Ye Ba even wondered if he had been oversensitive and given away his suspicions.
"Junior Brother, I doubt Qi Hongyue is coming today. We might as well rest early," Chu Yao said with a yawn, pulling Ye Ba's hand as she walked toward the house.
*She's clearly just craving it!* Ye Ba muttered inwardly.
Thud!
The door was slammed shut from within.
...
The next morning.
Ye Ba woke up with a wry smile.
Perhaps Qi Hongyue's appearance had given Chu Yao a sense of crisis.
She had actually cultivated the entire night.
Though he hadn't moved much, he still felt somewhat fatigued.
"Qi Hongyue of the Spirit Slave Hall requests an audience! Please have Senior Sister Chu come out to see me!"
Right at that moment, a voice rang out once again from outside the Spirit-Guarding Formation.
Inside the house, Chu Yao, who was currently absorbing the benefits, opened her eyes upon hearing the voice.
After exchanging a glance with Ye Ba, she got up and walked outside.
Through the barrier, she could see that Qi Hongyue had not come alone.
Several spirit slaves accompanied her.
Chu Yao lowered the formation and looked at Qi Hongyue. "What brings Junior Sister to my place today?"
"When I checked the records in the Spirit Slave Hall yesterday, I noticed that Ye Ba's recent breakthrough speed was abnormal, so I want to re-test his aptitude," Qi Hongyue recited the excuse she had prepared in advance.
*Just as Ye Ba predicted!* Chu Yao thought to herself with a flash of insight.
"Heh, in that case, Senior Sister, please come inside and test him. Ye Ba is right inside, though I haven't noticed anything unusual during my cultivation with him." Chu Yao invited Qi Hongyue to step inside the formation.
The two of them walked into the Bamboo House together.
They left the spirit slaves waiting outside.
The moment she stepped into the Bamboo House, Qi Hongyue's expression shifted.
The Nine Yin Meridians within her body began to shudder once again.
She refused to believe that it could be a coincidence twice.
The Ye Ba before her definitely had major problems!
"Junior Sister, there are only the two of us inside. I'll be honest with you—Ye Ba actually possesses the Pure Yang Physique!" At that precise moment, Chu Yao exposed Ye Ba's secret outright.
*It really is the Pure Yang Physique!* Qi Hongyue felt a surge of excitement.
She was finally saved!
She would no longer have to endure the daily agony of the Nine Yin Qi eroding her meridians!
She had waited for this day for far too long.
Yet just as her mind raced with excitement, Chu Yao, standing right behind her, made her move.
Forming a hand seal with one hand, she struck out at Qi Hongyue.
With a muffled thud, Qi Hongyue collapsed on the spot.
With Chu Yao's current cultivation at the Qi Condensation 7th Layer, dealing with Qi Hongyue, who was only at the Qi Condensation 3rd Layer, was an absolute breeze.
Qi Hongyue never expected that anyone within the sect would dare to lay a hand on her.
"Handle things quickly here. I'm going outside to keep those spirit slaves under control!" Chu Yao glanced at Qi Hongyue on the ground, hoisted her up with one hand, tossed her beside Ye Ba, and issued her instructions.
Then she turned and walked out of the Bamboo House.
Ye Ba looked down at Qi Hongyue before him and swallowed hard.
To be frank, Qi Hongyue was truly ugly.
Not only was her figure bulky, but her face was also utterly unremarkable.
In an immortal sect overflowing with beauties, she was quite the bizarre anomaly.
Yet, no matter how ugly she was, for the sake of survival, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and dive in.
*My Dao heart for pursuing immortality and longevity is truly not firm enough!*
*I actually hesitated just now.* Ye Ba reflected on himself.
Before his eyes, Qi Hongyue's profile materialized.
[Name: Qi Hongyue]
[Realm: Qi Condensation 3rd Layer]
[Talent: Top-grade Water Spiritual Root]
[Aptitude: Nine Yin Meridians (Wonderful Grade)]
[Talismans: 1st Tier Superior]
[Cultivation Technique: Primal Dragon-Swallowing Formula]
[Spells: Basic Charm Technique, Water Butterfly Technique...]
*A Top-grade Water Spiritual Root, no less! I've struck it rich!* Ye Ba's eyes lit up with overwhelming joy.
Yet immediately afterward, he realized something was amiss.
Among the circle of spirit slaves, rumors had always claimed that Qi Hongyue's aptitude was abysmal, and despite consuming vast numbers of spirit slaves daily, her cultivation remained stubbornly low.
Now, however, that didn't appear to be the case; there might well be other hidden reasons behind it.
Furthermore, Qi Hongyue actually possessed a special constitution.
Only a few days prior, he had learned by asking Chu Yao that:
An immortal cultivator's constitution was categorized into nine tiers: Mortal, Spiritual, Peculiar, Wonderful, Royal, Emperor grade, Saint, Divine, and Immortal!
Bu Shenghua's Sword Spirit Physique was of the Peculiar grade!
Qi Hongyue's Nine Yin Meridians were actually a tier higher than the Sword Spirit Physique, reaching the Wonderful grade!
When he awakened the Sword Spirit Physique, he had smoothly broken through a realm in the process.
He wondered what kind of benefits he might obtain once he awakened the Nine Yin Meridians.
Ye Ba grabbed a piece of white cloth and covered Qi Hongyue's face.
Then, he got down to business!
Assisting Qi Hongyue in her cultivation!
...
Half a day slipped away in the blink of an eye.
Because his own little life was on the line, Ye Ba pulled out all the stops and gave it everything he had.
Yet he still heard no prompt from the system.
Left with no choice, he could only press on.
...
By evening, Chu Yao pushed open the door in confusion, wondering why a simple poisoning by Ye Ba was taking nearly an entire day.
"Why is it taking so long?"
"Qi Hongyue's constitution is somewhat special. Give me a little more time! Don't come in and disturb me!" Ye Ba called out.
Though Chu Yao remained somewhat perplexed, upon catching Ye Ba's gaze, she chose to keep her mouth shut and went back outside the Bamboo House to stand guard.
Ye Ba breathed a sigh of relief internally; Chu Yao had grown suspicious.
Fortunately, thanks to the primary subordinate relationship, as long as it didn't harm her interests, she would remain obedient.
"Continue!" Ye Ba gritted his teeth.
Yet just as he made a move, an abnormality suddenly occurred within Qi Hongyue's body.
Her body abruptly turned chillingly cold, the temperature of her skin dropping to that of solid ice.
"What is happening?!" Ye Ba stared in shock at the scene before him, utterly clueless as to what was going on.
As time ticked by, Qi Hongyue's entire body began radiating a bone-chilling frost.
Cracks even began to form across her skin!
An unknown grey liquid oozed from the fissures!
The moment these liquid droplets, radiating an icy malevolence, fell onto the bed frame, they instantly frosted over.
Just as Ye Ba was panicking and didn't know what to do, Qi Hongyue's body suddenly stirred.
The white cloth fell away from her face as she snapped back to consciousness.
The instant her eyes locked with Ye Ba's, Qi Hongyue was equally dumbfounded.
She had passed out the moment she entered the house, and waking up to this current scene made no sense.
Before she could dwell on it, however, the agony racking her body recaptured her attention.
"The Nine Yin Qi has completely gone berserk!" Qi Hongyue's face twisted in distress.
She constantly kept spirit slaves by her side precisely to suppress the Nine Yin Qi whenever it threatened to erupt.
Yet right now, the only person in the entire room was the Ye Ba before her.
Caught between life and death, she instinctively operated her cultivation technique, attempting to absorb Ye Ba's Primordial Yang to suppress the rampaging Nine Yin Qi within her.
If she failed to suppress it in time, she would be completely consumed by the Nine Yin Qi, leaving not even her soul behind.
The moment her technique began to circulate, she discovered an overwhelming torrent of Primordial Yang already residing within her body.
A continuous stream of benefits was absorbed by her!
To her astonishment, the eruption of Nine Yin Qi—which previously could not be suppressed even by a dozen or more spirit slaves combined—was now effortlessly neutralized in the span of a few brief moments.