Zhang Xian effortlessly recited the user manual for the [United Heart Winged Pendant]. Li Fuxi gazed down at the exquisite jade carving in her palm, her heart flooding with a warmth she hadn’t felt in centuries.

As expected. Zhang Xian cares about me the most.

Her lips quirked up in a rare, genuine smile.

[Ding! Gift Successful.]

Zhang Xian caught the smile and grinned. He immediately produced a golden pill from his sleeve. “And this.”

“What is it?”

“A gift from the Founder,” he lied smoothly. “The [Yellow Court Spirit Cleansing Pill]. It purifies spiritual roots and unlocks potential. It won’t conflict with any previous elixirs you’ve taken.”

Hearing the pill’s function, Li Fuxi immediately tried to push it back into his hand. “No. Such a divine treasure is wasted on me. You possess all five elements now, and your foundation is critical. This pill could elevate your potential to another level!”

Zhang Xian didn’t let her refuse. He caught her hand, his thumb brushing her skin, his voice dropping into a doting purr.

“Master, do you still underestimate my treasury? I have plenty.”

He leaned in, his warm breath ghosting over the shell of her ear. “I intend to nurture my Fuxi Master into the Southern Region’s first dual Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator in history. I won’t accept anything less.”

Dual Heavenly Spirit Root…

The concept was staggering enough to make her head spin, but the phrase “my Fuxi Master” was the real blow. Her mind went fuzzy, her heart fluttering so wildly she forgot to pull her hand away.

Zhang Xian saw the haze in her eyes. He seized the moment, bringing the golden pill to her lips.

Li Fuxi’s mental defenses had already crumbled. She stopped resisting, her lips parting slightly to accept the offering. She swallowed it with a shy obedience that made Zhang Xian’s pulse jump.

[Ding! Gift Successful. Triggered Return: Yellow Court Spirit Cleansing Pill x100.]

Jackpot.

[Yellow Court Spirit Cleansing Pill: Epic-Grade. Massively enhances spirit root quality. Diminishing returns with repeated use.]

Boom!

A surge of pure, torrential medicinal power exploded in Li Fuxi’s dantian. She gasped as she felt her Metal and Water spiritual roots—already top-tier—shudder and clarify, shedding invisible impurities to become crystalline and flawless.

She looked at Zhang Xian with shock, gratitude, and a swirling mist of affection.

Zhang Xian acted as if he expected nothing less. He produced a second pill from his inventory. “Again.”

Li Fuxi was numb to the shock of his wealth now. She swallowed the second pill.

Then the third.

[Ding! Current Luck Value: 87.]

Feeling the unprecedented purity of her own spiritual power, Li Fuxi looked up at him. Her eyes were wet. She was an introverted woman, bad at words, but the dam finally broke.

“Zhang Xian… thank you,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Since… since my Master and Senior Brothers passed… it has been a long time since anyone was this good to me.”

The vulnerability in her voice was the final straw.

A cold beauty with teary eyes, confessing her loneliness? It was a lethal combination. Zhang Xian felt a fire roar to life in his chest. Restraint was no longer an option.

He stepped forward. Before she could react, one arm snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against him. His other hand cupped her chin, tilting her face up.

He kissed her. Hard.

“Mmph!”

Li Fuxi’s eyes went wide. Her mind blanked out completely. She was enveloped in his scent, overwhelmed by the sudden, aggressive dominance of his embrace. She instinctively put her hands on his chest to push him away, but her strength had evaporated.

Under the assault of his kiss, her body betrayed her, turning soft and pliable in his arms. The world blurred until there was only the heat of his mouth and the thunder of her own heart.

The kiss deepened. His hands grew bolder.

Rip.

A soft sound echoed as the silver-white Daoist robe of the Divine Inspector slid from her shoulders, pooling on the floor.

The sudden coolness on her skin hit Li Fuxi like a bucket of ice water.

Shame flooded her system. She snapped out of the trance, her eyes flying open to see the raw hunger in Zhang Xian’s gaze. Panic seized her. She pushed at him, her voice cracking.

“N-no! Zhang Xian! Stop! I… I’m not ready!”

But Zhang Xian was an arrow already loosed from the bow string. Her weak protests sounded less like refusal and more like encouragement.

He didn’t stop. He swept her up in a bridal carry, striding toward the bed with fire in his eyes.

“Zhang Xian! You scoundrel! Put me down!” Li Fuxi cried, tears of panic welling in her eyes.

He reached the bed. He lowered her down.

HUMMM—!

A violent, catastrophic aura erupted from Li Fuxi’s body.

There was no warning. A shockwave of pure spiritual pressure detonated in the room, blasting outward with hurricane force. Zhang Xian, caught completely off guard, was thrown backward, stumbling several steps before he could stabilize himself.

On the bed, Li Fuxi collapsed against the pillows. Her face was flushed scarlet, her hair wild, her clothes half-undone… but the air around her was twisting and screaming with power.

She looked at him, mortified, frantic, and apologetic all at once.

“I’m sorry! I can’t control it!” she wailed. “Wait—I… I’m breaking through!!”

Breaking through?

Zhang Xian blinked, dazed. Then he looked at the spiraling energy vortex around her and realized what he had done.

She was already at the peak of the Golden Core seventh stage. He had just force-fed her three legendary cleansing pills. Her potential had been scrubbed clean, her channels widened, her bottlenecks shattered. The dam had burst.

She wasn’t just breaking through; she was exploding into the eighth stage.

Are you kidding me? NOW?!

Zhang Xian stared at the beautiful, disheveled woman on the bed. He felt an indescribable pressure building in his chest—the frustration of a man who had the arrow nocked, drawn, and aimed, only for the bow to snap in his hands.

Li Fuxi wanted to die. To break through in this specific situation? With her clothes half off?

She saw the frustration on his face and felt her face burn hot enough to cook an egg. Using the last of her willpower, she grabbed the quilt and pulled it over her exposed shoulders, her voice thick with embarrassment.

“You… you have to get out! Go!”

Zhang Xian let out a long, tortured sigh. He looked at her one last time, grit his teeth, and let reason win.

He turned and walked out of the room.

Regret.

In short, profound regret. If he had known this would happen, he would have fed her the pills after.