Unable to Suppress

After staring at each other for two seconds, Xu Yuan suddenly sneered. The true prodigies of major sects were all like this. Because of their talent, everyone around treated them with deferential respect. They didn't produce anything or manage affairs, needing only to bury their heads in bitter cultivation under the shelter of sect elders. Whenever they ventured out into the world to temper themselves, they invariably carried an aloof air untainted by earthly dust. Ran Qingmo was like this, and now it seemed Tianyan wasn't much different. She possessed some experience, but it was nowhere near enough to forge the shrewd depth needed to handle every situation. Out in the world, these geniuses possessed immense power, and hardly anyone dared disrespect them. Now, trapped in an illusion with her cultivation plummeting, a few mocking teases were enough to lay bare the flaws in her character. She wasn't even as composed as the little block of ice had been at the beginning. At least the little block of ice never flew into a flustered rage. Xu Yuan suppressed the questions in his mind and stepped away for a moment from Tianyan, who had her eyes closed regulating her breathing, heading toward the array pedestal in the inner hall of the Hall of Dharma Transmission. Pulling a prayer mat over with a casual sweep of Source Qi, he leaned down and sat beside Tianyan, staring with a beaming smile at the young girl's flushed face. "Little sister." "I am older than you." Tianyan clearly disliked the form of address. Xu Yuan stared at her without the slightest evasion. "Oh? Then why don't you turn into a big sister for me to see?" Tianyan noticed how he was looking at her. After a second of silence, her voice was frigid. "Crude." Her expression was cold, reminiscent of that little block of ice, but unfortunately, the tantalizing crimson flush on her face made her look like she was playing hard to get. Xu Yuan chuckled at the sight. "Crude? Don't be so quick to speak. Who knows, maybe you won't be able to suppress it in a bit and will have to beg me." "..." The girl froze for a fraction of a second, the blush on her face deepening further. "You can only indulge in cheap verbal victories here in this illusion." Looking at Tianyan's undulating washboard of a chest, Xu Yuan chuckled lightly. "Little sister, your composure seems rather lacking. And here I thought you were in the Origin Realm." "Shut up." "Heh..." Xu Yuan chuckled, preparing to provoke her further. "You followed me for so many days, and every second I had to worry that you might casually kill me next. Now that we're inside an illusion, you won't even let me speak. Isn't that a bit too overbearing—" "Xu Changtian." Tianyan took a deep breath, interrupting him in a quiet voice. Xu Yuan frowned slightly. Narrowing her beautiful eyes, Tianyan stared at him, enunciating each word. "You constantly disturb my meditation. What are you trying to do?" "..." Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, but then he shrugged and gave a straightforward smile. "Since you've already figured it out, why bother asking?" A trace of mockery entered Tianyan's golden eyes. "This body of yours possesses the cultivation of at least a third-rank Grandmaster, yet you are actually afraid of a mere fourth-rank Body Integration like me?" Xu Yuan shrugged, completely unburdened by shame. "Can't help it. You're too strong, and the techniques of your Heaven-Deducing Art are far too bizarre. I have to guard against you." Even though they were both grasshoppers tied to the same rope right now, a half-dead Tianyan was the only Tianyan Xu Yuan wanted to see. Earlier, piercing her left shoulder with a Blood Marrow Drill to collect "interest" had been because Xu Yuan noticed that the current Tianyan needed both hands to form hand seals for the Heaven Character True Words. So he had preemptively crippled one of her arms as an insurance policy. Yet judging by their conversation just now, Tianyan had fought him while resisting the effects of both the Meishen flower and the Heavenly Desire aphrodisiac poison. Seen in that light, she was even more formidable. Xu Yuan had always maintained a clear assessment of himself. He wasn't a peerless prodigy like Xu Changge or the story's protagonist. Even at the seventh rank, he couldn't be considered invincible among his peers, let alone with this body's third-rank cultivation. Although this body inside the illusion was at the level of a third-rank Grandmaster, his inability to run his cultivation art and the clumsiness born of the sudden surge in power meant he could display thirty to forty percent of its true strength at best. Tianyan, meanwhile, might only be at the fourth-rank Body Integration, but she was originally in the Origin Realm. Moreover, as a woman who could clash head-on with a first-rank Transcendent Realm while merely in the Origin Realm, Tianyan was unquestionably a peerless genius on the same tier as Xu Changge and Qin Mo. Xu Yuan was genuinely terrified that once she fully recovered, she would be able to kill him across realms. Thinking of this, Xu Yuan suddenly felt quite pathetic. As a dignified transmigrator, it was bad enough that he couldn't fight above his rank, but here he was, actively worrying about someone else jumping ranks to cut him down. After several breaths of silence, Tianyan's beautiful eyes suddenly narrowed. She took a couple of short, shallow breaths, her exhales sweet as orchids. "I think... you, you can have a little more confidence in yourself." Thanks to the aphrodisiac poison, this glance of hers held a faint trace of Succubus Su's allure, though unfortunately, she was several sizes smaller. Xu Yuan shook his head without hesitation. "I don't care what you think; I care what I think. This matter is not up for discussion." Tianyan stared at Xu Yuan for several breaths. Drawing a deep breath, she refused to back down as well. "Xu Changtian, if you still want to get out, I must first purge the Meishen flower and that woman's aphrodisiac poison. We are partners, not master and vassal." "Then there's nothing to discuss?" Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed. "This is my bottom line." Tianyan held his gaze. After staring at each other for a few breaths, Xu Yuan suddenly nodded. "Fine." With that, he rose to his feet. His intent-soul surged out to lock onto Tianyan, and he raised a hand, immediately condensing a Blood Marrow Drill aimed right at her head. Simultaneously, crimson flames erupted around the prayer mat where Tianyan sat, cutting off every path of retreat! Xu Yuan stared at Tianyan. The spinning crimson bone drill floating in his palm was practically pressed against her forehead. A beat of silence passed. Xu Yuan spoke word by word. "I'll ask you one more time. Is this up for discussion?" "..." Tianyan. Silence. The vast hall was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard. Xu Yuan's eyes were utterly calm. Tianyan stared back at him, her red lips parting slightly. "I cannot agree to this demand of yours..." "Sigh..." Xu Yuan let out a sigh. And then, BOOM!! Before Tianyan could finish her sentence, the spiraling bone drill in Xu Yuan's palm shot forward. The sharp crimson spiral bone drill drove straight into the girl's forehead, burst out the back of her head, and embedded itself deep into the white-jade floor! The air fell still for a second. Just as Xu Yuan was about to sigh, "Wah..." A feeble cough of blood came from a hundred meters behind him. "..." Xu Yuan. He looked back over his shoulder. A gold-eyed girl in a red dress was kneeling a hundred meters behind him, blood staining the corner of her lips, a pool of crimson on the floor before her. Not dead? Xu Yuan frowned, glancing back at what was in front of him. The corpse of the girl with her head pierced through was slowly fading, ultimately dissolving into nothingness. Seeing this, Xu Yuan's gaze turned peculiar. Earlier, his intent-soul had confirmed that the figure was physical, not an afterimage, and the tactile sensation of the spiraling bone drill boring through her skull had been unmistakably real. The Heaven-Deducing Art could actually be this bizarre? With such a trump card, no wonder Tianyan had remained so composed even when trapped in that red-clad woman's Dao domain earlier. Judging by Tianyan's state, however, such a death-substituting technique seemed to carry a heavy price. Naturally, none of that mattered now. With a beckoning wave of his hand, the crimson spiral bone drill embedded in the jade floor immediately flew back into his grasp. Aiming it once more at the young girl a hundred meters away, he asked again: "Last time I'll ask. Is it up for discussion?" He wasn't joking in the slightest. To leave this illusion, he needed information known only to Tianyan, but Tianyan didn't need him. Once she completely purged the soul-enthralling aphrodisiac poison and returned to peak form, he most likely wouldn't be able to defend against a sudden sneak attack. Though this place was an illusion, judging by Tianyan's dread of death, dying here most likely meant one's soul perished in the outside world as well. This concerned his life; there was no room for compromise. "..." The flush across Tianyan's lovely face had spread further, and her golden eyes were glazed with a faint daze. Every breath she drew was accompanied by subtle gasps. Evidently, that death-substituting art had subjected her to severe backlash. Her Source Qi was completely disordered, leaving her almost powerless to suppress the Soul-Charming aphrodisiac poison within her. "Xu... Xu Changtian, are you... ngh... really not... afraid of being trapped here until you die?" Xu Yuan replied in a low voice: "I am. But I'm even more afraid of being ambushed and dying on the spot. If I'm trapped here, my father might still find a way to save me. If I die here, I'm probably dead for real." Tianyan stared at Xu Yuan, her voice laced with soft, breathy pants and touched with urgency: "I... I never... never harmed you from the very beginning!" Xu Yuan let out a soft laugh. "But I've heard that your Overseeing Heaven Pavilion takes only two stances toward people you cannot foresee: kill them, or recruit them." "..." Tianyan fell silent. She thought of the Holy Venerable's remnant soul from earlier, who could use the Heaven Character True Words. A traitor. Seeing Tianyan fall silent, Xu Yuan lifted the Blood Marrow Drill in his palm and chuckled. "The Heaven-Deducing Art truly is wondrous as the legacy technique of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Lord. But I wonder how many more times you can use that trick?" Tianyan remained silent. Xu Yuan smiled and said softly: "I'll give you ten seconds to think it over." "No... ngh... No need..." The girl gritted her teeth and pushed herself up, her slender, fair legs held tightly together. "I... I agree..." Hearing this, Xu Yuan casually clenched his fist, dispersing the Blood Marrow Drill. Taking a step forward, he vaulted right up to Tianyan and beamed at her. "Wouldn't it have been better to do this from the start? Let's hear your plan." Tianyan didn't speak right away. After several breaths of silence, she suddenly said: "Right now... I can barely suppress it." "Huh?" "The Meishen flower and the aphrodisiac poison!" "Oh. See? Didn't I just say you might have to beg me in a bit?" "..." Tianyan panted a few times. "Cut... cut the nonsense. Help me." "..." The air suddenly grew quiet. After a long pause, Xu Yuan's voice carried a hint of hesitation: "How exactly do you expect me to help?" Tianyan bit her lip and glared at him with silken, seductive eyes. "Don't be so crude! Use... use your Source Qi to help me... help me clear my meridians. My... my internal Source Qi is too disordered to circulate. Help me suppress my Source Qi." Hearing this, Xu Yuan understood and didn't refuse. Casually summoning a prayer mat with Source Qi, he gestured for Tianyan to sit. Her face bright red, Tianyan sat down without a word. Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on the jade floor behind Tianyan. Raising one hand, he pressed it gently against her back, feeling her scorching body heat. Just as he prepared to channel his qi— "Mmh..." "..." Xu Yuan.