C9 Accident

After the four of them had been gone for quite some time, Ye Qinghui finally allowed himself to relax and ceased his spellcasting. The Primordial Chaos Escape Technique had been taught to him by Lin Tian, intended for use only after reaching the fourth level of Body Tempering. However, faced with the urgency of the previous situation, Ye Qinghui had no choice but to forcefully activate it, despite not being ready. In the past, he wouldn't have been able to execute the technique even if he tried.

The energy expenditure was immense. In less than fifteen minutes, Ye Qinghui was overwhelmed by weakness, his spiritual energy completely depleted.

"Let go!" The girl's voice was icy, snapping Ye Qinghui out of his reverie.

"I apologize, the circumstances earlier were dire, and I had no other option!" Ye Qinghui quickly descended from the tree and released the girl. Without taking advantage of the situation, he retrieved a set of his own clothes from his storage ring and tossed them to her, then turned his back, speaking in a hushed tone.

The girl remained silent, and Ye Qinghui didn't dare to look back, knowing full well the extent of her abilities. Provoking her further could end badly for him.

"Miss, have you finished changing?" he inquired after a short pause.

Receiving no response, Ye Qinghui sensed something was amiss. He turned to find the girl collapsed on the ground.

"Ah, you gave me quite the fright!" he whispered to himself, covering her with his clothes before lifting her in his arms. Weary, he navigated swiftly through the woods.

Eventually, Ye Qinghui stumbled upon a cave that seemed to have been a regular dwelling for hunters, now utterly deserted.

"At least there's shelter," he remarked, hopping into the cave. Once he was sure it was safe, he laid the girl down and kindled a fire.

The forest's dampness, compounded by his exertions, had soaked his clothes through. After changing into a dry set, Ye Qinghui turned his attention back to the girl.

"I never realized she was quite beautiful; I hadn't paid attention before!"

As Ye Qinghui changed the girl's clothes, he looked at her pale complexion and talked to himself.

He hadn't intended to change her clothes initially, but considering her severe injuries and the dampness of the air, he thought better of it. Not changing her into clean clothes and tending to her wounds could worsen her condition, and Ye Qinghui would feel remorseful.

Time ticked away, and before he knew it, a day had gone by. Throughout that day, Ye Qinghui busied himself with cleaning her wounds, applying simple medicines, setting up basic formations, and venturing out to hunt demonic beasts. He aimed to gather food and, with some luck, find beast cores.

As the proverb goes, fortune favors the diligent. The following morning, Ye Qinghui encountered a ferocious beast. After a fierce battle, he managed to withstand a powerful blow and slay the creature.

This time, Ye Qinghui was fortunate to find a small beast core inside the beast's head. It was newly formed, but it was better than nothing. He stored the beast core in his ring.

Having torn a large chunk of meat from the beast's carcass, Ye Qinghui shouldered the meat and hurried back. With the beast core, he could refine his physique and assess the results before deciding whether to commit to long-term cultivation.

After all, the demands of the Three Thousand Lives Technique on one's physical condition were quite stringent. Solely relying on the body strengthening from the latter half of the text was clearly insufficient.

Upon returning to the cave, Ye Qinghui was taken aback. The girl who had been sleeping in the corner was gone, and the makeshift furniture he had crafted was destroyed.

"She left just like that? Unbelievable! Not even a word of thanks, and she left the place in shambles!"

Surveying the chaos, Ye Qinghui shook his head, set the meat aside, and began tidying up.

While Ye Qinghui was clearing the debris, the girl reappeared. Her face was a mix of warmth and anger, and she positioned her long sword at Ye Qinghui's back, pressing it against his neck.

"Who are you?"

The girl's voice was ice-cold, betraying no hint of the weakness one would expect from someone recently wounded.

"Who am I? I'm the one who saved you. And you're asking who I am? I'm your savior!"

Ye Qinghui turned to look at the girl, shaking his head in exasperation.

But the girl was far from grateful. Ye Qinghui's words only seemed to infuriate her further. Her face turned a deep shade of red as she pressed her sword even tighter against Ye Qinghui's neck and hissed, "You dishonored me while I was vulnerable..."

"Oh, so your honor is just a word to you! Honestly, if you're so capable, go ahead and stab yourself again. I'll take you to those people, and this time, I promise I won't save you. Ungrateful wretch, drawing a sword on your own lifesaver!"

Ye Qinghui didn't even let her finish, countering with a quick retort followed by a barrage of words that left her speechless.

"But you dishonored me..."

Overwhelmed by his verbal onslaught, the girl could find no comeback and could only repeat her accusation.

Ye Qinghui merely gave her a dismissive glance, casually pushing her sword away from his neck and proceeding to roast some meat.

The girl, knowing deep down she was in the wrong yet too stubborn to concede, stood there fuming and stamping her feet, utterly at a loss.

"Listen," Ye Qinghui said, "if you think I should die for saving you, then go ahead and end it yourself. I won't interfere. But if you're considering a fight, first assess whether you've got the strength for it!"

After roasting a hearty chunk of meat, Ye Qinghui bit into it voraciously and continued, "Think about it."

The girl, already weakened, was visibly tempted by the sight of the meat. After a moment's hesitation, she finally sat down beside Ye Qinghui, falling silent.

Without further ado, Ye Qinghui sliced off a piece of the meat with the girl's sword and handed it to her. The two of them, both still recovering, quickly devoured the large piece of meat.

The atmosphere inside the cave had shifted, becoming somewhat off. Ye Qinghui sat there, feeling an unbearable heat, while the girl continuously fanned herself with her hand.

"What kind of meat is this?" she asked after a long pause, her voice tinged with confusion.

"I'm not sure. It's the beast core from that creature. Take a look!" Ye Qinghui said, pulling out the beast core and tossing it to her.

Catching the beast core, the girl's complexion turned a ghastly pale. It took her a moment before she could speak. "This is the meat of the Unfaithful Horse! It's used as an aphrodisiac..."

"Hmm?" Ye Qinghui was taken aback, genuinely unaware of the type of creature it had come from.

"You still dare to claim you had no ulterior motive! I'll kill you!" she exclaimed, her face flushing with anger and the heat rising within her. She grabbed her long sword and swung it at Ye Qinghui.

He quickly got to his feet and bolted from the cave. With the meat's effects hindering their use of Spiritual Qi, they were left to chase each other through the woods, one after the other.

In the quiet of the forest, Ye Qinghui's cries of distress echoed. Every time the girl let out an indignant sound, Ye Qinghui would yell back in desperation, "I truly didn't recognize it! It's all a misunderstanding!"