The woman appeared gentle and graceful, yet her words were as cold and sharp as a blade, sending a chill through Han Li’s heart.
“Has the Venerable changed your mind?” Han Li let out a long breath and spoke words that took the woman by surprise.
“It seems you’re not entirely useless after all—at least you have some wits about you,” the woman remarked impassively.
“If the Venerable truly intended to kill me, I doubt I would have woken up at all,” Han Li replied with a light laugh, his expression calm.
“My name is Nangong Ping. Stop calling me ‘Venerable’ as if I were some old woman!” she retorted expressionlessly, turning her head away without further comment.
Hearing this, Han Li was taken aback for a moment, then inwardly grumbled, *If you’ve already reached Core Formation, by mortal standards, aren’t you practically an old crone?*
Having had his cultivation drained by her, Han Li was naturally simmering with frustration. But with his life hanging by a thread in her hands, he could only curse her under his breath.
“Although you saved me yesterday only because you mistook me for my cousin, you are still my benefactor, Nangong Ping. Moreover, I unintentionally absorbed your cultivation energy, which stabilized my injuries and prevented them from worsening. This is a debt I will not forget,” the woman said leisurely, her back still turned to Han Li.
“Forget it. Since you’re Nangong Wan’s cousin, I’ll just consider myself unlucky,” Han Li replied with a frown, his tone resigned. He then stretched his limbs and stood up.
*Slap! Slap!* Two sharp cracks echoed through the air as a white blur flashed before Han Li’s eyes. A fragrant breeze swept past, and he found himself struck twice squarely across the face, spinning uncontrollably in place before nearly collapsing to the ground again.
“You…” Han Li stammered, clutching his stinging cheeks in shock and anger as he glared at Nangong Ping.
“Last night, without my permission, you dared to touch my body with your filthy hands! And you even… even pressed down on me until I passed out! These two slaps are nothing but a light punishment!” Nangong Ping’s voice turned icy, though a faint blush tinged her cheeks when she mentioned being pinned down by Han Li. But it quickly vanished, replaced by a frosty expression.
Han Li fell silent at her words.
Arguing with a Core Formation female cultivator about propriety between men and women was nothing but asking for trouble. The slightest rebuttal might earn him another round of slaps. Right now, he was nothing but meat on her chopping block—she could slice him up however she pleased.
Moreover, he had a sneaking suspicion that her treatment of him wasn’t solely due to yesterday’s physical contact. Rather, she seemed intent on teaching him a lesson to vent some of Nangong Wan’s grievances.
With this thought, Han Li suppressed his anger, gently touched his slightly swollen cheek, and remained silent.
Seeing Han Li so tactfully refrain from arguing, Nangong Ping showed a flicker of surprise.
As Han Li had guessed, she had been prepared to give him a taste of her wrath if he dared to debate the events of the previous night. But now, with him staying silent so obediently, she had no excuse to strike again.
So, she could only let out a cold snort and say bluntly, “Since the slaps are done, let’s talk about repaying your great kindness. I’m giving you two choices. First, I can give you a certain amount of spirit stones right now—enough to make your eyes pop out—to compensate for your lost cultivation and your act of saving me.”
“Second, you can follow me to catch up with our sect’s retreating forces. Once our six sects have settled again, I will refine some spiritual pills and find a young female disciple from our sect to dual cultivate with you, helping you quickly regain your original cultivation level. You’ve only lost a significant amount of cultivation energy; rebuilding it won’t involve any bottlenecks. I estimate it’ll take you ten to twenty years to return to your previous realm. And during that time, if I’m in a good mood, I might even teach you a few of our sect’s secret techniques. Let me tell you, our Masked Moon Sect is nothing like your mixed-bag Yellow Maple Valley. We have many secret arts that are never passed to outsiders—their wonders are beyond imagination. The technique I used to unconsciously absorb your cultivation yesterday is one of them.” After speaking these words proudly, Nangong Ping fixed her gaze on Han Li, awaiting his decision.
But Han Li was dumbfounded! The two options were worlds apart.
One was simply brushing him off with some spirit stones, while the other offered help restoring his cultivation, a dual cultivation partner, and even secret techniques. The more he listened, the more it seemed she was pushing him toward the second option. It felt strangely suspicious—was she setting some kind of trap for him?
With this doubt in mind, Han Li glanced hesitantly at Nangong Ping and caught a faint, complex emotion in her eyes—something between expectation and anxiety.
This puzzled him even more. He rubbed his nose vigorously, crossed his arms, propped his chin on his right hand, and fell into deep thought.
A full incense stick’s worth of time passed, yet Han Li remained silent. Nangong Ping, however, could no longer contain herself. Her delicate brows arched, and her cherry lips parted as she urged impatiently, “Well? Have you decided?”
Hearing her urging, Han Li looked up, gave her a thoughtful glance, and said slowly, “I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take the first option. The Venerable need only give me some spirit stones. I’ll find my own way to restore my cultivation—no need for the Venerable to trouble herself.” His tone was placid.
Nangong Ping stared blankly at Han Li’s decision, a strange expression crossing her face. She scrutinized him for a moment, then suddenly tossed a red storage pouch toward him.
“The spirit stones are inside, along with some commonly used materials. Consider them a gift,” she said, her voice tinged with chill.
Unfazed by her tone, Han Li unceremoniously grabbed the pouch and sent his spiritual sense inside for a quick scan. Even though he had prepared himself, the dozens of mid-grade spirit stones and assorted materials within still astonished him.
Suddenly, a hint of delight appeared on Han Li’s face. He looked up and asked Nangong Ping urgently, “Does the Venerable have any more Harmony Origin Jade? Could you spare a few more pieces for this junior?”
His request surprised her, but after rummaging silently for a moment, she tossed several pieces of white jade his way. Han Li accepted them with immense joy.
With this, the materials he needed to repair the teleportation formation were now complete without any further searching.
“Is there anything else? If not, I’ll take my leave,” Nangong Ping said coldly, watching Han Li’s actions without expression.
“Oh… Nothing else to trouble you with,” Han Li replied solemnly, shaking his head.
Upon hearing this, Nangong Ping let out a delicate humph, turned around, and strode toward the tree hollow’s exit.
But as she reached the opening, she turned back and said calmly, “Han Li, I don’t know whether you’re truly foolish or just full of yourself for making such a choice.” With these words, a flying sword shot out from her sleeve. In a flash of white, she was already standing on it.
Just then, Han Li’s lazy voice drifted from behind her: “Venerable, don’t forget to send my regards to Nangong Wan.”
Hearing this, Nangong Ping’s figure stiffened momentarily. Without a word, she transformed into a streak of white light and soared out of the tree hollow. It was unclear whether she had agreed or simply chosen to ignore him.
Watching this, Han Li chuckled bitterly a few times, rubbed his nose, and plopped back down onto the ground. He then stared blankly at the hollow’s entrance, lost in thought.
Even now, he couldn’t understand how this woman had managed to drain his cultivation. Were the Masked Moon Sect’s techniques truly so domineering? Could they be even more sinister than the Black Fiend Cult’s blood sacrifices?
However, Han Li believed that such a cultivation-absorbing technique must come with numerous restrictions and flaws. Otherwise, the Masked Moon Sect’s disciples would have long been hunted down and exterminated by the cultivation world.
As it turned out, Han Li’s speculation was not far from the truth.
Nangong Ping’s ability to absorb his cultivation energy was largely a coincidence. After performing her secret technique, her cultivation had already been severely depleted. Barring any surprises, her cultivation would have inevitably dropped significantly. Though she could have maintained her Core Formation level, she would have lost decades of arduous cultivation.
Moreover, after the effects of her secret technique faded, she believed she would fall into the hands of the two demonic cultivators. In desperation, she activated the divine ability of her cultivation art—the “Samsara True Art”.
Once this ability was activated, anyone probing her body with spiritual energy would be forcibly seized by the spiral of energy within her and have their cultivation drained completely. If she hadn’t awakened in time and halted the technique, even the last remnants of Han Li’s cultivation would have been utterly absorbed.
Of course, the conditions for using such a bizarre divine ability were extremely demanding.
First, the caster must be in a state of severely depleted cultivation to activate it.
Second, if no one replenished her depleted energy within a certain period after activation, the caster’s energy would implode, leading to complete self-destruction. It was, in essence, a semi-suicidal technique.
But the most underwhelming aspect was that although this technique could absorb others’ cultivation energy, it could only replenish the caster’s original losses. It could not increase the caster’s cultivation by even a sliver.
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