Chapter 68: No One Rises Early Without Profit

Ning Xianyu had already begun to imagine the torment that Xuan Yuan Tunhan must have endured during the forging process, while the system continued its incessant chatter.

“To forcibly raise your cultivation to such a high realm is to defy the heavens. The Demon Lord is practically risking his life to advance your cultivation for you.”

“Could it be that he truly loves you?”

“No, no, he must just find your cultivation too low and thinks bringing you along is too troublesome, so he’s doing all this.”

Ning Xianyu felt a bit dazed. “Since he knows the method, he could have just woken me up and let me refine myself. Why go through the trouble of getting me drunk and handling it himself?”

The process was so agonizing—if it were her, she would never help someone else benefit at her own expense.

Why do something that brings no benefit to oneself?

The system mocked her gleefully. “If you were told to do it, would you?”

Thinking of the pain involved in refining, Ning Xianyu answered, “I’d rather die.”

Xuan Yuan Tunhan glanced at her again. “Remember, the body you have now is the result of my painstaking efforts in refining it. You’re not allowed to die, not allowed to cause me trouble, and if you’re with me, you’re not allowed to run.”

His fierce expression only made Ning Xianyu more afraid.

The Demon Lord never does anything unless there’s benefit for himself, and he’s certainly no saint. If he’s helping her refine her cultivation, there must be some hidden agenda.

But the Demon Lord has everything he could possibly want—what use could he have for her?

No matter how she pondered, she couldn’t figure it out, but could only obediently agree.

The system was indignant. “Don’t be afraid! Next month, when you make a wish, you’ll be able to get rid of him.”

Ning Xianyu, however, replied, “Actually, it’s not so bad. Think about it—the Demon Lord is the strongest person in this world. Aside from his terrible temper and harsh words, there are a lot of benefits to following him.”

Though Xuan Yuan Tunhan was eccentric and often threatened to kill her, apart from occasionally sending her flying, he’d neither beaten nor scolded her.

Moreover, with him, getting food, items, or whatever she needed was always simple.

His reputation alone was enough; anything she wanted was hers for the asking.

Her goal was to be a rice worm, and since she couldn’t be the boss herself just yet, following the biggest boss didn’t seem so bad.

There’s nothing like resting in the shade of a great tree.

“I’ve decided—until I can become invincible myself, I’ll cling to the Demon Lord’s thigh and never let go.”

The system clutched its head. “You’ve changed. When you first arrived, you were so ambitious.”

“Shut up! I never wanted to come in the first place. You dragged me here—speaking of which, I haven’t settled that account with you yet.” Ning Xianyu’s original goal, after all, was just to be a salted fish.

Suddenly she asked, “If next time I make a wish to give you a body, would that wish come true?”

If the system had a body, then whenever she was annoyed, she could give it a good beating.

Anyway, she was a Nascent Soul cultivator now—Nascent Soul! How powerful!

The system hurriedly interjected, “You’re not allowed to make that wish! If you do, I won’t be able to stick with you like a pendant every day. What will you do when it’s time to make wishes?”

“That’s a valid concern.”

Ning Xianyu suddenly realized something. “You only told me not to make the wish—you didn’t say it couldn’t be granted. So, is it really possible for me to wish you into a body?”

The system was dumbfounded, not expecting her to be clever for once.

“I never said that—there’s never been such a case. You might trigger a main system collapse or waste a wish. I advise you not to try.”

But Ning Xianyu was a giant in thought if not in action, always fond of wild ideas.

She mulled it over and decided to add this wish to her list—one day, she would try it.

The system reasoned with her for a long time, but she ignored it and promptly fell asleep.

Carefree as ever, she slept as soon as she laid down—and slept soundly.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan, on the other hand, didn’t sleep long. After a while, he got up and sat nearby, keeping track of the time.

Five hours passed quickly; he had only meditated for a short while before the time was up.

Abruptly, he opened his eyes and saw Ning Xianyu’s spirit emerging from his body.

She was still in a deep sleep—her very soul was snoring.

Then he felt a tremendous force pulling at him, and in the next moment, he found himself back in his own body.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan touched his long-lost body, circulating his spiritual power to sense it. Yes, it was his own body, no mistake.

There was some turbid energy—no doubt the result of this woman’s reckless eating.

It was nothing; he could cleanse it soon enough.

He probed his soul, finding it scorched and barren, with a few smoldering traces yet to die out.

He grasped Ning Xianyu’s wrist to check her condition, then let out a long breath, a little exasperated.

The effect of the Nine-Branch Epiphyllum had followed this woman’s soul—now it had entered her body and begun to fuse with it.

Clearly, he had consumed the Nine-Branch Epiphyllum with his own body, yet the woman reaped the lasting benefits. Could it be she was also favored by destiny?

He looked her over again, but could see nothing except that she was snoring.

Seeing she hadn’t awakened despite all that had happened, he grew even more annoyed.

Even the so-called system in her mind was quiet, not a sound.

It seemed that each time a wish was granted, it drained a great deal of energy, and that noisy system would have to rest for a while.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan stood and left.

He cultivated outside for a while, attuning himself to his body and expelling all the turbid energy. He felt much better.

With long limbs and large hands, every movement felt smooth and convenient—truly, there was nothing like being in his own body.

“Troublesome woman.”

Just then, he suddenly felt something was off. In a flash—snap!—he realized he’d shrunk considerably.

He raised his hand and was instantly furious, roaring, “Ning Xianyu, you die for this!”

Before this happened, Ning Xianyu had already awoken.

Groggy, she sat up and rubbed her face, finding her cheeks soft and tender. Looking at her hands, she saw they’d become small.

“It’s back! It really came back!” she cheered, bouncing off the bed, exclaiming that she’d switched back, and went to call for Xuan Yuan Tunhan.

“Elder, we’ve switched back… huh?”

But the Demon Lord was nowhere in the room; who knew where he’d gone?

That Demon Lord—having switched back, he didn’t even wake her up to share in the joy.

Ugh, always running off.

She called the system a few times, but it didn’t answer, leaving her quite bored.

She figured the Demon Lord must have gone out to get used to his body, so she decided to go out and look for him.

“I was even thinking of wishing the Demon Lord into a cat or a nine-tailed fox. Ha! If I make such a wish next time, I wonder if he’d know it was me who turned him like that.”

She left the tent, struggled over the snow wall, circulated her spiritual power to shield herself, and found that being in a Nascent Soul body was quite nice.

She searched the snowy fields for a long time but found no sign of the Demon Lord.

She wandered further, only to trip over something.

Squatting down to pick it up, she saw it was a little black kitten with slanted eyes.

Its fur was jet black, its expression fierce and menacing, clearly not to be trifled with.

But in such a tiny body, it was actually rather cute in a contrasting way.

“Wow, little one, what are you doing here?”

In this freezing weather—and being a black cat, no less—how did it survive on a snowy mountain?

Just as she finished speaking, the little cat yowled, raised a paw, and scratched at her.

“Ning Xianyu, you die!”