“You took every advantage there is to take from us. Why are you so fierce?” Ji Tianqing jumped up and shouted angrily.

Qianye was stopped up. He asked with a softer voice, “I… what advantage did I take?”

“You drank the white-fruit wine, humph! What else could it be?”

Ji Tianqing slapped Qianye’s hand away and dragged Li Kuanglan back to her side. “Things have already reached this point, what are you afraid of? At worst, we’ll just leave on our own, there’s no need to rely on him to get through the night.”

Li Kuanglan bit her lips in silence.

Qianye saw that the initiative was about to fall into Ji Tianqing’s hands. He found this girl quite tricky because he would probably be interrupted even if he were to ask Li Kuanglan. “Then why would you feed me the white-fruit wine?”

Ji Tianqing glared at him as though he were an ingrate. “What I fed you isn’t the trash that we picked up. It’s an exquisite elixir nurtured in my body via a secret art and mixed with my vital essence, whoever drinks it will see a large increase in const.i.tution. You think it’s easy to come by? Every mouthful of it drains my origin power cultivation.”

“Ah…” Qianye hadn’t imagined Ji Tianqing would go so far. This type of nurturing would be of a high level since it consumed her origin power cultivation. The resultant elixir was bound to be extraordinary.

Qianye did notice that his strength had increased, and there was a layer of mysterious power in his muscles. Apparently, that was the power of the elixir.

He couldn’t say she was malicious in feeding him such a valuable thing. As for his loss of control, it was more his own fault for not having sufficient willpower.

However, Qianye also had his own troubles that he couldn’t speak of. This blood energy was growing more exuberant by the day, and his daybreak powers were barely able to keep things in check. He would have no power to control himself once his blood energy erupted in full-force. Qianye’s willpower might be among the top in the empire, but the environment inside the Great Maelstrom happened to attack his weak point. The level of self-control he could manage was not much better than an ordinary expert.

At the thought of this, Qianye felt rather ashamed of himself. He said in a gentler tone, “Tianqing, there was no need to give me such a good elixir. My body is already quite strong.”

Ji Tianqing snorted. “You just can’t tell good from bad! You think you’re so strong? You think it’s enough? There’s no such thing! The stronger your physique is, the easier it’ll be for you to cross the divine champion threshold. Such ignorance!”

With that, Ji Tianqing tossed Qianye a jade tablet. “I’ll let you look at this, lest you embarra.s.s yourself with your lack of knowledge.”

Qianye caught the tablet and saw that it was carved full of small words—it was a shocking cultivation art. The opening chapter was t.i.tled: Excavator.

He scanned the tablet briefly and found that it was a secret art that would allow one to exert great power by channeling origin power. Despite the careless glance, he could feel the boundless profundity within and knew that it would take time to comprehend it.

The art was good, but Qianye pa.s.sed the jade tablet back to her. “This is your core inheritance, I can’t accept it.”

Ji Tianqing’s const.i.tution wasn’t that outstanding, nor was her eruption of origin power very strong. However, her every attack in real combat was extremely powerful, and it was likely due to this art. He had already received her elixir, so taking Excavator would be too much of a favor to owe.

Ji Tianqing wouldn’t have it. “If you really have a heart, remember that you owe me a favor. It’s fine if you don’t pretend we’re strangers when you become a powerful figure in the future.”

Since Ji Tianqing had spoken, Qianye knew he had no other choice but to put the jade tablet away. Otherwise, who knew how many lectures and reasoning he would have to face afterward.

In truth, this secret art was highly suitable for Qianye. As its name suggested, the Excavator was like cutting into a mountain with a hatchet—the greater the power, the stronger the backlash. A wielder with a powerful const.i.tution would be able to bring out its true power. Ji Tianqing’s physique was far inferior to Qianye’s, so she was only able to bring out half its capacity.

Ji Tianqing’s expression improved after seeing that Qianye had accepted the gift. “Humph, feeding you one mouthful of elixir almost took half my life. And you have the cheek to act out?”

Qianye felt a bit embarra.s.sed. “If it’s so hard to come by, you should’ve left it for your own use. Why waste it on me?”

Ji Tianqing smiled gracefully. “Ha, I was just lying to you! It’s not that hard to make. I produced three mouthfuls, one for myself, one for Kuanglan, and the last… humph, I fed to a dog!”

Qianye felt apologetic after hearing this. JI Tianqing said it wasn’t difficult, but that elixir was even able to upgrade his ancient vampire const.i.tution further. From that, one could tell that the price was extraordinary. Comparatively, a jar of white-fruit wine couldn’t compare at all.

It was just that Qianye felt a bit worried. He had already accepted that valuable elixir and also Excavator. The favor he owed was simply too big. With Ji Tianqing’s character, it probably wouldn’t be easy when it was time to repay the debt.

Additionally, Ji Tianqing seemed to have other motives in feeding him this mouthful of elixir. It was just that Qianye decided not to dive too deep into that thought.

What he still couldn’t figure out was how he had lost all memories after that mouthful of elixir. The effects were way too powerful.

Qianye shot the two girls a glance. He then asked cautiously, “What did I do after drinking the elixir?”

Li Kuangnlan looked away. Ji Tianqing rolled her eyes, saying, “What else? Of course, you turned into a beast! Who would’ve thought you’d be that kind of person. You actually did the unspeakable to Kuanglan. She wasn’t willing, so you used force on her. She wouldn’t obey, but you were strong and intent on tearing off her clothes. In just a few swipes, you’d torn off all her outer and inner armors. If it wasn’t for the inner armor being quite st.u.r.dy, it might’ve been torn to shreds. You’re quite capable when doing shameless things! Speaking of which, tearing off her clothes wasn’t even the…”

She became more and more excessive as she went on, almost as though she were telling a story. Qianye was livid as he listened—he felt as though something was off, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was. Finally, Li Kuanglan could no longer endure the embarra.s.sment. She pounced over to Ji Tianqing and covered up her mouth.

The latter evaded the incoming move and said, “Fine, fine, I can narrate seriously. If you disturb me again, you’ll be the one to tell him.”

Li Kuanglan blushed slightly as she resentfully withdrew her hand.

Ji Tianqing ‘s smile disappeared. “The elixir is so much more potent in its aphrodisiac effects compared to the white-fruit wine, that’s its only weakness. You were naturally overcome by your instincts after ingesting it and wanted to grab Kuanglan. She’s quite sluggish in her current state, so she was caught in your demonic grasp. I came in to help, but you weren’t willing to let me off, either. Ultimately, we had no choice but to knock you out first.”

The story was reasonable. Qianye felt his face burning as he listened, feeling embarra.s.sed about his lack of determination. However, there was still a sliver of doubt in his mind. If everything was just as Ji Tianqing had said, the entire fault should’ve been his. So, why did Li Kuanglan look somewhat guilty?

That was just a small clue, yet the truth would usually be hidden in these una.s.suming details.

As smart as Ji Tianqing was, she immediately noticed what Qianye was thinking. “Don’t make things difficult for Kuanglan. I only kept you restrained, that final kick that knocked you out was hers.”

Li Kuanglan looked away with a red face, unable to look at Qianye.

Qianye nodded. “This matter is my fault, how can I blame her? It’s just that… sigh!”

“It’s just what? Feeling sorry that you didn’t succeed?” Ji Tianqing asked with a spurious smile.

Qianye replied hurriedly, “I just feel that my determination is too bad. I actually failed to resist the effects of the medicine. Thank goodness you were here to stop me from making a mistake.”

Ji Tianqing laughed. “Are you sure that’s what you were thinking? You must be thinking that she was willing to do anything before, but she knocked you out once you were really about to do it. You must be disappointed, right?”

This la.s.s really dared to say anything out loud. Qianye denied fervently because he really didn’t have that kind of thought.

“Why did you feed me the elixir at that time? See, things nearly went out of hand.”

Ji Tianqing sighed. “You idiot. Did you think there would be a ready-made formula for that kind of thing? Not to mention the other stuff, just that white-fruit wine alone is something we’ve never seen before. Where would there be a formula for the elixir?”

Seeing that Qianye had accepted the reasoning, Ji Tianqing said, “I drank those jars of wine to test the medicinal effects, and then formulated the recipe. But that was something I thought of within a day, so it’s not perfect. Let’s just call it the white-fruit elixir. The elixir’s medicinal effects were so strong and unstable that it wouldn’t last one day even within the secret art’s environment. That’s how you ended up benefitting. I won’t be making any more such elixir in the future because it will start to affect my future breakthroughs.”

Ji Tianqing didn’t explain things in detail, but Qianye noticed the key detail hidden in her words. He was deeply moved.

“Enough with all the talk, let’s focus on cultivating. The frigid night is actually a good time to train.”

The three sat down and proceeded to cultivate.

Despite the adverse environment of the frigid night, it also brought about benefits. Cultivating amidst the dwindling vitality would allow one to channel their arts faster, a survival instinct so to say. The special characteristics of the night would ensure that the cultivator wouldn’t suffer deviations. On the other hand, arts like the Song Clan Ancient Scroll would work faster in the nighttime.

The frigid night had grown relatively weaker, and so did the boost to cultivation. One could easily imagine how limited these effects would be around the entrance. To Qianye, the current phase was the best time to cultivate, and this opportunity wouldn’t come again.

The night grew colder and colder toward midnight. Qianye’s heart was as calm as a still lake, clear and quiet. This was the most optimal state of mind for the Song Clan Ancient Scroll. Drops of Venus Dawn would emerge from the heart of the storm, and then converge into the newly opened origin vortex.