Of course.
Whether the two could eventually end up together depended on Ye Tian and Aya themselves.
As for her, she was merely providing the setting.
When Ye Tian saw that Xiao Wu had been gone for a while,
only he and Daiya were left in the room.
A faint smile curved his lips.
It was time to gather some life essence.
At least the trip to the core region of the Star Dou Forest wouldn't be in vain.
Ye Tian moved swiftly.
With a slight motion of his fingers, he formed eight Taiyi Divine Needles in his hands.
Then, like a masterful brushstroke, he inserted the needles one by one into the trunk of the ancient golden tree.
The placement of the eight needles formed a profound Eight Trigram Array.
This was the same formation he had used when treating Ning Rongrong before.
Back then, it was to expel the blood fiend energy from her body.
But now, the array's main function was to extract the life essence from deep within the earth.
"Ye Tian, what are you doing?"
A weak Daiya looked at him with suspicion.
Ye Tian chuckled, "The life energy inside the room is too thin. I'm just helping to enhance it a little."
After speaking,
he didn't wait for Daiya to understand but simply took out seven or eight small jade bottles,
placing them at the center of the formation to collect the purest life essence.
Then, Ye Tian repeated the process, setting up three more formations around the area to collect even more.
The process of gathering life essence was incredibly slow.
Ye Tian had already calculated that if the formations ran for half an hour,
each jade bottle would be lucky to contain a single drop of life essence.
To ease the awkward silence, Ye Tian started chatting with Daiya.
He asked calmly, "Miss Daiya, how did you get injured?"
Daiya's eyes flickered as she replied, "I was training in the Star Dou Forest and unexpectedly encountered a troublesome Man-Faced Demon Spider."
"If I hadn't run into Xiao Wu, I would probably be dead by now."
Hearing this, Ye Tian clicked his tongue in surprise.
He hadn't expected her to be such a fierce person—daring to train in a forest where thousand-year soul beasts were as common as stray dogs and ten-thousand-year soul beasts roamed freely.
"And how did you end up here?"
After explaining her own situation, Daiya asked about Ye Tian's.
Ye Tian chuckled lightly and shrugged. "I got caught by the Sky Azure Bull Python."
Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Daiya's pale face.
"That must have been rough for you."
"It's nothing." Ye Tian waved his hand dismissively.
"What did you do before all this?"
The moment she asked, Daiya's heartbeat quickened slightly.
However, Ye Tian only smiled casually, his expression unreadable.
"I lived in the mountains with my master, learning medicine."
"Studying medicine is a long and tedious process."
"To be honest, I never expected ten years to pass in the blink of an eye."
"Even more unexpectedly, on the very day I mastered my skills, my master kicked me out of the mountain."
Not a single word was true.
But as he spoke, a look of nostalgia and melancholy appeared on his face,
as if those past years were truly unforgettable.
Hearing his story, Daiya suddenly felt a deep sense of loss.
…Perhaps it was just a coincidence of names.
Despite her emotions, she forced a smile and said,
"A true master must endure loneliness."
"Without those ten years of training, your medical skills wouldn't be this exceptional."
"I suppose so." Ye Tian smiled.
Then, silence filled the golden chamber.
Both were lost in their own thoughts.
Daiya was deep in contemplation.
Meanwhile, Ye Tian was attentively listening to the sounds outside.
—
Soon, two hours had passed.
The formations had reached their limit and collapsed.
Xiao Wu had yet to return.
Daiya had already fallen asleep.
Ye Tian also felt a bit drowsy.
But he couldn't afford to sleep while monitoring the life essence absorption process.
Seeing that the formations had disintegrated,
Ye Tian decided not to set up new ones.
The surrounding life essence was limited.
It would take time for more to flow in from other areas.
So, there was no point in continuing.
He sealed the jade bottles filled with life essence one by one and stored them in his spatial ring.
Then, stepping lightly, he left the golden tree hut to avoid disturbing Daiya's rest.
At that moment—
The night sky was full of stars.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm back!"
Xiao Wu's cheerful voice rang out from a distance.
She bounced toward Ye Tian excitedly, raising her hands to show off her spoils.
Two large fish and a burrowing rat weighing over ten pounds.
Xiao Wu grinned. "I took a little longer because I wanted to prepare something special for you."
"I'll cook tonight, Ye Tian! You're in for a treat!"
"Oh?" Ye Tian smiled slightly and looked at her. "Did you get any rabbit? I love rabbit, especially spicy rabbit heads."
At his words, Xiao Wu's eyes twitched.
This guy… actually dares to eat rabbits?!
Rabbits are so cute! How can they be food?!
"I don't eat rabbits."
Xiao Wu pouted, puffing her cheeks in defiance.
"Haha, I guess everyone has their own tastes."
Ye Tian waved his hand, dropping the topic.
Xiao Wu walked up to the golden tree and dumped a pile of firewood from her storage space.
She looked at Ye Tian and said, "You handle the fire, and I'll cook."
But Ye Tian responded seriously, "You handle the fire, and I'll cook."
"Huh???" Xiao Wu's eyes widened in shock. "You know how to cook?"
"Of course." Ye Tian wagged his finger with a confident smile. "Don't underestimate me—I have twenty years of cooking experience."
"You're not even twenty years old."
"Exactly."
"Then how can you have twenty years of cooking experience? A little exaggerated, don't you think?"
Xiao Wu's rabbit ears twitched skeptically.
Ye Tian walked up, took the two bighead carp from her hands, and smiled slightly. "My experience, my rules."
Then, he summoned a Taiyi Divine Needle.
Lifting one of the fish high, he gestured with the needle as if measuring the perfect cutting points.
This piqued Xiao Wu's curiosity.
She giggled, "Are you seriously telling me there's a special technique for cutting fish?"
Before Ye Tian could answer—
The next moment—
Xiao Wu's jaw dropped.
Ye Tian pinched the fish's head twice with his left hand, then tossed it into the air.
With his right hand, the golden needle flashed across the fish's body.
His movements were so fast that Xiao Wu could only see afterimages.
Before she could even react—
The fish had already landed back in Ye Tian's left hand.
And then—
A scattering sound followed.
Xiao Wu looked down.
A layer of fish scales and bones covered the ground.
She stood there, stunned for a long time before dryly asking,
"A bighead carp has over a hundred bones and at least five hundred scales…"
"How did you remove them all in an instant?"
Ye Tian flicked the Taiyi Divine Needle back into his sleeve and smiled indifferently.
"Nothing special. Just skillful hands."
(End of Chapter)
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