The python's pitch-black tail swept toward them with overwhelming force, causing the surrounding air to tremble violently, even forming faint cracks.
With their immortal energy completely depleted, the two were trapped by the python's tail, unable to escape.
At this critical moment, Chu Qingyi stepped in front of Li Ye, facing the danger alone. Her hands swiftly formed seals as she summoned her core immortal energy, transforming it into a pure white shield to block the attack.
"No!" Li Ye's eyes were bloodshot as he roared at the graceful figure in the air. The Primordial Immortal Qi was the lifeblood of a cultivator—the very foundation of all cultivation. Only after crossing the two most basic thresholds of Innate Qi Refining and Yellow Court Foundation Establishment, and entering the Essence Consolidation and Qi Condensation realm, could one condense the Primordial Immortal Qi, laying the groundwork for future ascension in cultivation.
To a cultivator, it was like a spring to clear water, roots to a plant, or a foundation to a house. Once damaged, not only would the cultivator's strength plummet, but their future cultivation efficiency would also suffer. In mild cases, recovery might take three to five years; in severe cases, their Immortal Qi might never advance again.
Watching Chu Qingyi sacrifice her Primordial Immortal Qi, Li Ye felt as if a fishbone were stuck in his throat—how could he not ache with heartbreak?
Boom!
The serpent's tail collided violently with the shield, sending a towering wave of energy rippling outward in a circular blast. The surrounding trees were caught in the shockwave, all snapping in half at their trunks.
Crack!
A crisp sound echoed as a fine fissure appeared on the white shield. Immediately, the crack spread like a spiderweb, covering the entire shield in a dense, terrifying pattern.
"Qingyi!"
Thrown several meters away by the shockwave, Li Ye witnessed it all. He screamed with all his might, his heart tangled in guilt and helplessness. He hated himself—hated his own weakness, his inability to protect the woman he loved, cowering like a turtle hiding behind her at the critical moment!
Chu Qingyi gritted her teeth, her delicate face etched with gravity. She had expended all her Primordial Immortal Qi, yet it barely held for a few moments. The Profound Spirit Serpent's attack was only dispersed by seventy percent—thirty percent remained...
Crash!
The shield formed from her Primordial Immortal Qi, despite her desperate struggle, ultimately shattered into countless fragments, vanishing into nothingness moments later.
The massive serpent tail followed, striking Chu Qingyi's slender, fragile body with brutal force.
She let out a muffled groan before losing consciousness, her body collapsing backward.
Seeing this, Li Ye rushed forward and caught her tightly in his arms, just as the serpent's tail, carrying a fierce gust of wind, swept toward them.
The moment the tail struck him, he grunted, feeling his blood and energy churn violently. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood before falling into a dead faint.
When he awoke again, he realized that he and Qingyi had been blasted far from the battlefield, where they coincidentally encountered Li Xuan passing by.
Qingyi, oh Qingyi, why are you so foolish...
Tears welled in Li Ye's eyes as he clutched the sleeve of Chu Qingyi's robe, his knuckles turning white from the strain.
He knew all too well that the two of them stood no chance against the Profound Spirit Serpent's final blow. If not for Qingyi risking her life at the crucial moment to block seventy percent of the beast's attack, they would likely have journeyed to the Yellow Springs together.
But Qingyi had paid a steep price for it. Sacrificing her Primordial Immortal Qi left her unable to sustain her own Qi, depleting it entirely. Her meridians were thrown into chaos and damaged, her internal organs severely impacted, and even the Primordial Immortal Qi at her heart began to dry up, suffering immense harm.
In her unconscious state, Chu Qingyi's Immortal Qi was in disarray, her pallid face devoid of color, and her tightly furrowed brows revealed the immense pain she was enduring.
"Xiao Xuan, please step out for now. I need to treat Qingyi's injuries."
Li Ye's eyes were red-rimmed, his voice hoarse.
"Alright, alright." Li Xuan agreed repeatedly and hurried out of the room.
Li Ye carefully placed Chu Qingyi on the only small bed in the room, silently recited an incantation, and retrieved several small bottles and jars from his spatial storage. After scrutinizing them for a long while, he selected a few white porcelain vials, poured out the medicinal pills, and swallowed them all.
Given Chu Qingyi's current injuries, ordinary pills would be utterly ineffective. The only hope for recovery lay in reintroducing immortal energy into her body as a catalyst, awakening her depleted core immortal energy, and guiding it to regain vitality, allowing it to circulate and absorb external immortal energy once more.
Taking her back to the Celestial Master's residence was clearly impractical at the moment, so this arduous task fell squarely on Li Ye's shoulders.
Although the Xuanling Serpent's attacks had been mostly blocked by Chu Qingyi, Li Ye had also suffered significant impacts during the earlier battle and had fallen from a height into unconsciousness. To ensure the healing process proceeded without a hitch, he had no choice but to take medicine to rapidly recover from his own injuries, enabling him to focus entirely on treating Chu Qingyi.
Medicinal pills were categorized into five grades: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow, and Human. The pills Li Ye took this time—Bone-Forging Pills and Qi-Returning Pills—were both Yellow-grade. The former was highly effective in healing external injuries for cultivators, while the latter accelerated the absorption rate of immortal energy, allowing for a swift recovery of strength.
After taking the pills, a warm current rose from his dantian, gently nourishing his entire body. Li Ye couldn't help but let out a sigh, feeling as though he were immersed in a warm, boundless ocean.
The air around Li Ye rippled like water, and a vortex-like energy whirl formed around his body, guiding the surrounding air to churn and swirl. From this, pure immortal energy was extracted and absorbed into his body. The Peerless Ascension Technique automatically activated, directing the immortal energy to circulate along his fixed meridians before converging into his heart, where it merged with his core immortal energy.
Hah!
Li Ye abruptly opened his eyes, exhaling the turbid air from his mouth. He felt refreshed and invigorated, as comfortable as one could be.
After being nurtured by the immortal energy, the injuries inside his body had mostly healed, and his external wounds had already fully recovered under the effects of the Bone-Forging Pills.
There was still a tough battle ahead...
He gazed solemnly at Chu Qingyi, lying motionless on the bed.
Time was of the essence. He called for Li Xuan to bring a bathtub from the east wing, filled it with water, and then ground all the Qi-Returning Pills from his spatial storage into powder, sprinkling it into the wooden tub.
Once everything was prepared and Li Xuan had left, Li Ye lifted Chu Qingyi by the waist and gently placed her into the tub.
Then, he sat cross-legged in the tub himself.
Since cultivation required absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth while expelling impurities from the body, most cultivators were quite particular about their clothing. It needed to be lightweight, breathable, and comfortable, which was why sheer, gauzy fabrics were highly favored among cultivators.
As a result, Chu Qingyi's robes were instantly soaked upon contact with water, clinging tightly to her and revealing her exquisite figure. Compared to her usual aloof and proud demeanor, she now appeared as a stunningly alluring and seductive enchantress.
Gulp.
Li Ye's throat moved, and two suspicious blushes appeared on his cheeks.
Her cascading black hair flowed down, clinging damply to her waist. Below her slender, fair swan-like neck lay her delicate collarbones, where droplets of water glistened like crystal, tempting one to lean in for a kiss.
The soaked garments clung tightly to Chu Qingyi's figure, her slender waist so delicate it seemed one could encircle it with a single hand. Her rounded, resilient buttocks appeared even fuller as she sat cross-legged, the perfect curve of her waist and hips enough to drive any man in the world to madness.
Though submerged in cold water, Li Ye suddenly felt the temperature rise sharply, his entire body burning with heat. A wicked fire ignited in his lower abdomen, threatening to consume him whole.
Ordinarily, Chu Qingyi carried herself with an aloof, untouchable demeanor. Even after their marriage, their interactions were limited to simple hand-holding and kisses—never crossing established boundaries. This was the first time her curvaceous figure had been so exposed before him.
His manhood instantly stiffened. Though its prominent bulge couldn't compare to Li Xuan's majestic grandeur, it possessed its own dignified presence.
Young and impulsive, having never known the taste of a woman, Li Ye nearly threw himself forward to pin Chu Qingyi beneath him. He imagined tearing off her clothes, violently invading her honeyed passage with his shaft, and watching her writhe in pleasure beneath him.
"The great Dao is supremely simple. Clear eyes awaken wisdom, awakened wisdom illuminates the heart, an illuminated heart quiets the soul..."
After silently reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra several times, Li Ye finally suppressed the restlessness within.
He activated the Supreme Transcendence Art, extracting the purest strand from his primordial immortal energy. Carefully guiding it through his meridians for several cycles, he compressed it into a fist-sized cluster.
Then, gathering it at his fingertip, he lightly pressed it against Chu Qingyi's lower dantian—the essential gateway for all immortal energy entering the body.
Channeling his strength, he guided the primordial energy through his fingertip, urging it to converge within Chu Qingyi's dantian.
As the primordial energy originally belonged to Li Ye, it was intimately familiar with his body. Now entering an unfamiliar environment for the first time, it grew intensely restless, struggling to escape.
Li Ye refused to let it retreat, mobilizing other strands of immortal energy to block its escape routes completely.
Seeing no path of retreat, the primordial energy erupted into violent turbulence, rampaging through Chu Qingyi's dantian and nearly breaking free from Li Ye's mental control.
Chu Qingyi's body clearly sensed the foreign presence, fiercely rejecting this invasive force.
The two powers clashed violently in her dantian, opposing each other without any sign of fusion.
In agony, Chu Qingyi's face contorted, fine beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead. She bit her lower lip so hard that traces of blood seeped out, a crimson stain appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"Qingyi, use your own power to guide this immortal energy!"
Li Ye, noticing the dire situation, shouted urgently with a grave expression.
Perhaps his reminder had an effect. The energy within Chu Qingyi's body ceased resisting his primordial energy. After coiling around each other several times, her own power led the primordial energy upward, arriving at her heart center.
Success or failure hinged on this moment!
If his immortal energy could successfully merge with Chu Qingyi's dormant primordial energy and awaken it, the subsequent steps would become much simpler.
Ha!
With a sharp exhalation, he pressed firmly against her chest with his fingertip. Following his command, the primordial energy surged into her desiccated core with the force of one warrior holding off ten thousand.
The medicinal powder in the wooden tub now played its role, continuously being absorbed into both their bodies.
Traditionally, the innate immortal qi of different cultivators could never merge. At best, they would repel each other, causing violent turbulence within the body and resulting in internal injuries. At worst, the two sources of innate immortal qi would devour one another, ultimately dissipating into nothingness, rendering years of a cultivator's efforts futile.
Fortunately, Li Ye and Chu Qingyi hailed from the same sect, so their immortal qi shared some common traits. Moreover, Chu Qingyi's innate immortal qi was in a depleted state, leaving it powerless to resist. This made the healing process exceptionally smooth.
Li Ye breathed a quiet sigh of relief and withdrew his hand.
A soft, delicate moan broke the silence in the room. Chu Qingyi's long, slender eyelashes fluttered slightly before her beautiful eyes slowly opened.