After the Villainess Awakens

However, on the night they became Dao companions, it should have been a joyous occasion like a wedding night for mortals.

Xuanzhu and Hua Yan Yue went to the mortal realm to search for medicinal herbs after the Dao Companion Ceremony. The vast Cangsheng Courtyard was left to Leng Mushi and Xiao Mian, but they ate too many newly developed pills that night. Their limbs wouldn't obey their commands. They could see each other right in front of them, but they couldn't even find the right place to kiss.

After much effort, they still couldn't consummate the marriage. Drenched in sweat, they huddled together in one bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, when Leng Mushi woke up, Xiao Mian was already preparing breakfast. The aroma wafted in from the backyard. Leng Mushi sat up and smiled slowly at the morning light.

She understood now, the feeling mortals lamented about, wanting time to slow down, wanting to stay in a certain moment.

For Leng Mushi, this was not a lament, but something she could easily achieve.

She had merged the Heavenly Demon into her soul and sealed the Earth's spine underground, but she was still the omnipotent Heavenly Monarch. She could break free from this mortal body and return to the heavens and earth at any time.

She marveled at the beauty of time, but she didn't want it to stop. She wanted her and Xiao Mian to continue on, forever, until the end of time.

If Xiao Mian got tired of this life midway, didn't want to continue, and wanted to reincarnate, she could wait for him to reincarnate again, assume a new identity, and continue to accompany him.

Leng Mushi hugged her knees, rested her head on them, and basked in the sunlight. Seeing her like this, Xiao Mian felt that familiar fear, the fear of her disappearing at any moment. He hurried forward and hugged Leng Mushi.

"Breakfast is ready," Xiao Mian said. "Tomorrow is the Immortal Sect's trial. I'll take you to the mortal realm to eat delicious food."

Leng Mushi opened her eyes and turned to look at Xiao Mian. At this moment, the morning light shone into her eyes, and a golden light flickered within them. She was so beautiful that it made one's heart skip a beat.

"Don't worry," Leng Mushi hugged Xiao Mian. "I won't disappear."

This time, I came for you.

Xiao Mian often marveled at the unspoken understanding between them. The longer they were together, the more it felt like they had been like this for a long, long time.

They embraced each other in the morning light, feeling their heartbeats gradually synchronize.

However, time always seemed particularly short when one was content. In the blink of an eye, a day had passed. It was nothing more than deducing some pill recipes, eating two more meals, and then night fell.

Leng Mushi released a bird formed from her spiritual energy in the backyard, watching as it flew towards the Demon Realm Ruins. The bird's belly carried Yin Yi's memories and some of Leng Mushi's instructions.

She would continue to refine medicine for Yin Yi. In this life, Yin Yi would definitely be able to watch his sister's child grow up.

When she returned to the house, she saw Xiao Mian, washed and clean, sitting at the table waiting for her.

Like Leng Mushi, he had learned immortal arts and always liked to cleanse himself with water. Xiao Mian was currently dressed in an inner robe, his figure still carrying the slender and supple frame of a youth not yet fully grown. He was drinking tea at the table. Seeing Leng Mushi walk in, he remained calm on the surface, but his fingers tightened slightly around the teacup.

He was a bit shy.

Leng Mushi laughed. Looking at Xiao Mian sitting there, she remembered the last time… In her previous life, their intimacy had also taken place on this chair. But the joy at that time was not even one-tenth of what it was now, just sitting across the table from each other.

So, Leng Mushi approached Xiao Mian, sat on his lap, and casually pulled open the sash at his waist. "Brother, we are already Dao companions."

"Mm," Xiao Mian hugged her. Even though he had drunk so much tea, his mouth was still dry.

He thought for a moment. Although he was incredibly shy, he still hugged Leng Mushi, stroking her long hair, and said, "Don't be afraid."

"I… I took the illustrated book from the Fragrant Grass Hall and looked at it. I'm already familiar with the cultivation method of the dual cultivation path," Xiao Mian said in a serious voice, his ears red. "I'll be very careful not to hurt your meridians and…"

"Shouldn't you be worried that you're so…" Leng Mushi raised an eyebrow at him. "So fierce that you'll hurt me?"

"Brother, it's our first time, eh? Do you really want to discuss the method of dual cultivation with me?"

Leng Mushi's eyes curved into crescents as she laughed. Xiao Mian was speechless, holding his breath for a moment. Then, he suddenly picked her up in this position and walked towards the bed.

Unlike Leng Mushi, Xiao Mian didn't chatter on and on at a time like this. He dimmed the ever-bright lamp a little. As the light in the room dimmed, all his movements became infinitely gentle.

The light didn't affect a cultivator's vision, but Leng Mushi kept her eyes narrowed. Later, she simply closed them, letting Xiao Mian put into practice the so-called dual cultivation method he had seen in the illustrated book at the Fragrant Grass Hall.

However, seeing it was one thing, actually doing it was another.

It was like alchemy. For the first furnace, no matter how hard one tried, how carefully one watched over it, waited, patiently infused spiritual energy, the final effect of the pill wouldn't be very good.

It took them some effort to finally unite. Leng Mushi didn't feel any discomfort or difficulty at all, because Xiao Mian treated her as a fragile porcelain furnace, holding her, caressing her, kissing her, and embracing her with utmost tenderness.

It was entirely different from her own clumsy and flustered experience in her previous life. There was no despair or madness of near-death. Xiao Mian's gentleness was almost irritating. But under his gentle yet scorching and constantly burning fire, Leng Mushi truly experienced what it meant to be like fish in water.

Fish playing in the water, ripples spreading, you in me, me in you, how could there be pain or suffering?

Leng Mushi felt like a fish being pushed to the peak by the waves, drifting along, and then like a pill wrapped in spiritual fire in a furnace, the torment mixed with pleasure, all converging into a peaceful and beautiful embrace at the moment the water subsided and the pill was formed.

Leng Mushi's hair was damp, and Xiao Mian's hair was plastered to his back with sweat. However, Xiao Mian didn't use a cleaning spell. Instead, he just hugged Leng Mushi, still damp with sweat.

He couldn't help but ask again, "Does it hurt? Are you uncomfortable?"

Leng Mushi sighed. "This is the thirty-second time you've asked. I'm not in pain, nor am I uncomfortable."

Leng Mushi had also lost count of how many times she had repeated, "Brother, I'm very happy."

Only then was Xiao Mian relieved. He wrapped Leng Mushi in the blanket and helped her sit up, then got out of bed to pour her water. He felt the spiritual energy in his body stirring a little, but it quickly subsided and disappeared from his body. It was as if he had been soaked in warm water, and the mellow spiritual energy automatically flowed into his meridians.

He was about to break through.

Logically speaking, it was already very fortunate that he didn't suffer a decline in his cultivation after losing his vital yang. But he was actually about to break through at this juncture.

Xiao Mian handed the water cup to Leng Mushi, secretly suppressing his breakthrough. He couldn't possibly let go of Leng Mushi to focus on his cultivation at this time. As he suppressed his breakthrough, he got into bed and hugged Leng Mushi, who was wrapped in the blanket and drinking water, and closed his eyes.

"Your spiritual energy is accumulating," Leng Mushi said softly.

Xiao Mian nodded. "Mm, but all I want to do now is hold you and do nothing."

Leng Mushi smiled, put down the cup, and wrapped Xiao Mian in the blanket. The moment she hugged him, Xiao Mian felt the restless spiritual energy in his body instantly quiet down.

He turned his head and kissed Leng Mushi's cheek. The "mwah" sound was loud, and he didn't seem shy at all. His entire being exuded an indescribable gentleness.

Leng Mushi reached out and brushed aside the slightly damp hair on his cheek, her voice soft as she said, "Brother, do you really just want to hold me and do nothing?"

Xiao Mian's spiritual energy had settled down, but other parts of him became restless because of Leng Mushi's words.

A night of spring passion was far too short.

Dawn was approaching, the time for the disciples to descend the mountain for their trial. Yet, they were still lingering in bed, watching as the sky gradually brightened.

In the end, it was Xiao Mian who got up to pack. He packed many, many things, all for Leng Mushi's use.

However, halfway through packing, he felt that the accumulated spiritual energy in his body could no longer be suppressed. Thus, above the Cangsheng Courtyard on Tai Chu Mountain, spiritual light suddenly surged. Countless auspicious birds flew towards the horizon, circling for a long time.

Xiao Mian directly broke through from the Star realm to the peak of the Moon realm. In just one night! It wasn't just the sect that was shaken; the entire cultivation world was shaken within half a day.

The disciples' trial was postponed for half a day. Xiao Mian was summoned by several elders in turn, who inquired about the reason for his rapid progress. Everyone knew that he had just formed a Dao Companion contract two days ago, so they focused on asking what dual cultivation method he had used.

Their questions made Xiao Mian blush, his mind filled with white smoke like a boiling kettle. As nightfall approached and it was finally time to descend the mountain with the disciples for the trial, he saw Leng Mushi and couldn't help but reveal a troubled expression.

This silly Xiao Mian, he initially wanted to make her his cultivation furnace. Little did he know that Leng Mushi was the source of vitality in this world. With Xiao Mian being so intimate with her last night, if Leng Mushi hadn't suppressed and sealed herself, he would have exploded and died from the surge of spiritual energy.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Leng Mushi generously took Xiao Mian's hand and, under the envious or sour gazes of the other disciples, boarded a spirit beast carriage with him, acting all lovey-dovey.

A genius who advanced by leaps and bounds in a single day, coupled with an alchemy genius who supplied the entire Immortal Sect with spirit pills, their clinginess along the way blinded quite a few disciples.

In fact, Leng Mushi wasn't overly affectionate with Xiao Mian in public. After all, Xiao Mian wasn't the type to be openly affectionate. However, the atmosphere between two people in love was truly intoxicating.

Even a simple glance at each other made others feel as if their eyes were entangled, pulling at each other.

Their journey to the Demon Realm Ruins was unbelievably smooth. The tasks they received were all easy to solve. You Zishu, the leader of the group, basically didn't interact with the disciples. Often, before the disciples could even get a clear look at the evil spirits, he would have already slain them.

They passed through many towns and finally settled down in Le Tan Town. As dusk approached, smoke rose from the kitchens in the town. A little boy ran past them at the entrance of the village, and a woman chased after him, calling softly, "Ping An, be careful, don't bump into anyone!"

Leng Mushi had already resolved the matter of the Barren Bones in Le Tan Town a few years ago when she went back in time. However, she didn't directly burn those Barren Bones. Instead, she handed their remnant souls over to the Yellow Springs, to Yan Su, for disposal.

They were guilty of trying to replace the villagers, but they were also once villagers of this town who should have lived a peaceful life. So, even though their souls were incomplete and they couldn't reincarnate, their sins were heavy. They were only punished by Yan Su to work in the River of Forgetfulness.

Because the souls of these Barren Bones were combined, they were exceptionally large after entering the Yellow Springs, like a moving giant human figure. There were villagers and soldiers who had died defending the town. But now they had accepted each other and were living relatively peacefully in the Yellow Springs.

Leng Mushi entered Le Tan Town with the trial disciples. After staying for a night, they continued towards the Demon Realm Ruins.

They had released their spirit beasts and switched to mortal horses. Although they didn't encounter any powerful evil spirits along the way and didn't gain much experience or enlightenment, at least none of their fellow disciples were lost.

They chatted and laughed along the way. They were at an age where they didn't know the taste of sorrow, a time when their hearts were bolder than the sky.

They arrived at the Demon Realm Ruins without a hitch and checked into the same inn they had stayed in during their previous life. As usual, the Shadow cultivators entered the high-level training ground for their trial, while the other sects waited for everyone to arrive the next day to open the Demon Realm Ruins.

As expected, the Shadow Sect emerged from the ruins on time after nightfall. The Shadow cultivators were all slender and ghostly, their cultivation profound. They were so heavily concealed that only their eyes were visible.

The more mysterious they were, the more curious people became. A bold female cultivator from the Joyful Union Sect actually threw a handkerchief in their direction as they passed by. Someone actually caught it, causing a burst of laughter.

Leng Mushi leaned against the window, watching this scene with a smile on her lips. Xiao Mian went to settle the low-level disciples and helped You Zishu communicate with them. Yin Yi stood still under Leng Mushi's window, looking directly at her.

Their eyes met, and the countless emotions in that instant made Yin Yi sigh softly. He casually created a spirit butterfly and sent it to Leng Mushi's ear.

Leng Mushi tilted her head, and the spirit butterfly, wrapped in a cool breeze, burrowed into her ear. It was Yin Yi's voice, laced with a smile. "On behalf of all the cultivators of the Shadow Sect, I thank the Heavenly Monarch for her mercy."

Leng Mushi smiled as Yin Yi led the cultivators into the inn.

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