A Two-Time Lifesaver

A massive amount of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi flooded into his body from all directions, uncontrollably circulating along the five spiritual meridians that had already been opened. At this moment, the Nine Songs cultivation technique operated at maximum efficiency, converting the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi into drop after drop of Nine Songs True Qi.

A vast amount of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi could only be converted into a single drop of Nine Songs True Qi. As drop after drop of Nine Songs True Qi appeared, Lin Shao felt the swelling inside his body lighten slightly. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a massive wave of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi flooded in again, filling the vacancy that had been created.

Soon, the amount of Nine Songs True Qi was also about to reach its limit, but the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi still flooded in endlessly. Lin Shao could not control this process. He wanted to mobilize his Nine Songs True Qi to block it, but he could not concentrate his mind. The large amount of knowledge made his head swim and his mind feel heavy and drowsy.

Like a balloon that was about to burst but was still being constantly inflated, his organs, muscles, blood vessels, and even every single cell were swelling. Pain spread across his entire body, from the inside out and from the outside in, denser than needle pricks and more intense than burning fire.

In this endless pain, a moment of smoothness would occasionally come through. Lin Shao understood that this was the gathered Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and Nine Songs True Qi bursting through the Qi stagnation points in his meridians. But this instant of comfort could not bring him any relief; instead, it brought immense pressure.

This was a countdown to death. When all the spiritual meridians in his body were completely opened, it would be the moment this balloon reached its limit. At that time, he would pop and explode.

This process could not be stopped, and Lin Shao could do nothing. He could only listen as the footsteps of death gradually approached. The Twelve Primary Meridians were already completely opened, and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians could not hold out either, increasing at a rate of one meridian per second.

Curiosity killed the cat… I wonder if Mu Li will be surprised tomorrow when she sees me exploded all over the room… As the last of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians was opened and the limit arrived, such a thought flashed through Lin Shao’s mind.

But that instant never came after all.

A suction force came from his mouth, and something in the deepest part of his body was slowly being sucked out. The moment this thing completely separated from the inside of his body, the endless influx of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi into his body stopped.

The balloon had reached its limit, and at the crucial moment, someone had finally pulled the pump away.

The pain brought by the swelling still covered his entire body. On top of this pain, many sharp, piercing pains arrived. The piercing pains only existed for a moment, and the massive, surplus Heaven and Earth Origin Qi inside his body slowly dissipated into the outside world along the pierced areas.

Lin Shao could finally open his eyes. He saw a white figure surrounding him, inserting long, thin silver needles into his body one after another.

“Don’t move around.” Mu Li’s serious voice came from beside his ear. Actually, even without her reminder, Lin Shao would not move.

It was too painful. With just a slight movement, the muscles of his body would ache as if tearing apart.

He closed his eyes again. His spirit was too exhausted and needed some rest and adjustment.

When he opened his eyes again, he did not know how much time had passed. He only knew that his body was no longer that painful and he could do simple movements. Lin Shao lowered his head slightly and saw that his body was covered in a dense array of silver needles, placed exactly on various acupoints of his body.

Right in front of him, Mu Li, who was wearing a loose white robe and was not wrapped in gauze, was panting slightly. The flush on her fair cheeks was exceptionally obvious, and sweat ran down her neck, wetting her clothes.

“Idiot, you almost died!” She clearly did not have much strength, and her scolding voice was full of exhaustion.

After panting for a few breaths, Mu Li braced her spirits and pulled out the silver needles on Lin Shao’s body one by one in order. Every time a silver needle was pulled out, a stream of black blood would flow out, and at the same time, the swollen area where it was located would shrink a bit.

When all the silver needles on his entire body were pulled out, black blood had already covered Lin Shao, but Lin Shao was also no longer swollen, returning to his original appearance.

Mu Li pulled over the full-length mirror from the corner of the room, and Lin Shao saw his current self in the mirror.

His entire body was covered in thick, disgusting black blood. Not only his body, but his seven orifices were also flowing with blood respectively, with the most flowing from his eyes, looking like black tears.

“The bathwater is already prepared!” A sharp voice came from outside the door, and the fat parrot flew in at the top of its lungs. Seeing Lin Shao, it shouted out, “Stinky, disgusting!”

Mu Li sat by the bed, bending her waist. She glanced at Lin Shao and said coldly, “Do I still need to remind you?”

After watching Lin Shao go down the stairs toward the backyard shed where the round barrels were located, the fat parrot flew back to the second floor and flew to Mu Li’s side. It saw her hands twisted together, as if she was enduring some kind of pain.

Cough! Cough, cough!

Mu Li could not help but cough. Her cheeks showed a sickly flush, and it became more and more violent. She knelt on the ground, supporting the ground with her right hand and covering her mouth with her left hand, coughing violently. She coughed up fresh blood and coughed up pieces of broken flesh.

On that fresh blood and those pieces of broken flesh, a wisp of mottled mist was entwined. At that time, Lin Shao’s situation was too dangerous. After she sucked out the mottled mist, she did not have time to spit it out and could only swallow it first, but it was precisely this wisp of mottled mist that harmed her to this state.

The fat parrot looked at Mu Li worriedly, then flew over to that blood and broken flesh, and inhaled the mottled mist into its body.

“Sometimes I am really curious about your body structure,” Mu Li’s voice was very hoarse. “I want to cut you open and study you.”

“Forget it, forget it.” Checking that Mu Li was not in serious danger, the fat parrot recovered its usual arrogant appearance and flew back to the corner of the first-floor desk to sleep soundly.

Mu Li knelt on the ground, placing her hands on her throat. A faint glow emanated from her palms, slowly treating her throat.

Downstairs in the backyard shed, multiple large round wooden barrels were placed. At this moment, two barrels were filled with clear water of a suitable temperature. Lin Shao first washed his body in one barrel, completely washing away the black blood and filth, and then changed to the other barrel, soaking comfortably to soothe the pain and fatigue of his body.

A hot bath can soothe the body, but it cannot soothe the heart. Lin Shao’s current mood was very complicated. He had almost died because he did not listen to Mu Li’s words and used the Knowledge Pursues Man cultivation method without authorization.

The result was good; he survived, and all the spiritual meridians in his body were completely opened. But he could not feel a single bit of joy. Mu Li’s exhausted figure and that cold voice when she spoke all made him feel pain.

An apology must be made, but will Mu Li accept my apology? I did not keep my agreement with her; she must be very disappointed in me.

Counting this time, she has already saved me twice. Making his own savior feel disappointed and disheartened—I have truly failed as a person.

What should I do? Today she lost her temper with me for the first time. Will she dislike me for the first time because of this matter, and then stop paying attention to me, drifting further and further apart, and finally ending up worlds apart?

As a “love saint” who taught others romance techniques, Lin Shao actually did not know what to do now. While his heart twinged with pain wave after wave, the room door was suddenly pushed open, and Mu Li walked straight in.

“Wow!” Lin Shao shouted subconsciously. “Why didn’t you knock on the door!”

“Rest assured, my eyes cannot see anyway, so I won’t take advantage of you.” The corners of Mu Li’s mouth curled up slightly. “Besides, when you were first found, you were fainted by the roadside. I personally changed your clothes from the inside out, piece by piece. I’ve already seen everything, it’s very cute.”

“Can we change the adjective?” Lin Shao wanted to cry but had no tears. For an instant, he felt that it would have been better to just explode in the room.

But with this banter, Lin Shao’s originally heavy and suppressed emotions dissipated a lot. He looked at Mu Li with a somewhat guilty conscience and asked, “What did you come here for?”

“This is a place for bathing, so of course I came here to take a bath.” Mu Li pointed to the round wooden barrel Lin Shao was currently soaking in. “This is my barrel. You are occupying my place.”

Lin Shao let out an “Ah.” He had thought both barrels were prepared for him.

Lowering his head, he said seriously, “Sorry, I occupied your place.”

Mu Li toyed with the hair near her ear, her flat voice carrying a hint of teasing, “This is not right. Normally, you would invite me to wash together at this time. To actually apologize—are you the real Lin Shao? You aren’t an imposter by a bad person, right?”

Lin Shao could hear that these were the exact words he used to tease Mu Li a while ago, and he couldn’t help but grin and smile. At this time, Mu Li leaned against the wall and said softly:

“I am very tired now. Later when I go back to the room, I will probably fall asleep the moment I touch the pillow. But I calculated that a certain fellow has words he wants to say to me, so I specially came over to let him speak them out, lest he disturb my sleep later.”

He originally wanted to urge Mu Li to go rest quickly if she was tired, but seeing Mu Li’s half-smiling expression, his heart touched.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized sincerely. “I broke my agreement with you and used the Knowledge Pursues Man cultivation method.”

“Nothing else?” Mu Li tilted her head.

“From now on, I swear I won’t use this method to cultivate, and I guarantee I won’t violate my promise to you!” Lin Shao clenched his fist.

“Mm, and then?”

Lin Shao was frantic. “What else is there…”

Mu Li smiled. “Making a mistake and not receiving any punishment—does that make sense?”

Lin Shao realized something and waved his hand broadly. “Going up a mountain of swords or into a sea of flames, I won’t turn back even after ten thousand deaths. What kind of punishment is it, Li-bao, you say it.”

“I don’t want you to go up a mountain of swords, nor do I want you to go into a sea of flames.” Mu Li walked to the side of Lin Shao’s barrel, scooped up water with a wooden ladle, poured it over Lin Shao’s head, and wetted his hair. “My punishment is for you to forget the words I say next; you are not allowed to remember them.”

Warm water was poured over his head multiple times. Lin Shao closed his eyes. After the water stopped rushing over his head, a comfortable pressure came from his scalp. Mu Li placed both hands on his head, massaging him with an appropriate amount of force.

“I also need to apologize to you.” Mu Li’s voice was very light. “It was my fault for throwing a tantrum at you in the room back then. I hope you can forgive me.”

“However, I want to explain clearly to you. The reason I was annoyed today was not because I miscalculated Hou Xingyue’s breakthrough time. When he breaks through, or rather, whether he is alive or dead, I do not care. It is just that his continuous breakthroughs these past few days are too abnormal, and when things are abnormal, there must be an anomaly.”

“I have encountered many abnormal people, but I could always see the ‘anomaly’ behind them and turn danger into safety. But this time, I cannot see through the ‘anomaly’ behind Hou Xingyue. This unknown makes me uneasy and irritable. I am afraid this ‘anomaly’ involves you. Really, I am very afraid this ‘anomaly’ will implicate you and harm you.”

“I don’t care at all about Hou Xingyue’s life or death, but you are different. If you die, it will be very troublesome for me.”

Lin Shao’s heart felt warm. He raised his arm and reached back to pat Mu Li’s head. “The last sentence can be spoken more candidly, for example, ‘I would be very sad.'”

“Water got on my hair.” Mu Li’s massaging fingers applied a bit more force, causing Lin Shao to let out an “Ah” from the pain, and then she lightened her force and continued to speak, “Let me tell you another fact. The reason I didn’t let you use ‘Knowledge Pursues Man’ was not because you are not compatible with this method. Quite the opposite, it is because you are too compatible—compatible to the point of being unsuitable.”

Lin Shao had deep experience of this. He had indeed opened all the Twelve Primary Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians at one time, but if Mu Li had not saved the situation today, he would definitely have exploded everywhere.

“Those active knowledges…” Lin Shao asked hesitantly. Too much active knowledge had entered his body, and he was worried that his body had already been contaminated.

Mu Li said flatly, “Think carefully, have you learned a lot of knowledge?”

Lin Shao was stunned at first, then thought back carefully. He discovered with surprise that a large amount of knowledge regarding combat had actually appeared in his mind.

He had never fought with anyone before, but he suddenly had knowledge of how to respond when clashing with various weapons, knowledge of how to fight in various scenarios, how to judge an opponent’s moves, how to deceive an opponent, and so on…

“This…” He was dumbfounded.

“That’s why I said you are more compatible with this method than anyone else. You will not obtain chaotic, redundant, or distorted knowledge; what you obtain is all pure, harmless to the body, and knowledge you can directly master.” Mu Li suddenly changed her tone. “But I must remind you, before Level 8, you cannot use this method. Otherwise, just like tonight, it is simply a suicidal act.”

“Level 8? You really think highly of me.” Lin Shao hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. He only wanted to rise to Level 6 to help Mu Li find the Daoxu Yin-Yang Fruit to treat her eyes.

“Strive to become stronger.” Mu Li released her hands, preparing to leave. “The content of the punishment is changed slightly. Forget what was said in the front earlier, and remember what was said in the back.”

Lin Shao nodded, but he kept both completely in his heart.

……

“Boss Lin, can I invite you to come to the Wan Jian Pavilion?”

Two days later, during a meal, Lin Shao suddenly received an invitation from Hou Xingyue.