“Huh?” Hentian Ning’s entire body froze when she heard Fang Xing’s last sentence.

　　Fang Xing sat up straight and worked to convince her. “Don’t open your mouth so wide; let me clarify everything. Honestly, no matter how you look at it, you have no advantage. Let alone your appearance and cultivation level, even your status is inferior; who told you to be born second? Chances are your clansmen also want that pretty-boy to marry your sister so he can become next-of-kin to the clan master, right?”

　　Hentian Ning was a bit dumbstruck as she watched Fang Xing speak in a torrent.

　　“So not only are you not as close as the two of them, but most importantly, you don’t even have the chance. That little pretty-boy definitely won’t consider you at all, so it can only be up to you to claim your own right from the hands of your sister and take him for yourself….”

　　Hesitation appeared on Hentian Ning’s face. “But what you just said is… it’s just too….”

　　Fang Xing waved his hand and solemnly replied, “Let me ask you one more time; do you like that pretty-boy?”

　　Hentian Ning rolled her eyes. “Anyone that’s better looking than you is called a pretty-boy?”

　　“… Do you f*cking like him or not?”

　　“Of course I do!” Hentian Ning angrily replied. “I like him very much!”

　　“How can you say you like him if you don’t even dare to drug him with a pellet?”

　　Hentian Ning was left utterly dumbfounded.

　　Fang Xing quickly struck while the iron was hot. “You bed him first, and once what’s done is done and the grains have been cooked into rice, what else is there to fear?”

　　Hentian Ning had a bit of an abnormal personality, and the extremes she would sometimes go to were very well known within the clan. Fang Xing had heard plenty about this while drinking with the clansmen, and now that the girl had been ignited, his fallacious reasoning actually started to move her. Her brows creased together and she pondered for a long time before suddenly saying, “He’s already a Golden Core; it’s not that easy, right?”

　　Fang Xing sneered. “I’ll handle the pellet. Let alone Golden Cores, even Budding Souls wouldn’t be able to get away!”

　　Hentian Ning drew in a few breaths before she suddenly extended her hand. “Give me the pellet!”

　　“Wait here!” Fang Xing ran into his room and rummaged through his storage sack for quite some time before finally settling upon a supreme-quality medicinal pellet. It had been given to him in place of Spirit Essence during the Sword Embryo auction in the Mysterious Domain, and it was so rare that let alone early Golden Cores, even mid-stage Golden Cores would want it. The venerated youth had been wounded very heavily, and Fang Xing didn’t believe he wouldn’t be moved by this.

　　After taking the pellet, Fang Xing considered for a few moments before flipping over his hand. He held the pellet in his palm and activated his True Samadhi Fire to start refining it, allowing one of the Flames of Desire to quietly fuse within….

　　‘Hehe, I’d like to see you be unaffected by this, you bastard….’ Fang Xing smirked before he placed it back into the small vase and brought it out to Hentian Ning with great importance. “Here you go, girl. I even used up all my hard-earned capital for you….” He showed a reluctant expression, but the truth was he still had three blood lotus seeds he’d forcibly obtained from the golden crow and didn’t actually mind using these medicinal pellets. Of course, he still had to put on a show of handling this as though it were incredibly valuable.

　　Hentian Ning took it and studied it closely. “It’s not poisonous, is it?”

　　Fang Xing swiftly took out his Flying Sword while looking at her backside. “You want to be spanked again?”

　　Her expression immediately fell and she jumped over four feet away while shouting, “Are you not ashamed at yourself for spanking a woman?”

　　“Would you rather I strip you naked and tie you up before spanking you?”

　　Hentian Ning began to tremble in fear. She no longer dared to stay in this place anymore and ran off, while Fang Xing just laughed and sat down in his seat. “Take it to him while his wounds haven’t healed yet. Make sure it’s on time…” he messaged to her as she ran.

　　Fang Xing sneered in his seat and closed his eyes to meditate. He knew it was inevitable Hentian Ning and the venerated youth would both carefully examine the pellet, yet no matter how much they did so, they definitely wouldn’t find anything wrong with it. The Flame of Desire within was traceless and formless, and it couldn’t be detected through ordinary methods—even if Hentian Ning were to tell on him, he could simply deny it all and have anyone examine the pellet.

　　This method of using the Flame of Desire was the result of his past few years of study. The Flame of Wrath had been obtained from the Dacapitation’s Portrayal and the Flame of Hope had been obtained from the Foundation Cleansing Pellet from the Mysterious Domain, but the Flame of Desire had been formed through his own enlightenment obtained through the method taught to him by the lotus girl. Of these three flames, it was the Flame of Desire he was most proficient in, allowing him to release a small amount of it to the outside. Only this much wasn’t enough to actually wound anyone, of course, but it was the perfect choice for a bit of sneaky harm.

　　For these reasons, Fang Xing believed the venerated youth wouldn’t find any clues even once everything was said and done. The Flame of Desire within the pellet wasn’t poisonous and would simply call upon his own desire, and since the venerated youth had a pure Yang body despite being around forty or fifty years old, his Flames of Desire must be very strong even if he had a method to suppress them. It was rumored the venerated youth felt admiration towards the female young master very quickly after entering the clan, but his temperament was very proud and courteous to the point he would be polite without getting too close. Fang Xing guessed it was precisely because the venerated youth kept his distance that the female young master felt extremely insecure, and also why Hentian Ning felt she still had a chance and was giving it her all.

　　Although the venerated youth had been very courteous towards the young master, Fang Xing believed he might not necessarily be a gentleman and was simply trying to keep his distance for the sake of maintaining his pure Yang. Once he get close to a woman, it was likely he wouldn’t be able to suppress himself any longer.

　　A cultivator who hadn’t yet passed the nine tribulations was still human. Not only would cultivation not subdue the emotions and desires of men, it would instead make them stronger.

　　—

　　Hentian Ning shyly walked inside the venerated youth’s courtyard. When the venerated youth saw who it was and heard she was here to send him medicinal pellets, he felt it would be improper for him to refuse her and let her inside. He initially didn’t think she’d have any good pellets and planned to nicely console her before sending her back, yet when the girl handed it over, she’d unexpectedly brought over one with such excellent quality that his pupils dilated. “Young Sister Ning’er, where did you get this pellet?” he softly asked, although he did not refuse.

　　Hentian Ning giggled. “That Xing Fang guy tried to flatter me with this. You can use it with peace of mind!”

　　The venerated youth was a bit surprised by this, and a cold chill swept past his mind that made him want to refuse. This Xing Fang guy had put him in such a poor position for their first meeting and forced him to endure all of this. The mere reminder caused a flicker of light to flash across his eyes.

　　Hentian Ning giggled again. “Venerated Big Brother, after you use that bastard’s pellet to heal, you can teach him a lesson next time!”

　　She spoke the same thing that was on his mind, and he nodded while thinking to himself, ‘When I heard someone had joined the Hentian clan with a true dragon, I returned to see if I could find a way to tame it for myself. I didn’t want to cause any extra troubles before and wanted to take things slow, yet who would have imagined this guy is so rude and unreasonable? It seems I must use some cruder methods as well; when my wounds are healed, this boy definitely won’t be able to escape!’ While such thoughts swept past his mind, he accepted the medicinal pellet and calmly replied, “Thank you, Sister Ning’er….”

　　Hentian Ning laughed. “Everything will be fine once Venerated Big Brother’s wounds are healed. I will guard the door for you!” Saying this, she leaned against the door’s archway and gave him an infatuated smile.

　　“Simple healing can be interrupted at any time,” the venerated youth expressionlessly replied, “there isn’t really a need for a guard!” As he spoke, his spirit sense traveled into the pellet, and he actually used more than half a dozen methods to examine it within a short period of time. No matter how he examined it, however, the only thing he found was that it was indeed excellent quality and that there wasn’t anything abnormal about it. With a brief thought, he swallowed the pellet and began to slowly dissolve it with his Qi. The medicinal powers began to disperse, fusing into his internal organs and meridians to heal him from the inside out at an extraordinary speed.

　　‘It is indeed a good pellet….’ Although that guy had come from outside the ruins, he actually had so many good things on him. The venerated youth decided that once he took over the red dragon, he’d also need to seize the boy to find out if he had any useful techniques….

　　After some time passed, shock filled the venerated youth. ‘Why is the poison of desire acting up now?’ He quickly performed a secret technique to suppress the poison of desire and keep him from showing his true self in front of Hentian Ning, but the poison had surfaced so quickly his entire body was enflamed before his technique could suppress it. In mere moments, the blood essence in his body became like a great lake, and wave after wave passed through him until even his pale-white skin turned blood-red.

　　Hentian Ning leaned in from the entrance to look inside. She was feeling some unrest and quietly asked, “Are you okay, Venerated Big Brother?”

　　Swoosh ….

　　The venerated youth suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were filled with a blood-red color, and the shape of his face began to change shape.

　　Hentian Ning jumped back in shock and looked at the venerated youth in terror. “Ahh… Venerated Big Brother… you’re—”

　　“Sister Qing’er…” the venerated youth spoke in a deep and hoarse voice, and an immoral look appeared in his eyes. “Come over here….”

　　Everything had been going according to plan, but Hentian Ning saw the sinful aura surrounding the venerated youth and also saw how his extremely handsome appearance had suddenly become terrifying and detestable. She’d originally been infatuated with him due to his appearance, and seeing him with such an ugly look caused her feelings of love to fade and fear to take its place. “I… I’m not coming…. I have something to… I— I have to go now…” she suddenly yelled and ran out the door.

　　“Sister Qing’er… come back…” the venerated youth called out with a low voice, only to forcibly suppress it halfway through to mutter, “Leave…. Hurry and leave….” His conscious mind seemed to tell him he didn’t want to touch Hentian Ning and hoped she’d leave as soon as possible, but even that single strand of conscious thought began to fade under the heat of the flame. It melted like a block of ice and wickedness surfaced in his eyes. “Dammit girl, come back right now!” the venerated youth suddenly shouted, and the instant his feet touched the ground, he was throwing himself out the door.

　　The movement didn’t look human at all.