"Alright," Qing Chen replied, not getting up. He knew very well that the'sleep in bed' Han Qingyue mentioned had no hidden meaning.
He continued to sit cross-legged on the ground, focusing on Cultivating.
Meanwhile, Han Qingyue turned over, her small face flushed. She hadn't expected herself to actively say something so embarrassing.
Qing Chen was indeed not mistaken; Han Qingyue's'sleep in bed' truly meant simply sleeping in bed, with no other deeper meaning.
There was only one bed in the large bedroom; she couldn't possibly make Qing Chen sleep elsewhere, could she?
If outsiders knew, it would definitely cause a lot of gossip.
However, if Qing Chen truly couldn't restrain himself and wanted to do something, Han Qingyue wouldn't resist too much.
Though her heart still held Xiao Feng, she knew better than anyone that her fate with him in this life was destined to be unfulfilled…
As she thought, Han Qingyue drifted into sleep. She was no longer like when she first entered the Qing Estate, where she would be constantly on edge, fearing Qing Chen might harm her, and would take a long time to fall asleep.
Qing Chen said no more and also began to refine and increase his Cultivation through Qi Refining, using his Ten Thousand Swords Sacred Body and Comprehension Ability…
Before long, his Cultivation Realm broke through from Soul Emergence Realm seventh layer to Soul Emergence Realm eighth layer.
One must know, this was without the aid of Medicinal Pills, relying solely on his own talent and the not-so-abundant Spiritual Qi around him.
Under such conditions, to still have such a rapid increase in speed, Qing Chen couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
So, with a wave of his hand, he took out all the Medicinal Pills from his System backpack, spreading them around him.
As the Medicinal Pills were consumed bottle after bottle, his Cultivation also rapidly climbed…
At the same time.
Great Mang Mountain, nameless Immortal Cave.
Xiao Feng finished Cultivating and suddenly opened his eyes. "Phew, I Cultivated for a whole day and only broke through three minor Realms? That's a bit slow. It would be great if I could sign in for a peerless Cultivation Technique or a Physique that would increase my Cultivation speed."
With this thought, Xiao Feng summoned the System panel. Seeing that the sign-in count had updated, he eagerly clicked the [Sign In] option.
[Signing in…]
[Sign-in successful! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining a Heaven Rank Low Grade Cultivation Technique: Sunflower Manual!]
"Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique?!"
Seeing these four words and confirming he hadn't misread, Xiao Feng stood up from the stone bed with a look of ecstasy.
"Good, good, good! With this Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique, my Cultivation speed will definitely improve significantly!"
He immediately switched to the System backpack and took out the Sunflower Manual.
"Hiss, Sunflower Manual…" The name wasn't as imposing as Xiao Feng had imagined.
"Bah, why think so much? Since it's a Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique, how could it be weak?"
Xiao Feng opened the first page with immense anticipation, and prominently saw a line of large characters: To Cultivate this technique, one must first castrate oneself.
"…" Frowning tightly, Xiao Feng was stunned for a long time.
Suspecting he had misread, he rubbed his eyes, then leaned closer to confirm, "To Cultivate this technique, one must first castrate oneself…"
Xiao Feng was not a fool; he knew what 'castrate oneself' meant.
"System, are you messing with me?" After another long moment of daze, Xiao Feng slowly uttered that sentence, asking very seriously.
To this, the System, which only possessed the sign-in function, gave no response, remaining very quiet.
It wasn't his first day with the System. Xiao Feng had a belly full of curses, which ultimately turned into a single complaint, "I bound you to become stronger, and you actually want to ruin my happiness for the rest of my life!"
He directly threw the Sunflower Manual mercilessly aside. He even found it taking up space in his System backpack.
"Han Qinyue is still waiting for me, how could I castrate myself?" Xiao Feng was unwilling to covet temporary Cultivation speed and let down a peerless beauty.
The future was long; wasting one sign-in opportunity was not unacceptable for Xiao Feng.
"Forget it, continue Cultivating!" Xiao Feng, full of suppressed anger, resumed his meditation posture, no longer thinking about the Sunflower Manual. He decided to turn his anger into motivation, Cultivate diligently, and increase his Cultivation.
It was also to quickly get through this boring day, leading to the next sign-in…
Qing Chen was naturally unaware of what was happening in the Immortal Cave on Great Mang Mountain.
However, compared to Xiao Feng, Qing Chen's progress was incredibly swift. With the blessings of his Sacred Body and talent, after refining the last Medicinal Pill, he had already raised his Cultivation from Soul Emergence Realm eighth layer to Soul Emergence Realm seventh layer.
That's right, as the villain, his Cultivation had already surpassed Xiao Feng, the protagonist, coming from behind and leaving him far behind.
Not only that, after the Medicinal Pills were exhausted, Qing Chen also took the opportunity to Cultivate all the Cultivation Techniques he had previously obtained to the Great Perfection Realm.
He didn't know until he Cultivated; only then did he realize the terrifying power of high Comprehension Ability. It required almost no effort; a couple of glances, and he would understand without a teacher, making it as simple as could be.
"Hoo…" Exhaling a mouthful of turbid Qi, calming and stabilizing his surging Qi Sea, Qing Chen stood up from the ground.
He looked out the window; dawn had not yet broken.
Recalling Han Qingyue's words before she slept, Qing Chen removed his outer clothes and climbed onto the bed.
"…"
Han Qingyue was not in a deep sleep. Sensing someone climb onto the bed, she slowly opened her eyes, but her body did not move at all, knowing it was Qing Chen who had finished Cultivating and needed to rest.
A lone man and woman in one room, sharing one bed and one blanket—to say Han Qingyue wasn't nervous would definitely be a lie.
Her heartbeat grew faster and faster, and her jade cheeks became increasingly hot, continuously warming up.
However, as time passed little by little, there was no sound from behind her.
Coupled with Qing Chen's even breathing, Han Qingyue realized that she… had been overthinking.
Her face not only didn't cool down but turned even redder.
Her sense of guilt towards Xiao Feng surged!
She felt that if she continued to overthink like this, not only her body, but even her heart, would eventually…
She decisively stopped her thoughts, closed her eyes tightly, wanting to clear all distracting thoughts.
The more she thought, the more chaotic it would become…
In a flash.
The sky turned a fish-belly white, and a ray of sunlight shone in from the window.
Han Qingyue gently opened her beautiful autumn-water eyes, still a little sleepy.
Just as she was about to move and get up, she found something pressing on her.
She quickly realized it was a hand.
Whose hand it was, was self-evident.
Han Qingyue realized she was currently being held in Qing Chen's embrace.
She wanted to break free, but considering Qing Chen had Cultivated all night and must be very tired, she couldn't bear to disturb him.
There was nothing she could do but remain still and sleep a little longer.
Even if she couldn't sleep, she had to, otherwise, being held like this by someone, and a man at that, even if he was her sworn husband, Han Qingyue would start to overthink again.
However, what Han Qingyue didn't know was that for a Cultivator, especially a Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator, sleep was actually not that important; it was optional.
Nevertheless, in order to complete the main quest as soon as possible and obtain the Great Emperor Cultivation, Qing Chen didn't mind sleeping for a bit and having more physical contact with Han Qingyue.
If the physical distance was close, would the heart still be far?