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Qi Yuan gradually woke from his daze. Though his mind had cleared, his eyelids felt impossibly heavy, as if they weighed a thousand pounds. He could barely lift them. His head rested on something soft — a pillow, perhaps? It was so comfortable and familiar that he didn't want to wake up.
Wait... something was wrong.
He remembered being at the end of his strength before losing consciousness, barely able to swallow his pills and activate a defensive formation. He should've collapsed straight to the ground.
So where did this pillow come from?
A surge of alarm jolted him awake, and his eyes shot open. The tension in his chest eased when he saw who was beside him.
"You?" he muttered.
It all made sense now — his head was resting on Nangong Wan's lap. Her gentle smile greeted him as she looked down, relieved to see him awake.
"If you're awake, I'll leave," she said softly, a teasing lilt in her voice. "You can go back to sleeping on rocks if you prefer."
Qi Yuan reached out, fingers tangling in her silky black hair. He caught the faint scent of the sea — light and salty, yet somehow soothing.
"What happened with the Yan family's elder?" he asked, voice still hoarse. "I don't need all the details, but why hide things from Senior Nishang and Senior Fuyunzi?"
"That was the elder's plan," Nangong Wan said with a sigh. "I didn't dare go against it. After we returned to the sect, I convinced him to gather a fragment of the Yan family's souls as a precaution. It gave us leverage — a way to strike when the time was right."
She brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead, then let her fingers linger, lightly stroking his cheek.
Qi Yuan shook his head, exhaling in resignation. He couldn't predict the motives of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but at least things had gone smoothly.
"As long as no one suffered major injuries, I suppose it worked out."
"You don't know the half of it," Nangong Wan said with a wry smile. "The Demonic Path's six sects sent Jindan-stage cultivators to keep Yue Kingdom's own Jindan experts occupied. They wanted to stop us from reinforcing Yanling Fort. Thankfully, we had already reached out to righteous sects in other countries. If they hadn't agreed to help, Nishang and Fuyunzi would've been in serious trouble."
Her expression turned serious, lips pressed together.
The six sects had quietly built alliances to prepare for this conflict. In the end, those efforts had allowed Nangong Wan to break away and rush to Qi Yuan's side when he was in danger.
"Little guy," she said quietly, her voice gentler now, "I've explained everything. Are you still upset with me?"
Qi Yuan licked his dry lips. "Sister Wan'er... I'm thirsty."
A faint blush colored her face, but she chuckled softly, pinching his cheek before rising to fetch water.
When she returned, Qi Yuan took a sip, then turned to her again.
"You mentioned rewards," he said with a grin. "This isn't all of it, right?"
Nangong Wan reached into her robes, producing a gray storage bag. Tossing it to him, she said, "Top-tier resources — perfect for your current stage. Train hard and grow stronger. If anyone finds out I've taken a Foundation Establishment cultivator as my partner, I won't have you embarrassing me."
Qi Yuan chuckled, stowing the bag away before reaching out with his spiritual sense to inspect its contents.
Nangong Wan watched him quietly, her fingers absently adjusting his open collar before brushing against his skin.
Inside the storage bag, Qi Yuan found magical tools, rare elixirs, and over a dozen bottles of Qi Gathering Pills and Qi Refining Powders. These were valuable resources — the kind that could shave months off cultivation.
One bottle caught his attention — a container filled with bright orange pills that gave off a rich, powerful scent.
"What's this?" he asked, holding one up to the light.
"That's Tianyuan Pill," Nangong Wan explained. "A secret elixir from my sect — five times stronger than ordinary pills. It's reserved for disciples who've made great contributions since Tianyuan grass is so rare."
Qi Yuan's smile widened. He knew the value of such a pill. After building resistance to Qi Gathering Pills, Tianyuan Pills would be the perfect way to sustain his progress.
Carefully placing the storage bag aside, Qi Yuan leaned back with a contented sigh.
"You're enjoying yourself too much," Nangong Wan muttered, reaching out to pinch his cheek again. "There are still more storage bags for you to count."
Startled, Qi Yuan jolted upright, gathering the remaining bags from the fallen Tian Buque's belongings. He activated his spiritual sense to examine their contents.
Among the items, a pink jade flute caught his eye. It shimmered faintly, a sign of fine craftsmanship and potent magic. Though not quite as powerful as the Poison Dragon Sword, it still held considerable strength.
"We should move," Qi Yuan said finally. "The Hehuan Sect's people might still be nearby."
Nangong Wan smirked. "You've been asleep for too long. I've already dealt with them — killed several waves of their cultivators myself."
The group's leader had underestimated Qi Yuan's condition, assuming he'd be weak enough for low-level fighters to handle. Unfortunately for them, Nangong Wan had been waiting.
Qi Yuan felt a twinge of embarrassment. He'd barely woken up and was already trailing behind her.
"You're adorable when you're flustered," Nangong Wan teased, buttoning her robes before lifting Qi Yuan into the air with her.
Moments later, a late-stage Jindan cultivator from the Hehuan Sect arrived to find nothing but an empty clearing — and Tian Buque's lifeless body, already surrounded by scavengers.
In a secluded cave, Qi Yuan applied medicine to his wounds. Across from him, Nangong Wan sat cross-legged, eyes closed in meditation. He hesitated, not wanting to disturb her, then quietly took out Tian Buque's storage bags.
Wiping off the old marks, he claimed the bags as his own and began sorting through their contents.
The treasures inside were remarkable — proof that Tian Buque had been a high-ranking figure in the Demonic Path.
This haul was enough to push Qi Yuan's cultivation forward by leaps and bounds.
Maybe, just maybe, with the right resources... he could create even more Poison Dragon Swords. The thought of controlling a dozen of them at once, swirling like serpents in battle, filled him with excitement.
This time, fortune had truly smiled on him.
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