Chapter 95 The Little Ghost Girl Asks for a Reward
Purple light faded away like flowing water. Under the protection of You Li's invisible yet solid power, Xiao Ming found himself in a space completely different from the valley above.
This place was not the blood-filled cavern filled with bones and resentment he had imagined; instead, it was exceptionally dark, empty, and deathly silent. The air was stagnant, permeated with an ancient, pure blood Qi that seemed to have settled for ten thousand years. Beneath his feet was smooth, mirror-like black rock, seamless, and the ceiling was impossibly high, hidden in the darkness. In the very center of this empty cavern, there was only one object—
It was a crystal, roughly the size of a fist, with an irregular shape. It floated silently three feet above the ground, slowly rotating on its own. The crystal possessed an indescribable shade of red—not the scarlet of fresh blood, but a deeper, more restrained, vibrant red that seemed to contain the essence of billions of years. It glowed, but the light was not blinding; rather, it seemed capable of piercing all illusions and revealing the essence of life, staining the entire dark cavern with a hazy and mysterious red glow.
One could see, with the naked eye, extremely fine yet pure dark red energy streams, as if possessing life, being drawn by an invisible force from all directions—especially from the direction they had come from (the Blood Pool above)—and continuously injecting into this floating crystal. The energy fluctuations emitted by the crystal itself seemed to contain the most primitive life force and blood Qi essence since the dawn of time. Just by being near it, Xiao Ming felt the blood within his own body stirring, its flow accelerating. Compared to this crystal, the water of the Blood Pool outside, which several great clans worshipped as a treasure and fought to the death over, was like a muddy stream mixed with countless filth and dirt!
"So that's how it is..." Xiao Ming realized in an instant, a flash of amazement and understanding in his eyes. This crystal was likely a natural wonder, birthed by the earth and heaven, gathering the blood Qi of the earth's veins and some special rules of this region over countless years! The several great clans had probably only discovered the Blood Pool; as long as there were blood sacrifices, they could increase their Cultivation by absorbing the energy in the pool water, but they did not know that these were merely the "leftovers" remaining after this natural wonder had swallowed the essence!
"Good fellow... truly a good fellow!" Xiao Ming couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, his gaze burning as he stared at the slowly rotating dark red crystal. This was the truly earth-shattering Opportunity! Compared to this, the Blood Pool outside was worth nothing!
Xiao Ming shifted his thoughts and stored it into his storage ring. The moment the crystal was in his possession, the System notification sound rang out in his mind again.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully snatching the core Opportunity of the female villain Yu Linglong, and completely changing her destiny!]
[Reward: 15,000 villain points!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Heaven Rank Cultivation Technique "Ice and Fire Initial Emotion Art"]
[Ice and Fire Initial Emotion Art: A dual Cultivation Technique for two females. One female uses fire, one female uses ice. When the two Cultivate together, the result is doubled with half the effort. As for the wonders within, the host may experience it for himself!]
Xiao Ming's mouth twitched after reading it, and he couldn't help but complain: 'Damn, this Cultivation Technique... why does it feel a bit improper?'
But before he could think too much, You Li, who had been quietly waiting on the side, saw that her master was likely finished, so she moved directly up to him. Her figure was no longer in a phantom state.
That world-toppling face was now brought extremely close with a bit of liveliness and playfulness. Her purple eyes rippled as she stared straight at Xiao Ming. Her red lips parted slightly, and her ethereal voice, carrying a hint of coquettish sweetness, rippled directly in Xiao Ming's heart:
"Master~ How did You Li do this time? Did I help Master a lot again?"
As she spoke, she used those perfect jade arms to wrap around Xiao Ming's arm again. That alluring fragrance and the stunning face so close at hand made Xiao Ming's heart flutter.
"First helping Master deal with those Soul Transformation insects, and now helping Master find such a good treasure... You Li is so obedient and so capable, shouldn't Master... properly reward You Li?"
She breathed like an orchid, looking crafty, like a beautiful cat asking its owner for a small fish snack. Even without knowing how to be seductive, she still exuded a fatal charm. Clearly, this little ghost girl intended to take this Opportunity to properly "ask for a reward."
Feeling the warm jade against his arm and the strange fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, the excitement Xiao Ming felt from snatching the treasure was gradually replaced by another kind of languid comfort. He glanced sideways at the stunning beauty almost hanging on him, looking at the expectant expression written all over her pure and ethereal face—which seemed to say "Master, praise me quickly"—and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but curve into a playful arc.
"Hmm... this time it really was thanks to You Li." Xiao Ming nodded solemnly, his tone carrying a bit of praise, and he took the Opportunity to stroke her beautiful face. "If it weren't for you, this true treasure might have been left in the dust. Tell me, what reward do you want? As long as this Saint can do it, I will certainly satisfy you." Xiao Ming acted as though he was "very generous," but in his heart, he was a bit curious. This little ghost girl hadn't made requests before; why was she asking for a reward so suddenly today? It was a bit strange.
Hearing her master's promise, You Li's purple gemstone-like eyes instantly lit up, as if filled with starlight. Not only did she not let go, but she hugged Xiao Ming's arm even "tighter," her whole body almost pressing against him. She tilted her head slightly, revealing a cute look of trying to think hard, but the craftiness that flashed in the depths of her eyes betrayed her.
"Master~" She dragged out the end of her sentence, her voice soft and glutinous, with an innocent tone as she said: "When You Li was Cultivating recently, I always felt... I always felt that my Yin Qi was excessive, and my whole body felt cold and uncomfortable. I heard from Sister Meiying that Cultivation is all about balancing Yin and Yang, and it's the same for us ghost cultivators... You Li was thinking... I wanted to ask Master for a little bit of 'Yang Qi' to balance it out, is that okay?"
She said it very seriously, as if she were really just discussing a problem with her cultivation.
Hearing this, Xiao Ming had black lines all over his head, and he complained frantically in his heart: 'Damn, do you even hear yourself... what kind of tiger-wolf words are you saying?' He quickly reached out to touch You Li's forehead, as if to check if he was sick.
After feeling around a few times, he didn't seem to see anything, so he retracted his hand excitedly.
This little ghost girl really knew how to find reasons. "Yang Qi"? This excuse was quite unique. Xiao Ming looked at her coquettish and persistent appearance, helplessly rubbing his forehead, and doted on her: "Oh, isn't it just needing some Yang Qi? That's easy to say. Your master can't say much else, but Yang Qi... is still quite abundant. You can just absorb it!"
Xiao Ming's mind was already associating this with the ambiguous mouth-to-mouth Yang Qi absorption scenes he had seen in ghost movies before.
However, he was wrong, and he was dead wrong!