The Iceberg Senior's Desire to Conquer.

"Picked it up on the way," Lin Yuan casually lied. "What, is this thing very precious?"

"Precious?" Mu Wanqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry; she almost wanted to pry open his head to see what was inside. "It's more than just precious! If this thing were to spread, Nascent Soul Old Ancestors would fight until their dog brains spilled out!"

She took a deep breath, trying hard to calm her wildly beating heart, and explained word for word:

"The silver thunder bamboo is one of the three great divine woods of heaven and earth. Its leaves are specifically designed to counter sinister and ghostly things; that is just its most widely known function."

"But it has another heaven-defying effect!"

"For a Cultivator, the hardest part of charging from Core Formation to Nascent Soul is not accumulating spiritual power or breaking through the Bottleneck, but passing that damn Heart Demon Tribulation!"

"The Heart Demon is formless and points directly to the inner heart. Throughout history, how many Prodigies have fallen under this tribulation and turned into withered bones! But if you hold a silver thunder bamboo leaf in your mouth while Undergoing Tribulation, the power of the Heart Demon illusion will be greatly reduced! If... if you have the legendary golden thunder bamboo leaf, you can almost ignore the Heart Demon and break through the Realm safely!"

She stared fixedly at Lin Yuan, her eyes complex to the extreme, filled with both shock and lingering fear.

"Keep this bamboo leaf well hidden, and never let others know, otherwise..."

Lin Yuan was also startled into a cold sweat. An item used for passing the Heart Demon Tribulation during a Breakthrough to Nascent Soul... if this were known by others...

Lin Yuan knew the principle of "an innocent man treasuring a jade ring gets himself into trouble" all too well.

Mu Wanqing insisted on pushing most of the leaves back, leaving only three, her eyes gentle and firm.

"I'll keep three leaves; one each for me, my sister, and my father is enough. Keep the rest well and never let anyone else know."

As she spoke, she stood on tiptoe and lightly brushed her lips against Lin Yuan's cheek, her breath sweet like orchids.

"Once you reach the Blood River Frontline, be careful in everything. If any mishap befalls you, the two of us sisters will truly become widows."

Lin Yuan felt a warmth in his heart and solemnly put the bamboo leaves into his Storage Pouch.

"Last time in the Demon Falling Valley, those silver thunder bamboo and gold thunder bamboo could hardly be damaged by ordinary Magical Artifacts. It seems a special method is needed to harvest them."

"It seems I must find an opportunity to properly research the classics regarding this divine wood."

Lin Yuan calculated in his mind, while his arm dishonestly tightened, pulling Mu Wanqing tightly into his embrace once again.

"With me going to the Blood River Frontline, the mountains are high and the road is long. Who knows when we will meet again."

Mu Wanqing hugged Lin Yuan's arm and comforted him softly, "I will stabilize my Cultivation as soon as possible, and then I will go to the Frontline to find you."

Lin Yuan smirked, swept her up into his arms, and strode towards the bed.

"No need to rush. One must prepare enough rations for the road all at once. This husband will first relieve this lovesickness now!"

The next day, at the break of dawn.

Lin Yuan controlled his Escape Light and shot straight towards the gigantic senluo bone boat in the sky.

In the courtyard below, Mu Wanqing's figure stood by the door, waving goodbye to him with eyes full of reluctance.

Lin Yuan turned back and smiled, silently calculating the gains of this trip.

The effect of face-to-face hard Cultivation with a Core Formation Cultivator was truly extraordinary.

For the Early Stage of Core Formation, one face-to-face hard Cultivation session is two hundred points, while the Middle Stage is three hundred points. He had three hard Cultivation sessions in one night.

In this one day, he farmed a full one thousand one hundred attribute points.

Adding what he had left originally, the available attribute points had now reached as many as one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.

"It's a pity there was only one day. If I could have stayed for a few more days, I feel like I could have farmed Alchemy, Formation, and Artifact Refining all to the First Grade Realm!"

Lin Yuan muttered to himself as his figure slowly landed on the deck of the senluo bone boat.

Bai Yixuan and Shi Tai had already been waiting there. Seeing Lin Yuan, the two exchanged glances and surprisingly clasped their fists in unison.

The initial hostility was gone, replaced by a trace of unexplainable closeness and... admiration.

After all, Lin Yuan's performance over the past two days had proven with actual actions that he was indeed completely uninterested in Gu Zheng.

"Brother Lin, you are truly a role model for us all!" Bai Yixuan fanned himself and exclaimed sincerely, "Treating the Old Ancestor's son-in-law recruitment order as nothing, casting aside such a stunning beauty as the Senior Sister, all just to stay with your old Dao Companion—such true character is something we can never match! Admirable, truly admirable!"

Lin Yuan's mouth twitched, and he was just about to say something modest.

A cold figure, however, walked out of the cabin without warning.

Gu Zheng's face was as cold as frost. Without a word, she walked straight up to Lin Yuan, and in front of everyone's shocked gaze, she grabbed Lin Yuan's wrist and turned to walk towards the depths of the cabin.

The deck fell into instant silence.

Bai Yixuan and Shi Tai were stunned on the spot.

This... what is going on?

The two had pursued Gu Zheng for several years; let alone holding hands, they hadn't even touched the hem of her clothes.

Now, surprisingly, Gu Zheng was actually taking the initiative to hold Lin Yuan's hand?

"Hey, hey, hey..." Lin Yuan was also confused by this sudden move and struggled instinctively.

But Gu Zheng's hand was like an iron clamp, gripping him firmly. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move, and she dragged him straight into her room.

"Bang!"

The door slammed shut.

Leaving only Bai Yixuan and Shi Tai, like two stone statues, messy in the wind.

"Senior Sister, let's talk things over. Don't be hands-on; men and women should not touch." Lin Yuan stumbled as she pulled him. After steadying himself, he immediately shook off her hand and rubbed his reddened wrist.

Gu Zheng was not angry; she simply turned around, her clear phoenix eyes staring straight at him.

"Am I ugly?" She suddenly spoke, her voice devoid of joy or anger.

Lin Yuan was taken aback and instinctively shook his head.

Just kidding, if she were considered ugly, there wouldn't be many people worth looking at in the world.

"Is my family background not good?"

Lin Yuan continued to shake his head.

The biological granddaughter of Old Ancestor Xuan Yin; with this background, one could walk sideways in the Yin Corpse Sect.

"Or is my talent too poor, and I am unworthy of you, a Grandmaster of Alchemy?"

Lin Yuan still shook his head, but he started to mutter to himself.

What is this woman's game? Why is she engaging in self-examination?

Seeing him shake his head three times in a row, Gu Zheng's brows furrowed even tighter. The cold air of "keep strangers away" became a few degrees heavier, carrying the oppressive feeling of someone long accustomed to being in a superior position being offended.

"Then why do you avoid me like a snake or a scorpion?"

Lin Yuan sighed, his face showing a bit of helplessness: "Senior Sister, a twisted melon is not sweet. Matters of the heart require mutual consent."

He spoke pompously, but in his heart, he had already complained about this iceberg beauty from head to toe.

"Be with you? With this possessiveness of yours, I'm afraid you can't tolerate even a grain of sand in your eyes. When the time comes, let alone expanding the family, I'd probably have to apply three days in advance and go through the procedures just to sleep, right? Then what's the difference between that and me being a live-in son-in-law?"

Gu Zheng had no idea about these dirty thoughts in his mind, only thinking that he was truly stone-hearted.

From childhood to adulthood, who among those surrounding her wasn't a fawning Prodigy? Who didn't want to get close to her?

Yet this Lin Yuan treated her with disdain, which made her feel stifled and very unhappy.

An inexplicable desire for conquest quietly sprouted in her heart.

"Senior Sister, your look... is a bit scary." Lin Yuan felt uncomfortable being stared at, stepped back against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest, looking like a young maiden backed into a corner.

"Pah!" Gu Zheng was amused by his appearance and glared at him fiercely. "You make me feel very unbalanced. As compensation, you must help me refine a batch of Medicinal Pill."

Lin Yuan's heart stirred.

"Alchemy is fine." He immediately put on a business-like expression. "However, even brothers must settle accounts clearly. The Materials and Pill Formula, you must provide. After it's done, I must get paid."