106: Chapter 106 I want 388,000 spirit stones

Consciousness slowly drifted up from the Chaos, and the first thing perceived was an indescribable, soft sensation.

It was as if sinking into the clouds, or resting one's head on the finest velvet.

Immediately following, a faint, elegant yet cloyingly sweet feminine fragrance drifted into the nostrils, stirring the mind.

Ye Xiaoyao thought groggily, could it be that I am having a beautiful, amorous dream?

His eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry at first; what entered his eyes was a patch of soft, goose-yellow fabric, and beneath the fabric was an astonishingly full curve.

He froze, suddenly realizing he was being held in the arms of a woman, his cheek pressed against that warm softness.

He jerked his head up, meeting a pair of smiling, slightly upturned peach-blossom eyes.

Within those eyes were traces of playfulness, laziness, and a hint of imperceptible concern.

Why is it Lu Jiajing!?

"Sect Master... Lu?"

Ye Xiaoyao, as if scalded, struggled backward, breaking free from that warm, fragrant embrace. He stumbled to a stand, his face full of shock and vigilance.

Seeing his expression as if avoiding a venomous snake or scorpion, Lu Jiajing knitted her slender willow eyebrows, pouted her red lips, and said with obvious resentment:

"Hmph! Young Gentleman, if it weren't for me risking my life to intervene, you would have long been swallowed by that Fourth-Order Monster King, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.

Why? Now that you see me, you act as if you've seen a Monster King, are you that afraid?

Am I... really more terrifying than a Monster King?"

As she spoke, she raised a hand to tidy her slightly disheveled hair.

As her eyes darted about, that natural allure flowed out again, and she looked at Ye Xiaoyao with a mix of feigned anger and delight.

Ye Xiaoyao quickly searched his memory.

Right, after he picked that Solar Flower, a terrifying pressure had descended, and he had lost consciousness instantly...

Yet, upon waking here, he was unharmed.

It seemed that this Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect had indeed saved him.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, put on a solemn expression, stepped back, and bowed with cupped hands:

"Sect Master Lu, thank you for saving my life; Ye is extremely grateful."

Hearing his still distant address, the smile on Lu Jiajing's face faded, replaced by an even deeper resentment.

With light steps, she moved to stand before Ye Xiaoyao, and the distance between them closed instantly.

She extended a slender, jade-like hand, gently resting it on Ye Xiaoyao's shoulder, while the other hand balled into a small fist and tapped his chest, neither too lightly nor too heavily.

At the same time, she tilted up her stunningly beautiful face, gazing at him with glistening eyes, her voice soft and tender, filled with reproach:

"Young Gentleman~~ didn't we agree that you would call me Sister?

Why are you being so distant again? It makes my heart go cold hearing that~~"

Her breath was like orchids, and her fragrance washed over him.

That voluptuous body was within arm's reach, ready to be touched.

Ye Xiaoyao felt his heart flutter, and a sense of heat faintly rose within him.

In his mind, the memory of being forcibly kissed by her in the cave flashed involuntarily.

This woman... she really is a natural-born femme fatale, every movement of hers is seductive.

Is this the style of all Cultivators from the Joyful Union Sect?

He steadied his mind, secretly circulating his essence of pure yang to suppress that untimely agitation.

Then he extended his hands, gently gripping the wrists of the hands Lu Jiajing had placed on his shoulder and chest, and firmly but gently removed them from his body.

"Sister... Lu."

He changed his address, but his tone remained distant.

"Thank you, Sister, for saving me, but... Ye already has a Dao Companion. Being this close is perhaps inappropriate, so please forgive me."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jiajing was not angry; instead, she giggled, her body shaking with laughter and her chest heaving.

Her eyes darted around, and she said with a teasing tone:

"Oh my~~ what does that matter? In the cultivation world, one is not limited to having only one Dao Companion, and besides..."

She deliberately lowered her voice, leaning in closer, her breath brushing against Ye Xiaoyao's ear:

"Your beautiful little wife is currently somewhere, locked in an intense battle with that girl in white,

and how would she know~~ that right now, there are only the two of us here?"

Only then did Ye Xiaoyao remember to examine the surrounding environment.

This was clearly no longer the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

The sky appeared a hazy, pale white; there was no sun or moon, yet it had its own light source.

Beneath his feet was soft, glowing, strange soil, and in the distance were gently rolling low hills with sparse, oddly shaped vegetation.

The Spiritual Qi in the air was exceptionally dense and pure; a single breath made one feel refreshed, yet it was also mixed with an ancient and unfamiliar aura.

"Where... is this?"

He asked, his brows slightly furrowed.

Lu Jiajing covered her mouth and chuckled, explaining:

"If my guess is correct, this should be a Lesser Grotto-Heaven within the Thousand Illusions Secret Realm."

"Thousand Illusions Secret Realm?"

Ye Xiaoyao was thoughtful. He had heard Liu Yunshuang mention this term before; it was one of the many Secret Realms in the inner circle of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range, and it was quite mysterious.

"How did we get in here?"

"After I saved you from the claws of that Monster King, I fled in panic and escaped to a dense forest in a valley."

Lu Jiajing restrained some of her allure and recalled seriously.

"There was a natural rift in the forest; just as I intended to use it to hide, I was pulled in by a powerful suction force. When I opened my eyes again, I was here."

"Combining the independent space here, the dense Spiritual Qi, and the ancient traces, it must be the Thousand Illusions Secret Realm, known for its countless Lesser Grotto-Heavens."

"These Lesser Grotto-Heavens are isolated from one another, forming their own worlds, but it is said there are ways to connect them."

While listening, Ye Xiaoyao slowly released his Divine Sense to carefully investigate this space.

The area seemed limited; all he perceived was similar desolation and tranquility, with no other signs of life or dangerous auras.

"So that's it."

He nodded, then thought of a more realistic problem.

"Then how should we get out?"

"Get out?"

Lu Jiajing returned to her lazy and charming demeanor, casting a glance at him:

"Young Gentleman, this is my first time falling into this Secret Realm as well, so I may not know much more than you do~~"

Ye Xiaoyao shook his head with a bitter smile.

It seemed they were trapped here for the time being.

He said no more and turned to fly on his sword, intending to roughly explore this Lesser Grotto-Heaven first to look for possible exits or clues.

"Hey~ what's the rush, Young Gentleman."

Lu Jiajing's figure flickered, and she blocked his path again, smiling beautifully:

"It was so hard for me to get some time alone with you. This Secret Realm is quiet and uninhabited; it is the perfect place... to deepen our relationship. Why the rush to leave?

Or perhaps... don't you want to do some pleasurable things with me here?"

The implication in her words could not be more obvious, and her gaze was so thick it could be spun into silk.

Ye Xiaoyao paused, turned around, looked at her with a calm gaze, and said clearly:

"Sister Lu, I know what you want. What you seek is nothing more than the essence of pure yang within me; you want to use it to increase your chances of Nascent Soul Formation, right?"

He paused, and amidst the slightly brightening light in Lu Jiajing's eyes, he continued:

"I can give it to you, but..."

"You need to provide enough bargaining chips to satisfy me."

His tone was calm, yet carried an undisguised sense of negotiation.

The smile on Lu Jiajing's face stiffened, then transformed into an even deeper resentment.

She glared at Ye Xiaoyao coquettishly, twisted her voluptuous body, and turned her back to him, leaving him with a breathtakingly curvy silhouette, her voice coming through muffled:

"Annoying~~ Young Gentleman, you are truly so stingy! I risked my life to save you, and you are actually bargaining with me? Heartless~~"

This feigned angry look of hers had a unique charm.

Ye Xiaoyao remained unmoved; instead, he curled his lips into a faint smile and said leisurely:

"Sister Lu, I have already thanked you for saving my life just now."

"As for this essence of pure yang... it seems it wasn't Ye who begged you to save him in exchange for it, right?"

This was a bit "heartless," but it was the truth, and it also carried a hint of intentionally trying to anger her.

Who told her to keep following him like a shadow, coveting him?

Now that they were in this situation, and the initiative had shifted slightly back to him, naturally he had to leverage it to see what kind of price this Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect could offer.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Lu Jiajing was so angry that she lightly stomped her jade-clad foot, wearing embroidered shoes, on the ground, and her full chest heaved.

She turned around abruptly; the feigned resentment on her face faded, replaced by more seriousness and helplessness as she said:

"You slippery Young Gentleman! Speak, what do you want? As long as I can provide it."

Ye Xiaoyao began to ponder in a feigned manner, resting his chin with his right hand and supporting his right wrist with his left, his eyes rolling about as if thinking seriously.

After a long while, he opened his mouth slowly, as if after careful consideration:

"Sister Lu, I don't want much. Just give me... 388,000 Spirit Stones."