“What is it?” Li Mo’s promise of excitement successfully lured Yun Ruoyan out of bed, and her sleepiness dissipated almost immediately. She dragged herself out of bed, and Li Mo tossed her a robe.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo sat opposite each other by her table. Amidst Yun Ruoyan’s curious gaze, Li Mo retrieved a worn manual from his robes and handed it to Yun Ruoyan. Its pages were yellowed with age and wear, and it looked positively ancient. She glanced at its cover and was surprised to find that it seemed familiar.

When she flipped through its pages, she remembered why: she had found a strange, wordless book in the wild vine spirit’s nest during the expedition to the imperial realm, and the manual she now held in her hands was exactly the same as that one in appearance. However, this one actually had text in it.

“‘The Dragon’s Art’!” Yun Ruoyan read the title of the manual, then turned her inquisitive gaze to Li Mo.

“My mother handed this to me,” Li Mo explained. “After she learned that you possessed the demonic dragon bloodline, she’s been searching for an appropriate technique for you. This manual was one that she obtained at great expense.”

“What does this art have to do with dragons?”

“According to my mother, this is a cultivation technique left by the demonic dragon clan, one suitable only to those with the demonic dragon bloodline. It can awaken the power of the demonic dragons latent in your body, allowing your cultivation to increase by leaps and bounds. We silver dragons also have a similar cultivation technique, but access to it was only granted to dragons who had reached maturity. Because Mother came to the Chenyuan continent in her youth, she isn’t familiar with its specifics.”

Yun Ruoyan quickly flipped through the manual, only to find it abstruse and almost unintelligible.

“I don’t understand it,” Yun Ruoyan replied truthfully.

“Don’t worry,” Li Mo encouraged her. “For a high-ranking technique like this, it’s natural that you wouldn’t be able to understand it on a first read. You’ll have to make slow, incremental progress; even if you don’t understand the details, the gist of the ideas alone will be of some help to you.”

A sudden knock interrupted their conversation.

“Senior Sister Yun, your lunch is ready!” an outer disciple called out.

“I’m coming!” Yun Ruoyan was just about to stand when Li Mo did so first. After all, they were husband and wife; it might not have been appropriate to have public displays of affection, but it was entirely reasonable to enjoy a meal together in private. Thinking this, Yun Ruoyan sat back down again.

Yun Ruoyan was rather conservative at heart. Although she didn’t care too much about what others said, she still wasn’t at the level of Li Mo’s casual indifference.

“Mas… Master Mo, this… this is the food you ordered for Senior Sister Yun,” the outer disciple stammered as he handed the food to Li Mo. “Have you brought food for the two girls in that cottage over there as well?”

“Yes, yes!” the disciple hurriedly replied. “As you requested, I brought it over there first, but the two senior sisters seemed to have been asleep, so it took me quite a while to wake them up.”

Li Mo had arranged for them to get food so they wouldn’t disturb him and Yun Ruoyan if they woke up hungry. By the time he returned with the box of food, Yun Ruoyan was already burying her head in ‘The Dragon’s Art’. 

“Yan’er,” Li Mo called out, setting the table. “Why don’t you eat first before studying the book? Aren’t you hungry?”

Yun Ruoyan didn’t raise her head. “How strange. The first time I tried skimming through the book, I couldn’t understand it at all. However, I’m finding that some passages are more or less comprehensible now, as though my mind has suddenly cleared up…”

It was so unique, so marvellous a sensation that Yun Ruoyan couldn’t describe it in words. She was entirely immersed in the manual, and even the table full of her favorite food couldn’t entice her away from her reading.

Although Li Mo couldn’t feel what she did, he knew that it would be best to leave her be for the moment. He sat by one side of the room, took out a flask of wine, and slowly sipped it as he watched her read.

When he was halfway finished with his wine, Yun Ruoyan suddenly lifted her head.

“Well?”

“I can understand about one-tenth of the book’s contents,” Yun Ruoyan said. When she flipped to the start of the book and began re-reading from the start, Li Mo stopped her.

“Have something to eat while it’s still warm,” Li Mo said.

Under Li Mo’s beckoning, Yun Ruoyan ate her fill, although she didn’t have her usual excitement or anticipation at eating. Once she finished the food, she turned raptly to her manual once more. This time, she read until sundown.

After it turned dark, she simply infused spiritual energy into her eyes and continued reading, not even remembering to light her lamp.

When Li Mo came back with dinner and saw Yun Ruoyan staring unblinkingly at the manual like she was bewitched, he suddenly felt a vague sense of unease.

“Yan’er, it’s time for dinner,” he called out, lighting her lamp.

Yun Ruoyan didn’t answer him. Since she was already nearing the last few pages of the manual, Li Mo didn’t rush her. Instead, he patiently waited for her to finish, but these few pages took her almost two hours.

When she was done with the last page, Yun Ruoyan closed the manual and shut her eyes, her expression calm and serene. After a pregnant moment, Yun Ruoyan slowly opened her eyes, an almost imperceptible flash of red darting through her eyes. Li Mo was fiddling with her lamp, and he didn’t notice this unusual sight.

He turned to find Yun Ruoyan staring at him with vacant eyes.

“What happened this time?” Li Mo asked.

“I understood about one-eighth of it,” Yun Ruoyan replied, “But it’s very strange. I just tried to recall what I understood, but I found that my mind was blank. I seem to have forgotten all that I read…”

“You must be tired out, so you should eat some dinner and sleep.” Li Mo took the manual in Yun Ruoyan’s hands before she could reach out for it. “Eat something, and then we’ll start our dual cultivation.”

“Ah?” It was that final statement that broke her out of her reverie. She opened her eyes wide. “Today’s not suitable, I don’t think…”

Naturally, Li Mo couldn’t bear to cultivate with her when she was so weary, and he was only teasing her.

After dinner, Li Mo prepared a hot bath for her. As Yun Ruoyan sat in front of her table, propping her head up with her arms as she stared at Li Mo’s back, she suddenly felt that her life seemed like a mirage. Who could compel the Slaughtering King himself to draw a bath for them? None other than Yun Ruoyan.

Yun Ruoyan stood up and walked over to the bathroom. Li Mo turned back when he heard her footsteps, and her petite frame fell against his chest. She palmed his body like a little cat searching for snacks, as though Li Mo was hiding something good from her.

“Yan’er, if you keep this up…” Li Mo warned, grabbing her wrists. His threat failed: her nose twitched as she buried her head in his chest, causing his lower body to stiffen.

The steam that drifted out of the heated bathtub enveloped both of them, and Yun Ruoyan finally lifted her head up. The steam had covered up Li Mo’s face, making everything seem detached from reality, so Yun Ruoyan reached out and touched his face with her hands.

“If I keep this up, you’ll do what?” she mumbled, still caressing his face. Her voice was like silk, her eyes bright and clear despite the steam, as though they were reflecting Li Mo’s darkest desires.

“Yan’er, I’m worried of tiring you out.” His voice was starting to become hoarse.

“I don’t know why, but my brain’s feeling a little fogged up,” Yun Ruoyan began, her voice soft. “As though I’m living in a dream, but my body’s perfectly fine. I feel like nothing around me is real, even you, so I want to do something that I can really feel…”

“Alright.” Li Mo only had time to say a single word before his pent-up emotions and the rising heat got the better of him. He leaned down and kissed Yun Ruoyan, softly at first, worried that he would hurt her. Quite unlike her usual shy self, Yun Ruoyan stood on her tiptoes and gave Li Mo a deep, soul-stealing kiss, as though she were a vine curled up against his body.

With a splash, their intertwined bodies fell into the bathtub behind him. Li Mo couldn’t help thinking of the time he had first seen her true appearance in the lake by the phoenix-orchid glade, and how her radiant beauty had struck even him.

Her wet, luscious hair and blushing cheeks, her petite body even more tender than a phoenix orchid’s petals, her supple limbs and dainty figure like a flower bud to be plucked.

“Li Mo,” Yun Ruoyan murmured, her arms wrapped around his body, wholly immersed in their passion.

Li Mo forced himself to remain cool-headed as he activated the dual cultivation technique. Spiritual energy seeped out of his body and clung to Yun Ruoyan’s, wrapping and cocooning the two of them up together. 

In Empress Xue Tong’s vault, the first elder was standing in front of her statue. 

“Both the dual cultivation technique and the ‘Dragon’s Art’ have been handed to Xun Mo, and naturally passed to Yun Ruoyan.” Empress Xue Tong’s cold voice reverberated through the vault. “The first step of our plan is done.”

“The dual cultivation technique can indeed improve their cultivation, but what’s this ‘Dragon’s Art’?” the first elder asked.

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