Bloodline suppression from my senior sister!

"H-how—how, my foot!" Gu Zheng's pretty Face instantly flushed crimson, her heart pounding like a startled deer, and she subconsciously took half a step back.

She glared fiercely at him, forcibly suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, and pressed, "Stop messing around! Be serious! How exactly did you know?"

Lin Yuan merely smiled mysteriously, offering no explanation.

It wasn't that he didn't want to explain; he couldn't.

He couldn't possibly say that he had known Yue Qingyao, the Nascent Soul Stage Grand Elder of the Misty Immortal Sect, for a long time, and had even had deep interactions with her, right?

If those words left his mouth, he would likely be seized as a spy the next second.

Seeing Lin Yuan refuse to answer, the suspicion and astonishment in Gu Zheng's heart only deepened.

This man seemed to hide behind layer upon layer of mist; every time she thought she had figured him out, he would reveal an even more unbelievable side.

"This matter is too important. I must immediately send a message to Grandpa and inform him of the situation here." Gu Zheng stopped pressing the issue. She took a deep breath, pulled out a sound transmission talisman, and held it to her lips, quickly explaining everything that had just happened.

The look she gave Lin Yuan became increasingly complex. "You have achieved a great merit this time."

Lin Yuan felt helpless inside, but on his Face, he shrugged with feigned ease.

Back in the Demon Falling Valley, he had barely managed to use the Teleportation Array to escape right under Yue Qingyao's nose.

The other party probably thought he had died long ago in some corner of the Demon Falling Valley.

But now, he had not only appeared hale and hearty in Black Stone City, but he had also destroyed her Transformed Substitute Puppet. This feud had deepened, becoming a life-or-death struggle.

After sending the sound transmission talisman, Gu Zheng said to Lin Yuan, "There's nothing left to see here. Didn't you want a High-Grade Spirit Stone? Let's go."

Lin Yuan nodded, suppressing his worries. For now, he could only take things one step at a time.

The High-Grade Spirit Stone was in Li Xinghe's hands. Last time, he had helped the other party refine a Corpse Spirit Blood Core, and Li Xinghe had been extremely grateful.

He figured that as long as he paid some price, he should be able to exchange for that High-Grade Spirit Stone.

The two left the Pill Treasure Pavilion, took a few turns around the city, and arrived in front of a small courtyard whose layout was similar to Lin Yuan's residence.

Only a simple Restriction covered the outside of the courtyard—better than nothing.

Lin Yuan's Divine Sense swept out and penetrated inside without hindrance.

The scene inside the courtyard caused him to pause.

He saw Li Xinghe dancing enthusiastically, and opposite him, a graceful woman was performing the exact same movements?

Li Xinghe was completely immersed and didn't notice anyone arriving outside the courtyard.

"Isn't this guy too carefree?" Lin Yuan shook his head, secretly complaining in his heart. "This is the frontline of Black Stone City, a place where people live by licking blood off the knife edge. Is this guy really so defenseless? If an assassin snuck in, he wouldn't even know how he died."

At the same time, he was somewhat curious about the identity of this woman, who could make Li Xinghe behave like this.

"Ahem!"

Gu Zheng also seemed unable to watch any longer. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she gave two dry coughs. The sound wasn't loud, but it exploded in the courtyard like thunder.

The dancing in the courtyard came to an abrupt halt. Li Xinghe woke up as if from a dream. When he saw the frosty-faced Gu Zheng at the courtyard entrance, and the smiling Lin Yuan next to her, his originally fair Face instantly flushed red like a monkey's butt.

"Senior—Senior Sister Gu, Brother Lin!" Li Xinghe cupped his hands, looking extremely embarrassed, his eyes darting away, afraid to look directly at Gu Zheng.

Lin Yuan's gaze immediately fell upon the woman.

The woman was quite pretty with delicate features, but her skin showed a bloodless pallor. Although she didn't have the stench of a corpse, the lingering Death Qi indicated that this was clearly a Refined Corpse.

However, this Refined Corpse was somewhat strange.

Under the moonlight, her eyes actually shone with a hint of lively brilliance, the black and white clearly defined, just like a living person.

Lin Yuan clicked his tongue in wonder. The Yin Corpse Sect was famous throughout the world for its Corpse Refining Techniques. Almost every Disciple under their banner possessed one or even several Refined Corpses, but he had never seen such a... "vibrant" Refined Corpse.

"Could it be..." An absurd idea flashed through his mind. "Has this Refined Corpse already developed its own consciousness?"

But he quickly overturned his own speculation.

"No... For a Refined Corpse to develop sentience, it would need to be at least a Flying Yaksha comparable to the Nascent Soul Stage. The Aura of this Refined Corpse is clearly only equivalent to a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator."

Lin Yuan was filled with doubt, and the look he gave Li Xinghe became strange.

Gu Zheng looked at the Refined Corpse, her clear phoenix eyes dimming slightly. She spoke, "Junior Brother... Junior Sister Xingyue seems much livelier than before."

Hearing this, Li Xinghe glanced gratefully at Lin Yuan. "This is all thanks to Brother Lin. If he hadn't helped me refine that Corpse Spirit Blood Core, allowing me to achieve spiritual connection with Junior Sister's corpse, I wouldn't have been able to help her recover some of her former vitality so quickly."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall the main business and changed the subject: "Senior Sister and Brother Lin, what brings you here?"

Lin Yuan cupped his fists, not beating around the bush, and went straight to the point: "Well... I heard Senior Brother Li exchanged for a High-Grade Spirit Stone at the Pill Treasure Pavilion. I wonder if I could..."

Before he could finish, Li Xinghe's expression changed. He shook his head without hesitation, his tone firm: "No! Absolutely not! Brother Lin, it's not that I won't give you Face, but I have a crucial use for this item!"

Lin Yuan hesitated slightly and said, "Senior Brother Li, you're refusing before even hearing my terms?"

"This..." Li Xinghe wavered.

"You know my Pill Dao skills. How about I refine a batch of 'Corpse Nourishing Pills' that would greatly benefit your Refined Corpse?"

A look of ecstasy appeared in Li Xinghe's eyes, but he immediately shook his head firmly, his Face full of struggle. "Brother Lin, your Pill Dao skills are unparalleled. I... I am very tempted, but this item is too important to me... to Xingyue! The pure Spiritual Qi inside the High-Grade Spirit Stone is key to nourishing her corpse and helping her recover more sentience! So... I apologize!"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Lin Yuan knew that trying to acquire this High-Grade Spirit Stone on his own was likely impossible. He sighed heavily, turned to look at Gu Zheng, his eyes filled with a perfectly timed mix of disappointment and appeal for help.

Seeing Lin Yuan cast that pitiful gaze, an almost imperceptible hint of smugness flashed deep within Gu Zheng's eyes.

"Now you know how good this girl is!" she snorted inwardly. Su Meiniang's strategy resurfaced in her mind—make him rely on her, make him unable to leave her! This was the perfect time to demonstrate her value and charm!

Thinking this, Gu Zheng simply let out a faint sound from her nose and calmly swept her gaze over Li Xinghe.

"Hmm?"

Just that one syllable instantly cut Li Xinghe's previously firm Aura in half. He subconsciously shrank his neck and explained with a bitter Face, "Senior Sister... I spent a lot of effort and accumulated Merit Points for a long time just for this High-Grade Spirit Stone..."

"If Fellow Daoist Lin wants it, then I want it." Gu Zheng ignored his explanation and interrupted him flatly. "Stop talking nonsense, hand it over quickly. Or do you want me to take it for you?"

She even unconsciously shook her fair, delicate fist, causing her knuckles to emit a subtle cracking sound.

Li Xinghe's Face completely fell. He looked at the expressionless Gu Zheng, then at the innocent-looking Lin Yuan, and finally let out a long sigh. With a pained expression, he nimbly took an item out of his Storage Pouch.

It was a Spirit Stone only the size of a thumb, crystal clear throughout, like the purest ice crystal, yet the Spiritual Qi fluctuations contained within were astonishingly vast.

"I'll give it... I'll give it to you, alright..." Li Xinghe handed the Spirit Stone over, practically sobbing, his eyes looking exactly like a three-year-old whose lollipop had been snatched by a bully.