Tie me up, please!

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, instantly shattering all of Su Qinghan's struggles and pretenses.

Her eyes darkened instantly, she bit her lip tightly, her whole body trembled uncontrollably, and she fell into a deathly silence.

Lin Yuan touched his nose, no longer having any doubts in his heart.

Now he was almost certain.

"It seems my guess is pretty accurate; this little girl most likely has that strange illness."

"It is said that people who contract this illness will become dependent on those stronger than themselves, or even those who have harmed them, and will become infatuated with the feeling of being controlled and conquered..."

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Lin Yuan's bones crackled.

His figure and appearance began to change rapidly.

In a moment, he had returned to his original appearance.

When that familiar yet hateful old face, deeply etched into her memory, appeared before her, Su Qinghan was completely stunned.

She first blinked blankly, then, as if remembering something, the shock, anger, sadness, grievance... countless extremely complex emotions intertwined in her eyes, finally collapsing into utter despair.

With a 'wah', her tears could no longer be held back, gushing out like pearls from a broken string.

The next moment, she suddenly broke free from Lin Yuan's hand and, disregarding everything, threw herself into his arms, weakly pounding his chest with her fists, each punch soft and more like a petulant whine.

"You're bad, you're bad, you villain... you only know how to bully me..."

Lin Yuan froze.

He could clearly feel the delicate body in his arms trembling violently; it wasn't anger, but a shudder of finding a final home, like something lost and then found again.

Lin Yuan was completely dumbfounded.

He had anticipated a hundred possibilities, but never this current situation.

After a while, Su Qinghan finally lifted her head from his embrace, her face still streaked with glistening tears, but her eyes had regained a trace of clarity, mixed with a hint of shyness and anticipation.

She sniffed, then extended her fair, jade-like hands.

"What for?" Lin Yuan asked subconsciously.

Su Qinghan's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and she spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Tie me up!"

???

Three huge question marks appeared above Lin Yuan's head.

He remembered that the first time he had captured her, he had tied her securely to a chair.

She... had she become addicted?

With the atmosphere having reached this point, Lin Yuan could only go along with her wishes.

He found a sturdy rope from his Storage Pouch, tied Su Qinghan's hands and feet, then lifted her onto his shoulder and walked towards a dense thicket of bushes nearby... An hour later.

A rustling sound of clothes rubbing came from the thicket. Lin Yuan looked at Su Qinghan, who was leaning against him, her eyes hazy, her face still flushed, and asked,

"Satisfied?"

Su Qinghan lowered her head, looking at her wrists and ankles, which had delicate red marks from the Magical Rope, a trace of confusion and shame flashing in her eyes.

"Did you put some Gu on me? Why... why do I like this..."

Lin Yuan scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward.

"This... I don't know either..."

Just then, a powerful Divine Sense swept over, carrying an icy, bone-chilling killing intent.

"Oh no!"

The haze on Su Qinghan's face instantly receded, replaced by extreme panic.

"It's my mother! My mother found me! Hide quickly!"

Lin Yuan's heart tightened.

Yue Qingyao, she was known as the strongest existence below the Nascent Soul Stage.

Before Lin Yuan could fully stand up from the ground.

A figure appeared out of thin air, silently hovering in mid-air.

It was actually a small girl who looked no older than six or seven, with twin buns and a delicate, doll-like appearance.

Lin Yuan's pupils constricted slightly, and the spiritual power within his body quietly circulated, his vigilance reaching its peak.

As far as he knew, Yue Qingyao of the Misty Immortal Sect was not only peerlessly beautiful but also unfathomably strong. How could she appear as this young child? Could it be that she cultivated some unique Cultivation Technique for Rejuvenation?

Yue Qingyao's gaze, like two ice picks, was fixed on Lin Yuan. Her eyes swept over the messy bushes and her daughter's disheveled clothes and flustered expression, the killing intent in her eyes clear and undisguised.

She gently flipped her palm.

The surrounding Spiritual Qi instantly surged, gathering in her palm into a terrifying surge of Qi capable of destroying everything.

"Mother, no!"

Seeing this, Su Qinghan quickly rushed forward, spreading her arms, using her delicate body to firmly shield Lin Yuan.

"You..." Yue Qingyao looked at her daughter protecting the 'thief', her heart aching with anger.

"Move aside."

"Let Mother kill him and avenge you!"

"Mother... you can't kill him!"

Su Qinghan's voice was tearful, her mind blank, and she blurted out in desperation.

"The Alchemist we brought is already dead! He... he can refine Medicinal Pills!"

How could Yue Qingyao believe such a clumsy excuse? She only thought her daughter had been bewitched by this villain and was about to forcibly make a move.

But looking at her daughter's desperate protective stance, a helpless anger surged in her heart.

"What exactly did you do to my daughter?"

Yue Qingyao's gaze passed over Su Qinghan and locked onto Lin Yuan again, her voice growing colder.

She suddenly realized that this person, facing her killing intent, remained completely unfazed. This Heart-Nature was far beyond what ordinary Cultivators could possess.

"Mother... I..." Su Qinghan stammered.

Yue Qingyao looked at her seemingly hopeless daughter, then glanced at the silent Lin Yuan, whose eyes were unusually calm, and the killing intent in her eyes slowly receded a bit.

Her mind raced; killing him would be easy, but what about her daughter?

She pondered for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "Since Qinghan protects you so much, and I see your Cultivation has reached Qi Refining Perfection, you're not entirely useless."

"Once you step into Foundation Establishment, your Lifespan will greatly increase, and this aged body will surely return to youth."

"After this trip to Demon Falling Valley ends, you will return with me to the Misty Immortal Sect, marry into my Misty Immortal Sect, and be a live-in son-in-law."

Lin Yuan's eyelid twitched.

The words of refusal rolled on his tongue, but he couldn't speak them.

He knew very well that once he made a move, he would have no chance of winning.

Although everyone's Cultivation here was suppressed to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. This person before him was a ruthless individual who dared to single-handedly barge into the Yin Corpse Sect.

Seeing Lin Yuan's silence, Yue Qingyao assumed he had acquiesced, and she turned the conversation back to the crucial point.

"Do you truly know how to refine Medicinal Pills?"

Lin Yuan nodded, his tone calm.

"I know a little. May I ask what kind of Medicinal Pill Senior wishes to refine?"

"nirvana pill."

Yue Qingyao stared at him, trying to find a flaw in his expression.

"This pill requires at least a Seventh-Grade Alchemist to attempt refining. What grade are you now?"

"Sixth-Grade."

Lin Yuan did not lie.

In front of an expert of this caliber, any lie would appear pale and ridiculous, easily seen through.

However, Lin Yuan's doubts deepened.

Yue Qingyao needed the lotus petals of the yang returning lotus to refine the Nirvana Spirit Pill.

But Qing Tan's task for him was to obtain the lotus seeds of the yang returning lotus.

"This yang returning lotus is a rare treasure of heaven and earth, difficult to find. Could there be many Yang Returning Lotuses in this small Demon Falling Valley?" Lin Yuan secretly muttered to himself.

"Sixth-Grade?"

Hearing Lin Yuan's answer, both Su Qinghan and Yue Qingyao were stunned.

A Sixth-Grade Alchemist.

Whether in the Yin Corpse Sect or the Misty Immortal Sect, or even looking across the entire Six Kingdoms of the Eastern Domain, such an existence was as rare as a Phoenix feather!

In the entire Eastern Domain, the total number of known Sixth-Grade Alchemists was only thirty to forty, averaging only five or six per Sect, and they held esteemed positions!

Yue Qingyao had originally only intended to bring Lin Yuan back to the Sect as a tool to appease her daughter.

She never expected that she had actually picked up an enormous treasure.

She understood the value of a Sixth-Grade Alchemist better than anyone.

"Excellent! Excellent!"

Yue Qingyao's face finally showed a trace of satisfaction, and the look in her eyes towards Lin Yuan subtly changed.