9: Chapter 9 gave her a good time.

Zhuge Jinyu's room.

In front of a medicinal vat.

A young girl dressed in white Prime Minister robes was holding a large ladle, stirring the emerald-green liquid inside a cauldron that was taller than she was.

Smelling the strong, bizarre scent coming from the vat, she covered her nose.

"Teacher, if I keep brewing this, the little hamster in the cage next to me is going to be smoked to death..."

"Can this batch of pills really help me break through to the Nascent Soul Realm?"

Was the Nascent Soul Realm some kind of joke?

Ordinary cultivators might go into seclusion for years and still not succeed.

"That's because they don't have a good teacher!"

Su Chen interrupted her, his tone brimming with confidence.

"Do as I say, and I guarantee you'll condense your Nascent Soul tonight!"

In any case, the System had given its guarantee.

"Listen, Xiao Yu."

Su Chen's voice became serious.

"You were so full of confidence in court today; there will surely be an ambush when you go to the fox's den tonight."

"You can't always rely on me to show off for you. You must strengthen yourself and hone your skills in actual combat!"

"My method of alchemy is different from the norm. No cauldron is needed; use the body as the tripod and the spirit as the fire."

"In a moment, I will guide your spiritual power to circulate along a specific route, while using my divine sense to help you purify the medicinal power."

"The process might be a bit... stimulating. Just bear with it."

Merging divine senses and guiding spiritual power was considered a very private matter in the world of cultivation.

Naturally, someone might ask: isn't this similar to dual cultivation?

It actually was.

Zhuge Jinyu's face flushed red upon hearing this, yet she did not refuse.

"Teacher, come in!"

She sat cross-legged in front of the large medicinal vat.

From the mirror's surface, an imperceptible wisp of mist quietly drifted out and merged into Zhuge Jinyu's brow.

In an instant, Zhuge Jinyu felt a cool and powerful divine sense enter her body.

It gently yet irresistibly guided her spiritual power, causing it to circulate rapidly in an unprecedented manner.

"Ah~~"

With her meridians controlled by Su Chen, the intense tingling sensation caused the Prime Minister to slightly part her cherry lips and let out a soft moan.

What the hell, she's actually enjoying it.

"Concentrate and calm your mind! Guide the medicinal power to gather in your Dantian!"

Su Chen's voice rang out in her mind.

Zhuge Jinyu did not dare to be negligent and cooperated with all her strength.

She could feel her Golden Core beginning to vibrate violently under the dual action of the vast medicinal power and Su Chen's divine sense. Cracks appeared on its surface, and an even more powerful force was gestating within.

"Almost there... Xiao Yu, hold on!"

Su Chen encouraged her, while also complaining inwardly.

He was a teacher, a nanny, a thug, and an alchemist. Who knew what other identities he might end up with in the future.

Having to work overtime even after coming to an otherworldly realm—his life really was a setup by capitalists.

As time passed minute by minute, fine sweat broke out on Zhuge Jinyu's forehead and her body trembled slightly, but her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

She could feel a tiny infant phantom, connected to her soul, slowly taking shape in her Dantian.

"It's done, Xiao Yu!"

Su Chen joyfully withdrew his soul power and returned to the mirror.

The night in the Imperial City remained quiet. No one noticed two phantoms flashing by the base of the city walls, quickly disappearing outside the city.

...

On the way to the fox's den.

"Be careful, Xiao Yu, you're about to hit a wall. What are you thinking about?"

Su Chen, held in her arms, couldn't help but remind her.

Ever since breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, Zhuge Jinyu had been somewhat distracted.

"Nothing."

"Hey, Xiao Yu, I heard that every cultivator goes through an Inner Demon Tribulation when they break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. What was yours?"

"...I don't want to say."

"Ah, if you don't want to say it, then don't. Xiao Yu, what's wrong? You're acting strange."

Zhuge Jinyu said nothing, quietly circulating her spiritual power to completely fade the flush on her face.

Her Inner Demon Tribulation was... a bit...

"Teacher is the worst person in the whole world!"

A night breeze blew across Su Chen's mirror surface; he was still a bit confused.

A girl's thoughts were indeed hard to guess!

...

Outside the Imperial City, near a fox den by the mass graves.

Under the cover of night, Su Chen and Zhuge Jinyu silently crept here and hid behind a giant boulder.

She sniffed the surrounding fox scent, frowned, and looked at Su Chen.

"Teacher, my divine sense doesn't detect any spiritual power fluctuations here. It couldn't really be a ghost, could it?"

"Nonsense. If there wasn't something strange, would we come camping here in the middle of the night?"

"Look over there, the protagonist has arrived."

Under the moonlight, a red fox with glossy fur stood up like a human and yawned at the moon.

Damn it, my legs are killing me from crouching here, and you're actually enjoying the moon.

It stretched, then lazily lay on a tombstone, scratching an itch with its claw while muttering.

"For heaven's sake, making me come to this ghostly place every night to learn human speech and shout 'Great Qian must fall.' The pay is low, too. When will this crappy job end..."

Zhuge Jinyu: "..."

Su Chen was right; it really was some working fox behind these shenanigans.

"Get ready to move, Xiao Yu. This fox demon is only at the Foundation Establishment Stage; it's far from being your match."

Zhuge Jinyu nodded, about to reveal herself.

In that very instant, a sudden change occurred.

Two pitch-black figures, as if emerging from the depths of the night, flashed into view with startling speed.

Their target was clear: they were coming for Zhuge Jinyu.

"Teacher, oh no, it's the Spirit Transformation Realm!"

Before she could finish, the pressure of the Spirit Transformation Realm instantly erupted.

Like two great mountains, it pressed down heavily on Zhuge Jinyu, who had just broken through to the early Spirit Transformation Realm.

"Stay calm, do exactly as I told you!"

Su Chen commanded calmly, and Zhuge Jinyu nodded.

The two men in black coordinated perfectly. One held a poisoned short sword, aiming straight for Zhuge Jinyu's throat.

The other swung an extremely long chain, completely sealing off the space around her.

Though startled, Zhuge Jinyu did not panic. The vermilion bird feather fan appeared in her hand, and her spiritual power erupted, fanning out a wall of blazing fire.

Boom!

The fire wall collided with the attacks, producing a loud explosion.

Initially, Zhuge Jinyu's fire wall actually managed to hold its own against the two opponents.

However, the gap between one Nascent Soul and two Nascent Souls was indeed too large.

After several blocks, the fire wall was torn apart like a ragged cloth.

Zhuge Jinyu let out a muffled groan as her blood surged from the impact. She retreated several steps, a trace of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

"Teacher... if you don't show your power soon, I'm going to be beaten to death by these two..."

Zhuge Jinyu fell back onto the ground, feeling as if her body was falling apart, speaking weakly.

Su Chen observed the battle.

That Zhuge Jinyu could actually exchange a few blows with two Nascent Soul experts was already beyond his expectations.

"Xiao Yu, don't be afraid. Give your body to me!"

"Let me teach you... how to control the spiritual power in your body."

In this life-or-death moment, Zhuge Jinyu had absolute trust in Su Chen.

She hardly hesitated, immediately giving up resistance and completely relaxing her mind.

An incredibly familiar yet vast and majestic soul power flowed gently yet forcefully into her limbs and bones, taking over control of her body.

"Watch closely, Xiao Yu."

"When challenging those of a higher level, the stupidest thing to do is to go head-to-head with your opponent."

While he spoke, the second wave of attacks from the two Nascent Soul Shadow Guards arrived.

It was the same familiar moves: the poison sting and the chain weaving a net of death.

"First, you must strive to keep the rhythm of the battle on your side, rather than being led by others."

Su Chen controlled Zhuge Jinyu's body with flexible footwork, narrowly avoiding the opponent's attacks several times.

He showed quite a bit of the heroic spirit he had when he fought the Tiger Vanguard.

Even if he was from the Wind-Spirit-Moon-Shadow Sect.

"Secondly, since your total spiritual power is inferior to theirs, we must focus on extreme condensation."

He guided the surging but somewhat unrefined Nascent Soul spiritual power within Zhuge Jinyu's body, attaching it to the vermilion bird feather fan.

The feather fan accurately struck the wrist of the Shadow Guard holding the sting.

That Shadow Guard only felt a scorching and tricky force penetrate his body; his entire arm instantly went numb, and the short sting fell from his hand.

"How is this possible? You're telling me this is Nascent Soul Realm cultivation?!"

The opponent let out a miserable scream, but Su Chen ignored it, thrusting the vermilion bird feather fan straight at the Shadow Guard's Dantian.

"Finally... you must be ruthless and pull the problem up by its roots. Don't give the opponent even a sliver of a chance to turn the tables. Living people are never as obedient as dead ones!"

The condensed fire spiritual power contained at the tip of the feather fan instantly pierced the Shadow Guard's protective Qi and entered his Dantian.

"Ah!"

The Shadow Guard's spiritual power instantly dissipated, his eyes filled with unbelievable terror as his body slumped down.

Seeing this, the other Shadow Guard's back broke into a cold sweat, and he turned to flee.

"Thinking of running now? Too late!"

Su Chen sneered, controlling Zhuge Jinyu to throw the vermilion bird feather fan forward.

The feather fan turned into a streak of vermilion light in the air, directly binding the fleeing Shadow Guard like a zongzi.

Su Chen grabbed the Shadow Guard's head, performed a soul search, and then tossed the lifeless Shadow Guard aside like trash.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Fire burned fiercely, quickly reducing the two corpses to ashes.

The battle was over.

In just a few breaths, the two Spirit Transformation Realm Shadow Guards were completely wiped out.

Su Chen's soul power receded like a tide, returning full control of the body to Zhuge Jinyu.

However, the expected exclamations or thanks, such as "Can cultivation really be used this way?", did not come.

Su Chen saw that Zhuge Jinyu was not standing.

Instead... she had slumped weakly to the ground.

Her whole body looked as if she had just been pulled out of water.

She was limp all over, unable to even lift a finger.

She could only lie weakly on the cold ground, her eyes misty as she gazed at the ancient mirror in her arms.

"Mmgh~ ah..."