24: The strange fire backfired again

The tranquility of the oasis was as thin as a cicada's wing.

By the Crescent Spring, tree shadows danced.

Medusa stood with her back to Li Ao, the lines of her shoulders and back beneath her purple brocade robe taut and straight, like a cold jade sculpture.

Only she knew that the sensation of being embraced at the waist and pulled into his arms had branded her, leaving her mind restless.

The Green Lotus Core Flame energy within her stirred, seemingly agitated by the unfamiliar male presence, clashing more violently than ever before.

Li Ao scooped up the spring water; it was chillingly cold, yet it couldn't suppress the unfamiliar heat in his heart.

He shook the water from his hands, his gaze falling on Medusa's rigid back.

Her chaotic aura was even more pronounced than before.

"Your problem isn't resolved yet," he said, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet oasis.

Medusa's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly; she didn't turn around, her voice feigning coldness: "No need for your concern."

No sooner had she spoken than the azure flame lotus imprint on her forehead burst forth with a dazzling light!

An uncontrolled surge of scorching energy erupted from her body like a wild horse breaking free!

"Pfft—!"

She could no longer suppress it; a mouthful of scalding blood, laced with wisps of azure flame, spurted out, splattering onto the sand in front of her with a sizzling sound.

Her delicate body swayed violently, the multicolored energy field around her instantly collapsed, and she softly toppled forward!

"Hmph!"

With a muffled grunt, the expected embarrassment of falling into the dust did not come.

An arm once again steadily embraced her falling form.

It was still that scorching temperature, still that irresistible power.

Li Ao half-supported, half-held her, letting her lean against the thick trunk of a palm tree.

He frowned, looking at her paper-white face, her lips stained with a striking crimson, and her weak appearance with tightly closed eyes and trembling long lashes.

"Forcibly suppressing it will only backfire," he said, his tone hard, carrying a hint of imperceptible…reproach?

Medusa struggled to open her eyes, the multicolored glow already dim, only pain and a trace of stubbornness remaining in her gaze.

"...I don't need you to meddle..." She tried to push him away, but her arms were soft and powerless.

Li Ao ignored her negligible resistance.

He squatted down, his right hand forming a blade with his fingers, a black iron luster gathering at his fingertips, then striking several major acupoints on her body with lightning speed!

Where his fingertips landed, they carried a sharp, cutting intent, forcefully severing several meridian nodes where energy conflicts were most intense!

"Urgh!" Medusa trembled with pain, yet she felt the scorching pain within her, which had almost exploded, instantly alleviate by more than half.

But this was only a temporary measure.

Li Ao looked at her, enduring the pain, a pitiful sight, his eyes darkening slightly.

He knew he had to quickly guide the conflicting energy within her, otherwise, the next eruption would have unimaginable consequences.

He no longer hesitated, extending both hands; one hand pressed against her smooth, flat, slightly rising lower abdomen, over her Qi Sea, while the other rested on her elegantly curved, slightly sweaty lower back, over her Mingmen acupoint!

"You...!" Medusa's eyes widened suddenly, instantly filled with shock, anger, and humiliation!

The Qi Sea and Mingmen were the most vital and private areas for a cultivator!

He dared to...

"If you don't want to die, compose yourself and follow my guidance!" Li Ao barked, his voice filled with an undeniable dominance, instantly overriding her shock and anger.

The scorching and steady power from his palms had already permeated her body!

This time, it was no longer the indirect contact through a layer of energy as when he was setting up the formation, but the most direct and deepest energy interaction!

Two streams of power met with a roar within her body!

One was her wild and fiery multicolored energy, a blend of her newly advanced Dou Zong cultivation and the Green Lotus Core Flame, full of untamed spirit.

The other was Li Ao's black iron-colored energy, derived from the Black Iron Hegemon Body and the system, carrying a cold sharpness and a will to suppress everything, dominant and steady.

These two utterly different forces, like ice and fire, should have repelled each other and clashed violently.

But under Li Ao's exquisitely precise control, his black iron-colored energy, like the most nimble comb or the toughest diversion rope, forcefully cut into the turbulent flow of multicolored energy, guiding them, combing them, smoothing out and settling the conflicting, restless parts bit by bit.

This was an extremely perilous process, requiring the practitioner to possess extraordinary insight and control over energy, and even more, demanding the recipient's unreserved trust.

Medusa's body was initially stiff and resistant.

Her vital points were controlled, her energy invaded; for her, this was an unprecedented crisis and... desecration.

But soon, she felt a difference.

The invading power, though dominant, held no malice.

Wherever it passed, it brought not destruction, but order.

The energy conflicts that had caused her unbearable pain and almost torn her meridians apart actually began to slowly subside under the guidance of that power.

An unprecedented sense of unobstructedness and peace replaced the previous scorching pain and chaos.

Her taut body involuntarily began to relax slowly.

Her tightly closed eyes, her eyelashes no longer trembled violently.

She could even clearly "see" that the multicolored energy within her, which had originally been like boiling magma, was being combed by a steady black iron-colored force, like a tamed wild horse, beginning to flow slowly according to some profound trajectory.

A strange resonance, almost on a soul level, was established between the two.

She could feel the steady and scorching body temperature emanating from his palms, she could feel the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and she could even feel the imperceptible spiritual fluctuations as he focused on guiding the energy.

And he, too, could clearly perceive every subtle change in her body, perceive her transition from initial resistance to gradual acceptance, perceive the transformation of energy in her meridians from violent to docile, and perceive her... gradually accelerating heartbeat.

In the quiet oasis, only the rustling of leaves in the wind remained, and the prolonged breathing of the two, gradually synchronizing.

After an unknown period, as the sun began to set in the west, painting the oasis with a warm golden hue.

Li Ao slowly withdrew his hands.

The restless Green Lotus Core Flame energy within Medusa had been temporarily guided back into place, and the conflict had subsided.

The azure flame lotus imprint on her forehead glowed steadily, no longer dazzling.

Her complexion had also recovered its rosiness, but in her slowly opening multicolored eyes, there still lingered a trace of confusion after experiencing immense pain and shock, and... a deeper, ineffable complexity.

She looked at Li Ao, who was close at hand.

There were fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and his face was paler than before, clearly indicating that this guidance had greatly depleted him.

Their eyes met.

An ineffable ambiguity and tension filled the air, more intense than any previous time.

The deep-seated energy interaction just now, the unreserved trust and reliance, the resonance of their breaths and heartbeats, had all left an indelible mark between them that could no longer be ignored.

Medusa's red lips slightly parted; she wanted to say something, but found her throat dry and unable to utter a sound.

Her multicolored gaze was fixed on him, as if to see through his very soul.

Li Ao met her gaze, his eyes still calm, but beneath that calm, there seemed to be an undercurrent surging.

He reached out, not to touch her, but to gently brush away a tiny, dried speck of blood from the corner of her lips.

As his fingertip grazed her soft, cool lips, both their bodies trembled slightly.

A shock-like sensation instantly coursed through their entire bodies.

Medusa suddenly turned her head, her earlobes flushing crimson at a visible speed.

Her heart pounded like a drum.

Li Ao withdrew his hand, the soft sensation of her lips seeming to linger on his fingertips.

He stood up, turning his back to her, and gazed at the setting sun on the horizon, about to sink into the sand sea.

"Next time it flares up, it won't be this easy," he said, his voice low, with a hint of imperceptible hoarseness.

Medusa looked at his tall, straight back, which inexplicably exuded a hint of loneliness, and pursed her lips, her multicolored eyes shifting, eventually dissolving into an almost inaudible sigh.

She knew that some things had changed.

Whether it was the struggle for the Green Lotus Core Flame or the increasingly complex and unclear relationship between them.

Night quietly descended upon the oasis.