30: Chapter 30 This is not what I wanted; it was all for cultivation.

Xiao Nianyin stepped barefoot on the cold, smooth floor, her toes curling slightly as she stopped silently before the carved wooden door of the Side Hall.

The hard texture of the wood under her fingertips, along with the slightly sweaty pink pill in her palm, reminded her of how shocking and... contrary to her usual principles what she was about to do was.

The Side Hall was silent, with only an extremely faint, seemingly suppressed sound of breathing drifting through the crack in the door.

That breathing was not steady, carrying an unbearable feverish heat and the anxiety of tossing and turning.

Xiao Nianyin's fingers tightened around the Medicinal Pill, the cold pill almost sinking into her palm.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, the last trace of hesitation in her eyes was completely suppressed, leaving only desperate determination and cold calculation.

She was Xiao Nianyin, the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect.

To restore her cultivation base, stabilize the Sect, and take back the power that belonged to her, some means had to be used, and some bottom lines... could be temporarily shifted.

As for Xu Ruyu... this was his Opportunity, and his responsibility.

Who told him to be that accident, the person who carried her power?

Hesitating no longer, Xiao Nianyin used her free hand to condense a trace of faint but pure spiritual energy at her fingertips—this was the limit of her remaining power.

She lightly tapped a node of the Restriction on the door.

The Restrictions of Ningyin Hall were personally set up by her; naturally, she knew how to quietly open a crack without alerting anyone.

"Click."

With a faint sound that was almost inaudible, the door silently slid open just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Xiao Nianyin turned sideways and, like a plain white shadow, lightly slipped into the Side Hall. She closed the door silently behind her and casually set up a simple sound-isolating Barrier—in her current state, this Barrier was weak, but it was better than nothing.

The light in the Side Hall was even dimmer than in the Main Hall. Only a bit of starlight and moonlight filtered through the window, outlining the blurry shapes of the furniture and the figure on the bed, clearly curled up and twisting uneasily.

A faint Soothing Incense filled the air, but Xiao Nianyin keenly caught a familiar, restless scent of young male hormones mixed beneath it, and... a very faint, photinia-like scent that made her cheeks heat up slightly.

Clearly, the youth was undergoing some kind of unspeakable torment.

Xiao Nianyin's footsteps paused. Her face showed no expression, but the tips of her ears uncontrollably began to burn again.

She steadied herself and silently approached the bed.

By the dim light, she could clearly see Xu Ruyu's appearance.

He was lying on his side, his body slightly curled up. The thin silk quilt had been restlessly kicked aside, only haphazardly draped over his waist.

The collar of his sleeping robe had loosened from his tossing and turning, revealing a small patch of firm chest covered in a fine layer of sweat that glistened in the dim light.

His brows were tightly furrowed and his eyes were shut, but his eyelashes trembled uneasily. His lips parted slightly, letting out unconscious, suppressed gasps, and his face was flushed with an abnormal heat.

This appearance of being tortured by lust yet forcibly enduring it caused Xiao Nianyin's heart to throb inexplicably. A trace of unspeakable, complex emotions surged—pity, annoyance, and a hint of... an abnormality she hadn't even noticed herself.

She brushed aside these distracting thoughts, her gaze falling on Xu Ruyu's slightly parted lips.

Now was the time.

She no longer hesitated, stepping forward and leaning over.

Her plain white gauze robe slipped with her movements, bringing a gust of cool air and a faint, cold fragrance.

She extended two slender fingers and, with lightning speed, lightly pinched Xu Ruyu's jaw to force his lips open. With her other hand, she quickly popped the pink Medicinal Pill she had prepared into his mouth.

The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into a warm current with a strange sweet scent that slid down his throat.

"Mmm..."

In his daze, Xu Ruyu seemed to feel a foreign object. A muffled grunt came from his throat as he subconsciously tried to struggle, but the pill's medicinal power took effect extremely quickly. The sweet, warm current rapidly spread, intertwining with the evil fire already blazing within him. Instead of alleviating it, it was like adding oil to the fire, making the flames roar even higher with a 'whoosh'!

At the same time, a strong, irresistible wave of drowsiness and mental blurring flooded his already tense nerves like a tide.

He felt his mind grow even more muddled while his body became increasingly hot and unbearable, as if every cell was screaming. His consciousness teetered on the edge of a scorching abyss, leaving only the most primitive instincts and those lingering fragments of an erotic dream.

Xiao Nianyin let go and took a step back, quietly observing. She could feel Xu Ruyu's breathing becoming hotter and heavier under the pill's influence, and his body twisted more violently, but his consciousness had clearly sunk into a deeper daze, driven only by instinct.

It's done.

She let out a soft sigh of relief, but the string in her heart tightened even more.

The most critical step had arrived.

Standing by the bed, looking at the youth dominated by both lust and the drug, a clear struggle and shame appeared on her exquisite face for the first time.

The body beneath the plain white gauze robe trembled slightly due to tension and some unspeakable expectation (or fear?).

Did she really have to... take the initiative?

Last night was an accident, a loss of control. But tonight, it was her conscious, premeditated...

"For the sake of my cultivation base, for the sake of the Sect..."

She chanted in her heart again like a mantra, injecting strength into her cold determination.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then reached out with trembling hands to untie the sash of her gauze robe.

The thin gauze robe, like a cloud that had lost its support, silently slipped down and piled at her smooth ankles.

Her sleeping robe was thin, outlining breathtakingly undulating curves. In the dim light, she looked like a meticulously carved mutton-fat jade statue, yet she exuded a vivid, sensual aura enough to drive any man mad.

Xiao Nianyin bit her lower lip, her face burning like fire.

She stopped looking at Xu Ruyu, as if one more glance would cause her courage to crumble.

Groping forward with a nearly tragic resolve, she pulled back the messy silk quilt covering Xu Ruyu and... lay down.

The warm body, full of young male scent and vigorous vitality, immediately transmitted its heat through the thin fabric.

That scorching temperature and firm touch made Xiao Nianyin shudder, nearly jumping in startle.

The blurred and fiery memories of last night instantly became incredibly clear, striking her crumbling sanity.

She lay on her side stiffly, her body tense and her heart pounding like a drum, almost bursting from her chest.

Next... what should she do? Like last night? No, last night Xu Ruyu was the one who took the initiative; it was an accident.

Now he was in a daze...

Xiao Nianyin's mind was in chaos. The records of the Dual Cultivation secret techniques in the Hehuan Sect's scriptures—those drawings and descriptions she had once looked down upon and thought would never concern her—now uncontrollably surfaced, making her feel mortified.

Just as she was at a loss and nearly defeated by her own shame and stiffness, Xu Ruyu, driven by both the pill and instinct, seemed to sense the cold and soft presence beside him.

A blurred, pained sigh escaped his throat, as if a traveler in the desert had finally seen an oasis.

He subconsciously turned over, and a scorching arm suddenly swept across. Like an iron pincer, it firmly gripped Xiao Nianyin's slender, cool waist and pulled her whole body into his blazing embrace!

"Ngh!"

Caught off guard, Xiao Nianyin let out a low cry as her body was instantly drawn into a scorching, firm embrace.

That burning male scent overwhelmed her, completely enveloping her.

She froze, her mind going blank.

Xu Ruyu, however, seemed to have found an outlet for release.

With his eyes closed and brows furrowed, his face bore a twisted expression of pain and desire, acting entirely on instinct.

His scorching lips fell randomly on her neck and shoulders with burning heat and moisture. His hands moved without any order but were forceful and urgent, almost roughly tearing at her already thin sleeping robe.

"No... wait..."

Xiao Nianyin struggled in vain, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, carrying a tremble she hadn't even noticed herself.

That resistant force appeared so weak and powerless before Xu Ruyu's overbearing instinct.

What shocked her even more was that along with Xu Ruyu's actions, the dormant and weak power within her seemed to faintly resonate with the vast, majestic, yet uncontrollable Saint Realm Foundation within him, beginning to stir slightly.

A desire from the depths of her Soul, both familiar and strange, quietly sprouted, dismantling her already fragile resistance.

Could it be... that only through this method can the power be triggered or even recovered?