41: Chapter 41 Dream Reshaping, I Know All Your Secrets

The sunset's afterglow stained the area in front of Ningyin Hall a warm and ambiguous golden-red.

Xu Ruyu turned stiffly, locking eyes with Lady Qingli, who was leaning against a flower tree with a playful smile. He felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to his crown, and his blood seemed to freeze at that very moment.

How had she returned?! And why, of all times, now—when his Revered Master had just "finished her meal," returned to the hall, and he was left alone!

The fragmented memories from the Great Fox Illusion—chaotic, scorching, and filled with endless desire and uncontrolled power—rushed into his mind like startled vipers.

The graceful curves beneath that plain white dress, the panting and low moans characteristic of the fox race, the sensation of nine fluffy fox tails entwining... and finally, when the Great Fox Illusion collapsed, the look in Lady Qingli's eyes—shocked, shamed, yet faintly gleaming with a strange light...

Xu Ruyu's face flushed red instantly, then turned deathly pale.

He subconsciously took half a step back, his lips moving, but he could not utter a sound. Only his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, betraying the stormy upheaval within his heart.

Just in this awkward and slightly tense atmosphere—

"Creak."

The heavy door of the Main Hall was pushed open once more.

Xiao Nianyin walked out slowly, her plain white robes fluttering gently in the evening breeze.

The pallor on her face seemed to have faded slightly, and she had recovered her usual coldness, though a trace of languor from being sated still lingered between her brows.

Her gaze rested for a moment on Xu Ruyu's flustered appearance, a smile flashing deep in her eyes that even she herself had not noticed.

Immediately, she raised her eyes to look at the uninvited guest at the entrance of the path.

Their eyes met.

Lady Qingli's smile became even more enchanting, and as her gaze shifted, it carried undisguised curiosity and a certain... determination to win.

And Xiao Nianyin merely looked back at her calmly, her cold eyes showing no surprise, as if she had long anticipated her arrival.

In the air, invisible threads seemed to tighten and intertwine between the two stunning women, permeating a subtle and dangerous tension.

Xiao Nianyin felt a slight sense of composure in her heart.

She had come.

Her previous calculations had not failed.

This Qingli had ultimately returned.

And, looking at this posture, looking at those eyes... Her gaze swept over Lady Qingli's skin, which seemed more lustrous than when she had left, and the barely concealed radiance in the depths of her eyes, a sign of her cultivation having advanced. This only added to the certainty in her heart.

Recalling how she had tossed and turned on the cold cloud bed in Ningyin Hall last night, the torture of the emptiness caused by the transfer of cultivation and the inexplicable heat deep within her body, she had finally been forced to put aside all dignity and reserve, using the precious "Drunken Immortals Lure" to drug that soundly sleeping idiot, and then... actively demanding, plundering the power that rightfully belonged to her from his body...

Even she, Xiao Nianyin, after tasting that ultimate blending and the return of power, had nearly lost her composure and become addicted to the taste. How much more so for Lady Qingli, a great expert of the Taihu Clan who was born with a seductive charm and famous for the path of Dual Cultivation and harvesting?

That kid, Xu Ruyu, was simply a living, peerless cauldron!

No, perhaps even more than a cauldron!

His bizarre Physique seemed to be able to feed back the absorbed power in a purer, more original way... To any Cultivator, especially the Taihu Clan who excelled in this path, the attraction was fatal.

Lady Qingli had returned, and her purpose was self-evident.

"M-Revered Master..."

Xu Ruyu, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, looked at Xiao Nianyin with a dry voice, his eyes filled with helplessness and confusion.

Xiao Nianyin withdrew her thoughts, her gaze falling back onto Xu Ruyu. Seeing the expression on his face, which was a mixture of fear, embarrassment, and bewilderment, the inexplicable frustration in her heart seemed to dissipate somewhat, replaced by a calmness of controlling the situation.

She slightly raised her hand, cutting off Xu Ruyu's unfinished words, her voice cold and flat:

"Ruyu."

"This Disciple is here!"

"There is nothing for you to do here." Xiao Nianyin's tone was unquestionable. "You may withdraw first. I have things to discuss with Lady Qingli."

Xu Ruyu, as if granted amnesty, quickly bowed: "Yes, Revered Master!"

He was desperate to leave this place of trouble immediately, to get away from Lady Qingli's gaze that seemed to see right through people.

He didn't even care that he was still hungry, turning and walking quickly toward the path leading to the back mountain—the opposite direction of Lady Qingli—almost fleeing in a panic.

Not until Xu Ruyu's back disappeared behind the rocks shrouded in twilight did Xiao Nianyin cast her gaze back to Lady Qingli, saying indifferently: "Lady, please."

Lady Qingli smiled sweetly, not standing on ceremony, and walked forward with a swaying gait, side-by-side with Xiao Nianyin, stepping into the Ningyin Main Hall, which symbolized the highest authority of the Hehuan Sect.

The heavy hall doors closed silently behind them, sealing off the last trace of daylight.

The night-luminescent pearls embedded in the hall automatically lit up with a soft halo, illuminating the vast and magnificent hall, and casting flickering light and shadows on the faces of the two stunning women.

Xiao Nianyin walked straight to the large jade throne in the main seat, covered with the fur of a white exotic beast, and sat down with an elegant posture, her back straight, her chin slightly raised. Even though she had temporarily lost her cultivation, the dignity and bearing belonging to the Sect Master did not diminish at all.

Lady Qingli sat down casually on a sandalwood chair covered with a silk cushion to the lower left, leaning lazily against the armrest, one leg resting lightly on the other. Her plain white dress slipped, revealing a section of her calf and exquisite ankles, white as jade and with perfect curves.

Her nine fluffy fox tails naturally spread out, swaying gently, as if carrying a certain rhythm, silently emitting an aura of seduction and danger.

The hall fell into a brief silence, with only the soft halo of the night-luminescent pearls flowing.

Xiao Nianyin looked at the smiling, breathtakingly beautiful face opposite her. The sense of crisis she had just suppressed rose again, even more intensely than before.

Lady Qingli's beauty was highly aggressive and seductive, completely different from her own cold and aloof nature.

More importantly, this woman was too smart, too adept at utilizing her own advantages, and too... knowledgeable about the weaknesses of men (and perhaps not just men).

That idiot Xu Ruyu would likely not last even three rounds in front of her.

She had to take the initiative.

Xiao Nianyin did not hesitate any longer, cutting straight to the point, her cold voice breaking the silence in the hall:

"Qingli, you have returned, is it for Ruyu?"

She did not use the honorific "Lady," but directly called her name, which was both a probe and a way to close the distance, implying a certain indescribable "special" connection between them caused by Xu Ruyu.

Hearing this, Lady Qingli covered her mouth and chuckled, her eyes filled with charm: "Sister Nianyin is indeed clever; you guessed it right away."

She also changed how she addressed her, her voice soft and sweet, "That's right, I have come precisely for your little Disciple, Xu Ruyu."

She did not shy away at all, even carrying a sense of being only natural, and continued: "Such a peerless cauldron like him... oh no, perhaps 'peerless treasure' is a more appropriate description? Since I, Qingli, have had the good fortune to 'taste' him, there is no reason to let him go."

Her words were so straightforward that they were almost explicit, carrying the unique style of the Taihu Clan, which did not hide its desires.

The word "taste" was especially pointed, causing Xiao Nianyin's brows to furrow almost imperceptibly.

"I didn't expect," Xiao Nianyin's voice turned a few degrees colder, carrying a trace of mockery, "that the dignified Lady Qingli of the Taihu Clan would actually set her sights on a junior who hasn't even entered the Qi Refinement Stage."

"If this gets out, aren't you afraid of tarnishing the reputation of your Taihu Clan?"

"Reputation?"

Lady Qingli laughed as if she had heard an interesting joke, giggling until her body shook, the fullness of her chest rising and falling, sending out heart-stirring waves, "Sister Nianyin, we are both people who have lived for hundreds of years, why speak such childish words?"

"In the Cultivation World, the weak are prey to the strong. Opportunities and treasures belong to those with virtue?"

"No, they belong to those with ability!"

"Such an 'Opportunity' as Xu Ruyu is enough to make any Cultivator, including those old monsters who claim to be on the Righteous Path, tear off their masks to fight for him."

"I am merely closer to the water, so I got the moon first."

After laughing, her gaze suddenly became sharp and playful, looking straight at Xiao Nianyin: "Besides... do you have the nerve to lecture me? Could it be that you think your little scheme from before could be hidden from me?"

Xiao Nianyin's heart skipped a beat, but her expression remained calm: "Oh? What scheme of mine?"

"Heh." Lady Qingli gave a light hum, leaning slightly forward, the light of insight flashing in those soul-stealing peach blossom eyes, "Do not forget, my Taihu Clan has a Legacy technique called 'Dream Reconstruction'."

Xiao Nianyin's fingers, which were interlaced on her lap, tightened instantly!