"Hahaha!"
At that moment, a deep, sinister laugh echoed through the air.
The flushed faces of Celestial Maiden Qinglian and Lin Li immediately changed in shock!
"What?! The flood dragon isn't dead!"
Both of them turned to see the flood dragon, once collapsed on the ground, now clawing its way toward them. It spoke as it moved, "Dragons are inherently lustful! Just now, I purposely refined my core into a pill and spat it out. I wanted you to break it!"
"After you destroyed it, the pill released a mist! Any creature that smells the mist refined from my core will fall into a frenzy of lust!"
"Now that you're both consumed by desire, how can you summon enough spiritual energy to kill me? Hahaha! Even if I die, I'll make sure to take the two of you with me…"
At that moment, Lin Li couldn't take it anymore!
He lost control and charged toward Qinglian!
"What are you doing?! Don't you dare!"
Celestial Maiden Qinglian's face was flushed with embarrassment, and she let out a startled cry. However, her tone sounded less like an order and more like a teasing invitation.
Her reprimand only intensified the fire in Lin Li's chest, pushing him closer to losing his reason.
But then, just before reaching her, Lin Li bit down hard on his tongue!
The pain snapped him back to his senses!
"No! I can't do this!"
Just as he was about to reach Qinglian, the sharp pain brought him back to reality.
However, the heat in his chest was still uncontrollable.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Lin Li let out a frenzied roar, leaping past Celestial Maiden Qinglian and charging straight at the flood dragon!
"Hahaha! So reckless!"
The flood dragon, covered in wounds, its body pierced by countless light swords, and with its core damaged, laughed weakly and said, "Even though I'm barely holding on, not even at one percent of my strength, and couldn't even fight off a low-level Foundation Establishment cultivator now…"
"But you? You're just a mere Qi Refining cultivator who couldn't even withstand my dragon roar at full strength. Even with me being this weak, you're no match for me!"
"As for Qinglian... The more powerful one's cultivation, the faster they succumb to my lustful mist. Now, she's overwhelmed with desire and can no longer summon any spiritual energy. She's no longer a threat to me either!"
"As for you... While your cultivation is too low for the mist to take full effect yet, you're still—"
Before the flood dragon could finish, Lin Li, now in a berserk state, interrupted it!
He directed all his burning desire into pure rage!
Lin Li poured every ounce of his spiritual energy into the blade of Ye Fan's sword!
"Slaughter!!!"
Ye Fan felt an overwhelming thrill from the depths of his soul!
"A Core Formation flood dragon! If we kill it, the rewards will be massive!"
In this moment, Ye Fan wasn't just passively feeding Lin Li the energy he had put into the sword.
Instead, Ye Fan actively used his own energy reserves to give Lin Li a power boost!
A storm of wild energy surged through Lin Li!
For the first time in his life, Lin Li unleashed the full extent of his power. Pouring all his spiritual energy into the sword, combined with Ye Fan's amplification, the force within him erupted!
Dark purple and blood-red energy spiraled around Ye Fan's blade!
With all his might, Lin Li swung the sword!
He channeled every bit of desire he had toward Celestial Maiden Qinglian into violent power and unleashed it with a single strike!
Slash—
The sword energy wasn't large, but it was immensely concentrated, and all its force was focused into a single, deadly point of purple-red energy.
"What?!?!"
The flood dragon was shocked beyond belief. It screamed, "How can you unleash an attack with the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?!"
Already gravely injured, with only one breath of life left, the flood dragon was helpless against Lin Li's devastating attack, amplified by Ye Fan's sword.
In one strike, the flood dragon was slain!
[You have slain a Core Formation Stage level 3 Flood Dragon. You have earned 66,666 evolution points!]
[You have absorbed the flood dragon's blood essence. You have gained 5,888 energy points!]
Ye Fan was ecstatic upon seeing the system notifications!
"To gain 66,666 evolution points in one go! And 5,888 energy points too! This is a jackpot! Hahaha!"
Ye Fan was overjoyed!
The blade itself trembled in excitement!
If only the evolution process could be sped up, Ye Fan thought. He needed more and more evolution points to progress further.
Buzz—!
Lin Li even heard the sword hum in his hand!
Despite being utterly drained and on the verge of collapse, Lin Li quickly received a flood of energy from Ye Fan's sword.
In just an instant!
Lin Li's spiritual energy was fully replenished!
But that wasn't all…
An even more massive amount of energy surged from the sword, almost endless in its supply.
In just the span of a single breath!
Lin Li's power doubled!
After just a few more breaths…
Lin Li felt an unprecedented strength coursing through him!
Although…
His cultivation still remained at the peak of the Qi Refining stage.
But now!
The current Lin Li, after suppressing a beast tide and slaying a flood dragon, and receiving Ye Fan's tremendous energy in return, was worlds apart from the Lin Li who had first arrived in Red Maple Valley at the peak of Qi Refining!
The present Lin Li!
Even without entering a slaughtering state, he could easily defeat his past self with a single sword strike!
This sword... it truly was too powerful.
The strength he had gained was immense and overwhelming.
But now, Lin Li needed to find a way to stabilize and fully absorb this newfound power!
Just as Lin Li was reveling in his sudden increase in strength…
A soft, warm body pressed against him from behind, tightly embracing him.
...
One full day and night later.
Celestial Maiden Qinglian, her eyes soft like water, gazed at Lin Li.
"You must promise me, never to speak of this to anyone," Qinglian said. "Otherwise, I'll kill you!"
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," Lin Li replied. "But... I want to marry you."
"No."
Qinglian shook her head and said, "With the difference in our cultivation, status, and age, it's impossible for us to be together."
"Unless... you reach the Core Formation stage, just like me."
"Core Formation stage?"
Lin Li hesitated for a moment.
He thought to himself: With the Bloodthirsty Demon Sword in my possession, what might take others hundreds of years of cultivation to achieve isn't so far away for me!
"Alright! I promise you!"
Lin Li said, "I will reach Core Formation soon, and then I will marry you!"
"...Hmm~"
With a soft sigh, the beautiful maiden leaned her head against Lin Li's chest, savoring the last moments of their time together.
Once they left this cave, such tender moments would never happen again.