Xie Shiyuan's handsome brows furrowed slightly. Just as he raised his hand to press on Qin Shu's lower abdomen, she quickly stepped back, clutching her belly with a wary expression and asked, "What are you trying to do?"

Xie Shiyuan's expression remained unchanged as he said in a deep voice, "Sit cross-legged and be quiet. I'll help you stabilize your cultivation level."

Dropping a cultivation level might not seem like a big deal, but breaking through a second time would be much more challenging than the first.

Qin Shu hesitated for only a moment before she gave in.

Her life—or death—depended on the whims of this snake. What if she angered him by not following his instructions?

With a frustrated expression, she sat cross-legged on the stone bed, only to see Xie Shiyuan sitting across from her. He placed his hand on her lower abdomen and closed his eyes.

Without the oppressive golden vertical pupils, Qin Shu was left facing his stunningly beautiful face. Even with a few black marks on his features, his beauty wasn't diminished. Instead, the marks added a hint of forbidden danger.

"Focus your energy," a voice came from above her. Qin Shu quickly collected her thoughts and obeyed.

Xie Shiyuan's spiritual energy entered her dantian, trying to interact with his own core.

However, his core seemed to have a will of its own. It merely shifted slightly within the pale purple spiritual energy before settling down again.

Xie Shiyuan understood his own core well. Some tiny cracks on its surface had been repaired, and even the larger fissures seemed slightly improved.

He was surprised. He had been nurturing his core with spiritual energy for six months while asleep, yet the results weren't as good as this brief interaction in the young girl's dantian?

Xie Shiyuan didn't quite understand but tried testing whether he could control the spiritual energy within his core.

After determining there was no significant effect, he let it go.

So be it. If it was beneficial to leave the core in her body for now, he would let it stay temporarily.

Xie Shiyuan drew a trace of spiritual energy from the core and used it to clear the fire poison in Qin Shu's meridians.

But even a trace of his spiritual energy was too much for Qin Shu. On top of that, Xie Shiyuan's spiritual energy inherently carried a corrosive poison. Despite his careful control, it still slightly burned her meridians.

Feeling uncomfortable, Qin Shu instinctively mobilized her own spiritual energy to form a thin protective layer around her delicate meridians.

Then, as if guided by muscle memory, her body automatically began circulating spiritual energy, including the trace from Xie Shiyuan.

Xie Shiyuan noticed how she took control of the spiritual energy from his hand and, after a brief consideration, let it go.

He watched as the pale purple spiritual energy enveloped the golden-green trace, absorbing it completely. It then circulated through her meridians and returned to her dantian, where it was absorbed by his core.

Gradually, her body formed a subtle cycle.

Once Qin Shu's cultivation level stabilized, Xie Shiyuan withdrew his hand.

Qin Shu opened her eyes and was immediately met with his strikingly beautiful face. Feeling somewhat flustered, her gaze darted elsewhere.

"The core can't be removed for now, so it will remain in your body temporarily," Xie Shiyuan said.

Qin Shu was stunned. She looked up at him. "So... I won't die?"

Xie Shiyuan nodded slightly. "I'll spare your life for now."

Qin Shu let out a sigh of relief and collapsed backward onto the stone bed.

Watching her reaction, Xie Shiyuan sneered and said, "Don't get too comfortable. That firebird's technique isn't suitable for you. As for the other one, you might be able to try it."

Remembering how practicing the technique had caused her to vomit blood and burned her meridians, Qin Shu still felt lingering fear.

"Why would a technique cause such severe backlash if it couldn't be practiced?" Qin Shu asked in confusion.

"Do you think clan-specific techniques don't have entry barriers? Besides, the firebird clan are beasts by nature. Their physique is much stronger, and their techniques are far more aggressive," Xie Shiyuan replied, glancing at her.

Hearing this, the defeated Qin Shu understood and decided to prioritize body strengthening.

But before that, she had to learn how to swim.

A person shouldn't stumble over the same problem twice, especially when it had happened to her twice in the same spot. The feeling of drowning was one she never wanted to experience again.

"Big snake, can you swim?"

She thought back to the last thing she saw before passing out—a massive snake head, just its head larger than her entire body.

She suddenly realized it was a foolish question. How could he not know how to swim?

"Never mind. Forget I asked."

Xie Shiyuan glanced at her and said, "To think you almost drowned. Humans truly are fragile."

The "fragile" human Qin Shu hopped off the bed and retorted, "You better not provoke me, or I'll blow myself up along with your core!"

Recalling stories she'd read where people self-destructed using their cultivation, taking others down with them, she thought it sounded quite powerful.

Xie Shiyuan's lips curled slightly, amused by her threat.

However, he mercilessly countered, "Even if you blow yourself to bits, my core will remain unharmed."

Eighty-one heavenly tribulations had merely cracked it. With her current cultivation? Laughable.

Qin Shu decided she wouldn't speak to him anymore. She had already figured out that this big snake was all bark and no bite.

He talked about killing her, yet he helped clear the fire poison. When she drowned, he saved her and even used his injured core to heal her.

A typical "sharp tongue, soft heart" type.

Men in the cultivation world were really difficult. Even her senior brother Wen Chi was like this.

Looking at Xie Shiyuan, Qin Shu raised her palm, where a trace of golden-green mist rose. She met his surprised gaze and said, "If I can't blow it up, I'll just use up all your core's spiritual energy!"

Xie Shiyuan, now in his snake form, coiled his tail into circles like tree rings. His human appearance gradually faded as he reverted to his true form, lying on the stone bed.

"I advise against it. If my enemies sense it, you won't be able to handle them."

Startled, Qin Shu looked at the now motionless snake with its eyes closed.

She couldn't help but think that without his core, his power must have weakened significantly.

She had to find a way to extract his core. With such a dangerous thing in her dantian, she couldn't focus on cultivation. After a couple of days, she'd visit the library to search for clues.

She got up, took a spiritual energy restoration pill to replenish herself, and then placed her hand on Xie Shiyuan's scales to heal him.

The large snake opened one eye to glance at her before closing it again.