The smell of floral fragrance, the comfort of heat, the softness of the flesh, the sensation of feeling the pulse of another, and the quivers of determination, Wei Wuyin experienced it all as Cao Cuifen leaned in and placed her lips on his.
"..."
The world went silent and the air stilled. Liu Suyin's current expression was extremely colorful, sweeping aside any hint of her foundational indifference. If anyone who knew her personality were to see this scene, they would find it extremely surreal and unimaginable, as if it was a flaw in the heavens law.
The time was short, merely three seconds of heated contact, yet it felt as if it lasted for minutes, if not hours. Perhaps it was the internal want to experience it for longer that caused such a drastic difference in perception and reality. When Cao Cuifen pulled away, her face lightly flushing with a pale pink, her eyes betraying her intentions of seduction, Wei Wuyin found himself in a daze.
It wasn't because the kiss was abrupt. It wasn't because this kiss felt amazing, to which it did, but it was simply that he couldn't figure out the intent behind it. To be clear, Wei Wuyin expected this, but only if he acquired the Myriad Transformations Alchemic Saint's legacy.
Not this, not now, and not here.
The most inappropriate thing a person could say after being kissed, be it man or woman, was a question, and Wei Wuyin wasn't the type of person to do so. He merely stared at her, waiting for her to explain herself. Should she not, considering their fundamental differences of their states of existence, he would take it as her intent to further their relationship in the future.
But could it be so simple?
He didn't think so. Regardless of his daze or curiosity, his sensitivity towards mental fluctuations were extremely acute, and Cao Cuifen didn't have even the smallest sensation of a budding or growing love—despite her blushing complexion. Her mental fluctuations were closer to a woman sacrificing herself, accepting yet unwilling, than a woman fully embroiled in her emotions and acting impulsively.
More Jiao Ning.
Less Xing Fu.
However, Wei Wuyin was far too used to this type of woman, and Jiang Feilan, the Sacred Light Palace's Palace Master, was the perfect representation of a realist attuned to her goals and cultivator willing to do anything to tread further along the path. A truly straightforward opportunist.
Cao Cuifen shyly brushed her hair to the side, caressed her lips, and actively avoided meeting Wei Wuyin's gaze with her roaming eyes. Her actions truly resembled a woman in love, confessing her feelings using the most direct form, and then being extremely shy at her boldness.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Liu Suyin erupted after gathering her bearings. She seemed close to attacking, her actions were unexplainable, and her current emotions dwelling in her heart was roiling as if heaven's hand stirred it fiercely. The heat in her chest—anger, which felt as fresh as a child's first breath, was rising beyond her control.
But Cao Cuifen ignored her; she brought out a pill bottle, and said five words that could cause any man to erupt in a bestial roar of lust and desire: "I know what I want." Her eyes revealed her intentions as she finally settled them to meet Wei Wuyin's gaze, her blushing cheeks grew a shader or two deeper.
Wei Wuyin looked at the pill bottle. The pill bottle was extremely special, capable of completely sealing the aura of a mystic-tier materials such as products or raw items. It was clearly a pill bottle, so it contained a mystic-grade alchemical product, either a pill or pellet.
"I'm a mortal," Wei Wuyin softly reminded her. They were two different types of beings, as drastic of a difference as water and oil. They couldn't mix.
Liu Suyin's eyes widened, and even Cao Cuifen seemed slightly shocked. But Cao Cuifen hurriedly regained herself and sweetly smiled. "It's a one-time thing, and my Primal Yin won't be yours, but I…" She replied while biting her lips. At this point, they were incomparably close, and Wei Wuyin wasn't showing any sign of reluctance.
She uncorked the bottle and instantly caused the mystic-graded alchemical aura to diffuse into the surroundings, instantly causing Liu Suyin's Mystic Soul to tremble in response. "Is that a Mystic Pill?" She exclaimed as she sent her spiritual sense into the pill bottle. When she did, her expression changed drastically.
"That's!" She recognized the pill instantly.
Cao Cuifen's smile deepened as she kept her gaze fixed on Wei Wuyin's eyes that resembled silver moons in the great sky. Her heart pounded and her mental fluctuations grew tense. Wei Wuyin could feel her shattering her last reluctant walls left in her heart, truly deciding to follow-through with this.
She was swift as her thoughts concluded their fiercest debate in her entire life, putting the opening of the pill bottle into her mouth and tipping the object inside into her mouth. When she did, a heavy swallowing sound resounded as a spherical object of a dull white color slunk down her slender neck. Then, an orb of scintillating light could be seen traversing into it reached her stomach.
Shatter!
Wei Wuyin's eyes were extremely focused as it did, the brightness outlined her curves and Physique. It was a novel sight, as if he was granted x-ray vision. Her bones, muscles, veins, arteries, heart, lungs, and every last organ was highlighted by this dull white light. What was this? It didn't seem like a pill but a pellet…
"You…?" Liu Suyin was deeply shaken as the light diffused into Cao Cuifen's body, clearly aware of the pellet's effects and the end result of using it on one's body. And as if to justify her disbelief, the pellet started to dissolve into mist and spread outwards to the end of each of Cao Cuifen's extremities, even her head, a wad of it gathering at her glabella and entering her Sea of Consciousness.
Wei Wuyin's heart thundered as, before his very eyes, he witnessed the Mystic Aura of Cao Cuifen begin to change. No, not change. It was being sucked away. It was being attached to, extracted, and then brought to the pellet in the most smoothest manner possible. It resembled a parasite that was siphoning every last of her existence.
Her mystic-graded innate energies—taken.
Her Mystic Power—taken.
Her Mystic Soul—taken.
Her Primal Yin—taken.
Everything that made her an Ascended being was being drained away and brought seamlessly to the pellet as if ordered by an unfathomable god to do so. The entirety of her cultivation, likely thousands of years of work, was being taken away without any ability to resist or reluctance shown. Soon, body was bereft of any aura.
She resembled a corpse.
Yet the life in her eyes and intelligence was contradictory to what he was seeing. She was alive. Then, the pellet inside her began to change shape, becoming a human-shaped object that heavily resembled a female body, but slightly different from Cao Cuifen's current appearance. Its breast was more robust, its curves more defined, and the allure of its body was heavenly.
In comparison, the Cao Cuifen here was slightly inferior to the glowing figure inside her. Unfortunately, it had no eyes, ears, hair, or any facial features whatsoever. Then, the pellets' outer layer unleashed a more turbid mist, resembling that of a mortal.
She regained innate energies, all mortal-graded.
Her Mystic Power was replaced by Qi.
Her Mystic Soul was replaced by the initial form of a Heart of Qi.
Her Primal Yin that was enriched through thousands of years of protection was replaced with a freshly budding one as a woman experiencing her first blood, the sign of when the Primal Yin was first active, capable of being used by them or taken by others.
"You've changed?" Wei Wuyin was truly unable to help speaking at this point, feeling as if he'd just witnessed a complete miracle. Was this Cao Cuifen?
She had essentially changed from a powerful Ascended being to a mortal within the sequence of a few minutes.
"Yes, I did." Cao Cuifen spoke, her voice weaker than before, no longer empowered by her innate physical energies. She looked extremely fragile. Wei Wuyin knew that a mere breath from him could obliterate the current Cao Cuifen entirely.
"Why would you do this?" Liu Suyin's anger dispersed. How could she be angered? "Why take a Mortal Returning Pellet? This will seal your cultivation for at least three years; You could lose everything. Everything…" At the end, her voice grew extremely soft and emotional.
Cultivators cultivated for power, lifespan, and the ability to control their lives. Now, Cao Cuifen had simply thrown that away, and everyone will be able to tell. Should anyone have any designs on her entire cultivation Base, she wouldn't be able to do anything but let them take it. All that she worked for was condensed into that human-shaped figure in her body, and it could be sensed by even a Qi Condensation Cultivator's spiritual sense.
Should they take it, consume it, they will obtain every last bit of her cultivation instantly.
Cao Cuifen's expression was unchanged at her questions. She stepped closer to Wei Wuyin, her eyes fixated on his gaze. Her feet tried to tiptoe to his height, yet her body shook as the essence in the air began to weigh her down. She found it increasingly difficult to move.
"Oh!" She suddenly felt a strong arm at her waist, supporting her. Then, a strong, manly scent flowed into her nostrils as her lips were pressed against. The sensation caused her entire body to tingle, and as if a bolt coursed through her entire body, she felt something she never felt before!
Wei Wuyin kissed her!
Wei Wuyin didn't know why she was doing this or what she planned, but he heard of the Mortal Returning Pellet, and if she was willing to do this, then he was extremely curious why she wanted this! In truth, while emotions might not be involved, his desire to know the end goal of this entire thing overpowered his cautious nature.
Cao Cuifen…
What do you want from me?
Let's find out.
