Chapter 44: Contention

Hearing this, Xu Yuan was somewhat surprised, but not panicked.

His body was merely still—no severed connection to his five senses.

He could see Su Jinxuan's increasingly pale complexion, and thus knew she had already sensed something was amiss.

Yet each time a chosen victim was consumed and assimilated, the floating particles on the surface of the intent spirit showed no irregularities. Xu Yuan subtly sensed that although Su Jinxuan was aware of the anomaly, she had not yet uncovered its root cause.

It was like a horror film—someone at the end of the line vanishes suddenly, yet the others have no idea how.

Still, there were only two people in the room. Su Jinxuan must surely know that her growing frailty was his doing.

But Su Jinxuan had no choice.

Outside, guards loyal to him, the third prince, stood watch. If she now turned against him outright, no matter what, she would have to press on, face to face.

Either she would force herself into his primordial spirit body and fully subdue him, or her fate would be one of unbearable suffering after capture.

Su Jinxuan choosing to speak with him now was, in fact, more unexpected than Xu Yuan had anticipated.

Xu Yuan sensed the spore-like particles clinging to him suddenly cease their pulsing, and with that, control of his body returned fully to himself.

Within the bedclothes, Xu Yuan moved slowly, his body shifting with deliberate care.

The red bed was small, making movement somewhat difficult.

Lying beside him, so close that he could see her clearly—her face unchanged, her eyes full of seductive grace.

With each breath, the scent evoked a rose-filled valley, wild and endless.

Gazing at the breathtaking woman lying beside him, Xu Yuan's narrow eyes narrowed slightly, his lips parted briefly before closing again.

He felt, beneath the surface of her consciousness, the spore-like particles clinging to her suddenly begin a jarring pulse.

She was warning him not to speak carelessly.

With a soft laugh, Xu Yuan reconsidered his words, bowing his gaze, and murmured softly:

"Jin Xuan, since I've promised to respect your wishes, I haven't done anything out of bounds these past few days. You... truly misunderstand me."

They lock eyes for two seconds.

Lying on her side on the bed, Su Jin Xuan lifts a slender finger and gently taps his chest, her voice laced with subtle resentment:

"Third Prince, then why... why have I felt utterly weak, heavy, and drained every morning these past days?"

"Weak, heavy, drained?"

Xu Yuan murmurs softly, nodding slightly. "Jin Xuan, your face is so pale—perhaps you're truly ill. But if you're indeed feeling physically weak, why don't I rub it for you?"

With that, Xu Yuan smiles warmly and reaches out a hand toward the one lying beside him.

Crack—

A soft, crisp sound.

Su Jin Xuan pushes his hand away, scolding gently. "You're already taking advantage of me the moment I wake up, Third Prince—how truly bad you are..."

Xu Yuan smiled faintly, neither angered nor agitated, withdrawing his hand and chuckling,

"Ha ha... If Jinxuan truly feels tender and delicate, then I have just the right remedy—Dispelling Essence Powder."

If Zhou Chen were eavesdropping, he should have already sensed something was amiss by now.

Yet after pausing for several seconds, Zhou Chen still did not appear. It seemed he was utterly obedient, with no intent to use his spirit-sense to spy.

Too obedient indeed.

A faint sense of helplessness stirred within him. Xu Yuan then seized her delicate jade hand firmly and continued, "As long as Jinxuan is willing to bathe with me, I'll share this Dispelling Essence Powder with you~"

Su Jinxuan's eyes flickered for a moment, and she smiled softly,

"Currently, my body is frail and cannot withstand the teasing of the Third Prince. I beg your indulgence."

"If so, then let us try another time."

"Ha ha ha ha..."

A soft, playful laugh escaped Su Jinxuan as she slowly sat up from the bed, gently tucking her smooth, long hair behind her ears, and casually added,

"Lord San has noticed my health has recently taken a turn for the worse. With no familiar physician present in Jingjiang City, might Lord allow me to temporarily leave and seek treatment?"

Xu Yuan heard this and smiled.

Was it truly impossible to proceed, and thus he was already planning to flee?

How absurd!

Just as his smile began to form,

Buzz—

Among the countless spore particles, thousands of them—once seemingly insignificant—suddenly stirred.

Contrary to their earlier desperate attempt to penetrate Xu Yuan's inner consciousness, these thousands of spore particles now began to reverse their course, siphoning his surface consciousness instead.

This sudden development left Xu Yuan momentarily bewildered and uncertain.

Was this woman's technique also based on consuming human essence?

Yet, the acute perception of a primordial spirit body allowed Xu Yuan to instantly discern the difference.

These spore particles, after absorbing a certain amount of his intent spirit, did not devour or refine themselves to grow stronger—they simply shattered apart.

There is indeed a repulsion between human intent spirits; it's not merely a saying.

Forced consumption would lead to precisely this outcome.

This was Su Jinxuan's warning—a nearly suicidal method.

Leave her alone, or face mutual annihilation.

Xu Yuan briefly sensed the slight damage to his own intent spirit, his eyes flickering with contemplation, and then he chuckled softly:

"Over these past few days, we've been inseparable. Does Jinxuan truly intend to leave?"

Once you're far away, will your method still work?

Pausing briefly, without waiting for Su Jinxuan to respond, Xu Yuan continued:

"Why not let me accompany you instead?"

He wanted to see if Su Jinxuan had any other tricks up her sleeve. If she had nothing beyond this, then he would have no hesitation.

After all, the spirit essences trapped within those shattered spore particles would not vanish into nothingness—they would drift freely before slowly dispersing into the air. And once dispersed, these fine fragments would be far easier for Xu Yuan to absorb and refine.

Moreover, as the number of spores simultaneously drawing in their essence increased, the resulting vibrations would grow increasingly intense. Whether Zhou Chen was eavesdropping on Xu Yuan or not remained unknown to him, but he knew for certain that the woman known as Ying would surely be watching.

As the vibrations surged, she would arrive instantly.

Xu Yuan’s words elicited a simultaneous suction from tens of thousands of spores.

Witnessing this, Xu Yuan laughed even more heartily.

Well, it was that trick again.

Time to make a move.

Xu Yuan suddenly grinned, circulating the Blood Origin Heartfall Art and its accompanying secret technique simultaneously within his body.

Rising slowly, he abruptly reached out to clasp Su Jinxuan's neck.

But just like before, midway through the motion, his control over his body froze solid.

Gazing at each other in silence, Su Jinxuan turned over and straddled Xu Yuan, tracing circles on his chest with her finger as she pushed him back onto the bed, her eyes narrowing with a coquettish laugh:

"Third Young Master... do you truly wish to go together with this humble servant?"

As she spoke, those floating spores began to sway once more like waves of wheat, while Xu Yuan directly commenced an unbridled, gluttonous feast.

His behavior of "stealing people" over the past few days had already made him exceptionally well-acquainted with the devouring and refining phase of the secret technique.

Countless microscopic holes suddenly manifested across the surface of Xu Yuan's soul, resembling a myriad of gaping maws, relentlessly swallowing the spore-like particles that clung to him like swarming ants.

A thousand.

Thousands of grains.

Ten thousand.

Tens of thousands.

In that instant, the dense swarm of spores clinging to one another seemed like hell on earth.

At the very moment the change occurred, Su Jinxuan's alluring eyes flickered, her pupils briefly contracting.

She tried to reach out to the spore particles swallowed by Xu Yuan's consciousness.

If she could disperse those spore particles that Xu Yuan had consumed, she could then completely take control of his mind.

Yet all the spore particles vanished as silently as a stone dropped into the sea, without a trace.

Realizing this, Su Jinxuan's face paled, her fang pressing hard into her lower lip.

She came to understand the gravity of everything that had unfolded over these past few days.

The current situation had spiraled entirely out of her control.

The rumored useless third young master was the exact opposite of the intelligence she had previously gathered.

They had agreed he possessed no cultivation, yet he had already attained the ninth rank.

They had agreed he possessed an innately crippled soul, yet not only did he have an innate soul physique, but he had also mastered a bizarre and utterly mysterious secret technique of the soul path.

But grievances were useless now, and with her smile unchanging, Su Jinxuan leaned down, her jade-like hand beginning to slowly wander across the surface of Xu Yuan's clothes, her bedroom eyes brimming with silken allure:

"If the third young master truly wishes to go, it is not entirely out of the question, but it is still early, so let us sleep a while longer..."

The more one's intentional soul was damaged, the more clouded one's consciousness would become.

As long as she weakened this Xu Changtian's intentional soul to a certain degree, the bizarre technique he was running would naturally grind to a halt, and she could plunge him into unconsciousness.

It was just that the price for doing so was far too heavy, but things having come to this point, she could no longer care about the cost.

Without disturbing the guards of Xu Changtian, she still had a slim chance of escape.

As Su Jinxuan's thoughts settled.

The dense spore particles began withdrawing in batches, reversing their extraction of Xu Yuan's intent soul.

One batch of spores shattered, and the next immediately took over.

Wave upon wave, surge upon surge.

And as Xu Yuan, fully absorbed in devouring and transforming, suddenly felt waves of dizziness rising within him.

He steadied his mind, knowing clearly that Su Jinxuan had begun countering.

But due to his countless near-deaths in practicing the Blood Yuan Heart-Devouring Technique, he had long since adapted to maintaining composure at the very brink of death.

After a slight adjustment, Xu Yuan perceived what was happening on the surface of his intent soul.

Watching as most of the floating spore particles remained motionless, clinging to his soul like ants, Xu Yuan felt a strange unease rise within him.

What does that mean?

He's already prepared to fight to the death here,

And Su Jinxuan, surprisingly, still thinks she can solve him without disturbing Ying'er?