In the underground river, Ling Feng tightly gripped Ke Qing's hand, the golden shield flickering faintly.
Driven by Ling Feng, the War God's Blade blocked the shield, reducing the impact of the water flow.
Ling Feng glanced at Ke Qing, who had inexplicably fainted, and then focused on maintaining the shield.
Due to the leylines' energy surge and the ruins' collapse, the slowly flowing underground river suddenly began to churn violently, carrying a large amount of debris.
Ling Feng needed to use the War God's Blade to cut apart the larger rocks, otherwise, the shield would likely shatter upon impact.
"Ugh, what's happening? I feel so weak all over, and my head... why... I'm so dizzy."
Suddenly, Ling Feng felt a wave of dizziness and weakness wash over him.
Simultaneously, the true qi shield, deprived of its energy supply, completely vanished.
Without the true qi shield to block the impact, Ling Feng and Ke Qing were instantly swept away by the fast-flowing water, tumbling 360 degrees in the river.
Buffeted by the current, Ling Feng quickly donned his Starweave Armor, unsure of where he would be washed away to.
Moreover, his head grew increasingly dizzy, his vision blurring.
Before he lost consciousness, Ling Feng saw the feather given to him by the Cloud Retainer and Wind Master from his dantian automatically fly out.
It formed a cyan shield, enveloping him and Ke Qing.
Seeing this, Ling Feng stopped resisting and fell into a deep sleep.
---
In the underground cavern, the glow of crystal ore illuminated the space, and a river flowed gently forward.
A young man in white lay by the riverbank, with a blue broadsword stuck in the ground to his right.
However, the deep blue light that originally shimmered on the broadsword had significantly dimmed.
After an unknown period, the young man's fingers twitched slightly.
"Damn! Who turned on the lights!"
He woke up groggily, and the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the glittering crystals, almost blinding his titanium-alloy... human eyes.
After a moment to adjust, Ling Feng recalled what had happened before.
Earthquake.
Underground river.
Being swept away.
"Right!"
Ling Feng quickly sat up, looking around and finding the War God's Blade stuck to his right.
"Huh, why are you stuck here?"
Ling Feng pulled out the War God's Blade and found it felt lighter.
"After recognizing me as your master, why have you become so much lighter? I'm not used to it. Your previous weight was more familiar."
As soon as he spoke.
His words manifested.
The War God's Blade in Ling Feng's hand trembled slightly, then grew heavier, returning to its previous weight, only without the side effect.
Feeling the War God's Blade become heavier, Ling Feng's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
After a moment of stunned silence, Ling Feng seemed to remember something and gently stroked the War God's Blade.
"I almost forgot you were sentient."
Among the troublesome villagers, divine artifacts almost always had their own thoughts, and special ones certainly did.
The War God's Blade, a super-divine artifact, naturally had its own consciousness, though it was more of a rudimentary awareness than a full spirit. Still, it was good that it could assist its owner in combat.
"It seems you're the one who got me ashore. But why has your glow dimmed so little?"
"Hum!"
The War God's Blade vibrated slightly again, as if responding to Ling Feng's words.
"It must be the after-effects of using its awakened power."
"Thank you. I'll be counting on your guidance in the future."
"Hum!!!"
With another response, the War God's Blade was stored away into the system space by him.
"Where's Ke Qing?"
After retracting the War God's Blade, Ling Feng finally remembered that someone else was missing. He looked around but couldn't find Ke Qing.
Feeling a pang of worry, he quickly began searching everywhere.
Along the way, he also stored the Starweave Armor he had put on for safety into the system space.
He remembered that before he lost consciousness, his master's feather had formed a protective shield around both him and Ke Qing.
Since he was here, Ke Qing shouldn't be far away.
While searching, he took out the feather from his dantian to examine it.
The feather's luster had dulled slightly.
It must have consumed a lot of energy while protecting them underwater.
He put the feather back into the Spirit-Nurturing Pot in his dantian and continued searching meticulously for Ke Qing.
After walking for a short while, Ling Feng found Ke Qing on the riverbank about ten meters away from him.
However, Ke Qing was lying on a patch of black mud. The black mud looked inherently ominous.
Especially the large raised section in the middle of the mud pit, from which purple-black gas wisped, looking sticky and utterly disgusting.
Ling Feng rushed over to Ke Qing, pulling her out of the black mud.
"What in the world is this?"
Ling Feng frowned. Several of Ke Qing's wounds had developed black pustules, and her skin had purplish-black lines, a shocking sight.
He quickly channeled his recovered true qi into Ke Qing's meridians to assess her current physical condition.
He discovered that the pustules and lines were actively drawing blood from Ke Qing and subtly damaging her meridians; the situation was dire.
"This thing is like a leech. Let's get rid of it first."
Ling Feng first gave Ke Qing a Qi and Blood Pill, as she had lost a lot of blood, which would be very detrimental to her body.
Then, he took out a small knife and cut off the bouncy pustules on Ke Qing. As soon as they were cut open, black blood flowed out like mud, a truly revolting sight.
"I'll try to get rid of the remaining blackness inside Ke Qing. If it continues to grow tumors internally, it will be hard to deal with."
After steadying Ke Qing in a sitting position, Ling Feng sat behind her.
He channeled his true qi with both hands and placed them on Ke Qing's back. The true qi surged into Ke Qing's body and then rapidly spread through her meridians.
When the true qi collided with the black energy, it displayed an overwhelming power, forcing the black energy out.
At first, the black energy tried to resist, like a virus, but it quickly realized it couldn't win and was forced out of Ke Qing's body.
After expelling all the black energy, Ling Feng opened his eyes.
Ke Qing's pores seemed to be vomiting, expelling a large amount of black mud, and the smell was overpowering and foul.
At this moment, Ke Qing looked as if she hadn't bathed in over a year, covered in filth and reeking.
"This black mud needs to be cleaned off immediately, or it will seep back into her body, rendering my efforts in vain."
"But..."
"It's awkward, a man and a woman alone, who's going to bathe Ke Qing? Do you expect me to?"
"But... this."
He had never bathed anyone before, not even a male, let alone a girl like Ke Qing.
Besides, seeing a naked woman could be considered defiling her purity.
Either take responsibility.
Or face the consequences.
While he could keep it a secret, with Ke Qing's observational skills.
It would be like having "I'm lying" written all over his face.
He could take responsibility, but this wasn't just about his willingness to take responsibility; it was about whether the girl would give him the chance.
He couldn't unilaterally decide her life.
But the black mud on Ke Qing's body was spread everywhere, and if it seeped into her skin again, it would cause significant harm to her body.
This wasn't something that could be treated with just a Qi and Blood Pill, nor did he have any detoxification techniques; the process of helping Ke Qing expel the poison was merely one application of his true qi.
"Ah! What should I do?"
At this moment, Ling Feng felt like two conflicting selves were battling in his mind.
Good: No! Absolutely not! Seeing a naked person defiles their purity. This is a matter of a girl's entire life, and we cannot make such a decision ourselves.
Evil: Since you say so, then let's close our eyes and use our divine sense to help Ke Qing bathe. That way, we won't be looking.
Good: What's the difference between touching and looking?
Evil: There is a difference! One is bathing while looking, the other is bathing with eyes closed. Doesn't that mean we haven't seen her naked?
Good: ...
Evil: Do you have any better ideas? If not, then stop complaining.
Good: We can find someone. Find Tu Shan Hong Hong and ask her to come help.
Right! Great idea.
Thinking this, Ling Feng immediately opened the partner panel and found that Tu Shan Hong Hong's status was still shown as being in seclusion.
Although Tu Shan Hong Hong was in seclusion, he could still summon her. However, interrupting someone's seclusion had a chance of causing irreversible harm to Tu Shan Hong Hong.
Good: ...
Evil: Hahaha! Let's go with my method.
Good: I absolutely cannot agree.
"Ah! Both of you, shut up! Get lost!"
Ling Feng couldn't stand it anymore. Both sides had valid points, but there was no reasonable solution.
After a moment of hesitation, Ling Feng took a deep breath.
Looking at Ke Qing lying on the ground, he silently apologized, then reached out with both hands to start undressing Ke Qing...
Half an hour later~
Ling Feng was completely drained, collapsing weakly on the ground, gasping for air.
"Phew... Finally done. All gone, not a trace left."
Ling Feng tilted his head to look at Ke Qing, who was covered by a quilt, and smiled helplessly. He closed his eyes to rest for a while.
Time flowed by.
Two to three hours later, Ke Qing finally woke up from her unconsciousness.
Looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, she was stunned for a moment, still processing.
"Ling Feng."
Recalling what had happened before she fainted, Ke Qing quickly sat up from the ground, looking around anxiously.
Seeing Ling Feng sitting beside her, meditating and unharmed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, her worried heart settling.
Ling Feng, who was cultivating, heard Ke Qing's call from outside and immediately exited his cultivation state, returning to his senses.
Opening his eyes, Ling Feng turned his head to look at Ke Qing.
Just as he was about to say something, he saw the scene before him, his old face turning red, and he swallowed the words he was about to speak.
His gaze immediately shifted elsewhere, and a fine sweat still beaded on his forehead.
"What's wrong?"
Ling Feng's unusual reaction left Ke Qing confused.
She instinctively lowered her gaze.
It would have been better if she hadn't looked. The moment she did, it was all over.
Her upper body was exposed, with only her undergarment remaining.
Immediately, a blush crept up her neck. She quickly covered her upper body with her hands and exclaimed in a delicate voice,
"Where are my clothes? Ling Feng, what did you do to me?!"
"This... How should I put it?"
Ling Feng scratched his head.
Seeing that Ke Qing was covered by a quilt, she didn't care about anything else.
Like a turtle, she quickly shrunk into the quilt, covering herself completely, only her head peeking out, looking at Ling Feng with a flushed face.
"Tell me honestly, what did you do to me."
Although she had already guessed what happened, Ke Qing still held a sliver of hope.
"Your clothes have been washed and are by the fire over there."
"As for what was done, I... I bathed you."
"But don't worry, I didn't look at your body, nor did I touch you. I used another method to bathe you."
"Here, this is the proof."
Saying this, Ling Feng took out a stone and placed it on the ground.
"What is this stone?"
"This stone is called a Lingying Stone (Impression Stone). It can record images for a period of time. I can't explain it clearly, you can see for yourself."
The Lingying Stone was one of the items Ling Feng had drawn in the past six months; there were ten in total.
As Ling Feng injected his true qi, the Lingying Stone emitted light, like a projector, projecting an image into the air. A video began to play slowly.
Ke Qing curiously watched the image projected by the Lingying Stone.
In the video, Ling Feng's eyes were tightly shut as he carefully and slowly undressed her.
Seeing this, Ke Qing's face turned red. However, seeing that Ling Feng wasn't looking, she felt a sense of relief and continued to watch the screen.
In the video, after undressing her, Ling Feng placed her clothes aside and muttered something.
Then, a large amount of water from the river was lifted by some force and enveloped her.
Afterward, the black mud on her body began to be stripped away.
After most of the black mud was peeled off, several streams of water were summoned from the river.
After the first water sphere spat her out, the waiting streams immediately enveloped her again, continuing the cleaning process.
The first water sphere, now blackened with mud, was tossed into a corner by Ling Feng.
After three repetitions, she was completely clean. The water sphere that had encased her "spat" her out and dropped her onto a quilt.
After completing all this, Ling Feng covered her with another quilt, then collapsed beside her, panting heavily.
After resting for a while, Ling Feng got up and went to the Lingying Stone, and then the recording stopped.
However, it proved that Ling Feng's words were true.
After watching the images, Ke Qing stared blankly at Ling Feng, lost in thought.
From the images, she could see the visible sweat on Ling Feng's forehead after he collapsed on the ground, indicating that completing all of this was not easy for Ling Feng.
Yet, despite this, Ling Feng still insisted on choosing this method to wash away the dirt from her body.
Instead of the easier option of direct physical contact, he preserved her purity.
This was a display of respect for a woman.
"Thank you."
Ke Qing said sincerely.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Ling Feng asked, confused. His mind was a mess just now, and Ke Qing's voice was too soft, so he hadn't heard what she said.
"Never mind if you didn't hear. Don't turn around, I need to change clothes."
"Oh."
Hearing this, Ling Feng turned his body and sat facing away from Ke Qing, getting into a more comfortable position.
Watching Ling Feng's back, Ke Qing recalled some things.
Her work over the past month, no matter what she lacked...
Her gaze softened, and she inwardly chuckled, scolding him.
"What a fool."
On the other side.
"Achoo! Achoo!"
"What's going on? My cultivation shouldn't allow me to catch a cold... Could it be... someone's talking behind my back?"
"I haven't offended anyone... unless it's those Abyss Heralds?"
"Fine, talking behind my back, just you wait! Next time, I'll get my revenge!"