Lin Yuan scolded with a righteous face (though he was actually a bit guilty), "How old am I even? Where would I get such filthy thoughts?"
"Besides, I'm doing this to improve your strength!"
"This stuff, low-year versions only have aphrodisiac effects; they're trash."
"But for those over a thousand years, besides being an aphrodisiac, the main effect is improving one's Physique!"
"And for ten thousand year ones, the medicinal effect is purer. The aphrodisiac part is just an incidental... side effect!"
Lin Yuan explained desperately.
But soon, the explanation became pale and weak.
Because the medicine's effects were kicking in.
"Ten thousand years... side effect..."
Before Xiao Wu could even process Lin Yuan's words, she suddenly felt a warm current rising from her lower abdomen.
Immediately after, this current instantly turned into a raging fire, sweeping through her entire body!
"Hot..."
"So hot..."
Xiao Wu's already flushed face grew even redder, like a ripe apple.
She felt as if she had been thrown into a steamer, with the blood throughout her body boiling.
Sweat instantly drenched her thin pink pajamas, clinging tightly to her body and outlining her youthful yet already developing curves.
"Lin Yuan..."
Xiao Wu's eyes were hazy and tearful as she looked at Lin Yuan, her voice so soft and sweet it seemed it could melt.
"I feel so uncomfortable, it's like there's a fire burning inside me, what should I do..."
She instinctively wanted to find a source of coolness.
"What else can be done?"
Looking at this erotic yet troublesome scene before him, Lin Yuan also felt a massive headache.
"Who told you to gulp it all down at once?"
"This is ten thousand year whale gum! Even I only dare to refine it bit by bit!"
"Now you can only... endure it!"
"Quickly sit cross-legged! Circulate your spirit power! Guide this medicinal power into your limbs and bones to strengthen your Physical Body!"
"Don't waste it!"
However, at this moment, Xiao Wu couldn't listen to any of that.
The dry heat made her lose her reason.
She lunged forward, like a koala, using both hands and feet to cling tightly to Lin Yuan.
"Wuu wuu wuu... you're so cool..."
"Hug me..."
Boom!
Lin Yuan: At the very least, one shouldn't, and shouldn't be able to—this is highly illegal! At least wait six years!
"What a sin!"
Lin Yuan's whole body went stiff; he didn't dare move at all.
He frantically recited the Heart-Cleansing Incantation in his mind... and just like that, a full hour passed.
Only then did the high temperature on Xiao Wu's body gradually recede.
"Huff... huff..."
Xiao Wu lay in Lin Yuan's arms, gasping for breath, her whole body drenched in sweat as if she had just been fished out of the water.
But her eyes had regained their clarity.
"My, my body seems to have become a little bit tougher?"
Seeing this, Lin Yuan finally let out a long sigh of relief and pried the octopus-like girl off him.
"Nonsense!"
"If ten thousand year whale gum was useless, would I have given it to you?"
"You almost got me killed!" Lin Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Xiao Wu also realized what had just happened.
Thinking back to her "insatiable" state just now, clinging to Lin Yuan without letting go.
"Ah!"
She shrieked, covered her face, and dove under the covers, leaving only a pair of eyes filled with shame and indignation exposed.
"How embarrassing!"
"I can't face anyone anymore!"
Lin Yuan found her ostrich-like behavior somewhat amusing, but then solemnly instructed:
"Xiao Wu, listen well."
"Regarding the effects of Whale Gum, especially the part about improving one's Physique, you must keep it a secret!"
"It's not particularly expensive outside right now because people don't recognize its value."
"Once it leaks, the price will definitely skyrocket, and we won't be able to buy it even if we want to."
"And..."
Lin Yuan paused, his eyes carrying a hint of a 'warning': "What happened today must never be spoken of, do you understand?"
If this got out, what would happen to Lin Yuan's "upright gentleman" image?
Hearing this, Xiao Wu immediately nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice.
She didn't want to say anything either!
If that vixen Dugu Yan found out she had taken "aphrodisiacs" and thrown herself into Lin Yuan's arms...
How could she ever show her face in the group again?
Wouldn't she be laughed at for the rest of her life?
"Don't worry, Lin Yuan!"
Xiao Wu stuck out a pinky finger and said with a solemn face, "This is a secret between the two of us!"
"Only heaven, earth, you, and I know!"
Seeing Xiao Wu's serious expression, Lin Yuan helplessly reached out and pinky-swore with her.
"Alright, go take a shower quickly. You're covered in sweat; it stinks."
"Hmph! It doesn't stink! It's fragrant!"
Xiao Wu made a face at Lin Yuan, then grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom with a flushed face... Time flew by like a white horse passing a crevice.
There is no sense of time in Cultivation; in the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed since that embarrassing "accidental ingestion of Whale Gum" incident.
Mornings in Nuoding City were still peaceful and serene, but the youth in the small apartment had undergone world-shaking changes.
In front of the mirror, Lin Yuan stood bare-chested. His once slightly thin youthful frame was now covered in a layer of streamlined muscle.
It wasn't that kind of exaggerated, bulky dead muscle, but lines where every piece contained astonishing explosive power, full of beauty like a cheetah.
After a year and a half of continuous nourishment from Whale Gum, his current Physique had long surpassed Spirit Masters of the same Rank.
"Rank twenty..."
Lin Yuan clenched his fist, feeling the overflowing spirit power in his Dantian, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"I've finally reached this threshold; it's time to leave."
And now, there are two things he needs to do.
First, naturally, is to hunt for his second spirit ring.
Regarding the choice of his second Spirit Ability, he had already given it deep thought over the past year and a half.
Since obtaining Ning Rongrong's spirit ring fusion talent, his combat style was destined to follow the "Nuclear Explosion Stream."
Once spirit ring fusion is activated, the energy of nine rings converges at a single point—that is world-destroying damage!
This would also be one of his trump cards.
But this move had a fatal weakness: a long wind-up time and a massive consumption of spirit power. After one strike, he would fall into a weakened state.
If this strike missed, it would be all over.
Therefore, he must have a skill that guarantees a "one hundred percent hit rate"!
"I don't need fancy buffs, just something that makes my spear never miss!"
This kind of Spirit Ability is perfect as a second Spirit Ability.
After all, the further he goes, the higher the years of the spirit rings will be. Obtaining buff-type spirit abilities then will yield even more significant effects.
And this kind of Spirit Beast is not found in Spirit Hunting Forests like the one near Nuoding City.
Only the Star Dou Great Forest is home to Spirit Beasts capable of producing such spirit abilities, like the Thousand-Eye Demonic Eagle or the Soul Locking Falcon.
"However, before I leave..."
...