Feeling that Li Xuan's mood was off, Dabaic frantically shook his large head, trying to explain his meaning to Li Xuan.
Li Xuan allowed Dabaic to argue for a while and finally understood his meaning.
But this time, it was Li Xuan's turn to shake his head repeatedly.
"Meow, meow, meow. (No, no, you haven't even mastered Tiger Form Ten Styles yet. This can only be eaten after practicing Bloodthirsty Tiger Claw.)"
Li Xuan meowed and gestured, explaining to Dabaic, trying to make him understand the danger of Linhu Essence Blood.
Although the blood evil in this item had been purified by Li Xuan, he had never tried giving it to other people or cats before.
If something went wrong and harmed Dabaic, it would not be good.
But Dabaic remained persistent, seemingly very greedy for Linhu Essence Blood.
Li Xuan did not indulge Dabaic and directly used his cat paw print to control Dabaic, forbidding him from making trouble.
Dabaic was intermittently immobilized several times and also knew fear, so he could only lie on the ground unwillingly, full of grievances.
Seeing him pitiful, Li Xuan could only comfort him, "Meow, woo, woo. (As long as you master Tiger Form Ten Styles and then start learning Bloodthirsty Tiger Claw, I will also let you eat Linhu Essence Blood.)"
He didn't care whether Dabaic understood or not, leaving these words and walking to the side.
Guests would be arriving soon, and he didn't have time to spend too much time with Dabaic.
Dabaic was sent back to the backyard, and Cat Overlord and the others also left, carrying the round-bellied Little Qi Si, planning to come again tomorrow.
Princess Ankang and Yuer cleaned up the bowls and wooden basins that the cats had used for their meals.
The Three Little Ones then rested in the courtyard, waiting for the guests to arrive.
Not long after, there was a knock at the gate of Jingyang Palace.
Yuer hurriedly went to greet the guests and invited them in.
"Your Highness, the changes in your Jingyang Palace are truly great."
"This old man was outside the gate earlier and almost didn't dare to knock."
Imperial Physician Xue said with a chuckle.
That's right, the guest the Three Little Ones were waiting for today was Imperial Physician Xue.
Princess Ankang and Imperial Physician Xue exchanged a few pleasantries and then sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.
Imperial Physician Xue placed his medicine box on the stone table, his expectant gaze falling upon Princess Ankang and Li Xuan.
"Your Highness, Li Xuan."
"If there are no other preparations needed, why don't we start directly now?"
Imperial Physician Xue said somewhat impatiently.
Li Xuan and Princess Ankang exchanged glances and nodded lightly.
Today, Imperial Physician Xue came as agreed to observe Li Xuan's process of absorbing the cold energy for Princess Ankang.
Previously, because of rumors in the palace about Empress Wu's actions targeting Princess Ankang, Li Xuan had been suspicious of Imperial Physician Xue, and when he was in Xingqing Palace, he did not notify Imperial Physician Xue to come and observe.
But after confirming Imperial Physician Xue's stance and confirming that Empress Wu's targeting was merely a rumor, today's invitation came about.
By having Imperial Physician Xue observe, Li Xuan also wanted to use his medical skills to see if he could discover any blind spots he had not noticed before.
Li Xuan led Princess Ankang to the side and then began to teach her a new cultivation method.
The Ling Xu Finger Strength that he had previously taught Princess Ankang, she had already cultivated to the perfected realm.
And today, Li Xuan taught her another ninth-rank cultivation method called "Light Body Skill."
From the name of the cultivation method, one could tell that it was a movement technique.
Li Xuan chose this cultivation method mainly for its features of strengthening the lower limbs and focusing on speed and agility.
He was now carefully selecting cultivation methods for Princess Ankang from among the numerous ninth-rank cultivation methods in Thousand Stars Pavilion.
Strengthening the body's functions was essential.
Beyond that, the focus was on enhancing basic abilities.
Princess Ankang now had Ling Xu Finger Strength and Stone Flicking Technique, so she did not lack offensive means.
Those flying stones, each with the power of a pistol bullet, were enough for Princess Ankang to deal with most enemies.
Now, Li Xuan was teaching her a movement technique to strengthen her ability to kite and run if she couldn't win.
In this way, ordinary martial artists of the Lower Three Ranks would find it very difficult to deal with Princess Ankang.
In addition, Li Xuan also prepared many special techniques for Princess Ankang to cultivate.
However, these techniques all required a lot of effort, and Li Xuan planned to let her slowly choose and then begin cultivating them after he absorbed the cold energy for Princess Ankang this time.
Li Xuan had already transcribed the Light Body Skill cultivation method manual for Princess Ankang once.
After Princess Ankang memorized the contents of the manual, she destroyed the transcribed manual.
Today, Li Xuan personally led Princess Ankang to begin practicing this cultivation method.
Imperial Physician Xue sat at the stone table, sipping the tea prepared for him by Yuer, while watching the novel scene of a small cat teaching a princess martial arts.
Although Imperial Physician Xue mainly specialized in medicine, he was not without cultivation, and he could tell at a glance that the cultivation method Li Xuan was teaching Princess Ankang was only a ninth-rank one.
"Why not teach a higher-rank cultivation method?"
Imperial Physician Xue was a little puzzled.
In Imperial Physician Xue's opinion, although the cultivation method Li Xuan taught focused on fundamentals, it was definitely not considered very good among ninth-rank cultivation methods.
After all, there were many supporting cultivation methods that were sufficient to complete several ranks of cultivation.
It was a consensus among all cultivators that supporting cultivation methods were more advanced than ordinary single cultivation methods.
But Imperial Physician Xue was not in a hurry to ask questions; instead, he watched patiently from the side.
Imperial Physician Xue had long been aware of Li Xuan's intelligence, and he didn't think Li Xuan would make such a low-level mistake; there must be his own considerations.
Princess Ankang was intelligent, and Li Xuan's teaching process went very smoothly.
Imperial Physician Xue also gradually moved from initial doubt to being shocked by Princess Ankang's speed in practicing martial arts.
His doubts grew, and he was almost unable to restrain his curiosity.
After Princess Ankang got the hang of Light Body Skill, Li Xuan silently observed her.
Soon, Princess Ankang nodded to Li Xuan and then hurried towards the bedroom.
Li Xuan then breathed a sigh of relief: "Good thing, ninth-rank cultivation methods can still be effective."
He also quickly followed Princess Ankang, then gestured to Yuer and Imperial Physician Xue behind him.
"Imperial Physician Xue, let's go too."
Yuer greeted Imperial Physician Xue, leading him to follow Li Xuan and Princess Ankang.
Imperial Physician Xue didn't waste words, put down his teacup, and immediately slung his medicine box on his back to follow.
Upon arriving at Princess Ankang's bedroom, Princess Ankang was already lying on the bed, waiting for Li Xuan to get under the covers with her.
Li Xuan lay on Princess Ankang's stomach, and when Yuer and Imperial Physician Xue also arrived, he immediately wagged his tail and wrote:
"Next is the process of absorbing the cold energy."
"When the cold energy erupts, it is exceptionally turbulent and violent. If it invades the body, I dare not say I will definitely have a way, so be sure to be careful when observing Ankang later."
Li Xuan gave Imperial Physician Xue a warning, telling him not to let his curiosity kill him.
When Li Xuan first absorbed the cold energy from Princess Ankang's body, if he hadn't unexpectedly cultivated Ice-Cold Breath within his body, he probably would have died long ago.
Imperial Physician Xue carefully read every word Li Xuan wrote, then nodded.
Then, seeing Li Xuan slowly close his eyes, he quickly took out a piece of silk thread from his medicine box and came to the bedside.
"Your Highness, this old man has been rude."
Princess Ankang smiled slightly and extended her wrist. Imperial Physician Xue quickly wrapped the silk thread around her wrist, while he himself pulled the silk thread and sat at the table, intending to perform his unique skill of pulse diagnosis by suspended thread.
Imperial Physician Xue dared not be careless with the reminder Li Xuan gave him.
Curiosity was one thing, but he couldn't possibly risk his own life, could he?
Otherwise, future medical explorations would be impossible.
Everything was ready, and Princess Ankang pulled up her quilt.
The next moment, Li Xuan sensed the surging cold energy erupting within Princess Ankang's body.
The Yin Yang True Qi within Li Xuan's body circulated at full speed, ready to deal with anything.
As with the previous times, the erupting cold energy directly surged into Li Xuan's body.
The Ice-Cold Breath within his body reacted first, merging into the cold energy and continuing to act as a guide.
And next, under Li Xuan's control, the Yin Yang True Qi also mixed into the cold energy, attempting to control the cold energy's rampant charge.
After cultivating Yin Yang True Qi, Li Xuan, relying on the powerful recovery ability of Yin Yang True Qi, could recover in a short time even if his internal meridians were severely damaged by the impact of the cold energy.
Therefore, after cultivating Yin Yang True Qi, the pressure on Li Xuan in dealing with the cold energy was greatly reduced.
However, with the perfection of Ling Xu Finger Strength and the cultivation of the new Light Body Skill, the cold energy erupting from Princess Ankang's body had clearly become stronger again.
This was consistent with Li Xuan's previous conjecture.
If he had followed the ordinary cultivation path, Li Xuan would most likely be unable to cope now.
Fortunately, he had cultivated Yin Yang True Qi, and now that he had perfected the Yin Yang True Extremes Art left by the Twin Sage Emperors, he was full of confidence in dealing with the increasingly strong coldness.
Li Xuan's Yin Yang True Qi was always effective, only when facing the strange coldness within Ankang's body did he find himself somewhat stretched.
He could feel that although Yin Yang True Qi had the ability to suppress the coldness, the quantity of the two was on a completely unequal level.
Simply put, Li Xuan had too little Yin Yang True Qi!
The coldness within Ankang's body was like an endless torrent, surging wildly into Li Xuan's body during its outbreak, filling his meridians to the brim, crashing disorderly, and slowly beginning to damage his meridians.
"No, I can't force it."
Seeing that the Yin Yang True Qi was not effective in controlling the coldness, Li Xuan began to look for another method.
He recalled the content of the five basic True Qi secret manuals he had recently read, searching for a solution.
These five secret manuals were for Li Xuan to deepen his understanding of the five-element attributes after he had perfected the Yin Yang True Extremes Art, as instructed by Elder Ye.
"Ice is a mutation of the water attribute."
Li Xuan recalled the content on the Water Element cultivation method.
"First, let the ice turn back into water."
Li Xuan directly gave up on continuing to use Yin Yang True Qi to control the coldness, and instead focused on transforming Yin Yang True Qi into the fire of the Five Elements.
"Coldness" and "fire" collided in the meridians.
Li Xuan immediately let out a muffled groan, feeling a sharp pain in his body.
In his meridians, invisible energies began to collide and react.
Ice and fire clashed, melting and reacting.
Mist rose, and rain turned to ice.
The vague energy reactions became concrete in Li Xuan's mind.
And when Li Xuan saw "water" appearing in the meridians of his body, he immediately seized the opportunity.
Water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water...
Li Xuan skillfully performed the mutual generation of the Five Elements, finally transforming it into his own Yin Yang True Qi.
Through such a cycle, the surging coldness was slowly weakened.
"Integrate the extreme single attribute into my Five Element transformation."
"It works!"
Li Xuan was instantly invigorated, continuously repeating his previous actions.
Although the initial ice-fire melting caused a considerable burden on Li Xuan's body, the result of the coldness and Yin Yang True Qi increasing and decreasing against each other gave him hope.
Neither Li Xuan nor Ankang, the parties involved, noticed that one of Ankang's hand backs was rapidly heating up, becoming scorching hot.
On that hand back, there was precisely the cat paw print left by Li Xuan.
Coincidentally, the wrist of this hand was connected to Imperial Physician Xue's suspended thread for pulse diagnosis.
"What kind of pulse is this!?"
Imperial Physician Xue tightly clutched his white beard, utterly shocked.
In his entire life as a physician, he had never felt such a bizarre pulse on anyone.
Snap!
The thin thread in Imperial Physician Xue's hand snapped with a soft sound, falling limply to the ground.
Imperial Physician Xue ignored everything else and quickly went to the bedside to check, only to see Ankang, covered by the quilt, slightly frowning.
"Imperial Physician Xue, it's better to be careful."
Yu'er said this, blocking Imperial Physician Xue, preventing him from getting too close.
Imperial Physician Xue understood Yu'er's thoughts and didn't mind too much; in his opinion, this was Yu'er's duty, making her irreproachable.
Imperial Physician Xue did not press further, but merely guarded the bedside, carefully observing Ankang.
At this moment, both Yu'er and Imperial Physician Xue felt time pass like years.
Although Li Xuan was dealing with the coldness within his body, he also noticed the movement by the bed.
Seeing the bedside quiet down again, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
If Imperial Physician Xue had had any crazy ideas, Li Xuan could have given him some of the coldness from his body at any time, letting him experience it thoroughly.
Fortunately, although Imperial Physician Xue was enthusiastic about medical research, he hadn't lost his head.
After an unknown amount of time, Ankang and Li Xuan opened their eyes simultaneously.
Ankang couldn't help but murmur, feeling sore all over and slightly feverish.
Li Xuan also opened his eyes under the covers; compared to the previous times, his current state was surprisingly the best.
"Hmm? The Ice-Cold Breath is still there, and there's so much more?"
Li Xuan checked the Ice-Cold Breath within his body, somewhat surprised.
His Yin Yang True Qi was also recovering rapidly, and the damage within his meridians was also being repaired.
This was the tenth time Li Xuan had absorbed the coldness for Ankang, but the state he maintained afterward was surprisingly good.
Previously, he was always exhausted, even on the verge of death, and all his internal power was depleted.
But today, not only was Li Xuan's power loss relatively small, the increase in Ice-Cold Breath far exceeded before.
Previously, the Ice-Cold Breath always had to recover completely from a zero state.
But now, Li Xuan's body still retained more Ice-Cold Breath than when he started, and there were signs of even more recovery.
"This..."
Li Xuan was still a little unclear about the situation when a pair of small hands reached out from under the covers and hugged him.
"Li Xuan, are you alright?"
Ankang pulled Li Xuan out from under the covers, her voice sounding a little hoarse.
Li Xuan immediately became nervous.
All these times, when Ankang woke up, she was always refreshed, but now, listening to her voice, she seemed a little uncomfortable.
Li Xuan's eyes lit up; coming out from under the covers, he was met with Ankang's smiling face.
Seeing that Li Xuan was fine, Ankang also relaxed, hugging him tightly and not letting go.
Li Xuan immediately extended his paw and pressed it on Ankang's body to check, and his eyes immediately widened.
"Ah!?"
"How is this possible..."
Just as Li Xuan was utterly shocked, Yu'er quickly leaned forward and asked:
"Your Highness, Li Xuan."
"Are both of you alright?"
Seeing Ankang nod, Yu'er finally relaxed.
She quickly poured a cup of tea and brought it over for Ankang to moisten her throat.
She had also heard Ankang's slightly hoarse voice earlier.
Ankang took the teacup and gulped it down in one go.
"Sister Yu'er, I'm still a bit thirsty."
Yu'er quickly poured another full cup of tea, thought for a moment, and then brought over the teapot as well.
"Your Highness, please drink slowly."
Ankang held Li Xuan in one arm and the teacup in the other, drinking continuously with gulps.
Seeing Ankang drink so fast, Yu'er directly picked up the teapot and added water to the cup; however much Ankang drank, she poured directly.
The two girls worked together seamlessly for a moment, not spilling a single drop.
This made Imperial Physician Xue, who was standing by, forget what he was just thinking.
"Burp!"
After drinking an entire teapot, Ankang finally let out a satisfied burp.
"Your Highness!"
Yu'er anxiously nudged Ankang's shoulder.
There were still outsiders present; for a dignified princess to burp like that seemed too impolite.
Ankang, however, didn't mind, chuckled, and said to Imperial Physician Xue:
"Imperial Physician Xue, please excuse me, I was just too thirsty after waking up."
"No matter, no matter, Your Highness need not worry about such things," Imperial Physician Xue said with a cheerful smile, waving his hand repeatedly, then eagerly asked, "May I be so bold as to take Your Highness's pulse?"
Ankang nodded and extended her wrist.
Imperial Physician Xue felt her pulse, calmed his excited heart, and stroked his beard in contemplation.
But the next moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain, having pulled out a handful of his own beard.
Imperial Physician Xue's expression at this moment was identical to Li Xuan's in Ankang's arms.
From the slightly warm wrist, powerful pulsations like war drums emanated, making Imperial Physician Xue's pulse-taking fingers ache.
Yet, despite this, Imperial Physician Xue was unwilling to let go.
This unheard-of, unseen powerful pulse made Imperial Physician Xue begin to doubt his lifelong medical experience.
His old eyes stared intently at the adorable Ankang on the bed, his heart trembling like ten thousand horses galloping.
Imperial Physician Xue rarely lost his composure like this, silently cursing under his breath:
"What in the hell kind of pulse is this for a human!?"