After being reborn, I took my childhood sweetheart to cultivate immortality.

"Ugh, you made me miss all my cultivation time." Opening her eyes, Xu Qingman shyly punched the man who was pressed tightly against her.

Yu Jinchen rolled over, looked down and chuckled, "Isn't the baby comfortable too? Why are you blaming me now?"

Sensing the man's renewed arousal, Xu Qingman quickly begged for mercy, "Stop it, I'm so tired."

"Don't worry, baby, I just want to kiss you."

As soon as he finished speaking, his burning lips covered hers again, and waves of hot breath enveloped her.

She couldn't help but reach out and wrap her arms around his strong waist, once again succumbing to his charms.

Sure enough, a man who has already tasted meat is unlikely to easily let go of the meat at his lips. By the time Xu Qingman finally escaped his clutches, it was already past ten o'clock. Fortunately, she didn't have class until the afternoon.

In class, when the teacher wasn't looking, Lin Yali cautiously approached Xu Qingman and whispered to her, "Manman, do you know? Han Mingsi dropped out of school and went abroad yesterday."

"Huh?" Xu Qingman was quite surprised, but she didn't mind. He and she were just ordinary classmates.

Lin Yali continued, "He was clearly going to inherit his grandmother's company, but some people say it's because of you that he had to leave this place that made him sad. Humph! It's so infuriating."

Xu Qingman didn't care what others thought, and comforted Lin Yali with a smile, "Alright, don't be angry. People can say whatever they want, there's no need to get angry."

Because they had agreed to take Xu Qingman to go beachcombing that evening, Yu Jinchen finished his work early and drove to the school to pick her up.

After taking Xu Qingman to his hotel for a meal, the two of them went to buy beachcombing tools with great interest. They bought everything from a landing net, pliers, a small rake, a small bucket, and a headlamp, and then went straight to the beach to wait for the tide to go out.

When Xu Qingman arrived at Seabird Island, it was only a little past seven o'clock, not even eight o'clock yet, but the tide table showed that the low tide time was past midnight. Should she just wait here like this?

Seemingly sensing the meaning in her eyes, Yu Jinchen mysteriously took a tent out of the trunk. After setting it up, he also took out a small blanket and some snacks.

Xu Qingman praised him with a smile, "Wow, you've prepared quite thoroughly. I was worried about sitting in the car waiting for hours."

Yu Jinchen winked at her, "Of course, I've thought of everything for your man."

Xu Qingman did not disappoint him; after entering the tent, she leaned in and kissed him.

I thought it would be a sweet and passionate kiss, but she only gave me a light kiss and then left, saying that she hadn't slept well the night before and needed to catch up on her sleep.

Yu Jinchen had no choice but to regretfully agree to this request. He had indeed been too ungrateful last night, exhausting her in the process.

In her daze, Xu Qingman heard Yu Jinchen call in her ear: "Baby, the tide is out, you can get up and go beachcombing."

Xu Qingman immediately sat up. "The tide's out? Let's go, we'll go right now."

The two quickly packed the tent into the car, grabbed their beachcombing tools, and each put on a headlamp before heading towards the mudflats.

As you approach, you'll see a lot of seafood left behind by the waves.

Although it was Xu Qingman's first time going beachcombing, she had eaten most of the seafood here before, so she bent down and got to work.

She collected clams, bamboo clams, blood clams—she didn't let any edible seafood slip by.

"Wow, Jinchen, look how big this crab is! Quickly bring me its claws."

"Okay, I'll pick it up. Don't move, or the crab might pinch your finger."

"Hahaha... This is so much fun! Let's see if there are any fish in this puddle!"

"Okay, go take a look. Be careful and stand far away so you don't fall into the water." Yu Jinchen looked at the girl, who was like an elf, with eyes full of affection.

In truth, how could Xu Qingman, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, possibly be in danger in such a place? But Yu Jinchen always habitually expressed his concern.

The next day, in order to make use of the seafood they had collected, the two of them bought some rice, flour, and oil to fill up the kitchen that had never been used before.

"Mmm, seafood that I catch myself tastes the best."

Xu Qingman nodded, enjoying the food on the table.

Yu Jinchen put the crab meat in her bowl and said with a smile, "Since you like it, we can go beachcombing again next time we have time."

"Yes, but we still need to focus on cultivation. There were quite a few Golden Core cultivators when we came out of the secret realm last time."

They possess a valuable treasure; if they are accidentally discovered and have no means of protecting themselves, they will be in big trouble.

Yu Jinchen naturally knew all this and agreed with Xu Qingman's statement. After this period of cultivation, both of them had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment and would likely form their cores at any time.

After that, the two of them would enter the space to cultivate every night, and they rarely did even the things that Yu Jinchen loved most.

The reason was that both of them received an invitation to an auction organized by monks, which was to be held two weeks later.

Although their cultivation levels are among the highest for their age, they actually have only a superficial understanding of many things about the cultivation world.

So they wanted to take this opportunity to go and see, and maybe even meet some cultivators.

However, for safety's sake, the two agreed that they should form their core as soon as possible.

On this day, Xu Qingman and her companion entered the space to meditate as usual. However, she sensed something different today; her dantian absorbed spiritual energy much faster than before.

She could feel the strain even in the usually spiritually rich palace. Knowing she was already on the verge of Core Formation, she quickly pulled out a handful of high-grade spirit stones from her storage bracelet and threw a spirit-gathering array in front of her.

Gradually, she felt as if her dantian was about to burst, but she still gritted her teeth and slowly guided spiritual energy into her body.

As more and more spiritual energy gathered, the spiritual energy in the dantian became increasingly dense, slowly converging in one place and eventually forming a small granular shape.

She didn't stop, continuing to compress the remaining spiritual liquid, and the small granular mass of spiritual energy grew larger and larger.

Knowing it was almost done, she dared not relax. Enduring the pain, she continued to absorb and squeeze again and again.

Finally, the ball of spiritual energy gradually shone to the size of a quail egg, gleaming with dazzling light.

She could feel that the power within her body was now vastly different from before. Her senses had also become much sharper, and Xu Qingman knew that she had successfully formed her core.

She happily cast a cleansing spell on herself, then got up to go and share the good news with Yu Jinchen.

Walking into the next room, Xu Qingman saw that Yu Jinchen was also meditating. When she saw the same spirit-gathering array in front of him, Xu Qingman knew that he was probably also undergoing the test of forming his core.

Unable to share the good news with her lover, Xu Qingman had no choice but to turn around and call Xiaoqing out.

"Master, have you formed your core?"

Without her saying anything, Xiaoqing had already noticed the difference.

"Yes, Xiao Qing, I have finally become a Golden Core cultivator."

"No, Master, you are not yet a true Golden Core cultivator."

Xiaoqing's denial instantly froze the smile that Xu Qingman hadn't yet faded from her face.