The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

"Is this the Flaming Mountains?" Mo Xiaohua asked, wiping away beads of sweat the size of soybeans.

"Ha, this is a volcano. Is it hot?" Su Zinong asked with a smile. He had already changed into a short-sleeved shirt, but he was still sweating profusely and had to keep drinking water.

Although the volcano has not erupted, it is extremely hot here. Even the rocks on the ground are red and bare, with no grass growing, like a burning alchemical furnace.

"It's so hot!" Mo Xiaohua said, fanning herself with her hand. "Why did you come to a place like this? There's no one around here for dozens of miles."

"Do you think I wanted to come? If you hadn't been poisoned by the cold, I wouldn't have come at all!" Su Zinong said irritably. "Do you think I like the heat?"

"Okay, okay, don't be angry. I know you did it all for me," Mo Xiaohua said, shaking his hand.

"You can't wear clothes like that, you'll die of heat. Quickly change into something thinner, something sleeveless like mine would be even better. Can't those clothes we bought locally come in handy now?" Su Zinong folded banana leaves to shield himself from the sun, and couldn't help but recall how he and Huang Chenghe had folded banana leaves to escape from the public bathhouse in Qinghe City.

“You wish! How could you wear that kind of clothing? It doesn’t even have sleeves, and the sleeve holes are a foot wide. It’s practically the same as not wearing anything at all!” Mo Xiaohua said.

"Haha, whatever you want," Su Zinong said. "Anyway, the women here are really beautiful. They love wearing these kinds of clothes. My nose is about to bleed. Next time I'm going to invite Huang Chenghe along. That kid will definitely laugh himself to death."

"You little pervert!" Mo Xiaohua cursed.

“Greed and lust are my nature, I admit it,” Su Zinong said with his head held high.

It was so hot that even though Mo Xiaohua wasn't wearing sleeveless clothes with big holes, she was still wearing a relatively thin garment and had reverted to her feminine attire.

Su Zinong was astonished. The woman's eyes were like a pool of spring water rippling, and her skin was as white as a white flower blooming in spring with dewdrops. Everything about her was so delicate and full of life.

Mo Xiaohua is as bright and beautiful as spring.

Ou Ruo is as passionate, unrestrained, and sweet as summer.

The morning glow was as graceful and enchanting as autumn.

Qin Xiangxue, however, was as dazzling and beautiful as winter snow.

Where did all these beauties come from, each with her own unique charm?

"What are you thinking about?" Mo Xiaohua asked.

"I'm wondering, why would someone as beautiful as you dress as a man?" Su Zinong said, squinting.

“I have no choice. I often have to go out on errands for my master. When I wear women’s clothes, I always run into all sorts of strange people who come up to me and harass me,” Mo Xiaohua said.

"What kind of person is your master? Is his name He Dahao?" Su Zinong asked.

“My master is Master Qianji. He is a very powerful person,” Mo Xiaohua said.

“Master Qianji? I’ve been traveling the martial world for so many years, why have I never heard of him?” Su Zinong said.

“My master always likes to maintain a sense of mystery, so very few people have actually heard of him. He even told us not to reveal his name easily,” Mo Xiaohua said.

"There are many talented and extraordinary people in the martial arts world who don't like to reveal their names and keep a low profile, unlike some people who fight tooth and nail just to become famous," Su Zinong remarked with feeling.

"So, would you consider yourself someone who loves fame? You're already ranked fifth among the top ten young cultivators," Mo Xiaohua asked.

"Those are all empty titles. In reality, there are many people who are much more capable than me who did not participate in the selection. If we were to rank them based on their actual abilities, I wouldn't even be in the top ten," Su Zinong said modestly.

“That’s hard to say,” Mo Xiaohua said. “Next time, it won’t just be the younger generation, but also the top ten strongest cultivators. Then there won’t be an age limit.”

"Then the fighting will be even fiercer. How do you know?" Su Zinong asked.

"The notices have already been posted!" Mo Xiaohua smiled.

"I'm afraid this will cause a bloodbath in the martial arts world." Su Zinong recalled that three of the top ten young cultivators from the previous competition couldn't participate. If you include himself, whose cultivation had also been crippled, that would be four, making the risk extremely high. And this time, he went to the event but was unwillingly pulled onto the stage, only to encounter another great escape.

"Enough talk. Let's cultivate here and see if we can eradicate your cold poison. We can't delay any longer. We must cure you in this far south. Otherwise, you can't keep drinking my blood every day when we go back north," Su Zinong said.

"Of course I have to practice, but are you saying you don't want me to follow you?" Mo Xiaohua asked, a little unhappy.

“No. Didn’t I just say that greed and lust are my nature? You’re quite attractive, and I wouldn’t feel like I’m not with you every day. I’d prefer you to be glued to me all the time, hahaha…” Su Zinong said with a smile, thinking to himself that he could indeed learn a lot from Huang Chenghe.

Mo Xiaohua slapped Su Zinong hard, but felt inexplicably sweet inside.

The two trained for fifteen days in the scorching heat beside the volcano.

The true energy gained through cultivation is predominantly yang in nature.

While Mo Xiaohua's practice was indeed helpful in treating the cold poison, she was still unable to expel it completely.

“Sigh,” Su Zinong sighed, “I don’t know what to do either. How about you consider practicing some evil arts? I’ll offer myself up for you to absorb for a few nights, transferring some of my yang energy to you.” Su Zinong said with a wicked smile. It was too hot here, and he couldn’t help but feel a little tempted.

Then Mo Xiaohua chased and beat him for the entire morning.

The two stayed by the volcano for a full month, searching the surrounding area thoroughly, but found no exotic flowers or rare herbs, let alone any special spirit beasts or immortal birds.

"It seems there's no hope for treatment." Mo Xiaohua felt inexplicably disappointed.

“Actually, the cold poison is somewhat similar to true qi. The reason why the cold poison in your body is difficult to expel is because over time it has become mixed with your true qi,” Su Zinong said. “Back then, when someone forcibly injected true qi into me, the two kinds of true qi in my body would sometimes cause a flare-up, and I almost went into qi deviation.”

“I know that. Didn’t you take me to Tianjing Mountain to cleanse my true energy last time? Do you want me to go to Tianjing Mountain again to cleanse my true energy and get rid of the poison?” Mo Xiaohua seemed to understand what Su Zinong meant and vaguely felt that this method might have some hope.

“That’s roughly the idea, but last time you cultivated in Tianjing Mountain for a while, your cold poison flared up immediately. I thought the spiritual energy there might be too cold, so it wasn’t suitable for you.” Su Zinong sighed.

"So what should we do? Do you have any ideas?" Mo Xiaohua asked anxiously.

"The solution is to try again here at the volcano. Try to let your true energy surge out and then draw it back into your body, exposing your true energy to this hot place to slowly clear away the cold toxins in your true energy," Su Zinong said.

"But I don't know this method of cleansing true qi, so I can't release it and I can't control it. I'm still only at the four-star cultivation level," Mo Xiaohua exclaimed.

“Since I started cultivating, I’ve been thinking about how to unleash true qi, so I have a pretty good grasp of it. However, I was only able to unleash a significant amount of true qi after reaching the fifth level. Later, I dropped to the fourth level, but because I had experience unleashing true qi before, I could still do so at the fourth level. Perhaps it’s only possible at the fifth level!” Su Zinong shook his head again.

"Could you help guide my true energy, help me expel it, cleanse it, and then reabsorb it?" Mo Xiaohua asked.

“We can give it a try,” Su Zinong nodded and said.

He placed his palms on Mo Xiaohua's back, and with his right hand, he slowly absorbed Mo Xiaohua's true energy into his own body and then let it flow out of his body. He rotated around and absorbed true energy from another acupoint, and then slowly transferred it back to Mo Xiaohua through his left hand.

The circulation of true qi seems simple, but it is quite difficult to perform. First, Mo Xiaohua must completely relax her body and cannot control her true qi in any way. Otherwise, if she gets excited or accidentally controls her true qi, all the cold poison may be forced into Su Zinong's body at once, or even all her true qi may be injected into Su Zinong's body, and she will lose her true qi cultivation.

Moreover, the true energy that Su Zinong inhaled from Mo Xiaohua contained poison, so he had to be careful not to let the cold poison invade his body, especially his internal organs and other important parts.

Su Zinong circulated his internal energy for two hours straight, then suddenly collapsed to the ground...