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

“That won’t do,” Su Zinong strongly objected. “You’re affected by the drugs, but I’m not. If everyone blames me, it’ll be unfair.”

But before Su Zinong could finish speaking, Qin Xiangxue was already eating the fire lingzhi. She took a bite of the lingzhi and a sip of yellow wine, seemingly enjoying it immensely.

"You...you don't think I'm joking. You'll know you're wrong in a moment!" Su Zinong shook his head helplessly.

"I don't care!" Qin Xiangxue kept eating.

Su Zinong ignored her, took out the gall bladder of the spirit beast Fire Qilin and swallowed it, then snatched the yellow wine from Qin Xiangxue and drank a few mouthfuls to swallow it.

An hour later, Su Zinong's internal energy roared and surged, and he actually rose a small realm, reaching the late stage of the fourth star.

"Huh?" Qin Xiangxue said angrily, "How come I haven't even advanced yet, but you have already? I should have swapped with you; you would have eaten the Ganoderma lucidum and I would have eaten the snake gall!"

“It’s not an ordinary snake gall, it’s the gall of a spirit beast. Your Fire Spirit Mushroom is about to take effect. Do you feel anything special now?” Su Zinong asked.

"It's just that it's a bit hot after eating, and my whole body is slightly itchy." Qin Xiangxue's face was flushed, and she twisted her body uncomfortably as she murmured, her voice becoming low.

Seeing that something was wrong, Su Zinong quickly went out of the cave and found many long vines.

"What are you going to do, Brother Zinong..." Qin Xiangxue asked in a drawn-out voice.

"You'll see soon enough," Su Zinong said helplessly. "I told you not to eat like that, but you wouldn't listen!"

Then something strange happened: Qin Xiangxue kept saying she was hot and wanted to loosen her clothes. Su Zinong reacted quickly, hugging her from behind to stop her from taking off her clothes.

Unexpectedly, as Su Zinong embraced her, waves of masculine scent and body heat emanated from him, making Qin Xiangxue's condition worse. She murmured, "Zinong, Zinong, come quickly..."

Without hesitation, Su Zinong grabbed a vine, wrapped it around Qin Xiangxue, tied her up, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and carried her out of the cave. After searching for half an hour, he found a pool of water in a small mountain stream and threw Qin Xiangxue into it.

After a while, Qin Xiangxue finally came to her senses and opened her eyes wide, saying, "Why am I in this water? Su Zinong, why did you tie me up? And why did you throw me into the water! Let me go, or I'll kill you!"

“I warned you,” Su Zinong called out, turning his head. “But you wouldn’t listen. This Fire Spirit Mushroom is too potent. You should only take one bite a day and finish it in ten days. But you kept taking bite after bite, to the point that you were burning with lust and even tried to insult me. I’m being lenient by not sending you to the authorities for questioning! Don’t worry, a soak in water will sober you up. Back in my hometown, when the hens wouldn’t lay eggs, we would put them in a coop and soak them in water, and the effect was amazing…”

"Su! Zinong! You just wait and see!" Qin Xiangxue was so angry she was practically fuming, her teeth grinding to dust.

"Stop saying such hurtful things. Hurry up and practice your skills. Whether you can advance to a higher realm depends on now," Su Zinong reminded her.

Soaking in the cold water, Qin Xiangxue indeed regained her senses. After practicing her skills for an hour, she circulated the medicinal power of the Fire Spirit Mushroom within her body, and with a boom, she advanced to a minor realm.

Su Zinong untied Qin Xiangxue.

Qin Xiangxue was very happy; she had actually advanced a minor realm in just two or three months of training!

If she had known this would happen, why had she been staying at home all this time? She seemed to have forgotten that Su Zinong had just tied her up and thrown her into the water. She hugged Su Zinong and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ah! Has the drug worn off yet? Don't move, let me tie you up again!" Su Zinong said anxiously.

"Tie your head up! It's okay, I'm just happy right now." Qin Xiangxue said smugly.

"You must cultivate diligently these next two days, transforming the power of the Ganoderma lucidum within your body into your own true energy. Don't waste its precious resources," Su Zinong reminded him.

"Okay." Qin Xiangxue smiled sweetly.

Su Zinong felt his cheeks burning and his heart pounding as he recalled her outburst. He was worried that he might have lost control of himself.

"You're a gentleman, but also a fool," Qin Xiangxue aptly summarized.

The two stayed near the cave and practiced their skills for three days.

Su Zinong appeared to be laughing and joking, but in reality, he had many thoughts and doubts, mainly in two aspects:

First, there's that purple jade pendant that I've worn since I was a child, but I don't know where it came from. Could it be related to my background?

Moreover, the purple jade pendant had been missing ever since it fell into the sinkhole. When it came out, the pendant was gone. Since the sinkhole was rarely visited by people, could it be that the old immortal brought it out? But why was it placed in a cave on this sacred mountain?

Then there's the Fire-type Qilin spirit beast. Why does it become docile and stop attacking me when it sees me, but becomes extremely fierce when it sees Qin Xiangxue?

Su Zinong had a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, but he still couldn't figure it out, so he eventually gave up trying to think about it.

"Don't think too much, it will make you age faster," Qin Xiangxue said.

Two days later, Su Zinong and Qin Xiangxue arrived in Nancheng.

This is a large city in the south, bustling with people.

Qin Xiangxue said she wanted to treat Su Zinong to dinner.

“I’ll treat you!” Su Zinong said. “I’m not used to letting girls pay for my meals.”

"I've heard that the poorer people are, the more likely they are to make grandiose claims," ​​Qin Xiangxue said with a smile.

Now that she's much more familiar with Su Zinong, she speaks without restraint, saying whatever comes to mind without considering the consequences.

Su Zinong didn't mind; speaking like that was how one truly considered someone a good friend.

"Compared to your families of cultivators, I am naturally penniless, but I can always afford a meal." As he spoke, he pulled out several silver notes worth ten thousand taels from his pocket.

"Wow, when did you become so rich? I only brought 30,000 taels with me when I went out, and you have 60,000 taels. You're much richer than me. You'll cover all my meals from now on!" Qin Xiangxue said.

"Tch, I'm not your husband, do you expect me to support you for the rest of your life? I'll only cover today!" Su Zinong made it clear first.

"It's really hard to trick you!" Qin Xiangxue sighed.

After having dinner at the city's largest restaurant, Qin Xiangxue asked, "Where are we going next?"

“I heard you mention the tragedy that happened at Honghe Manor. It’s not far, maybe a hundred miles or so. I want to go and see it!” Su Zinong said.

"Oh, you planned to go all along! No wonder you chose this deserted road and refused to turn back. Fine, go ahead, it doesn't matter where you go," Qin Xiangxue said.

"Ah, you agreed so easily! I had prepared a whole bunch of reasons to convince you! Being so obedient is so unusual!" Su Zinong said.

"You're so hard to please. When I don't listen to you, you say I'm naughty, but when I listen to you, you say I'm acting strangely. I'm really caught in the middle!" Qin Xiangxue said.

Honghe Mountain Villa is located 130 li south of Nancheng.

This villa truly lives up to its name; it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only the main entrance facing the main road.

"Let's take a walk around the villa first," Su Zinong said. He had a habit of walking around the perimeter of any place he visited first.

Qin Xiangxue agreed, but she didn't know why Su Zinong wanted to go for a walk.

Walking behind Honghe Mountain Villa, we found a back door that was almost as big as the front door, leading to a winding path.

Su Zinong shook his head and continued walking forward.

Honghe Mountain Villa is very large; it took almost an hour to walk around it.

Just as the two finished their walk around and returned to the main gate to pay their respects, a clanging sound of metal clashing suddenly came from inside the manor, as if someone was fighting with swords.

"It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?" Su Zinong frowned and said, "Let's go in and take a look..."