As the knife hovers above, I am but the fish on the chopping board.

Such was the predicament of Qing Muling, facing the seething, humiliated Mu Yinghua, his options were severely limited.

With a sigh in his heart, Qing Muling no longer pleaded for mercy. He closed his eyes and lay flat, ready to accept the punishment from the Sect Master.

Who would have thought that after a long wait, the expected storm never came. Qing Muling opened his eyes in surprise to find Mu Yinghua leaning over, examining him with a complex look in her beautiful eyes, while the softly menacing whip lay quietly beside her.

“Sect Master…”

Qing Muling called out cautiously, unsure of what Mu Yinghua was contemplating. It seemed, perhaps, he might be spared the beating?

Mu Yinghua hesitated, then finally whispered softly, “If it’s just to help me improve my cultivation, those things… are not entirely out of the question. It’s just that you’re too mischievous, I really can’t trust you.”

“…I promise I won’t harbor any ulterior motives.”

Upon hearing there was a chance, Qing Muling quickly swore an oath, determined to get past this hurdle first.

Mu Yinghua’s beautiful face flushed with a cold laugh, “Dream on! I can’t trust your promises.”

As the only female immortal to have witnessed the transformation of the Harmony Spirit Seed, how could she not know Qing Muling’s nature? He had long harbored thoughts about her, and she could not give him the opportunity, not even if he begged!

Of course, for the sake of her own Great Golden Immortal Dao fruit, proper cultivation was essential. Some close contact with him for legitimate reasons should be acceptable.

Mu Yinghua assured herself, not overthinking it. It was all for the sake of cultivation.

“So… what do you mean, Sect Master?”

Qing Muling blinked, looking at the stunning beauty just a short distance away.

“Just sit still, don’t move, and don’t look around! I’ll take care of the rest.”

Mu Yinghua helped him sit up straight, warning him with a solemn expression.

“Alright.”

Qing Muling could only agree. If he didn’t want to be whipped by the Sect Master, he had to behave.

“Then, wear this.”

Mu Yinghua took out a black eye mask that glimmered with spiritual light from her Space Bracelet. It seemed to be her own creation, with faint complex patterns that resembled the lace Qing Muling was familiar with, delicate and mysteriously enticing, clearly a labor of love.

“Uh…”

Qing Muling instinctively said, “This suits you very well, Sect Master. It would be more fitting for you to wear it…”

The sudden surge of murderous intent from the beauty made him wisely hold his tongue.

“Behave and listen!”

Mu Yinghua huffed, taking out a golden shackle that looked just as exquisite and gently placed it on Qing Muling’s wrist.

“…”

What could Qing Muling say? It seemed the Sect Master had long anticipated this day and was well-prepared. He was not allowed to look or move!

Then, Mu Yinghua personally put the eye mask on him.

Thus, Qing Muling felt the world around him quiet down. With the spiritual perception of an ordinary Feather Transformation Realm cultivator, it was impossible to hear, see, or sense anything. These two items were indeed supreme treasures; he estimated that even a peak Elemental Immortal would not be able to break their confinement.

Could the phantom of the Blue Lotus leaf’s divine ability break through the confinement of these two supreme treasures?

Qing Muling’s thoughts stirred, and the dark world lit up again, which he then carefully controlled. With the acute perception of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, he wasn’t sure he could keep Mu Yinghua from noticing.

Having prepared Qing Muling, Mu Yinghua finally relaxed her shy and nervous mind, looked around, and said, “There’s no time acceleration formation here, let’s go to the secret chamber.”

She conveyed this to Qing Muling through spiritual sense. Although he couldn’t hear or see, he could passively receive, so he nodded.

What’s this called? A secret chamber… that sort of training?

Mu Yinghua stepped forward, lifted the beautiful youth from the bed, and came to the study. The ancient spirit jade bookshelf silently parted to the sides, revealing a narrow secret passage behind.

After entering for several steps, the space suddenly opened up to a new world. Aside from a bed of eternal warm jade in the center, the spacious hall was empty, with intricate and profound formation patterns on the jade-like floor.

This was Mu Yinghua’s usual place of cultivation, with the spiritual vein beneath the ground and the spiritual energy supplied by the formation being of the highest standard, a place untouched by others.

Mu Yinghua placed him on the bed, skillfully executed a series of spiritual seals, activating the formations on the floor and walls layer by layer. In an instant, the space was filled with swirling winds, and strands of visible spiritual essence emerged, while various shielding, protective, and time acceleration formations began to operate.

After hesitating, Mu Yinghua slowly loosened her jade belt, shedding her gorgeous robes, revealing a body that could turn all beings upside down. The perfect shape of her full bosom was astonishing yet firm, like inverted jade bowls.

Thinking that her disciple could see nothing at the moment, and with the whip placed on the bed, she felt a sense of security and her embarrassment eased a lot. She then climbed onto the bed with her smooth, shapely legs and sat across from Qing Muling, stripping him clean.

And so, they faced each other in their true forms.

“Alright, let’s begin!”

“Yes, Sect Master.”

As Qing Muling silently operated his profound technique, a pure and profound light slowly emerged, expanding to a radius of ten meters before gradually solidifying and enveloping him and Mu Yinghua in a bright halo.

Soon, the Light of Dao Enlightenment began to collapse inward, shrinking to just a meter in radius. Simultaneously, the concentration of Dao Rhyme within the light also increased.

“Hmm, not bad! But… it could be improved a bit more, right?”

Mu Yinghua, pleased yet still wanting more, said.

“What do you plan to do, Sect Master?”

Knowing her intentions, Qing Muling did not point them out.

Mu Yinghua answered with action, stretching out her arm to pull the beautiful youth into her embrace, further reducing the range of the Light of Dao Enlightenment and thereby increasing the concentration of the Dao Rhyme.

Feeling the faint fragrance from behind, Qing Muling’s inner flame uncontrollably ignited.

This situation of not being able to hear or see, while being restrained, actually offered a unique thrill, though it couldn’t be openly discussed.

“Focus on cultivation, no wandering thoughts!”

Mu Yinghua’s soft voice trembled slightly, her gaze avoiding as she looked towards the whip placed beside her.

“Yes, Sect Master!”

Qing Muling focused his mind, adjusting the range of the Light of Dao Enlightenment.

When the light stabilized again, Mu Yinghua estimated that the effect of ten days of seclusion with her disciple was roughly equivalent to three hundred years of her solitary cultivation.

Such an incredible efficiency surpassed most of the treasures and wonders she knew. If she could continue to cultivate like this, not to mention the Great Golden Immortal Dao fruit, even the Quasi Holy Emperor realm was not out of reach!

No wonder Xuebing Xuan and the others were so eager, always pulling Qing Muling into seclusion at every opportunity, and even the newly arrived Dragon Ritual Princess was no exception. Such a heaven-defying opportunity was something no sane female immortal could refuse.

After a while, Mu Yinghua calmed her excited emotions and whispered, “The important matter of transporting resources from the Misty Illusion Secret Realm cannot be delayed. Let’s try a thousandfold time acceleration for a day and see the effect. We’ll end it after that.”

One day of seclusion in the time acceleration formation was equivalent to a thousand days, or about thirty thousand years of her own cultivation.

“Alright, Sect Master.”

Qing Muling remained compliant.

Mu Yinghua smiled, tightening her arm around Qing Muling. If her disciple could always be as obedient as now, she wouldn’t have to go to such lengths to guard against him.

Time flies in cultivation, and a thousand days passed in a blink.

As the formations in the secret chamber were shut down one by one, Mu Yinghua reluctantly let go of the beautiful youth in her arms, got up from the bed, dressed herself, and cleared all traces on the bed before removing Qing Muling’s eye mask.

When Qing Muling opened his eyes again, Mu Yinghua had already returned to her dignified and inviolable Sect Master image, her beautiful face showing no emotion, indistinguishable from any other day.

“Tired? Need more rest?”

Thinking of her own increased cultivation, Mu Yinghua felt a bit guilty, having worked her disciple so hard. She couldn’t let him suffer too much, so she asked softly.

“It’s fine, as long as Sect Master is pleased.”

Qing Muling didn’t point out the obvious. After all, he had just been lying down for the process, with the Sect Master doing all the work. He just had to close his eyes and experience it.

Mu Yinghua’s face blushed slightly as she released the shackles from his wrist and put them back into the Space Bracelet.

Of course, she also collected the eye mask and the whip, preparing them for the next cultivation session.

After pondering, Mu Yinghua solemnly instructed, “You mustn’t let your senior sisters know about this. In the future… if I need to cultivate, I will summon you alone under the guise of guiding your practice, understand?”

Even if she couldn’t do without Qing Muling, the Sect Master’s image and dignity had to be maintained, so Mu Yinghua never intended to let Xuebing Xuan and the others know the truth. After all, she was Qing Muling’s legitimate Sect Master, and it was only right for her to guide his cultivation alone.

Qing Muling agreed, then asked, “How much has your cultivation increased, Sect Master? You must be close to the Daluo realm, right?”

“Not bad, I’ve increased by one grade,”

Mu Yinghua’s eyes were filled with joy she couldn’t hide: “If I can cultivate like this a few dozen more times, I might reach the threshold of the Great Golden Immortal realm.”

Unlike ordinary True Immortals and Xuan Immortals, the levels of cultivation above Golden Immortals are measured by grades. Golden Immortals have thirty-three grades, corresponding to the thirty-three heavens. Taiyi Golden Immortals are at the ninth grade, and Great Golden Immortals are at the third grade. Beyond that lies the Quasi Holy Emperor realm.

According to Mu Yinghua, she had just reached the edge of the ninth-grade Taiyi Golden Immortal, still six grades away from the Daluo realm. If she were to cultivate step by step without special opportunities and massive fortune to aid her, it would take hundreds of millions of years to complete this process.

Of course, many Taiyi Golden Immortals, due to insufficient talent, potential, or lack of fortune, often remain stuck in this realm for life, unable to touch the threshold of the Daluo realm.

With Mu Yinghua’s original talent and fortune, the chances of advancing to the Great Golden Immortal realm within her lifetime were not great, at most ten to twenty percent. But now, with Qing Muling’s help, it was a matter of time, as inevitable as water flowing into a channel.

“Alright, shall we go out now? The Emperors are probably back.”

Qing Muling dressed and asked.

Although it was just proper cultivation and nothing too outrageous had happened with the Sect Master, it was a good start, and his wishes would eventually be fulfilled sooner or later.

Mu Yinghua smiled, “I was so busy with cultivation, I almost forgot to tell you the important news! A few days ago, Ice Toad Emperor from Origin Star Palace led a large group of high-level cultivators to break through the main gate of the Armillary Sphere Star Palace, completely destroying this Supreme Dao Lineage that had been inherited for nearly ten million years, and then did the same to the Azure Fall Divine Sect.”

“Really?”

Qing Muling asked in surprise, hearing this news for the first time. It seemed that the strength of Origin Star Palace was not to be underestimated, having annihilated two Supreme Dao Lineages in one fell swoop.

Even if they had been severely damaged in the previous calamity of the Magic Clan and had not yet recovered, it still showed the terror of Origin Star Palace.

Mu Yinghua nodded, “Absolutely true. After the news spread, all the Dao Lineage powers in the Great Void were shocked. Many forces that had participated in the looting of Origin Star Palace sent envoys with generous gifts to apologize, hoping that Ice Toad Emperor would show mercy.”

Qing Muling laughed, “Fortunately, our Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace didn’t get involved in this matter, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Hopefully.”

Mu Yinghua’s eyes showed a hint of melancholy and worry. Indeed, she had not participated in that event, but she had taken the most precious Harmony Spirit Seed from Origin Star Palace, which was Qing Muling. How could Origin Star Palace let her go? Let Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace go?

If Ice Toad Emperor knew that Qing Muling was on Imperial Dao Peak of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, perhaps the army of Origin Star Palace would be at the main gate tomorrow!

Dare not hand him over? Then Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace could wait to follow in the footsteps of Armillary Sphere Star Palace!

However, Qing Muling, while concerned, was not particularly apprehensive. As long as he could reach the Great Golden Immortal or even the Quasi Holy Emperor realm soon, even Ice Toad Emperor herself would not be able to do anything to him.

After talking for a while, master and disciple left the secret chamber hand in hand.