"The technique is indeed powerful, but... how could This Mistress allow a filthy dog of a man to defile my pure and noble body?!" Ye Qingxuan's beautiful eyes turned gloomy.

The Yin Yang Demonic Art was truly a top-tier demonic cultivation technique, but its drawbacks were glaringly apparent.

Without the assistance of Yang energy to achieve Yin-Yang harmony, it could only be considered a rather ordinary technique. Worse, it could produce severe side effects on the practitioner.

Just like what Ye Qingxuan was experiencing now.

Initially, Ye Qingxuan believed that with her monstrous talent and comprehension, she could modify the Yin Yang Demonic Art to rid it of its dependence on Yang energy.

Facts, however, proved that she had underestimated this technique.

Or rather, she had overestimated herself.

This led to her current predicament: she was trapped. To start over and switch to cultivating other techniques now would come at a cost she simply could not accept.

Thus, Ye Qingxuan found herself in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.

"You wicked female demon, who would have thought you’d have a day like this!"

Watching Ye Qingxuan struggle painfully in the bathing pool, Han Lie thought to himself with a sense of schadenfreude.

Having watched for so long, Han Lie was gradually no longer satisfied with mere visual enjoyment.

How satisfying would it be to thoroughly humiliate this female demon, Ye Qingxuan?

Just imagining this scene made Han Lie's heart itch with anticipation.

Gulp.

"Who goes there?! Show yourself!"

Just as the sound of Han Lie swallowing dryly from a parched throat echoed, Ye Qingxuan in the pool suddenly became alert.

With a wave of her jade-like hand, the door to the bathing chamber swung open violently.

Han Lie, clad in coarse hemp clothes and as thin as dry firewood, was instantly reflected in Ye Qingxuan's beautiful eyes.

Meeting her gaze directly, Han Lie's heart seemed to stop. He was momentarily at a loss, frozen in place.

Only one thought flashed through his mind: It's over. My life is finished!

"It's you? You lowly wretch?!"

Seeing that the peeping tom outside the door was actually Han Lie, Ye Qingxuan felt a surge of both shame and fury. She hastily summoned a bath towel to cover her upper body.

The look she now directed at Han Lie was filled with cold, murderous intent.

"How dare a base dog slave like you lay eyes on This Mistress's body? This Mistress will sever every meridian in your body, strip off your filthy hide, gouge out your eyes, and nail you to a pillar to die in endless torment!"

Ye Qingxuan gritted her silver teeth, spitting out the words in anger. The towering rage in her eyes almost seemed to materialize into a physical force.

Ye Qingxuan had always viewed all male cultivators as maggots; how could she tolerate a man defiling her purity? Especially when this man was Han Lie, whom she considered lower than a dog.

Ye Qingxuan's furious words snapped Han Lie back to reality.

Perhaps due to the psychological shadow cast over the past century, when Ye Qingxuan issued her death threat, Han Lie genuinely felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss.

But then, a second thought struck him: Damn it, I only have a few days left to live anyway. Why should I fear your threats?

"Sect Leader, This Senior doesn't have much time left. Do you really think I am still afraid?"

Having muddled through life for over a hundred and ten years, Han Lie chose this moment to be a real man for once.

He looked directly into Ye Qingxuan's icy yet breathtakingly beautiful eyes, utterly unafraid, and spoke with extraordinary audacity. "Hiding here amusing yourself with such a marvelous body is truly a waste."

"Sect Leader, how about letting this old servant assist you in your cultivation?"

After speaking, Han Lie's heart began pounding violently once more.

He had never spoken such bold, audacious words in front of Ye Qingxuan in his entire life.

"You seek death!"

"This Mistress will crush you like the insect you are!"

To Ye Qingxuan, killing Han Lie would be as simple as crushing an ant.

But just as she mobilized the spiritual energy within her body to crush him...

Her head suddenly buzzed. The spiritual energy she had just gathered dissipated uncontrollably in an instant.

Simultaneously, an intense desire—a feeling of emptiness, loneliness, and a craving for the Yang energy of a male cultivator—surged from the depths of her heart.

It rendered her body weak and powerless in an instant.

"How can this be...!?"

Ye Qingxuan supported her forehead with her hand, her eyes gloomy, her heart filled with both shock and fear.

She could clearly feel that intense craving for male Yang energy crashing against her reason like a tidal wave.

This was the Yin Yang Demonic Art acting up!

When she first started cultivating it, Ye Qingxuan could still suppress this desire. But as time passed, the Yin Yang Demonic Art, lacking the nourishment of Yang energy, grew increasingly desperate for it.

It had reached a breaking point where Ye Qingxuan could no longer rely on her own willpower to suppress the desire. This was also why she had appeared so tormented earlier.

She wanted to kill Han Lie, but the Yin Yang Demonic Art—starved of Yang energy for years—was driving her, instilling an impulse and desire to extract Han Lie's Yang energy through Dual Cultivation.

Even though the Han Lie before her was just a wretched old man.

In simpler terms: due to the lack of Yang energy nourishment, Ye Qingxuan was now teetering on the verge of Qi Deviation.

Ye Qingxuan's sudden change also left Han Lie—who had already steeled himself for death—utterly bewildered.

Although he didn't understand exactly what was happening to her, he sensed that the current Ye Qingxuan seemed unable to kill him.

Otherwise, given her ruthless methods, he would have already been ground to dust by now.

This realization made Han Lie grow even bolder.

He stepped closer, inching towards Ye Qingxuan in the pool while speaking. "Sect Leader, do you know how This Senior spent his century in the Heavenly Void Sect?"

"I won't go into details. One swallows broken teeth and endures bitterness known only to oneself."

"My lifespan is nearing its end; my days are few. My final wish was merely to have a young woman accompany this old man in his twilight years—a wish you agreed to."

"So why are you hiding here cultivating, completely disregarding my final wish?"

"So... this is why you lowly wretch appeared here?!"

Flames seemed to shoot from Ye Qingxuan's eyes as she angrily rebuked him. "Halt right there! Take another step forward and it will lead straight to endless hell!"

"Endless hell?"

Han Lie sneered, completely disregarding Ye Qingxuan's threat and continuing his advance. "For This Senior, the past century in the Heavenly Void Sect has been the true endless hell!"

"Having endured endless hell for over a hundred years, why would I fear another endless hell now?"

"Sect Leader, This Senior also understands your need to cultivate. So, I no longer demand that you bestow upon this servant any young woman. Let this old man assist you in your cultivation just once. Consider that as having fulfilled my final wish. How about it?"

As he spoke...

Han Lie had already taken heavy steps and arrived directly behind Ye Qingxuan.