I CULTIVATED BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DEMON LORD

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CHAPTER 9: Pressure Points

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The flickering candlelight reflected in Little Lian's eyes, his pupils seeming to widen slightly with shock. His arms, which had been obediently folded a moment ago, pushed up to lift himself a palm's width off the cot, clearly intent on getting up and fleeing.

Chu Li pressed a hand firmly against the back of his neck, raising an eyebrow at him. "I haven't even started yet, and you're already losing your nerve? Dripping wax isn't anything to be afraid of."

Little Lian clearly didn't believe a word of it, his arms drawing in tight against his sides, his neck hunching down. "But the candle's hot."

Chu Li waved a hand with complete confidence. "I already tested it on myself just now. There won't be any problem."

As she leaned in closer with the candle, Little Lian's eyes filled with even more visible fear. He simply pressed his face down against the back of his hands, his voice edging toward tears. "Please, Sister, go easy on me."

His utterly braced-for-disaster expression was too much to resist, and Chu Li took the opportunity to let a single drop of wax fall onto his back.

His whole body jolted, a low, muffled whimper escaping him, and he stayed quiet for a long moment afterward.

Chu Li eyed him skeptically. "Was that really so hot?"

She lifted the candle a little higher, holding one hand out discreetly just above his back. "Let me try again."

She watched as the wax drop landed harmlessly in her own open palm this time, and yet Little Lian, apparently reacting purely to the faint "plip" sound of the wax falling, flinched all over again on reflex.

"Still too hot?" she asked, lips pursed in mild exasperation.

Little Lian, still lying face-down on the cot, nodded frantically, his soft hair swaying with the motion.

Torn between laughter and disbelief, Chu Li let out a long breath through her nose, rapping her knuckles lightly against his head. When he finally turned to look at her, she opened her palm to show him the small, hardened petal of wax sitting there. "I never actually let it fall on your back just now. What exactly were you burning from?"

Little Lian lifted his head off the cot, blinking for a moment, his gaze flickering uncertainly. "I'm sorry, Sister, I just..."

"I already told you, this is completely safe." Chu Li peeled the wax petal off her palm, showing him her unmarked hand, then, right in front of him, dipped a fingertip into the melted beeswax again. "So, will you behave now?"

Little Lian lowered his eyes and settled obediently back down, resigned to his fate.

Chu Li gave her storage bracelet a light shake, summoning the medical text Qi Ying had lent her and laying it open beside them for reference.

She scanned the illustrations for the pressure points she needed, then used her fingertip to locate the corresponding spots along Little Lian's back. "I'm going to drop three here. Don't move."

He let out a nervous, guilty little "mm" in response.

Chu Li counted the beats silently in her head and let three drops of wax fall in sequence.

Little Lian's fingers dug into the bamboo cot, doing his best to stay perfectly still, yet each time a drop landed on his back, a faint, involuntary tremor ran through him regardless, even his toes curling helplessly.

Once she'd completed the entire sequence, the candle in her hand burned down almost to its base, and only then did he ask, his voice muffled, "Sister, are you finished dripping the wax?"

"All done." Chu Li reached over and patted his shoulder.

Little Lian arched his back, about to sit up, only for her to stop him again. "Your back's covered in hardened wax. I need to clean it off first."

"Couldn't you just... handle that with a spell, Sister?" He sounded even more flustered than before, his voice taking on a strange, halting quality.

Chu Li pursed her lips. "Using magic for something like this would be no fun at all."

Besides, she was hoping to give him a proper massage while she was at it, to reinforce the effect of stimulating those pressure points.

She soaked a silk handkerchief in warm water, using it to soften the hardened wax on his back and wipe it clean, then dipped the cloth in water again and carefully wiped down every inch of his skin.

By all rights, wiping his back down should have felt far gentler than dripping wax onto it, but perhaps because of the wax treatment beforehand, his body had grown noticeably more sensitive, and he kept shifting slightly beneath her hands without meaning to.

Once she'd finished wiping him down with warm water, Chu Li rolled up the sleeves of her gauze robe, cracked each of her ten fingers in turn, and set to work on a full sequence of kneading, pinching, and rubbing along his back.

Little Lian, for his part, behaved exactly like some poor creature being thoroughly wrung out, unable even to whimper anymore, his back trembling on pure instinct alone.

Chu Li kept up the massage until her own hands ached, then finally stretched, satisfied. "You can get up now."

As she gathered up the small collection of tools scattered around the cot, she noticed Little Lian still lying perfectly still, not moving at all. Something felt off.

She helped pull his robe back up over his shoulders and gave him a small nudge, but he remained oddly unresponsive, entirely unlike himself.

A little worried now, she looped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him up off the cot, thoughtfully tugging his collar closed for him as she did.

Little Lian's eyes stayed closed, his face flushed as though he'd had too much wine, leaning heavily and hazily against her shoulder.

He reached one hand out in front of himself, fumbling, seemingly trying to tie his own robe closed, but somehow ended up catching hold of Chu Li's wrist instead.

He wasn't using much strength at all, though, and Chu Li's wrist slipped free from his grip with only the gentlest tug.

She sat back down at the edge of the cot and smoothed the hair back from his forehead, only then noticing a fine sheen of sweat there, his breathing turned unusually heavy.

He looked, for all the world, like he'd fallen ill.

But she'd followed the medical text exactly, hadn't done anything excessive to him at all. Surely he couldn't have exhausted himself this badly from that?

"Are you all right?" Chu Li pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and cheek, and found the skin there hotter, even, than the freshly melted beeswax had been. She started to rise at once. "Let me get some cold water to wipe your face down."

"...Don't move." The boy buried his face against the curve of her neck, his breath washing hot over the shell of her ear, his voice thick and slow, like honey too warm to hold its shape. "Just let me stay like this a little longer... that's all."

Chu Li found the whole thing rather strange, but if it hadn't been for everything she'd just put him through, he wouldn't have ended up in this state in the first place.

She sat quietly, waiting for him to recover, gently stroking the back of his head, a faint unease creeping over her all the while.

She had no idea how much time passed before Little Lian's breathing finally steadied, the heat in his face seeming to fade somewhat as well.

Chu Li let out a breath of relief. "Feeling better now?"

When he finally lifted his head, a hazy, unfocused fog seemed to linger in his eyes, sweat-damp strands of hair curling like dark ink around his ears, lending him an inexplicably otherworldly, almost eerie beauty. "Sister, I think I'm hungry."

Chu Li was rather taken aback. So the wax-dripping and massage combination boosted appetite too?

If that was the case, he'd end up absorbing even more spiritual energy through food, on top of whatever boost the pressure-point stimulation itself provided. The day he finally filled that spiritual deficit of his was clearly getting closer!

Unable to contain her excitement, she asked him eagerly, "Should we have a late-night snack, then?"

Bathed in the glow of the candlelight, the boy watched her without blinking, his throat working in a slow, restrained swallow, looking every bit like some starving little animal desperate to feed.

It was a long moment before his lips finally parted, and a single word slipped low from his throat. "...Yes."

The following morning, when Chu Li checked the Xuanzhu binding on Little Lian's wrist again, she found an additional length the size of a sesame seed had turned red, remarkable progress compared to the pinprick-sized changes from before.

By her own calculations, if she gave him this wax-and-massage treatment once a day, alongside his usual four spirit meals daily, it would take only another three months to fully close the remaining gap in his spiritual reserves.

When she excitedly brought up the idea of a daily wellness routine to Little Lian, his hands paused mid-motion, still tying his robe closed, and he muttered under his breath, "...Sister, are you trying to work me to death?"

"Why would you think that?" Chu Li took hold of his shoulders with both hands, leaning in to look at him earnestly. "Last night at your snack, you polished off an entire roasted rabbit and three whole bowls of fish soup. I never realized your appetite could be that impressive."

"...That was just the once." Little Lian turned his face aside, his thick lashes hiding his eyes. "I was simply very hungry last night."

"It's probably the wax-and-massage treatment working so well that it's given you such a big appetite." Chu Li reached an arm around his shoulder and gave his back a pat. "Once you're used to it, it won't wear you out so much."

"...But I don't want to get used to it." He turned slightly to one side, shrugging her hand off, his expression clearly uncomfortable. "If there's nothing else, Sister, I'd like to go for a walk outside."

"Where were you planning to walk to?" Chu Li called after him quickly, seeing him pull open the door.

"Nowhere in particular." Little Lian paused mid-step. "It's just too warm in here. I want some air in the courtyard."

Chu Li assumed she simply hadn't noticed the heat herself because of how lightly she was dressed, and let him go without further argument. "All right, go ahead."

She watched his slender figure disappear beyond the doorway, then something suddenly struck her as odd.

The back window was still open, and the air in the room was flowing freely, genuinely cool. Even wearing two layers of clothing, there was no reason he should have felt hot at all.

She chalked it up to a young man's naturally vigorous constitution, further stirred up by having his pressure points stimulated, likely speeding up his metabolism and making him feel warmer than usual, and didn't dwell on it further.

Once Little Lian had returned to rest, Chu Li set out at once to find Qi Ying, hoping to borrow a few more candles.

"You want these candles for wax-dripping again?" Qi Ying looked genuinely surprised. "Dripping hot wax onto someone actually stimulates their pressure points?"

Chu Li nodded with complete seriousness. "I tried it on my partner last night, and the results were remarkable. You should have seen him, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, and afterward he practically devoured an entire meal."

Qi Ying hesitated, pressing a finger to her temple. "The way you're describing it, I have to say... this wax-dripping method sounds a bit odd to me."

"What matters is that it works!" Chu Li waved a finger confidently, pacing a small circle, clearly pleased with herself. "Remember that Xuanzhu binding Elder Yu gave him? It turns red gradually every time he absorbs spiritual energy. Just last night alone, it turned red by roughly four times the usual amount."

Qi Ying looked half-convinced. "That effective?"

"Exactly, which is why I'm planning to do this every single night from now on." Chu Li looped an arm through Qi Ying's, widening her eyes pleadingly. "Dear sister, could you spare me a few more candles?"

"Not a problem at all." Qi Ying answered readily. "As a Core Formation stage disciple, I receive five candles a month from the sect. You're welcome to all of them."

Chu Li blinked, then waved her hands quickly. "No, that won't do, you need those candles for yourself."

Qi Ying didn't seem to mind in the least. "I barely burn candles anyway, only during the day, just for the fragrance. Such a waste otherwise. Might as well let you put them toward something more interesting."

Qi Ying brought over several candles, examined them for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How much candle do you burn through in one round of wax-dripping?"

Chu Li held up a finger, gesturing in the air to indicate a rough length. "About an inch. The piece you gave me yesterday was just over an inch, and it's already burned down to almost nothing."

Qi Ying laid the candles flat on the table, pointing them out to her. "These are only four inches long, and one complete round of wax-dripping uses up a full inch. Even if I gave you every candle I receive this month, it still wouldn't be enough."

Chu Li quickly caught the problem herself. "By that math, I'd be short two candles' worth every month."

"Under normal circumstances, I could ask around on your behalf, but the sect's been cracking down hard on private transfers of supplies lately. If we're caught, it'll stir up a whole hornet's nest of trouble." Qi Ying lowered her voice. "You absolutely cannot tell anyone I gave you these candles today, or neither of us will hear the end of it."

"Don't worry, this stays strictly between the two of us." Chu Li felt genuinely grateful, though a new worry quickly surfaced. "But if the sect's cracking down this hard, and there's no one left to ask for more candles, what am I supposed to do?"

"I might actually have an idea, if you're willing to try it." Qi Ying leaned in close, her voice turning conspiratorial. "I heard from Elder Lu, the one who tends the sect's bees, that a colony of wild spirit bees recently settled in the rear mountains. Beeswax happens to be exactly what spirit bees use to build their hives. If you could get your hands on a hive, wouldn't that give you all the beeswax you'd need to make your own candles?"

Chu Li found the suggestion more than a little alarming. "You're telling me to go steal a beehive, just to extract the wax myself?"

"Exactly." Qi Ying nodded. "What do you think?"

Chu Li's smile froze on her face.

...What did she think?

While she genuinely, sincerely hoped to resolve Little Lian's spiritual root deficiency as quickly as possible, so he could rightfully become her true partner, and while she was willing to take on a little risk toward that goal without much complaint...

Qi Ying was, quite literally, egging her on to go poke a beehive!

【Author's Note】

【Bonus scene】

Ji Wuyan: I'm hungry. I want to eat you...

Chu Li: You mean my cooking? No problem at all!

Ji Wuyan: chokes up

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Translator's Notes for Curious Readers 🤍

捅马蜂窝 ("poking a hornet's nest"): This chapter closes on a literal-slash-figurative pun. Qi Ying's suggestion to raid an actual beehive plays directly on the common idiom 捅马蜂窝, "to poke a hornet's nest," meaning to stir up serious trouble by meddling with something dangerous. The joke is that Chu Li is being asked to do this quite literally, not just figuratively.
推拿 (tuīná, therapeutic massage) and 艾灸 (àijiǔ, moxibustion) are both real components of traditional Chinese medicine, alongside acupuncture (针灸) and cupping (拔火罐), all mentioned by Qi Ying as legitimate, if increasingly intense, alternative methods for stimulating pressure points. The novel treats these as recognized medical techniques within its fantasy setting, consistent with how cultivators use "spiritual energy" and meridians as an extension of real TCM concepts.
玄朱结 (Xuanzhu binding): As established in Chapter 6, this cord tracks the wearer's progress in stabilizing their spirit root, turning gradually from black to red. This chapter marks the first time its rate of change becomes a plot-relevant detail, giving Chu Li a way to measure how effective her unconventional methods actually are.