I CULTIVATED BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DEMON LORD

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CHAPTER 19: The Kiss

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In One Hundred Positions You Need to Know About Dual Cultivation, the former sect master had once described an example of a standoff between partners.

At the time, the former sect master had been thoroughly absorbed in sect business, leaving her own partner feeling neglected. Out of spite, he'd refused to respond to her message jade slip for three straight days.

The former sect master's solution had been to pin him down on the bed and kiss him forcefully, until his whole body went weak and pliant, his mind hazy, submitting to her fully, body and heart alike.

The partner in that story had shown resistance much like Little Lian's own, though Little Lian's temperament was noticeably fiercer by comparison.

Which meant that, in applying this particular method to her own situation, Chu Li made sure to be far gentler with him.

She didn't restrain him in any way. If he'd wanted to turn his head aside, it would have been effortless.

But he didn't.

In this position, Chu Li could taste the faint, briny tang of blood on his lips.

The taste wasn't pleasant, and part of her wanted to pull away entirely, but before she could, the boy leaned in a full inch closer of his own accord.

The pressure against her lips grew suddenly, unmistakably more insistent, and Chu Li blinked, caught off guard.

Already burdened with guilt, she initially found it easy enough to allow Little Lian this reversal, letting him take the lead.

But she quickly sensed something was wrong.

If the boy had, until a moment ago, been like a fish stranded on shore, thrashing weakly toward death, then he now seemed to have seized the very source of life itself, drawing deeply and deliberately from her lips as though he'd been planning exactly this all along.

Chu Li, it turned out, wasn't nearly as steady as she'd believed herself to be. Under the boy's retaliatory, almost punishing hunger, dizziness crept over her within moments.

The lightheadedness spread through her entire body, and soon she could no longer tell whether it came from the kiss itself, or from something else entirely.

Instinctively, she reached one hand up to grip his shoulder, seeking some kind of support, while her other hand clutched desperately at the front of her own robe, gasping for more air.

Her nose wasn't blocked at all, and yet her breathing still felt hopelessly constrained, as though some vital strength were slipping away from her, being drawn straight out through her own mouth by the boy.

The hand gripping his shoulder tightened further without her meaning it to, her fingertips digging through the fabric of his robe, searching for some anchor point in what felt like an endless, formless sea.

She wasn't sure how much force she'd used, but she must have hurt him somehow, because just as she felt herself on the verge of losing consciousness entirely, her lips were suddenly pried apart, and a sharp, stinging pain shot through the tip of her tongue, as though bitten hard.

Then, all at once, the pressure at her lips vanished, her body simultaneously losing every ounce of strength, and without even managing to cry out from the sudden pain, she toppled backward and hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Chu Li couldn't tell whether the floor beneath her or her own hands felt colder. Her whole body trembled, curling in on itself instinctively, as though she'd just been pulled from an inferno straight into the deepest cold of winter.

"...Sister?"

Little Lian seemed to have snapped back to his usual self, dropping to his knees and shuffling over to her side, hesitantly nudging her body with both hands.

He seemed to be saying something further, and though Chu Li could technically hear his voice, an unprecedented exhaustion warped everything reaching her ears into something distorted and unfamiliar.

She felt as though she'd been tossed straight into the heart of a thunderstorm, the world flickering bright and dark before her eyes, a persistent, ringing rumble echoing endlessly in her ears.

What was happening to her?

Just as Chu Li's mind swam in confusion, a piercing crane's cry sliced through her hearing, and a moment later, a ginger-yellow figure rushed to her side like a bolt of lightning. "I only stepped away to calm Dandan down for a moment, why are you suddenly collapsed on the floor?"

Chu Li's head was still ringing from the crane's cry, and she raised a weak, trembling hand, struggling to cover her ears. "Why does Dandan have to be so loud..."

The tall, lanky crane came to a stop beside her, then bent its long neck down, nudging her shoulder gently with its hard beak, as though trying to help her sit up.

Chu Li patted weakly at the ground with one hand. "Stop nudging me, that's not going to get me up any faster..."

Qi Ying pulled out a small vial and shook a single white pill into Chu Li's mouth. "This is a spirit-recovery pill, it should help clear your head. Don't swallow it, just let it dissolve in your mouth!"

The pill's smell was sharper than mustard, and the moment it touched her tongue, a steady chill spread through her entire throat, leaving her fighting off the urge to cough.

Qi Ying quickly pulled out her message jade slip. "I'll ask Elder Yu to come take a look at you right away!"

After a round of emergency measures, Chu Li was helped back into bed by Qi Ying and Little Lian together.

Once Elder Yu arrived, she first examined both Chu Li and Little Lian in turn, then asked Little Lian and Qi Ying to step out so she could speak with Chu Li privately.

"Chu Lian's fine, just a little shaken. I've already lit calming incense in the room, and burning it for three full days and nights should help settle his emotions completely. As for you—" Elder Yu let out a sigh. "Didn't I already warn you not to rush into cultivating with him?"

Chu Li was propped up against the headboard, sipping a bowl of medicine, and at Elder Yu's words, very nearly choked on the mouthful entirely.

She coughed, covering her mouth, and managed to clarify between coughs, "Elder Yu, this disciple... hasn't cultivated with him yet."

Elder Yu pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the medicine from the corner of Chu Li's mouth. "When I checked your pulse just now, I found clear signs of spiritual energy having been forcibly drawn out of you, while he shows signs of energy rushing rapidly into his own system. What exactly did the two of you do, before I arrived?"

Chu Li's mind went straight to the kiss, though she felt far too embarrassed to describe it in such detail in front of Elder Yu, and stammered instead, "This disciple was only trying to tend to his wound..."

"The wound on his lip?" Elder Yu smiled faintly. "Then tell me, how exactly did you go about tending to that wound?"

"This disciple used... a method described by the former sect master, in that book." Chu Li's voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke, feeling her usual embarrassment threatening to overwhelm her entirely, her feet practically trying to dig a tunnel through the blanket to escape on the spot.

Elder Yu seemed to see straight through the whole thing. "It seems you've been quite diligent lately, not only studying up at the library, but applying what you've learned as well."

Chu Li nodded rapidly, over and over, silently hoping Elder Yu wouldn't press the topic any further.

Fortunately, Elder Yu let the matter drop.

"When you first joined this sect, you told us you were born with a weak constitution, and that this was why you turned to cultivation, to extend your life. Five years have passed since then, and now, at last, you've found yourself a partner." Elder Yu sat at the edge of the bed, her gaze drifting off as though recalling something from long ago. "I hope things go well for you, Xiao Li."

Touched, Chu Li nonetheless felt her fingers curl anxiously. "About this disciple's weak constitution, would you be willing not to mention it to him? I'd rather not have him worrying over it."

"It's not that I don't understand your reasoning." Elder Yu spoke earnestly. "But have you considered that if your foundation weren't already so fragile, having Chu Lian draw on your spiritual energy the way he did just now wouldn't have caused such a severe reaction? Do you really intend to keep this from him?"

"This is my own matter to deal with, in the end." Chu Li smiled, a little embarrassed. "Once I've established my foundation, I won't need to worry about any of this any longer."

"Very well. Since your mind's made up, I won't interfere any further. But you must remember, until his spirit root has fully stabilized, you cannot risk any further intimate contact with him." Elder Yu offered a solemn warning before leaving. "Otherwise, you may not even manage to hold onto your fifth level of Qi refining cultivation."

Chu Li thanked her repeatedly.

It wasn't until Elder Yu's figure had disappeared entirely that something suddenly struck her.

...Fifth level?

She'd woken up that very morning still at the fifth level of Qi refining!

But Elder Yu's expression had been so grave, nothing like she was exaggerating for effect, and a healer as careful and measured as her wouldn't joke about something like this.

Chu Li felt an overwhelming wave of dismay.

A single kiss with Little Lian, and she'd already dropped straight from the fifth level of Qi refining down to the fourth, her already meager cultivation now taking yet another hit on top of everything else!

Frustrated, Chu Li kept tugging at the corner of her blanket when the boy returned to the inner chamber, calling out to her softly, "Sister, did I do something wrong again?"

"How could you possibly have done anything wrong?" Chu Li reached out on instinct to pat the back of his hand, only for him to quietly pull it away, tucking it back at his side, as though deliberately avoiding her touch.

Chu Li's own hand froze mid-air over the bed, and she looked up at him blankly.

Little Lian kept his head lowered, saying nothing for a long while.

His complexion had regained a faint healthy flush thanks to her spiritual energy, and the wound on his lip had already been smoothed over by Elder Yu's healing spell, but his cheeks remained noticeably thin, his whole presence carrying an unmistakable air of low spirits.

Chu Li remembered he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

She began thinking about stewing something delicious for him that evening, both to nourish him and to mend the mood between them, but then remembered he'd just absorbed a substantial burst of spiritual energy and likely wouldn't have much appetite for solid food anytime soon.

...What about just a bit of soup, then?

Nothing soothed a troubled young heart quite like a steaming bowl of fresh bamboo shoot and old duck soup.

Just as Forty-Nine Techniques to Tame Him had put it, warming someone's heart started with warming their stomach.

Chu Li made up her mind at once, getting out of bed to head out and dig up some fresh bamboo shoots.

Before Little Lian could stop her, Qi Ying appeared at exactly the right moment, blocking the doorway. "You've only just recovered. Where do you think you're going now? What if you exhaust yourself and end up passing out again?"

"I already finished all of Elder Yu's medicine. I'm perfectly fine now." To prove her point, Chu Li lifted her arms and twisted her waist as though performing warm-up exercises. "I'm going to dig up some fresh bamboo shoots, to make Little Lian some soup."

"...I'll come with you, Sister." The boy stepped forward quickly, then stopped himself a full three feet away.

He pressed his lips together, his hands retreating into his sleeves and clasping together at his waist, looking distinctly uneasy.

"One of you nearly fainted, and the other just got badly startled by lightning. Even together, I wouldn't feel right letting the two of you go alone." Qi Ying patted her own chest. "I'm coming with you both!"

Chu Li had a bad feeling about this. "...And Dandan?"

The words had barely left her mouth when a high, resonant crane's cry sounded from the courtyard.

Under Chu Li's frozen stare, Qi Ying clapped her hands together happily. "Dandan says he wants to come along too!"

Riding high atop the crane's back, Chu Li watched Little Lian walking silently to her left, head down, while Qi Ying bounced along cheerfully on her right.

The scene felt oddly, uncomfortably familiar, as though she'd witnessed the exact same thing just yesterday.

Chu Li rubbed her temples, a headache building.

The three of them, plus one crane, made their way out of the courtyard together, heading east toward the bamboo grove.

The storm clouds had cleared less than half an hour ago, and yet the fallen, splintered trees that had once blocked the path had already been completely cleared away.

Chu Li had to admit, the Bliss Sect's dedication to maintaining its grounds bordered on the alarming, as though even the slightest delay in cleanup would somehow tarnish the sect's reputation.

Still, they encountered no one else the entire way.

As they passed through the busiest crossroads in the sect, the wide open space stood strangely empty, only a handful of scattered female disciples hurrying along with singular focus, seemingly not even registering the enormous crane in their midst.

Chu Li glanced around, puzzled. "Where has everyone gone?"

Qi Ying looked equally confused. "I was wondering the same thing."

As they crossed the small bridge leading east, a group of unfamiliar cultivators happened to be crossing from the opposite bank.

White robes, tall formal caps binding their hair, swords never leaving their hands.

The image struck an immediate, unsettling chord of recognition in Chu Li's memory.

...The Sky Sword Sect?

They'd never had any dealings with the Bliss Sect before. Why would they suddenly send a delegation now?

The Sky Sword Sect was, after all, the very sect the story's overpowered male lead belonged to, the same male lead the original body had first drugged with an aphrodisiac, then followed up by force-feeding a laxative...

And on top of that, her missing message jade slip was still nowhere to be found.

A quiet unease settled over Chu Li.

She had no idea what business had actually brought the Sky Sword Sect here, but avoiding them carefully seemed like the wisest course of action regardless.

Chu Li practically flattened herself against the crane's back, whispering urgently to Qi Ying, "Ah Ying, can we take a different route?"

Qi Ying glanced around, troubled. "This is the only path to the bamboo grove, unless you'd rather fly straight over on Dandan's back..."

"No flying!" Chu Li grabbed her arm, shaking her head desperately.

If she went soaring openly through the sky on a crane's back like that, wouldn't that draw even more attention straight to herself?

"Why are you suddenly this on edge?" Qi Ying pressed a finger to her temple, baffled, rising onto her toes to glance around. "Is it because of the Sky Sword Sect disciples? Do you have some kind of history with them?"

"I couldn't possibly have any history with them..." Chu Li forced a laugh, pointing at Little Lian to cover for herself. "He's just shy around strangers, that's all."

The boy seemed to catch something in that, pausing mid-step and turning to look at them, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.

"He didn't seem nervous to me at all." Qi Ying blinked, then turned to ask him directly, "Are you nervous?"

The boy pointed a finger at himself, glancing up at Chu Li. Perhaps because of the sunlight falling from above, his eyes narrowed slightly, giving him a thoughtful, contemplative look.

Watching the Sky Sword Sect disciples draw closer and closer to the bridgehead on the opposite bank, Chu Li flipped herself straight off the crane's back, tossing only a hurried "I'll explain later!" toward Qi Ying before hooking an arm through Little Lian's and rushing him toward the bridge railing.

She quickly cast a tracking-concealment spell, followed by two breath-holding spells, and without another word, pulled the boy straight down into the river below.

Thanks to the concealment spell shielding them, the impact of hitting the water produced no splash at all, no sound carrying outward whatsoever.

Qi Ying scrambled anxiously to the railing, peering down into the water, but Chu Li only raised a hand from beneath the surface, gesturing for her to stay quiet.

It wasn't until Qi Ying finally stepped back from the railing, the crane's tall, slender silhouette drifting further away across the water's surface, and the sound of the Sky Sword Sect disciples' footsteps had faded slowly across the bridge above, that Chu Li finally pulled Little Lian back up to the surface with her.

Watching the Sky Sword Sect procession shrink into the distance, Chu Li let out a breath of relief and released the breath-holding spell.

She'd genuinely thought she might suffocate.

She hadn't expected the original body's breath-holding technique to be quite this poorly practiced. If it weren't for her own cultivation supplementing it, holding her breath underwater for a full stick of incense's worth of time would have very nearly killed her.

Chu Li felt as though she'd forgotten how to breathe properly at all, gasping desperately for air, her body swaying back and forth, sending ripples splashing through the waist-deep water around her.

Thankfully, the suffocating sensation didn't last too long.

Once Chu Li had finally steadied herself enough to stand properly, she realized that Little Lian had apparently been standing perfectly still in the river this entire time, nowhere near as disheveled or breathless as she was.

Chu Li knew perfectly well that Little Lian's cultivation hadn't even reached the Qi refining stage yet, and yet he showed no discomfort whatsoever, looking, if anything, like someone remarkably at home in the water.

Her own laughably clumsy breath-holding technique had apparently just made a fool of her in front of him.

Before she could even ask him for his secret, she heard him speak, his tone perfectly calm. "Sister, why did you do that just now?"

Chu Li felt a flicker of embarrassment. "You naturally have to hold your breath underwater, I just didn't expect my own technique to be this rusty... but I'm glad you're all right."

The boy's back, still perfectly still in the river, seemed to grow a degree colder still. "That's not what I'm asking."

Chu Li suspected he must be somewhat upset with her.

After all, in her panic to hide herself away, she'd used him as a shield first, then dragged him straight down into the water without a second thought.

But the whole matter with the Sky Sword Sect and their male lead genuinely had nothing to do with him, and she had no intention of dragging him into it, nor was she willing to risk revealing her real reasons to him.

Chu Li tested the waters carefully. "Are you upset that I suddenly pulled you into the river with me?"

Little Lian didn't deny it.

Chu Li glanced at the shimmering surface of the water and suddenly seized on an excuse. "Did you know? This river water's said to make your skin smoother, and clear your mind as well. When the weather's warmer, plenty of female disciples come here to bathe."

The Bliss Sect brimmed with spiritual energy everywhere, and the water here was no exception.

Disciples genuinely did enjoy playing in the water here, and soaking in water this rich with spiritual energy did naturally nourish the skin and clear the mind.

What she'd told him was, at worst, a slight exaggeration, but certainly not an outright lie.

Chu Li thought she might actually get away with it, but Little Lian's next words caught her completely off guard.

"Do you really think I care about this river, Sister?"

Chu Li blinked, genuinely startled. "Then what exactly are you asking?"

"Sister avoided those white-robed sword cultivators so deliberately. Could it be, Sister, that you once crossed one of them somehow?"

The boy's face reflected in the water's surface, his eyes fractured into countless dim, unreadable fragments by the ripples, betraying not the slightest trace of emotion.

【Author's Note】

【Bonus scene】

Before:

Chu Li: I'm going to kiss him until his legs go weak!

After:

Chu Li: Thoroughly drained. Not a single drop left.jpg

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