"After so many years, even a stone that has been held for so long would have warmed up already. Leng Yue, do you feel nothing for me at all?"
Master Daoist Li looked at Lady Leng Yue and said with anguish.
"Brother Li, I've always been grateful to you for helping me slow down the effects of the flame poison throughout these years. However, when it comes to love, things can't be forced."
Lady Leng Yue took in a deep breath and attempted to soothe her emotions as she said.
She knew about Master Daoist Li's intentions toward her, so she had always kept a safe distance between the two of them. Every time he was done with her treatment, she would pay him with a stash of soul emblems, or reward him with some treasures. She was insistent on not owing him any favors.
However, she did not expect that Master Daoist Li would keep coming back to her even with such straightforward actions. He had even resorted to using his medical expertise as blackmail to force her to become his Daoist companion.
"No, I must stand my ground. Even if I can't have your heart, I must have you."
"If you wish to stay alive, you must get engaged to me today and become my Daoist companion."
Engagement was a common tactic seen amongst cultivators with Daoist companions. After getting engaged, they would be sworn to live and die together and take a vow to never betray each other.
If engagement was not one of the prerequisites, Master Daoist Li would never have proposed this requirement.
Otherwise, the moment he cured Leng Yue, she would kill him, and he would be the sole loser of this agreement.
"Master Daoist Li, don't take it too far."
Leng Ningyu may cultivate the Unruffled Emotions Dao, but seeing her Honorable Teacher threatened by somebody else made her quite agitated.
"Right, not just you, Leng Yue. This agreement involves Ningyu as well. My student, Celong, has admired you for a while now, so why don't we make it two happy occasions in one day? You and Celong shall be engaged as Daoist companions as well."
Li Celong, who was standing at the side, was so ecstatic that he almost jumped in joy. Deep down, he must be singing praise for Master Daoist Li right now.
His Honorable Teacher was truly the best.
He did not forget about his student even after finding a Daoist companion for himself. With that, Li Celong's hopes and dreams for so many years would finally come true.
"Ningyu, don't you worry. If we become Daoist companions, I'll treat you wholeheartedly for the rest of my life."
Li Celong looked at Leng Ningyu with a loving and longing look in his eyes.
Chu Kuangren was flabbergasted as he watched this scene unfold from the side.
'What kind of disgusting teacher-student duo is this? Do they have no shame?!'
"Master Daoist Li, please kindly leave. You don't have to cure this flame poison of mine anymore."
Suddenly, Lady Leng Yue spoke.
She could tolerate the longing that Master Daoist Li had for her. However, she could no longer accept it when it involved Leng Ningyu as well.
The fact that she did not use violence to blast Master Daoist Li and his student out of Seven Emotions Sect right there and then showed how much self-control she had.
"Leng Yue, I advise you to think through it clearly. If you don't cure the flame poison inside your body within ten years, no matter how high your cultivation level, you'd burn to death!"
Master Daoist Li remarked.
Leng Ningyu, Chi Yue, and the two elders from Seven Emotions Sect were shocked to hear what he said.
However, having expected him to say that, Lady Leng Yue said calmly, "That would have nothing to do with you by then."
Only she was most aware of her own current condition.
She did not need Master Daoist Li to tell her how long she could live. She could already guess it by now.
Nevertheless, she could not let this become a weakness for Master Daoist Li to blackmail her. Between her own life and her student, she would pick the latter without any hesitation.
"Master Daoist Li, I'm willing to become Daoist companions with Brother Li, but I plead you don't ask Honorable Teacher to do the same. I wonder if you're willing to tolerate this slight change of terms?"
Just then, Leng Ningyu spoke all of a sudden. The tone in her voice seemed unaffected, as though the person who would be engaged as a Daoist companion was not her but somebody else.
"Senior Sister, no."
"Nonsense."
Chi Yue and Lady Leng Yue called that off at the same time.
Despite that, Leng Ningyu stared back at the two of them calmly. "We have to prioritize the poison inside Honorable Teacher."
Chu Kuangren felt a little perplexed as he stood at one side. Was Leng Ningyu really cultivating the Unruffled Emotions Dao?
To say that she had feelings, yet it seemed like nothing in this world concerned her.
To say that she did not have feelings, yet she sacrificed herself to Li Celong in exchange for her Honorable Teacher's wellbeing.
"I don't need my student to take care of my poison. I'm making the final say here." Lady Leng Yue sneered, firmly rejecting her proposal.
"Honorable Teacher…"
"Not another word."
Leng Ningyu was about to say something else. However, Lady Leng Yue's glare made her swallow the latter part of her sentence.
"Actually, I can cure the flame poison inside Lady Leng Yue's body."
Right when the situation was reaching its climax, Chu Kuangren suddenly budged in.
His words drew the attention of everyone at the scene.
"Are you even a physician? On what basis are you saying that you can cure the flame poison?"
Master Daoist Li jeered at him. "That flame poison originated from an archaic ancient Crimson Lotus Serpent King. Of all the physicians in this world, nobody besides me has the ability to cure it!"
The Crimson Lotus Serpent Kings were an archaic ancient wild beast race. They were extremely rare.
Lady Leng Yue had encountered one of them some years back when that Crimson Lotus Serpent King was terrorizing innocent civilians. She attacked and killed it, thus landing this Flame of Desire Poison unto herself.
"Nobody besides you?"
Chu Kuangren could not help but chuckle when he heard that. "What an arrogant yet ignorant fool."
"Kiddo, what did you say?!"
Master Daoist Li's expression turned ominous, and spiritual power began to surge in his body as if he was ready to strike the next second.
"Don't even think about it. If you dare make a single movement, I can guarantee that your brains will meet your puny body within the next second."
Chu Kuangren placed his palm on the handle of the Descendant Self Sword.
The bone-piercing Sword-based Daoist Rhyme instantly made Master Daoist Li shudder. He stared at his adversary with fear in his eyes. "Who are you?"
"Honorable Teacher, he is the rumored Chu Kuangren."
"Oh, that outlawed sky-pride. You really do look otherworldly, but do you know medicine?" Master Daoist Li was somewhat surprised.
"I know more than you do."
Chu Kuangren could not be bothered to continue this chatter with Master Daoist Li. He immediately looked at Lady Leng Yue and said, "Sister Leng, if you trust me, could you let me have a go at curing the poison?"
Lady Leng Yue looked deep into Chu Kuangren's eyes, then smiled and said, "If you did not have the confidence, I trust that you wouldn't have offered to help in the first place. Please, I shall leave it to you to showcase your medicinal skills then, Brother Chu."
"Leng Yue, are you really going to surrender your life to this nobody?" Master Daoist Li suddenly got anxious.
"It's still better than getting blackmailed by someone."
Lady Leng Yue scoffed back at him.
"I need a place that is rich with water qi. Sister Leng, the Cascading Water that you took me to earlier nicely fulfills that criteria. I may need you to go there with us, Sister Leng Yue."
"Alright."
With that, everyone headed toward Cascading Waterfall.
Even Master Daoist Li followed along too. "Pfft, I'd like to see what sort of capabilities this kid really has."
On their way to Cascading Waterfall.
Chu Kuangren asked Leng Ningyu curiously, "Why did you agree to become Li Celong's Daoist companion just now?"
"To save my Honorable Teacher's life."
"I hear that you cultivate the Unruffled Emotions Dao, Sister Leng, but it seems like the Dao that you've cultivated is not profound enough."
"I may cultivate the Unruffled Emotions Dao, but I owe my life, my upbringing, my education, and my career to my Honorable Teacher. I was not going to stand by and do nothing."
Leng Ningyu explained.
Only then did Chu Kuangren understand something.
The Unruffled Emotions Dao that Leng Ningyu cultivated did not mean a complete abandonment of feelings or love. In fact, it just drastically reduced how emotions impacted her.
She still had the usual cognizance that normal people have in certain situations.
For instance, repaying one's good deed.
"Being unruffled doesn't necessarily mean forgoing every emotion. It seems like I've been mistaken all this while. I don't think anybody in this world can truly forgo all care and love for other people."
Chu Kuangren let out a light chuckle.
Soon, they arrived at Cascading Waterfall.
Sounds of water splashing echoed throughout the entire area as massive amounts of water qi filled every corner, creating a faint layer of mist that surrounded the area.
"Sister Leng, I'll infuse the water qi into your body in a while. May I request that you don't resist it later on? Let your spiritual power flow along with the water qi and allow it to circulate within your body."
"Got it." Lady Leng Yue nodded in response.