Xu Zifan scanned Shi Yunxuan with his divine sense, while Shao Hua simultaneously scanned Shi Yunxuan's body data.
[Shaohua: She really fainted.]
Xu Zifan squatted down again to examine the wound on Shi Yunxuan's arm, then shook his head and said, "[She forced herself to kill that male cultivator; how could she not faint?]"
He pulled Shi Yunxuan's dagger from the male cultivator's head. It was indeed a top-grade magic weapon. No wonder Shi Yunxuan, with only the cultivation of the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, could plunge a dagger into the head of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Her willingness to kill even at the cost of her life was unparalleled; he had never seen anything like it before.
The boundless forest was dangerous. Xu Zifan burned the male cultivator's corpse, picked up Shi Yunxuan, and took her to a secluded cave. He gave her a pill, dissolved it with his spiritual power, and then waited for her to wake up while refining pills nearby.
Shi Yunxuan herself probably couldn't bear to faint, and under the influence of the pill, she woke up after an hour. As soon as she woke up, she rolled over and sat up, leaning against the wall, holding a dagger and looking over. After seeing that the person next to her was Xu Zifan, she immediately relaxed and softly leaned against the wall, putting away the dagger.
Xu Zifan glanced at her. "You trust me so much, aren't you afraid I might be a bad person too?"
Shi Yunxuan raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a sweet smile. "Of course you're not. You saved me when I was in danger, you healed me when I fainted, and you even put my dagger back in my hand. You must have no ill intentions towards me."
Just then, Xu Zifan finished refining a batch of top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills. Not only were they of excellent quality, but there were also a large quantity—fifteen in total. Shi Yunxuan watched him pack up the pills, resting her chin on her hand, and said with a smile, "Some people say there's a Nascent Soul cultivator named Xu Yizhi in the Boundless Forest who's particularly fond of alchemy. You... you haven't learned that, have you?"
Xu Zifan paused, looking at her. "How did you figure that out?"
Shi Yunxuan tilted her head, her smile bright. "If you've studied it, it's impossible for you to be working hard for months refining Foundation Establishment Pills. Don't you have any other pill formulas? I know where to find them, but you have to heal me and protect me until I'm fully recovered, okay?"
Xu Zifan looked away and shook his head. "This deal seems unfair."
"Hmm... what if there are many, many pill formulas? Including top-grade pill formulas and immortal-grade pill formulas, wouldn't that still be unequal?" Shi Yunxuan played with a strand of hair on her shoulder, looking at him with a smile in her eyes.
Xu Zifan was tempted. He truly didn't possess any pill formulas; good formulas were rarely passed down, and those that were occasionally auctioned were extremely expensive and hard to come by. But would Shi Yunxuan offer him such a great benefit? Did the Hehuan Sect even have that many pill formulas?
Shi Yunxuan raised one hand and said playfully, "My benefactor, if you don't believe me, we can make a vow, then I can't go back on my word."
The oath made is bound by the laws of heaven and earth, and no one can betray it. Xu Zifan put away the alchemy furnace and asked in confusion, "Why don't you go back to your sect to recuperate?"
Shi Yunxuan gave a light snort, a flash of murderous intent crossing her beautiful eyes. "I... my master is in seclusion, and it might not be safe for me to go back. I'm sure my benefactor has seen that I was abandoned by my two fellow disciples. They certainly can't let anyone know about this, and if they see I'm still alive, they'll definitely kill me to silence me. So I can't show myself until I'm healed." She smiled again and said to Xu Zifan, "I know my benefactor likes to gather herbs in the boundless forest. Would it be alright if I accompanied you? I certainly won't be a burden to you."
Xu Zifan leaned against the mountain wall behind him and waved his hand, "Don't call me 'benefactor'."
"Then I'll call you... Brother Xu?" Shi Yunxuan leaned closer to him and smiled. "Brother Xu, I saw a medicinal herb field in the Misty Forest. Shall I take you there? Please let me come with you. Let's make a vow."
Xu Zifan admired how this young girl could observe his weaknesses and desires in such a short time, then negotiate a deal with him seeking protection, and even proactively offer to make an oath to reduce his distrust, making concessions step by step that made it impossible for him to refuse. In such a deal, he was the one who benefited, and he had no reason not to agree.
Although Shi Yunxuan's intelligence was somewhat dangerous for him, and he was likely to be recognized, he had already hit a bottleneck in alchemy and had not made any progress for over a month. Shi Yunxuan's medicinal field and pill formulas were like a timely help, and the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
Xu Zifan pondered for a moment and then nodded. Shi Yunxuan immediately sat down beside him and made a vow with him. She would take Xu Zifan to find medicinal fields and pill formulas, and Xu Zifan would protect her until her injuries healed. Once the vow was made, Xu Zifan felt a restriction arise out of thin air, and he was immediately amazed. He realized that the laws of heaven truly existed, binding countless cultivators. This vow required the sincerity of both parties to be made; neither had to doubt the other.
Shi Yunxuan happily said to Xu Zifan, "Thank you so much, Brother Xu. I will definitely repay your kindness today."
Seeing that her eyes seemed to be filled with water, attracting people's attention, Xu Zifan couldn't help but sigh that the female cultivator of the Hehuan Sect was simply like a demoness. He said, "Since the oath has been made, I will definitely keep my promise. You don't need to do this."
Shi Yunxuan gently shook her head, sat down opposite him, and looked at him with her chin in her hand. "I am truly grateful to Brother Xu, it has nothing to do with the vow."
She was already seriously injured, and after waking up, she spent a lot of energy observing Xu Zifan, thinking about his needs, and trying to persuade him. Now she was almost at her limit, but because of the oath, she felt she could finally sleep peacefully. Shi Yunxuan took out two soft and comfortable large fur blankets from her storage ring and spread them on both sides of the cave. She smiled and said, "Brother Xu, I want to sleep for a while. You should rest early too."
Xu Zifan took out the alchemy furnace and herbs, saying, "I still need to practice alchemy. You go to sleep."
Shi Yunxuan wrapped herself in a blanket, looked at Xu Zifan, and asked in a low voice, "Brother Xu, you will stay here and never leave, right?"
"Um."
"That's good. Today... was the most terrifying day of my life." Shi Yunxuan's voice was very soft. After saying that, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Xu Zifan stopped what he was doing and looked over. The sunset's glow shone in from the cave entrance, falling on Shi Yunxuan's face and adding to her beauty. After falling into a deep sleep, she showed the weakness of her serious injuries, unlike when she was awake and shrewd and playful, as if she could see through people's hearts. At this moment, she was more like a teenage girl.
Xu Zifan frowned slightly, recalling her earlier words. The daughter of the Hehuan Sect's leader, pampered since childhood, was severely injured, abandoned by her fellow disciples, and nearly raped in a single day, yet she still had to put on a smile and scheme to find protection. That day was terrifying. Anyone else, like Xiang Yushuang, would surely have collapsed in tears. Shi Yunxuan's ability to do this was truly extraordinary.
The cultivation world is full of hidden talents and many people with great abilities; this little girl is one of them.
Xu Zifan refined a batch of pills, set up a restriction at the cave entrance, and then lay down on the fur blanket that Shi Yunxuan had laid out for him. It was very comfortable; it was made of the fur of a level six demon beast. He thought that he should be able to live a long time in this life. If he stayed here for hundreds or thousands of years, what would he do? Study every day? Perhaps he could choose to leave when he no longer wanted to stay. After all, staying in any place for too long would be quite boring.
Lost in thought, Xu Zifan slowly drifted off to sleep. Perhaps it was the little girl's sudden display of weakness that gave him a particularly real sense of this world—the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, and martial prowess reigns supreme. He suddenly felt less eager to learn this and that. He was alive, but he shouldn't be mechanically busy every single day. What if he didn't learn that much when he left this world? The most important thing was every day he lived, not how much he gained. He couldn't put the cart before the horse.
So, for the first time in a long time since he transmigrated, Xu Zifan did something as "wasting time" as lying down to sleep.
Shi Yunxuan slept soundly through the night, and the next day, just as she showed signs of waking up, Shaohua woke Xu Zifan. Xu Zifan examined Shi Yunxuan's injuries, gave her two pills, and channeled some spiritual energy into her, asking, "How are you? Can you walk?"
Shi Yunxuan smiled and said, "Of course, thank you, Brother Xu."
In the cultivation world, cultivators usually address each other as senior brother or junior sister, or respectfully as True Person or Dao Venerable. Shi Yunxuan calling Xu Zifan "Brother Xu" was indeed a bit too intimate, but she said it so naturally with a smile, without any awkwardness. Xu Zifan attributed this to the unique charm of the Hehuan Sect disciples; Shi Yunxuan was indeed endearing and made people want to get closer to her.
As the two walked through the mountains and forests, Xu Zifan would gather any herbs he found, while Shi Yunxuan would lean against a tree or rock to wait for him, telling him interesting stories about the Hehuan Sect and various cities. Her voice was very pleasant, and she was also a great storyteller, making people want to know what happened next. Xu Zifan found it quite interesting and learned a lot of gossip about the cultivation world.
When encountering high-level demonic beasts, Xu Zifan would fight them, and Shi Yunxuan would deliberately distract them so he could exploit their weaknesses, making their fighting speed much faster than before. Shi Yunxuan led him towards the Misty Forest, cautioning, "It's easy to get lost in the Misty Forest. In some places, the mist carries medicinal properties; you might get poisoned or experience hallucinations, with potentially disastrous consequences. Brother Xu, stay close to me and don't go the wrong way!"
Xu Zifan nodded. "How do you know how to get there?"
"My master taught me. She went in several times and figured out the way." Shi Yunxuan's eyes lit up with genuine joy when she mentioned her master. She pointed in the direction for Xu Zifan and said, "We'll go in from there. Brother Xu, you walk behind me and follow my steps."
"good."
Shi Yunxuan took out a handkerchief, lifted Xu Zifan's wrist and tied it to it, then looked up at him and smiled, "Brother Xu, tie the other end of the handkerchief to my wrist, so that we'll never be separated."
Xu Zifan glanced at her, then tied her up as instructed. Shi Yunxuan then led him into the Misty Forest. The Misty Forest was shrouded in white mist, with visibility only a few centimeters. As soon as they entered, he could no longer see Shi Yunxuan, and his divine sense was also ineffective. Xu Zifan asked in his mind: "[Shaohua, can you scan the surroundings?]"
[Shaohua: Okay, I've already started recording the safety route map.]
With Shao Hua scanning the surroundings, Xu Zifan felt relieved. He simply brought up a virtual screen in front of him. Although he couldn't see the surroundings, he could adjust the fog intensity on the virtual screen and clearly see whether he was going straight or turning, how far he had gone, and so on. He could also see Shi Yunxuan's location. It was very reliable. If Shao Hua hadn't been temporarily unable to identify the location of the harmful fog, he could have walked on his own.