Sweet Adversary

Shen Qingci let out a muffled groan.

【Jialan flowers! That sweet fragrance when we entered!!!】

Smelling the floral scent alone was harmless, but when steamed by this fire-vein warm spring, the effects multiplied tenfold.

Shen Qingci bit her lower lip and called out in a soft whimper, “Senior Sister...”

Chi Yuan looked down, her brow twitching violently as she met her little junior sister's flushed cheeks and watery eyes.

“Is it okay?”

Chi Yuan's breath hitched for half a beat.

She had already circulated her spiritual energy to suppress the heat the moment she noticed something off about the spring water. But her little junior sister's current state—with the corners of her eyes flushed crimson, her eyes shimmering with water, and her lower lip bitten so hard it was red as a ripe berry—was testing her limits.

She could even hear the rapid pounding of her own heart.

“Don't you know the answer in your heart, A'Ci?” Chi Yuan's voice grew half an octave raspier. “When you paid the spirit stones, didn't you already guess?”

“I did,” Shen Qingci snuggled into her embrace, her nose rubbing against the hollow of Chi Yuan's collarbone, her hot breath puffing directly against that small patch of skin. “But... it feels so unbearable right now... Senior Sister...”

“Bear with it,” Chi Yuan said, looking down at her as she hardened her heart. “As the successor of a hidden family, do you not even have this much endurance?”

Shen Qingci looked up, her eyes welling with a thin layer of tears as she gazed at her pitifully.

Chi Yuan averted her gaze.

Shen Qingci snuggled closer into her chest again, her voice soft and tender. “Senior Sister...”

“Mhm.”

“Your heart is beating so fast!”

Chi Yuan's arms stiffened beneath the water, unsure of where to put them. Her little junior sister was pressed entirely against her side, her body heat transferring completely without reservation through their two layers of wet inner robes.

She held her breath, suppressing the rising heat in her dantian.

Shen Qingci's throat bobbed slightly as she leaned forward, taking a light bite of Chi Yuan's collarbone.

Her teeth sank in shallowly before letting go, leaving a faint red mark on the skin. It didn't break the skin, but it sent a jolt of numbness through Chi Yuan's entire body.

“Shen Qing—”

The words caught in her throat.

Shen Qingci bit down again, moving slightly higher. As her lips pressed against the curve of her collarbone and her teeth grazed the skin, her tongue secretly brushed against a patch of soft flesh.

Chi Yuan closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she brought her right fingers together and struck a swift, clean chop to the back of Shen Qingci's neck.

Shen Qingci's vision went dark, and she collapsed limply into her arms.

Chi Yuan caught her, supporting the back of her head with one hand and wrapping her other arm around her waist, holding her securely in her embrace.

The spring water rippled a few times before returning to silence.

Chi Yuan sat in the water holding her like this for a long time.

Her fingertips brushed aside the wet hair clinging to Shen Qingci's cheek.

The wet inner robes clung to her body, getting in the way. Chi Yuan hesitated for a moment before reaching out to untie Shen Qingci's sash. The fabric slid from her shoulders and floated on the water's surface, where she pushed it aside.

She removed her own as well.

She pulled her back into her embrace, skin pressing against skin...

Her little junior sister's body temperature was slightly higher than hers, feeling warm against her chest. The bitten spot on her collarbone was still burning, the faint sting turned into a tingling sensation by the warm spring water.

Her chin rested on the crown of Shen Qingci's head.

“My sweet bane,” she whispered.

The person in her arms did not respond, sleeping soundly.

...

The next afternoon, just past the Wei hour.

Shen Qingci slowly woke up.

The back of her neck ached terribly. She opened her eyes blearily, greeted by plain green gauze curtains, with the sun outside already dipping toward the west.

She moved slightly, then froze completely.

She was snuggled right in her senior sister's arms!!!

The two of them were squeezed side-by-side on the outer soft couch. She was lying on her side, her face buried in her senior sister's neck, with one arm draped over the other's waist.

What was even more fatal was that neither of them was wearing inner robes. The thin blanket barely covered their chests. Her senior sister had one arm wrapped around her back, her palm resting on her shoulder blade, keeping the place where their skin touched warm and cozy.

Shen Qingci's mind went completely blank with a loud bang.

Yesterday's memories came flooding back, scene by scene.

The Lingquan Annex, the Heaven-grade double pool, the sweet fragrance of the Jialan flowers, the hot mist rising from the fire-vein spiritual spring, and the image of her biting her senior sister's collarbone and refusing to let go.

Oh my god.

She had almost forced herself on her senior sister.

Shen Qingci closed her eyes tightly, wishing she could crawl into the cracks of the floorboards.

She had thought the floral scent was just to create a slightly intimate atmosphere. Who would have known that when combined with the steam from the fire-vein spiritual spring, its effects would double?

Before entering, she had even found the oval-faced female cultivator's smile too suggestive. Looking back now, that smile had clearly meant, “There's some heavy stuff added inside, you two enjoy yourselves.”

Sure enough, those twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones hadn't been spent in vain.

It was just that the timing was wrong.

She hadn't reached Foundation Establishment yet, and her senior sister was stuck at the late stage of the Golden Core realm, which was a critical time for honing her sword intent.

If they went all the way now and suffered a cultivation deviation, it wouldn't be just one person suffering.

Chi Yuan's voice was slightly raspy. “Now that you're awake, put your clothes on yourself.”

Shen Qingci remained stiff, not daring to move.

“Senior Sister, I...”

“It's fine,” Chi Yuan interrupted her. “I am also to blame. I've indulged you too much.”

Shen Qingci pursed her lips.

When her senior sister said “indulged you too much,” it didn't sound like a reproach, but rather a simple statement of fact. Yet it was precisely this nonchalant tone that made her feel even more guilty.

Chi Yuan lowered her gaze, her eyes landing on the crown of Shen Qingci's head.

Her little junior sister's hair was a messy bedhead, with a few stray strands sticking up and brushing against her chin.

She raised her hand to smooth down those strands, her thumb grazing the crown of her head.

“A'Ci, I do desire you.”

Shen Qingci suddenly looked up.

“But you haven't reached Foundation Establishment yet. Your innate primordial yin is your most crucial foundation when breaking through. If you lose it now, every step forward—whether forming your Golden Core or forming your Nascent Soul—will be far more perilous than for others.”

Her fingers slid down from the crown of Shen Qingci's head to her cheek, her thumb brushing over her cheekbone.

“Once you reach Foundation Establishment, alright?”

Shen Qingci opened her mouth.

She originally wanted to say, “Senior Sister, is it possible that I was the one who was going to take you?” But she swallowed the words back down.

Her senior sister's expression was too serious—so serious that she felt making a joke at this moment would be a betrayal.

【Senior Sister, you've got it backward.】

【But with you being like this, it's really hard for your junior sister to explain to you!!!】

“Then... does Senior Sister mean it will be fine after I turn eighteen?” Shen Qingci approached from the most practical angle.

Chi Yuan paused, her gaze shifting to the side, her earlobes seemingly flushing a faint red.

“Ahem... we'll see how you perform then.”

Shen Qingci lowered her head, her fingers pressing against the faint red bite mark on her senior sister's collarbone, gently rubbing it.

“Your junior sister will perform well, to make Senior Sister...”

She swallowed the last few words back down.

Her senior sister's earlobes were already completely red. If she teased her any further, she might get hit with a Forehead Flick on the spot.

Desensitization wasn't something to be rushed; it had to be done day by day. Today she nibbled the collarbone, tomorrow she would set her sights on something else.

However, getting up to put on clothes was out of the question.

Now that her mind was a bit clearer, her audacity had actually grown several fold. She snuggled deeper into Chi Yuan's arms, burying her face in her senior sister's neck again, her arms tightly wrapping around her waist, absolutely refusing to let go.

There was still some time before the Dao Discussion Conference anyway, so what was the rush?

Besides, although her mind had been muddled by the aphrodisiac last night, she had been completely unconscious when her senior sister took off her clothes.

Now that she was awake, if she didn't take a few more looks, it would be a massive loss.