Chapter 1095: 吾好梦中修行

Zu'an: "???"

The capital's most beautiful woman, lying in bed with a bashful expression, inviting you to sleep beside her—what man in the world could resist such a temptation?

Noticing his strange gaze, Yu Yanluo quickly explained, "Don't get the wrong idea. It's just that you've also had a tiring day, you're injured, and you've expended a lot of energy healing me. You urgently need to rest and recover, and you'll at least sleep better in bed."

Only then did Zu'an relax. While he might be narcissistic, he wasn't so deluded as to think she was throwing herself at him.

"Then I thank you, Madam," he said with a smile, beginning to take off his outer garment.

Watching a man stand by the window, stripping off his clothes piece by piece, Yu Yanluo felt a surge of panic and regret for having made such an invitation. She couldn't help but chide, "Why didn't you decline?"

If he had simply feigned a refusal, she might have been able to naturally retract her offer.

"Decline?" Zu'an paused, surprised. "Did Madam not actually want me to accept?"

Yu Yanluo was momentarily speechless. He had saved her life several times, and this time he had exhausted himself healing her, leaving him so weak and tired. How could she possibly have the heart to make him sit in a chair all night?

She bit her lip, then gently shook her head. "Of course not."

Zu'an smiled, said nothing, and continued taking off his trousers.

Yu Yanluo turned her head away, her face flushed, thinking, "Fortunately, this fellow isn't so absurd as to strip completely naked."

Seeing him about to get into bed, she quickly stopped him. Amidst his surprised gaze, she hesitated before explaining, "You should probably change back to your original appearance. Otherwise, it feels awkward to me."

Zu'an chuckled. "I was worried about being seen by people in the manor just now, so I deliberately took on the Duke's appearance."

As he spoke, he had already reverted to his original appearance.

Yu Yanluo let out a breath of relief, and the hand she had placed on him relaxed.

Zu'an's expression was strange. This woman wouldn't allow her husband's appearance in bed, yet she permitted him. Why did this feel so peculiar?

Feeling the bed dip, Yu Yanluo knew he had gotten in.

She shifted inwards, making space for him. "Let's be clear upfront: no impolite behavior tonight. And you'll need to find your own blanket to cover yourself with."

As she spoke, she tightly pulled the edges of her blanket, afraid he might try to slip into the same one.

Zu'an rubbed his temples. "Where am I supposed to find another blanket at this hour? Do you want me to go out and ask a servant for one? That would expose our situation."

Yu Yanluo turned her head, her star-like eyes gazing at him with a hint of a smile. "You're being dishonest, you rascal."

Zu'an retorted, "Dishonest? If I were, I wouldn't have bothered to painstakingly detoxify you that way before; I would have used the physical method of detoxification."

Remembering the intimacy of that process, Yu Yanluo's face flushed. She thought, "It wasn't that different from true physical detoxification anyway."

Still, she owed him for that. "You certainly acted like a gentleman then, but now you're having improper thoughts."

Zu'an: "???"

Yu Yanluo sighed. "You even have clothes prepared in your storage bag. You told me before that you'd have all sorts of daily necessities ready. I don't believe you wouldn't have a blanket."

Zu'an: "..."

"I really shot myself in the foot," he thought. "If I'd known this, I wouldn't have boasted to her earlier."

He wanted to deny it, but seeing her clear eyes, he felt too embarrassed to lie. He could only retrieve a blanket from the Glazed Pearl and lay down beside her, feeling disgruntled.

Seeing his crestfallen expression, Yu Yanluo's lips curled into a slight smile, feeling a little smug.

Zu'an lay beside her, feeling a slight tickle by his ear. He turned his head and saw that it was her loose hair, fanned out next to him.

Her hair was soft and smooth, with a faint, clean fragrance. Zu'an instinctively reached out and gently twirled a small wisp of it.

Yu Yanluo's breathing suddenly became heavier. She said with a hint of panic, "I'm too sleepy. I'm going to sleep. You should rest early too."

With that, she closed her eyes, feigning deep sleep.

But her lightly trembling eyelashes betrayed her.

Zu'an chuckled softly to himself. This woman had spent years navigating among various men, twisting each one around her finger, always so calm and composed, making everyone feel a sense of elusive distance. Now, it seemed, she wasn't quite as unfathomable.

According to the romance games from his previous life, he knew this was the perfect time to build favor. If he rushed things and crossed the line, he would only cause her good impression of him to plummet.

Coincidentally, he also had his own matters to attend to, so he smiled at her and said, "Good night, Madam."

After saying that, he also closed his eyes and began to cultivate according to the method Mi Li had taught him.

"Oh, right," he remembered, "Mi Li mentioned she could meditate while asleep."

If she could do it, there was no reason he couldn't.

So he tried it, just as Mi Li had described. Unfortunately, the more he tried to empty his mind, the more cluttered his thoughts became, let alone meditating.

He tried many times, but each attempt ended in failure.

Helpless, he could only give up. "Is my aptitude really inferior to hers? Well, that makes sense. Perhaps in her era, even those of the Transcendent rank were commonplace."

He had a broad-minded attitude and didn't take it to heart.

Seeing his thoughts were still scattered, he didn't force himself to cultivate. Instead, he began counting sheep.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep...

He wasn't simply counting. In his mind, he visualized each sheep: some were cute white lambs, others mischievous black rams.

With each count, he would put a sheep back into its pen. The disobedient black sheep were thrown into a different pen, and he'd give them a kick on the backside for good measure.

This was a technique a psychologist from his previous life had taught him when he suffered from insomnia.

Sure enough, by the time he counted seventy or eighty, he had unconsciously fallen asleep.

"Huh, I think I fell asleep?"

"But why does my consciousness still feel awake?"

Since he was idle anyway, he tried to meditate and was pleasantly surprised to find that his soul indeed began to grow slowly again.

"It seems my aptitude isn't too bad after all," he thought. "Next time I see Mi Li, I'll tell her that her method really works."

If Mi Li had been awake at that moment and seen this, she would probably have been dumbfounded.

Because she herself couldn't meditate while asleep; she had simply made it up to show off.

Who would have expected Zu'an's transcendent aptitude to be so formidable that he accidentally stumbled upon the method?

After meditating for an unknown period, Zu'an felt he had mastered it and was no longer satisfied with just that.

"Didn't Mi Li release the remaining cultivation and soul fragments of Old Man Mi?" he thought. "Now's a good chance to refine them."

If other cultivators knew of this, they would surely curse him for not fearing death.

One must know that tempering the soul was typically only done after reaching the Grandmaster realm, as only a sufficiently strong physical body could protect the fragile soul.

For others, cultivating the soul before reaching Grandmaster was akin to courting death. He could barely temper his soul thanks to his powerful physique and a qi reserve far exceeding others at his level, but he was still taking a significant risk, as his cultivation realm wasn't high enough.

Yet now, instead of choosing a quiet room for secluded cultivation with guardians, he chose to shape his soul in his sleep?

And on the bed of the capital's most beautiful woman, no less?

What normal man could withstand such immense temptation?

Wasn't this clearly inviting inner demons to invade?

Solidifying the soul was the most crucial juncture and could not tolerate any distraction or disturbance.

Unfortunately, Zu'an was not from this world and was unaware of many common cultivation practices. If he wanted to try something, he simply tried it.

Yu Yanluo, lying beside him, had expected the man next to her to find various excuses to get closer. She was already racking her brain for reasons to refuse him later.

Normally, with anyone else, she wouldn't need to trouble herself; she was quite skilled at rejecting men.

But this man was different. She didn't want him to be saddened or disheartened by her rejection, fearing it might harm their relationship.

Of course, on the other hand, she would never have allowed any other man to share a bed with her.

Yet, after deliberating for a long time, she found that he remained completely unresponsive.

She couldn't help but secretly open her eyes just a slit and peek at the man beside her.

"Asleep?"

Yu Yanluo was startled. Having seen too many men's ploys over the years, her first reaction was that he was feigning sleep to gain her favor.

However, she was also a cultivation expert, and she quickly discerned that he was genuinely asleep.

Now it was her turn to question reality a little.

She instinctively touched her cheek, wondering if she had lost her charm due to being so haggard and disheveled from her injuries today.

But she quickly gave a wry smile. When had she become so anxious and worried about gain and loss, like a young girl?

She turned onto her side to face Zu'an, finally getting a chance to examine his face closely. Seeing the strong, handsome lines, like a marble sculpture, she thought, "This young man is quite handsome."

Her mind then recalled a memory from outside Brightmoon City years ago, when a young boy had adamantly declared he would be her man right in front of her.

At the time, he was so weak that she didn't take such "bold words" seriously at all.

Yet, fate had a strange way of working; now she was actually sharing a bed with that same young man.

Thinking of this, a faint blush spread across her fair face, making her appear even more enchanting and alluring.

Just then, Zu'an suddenly let out a pained groan, as if he were having a nightmare.

"What's wrong?" Yu Yanluo was startled and quickly leaned closer to check on him.

To her surprise, he suddenly reached out and directly gripped her.

"Ah!" A startled cry, filled with both embarrassment and irritation, escaped her lips.