Chapter 239: After a Night

Chapter 239: After a Night

Inside the room, Jiang Ning couldn't help but glance at Xie Xiaojiu twice.

She was indeed very beautiful! In the candlelight, her skin was like white jade, and her face was as fair as frost.

Due to years of martial arts training, her body had not an ounce of excess fat, and it fit his aesthetic perfectly.

Xie Xiaojiu's heart couldn't help but feel delighted when she noticed Jiang Ning's unconcealed gaze.

Her confidence instantly returned.

"Sir, I've finished washing!" She spoke up immediately.

"Hmm!" Jiang Ning nodded and said, "It's easy to catch a cold with just a little clothing on. You go and wait in the bed first!"

Seeing Jiang Ning's gaze, Xie Xiaojiu felt a bit shy and slightly covered her chest with her left hand.

Unknowingly, this action only attracted more attention.

Then, she pointed to her hair, which was tied up on top of her head, and said, "Sir, I need to take care of my hair first. It will take a while!"

Jiang Ning waved his hand, and his water manipulation technique took effect. The water stains on Xie Xiaojiu's hair instantly disappeared without a trace.

Hearing this, Xie Xiaojiu looked at Jiang Ning with a mix of belief and skepticism. She reached up with her right hand, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Wherever her hand touched, there was not a hint of moisture, and even the towel wrapped around her head felt completely dry.

She immediately untied the towel, and her long black hair cascaded down.

She shook her head, and her hair, reaching down to her waist, felt as smooth as black silk.

"Sir, your skills are truly magical!" Xie Xiaojiu exclaimed in awe as she looked at Jiang Ning.

Seeing the surprise on Xie Xiaojiu's face, Jiang Ning smiled.

Then, Xie Xiaojiu obediently curled up in the bed.

Only a pair of big, round eyes peered out at Jiang Ning.

After a glance at her, Jiang Ning walked over to the bathtub.

Steam was still rising from the tub, indicating that the water was still very hot.

Out of curiosity, he reached into the water.

The next moment, he couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

"Are you boiling a pig?"

Jiang Ning's mind was filled with nothing but sarcasm.

Even after a long time, the water in the tub still felt scalding to him.

On the other side, Xie Xiaojiu asked with anticipation, "Sir, are you going to take a bath?"

Jiang Ning shook his head. "I took a bath yesterday, so I won't today!"

As he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the closed window next to him suddenly opened. The water in the tub rose and transformed into a column of water, flying out the window and landing in the snow outside.

After dealing with Xie Xiaojiu's bathwater, Jiang Ning turned to look at her. She stood there, her lips slightly parted in a daze.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Jiang Ning asked.

"A little," Xie Xiaojiu replied.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning smiled.

At that moment, Xie Xiaojiu timidly asked, "Sir, should we go to bed now? I've already warmed the bed!"

Hearing this, Jiang Ning looked at Xie Xiaojiu in surprise.

He hadn't expected Xie Xiaojiu to be so bold tonight, speaking those words.

However, considering his current situation, Jiang Ning slowly shook his head. "You sleep alone. I'll just cultivate beside you tonight!"

In his opinion, women's cultivation was more enjoyable than men's.

As their strength grew, their physical bodies became stronger, and they gradually gained control over more powerful forces, bringing about a transformation in their lives.

This was something that women should enjoy!

Moreover, women were ultimately a hassle! Unless one could truly be heartless, once involved, one had to take responsibility and face numerous troubles! With these thoughts, Jiang Ning further solidified his resolve.

He couldn't indulge in temporary pleasure and bring endless trouble.

Especially in a situation like this, it would become even more troublesome!

At the same time, upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, a hint of disappointment flashed in Xie Xiaojiu's eyes.

She quietly tucked her head into the bed.

After a while, Jiang Ning sat down cross-legged beside the bed.

With the successful acquisition of the Bone Forging Hammer Technique, the path to the Sixth Rank Martial Artist was now clear before him.

With a little more effort, he would enter the Sixth Rank sooner.

With He Jinyun's brother arriving in Luoshui County, he couldn't afford any slack.

If the situation worsened, strength would be his most reliable support.

He also planned to observe the source energy points on the panel and see when they would change.

In the past, the source energy accumulated each day would be calculated and the points would change the next day when he woke up.

In his opinion, the source energy points should only change on the panel the following day.

This should be a daily calculation at a specific time, which happened to be during his sleep.

Tonight, his bed was occupied by Xie Xiaojiu.

So, he decided to stay awake and cultivate for the entire night.

For him, staying up all night would affect his state the next day, but it was manageable.

Occasionally going a day or two without sleep was not a big deal.

The next moment, he closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into his body.

In an instant, he saw twenty-six bones within his body, glowing with a silver light.

Especially the thirteen bones that had been tempered in the afternoon, the silvery glow on them was even more intense, already covering more than a tenth of their area.

"This efficiency, according to records, is far greater than that of ordinary martial artists!"

Seeing the progress of these thirteen bones, Jiang Ning couldn't help but marvel in his heart.

As far as he knew, ordinary Seventh Stage Peak martial artists, even if their vital energy and mental power met the requirements, could not match his efficiency.

They could only temper one bone at a time.

Because to temper thirteen bones simultaneously like him, one needed not only strong mental power but also exceptional control abilities.

At the same time, their vital energy had to be extremely powerful to gather thirteen Vital Energy Hammers and temper the bones within their bodies.

From this perspective alone, he knew that his efficiency was nearly ten times that of ordinary martial artists.

Moreover, tempering bones with Vital Energy Hammers was an extremely mentally and physically draining task.

Ordinary martial artists, without the aid of restorative items, could hardly temper their bones more than a few times a day.

But for him, this was not a problem.

Being in the water, he could quickly restore his state.

In other words, if necessary, he could maintain his peak state indefinitely, unafraid of any depletion of vital energy or mental power.

Then, Jiang Ning began the bone tempering process.

As the Vital Energy Hammers fell, they struck his bones, causing his body to tremble and emit a series of dull sounds.

Time passed quietly.

In the blink of an eye, it was midnight.

After one round of bone tempering, Jiang Ning opened his eyes. The candle had long gone out, and the room was pitch-black.

He couldn't see his fingers in front of his face.

However, his senses were heightened, and he could easily see everything in the room, albeit not as clearly as during the day.

His gaze swept across the room, and he saw Xie Xiao Jiu sleeping on his bed.

Her sleeping posture was not modest; the blanket had slipped down to her waist, revealing a large area of her fair skin.

One of her.

One of her legs was also sticking out of the blanket, dangling loosely over the edge of the bed.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning shook his head slightly.

He then got up and walked to the bed.

First, he straightened her leg and tucked it back under the blanket.

Then, he pulled the blanket up to cover the exposed skin on her chest.

Just then—

Xie Xiao Jiu emitted an unconscious nasal sound from her nose, and her hands tightly grasped Jiang Ning's arm, hugging it close.

She held his arm like a stuffed doll, pressing it tightly to her chest.

In that instant, Jiang Ning felt his right hand touch a soft spot.

Instinctively, he pinched it.

Xie Xiao Jiu let out another nasal sound.

Then, Jiang Ning felt her body tense up.

Ah...

Jiang Ning froze, realizing that Xie Xiao Jiu had clearly woken up.

He looked down and, even in the darkness, saw Xie Xiao Jiu's eyelashes trembling, a sign of her nervousness.

At that moment, he felt like he had to jump into the Yellow River to clear himself of any wrongdoing.

From an outsider's perspective, it seemed like he had ulterior motives.

Jiang Ning: "..."

After a moment of speechlessness, he gently tried to withdraw his right hand, only to find that Xie Xiao Jiu was still holding it tightly, not letting go.

At the same time, Xie Xiao Jiu's tense body gradually relaxed.

Jiang Ning: "..."

The next moment, he pinched her gently.

"Ah—"

Xie Xiao Jiu let out a soft exclamation, and Jiang Ning took the opportunity to withdraw his hand.

Then, he pulled the blanket up to his chest and patted it gently, saying, "Go to sleep."

After saying this, Jiang Ning turned and left.

Behind him, Xie Xiao Jiu continued to pretend to sleep.

But as soon as he left the bed, a hint of joy appeared on Xie Xiao Jiu's face.

After leaving the bed, Jiang Ning walked over to the water bucket.

The two large buckets of water he had brought earlier were now only a third full, with most of the water gone.

The next moment, Jiang Ning submerged his hand in the cold water.

His furrowed brow instantly relaxed.

Even with just his hand in the water, he felt his depleted vital energy and mental power replenishing like a spring, constantly gathering within him.

Meanwhile, Xie Xiao Jiu turned her head, looking around the pitch-black room.

Although she couldn't see Jiang Ning, she could sense his presence.

She could smell his scent and hear his breathing.

Her heart instantly filled with peace.

A smile appeared on her face.

After a while, she snapped out of her thoughts, nodding slightly with a hint of joy on her lips.

"It seems I still have some appeal to him!"

With this thought, her previous feelings of dejection vanished.

After a cup of tea, Xie Xiaojiu fell back into a deep sleep. Jiang Ning also withdrew his hand from the water, and after a short while, his spiritual energy and vital energy were mostly recovered.

Then, he continued his bone forging process. In the blink of an eye, it was the first hour of the morning.

Huff—

Jiang Ning opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid energy from his abdomen.

After a full cycle of bone forging, his vital energy and spiritual energy had gone through several cycles of depletion.

Even without sufficient rest, he felt a hint of fatigue.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his eyebrows, easing the fatigue between his brows.

Then, out of habit, he looked at Xie Xiaojiu, who was still asleep.

Seeing this, he abandoned the idea of leaving. Despite feeling tired and without a water source to absorb and restore his state, he chose to continue bone forging.

Time passed quietly.

In the blink of an eye, the sky outside was already brightening.

After another full cycle of bone forging, Jiang Ning turned his inner vision inward.

He immediately saw that his seventy-eight bones were emitting a faint silver light.

This indicated that the forging progress of these seventy-eight bones was one step closer to iron bones.

Especially the initial thirteen bones, after completely absorbing and integrating the iron marrow into the bones, these thirteen bones were now emitting a significant amount of silver light.

Once all the bones in his body turned completely silver, the bone forging would be successful, and he would forge iron bones, entering the ranks of a sixth-stage martial artist.

Seeing the changes in his bones, Jiang Ning was very satisfied.

The forging of iron bones was not far off for him.

Then, he withdrew his inner vision and slowly opened his eyes.

"Master!"

As he opened his eyes, Jiang Ning heard Xie Xiaojiu's voice by his ear.

He turned slightly to see that Xie Xiaojiu had woken up. She sat on the bed with her body slightly turned, pulling up the blanket to cover herself, blocking the spring scenery that was about to be revealed.

"You're awake?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Yes, I'm awake!" Xie Xiaojiu nodded repeatedly and then said, "Master, your bed is very comfortable. I've never slept so comfortably before!"

Hearing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile.

He knew his bed was just an ordinary hard plank bed, nothing special about it.

"Are you getting up now?" Jiang Ning asked.

Xie Xiaojiu nodded, "Yes, it's time for me to practice the sword!"

After speaking, Xie Xiaojiu lowered her head shyly.

"Master, could you turn around? I need to put on my clothes!"

"Alright," Jiang Ning nodded slightly.

Then, he turned around.

At this moment, both of them tacitly avoided mentioning the previous night.

Even though both of them knew what had happened!

Soon after, a rustling sound came from behind.

It was the sound of Xie Xiaojiu getting dressed.

In less than a moment—

"Done!" Xie Xiaojiu spoke up.

Jiang Ning turned back, and at this moment, Xie Xiaojiu was fully dressed.

She was still wearing the black dress from yesterday.

The black dress that resembled a valley orchid.

"Master, I'm going out to practice the sword now. Do you want to watch?" Xie Xiaojiu asked as she stood up.

"No need!" Jiang Ning shook his head, "I'll take a nap. Wake me up when it's time for breakfast!"

"Master, it's my fault!" Xie Xiaojiu stood by the bed timidly, her eyes filled with guilt.

As Jiang Ning passed by her, he reached out and ruffled her hair, "It's not your fault! You warmed the bed for me last night, and I didn't come to sleep!"

Then, Jiang Ning smiled at her and walked to the side of the bed.

"I'll do it!" Xie Xiaojiu quickly took three steps in two and came to Jiang Ning's front, then squatted down.

"Master, let me help you take off your shoes!"

After saying this, Xie Xiaojiu quickly grabbed Jiang Ning's shoes and took them off.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile.

"Don't you think my feet stink?"

At his words, Xie Xiaojiu's nose twitched slightly.

She looked up at Jiang Ning, "They don't stink!"

After taking off his shoes and socks, Xie Xiaojiu asked Jiang Ning to lie down and then covered him with the blanket, patting his chest.

"Master, have a good sleep!"

Jiang Ning smelled the scent of the blanket and felt the warmth.

"The differences between men and women are indeed significant!"

Jiang Ning sighed in his heart and then fell into a deep sleep.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end