You lunatic...

The summit of Cold Moon Peak was covered in snow all year round.

On the long white jade stairs leading to the Cold Moon Palace, only Gu Yang's footsteps could be heard.

Tap, tap, tap.

The hollow sound echoed in the dead silence of the night.

Gu Yang's expression was calm, the hem of his robe flapping wildly in the biting wind.

"Disciple Gu Yang, reporting as ordered."

He stopped before the palace doors and bowed deeply.

No one answered.

Only the two tightly shut profound ice doors silently slid open inward, revealing a profound darkness like the gaping maw of a giant beast.

A cold current, laced with a cloying, exotic fragrance, rushed at his face.

Gu Yang's heart skipped a beat.

The Heart-Questioning Illusion Array had begun.

Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

Boom—

The palace doors slammed shut heavily behind him.

...

The deeper he went, the higher the temperature rose.

This defied common sense.

Cold Moon Palace was built atop an ice vein, remaining extremely freezing throughout the year. Yet at this moment, Gu Yang felt a restless heat seeping into his pores.

Layers of merman silk bed curtains fluttered without wind. Through the hazy shadows, a massive cold jade bed could faintly be seen.

"Gu Yang..."

A low moan, carrying extreme suppression and agony, pierced through the curtains.

Gu Yang's footsteps paused, and he abruptly raised his head.

He saw a pale, delicate hand violently tear the curtains aside.

Shen Qingyue.

Her condition right now was somehow even more indecent than that night.

The majestic palace dress that symbolized her authority was nowhere to be seen. She was draped only in a white gauze robe as thin as a cicada's wings. Soaked in sweat, it clung tightly to her body, outlining her breathtaking curves.

She half-knelt on the edge of the bed, her long hair falling messily over her snow-white shoulders. Those eyes, usually as cold and clear as the moon, were now like a pool of spring water, staring fixedly at Gu Yang.

It was the look of a wild beast eyeing its prey.

"Hot... so hot..."

She reached out a hand, her fingertips grasping at the empty air, as if trying to catch a lifeline.

"Master!"

Gu Yang's expression changed drastically. His eyes were filled with panic and concern as he hurried forward, but he forcefully stopped his steps just three paces away from the bed.

With a heavy thud.

Gu Yang knelt heavily on the ground, lowered his head, and stared fixedly at the floor. Cupping his fists, his voice trembled:

"Master's cold poison has relapsed! This disciple will immediately go fetch the Sect Leader and the Alchemy Elder!"

Saying this, he made as if to rise.

"Don't go!"

Shen Qingyue's voice suddenly turned sharp, then dissolved into a sweet, cloying whimper.

A massive suction force violently erupted, and Gu Yang slid forward uncontrollably.

The next second.

A scalding, smooth hand pressed directly against his chest.

Shen Qingyue had somehow arrived right in front of him.

She looked down at him from above, her gauze robe having slipped off halfway. That fragrance, a mix of dark orchid and sweet musk, instantly filled Gu Yang's nose.

"Where are you going?"

Shen Qingyue exhaled a sweet, orchid-like scent, her warm breath brushing against Gu Yang's ear.

Her fingers slowly slid down his collar, her nails lightly grazing his skin, sending a shiver through him.

"Gu Yang... I am your master... but I am also a woman..."

"Help me... just like last time..."

These lines, these actions.

Had Gu Yang not known all along that this was an illusion array, his Dao Heart might have truly crumbled.

But right now, his mind was as calm as a block of ten-thousand-year profound ice.

"Master misspeaks!"

Gu Yang's body stiffened, and fine beads of sweat seeped out on his forehead.

He abruptly closed his eyes, acting like a pedantic scholar strictly adhering to etiquette, his voice hoarse but firm:

"In this disciple's heart, Master is like a goddess of the Nine Heavens, holy and flawless!"

"Even if this disciple is ground to dust, I would absolutely never take advantage of your peril to profane Master in the slightest!"

"Heh... holy?"

Shen Qingyue chuckled softly, her laughter carrying deep self-mockery.

She suddenly leaned in close, her soft lips almost brushing against the corner of Gu Yang's mouth.

"That night... were you thinking the same thing?"

"...You were clearly enjoying it..."

Gu Yang gritted his teeth tightly, his jaw muscles bulging as if he were desperately suppressing the wild beast within him.

"That night was to save a life! The urgency of the situation required exceptional measures!"

"At this very moment, if this disciple were to take advantage of your peril, how would I be any different from a beast?!"

He pushed Shen Qingyue away with a sudden burst of strength, then quickly turned around and knelt properly again, his forehead knocking heavily against the ground.

Thud!

A muffled sound.

"Please, Master... conduct yourself with dignity!"

The air fell into a deathly silence.

Shen Qingyue, having been pushed away, slumped on the ground, her clothes half-undone. A trace of astonishment flashed through her blurry eyes, which then turned into an even deeper resentment.

"Conduct myself with dignity?"

She smiled sorrowfully, her voice carrying a heartbreaking despair.

"I am about to die right now... and you are talking to me about dignity?"

"Gu Yang, didn't you say... as long as you could save me, you were willing to do anything?"

She slowly crawled toward Gu Yang, her snow-white bare feet dragging across the pitch-black floor, creating a breathtaking contrast in color.

"Right now, all I want is you... give yourself to me."

She reached out and cupped Gu Yang's face.

That flawlessly beautiful face was now close at hand, the lust in her eyes almost turning into something tangible to swallow Gu Yang whole.

"Could it be... you think I'm dirty?"

This sentence was the ultimate trump card.

If it were an ordinary upright gentleman, he would probably be in complete disarray by now, either reluctantly agreeing in order to save her, or fleeing in panic to avoid suspicion.

Gu Yang looked at his master close at hand. The struggle and pain in his eyes finally transformed into a touch of resolute tragedy.

"This disciple... would never dare to despise Master."

Gu Yang's voice suddenly calmed down.

He slowly raised his hand, but not to touch that alluring body. Instead, he abruptly formed his fingers into a blade and viciously stabbed toward his own heart!

Spurt!

Blood splattered.

Gu Yang's face instantly turned deathly pale, but he didn't even furrow his brow.

With trembling fingers, he forcibly extracted a drop of dark golden blood from his heart.

That was his source essence blood.

It was also the purest, most core Yang Essence of the Desolate Ancient Extreme Yang Body.

As soon as this drop of blood appeared, the temperature inside the entire palace hall skyrocketed.

"Since Master's cold poison is unbearable and requires Yang energy to sustain your life..."

Gu Yang cupped that drop of essence blood, which burned with a golden flame, as if he were holding a scalding heart.

His gaze was clear as he looked directly into Shen Qingyue's astonished eyes.

"This disciple Gu Yang, although low in cultivation."

"Has a heart full of hot blood."

"Today, this disciple is willing to sacrifice all of this Extreme Yang essence blood to warm Master's body and dispel the cold!"

"Even if I bleed dry to the last drop and turn into a dried corpse..."

Gu Yang gave a tragic smile, blood frothing at the corners of his mouth.

"This disciple... will absolutely never dare to profane Master in the slightest!"

Boom—!

These words were like a heavy sledgehammer, viciously smashing the romantic tension that filled the hall.

Shen Qingyue was stunned.

Not only was the illusion stunned.

Even the real Shen Qingyue, hidden at the core of the array and manipulating all of this, was so shocked by this scene that her mind reeled.

She had thought he might comply, thought he might resist, and even thought he might run away.

But the one thing she had never expected.

Was that this foolish disciple, in order to preserve her reputation and avoid touching her, would rather... mutilate himself?!

Using his source essence blood to cure the poison?

That was paying with his life!

"Lunatic... you lunatic..."