My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

"Blame me, blame me, blame me, alright?" Yin Tingxue responded repeatedly with urgency.

Chen Yi teased, "So how do you plan to compensate me for it?"

Upon hearing the loaded meaning behind his words, Yin Tingxue's cheeks flushed red again. She understood Chen Yi's intent, and being in the bedchamber, she summoned all her courage and stammered, "Then you... ruin... ruin me..."

At this, her face turned so red it seemed the blush could bleed. As a shy young woman, she couldn't finish the sentence and softly mumbled,

"...I'm your concubine after all."

Chen Yi was inwardly stirred; this little fox was truly too obedient and well-behaved.

"Ten times?" Yin Tingxue, noticing he hadn't replied, leaned forward slightly.

Chen Yi shook his head with a playful grin.

"T-Twenty times?" Yin Tingxue faltered and grew apprehensive.

Chen Yi still shook his head.

"It can't be any more than that..." Yin Tingxue regretted her words, her delicate brows knit together.

Chen Yi casually replied, "Thousands upon thousands of times."

Yin Tingxue froze in shock, timidly gazing at him, lightly biting her lip, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Thousands upon thousands of times... How terrifying…"

"Repay it over ten lifetimes," Chen Yi said breezily.

Yin Tingxue burst into a smile through her tears and answered softly, "Alright."

Chen Yi chuckled inwardly—look at that, hadn't this little fox just agreed to be his concubine for ten lifetimes?

She initially only intended to repay for one lifetime...

Yin Tingxue's eyes darted slightly, as if realizing something. Then it struck her that she had been completely duped; her pretty face turned pale as she was about to say something.

"No takebacks," Chen Yi interrupted first.

"Oh, oh…" Yin Tingxue responded obediently, nodding meekly.

Ten lifetimes... who knows when that will even be? Just this lifetime feels endlessly long...

Yin Tingxue chose not to dwell on these grievances. Seeing him in a good mood, she gently asked, "You're really happy, aren't you?"

"She admitted she likes me," Chen Yi said softly.

Though Min Ning hadn't said it outright, she had indeed confessed in another way.

Yin Tingxue heard Chen Yi's words and felt a small sense of relief. If someone likes him, then for herself...

"You must like me too," Chen Yi said coldly.

"...I-I will, I will," Yin Tingxue quickly nodded.

After Chen Yi said this, she didn't dare entertain the thought that she might not like him. The ever-cornered young woman instead comforted herself by thinking: Chen Yi has become better now, gentler, and more considerate. Perhaps liking him wouldn't be so difficult after all.

Just as her gaze shifted away, Chen Yi caught her off guard with a suspicious look. Yin Tingxue hurriedly held him tightly.

Her soft, delicate arms gently encircled his neck, and Chen Yi patted her back, saying:

"I'll be heading out soon. I'll make food for you all now, and whatever's left will keep until tonight. Later, you can use the tinderbox to heat it with the small stove."

Yin Tingxue said, "I know, same as before."

After she finished speaking, something occurred to her, and she quickly asked:

"What are you going out to do?"

"Nothing much. First, I'll visit the Astronomical Bureau; it's due time to add my name to the Spring and Autumn Register. After that, there's another matter to attend to."

The matter Chen Yi needed to handle was, of course, something Min Ning had mentioned.

"Oh…" Yin Tingxue responded, then added a request: "Don't be too lecherous… Don't provoke so many women, and don't bully someone into having a child."

The emphasis was on the last point.

Ever since Yin Tingxue learned Chen Yi might have a child, the thought occasionally led to a mix of emotions swirling in her heart.

Chen Yi looked at her with a meaningful gaze.

Yin Tingxue grew afraid and quickly said, "Also don't bully me into having a child..."

Chen Yi mocked her with a laugh, "You won't give birth yourself and yet won't allow others to?"

Yin Tingxue grew embarrassed, incapable of replying. She curled up in the blankets, vaguely sensing this was unreasonable, but she couldn't help her thoughts—she just wanted it this way, couldn't resist wanting it this way.

"N-No more talk of this," she hesitated, then softly said, "Your gentleness now is nice. Can you always be like this in the future?"

"Are you reverse-CPU-ing me?" Chen Yi raised an eyebrow.

"What's CPU?" Yin Tingxue asked, confused.

But Chen Yi didn't answer her, rising slowly and leaving the bedroom.

When Chen Yi had made the food and returned to the bedroom to call her for dinner, he saw Yin Tingxue reading a book again. But this time, instead of lying in bed, she was reclined on a chaise lounge reading.

Chen Yi found it amusing and couldn't help but ask:

"You were lying in bed reading, now you're lying here reading too... why bother moving?"

Yin Tingxue didn't try to deceive him, saying, "Because I got tired of lying on the bed."

............…

Today was not a rest day, so early in the morning, someone from the palace had already been sent to urge Chen Yi to add his name to the Spring and Autumn Register.

Joining the Spring and Autumn Register—the moment Jianghu's martial artists hear about this, they are filled with a mix of fear and envy.

Fear, because once your name is in the register, without explicit commands from the Heavenly Family, you are forbidden from harming or killing others at will. Violations are met with the dragon vein's backlash: for lighter offenses, your martial arts abilities are forgotten, your cultivation tumbles; for heavier offenses, divine lightning strikes may deal serious injuries or even bring death.

As for envy, well, that's simple: those who have their names entered in the register are all masters of their craft.

"In the first thirty days after joining the register, you're still allowed to kill, but you may not exceed ten people."

The old Director of the Astronomical Bureau looked at Chen Yi and warned him calmly.

"What about after thirty days?"

"If there's no direct order from the Heavenly Family, you may not kill anyone thereafter."

The old Director glanced at the contents of the register before closing the book and speaking icily:

"Chen Qianhu, whatever grudges you have, settle them within these thirty days."

The Astronomical Bureau had once been investigated under Chen Yi's leadership, so the old Director naturally harbored no goodwill towards him.

Chen Yi was indifferent. Thirty days and ten individuals—whether in duration or in number, it was more than enough.

The old Director suddenly stared straight at him.

"What is it?"

"Are you thinking about killing ten people in thirty days?"

Seeing Chen Yi nod slightly, the old Director grinned a twisted, aged, and grotesque smile,

"I advise against it."

"Why?"

"You won't be able to resist killing one more."