Kissing can be addictive. Since Li Shiyin was kissed by Qin Ran once, she had become addicted to the feeling. She would always look for opportunities to try it again, no matter how busy Qin Ran was.
One day, Qin Ran and Long Qiqi were researching something in the greenhouse. Li Shiyin suddenly walked in with a giggle.
"Master~" she cooed, "What are you doing?"
Long Qiqi immediately broke out in goosebumps. She said in disgust, "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to learn alchemy..." Li Shiyin justified herself. Her master was an alchemist, so there was no problem with her learning alchemy.
"You can't even refine a fart's worth of pills!" Long Qiqi rolled her eyes.
Regardless of how much Long Qiqi despised her, Li Shiyin still tiptoed over to them on her toes, sneaking like a dog. Once there, she leaned on Qin Ran's shoulder as if she had lost her bones.
From Qin Ran's shoulder she looked forward to see what Qin Ran and Long Qiqi were researching.
In front of them was a pot with an orange tree-like plant growing in it. The plant looked just like an orange tree but smaller, able to fit in a pot, and with a mist-like aura lingering on its branches and leaves.
At first glance, Li Shiyin recognized the soil in the pot. She exclaimed, "Isn't this the Spirit Soil?"
The Spirit Soil had been specially acquired by her for Qin Ran. And that "orange tree" was planted in it.
"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Long Qiqi retorted.
Li Shiyin didn't have any objections. She just wanted to kiss Qin Ran and had come over to poke her nose around.
She tilted her head and saw Long Qiqi holding a few folders. On top was a drawing of a small plant with six or seven bright red little fruits growing on it. She looked back at the plant in the Spirit Soil and saw it was the same as the one Long Qiqi had drawn.
"What kind of spiritual medicine is this?" She ignored Long Qiqi's attitude and asked directly.
"Zhu Guo!" Long Qiqi said. "Haven't you heard of it, idiot?"
"No..." Li Shiyin shook her head and asked Qin Ran instead, "Master, what is Zhu Guo used for?"
Before Qin Ran could answer, Long Qiqi had already flipped through the folders and taken out a drawing of a pill to show Li Shiyin. "Here! See for yourself!"
Li Shiyin looked and saw a pill depicted in intertwining red and yellow, with an ornate pattern. On the yellow side was a dragon, on the red side was a phoenix, and in between them was a Zhu Guo tree like the one in front of her.
It was another illustration, surrounded by dense tiny words - the full list of ingredients needed to refine this pill, the function of each ingredient, and the processing method for each.
Li Shiyin only glanced at the illustration. Those words were automatically ignored by her.
"What is this?" She still asked.
Long Qiqi looked up to meet the eyes of Li Shiyin, who had her head resting on Qin Ran's shoulder. She said, "This is the Longevity Pill you wanted!"
"Long... Longevity Pill?!" Li Shiyin was stunned.
She had originally become Qin Ran's disciple to learn alchemy. She wanted to refine a Longevity Pill to make her family immortal. Later, as she had no talent for alchemy, her master told her to practice the sword instead, while he would refine a Longevity Pill for her.
Four years had passed and she had never heard her master mention it again... She had even thought he had forgotten.
It had to be said, Li Shiyin had been in extreme grief over her grandfather's death when she came up with the naive idea of refining a Longevity Pill.
But she didn't expect... her master had never forgotten. He had actually researched such a pill.
"Master~" She affectionately called out to Qin Ran, rubbing her head against his ear again.
"Don't listen to Qiqi's nonsense..." Qin Ran put his arm around her and gently patted her arm, smiling. "This is just a conceptual rendering. Whether an actual Longevity Pill can be refined is still uncertain. After all, I haven't found dragon blood or phoenix blood. I only have this Zhu Guo, brought to life by your Spirit Soil. But it's not certain whether it can bloom and bear fruit.
"All I can say is that matters of life and death are extremely difficult. I still don't fully understand it."
"Hmph!" Long Qiqi had complained for a long time that she wanted to use the Spirit Soil to grow something else. She didn't expect to end up eating dog food in the end.
She was utterly disgusted. She glared at Li Shiyin, then stomped off on her little short legs with the folders in her arms.
With the nuisance gone, Li Shiyin was no longer so refined. From the side she kissed Qin Ran's earlobe.
A wet and sensitive wonderful sensation spread from his ear. The girl's heavy breathing also landed on his neck, then turned into a faint warm scent that drilled into Qin Ran's nose.
He took a deep breath and pulled Li Shiyin in front of him. He stared into her bright watery eyes, seeing them mist over from the heat. The fog in the girl's eyes was seductive. He was certain there was also fire in his own eyes. He said, "Woman, you're playing with fire."
He also asked, "Do you know what playing with fire means?"
Of course Li Shiyin didn't know. She lightly jumped up, wrapping her strong, elastic long legs around Qin Ran's waist. Then she put both arms around his neck and foolishly asked, "What fire?"
With Li Shiyin's current position, if Qin Ran didn't exert extreme self-control, she should be wondering what was poking her thigh. Fortunately Qin Ran had top-tier willpower.
Li Shiyin didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She continued to innocent provoke Qin Ran, bringing her lips to kiss his nose first, leaving a wet lip print on it. Then she used her own little nose to nudge his, pressing their noses down so their lips touched.
The feeling of kissing was sweet, numbness throughout the body, forgetting to breathe, mind going blank, losing all sense of time...
Li Shiyin didn't know when she regained awareness. Because she was a cultivator who didn't need to breathe, it was only an instant where she returned from void to reality. But that feeling was still wonderful, it captivated her, it addicted her.
She looked intently at her master up close, her voice hoarse as she said, "Master, I want to kiss you forever."
Qin Ran's breathing was heavy. With his mind full of dirty thoughts, he was no longer satisfied with this. He shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that's not possible."
"Why not?" Li Shiyin pressed her lips to his face and asked, "Don't you like it, Master?"
"It's not that..." Qin Ran said. "Actually, there are things even better than kissing."
"Ah? What is it?" Li Shiyin hurriedly asked. "Is it getting married?"
"Mm..." Qin Ran lowered his head to her neck, deeply breathing in the scent of the girl's body. Then he kissed her neck until her body trembled. He replied, "Probably... more or less!"