The real chill in one's heart isn't loud quarrels or uproars...
Chen Mo stood with his head bowed, utterly silent.
Seeing his pitiful appearance, Yu Youhan couldn't help but feel amused, thinking he looked like a fretful little housewife.
She sized him up carefully, her beautiful eyebrows gradually knitting together.
"Have you used up all your Essence?"
The Nine Revolutions Green Origin Pill is a divine-grade pill, containing immense Life Essence, normally enough for Chen Mo to reach the Heavenly Human Realm.
It had only been two days, yet it was all used up?
"I was on a mission yesterday..."
Chen Mo roughly explained what had happened.
Hearing about his entrapment in the Blood Prison and his body's near-destruction, Yu Youhan's eyes filled with a cold light.
Just carrying out one mission, and almost losing his life for it?
What did she care about Heavenly Demons or Evil Ghosts? Whether they killed countless people or brought calamity upon the innocent, what did it have to do with her?
But Chen Mo absolutely could not die before she completely rid herself of the red silk!
"Shift him to another position?"
"No, the Sky Scale Guard operates independently of the Three Divisions and Six Ministries; without this identity, he would be even more vulnerable to others' schemes."
"Or perhaps..."
"Just castrate him and bring him to the palace for me to watch over personally?"
After serious contemplation, Yu Youhan dismissed the idea.
Not to mention whether the Chen Family would turn against her, having this dog-like lackey dangling before her eyes every day, what if it triggered the red silk...
She had no wish to experience that helplessness of losing all power and being at others' mercy ever again.
Chen Mo looked eagerly at Her Majesty the Consort.
Unaware he had just skirted the brink of death.
"Forget it, open your mouth."
Yu Youhan sighed.
"Ah~"
Chen Mo obediently opened his mouth.
Yu Youhan flicked her finger, popping a green pill into his mouth.
A surge of Life Essence exploded within his body, the scalding liquid cleansing his meridians before continuing into his acupoints.
Chen Mo let out a satisfied hum.
"Her Majesty's..."
"?"
Yu Youhan felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"This Nine Revolutions Green Origin Pill isn't something you find just anywhere. After annihilating the Golden Core Sect, I only managed to collect three... You'd better use them sparingly."
Mainly because the method to refine this pill had been lost; to say that each time one is used, one less remains wouldn't be an understatement.
Even with the Imperial Consort's wealth, it felt somewhat painful to part with them.
Chen Mo, having experienced their power first-hand, knew full well their potency.
As long as it wasn't a fatal blow or the soul was destroyed, it was akin to having an undying body!
"Her Majesty might not admit it, but she actually cares about me quite a lot."
Chen Mo revelled inwardly, chanting slogans while bowing deeply: "Her Majesty's grace is deeply etched in my heart. I am willing to go through fire and water for Her Majesty, and to die a thousand deaths without hesitation!"
Yu Youhan waved her hand dismissively, impatiently saying: "That's unnecessary, just stay alive, that's all."
"Oh, and I have a treasure to present to Her Majesty."
Chen Mo pulled out a scroll from his chest.
After removing the scroll case, he drew out a red ceremonial flag.
"That Qin Wuxiang had been planning for years for this magical treasure, I thought it might be useful to Her Majesty..."
"The Soul Summoning Banner?"
"Not a bad artifact. However, it's a Ghost Cultivator's tool, unorthodox, unfit for the public eye."
Yu Youhan glanced at it with some disdain.
Chen Mo touched his nose awkwardly.
He hadn't expected this Heavenly Rank Treasure to be so unimpressive in the eyes of the Empress.
"However, the Magic Seals inscribed on it, capable of devouring Divine Souls, are somewhat interesting..."
Yu Youhan's eyes flashed with a blue light, enveloping the Soul Summoning Banner in it.
The flag instantly writhed as if alive, struggling violently.
Black smoke billowed out, carrying ghastly and horrifying faces of spirits, continuously slamming against the blue light barrier, emitting sharp and mournful wails!
Seeing this, Chen Mo's face turned a shade paler.
He had not expected this thing to be so terrifying, and yet he was carrying it on him...
The resistance from the Soul Summoning Banner was naturally futile.
In no time, all the Resentful Spirits were completely obliterated, their movements ceased, and the color of the flag changed from deep red to gray-white.
Yu Youhan extended a slender, jade-like finger and from afar plucked a black ancient character from the banner's surface, wrapped in a pale light, and pasted it onto the back of Chen Mo's hand.
The moment they touched, the ancient character distorted and deformed, piercing the skin with its stem and directly burrowing into the flesh.
Immediately after, a prompt flashed before his eyes:
[You have obtained Primary Divine Power: Soul Capturing.]
[Can absorb Soul Power to strengthen the Divine Soul.]
The introduction was clear and concise, and at this moment, Chen Mo suddenly understood the complex character on the back of his hand.
It was decidedly the character "Soul"!
In the span of a moment, he had refined a Heavenly Rank Treasure that had already recognized a master, and even extracted a Magic Seal from it, bestowing upon himself the ability in the form of a Divine Skill...
Such unfathomable methods were simply like a stroke of creation!
Other than in games, this was the first time Chen Mo felt the strong power of Her Majesty the Consort firsthand.
Supermodel! Too "supermodel"!
But...
I really like it!
"With the protection of the Nine Revolutions Green Origin Pill, and with the Magic Seal strengthening the Divine Soul, this dog-like lackey shouldn't die so easily, right?"
Yu Youhan pondered this to herself.
Seeing Chen Mo standing there dumbfounded, she said indifferently,
"If there's nothing else, you may leave."
"This subordinate..."
Chen Mo hesitated but did not speak.
Yu Youhan raised an eyebrow and said, "If you have something to say, say it. Why are you hemming and hawing?"
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Mo mustered courage and said, "Your Majesty has rewarded me generously, and I have no way to repay you. Perhaps... Perhaps I could massage your feet again?"
"..."
Yu Youhan was taken aback for a moment.
Hesitating briefly, she nodded and said, "Granted."
Desensitization therapy must proceed step by step.
With the experience from last time, she thought she could endure it a bit longer this time.
...
Chen Mo sat beside Yu Youhan.
Her slender legs were crossed and rested on his knee.
He gently held her exquisite feet with his palm, and his gaze gradually moved upward, gliding over her smooth and fair calves, and he almost saw a flash of tender white—
Emptiness beneath the regular attire of the Empress...
Chen Mo quickly averted his gaze, focusing his attention on the feet.
Touching the fine, velvet-like skin, the cute toes curled slightly, just like delicately crafted works of art.
Recalling the foot massage from last time, without hesitation, Chen Mo pressed the arch while concentrating Life Essence at his fingertips, lightly tickled the center of her foot.
The foot trembled, and the legs that were resting on the knees suddenly tensed up.
"Your Majesty..."
Bang!
Before Chen Mo could finish speaking, he was kicked out of the palace.
He traced an elegant parabola through the air and "plop!" landed in the water pond outside the palace, splashing water everywhere.
Xu Qingyi just happened to be passing by.
Seeing Chen Mo drenched like a drowned rat, she paused for a moment.
Then, the corners of her mouth curled up, her eyes as crescent-like as the moon, revealing a smile that came from the heart.
"Hehe, serves you right!"
Chen Mo leapt out of the pond in one bound, his True Yuan circulating, quickly evaporating the moisture.
Looking at the tightly closed palace doors, he appeared somewhat puzzled.
"I thought the Empress would quite like it... why such an extreme reaction?"
...
Inside the palace.
Yu Youhan's breath was slightly hurried, her legs rubbed together softly, her dewy eyes almost strung with a thread.
She seemed a little ashamed and annoyed, yet somewhat helpless.
"How could I not withstand it when we've only just begun..."
"I really am useless..."