Chapter 567: Always Holding Your Hand

"Will you dance?" Yuan Yao stepped forward, smiling as she asked.

Seeing her sly look like a little fox, Xie Yan's Adam's apple bobbed; he shook his head slightly: "No."

"Xie Yan, I'm sure I'll win our bet. I definitely can't dance the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix, but…" Yuan Yao deliberately drew out the syllable: "You can learn it."

"You want me to dance?" Xie Yan's heart stirred slightly.

"Yes."

Xie Yan smiled, he slightly leaned in, getting closer to her: "How can you be so sure you'll surpass me in a few years?"

His alluring face loomed large before her eyes, his fragrant, scorching breath made her pause slightly, then she raised her eyebrows: "Then just wait and see."

"All right." Xie Yan answered with a smile, his gaze falling on her brows and eyes, his thin lips slightly pursed: "I…"

Before he could finish, Yuan Yao had already gone around him.

Xie Yan followed her silhouette with his gaze, only to see her walk up to the beast crystal emanating a murky aura, crouch down, and reach out to pick it up.

"Be careful!" Xie Yan frowned slightly, hurried over, and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from touching the beast crystal.

He explained: "This beast crystal has already been contaminated by the aura of the Abyssal Realm, so it's useless to us."

Yuan Yao tilted her head to look at him: "I know. I just want to see if there's a way to purge the impurities and abyssal energy from within the beast crystal, so that I can let Yuan Feng and Tian Xue use it for training."

"By the way, you're a Phoenix—do you need beast crystals for training?"

Xie Yan said with a complex expression: "I don't need them."

Afterwards, his gaze fell on the beast crystal stained with blood and dirt on the ground: "If you want to remove the impurities and abyssal energy from within this beast crystal, have you studied purification techniques before? As far as I know, in the cultivation world, purification techniques have already been lost."

Yuan Yao said: "I haven't studied purification techniques. But in the formation and restriction secret manual I obtained from Senior Yue Liu, I saw mention of a purification formation."

"You want to use a purification formation?"

"Mm!"

Yuan Yao nodded seriously.

Xie Yan: "Can you do it now?"

Yuan Yao shook her head: "I haven't had the chance to learn it yet."

"In that case, let's store the beast crystals we obtain from hunting abyssal beasts for now, and try them out after you learn the purification formation." Saying this, Xie Yan used his other hand to condense spiritual power, lifting this beast crystal, and cast a dust-clearing art upon it.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao let out a puff of laughter: "Xie Yan, you were so tense just now—could it be that you dislike this beast crystal because it's dirty?"

Xie Yan looked at her: "Isn't it dirty?"

Yuan Yao said: "I actually don't care whether it's dirty or not."

Xie Yan kept a straight face, placed the beast crystal into a silver storage ring, then handed it to Yuan Yao: "This is a new storage ring; from now on, we'll put any beast crystals we obtain exclusively into this storage ring."

Yuan Yao raised her hand to receive it.

"Is this storage ring expensive?"

"Not expensive." Xie Yan glanced at her expression, knowing she wanted to be clear about this, his cool brows slightly furrowed: "Are you going to give me spirit stones?"

Yuan Yao really did nod.

Xie Yan's eyes darkened: "Why are you being so precise with me?"

Yuan Yao startled: "I feel… you probably don't have many spirit stones on you right now…"

Seeing Xie Yan's face grow darker and darker, Yuan Yao closed her mouth.

Xie Yan's face looked grim.

She almost blurted out that she was poor.

"I'm not poor." Xie Yan took a deep breath, looking at the person before him, and said word by word: "Do you want to see my storage space?"

Yuan Yao quickly shook her head.

"You're not poor at all, and I don't mean to look down on you—don't overthink it."

Hearing this, Xie Yan's pent-up frustration only intensified.

Yuan Yao reached out with both hands, pinching his cheeks on both sides: "Xie Yan, don't put on a long face—I don't like seeing you like this."

Xie Yan was still experiencing for the first time someone pinching his face like this; his body stiffened suddenly, and an inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart.

Her fingertips seemed to carry a faint fragrance, brushing over the tip of his nose, making it itch.

At this moment, she was slightly frowning, feigning displeasure as she stared at herself.

Does she know how adorable she looks like this?

"All right." The gloom in Xie Yan's heart vanished instantly, and he couldn't help but curl the corner of his mouth.

Yuan Yao pinched his cheeks, feeling their soft tenderness, almost reluctant to let go, wanting to pinch a bit longer, but after hearing his reply, she could only reluctantly withdraw her hand.

The two stood up.

Yuan Yao lifted her head to scan the surroundings: "Let's quickly cut some tree trunks and branches to bring back. It's getting darker."

As soon as her words fell, she noticed the youth's hand taking hers again, his long, distinct-knuckled fingers probing, slowly slipping into the gaps between her fingers.

Since he fully awakened his Phoenix bloodline power, his body temperature has been a bit higher than that of ordinary cultivators.

The temperature of the Abyssal Realm is yin-cold and piercing to the bone.

Yet his hand is warm.

Yuan Yao didn't look at him, merely silently returning his grip.

At the same time, Yuan Yao keenly sensed several abyssal beasts rapidly approaching their direction, likely due to the bloody scent here.

"Hide or kill?" Xie Yan asked.

Yuan Yao said: "We're out here to cut wood; let's avoid them for now."

The two exchanged a tacit glance, then immediately darted off in the same direction.

Xie Yan deliberately slowed his speed, taking into account that Yuan Yao's body had not yet fully recovered.

However, the aura of those few abyssal beasts seemed to have detected their movements, pursuing relentlessly without any decrease in speed.

Yuan Yao frowned slightly, speaking in a low voice: "They're pressing too hard; it seems we can't avoid them, why not settle them here?"

She paused, then said: "Holding hands like this will probably make fighting inconvenient."

Xie Yan heard that and released her hand.

But the next instant, he shifted his position, moved to Yuan Yao's left side, and took hold of her left hand.

Yuan Yao stared, bewildered: "What are you..."

"You usually wield your sword with your right hand, I with my left." Xie Yan explained calmly; then, feeling the reason insufficient, he added, "This way, things will be more convenient."

Yuan Yao's mouth twitched slightly.

That excuse—he actually came up with it.

Her brow twitched slightly as she glanced at him: "Xie Yan, are you... being a bit too clingy?"

Hearing that, Xie Yan turned his head, gazing deeply into her eyes; his narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes were now full of sincerity: "You said that in front of others we shouldn't be so intimate. And our time alone together is already scarce. So, if possible, I'd like to keep holding your hand throughout this period."

Yuan Yao choked up, her feelings a mix for a moment: "Even against enemies?"

"Mm."