76 Life Reduction

Both Meng and Yufeng continued being engrossed in their long and deep kiss for another minute before they reluctantly and very slowly parted their lips still with a small strand of saliva connecting their tongues. Yufeng's neck and cheeks were completely painted red as she was catching her breath, however, while she was still in Meng's embrace, she sobered up a little and glanced above just to see the same azure blue eyes, then she proceeded to check the surroundings just to realize this isn't a dream.

"I-, I- I am sorry little Meng. I have no idea what has happened to me, I just remember that I've..." She broke out of the embrace and started panicky explaining while taking slow and small steps back with almost a horrified expression.

"...What are you talking about? I was the one who kissed you first." Meng had no idea how he should respond after what they have just done. He wasn't embarrassed but he still felt slightly awkward as this was his first time getting so intimate with someone he actually liked. He knew that Yufeng likes him but he still kissed her without her consent.

"W-What? Really?!" Yufeng suddenly stopped in her tracks and asked with a pleasantly surprised expression.

Yufeng actually thought that she has forced herself on Meng as she couldn't even remember when they started kissing. She only remembered how the residual soul transported her somewhere, where she met with her internal demons...Her own kids. She loves her kids however at the same time, she slightly regrets having them. Her thoughts and feelings were contradicting each other, giving birth to strong inner demons. She doesn't regret having them as a whole but she regrets with whom she has these kids, she was wishing she never had kids but at the same time she felt like slapping herself for thinking so about her own kids.

Her thoughts were plaguing her much more than even Meng expected. Within that "nightmare" she was forced to choose between her past where her kids were and her new self where Meng was...She couldn't choose for herself, she didn't want to return to her past but she also felt that if she were to choose her present self, she would feel in one way or another slightly empty. She felt like there was no right option so she just collapsed on the ground at that time and tears started flowing down from her eyes. After several minutes just dully staring at the ground, a dagger appeared in her hand, however, when she was about to drove that dagger into her heart, her hands were stopped by an invisible force. She couldn't move the dagger any closer and within a few next seconds, a seemingly new option suddenly appeared in front of her, in the middle of those 2 opposite options.

"Yu...Do you feel ashamed to have done this with me, a junior?" Meng asked with a complicated expression, it wasn't a completely calm expression neither it was nervous nor worried.

"?! No! ...But don't you feel...repulsed by me? I am no longer a maiden while you are a handsome young man with a great reputation of being "Young Spear Saint", your demeanor is highly attractive and deadly for any inexperienced young woman who lays her eyes on you. There must be many young women who are interested in you, who are far better than me in many aspects..." Yufeng asked and continued while staring at the ground, hiding away her current expression from Meng.

Meng glanced in suspicion at the residual soul that was eagerly listening to them before he just lightly shook his head.

*SIGH* "Please listen to me carefully, Yufeng...You might now believe it but my true age might be harder to discover. While my bone age is true...my soul is different. I have never really cared about that kind of intimacy before which means that I am not sure of what it is that I feel but I have to tell you that I like you a lot. I have never experienced a love so I am not really sure how it feels but I know that I don't want to see you suffer. I want you to be happy...but at the same time, I want to be near your happy self." Meng forced those words out of him. It wasn't as if he was embarrassed to say them aloud but those words simply felt too strong and heavy. Until now, Meng never encountered such trouble saying something aloud except for informing the families of his deceased comrades.

Meng could bet anything that it seemed as if those azure eyes above them performed a light nod.

"?! ...I believe you. Although it sounds...slightly crazy, it indeed explains your bearing. You have always struck me as someone much older than your peers. The younger generation usually acts more arrogant than you and mostly they strife to make a name for themselves and show off, defeating their peers, trying to stand at the top of their generation. You, little Meng...You aren't ambitionless but you are completely uninterested in your own generation. You don't care about fame and you act respectfully even to maids. Do you mind if I ask how old you actually are?" Yufeng eyed Meng from top to bottom before she nodded her head and then asked for his true age just out of curiosity as she was thinking that he was some kind of old sage for him to conduct himself this way.

"Eh? Well...I should be something around your age." Meng replied making Yufeng's lower jaw down to the ground.

"I see...Um, little Meng, you said that you like me, right...?" Yufeng asked with an uncertain expression and faint blush entering her face while shyly looking at the ground.

"I did" Meng nodded his head without being embarrassed about it.

"I lo- like you too! But...what does that mean for us? W-What are we to each other" Yufeng asked while finally fully blushing.

"Hm?" Meng raised his eyebrow upon hearing her question before he approached her and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Intimate traveling companions, I guess? Haha, still, what has happened between us previously was most likely in the heat of the moment, we should still take it slow, for you to adapt and for me to understand these feelings...I hope you don't mind." Meng said with a light laugh.

Yufeng immediately beamed at his words.

"I don't mind at all!" She replied truthfully and was glad that what Meng was feeling for her wasn't just lust. She gave him a quick peck on his lips before regaining some distance as she recalled that they weren't alone.

"Humans, both of you have passed the third and the last trial thus gaining an opportunity to obtain 6 drops of Dragon God blood, 3 for each challenger, however, I doubt you will accept it, right? The residual soul said, looking at Meng who just shook his head with closed eyes. He had no need for this blood with all his cheats and cultivation system of Yin-Yang. However, Yufeng on the other hand would certainly appreciate those 6 drops of blood which would exponentially raise her potential.

"Little Meng...if you are refusing just because of me, please don't do this" Yufeng said with a guilty expression but Meng immediately stopped her from saying more and explained that it isn't because of her.

The residual soul didn't mind Meng's decision as Yufeng already passed the trial and although she might have not been able to pass it if she were all alone, she was still Meng's woman and her future was bright in its eyes. Not to mention...the Dragon God blood would be greatly strengthened once she and Meng would do it. That is also one of the reasons why it helped Yufeng fight her regrets. The residual soul was already aware that Meng would firmly refuse so it would give its everything to Yufeng and also make their relationship stronger so it would have the assurance that its bloodline would remain in good hands and also would be strengthened. Dragon God blood inside human can't compare to the purity of true Dragon God's bloodline but together with Meng's bloodline, Dragon God's blood inside any human would be so much strengthened that it might even reach its prime and true purity in the future.

Obviously, Meng wasn't aware of the residual soul's thoughts but he knew that it was plotting something just by how it "helped" Yufeng face her regrets and how it never interrupted them. It was supposed to announce the end of the trial immediately when Yufeng woke up but it waited especially till they confessed everything which made Meng a bit suspicious of its actions.

"So be it, you woman will be the sole inheritor of Dragon God blood. Those 6 drops of blood are very dangerous for you to fuse with while facing no risk at all so I will use my own power to help you fuse with it, eliminating as much risk as I can in the process." The residual soul said and as its voice fell, azure light flew into between Yufeng's eyebrows.

She immediately started trembling and sweating but she quickly calmed down and sat down to fully focus on fusing with the blood.

Seeing this, Meng released a faint smile before he looked towards the azure eyes.

"How long will it take for her to absorb the blood?"

"Several days most likely." The residual soul replied, looking curiously at Meng what was he thinking right now as it could feel that he had some plans for now that Yufeng was too busy to care for her surroundings.

Meng used his Void Shattering Step a few times to appear several kilometers away from Yufeng before he closed his eyes with a solemn expression on his face, making the residual soul even more curious.

"?!!!" The azure eyes immediately stared at the sky above Meng with a slightly shaky look.

"What kind of Heavenly Tribulation is that and why does it appear in this low realm?" The residual soul muttered while staring at the red clouds manifesting at the sky on their own inside its own domain.

"HAA!!!" Meng released a loud roar as his entire body tensed up, clenching his hands into fists. His entire body started releasing a tyrannical aura and pressure as if he was the hell itself where both gods and devils would have to behave themselves.

He was currently releasing his Hell Suppressing Physique, letting it go wild as until now, he was completely suppressing it.

'Meng, this Heavenly Tribulation is extremely dangerous for you! You need to be careful!' Su Zhu said in Meng's mind but he was no longer paying any attention to her and instead was preparing himself to face the tribulation with everything he had at his disposal.

Within the next few seconds, the red clouds above him formed some kind of mirror, and crimson demonic light shot towards him without giving him any time to react. The crimson demonic light stuck to his body and wrinkles slowly started to appear on his face while his hair started turning gray and white.