Calculating My Way To Immortality

Inside the Twin Secret Tombs, Xueling lay down on the sand while Yu Tian sat next to her.

He looked at his hands - they were encased in ice, along with other parts of his body that had been in contact with Xueling during their escape.

"Looks like it hasn't properly awakened yet," he thought.

[89%]

He thought to himself that a power that couldn't be properly controlled could be harmful to both of them. Luckily for him, he was able to calculate how to properly circulate the yin energy so it didn't poison him.

In fact, it could be beneficial for him in his breakthrough to the Foundation realm.

It took about five minutes to completely refine all the yin energy. He flexed his hands, testing for any remnants. After confirming that everything was fine, he could finally focus on their surroundings.

The area seemed to be a desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. He exhaled.

"I know you're awake," he said, causing Xueling to shift. She still remained lying on the sand, not getting up.

"Yu Tian, did you really mean what you said back then?" she asked.

Her breathing then became more rapid. "I get it, you must've said that so I can awaken this power, right?" she asked expectantly.

Yu Tian just sighed. "It's true that I did that to awaken your power, but I also meant what I said," he said.

"I see..."

She wondered why he couldn't just lie to her. If he really made choices that gave him the highest chances of getting something out of her, wouldn't it be better to keep the lie going? She even gave him a chance to take it back. Did he dislike her that much?

The two remained in silence for a few minutes…

"What kind of woman do you like?" she asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I don't like anyone right now," Yu Tian responded.

"But you must have a preference, right?" she asked.

"Let's see..." Yu Tian was deep in thought. He thought to himself that at the moment, there wasn't anyone he would really consider his type, but when he was in the outer sect, he had a preference.

"If I were to like someone, they'd have to be older than me..." he said.

"How old are you?" Xueling asked, sitting upright from her sleeping position.

"I'm twenty," he said.

Xueling thought to herself that she was also twenty. "What month were you born?" she asked.

"August," he responded.

"Yes!" she thought. She was born in February, so she was older.

"Someone older. And what else?" she asked.

Yu Tian remembered that back then, he was extremely poor, so, "Someone rich and powerful," he said.

Xueling nodded. Being rich wasn't really a problem - if she beat the sect master, she should be able to inherit all his riches. As for powerful, she was indeed strong, but that's probably not what he meant. He probably meant someone with authority who could take care of him.

She smiled. "I'm also the daughter of the Emperor, so I have the right to fight for the emperor's position. If I become the sect master and gain influence, my exile will be overturned," she thought.

Does someone with the throne have enough authority? she wondered.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Something else? I guess I like someone who's smart and scheming," Yu Tian said.

She looked at him - she was only seeing his back and couldn't make out his expression. An emperor is also someone who's smart and scheming. Was he asking her to be the emperor?

Her expression hardened. She had something to fight for.

"Thank you," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"For calling to me. Back then, I was about to give up, but you gave me a purpose. Now I don't want to give up. I want to live," she said. "I will become the emperor and make you fall for me," she declared.

"What are you talking about?" Yu Tian asked, wondering if she had misunderstood him.

"It's okay, I will definitely become the best person for you," she said.

He turned to look at her and saw her determined expression. "I guess this also works out for me," he thought, though he couldn't help but feel he'd dug himself into even more trouble than before.

…

The two stared at each other for a long time before Yu Tian broke the silence.

"Take this," he said, handing her a pill.

"A healing pill?" she asked in surprise. "Were you making it all this time?" Her eyes widened.

"That's right. But this is the last one - the herbs I got from the Black Forest are over," he said.

"Thankfully, we should have some time so you can recover your energy here after taking the pill."

She looked at the pill. There was one pill left. She wanted Yu Tian to have it, but he wouldn't want that. Her having the pill was the best choice for them. She didn't say anything and accepted the pill with a bow.

Yu Tian watched her for a few seconds before getting up. "Take your time to refine the pill. I'll look around," he said.

"Isn't it dangerous? What if we get split up?" she asked.

"Don't worry, that won't happen. This whole thing is an illusion anyway," he said.

"What?" she questioned in surprise.

"This is not a desert - it's an illusion formation. I'll explain later. Just focus on healing and I'll focus on getting us out of here," he said.

When she heard this, she nodded and continued refining the pill. Yu Tian, on the other hand, began walking around the area.

After some observations and calculations, he concluded that the formation was around a fifty-meter radius. He wondered if these were the so-called puzzles. Did they have to solve all these formations to get to the real inheritance?

What he found strange was the formation itself, as they had clearly entered the tomb of the talisman twin. He wondered if the tombs had been mislabeled over time. Well, it wasn't all that important anyway, so he decided not to pay attention to it.

A few minutes later, Xueling opened her eyes. "I've healed completely," she said. Now she just needed to recover her energy and everything would be good.

"Great, I've also figured out our way out of here," he said, turning to look at her.