Li Meirong frowned and almost slapped Xiong Mei's hand away, but the girl seemed to have sensed her discomfort and immediately retracted it on her own.

"Aii! Not very cute, are you?" Xiong Mei playfully pouted.

"I don't feel comfortable with being casually touched." Li Meirong frowned. She moved aside a few of her damp hair strands that were plastered across her face and asked, "What do you mean by saying "I collected everything around me?" The colours shot straight into my body."

Xiong Mei's teasing expression turned solemn as she regarded Li Meirong's sour face and looked her up and down.

She offered a hand to help her up, but Li Meirong ignored it and chose to support herself against one of the pavilion's pillars, rising to her feet on her own.

"Sorry about earlier. I'll be sure to ask your permission next time before I touch you! As for what I meant, well, the way you cultivate means you're kind of special." Xiong Mei stated, scratching the back of her head.

Li Meirong side-eyed Xiong Mei and sighed, "It's fine, I probably overreacted. I'm also sorry."

Xiong Mei smiled, "It's good that there's no hard feelings between us. Would you like to come to my residence? I have a large collection of cultivation manuals that might assist you. Since you absorb so much energy at one go, it's going to take a toll on you. I won't be surprised if you'll feel a bit feeble for the next few hours."

As if on cue, once Xiong Mei had finished saying those words, Li Meirong felt herself go weak at the knees, and she nearly collapsed to the floor. With her eyes squinting, she grasped the pillar tightly for support.

"Let's do that next time. Can you explain to me what exactly I did wrong when I cultivated? Why do I feel this way?" Li Meirong spoke through gritted teeth. 'Damn this f*cking cultivation!'

Disregarding her question, Xiong Mei rushed to her side instead.

"Ah! Let me help you, please. I feel responsible, this happened under my instructions. I should be the one to take care of you, isn't that so?" Xiong Mei's voice was filled with worry as she reached out to hold Li Meirong, although she waited for her consent before actually touching her.

Li Meirong hesitated to voice her reply as Xiong Mei's particular choice of words had caused her to remember a certain fair-haired, ailing senior. She rolled her eyes at her own strange thoughts.

How could there be any extra meaning to Xiong Mei's concern?

'I have to stop being so paranoid…' Li Meirong mentally rebuked herself.

"I'd appreciate some assistance in getting back to my home, and thank you for inviting me, but It's getting late now and I'm supposed to have a martial arts lesson this evening."

Li Meirong's body felt terribly strange to her. She was overflowing with energy and her senses seemed unable to process it all. Her eyes burned because everything seemed too bright, her muscles were sore because they seemed to be working in a way slightly different than they'd ever done before.

She could liken the sensation to having drunk too much water in a gulp. She felt queasy and disoriented, although the experience was of course quite nourishing and she knew she would feel fine again after a while.

Xiong Mei instantly wrapped one arm around Li Meirong's slender waist and placed the other one on her shoulders. She carried her towards the edge of the pavilion and whistled loudly.

No more than a minute later, the silhouette of a dark, large, four-legged creature could be seen as it trotted across the skies, making its way to the pavilion's entrance.