She gritted her teeth and overcame the difficulty.

Just as she was about to assist Hong Yuan, she saw a smile appear on his face!

Gu Fan, is he actually smiling? Ye Xiner was puzzled, and her expression was somewhat blank. After a moment, she tenderly gazed at Hong Yuan and passed him a damp towel. Hong Yuan did not reject Ye Xiner’s kindness and took the damp towel to cover his nose.

Hong Yuan felt a surge of pleasure. Of course, he was pleased. The emergence of this stench means the Blood Skull Worm is close to appearing! Moreover, due to this being a dream, I’ve even refined the Blood Skull Worm somewhat. I’ve improved it from only being able to absorb the blood of my own clansmen to also absorbing the blood of ferocious beasts, thereby creating a Blood Spring. Regrettably, absorbing the blood of ferocious beasts can’t enhance my Aperture quality; it can only increase my Essence Qi and strength. But that’s enough for me; after all, materials are limited!

Two hours later, a Worm resembling a red wine glass, the size of a bowl’s mouth and emitting a pleasant fragrance, appeared above the large pot. This was none other than a first-rank Blood Tao Worm—the Blood Skull Worm! Hong Yuan grabbed it, feeling as if he held a handful of water, wet and soft.

"Xiner, protect me while I refine the Worm."

Hong Yuan decisively sat cross-legged and concentrated on refining the wild will of the Blood Skull Worm. The Aperture within his body buzzed loudly as Silver True Essence slowly flowed out. Because his Aperture was broken and still C-rank, the True Essence Hong Yuan could muster was very little. Thus, the speed at which he refined the Blood Skull Worm was extremely slow, and there was even the possibility of failure. But Hong Yuan was not panicked in the slightest.

Understanding people wasn’t a skill reserved only for the cunning, like Mou Liang Great Saint and East Supreme Saint. Hong Yuan was even better at it. After all, who has more life experience than I do?

As expected, Ye Xiner obediently followed Hong Yuan’s command and hugged him tightly from behind. Accompanied by a warm, immense softness, her Aperture began to roar. Droplets of True Essence flowed from her Aperture into Hong Yuan’s. Under his guidance, her True Essence took on his characteristics, helping him refine the Blood Skull Worm.

Actually, sharing one’s True Essence is an exceptionally dangerous act! One must not do this unless with someone they trust with their life. If the other person harbors any malice, your Aperture will collapse instantly, you’ll become a cripple, and die on the spot.

The main reason Hong Yuan trusted Ye Xiner so much was due to her previous actions, which had won his trust. Additionally, it was because this was a dream that Hong Yuan dared to take a bit more risk. He could afford to fail here.

By the time the sun peeked over the horizon the next day, the Blood Skull Worm had obediently settled into Hong Yuan’s Aperture.

Ye Xiner, who was behind Hong Yuan, had already exhausted herself. She collapsed powerlessly, leaning frailly against Hong Yuan’s broad back. Heavy sweat dampened her face, plastering several strands of her hair to her skin.

She mustered her spirit, her apricot eyes sparkling with hope. "Gu Fan, did we succeed?"

BUZZ...

The Blood Skull Worm inside Hong Yuan sensed Xiner’s kindred bloodline and stirred. After a moment, however, Hong Yuan quelled its restlessness.

The Blood Skull Worm isn’t completely refined, so it still retains its wild consciousness, huh? It seems repairing the Aperture is imperative, Hong Yuan thought.

However, his face was full of smiles as he tenderly embraced Ye Xiner. "We succeeded! We both succeeded!"

"That’s good, that’s good..." Ye Xiner’s eyes brightened even more. She closed them in relief, and this made the Blood Skull Worm’s agitation even more distinct.

Hong Yuan expressionlessly resisted the Blood Skull Worm’s desire to feed.

I may be ruthless, but not devoid of all feeling, he mused. Besides, giving Ye Xiner a happy life is clearly Ye Gufan’s greatest wish. If I were to kill her now, I would undoubtedly fail this dream trial completely!

...

...

After settling Ye Xiner comfortably on the bed and covering her with a quilt, Hong Yuan began organizing his equipment. A craftsman must first sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well, he recalled.

It had been a long while since Hong Yuan had scrambled for even the slightest resources. The last time he had ventured into the wild for resources was many years ago. It seemed to be during his time at Phoenix Creek Sect, when he went to the Ten Thousand Beast Cave Heaven to find Qingmu Deer to aid his cultivation of the Qinglu Mountain Moving Skill. Those were the days of manipulating swarms of insects and hunting cautiously.

A flask of clear water...

Limestone powder, chili powder...

First-rank Talismans: Ice Arrow Talisman, Fireball Talisman...

And more...

One after another, Hong Yuan carefully placed items into a small storage bag. If only its space wasn’t so limited, he would have wanted to cram every weapon he could into it. When venturing out, one can never have too many tricks up one’s sleeve.

My trump card is just a single second-rank Blood Knife Talisman, he thought with a sigh. Alas, even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice.

After finishing his preparations, Hong Yuan sat on the edge of the bed.

He was not only quite accomplished in Array Tao but also quite proficient in Talisman Tao; since ancient times, the two had gone hand in hand. It was a pity that with the current materials and dire circumstances, managing to create even one second-rank Blood Knife Talisman was already quite remarkable.

After checking everything once more, Hong Yuan sat by the bedside, watching over the sleeping Ye Xiner, silently guarding her.