BTTH: Starting from Capturing the Goddess

"You're awake. Don't move; your injuries haven't healed yet. Let me help you up."

A delighted voice came from outside the cave. Die entered, swaying her hips, holding a medicinal herb in her hand.

Perhaps because of the kiss earlier, Die's face inexplicably turned red as soon as she got close to Chen Mo.

She quickly stepped forward, helping Chen Mo by placing one of his arms over her shoulder and supporting him as he sat up.

Then, moving behind him, she untied the bandages wrapped around his body.

"I haven't fully cleansed the poison from your system yet. I'll do it again today, and with this medicinal herb applied, it should be almost completely removed."

"Medicinal herb? Have you regained your memory?" Chen Mo frowned.

"After you fell unconscious that day, I seemed to recall some things. Suddenly, I just knew many things, like this herb—I know it's used for detoxification. But my main memories still haven't returned."

Die looked at the still slightly darkened wound, pursed her lips, placed her hands on Chen Mo's shoulders, and lowered her head—before sucking on the wound.

"Ah—"

A sudden pain caused Chen Mo to let out an involuntary groan. The strange sensation made him realize what Die was doing.

"Die, you—"

"Phuh!"

Die spat out the poisoned blood, then quickly crushed the herb with a stone and applied it to the wound.

"If the poison in your body isn't removed, it will be fatal in the future. But now, I've drawn it all out."

"Poison? That arrow was poisoned?"

A cold sweat broke out on Chen Mo's forehead.

Damn, I almost messed up big time.

Without hesitation, Chen Mo retrieved a Tier 1 Detoxification Pill from his backpack and swallowed it.

Better safe than sorry.

"Mm, luckily, the poison wasn't very potent, but it had deeply penetrated. I had to suck out the poison three times before I got it all out." Die rewrapped the wound as she spoke.

"Three times?"

Chen Mo was stunned before quickly asking, "How long was I unconscious? Where are we now? And what about the pursuers?"

"Hmm…" Die fiddled with her fingers. "About a day and a half. We're in an underground cave in the desert. It seems the pursuers didn't follow us here."

"A day and a half…"

Chen Mo narrowed his eyes.

With such a long delay, how could the pursuers not have caught up? Given his condition at the time, even with Die carrying him, they shouldn't have been able to escape far.

Something felt off.

But since he couldn't figure it out, he decided not to dwell on it. As long as he was still alive, that was enough for now.

Seeing Chen Mo suddenly fall silent, Die furrowed her delicate brows. Then, as if remembering something, she crossed her arms behind her back, looking somewhat nervous.

"You risked your life to save me… does that mean you've fallen for me?"

As she spoke, her face blushed slightly, and she turned toward Chen Mo.

"Ah… this…"

Caught off guard by her question, Chen Mo didn't know how to respond.

Die was undeniably beautiful, so saying he didn't like her would be a lie.

But if he admitted he liked her, their bond wasn't at 100 yet—what if he upset her?

In the end, Chen Mo decided to be true to his feelings. Just as he was about to confess—

Die, seeing that he hadn't answered, suddenly covered her red lips with her jade hand and chuckled.

"Hehe, don't be scared, I was just joking!"

Hearing this, Chen Mo swallowed back the words he was about to say and smiled.

"I almost thought you were serious. You really scared me."

Upon hearing that, a flicker of disappointment flashed in Die's eyes. She pursed her lips and said nothing more.

The cave, already quiet, fell into an even deeper silence.

Neither of them spoke.

Chen Mo was afraid of saying the wrong thing and ruining the goodwill he had worked so hard to build.

He decided to play it safe and not take any risks.

[Ding! Favorability -1.]

Chen Mo: "…"

I didn't even say anything, and I still lost favorability?

Chen Mo: "Um…"

"Your wounds haven't healed yet. You need rest. It's almost nightfall—I'm going to find some food."

With a sway of her hips, Die left the cave.

"Be careful," Chen Mo called after her.

No response.

Chen Mo: Where did I go wrong?

Unable to figure it out, he simply pulled up his status panel.

And what he saw shocked him.

What the hell happened while I was unconscious?

****

[Name: Chen Mo]

[Race: Human]

[Cultivation: Three-Star Dou Shi]

[Host Level: Lv1 (50/100)]

[Bound Goddess: Die (Favorability: 49) — Favorability reaches 100 to become Dao Companions.]

[Cultivation Method: Supreme Primordial Art]

[Skills: Kunpeng Wings (Upgradeable), Cloud Wandering Steps, Mysterious Thunder Palm]

[Bloodline: Ordinary]

[Favorability Points: 22]

[Physique: Heaven and Earth Sword Body (Upgradeable)]

[Charm: Celestial Aura]

****

Chen Mo noticed that not only had his host level reached halfway to the next rank, but two new attributes had appeared—Physique and Charm.

Before he lost consciousness, he didn't have this "Celestial Aura" trait.

He tapped on Kunpeng Wings.

It was currently at the Early Xuan Tier, and upgrading it to the Mid Xuan Tier required 15 Favorability Points.

Instead of upgrading it, he turned his attention to the Heaven and Earth Sword Body.

According to the system's description, his Sword Body was currently at the Minor Accomplishment stage. Above it were Major Accomplishment and Perfection.

Even at the Minor Accomplishment stage, he could condense sword energy and generate sword qi. Any sword-based Dou Technique below the Heaven Tier could be perfectly executed just by seeing it once.

Upgrading to Major Accomplishment required 30 Favorability Points.

Upon reaching Major Accomplishment, he could condense a Sword Heart, control swords with qi, and achieve unity between man and sword—commanding all swords in the world.

Advancing from Major Accomplishment to Perfection required 100 Favorability Points, but the description was locked.

Comparing the two, Chen Mo decided it would be more worthwhile to save up 30 Favorability Points to upgrade his Sword Body.

He glanced at his inventory.

Inside, he found:

- One bottle of Marrow Cleansing Elixir

- Tier 1 Alchemy Technique

- Six instances of One Stick of Incense Worth of Enlightenment

- One Tier 1 Qi Recovery Pill

- A Cang Thunder Blood Eagle Beast Flame at the Dou Huang level

- A One-Star Dou Huang Experience Card

Seeing all this, Chen Mo suddenly felt like he had hit the jackpot.

He even had the absurd thought: I could take another arrow.

He first consumed the Qi Recovery Pill to restore some of his Dou Qi.

Then, he used the Marrow Cleansing Elixir to refine his body, expand his meridians, and enhance his constitution.

The result?

He immediately had to relieve himself.

What he expelled was not only disgusting in color but also unbearably foul-smelling.

Chen Mo quickly buried it in the yellow sand.

Not long after—

Die returned with a handful of mushrooms.

Although still upset with Chen Mo, she couldn't help but wrinkle her delicate nose.

"What's that awful smell?"

"Uh… I squashed a huge stink bug," Chen Mo replied.

"Where is it?"

"I buried it over there." He pointed to a small sand dune in the distance.

Die didn't question it further.

That night—

After finishing their roasted mushrooms, Chen Mo sat down to refine the Cang Thunder Blood Eagle Beast Flame.

Meanwhile, Die placed her jade-like hands on her stomach, lowered her head slightly, and asked in a cool yet melodious voice—

"Do you think humans and Snake-People can be together?"

Hearing this, Chen Mo immediately thought of the legendary Xu Xian and blurted out—

"Of course they can."

****

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