Chapter 66: A Friend’s Unexpected Massage and a Cultivation Bottleneck

Lilia looked at the pink pendant in her hand, a faint smile gracing her lips. ‘Since this pendant can still pinpoint Gern’s location, and there are no signs of a struggle nearby, it means Gern should be fine. Perhaps my intense longing for Gern’s Dragon Girl form just now caused me to hallucinate the sound,’ Lilia mused. Stepping forward, she saw Gern hiding in the corner. Gern was leaning against the wall, his clothes drenched with sweat, as if he had just emerged from an arduous battle.

Rewind a few minutes: Gern, in his half-dragon, half-serpent form, leaned against the pristine white wall, his clothes soaked with sweat. ‘If I don’t do something soon, Lilia might actually treat me as a monster and dispose of me.’

“Forget it,” he muttered. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ll try the method I used to transform back before and see if it works.”

Just as Lilia’s foot was about to cross the threshold, Gern’s method miraculously worked. It was a true hair’s breadth escape; he had even caught a glimpse of Lilia’s hair. Had he been a second slower, Lilia would have witnessed his embarrassing predicament. Fortunately, luck was on his side, and he had narrowly avoided disaster.

Lilia gazed at the sweat-drenched Gern, a flicker of concern in her eyes.

“Gern, what happened to you? Did you get into a fight?”

“Oh, no… I was just too engrossed in my cultivation. I thought this spot was rather nice, so I decided to rest here for a bit.”

Lilia’s cerulean eyes scrutinized Gern, her expression betraying her disbelief.

“Really?”

“Of… of course it’s true.”

Gern felt a pang of guilt under her gaze, but he forced himself to maintain his composure.

Lilia didn’t press the matter further. As long as Gern was alright, nothing else truly mattered.

“I see. Still, you can’t just hide here to rest. Come on, quick, let’s go inside.”

“Huh?”

Without another word, Lilia pulled Gern into the room and pressed him onto the sofa, leaving him utterly bewildered.

“Princess, what is the meaning of this?”

“I told you, this isn’t the Klett Kingdom right now. Don’t call me ‘Princess’; call me Lilia!”

“Ahem, Miss Lilia, for you to come to my place… isn’t it a bit improper, especially at this hour?”

“I already said I’d make it up to you. That fellow named Leon got a good scolding from me this afternoon.”

“Next time he dares to trouble you, just come find me directly. You won’t even need to lift a finger.”

“This…”

“Alright, alright. As compensation, I’ll take care of your household chores today.”

Gern’s brows furrowed as he eyed Lilia’s attire. She was currently dressed in a gray-blue academy uniform, which appeared quite substantial. The female version of the uniform featured a skirt-like design for the bottom half, complemented by a light gray belt, giving it a simple yet elegant aesthetic. ‘But can she really do housework in such clothes?’ Gern wondered. He felt his usual cloth garments were far more suited for such tasks. Moreover, Lilia was the Princess of the Klett Kingdom; would she genuinely know how to perform household chores? Gern remained skeptical.

“What? You don’t believe me?”

Lilia’s eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of anger flashing within them. Gern hastily waved his hands in denial.

“Ah, haha, of course not! You go ahead, I’ll rest for a bit first.”

Perhaps realizing her own inadequacy in household tasks, Lilia fell silent for a moment before approaching Gern.

“Then… how about I give you a shoulder massage?”

“Whoa, no, no, no, I can’t handle that.”

“Oh, don’t be shy.”

As she spoke, Lilia reached out to massage Gern’s shoulders, but he swiftly dodged her touch.

“Miss Lilia, please don’t humble me so. There’s no precedent for a Princess giving a commoner a shoulder massage.”

“I already told you, this isn’t the Klett Kingdom! What’s wrong with me giving you a shoulder massage? Are you implying I’m inconveniencing you?”

Faced with such a forceful Lilia, Gern instinctively felt a surge of apprehension.

“No… no, I just feared that Your Highness would be put out.”

“Hmph, I said it already. There’s no ‘Your Highness’ here now, just two very good friends.”

“Friends…?”

Gern couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating laugh, shaking his head. The word ‘friend’ was incredibly foreign to him. In his previous life, as a member of the Heretic God Cult, he had no friends. Perhaps he had some when he first joined, but they had all perished in the Heretic God Cult’s relentless experiments. And outside the cult, no one dared to approach him. After that, Gern had never made another friend.

“What’s wrong? Could it be that I’m your very first friend?”

Gern met Lilia’s bright, sparkling eyes, and finally nodded.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

Upon hearing this, Lilia’s eyes lit up.

“What a coincidence! You’re also my first true friend.”

Gern paused, slightly stunned. It seemed Lilia, this kingdom’s esteemed young lady, wasn’t as glamorous or carefree as she appeared on the surface.

“Since we’re both each other’s first friends, me giving you a shoulder massage isn’t really that strange, is it?”

Lilia smiled faintly, a light seeming to shimmer within her cerulean eyes.

Without waiting for Gern’s agreement, she immediately reached out and began massaging his shoulders.

Gern instinctively wanted to resist, but the moment he saw Lilia’s head leaning close, he instantly abandoned the thought.

Lilia nodded contentedly, gently massaging Gern’s shoulders. Her touch was rather soft, and even with some internal resistance, Gern found himself unable to fight against Lilia’s ministrations. For a moment, Gern even forgot the fear Lilia had previously instilled in him, closing his eyes and enjoying the massage.

The massage proved to be a rather mundane process. Initially, Lilia focused entirely on kneading Gern’s shoulders. However, after a while, her mind began to wander. She started to fantasize that she wasn’t massaging a boy in his early sixteen’s, but rather a young girl, not long developed, a Dragon Girl she yearned to claim entirely for herself, to transform her into her own possession, to do with as she pleased. A blush crept onto Lilia’s cheeks at the thought. If only her current strength surpassed Gern’s, she would surely bind him firmly to her side and lavish him with affection.

‘Oh, right, little Luoya is now a Third-tier Knight. Maybe I can ask her how to proceed from here?’

Lilia’s Knight path was currently stuck at the peak of the Second-tier. A while ago, her Mage realm had already broken through to the Third-tier, unlocking a domain of fire magic. Yet, her Knight path remained stagnant. Her primary cultivation technique, martial skills, and movement techniques were all complementary; by all accounts, this stagnation shouldn’t be happening.

Lilia fell into deep thought, and the pressure in her hands became erratic.

“Eek~ Hiss…”

Lilia’s sudden grip was no ordinary strength; it was a force few could withstand. Gern gritted his teeth, struggling to suppress a cry.

“How’s that? Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“Heh heh, it’s… *hiss*, it’s pretty good.”

Gern pressed a hand to his forehead, desperately holding back any sound. Lilia, oblivious to Gern’s pain, continued to massage his shoulders.

Moments later, cold sweat beaded on Gern’s forehead. However, this pain was far more tolerable than the piercing agony he’d experienced earlier, remaining within his limits.

“Gern, how’s your rest going?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Gern’s body instinctively flinched, fearing Lilia was about to demonstrate a new massage technique, a shiver running down his spine.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ahem, it’s nothing. I’ve rested enough. Go ahead and say what you wanted to say.”

Hearing Gern’s words, Lilia let out a sigh of relief.

“Actually, it’s nothing much. I’ve just hit a bottleneck in my cultivation recently. I was thinking, since you’re already a Third-tier Knight, perhaps you could give me some pointers?”

Gern’s expression showed a hint of surprise. Lilia encountering a bottleneck in her cultivation was something he hadn’t anticipated at all. After all, in his previous life, Lilia had already made a name for herself when he was just starting to grow and work for the Heretic God Cult. She was even hailed as the Klett Kingdom’s foremost prodigy. Furthermore, Lilia practiced dual cultivation, which was testament enough to her talent. He remained silent for a moment before finally nodding in agreement, considering it a repayment for the storage artifact Lilia had given him earlier.

“Come with me. I’ll take a look and see what the problem is.”

“Mm-hm.”

The two quickly arrived at the dormitory apartment’s backyard. Having been thoroughly cleaned by Gern, the backyard was an ideal spot for martial arts practice.

For a Knight to advance, there were only two primary methods: first, constant practice, relentlessly honing one’s body; second, endless combat. Some who cultivated as Knights could only truly grasp higher-tier paths through the crucible of battle.

Gern first examined Lilia’s body and realized she was just a hair’s breadth away from the Third-tier. However, she simply couldn’t find the opportune moment to ascend to the Third-tier. In the current mainstream cultivation paths on the continent, every third tier represented a qualitative transformation. The Third, Sixth, and Ninth tiers were all exceptionally crucial junctures, and many cultivators found themselves stuck precisely at these most critical stages.