Within the Purple Bamboo Forest, a cool breeze drifted through, the crisp, sweet sound of swaying bamboo like a pleasant melody.
Gently inhaling the fresh scent of bamboo, Deng Tianyu squinted his eyes, leaning comfortably by the edge of the hot spring, a face of utter enjoyment on display.
“Irrigated and nourished by spiritual energy, it truly is different. Quite refreshing and uplifting, I must say!”
As he sighed in admiration, he picked up a bamboo tube filled with spirit fruit juice and took a slight sip, finding it extraordinarily comfortable.
And the little fox, already full from eating and drinking, had her three tails wrapped around herself. She lay lazily on a small bamboo raft floating on the hot spring, her breathing steady and even.
Falling asleep in such a comfortable environment, her closed fox eyes were curved into crescent moons, clearly in the midst of a pleasant dream.
“You really know how to enjoy yourself!”
Deng Tianyu set down the spirit fruit juice in his hand and chuckled.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached his ears.
He turned his head to look and saw a graceful figure in a vermilion red Embroidered Flowing Immortal Dress, leaning into the beautiful moonlight. With light, airy steps, she slowly emerged from the darkness.
First came the cunning, alluring starry eyes like a red lotus, then a lovely face with a skillfully charming smile, and waist-length vermilion red hair winding down to her hips.
Her beautiful feet, wrapped in Ice Silkworm Black Silk, stepped in a pair of vermilion red embroidered shoes. With each light step, her alluring figure swayed, her skirt hem fluttering, possessing both the liveliness of a maiden and the beauty of a mature one.
Looking at the woman standing gracefully before him, Deng Tianyu asked, puzzled, “Shishi, how did your eyes and hair turn red?”
Hong Shi bent her knees and sat down beside him, explaining, “It’s a change brought on by cultivating a technique. It only happens occasionally, and it doesn’t cause any discomfort.”
“As long as there are no ill effects, that’s fine!” Deng Tianyu released the worry in his heart.
In the world of cultivation, techniques were countless in number.
Some indeed caused changes in a cultivator’s appearance.
It could be the hair, the face, and some could even change one’s personality and gender. For Li Shishi, only her eyes and hair turning red was still considered a normal occurrence.
Hong Shi asked, somewhat puzzled, “Just now, there was a violent surge of True Essence here, as if someone was engaged in battle. Does Senior Brother know what that was about?”
“It was simply the commotion caused by my technique while I was cultivating here!”
Deng Tianyu casually made an excuse, concealing the matter of the earlier great battle.
Regarding Tantai Mingyue, he didn’t plan to let Li Shishi know for the time being.
After all, the matter was too unbelievable, and he still didn’t know Tantai Mingyue’s identity. If Shishi went to investigate deeply out of curiosity, who knows what trouble it might stir up.
“I see!”
Hong Shi nodded, not doubting Deng Tianyu’s words.
Her gaze swept over the Purple Bamboo Forest, finally resting on the little fox, a look of surprise on her face. “Why has Yingying grown two more tails?”
“If my guess is correct, Yingying has probably awakened the bloodline within her body, which changed the number of her tails.”
“In terms of combat power, her three tails can now rival the Peak Stage of the Divine Ability Realm.”
Deng Tianyu pondered for a moment, then explained.
This was also the conclusion he’d drawn from observing the changes in the little fox.
“Then what kind of demon fox bloodline does Yingying have?”
“Why have I never heard of any fox clan undergoing such a change?”
Hong Shi’s fine eyebrows furrowed. After thinking for a bit, she was still somewhat puzzled.
In the entire cultivation world, the most powerful fox clan was the Azure Hill Fox lineage, one of the Eight Branches of the Demon Race.
As far as she knew, that Fox Venerable was an extremely powerful existence.
But she had never heard of any Heaven’s Pride from the Azure Hill Fox Clan being able to reach combat strength comparable to the Divine Ability Stage while still in such a juvenile phase.
“Perhaps Yingying is a descendant left behind by a powerful fox clan from ancient times.”
Gazing at the little fox, who was sleeping utterly adorably, Deng Tianyu offered this explanation.
If that were the case, it would explain the immense combat power.
Of course, the matter of why the female tyrant Tantai Mingyue existed within her was something he could only investigate later!
“An ancient fox clan?”
Hong Shi was lost in thought. An image of a sky-covering fox silhouette with nine tails inexplicably flashed through her mind.
Though it was but a fleeting glimpse, she could feel the terror of that figure.
She wanted to recall the name of that silhouette, but found her mind was already hazy, and she couldn’t remember!
Deng Tianyu, not noticing her odd state, asked, “Shishi, are you going to bathe?”
“If so, I’ll go back first!”
Because of his intense battle with Tantai Mingyue, the bamboo board that had been set across the hot spring was destroyed.
The situation now was that this spiritual hot spring had no screen barrier at all; a man and woman couldn’t bathe at the same time!
Of course, setting up that bamboo board was originally for the consideration of his Shizun Ning Wan and Junior Sister Li Shishi.
After all, among the three people and one fox in the entire Back Mountain Residence, he was the only male.
As for the little fox, it didn’t matter which side she went to, as long as she was happy.
“Actually, Senior Brother doesn’t need to leave.”
“Didn’t we bathe together when we were little?”
“Back then, Senior Brother even helped scrub my back.”
Hong Shi showed a nostalgic expression, though the corner of her eye kept watching for changes in Deng Tianyu’s expression.
“You used to be so restless.”
“Even when bathing, you liked to fidget around.”
Deng Tianyu said, a bit exasperated.
Speaking of this, he also felt a touch of nostalgia.
Li Shishi and he were undoubtedly childhood sweethearts, sharing many beautiful memories.
“Childhood was childhood. Now you’ve grown up, you must know that between men and women…”
“There should be a proper distance?”
“But Senior Brother wouldn’t do anything untoward to me, so what does it matter?”
Hong Shi, however, smiled and interrupted him, a hint of cunning flashing in her beautiful eyes. She deliberately paused. “Unless…”
“Unless what?” Deng Tianyu asked subconsciously.
“Unless Senior Brother is afraid he can’t resist, and then do something untoward to his cute Junior Sister?”
Hearing this, Deng Tianyu shook his head. “That won’t happen!”
A joke, he was super resistant, okay?
You have to understand, in these sixteen years at the Purple Cloud Sect, every single night he had been tempering his mind against his charming and seductive Shizun.
Sometimes in a bath barrel, sometimes on a bamboo bed. In any case, Ning Wan constantly changed methods to test him.
“In that case, what do I have to worry about?”
A triumphant smile curled at the corner of Hong Shi’s lips. Right in front of Deng Tianyu, she began to remove her clothes.
First the Embroidered Flowing Immortal Dress, then the embroidered shoes and the Ice Silkworm Black Silk, leaving only her undergarments.
She knew this was her Senior Brother’s limit. If she undressed any further, he’d probably just turn around and leave.
Before Deng Tianyu could speak, her exquisite, bare feet stepped slowly into the spiritual hot spring.
“Haa…”
Gently exhaling a breath of turbid air, a beautiful, alluring flush spread across Hong Shi’s cheeks. She looked at Deng Tianyu with longing. “Could Senior Brother, like when we were little, help scrub my~ back?”
