The moon hung high overhead.
The hall, once bustling, was now quiet, the crowd had dispersed.
Xiao Yan approached, his expression complex, hesitating to speak.
He hadn't expected a mere point from this guy to seal his greatest asset.
It was fine since it was Brother Bai, but the thought of someone else doing this was terrifying!
"No need to worry. The Na Ling was only necessary when your strength was low to boost your odds of taming Heavenly Flame," Xiao Bai said, as if reading his mind. He waved, lifting the seal. "Your technique is unique, able to refine Heavenly Flame for your own use. As you master Green Lotus Core Flame, the Na Ling becomes optional. You won't be left fireless if it's sealed."
The Na Ling was a common tool on the Dou Qi Continent for taming Heavenly Flame.
With Xiao Yan's Flame Mantra, he'd fully refined his Heavenly Flame. Keeping it in the Na Ling was just habit.
Otherwise, a tiny Na Ling could handle lower-ranked Yi Huo, but the top ones—or multiple fused flames—could incinerate space itself. Na Ling? No "ling" would help!
"Your Brother Bai's right. The Na Ling isn't your weakness. Besides, how many have sealing techniques as freakish as his, locking down anything?" Yao Lao's voice chimed in.
"Kid Xiao Bai, where's my Soul Spirit Liquid?"
"Geez, no pleasantries, huh?" Xiao Bai chuckled, shaking his head. With a wave, a pristine jade bottle appeared.
"Heh, why stand on ceremony with you?" Yao Lao said, unabashedly stowing the bottle. He'd provided the formula and herbs, after all.
"Stay here tonight. I've set up a soul barrier around to prevent surprises," Xiao Bai said, his smile fading, eyes heavy with caution.
"Got it."
Xiao Yan's worries eased, but his gaze grew serious. His teacher's earlier silence meant that mysterious figure was nearby. Returning to the Miteer family now felt risky.
"Two days from now is the appointed day. I'll use this time to take the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill and break through to Da Dou Shi!" Xiao Yan said, turning to leave.
Watching him go, Xiao Bai shifted his gaze to Cai Lin, whose beautiful eyes studied him quietly. He smiled softly. "You blaming me in your heart for agreeing to Jia Xing Tian's request?"
"Hmph! A Dou Huang-level beast? I don't even see it as a threat!" Cai Lin turned her head slightly, glancing at him with a huff.
Though she suspected he had a plan, she was still a bit miffed.
He knew she'd clash with the Jia Ma royal family, yet he was boosting their strength!
"Haha." Xiao Bai, charmed by her aggrieved yet haughty expression, took her hand, grinning. "Relax, I didn't set terms yet!"
"Want to know what I'll demand?"
"What terms?"
Cai Lin's brows arched, genuinely curious what could make this jerk disregard her feelings.
"Remember that map you drew?" Xiao Bai winked, his eyes twinkling.
"You're not thinking of using it to make Jia Xing Tian cede territory, are you?" Cai Lin's gaze froze, staring at Xiao Bai like he was an idiot.
"What's that look?" Xiao Bai frowned, playfully pinching her smooth chin.
"Heh." Cai Lin swatted his hand away, sneering, "Jia Xing Tian'd have to be possessed to agree!"
"He has no choice," Xiao Bai said, retracting his hand, his eyes sharpening. "I don't want to kill him. A peak Dou Huang with potential to reach Dou Zong is a solid asset around Jia Ma. Keeping him alive will be useful. If he's unwise, he's not indispensable. I've given him the chance—make the right choice, and he'll go far."
"Are you hiding something from me?" Cai Lin frowned, sensing from his tone that Xiao Bai had a plan—one involving her.
"Nope!" Facing her skeptical gaze, Xiao Bai shook his head quickly. He couldn't spill everything now.
His cultivation was nearing Dou Huang. After the Yun Lan Sect affair, he'd likely head to Central Plain for greater opportunities, rarely returning. Before leaving, he'd tie up all loose ends—his own, the Xiao family's, Cai Lin's, and Yun Zhi's.
He wanted to preserve the region's top fighters to handle any crises, especially with people he cared about here.
"Alright, Queen darling, it's late. Time to rest!"
Xiao Bai scooped her up by the waist, carrying her toward the courtyard.
Cai Lin let out a soft yelp, her suspicion replaced by a blush, her enchanting face tinged with red.
"Xiao Bai, you filthy scondrel, put me down!"
"Heh, you're scolding me? If I don't do something, wouldn't I be losing out?" Xiao Bai kept walking, ignoring her struggles, his arms firm.
"You… jerk!"
Clouds drifted, the moon hiding as if shy.
Setting her gently on the bed, Xiao Bai met her moist, narrow eyes, their playful glint irking him. He leaned down, kissing her tempting red lips fiercely.
"Mmph."
A sultry moan escaped their entwined lips, the room heating up.
Cai Lin's eyes half-closed, dripping with allure. She didn't resist, instead wrapping her arms around his neck, responding eagerly.
Hoo.
After a while, Xiao Bai pulled back, exhaling. Gazing at the enchanting woman beneath him, her long hair splayed lazily across the bed, he brushed her flushed, bewitching face, whispering, "Goblin."
"Like it?" Her shimmering eyes locked on him, her voice soft and seductive.
"Mm."
"Want it?"
"Mm."
"Not giving!" Her allure vanished, her face stern as she vanished from the bed.
"Hmph! Think Dou Zong makes you special? I curse space powers!" Xiao Bai's face darkened, glaring at the coolly elegant woman by the table, who sipped tea to calm her racing heart.
"…!" Xiao Bai growled.
Never had he so desperately wanted to boost his strength.
Damn it, I want to shout, "Thirty years east, thirty years west!"
Moments later, he stood, storming out.
"Where to? Not resting?"
"Rest, my ass! I'm cultivating!" Xiao Bai snapped, his face darker, slamming the door.
Cai Lin's lips curved, propping her cheek, her brows lifting. "Quite the temper!"
Approaching the bed, her gaze paused. Beside the pillow lay a small jade bottle.
She'd seen it that day—it held the Soul Spirit Liquid.
Picking it up, feeling its lingering warmth, her eyes softened. Xiao Bai, I'm yours, and you're mine.
___
The night passed slowly.
At dawn, two figures—one tall, one small—appeared by the small lake like phantoms.
"Xiao Bai, I need sleep! Let me go, I'm just a kid. No sleep, and I won't grow!" Zi Yan panted, slumping on a stone table, her bright eyes dull, waving weakly.
That jerk had dragged her out last night to practice space powers, training all night, nearly killing her!
At first, she'd been thrilled, thinking he'd finally decided to play with her.
But he'd gone mad, grilling her about her innate space talent. She barely understood it—just thought, and it worked.
With no answers, she'd demonstrated her talent for him to observe, and it spiraled until now.
This wasn't play—it was torture, nearly the end of her!
"Go on," Xiao Bai said, waving dismissively from the lake's edge.
"Yay!"
Zi Yan, pardoned, shed her frail act and bolted.
Rolling his eyes, Xiao Bai ignored the little imp, emptying his mind. Faint space power shimmered around him.
"This is space?" he murmured, eyes thoughtful.
Observing Zi Yan's talent all night, he'd touched the threshold of space power. His little golden dragon's essence gave him a tangible sense of it.
Zi Yan showed him space's vastness, her carefree void-shuttling mesmerizing.
Understanding her talent revealed its might. At Dou Wang, she could briefly traverse the void, untaught, purely instinctual.
Even with his body able to warp space and dragon essence aiding his sense, he couldn't match that.
"What a terrifying gift!"
The Void Dragon Clan seemed born with space rules etched into them, needing no study—just growth to master it.
A built-in divine skill—no wonder they were so formidable!
No one, not even Zhu Kun, could say how many powerhouses the clan held. They wandered too freely, some vanishing for millennia, lost to contact.
He even wondered if those lost had drifted to other planes!
Refocusing, Xiao Bai let his soul force trace the surrounding space ripples, immersing himself in its mystic, profound power.
Dark, vast, boundless, omnipresent.
As his sense deepened, he felt a pull to merge with it, as if he'd dissolve into its expanse.
Nearby, Xiao Yan's raised hand froze, his jaw dropping, dazed.
Xiao Bai sat there, yet his soul sense detected nothing—a bizarre contradiction.
"Teacher, what's with Brother Bai?"
Snapping out of it, Xiao Yan asked mentally.
"This kid's a damn monster! Just a Dou Wang, and he's grasped space to this degree?" Yao Lao swore, stunned. Even most Dou Zong couldn't sense space like this!
"Space power? Isn't that for Dou Zong?" Xiao Yan gasped.
"That's why I call him a freak. I've seen Dou Huangs grasp it, but Dou Wangs? Only those with innate gifts can. Others? Impossible!" Yao Lao sighed, explaining.
On the Dou Qi Continent, only Dou Zong could break space, beginning to understand it.
Below Dou Zong, only exceptional peak Dou Huangs might glimpse it. Who else could touch something so lofty?
And this kid, self-taught, blended soul and space power to sense the void—a Dou Zun privilege.
Dou Zun could carve stable space channels using this method, leveraging strong souls and space mastery.
"He's getting scarier!"
Xiao Yan groaned. With his teacher's awe, his old dream of thrashing Xiao Bai seemed forever out of reach.
"Who's scarier?"
A faint voice behind him made Xiao Yan's face pale. Turning, he saw the black-robed figure by the lake fading, a smile blooming as he spun, guiltily saying, "Haha, my dear Brother Bai, of course!"
"Not breaking through? Why're you here?"
Xiao Bai, catching Xiao Yan's sheepish look, didn't press. He knew the kid's little schemes.
"Nalan Jie's here," Xiao Yan said, his smile fading at the name.
"Let's go. We'll settle it today," Xiao Bai nodded, striding out.
___
An hour later—
"Master!" Nalan Yanran called after the departing Xiao Bai, asking softly, "I'm heading back to the Yun Lan Sect soon. You'll be there tomorrow, right?"
Glancing at the stone-faced Xiao Yan, Xiao Bai nodded.
"Great! Tomorrow, I'll introduce my teacher to you, show her what a true talent looks like. She keeps nagging me about some Dou Ling loser!" Nalan Yanran said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"…!" Xiao Bai froze.
Curse again, and I'll smack you, Yun Zhi or not!
"Hey, you're coming with Master tomorrow, right?" Nalan Yanran's gaze flicked to the figure beside Xiao Bai, her tone casual.
"Heh, you bet I'll be there!" Xiao Yan said, his smile all teeth, no warmth.
____
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