Four pairs of eyes followed the sound, and there, a man in black pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in with a slight smile. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, of average height, and though not strikingly handsome, possessed a clean, refined appearance. A hint of mockery played across his expression.

“Master!” “Little Brother Nie Kong!” “Nie Kong!” Upon seeing the young man approaching at a leisurely pace, the four of them cried out almost simultaneously. “Oh my!” “Master!” “Little Brother Nie Kong!” “Nie Kong!” Seeing the young man who was slowly approaching, the four of them almost simultaneously called out. “Oh my!” In an instant, Long Xuechan seemed to realize something, suddenly yelping as she sprang from her chair and dashed into the room like a whirlwind. At the same moment, the two little lolis, Long Ping and Long Yu, rushed out of the house and ran to Nie Kong’s side, clinging tightly to his arms, one on either side. Their pretty faces were split in joyful smiles, resembling proud, blossoming flowers—so rosy they looked as if juice could be squeezed from them.

Long Meixian snorted lightly. “Nie Kong, neither Xuechan nor I noticed you approaching. After being in seclusion for over half a year, it seems your cultivation has improved considerably.” If Nie Kong hadn't spoken just then, none of them would have noticed anyone arriving outside the courtyard. This astonished Long Meixian, considering that before his seclusion, Nie Kong was only at the first rank of the Spirit Transformation Realm, a vast gulf separated him from them, who had reached the ninth rank of the Void Spirit Realm.

“Not much, not much. Just moving from the first rank of Spirit Transformation to the eighth rank,” Nie Kong said with great, affected ‘humility.’ He had genuinely expected Long Meixian to flee upon seeing him appear, just like the time he sent the two little girls here after the incident in the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range. Unexpectedly, not only did she show no sign of leaving, but she was inquiring about his cultivation. This made Nie Kong unable to resist teasing her.

“Wow, Master is amazing.” The two little lolis exclaimed, stars literally shining in their wide, watery eyes, their faces full of admiration. Nie Kong felt a bit speechless; forget reaching the eighth rank of Spirit Transformation—even if he had only advanced to the second rank, their expressions likely wouldn't have been any different.

“Indeed, it’s nothing!” Seeing Nie Kong’s feigned modesty, Long Meixian ground her teeth in anger and sneered, “In the time you’ve been gone, Pingping and Tingting have not only condensed the Heart Manifestation of my Dragon Spirit Clan, but their cultivation has jumped from the first rank of Spirit Gathering to the first rank of Spirit Fusion. Compared to them, your cultivation speed over the past six months is truly not worth mentioning.” As she said this, Long Meixian couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

“Spirit Fusion first rank? You’re already Spirit Fusion Masters?” Nie Kong gasped in shock, looking at Long Ping and Long Ting, who were leaning on him like timid birds. To reach Spirit Fusion at such a young age—was there any justice in the world? Did cultivating with a spirit body truly lead to such heaven-defying progress?

“Actually, it wasn’t that fast.” “Mhm.” The two little girls looked away shyly, a little embarrassed.

Seeing Nie Kong’s astonished reaction gave Long Meixian an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. In the past, her heart was always as still as water; almost nothing could stir her emotions. But since that incident with Nie Kong, especially after the events in the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range, she could no longer return to her former state of mind, which greatly troubled her. In her eyes, Nie Kong had consequently become increasingly detestable.

However, a moment later, a single sentence from Nie Kong nearly choked Long Meixian speechless: “It seems I made the right choice entrusting Pingping and Tingting to Sister Chan. To advance those two uncultivated girls to such a level in just over half a year—Sister Chan truly is an excellent master.”

Long Meixian almost fainted from rage. How utterly outrageous! Did they become Spirit Fusion Masters because of Xuechan? It was all because of me! If I hadn't painstakingly taught them, letting Xuechan do it, reaching the ninth rank of Spirit Gathering would have been a stretch, let alone breaking through to Spirit Fusion!

For a moment, Long Meixian glared at Nie Kong with true venom.

“Did I say something wrong?” Seeing Long Meixian’s expression as if she wanted to swallow him whole, Nie Kong looked genuinely puzzled. When he arrived, Long Meixian and Long Xuechan were bickering, so Nie Kong naturally couldn't know that Long Meixian had been watching the two little girls cultivate under the eaves not long ago.

“Master, Sister Meixian taught us how to cultivate.” “Mhm.” Long Yu and Long Ping tugged at Nie Kong’s sleeve obediently. “Oh…”

Nie Kong shot Long Meixian a surprised glance. She probably hated him to death, yet she would go to such lengths to diligently help her maidservants advance their strength—that was very unexpected. What was even more surprising was that she was an exceptionally competent teacher. Although the fundamental reason for the two girls' rapid progress was their spirit body constitution, without a good master to guide them, breaking through to Spirit Fusion in just half a year would have been impossible.

“...” Nie Kong’s look gave Long Meixian a small measure of balance.

A moment later, she said in a flat tone, “Although I have given Pingping and Tingting to you as your maids, they have been with me for so many years, and they are my clanswomen. Since they can now cultivate, naturally, I hope Nie Kong—” He nodded repeatedly: “I understand! I understand! Even if we didn't have that kind of relationship, you would still teach them to cultivate. And with that relationship, you wouldn't stop teaching them either. Whether you are willing to teach them has nothing to do with whether we have that relationship, right?”

Nie Kong kept bringing up 'relationship,' which confused the two little girls. Their gazes flickered vaguely between Nie Kong and Long Meixian.

“Nie Kong, you are an absolute scoundrel.” Seeing Nie Kong deliberately bring up that "relationship," a look of shame and anger crossed Long Meixian's face, and she spat out the words almost through clenched teeth.

“Thank you for the compliment!” Nie Kong chuckled, suddenly finding that teasing Long Meixian was quite an amusing endeavor.

“You… you—!” Long Meixian was so furious she nearly shattered her own teeth. She suddenly realized that sparring with a fellow like Nie Kong was only bringing suffering upon herself. Giving Nie Kong a fierce glare, the air in front of her began to ripple. Long Meixian took a step forward, her figure dissolving into the distortion as she rapidly faded away.

Seeing her action, a mischievous thought flashed in Nie Kong's mind, recalling a lingering, intimate scene of their "battle" in the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range.

“Mmm…” In the quiet room on the top floor of the Red Mansions Tavern, a delicate moan suddenly arose. Long Meixian’s graceful figure burst out of the air in a rather disheveled state, stumbling forward a few steps, almost collapsing to the ground, yet a drunken blush was already involuntarily rising on her cheeks.

Steadying herself, Long Meixian looked towards the direction of the Apothecary Hall, biting her lip in vexed embarrassment…

“Ouch!”

In the courtyard of the Apothecary Hall, Nie Kong sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, nursing his ear. Long Xuechan, now wearing a different green dress, shot out of the room like lightning and swiftly grabbed Nie Kong’s ear. Her pretty face flushed with shyness and annoyance. “Little rascal, what wicked thoughts are running through your head now? Be careful, or I’ll pinch you off!”

Nie Kong pleaded hastily, “Sister Chan, let go quickly, or I’ll start thinking wicked thoughts again.”

Long Xuechan felt helpless and could only release his ear. She used to enjoy teasing Nie Kong, but now she dared not provoke him anymore, not even wearing the rather revealing clothes she had on just moments ago. If she led the fellow into some fanciful thought, she would surely be embarrassed.

“Master, does it hurt?”

Seeing Nie Kong’s slightly reddened ear, the two little girls, Long Ping and Long Ting, felt a pang of sympathy, gently stroking and blowing on it. This made Long Xuechan roll her eyes, though she quickly broke into a smile. “Little Brother Nie Kong, I heard you telling Meixian just now that you’re already at the eighth rank of Spirit Transformation. It looks like reaching Spirit Control is just around the corner.”

Nie Kong teased back with a laugh, “Not bad. Sister Chan, it seems I absolutely cannot escape that favor you asked me to help with back then.”

“No rush, no rush. While reaching Spirit Control is sufficient, the higher the cultivation, the better. If you could reach Void Spirit, that would be even more marvelous,” Long Xuechan said mysteriously. “In about two more months, there will be a great opportunity to boost our strength. Little Brother Nie Kong, do you know what I’m talking about?”

“The Prison Fire Nether Spring?” Nie Kong laughed understandingly.

“Huh?” Long Xuechan was momentarily deflated. She had assumed Nie Kong was rather ignorant and wouldn’t have heard of those words. She had intended to dangle the carrot, but Nie Kong already knew. This robbed her of any sense of accomplishment. She could only continue, “Every time the ‘Prison Fire Nether Spring’ opens, Spirit Control City gets ten slots. The way to obtain a slot is by competing in the contest for the Inner City’s top rank and making it into the top ten.”

“The Inner City contest hasn’t started yet?” Nie Kong asked, surprised.

“In previous years, it would have ended by now. But this year is a year the ‘Prison Fire Nether Spring’ opens, so it probably won’t start until mid-May. That leaves only half a month. There are many young experts in the Inner City this time: Lanshang, Liu Heming, Shan Xiong, Gu Ruofei… if these people cultivated with all their might, they might have already broken through to Spirit Control. But they are all deliberately suppressing their cultivation speed so they don't break through to Spirit Control before July of this year, all for the sake of the ‘Prison Fire Nether Spring’ opening this year. It won't be easy for you to break into the top ten,” Long Xuechan said with a grave expression.

“Sister Chan, don’t worry. By the time the Inner City contest starts, perhaps I will already be at the ninth rank of Spirit Transformation. Maybe I’ll even seize the Inner City’s top rank then.” Nie Kong felt no anxiety regarding the Inner City competition. If it were purely based on his spiritual power cultivation at the ninth rank of Spirit Transformation, Nie Kong might not have boasted like this. But now that he had awakened his bloodline and possessed the ‘Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense’ Heart Manifestation, his confidence had swelled considerably.

“So confident?” A dazzling light flowed across Nie Kong’s face, making Long Xuechan a little surprised. After a while, she pursed her lips and smiled, “Then I’ll wait for your good news, Brother Nie Kong. If you really do take the Inner City’s top rank, I absolutely have an unexpected reward for you.” As she finished, her lips curved upwards, and she raised an eyebrow, her eyes shimmering alluringly, radiating seductive charm that made the heart race.

“What reward?” Seeing her enchanting allure, Nie Kong’s spirit wavered, and inappropriate thoughts involuntarily arose in his mind.

“Don’t think nonsense!”

Long Xuechan quickly suppressed her seductive demeanor, bit her red lip, shot Nie Kong a glare…

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