Seeing her admit her origins, Nie Kong suddenly sneered, "The esteemed Spirit God? Are you still a Spirit God now? Even if I force myself upon you right now, what can you do to me?"

"Insolence!"

uā Mei’s eyebrows twitched slightly, anger flickering in her eyes. "You cannot conflate us. You are you, and she is she. The wife I desire is not you, but the real uā Mei. An old woman from thousands of years ago—even if you offered her to me as a wife, I would refuse."

Nie Kong chuckled slyly.

"Nie Kong, do you know that you are courting death?"

uā Mei stared coldly at Nie Kong, a faint murderous intent glimmering in her eyes.

"That's a problem for when you actually have the ability to kill me," Nie Kong waved his hand dismissively. If he were facing the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" from millennia ago, he would indeed be inviting death. But the current "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" was merely a nascent soul derived shortly after the lineage awakened, posing no threat to Nie Kong. Even if uā Mei’s original soul were truly devoured by her, for her to regain Spirit God strength would take at least two or three decades. "What about the original uā Mei’s soul?"

"I repeat, this is not devouring, it is transformation!" uā Mei’s beautiful face darkened. "Furthermore, since my bloodline awakened, this transformation has become unstoppable! It cannot be stopped even by condensing a 'Second Incarnation' and transferring the main body's soul there! It's laughable that my two descendants thought this would allow my original soul to persist."

Nie Kong was momentarily stunned. "A Second Incarnation wouldn't work either?" After sensing uā Mei's soul, Nie Kong had already formed this judgment vaguely. If uā Mei’s original soul transferred into the Incarnation, the Incarnation, acting as a puppet, would still be subject to the constraints of the new soul occupying the body. In that scenario, if the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" wanted to continue devouring uā Mei’s main soul, it absolutely could. However, the relationship between the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" soul and uā Mei’s original soul was completely different. They were inherently in a relationship of devourer and devoured; even if the original soul separated, this relationship would not be severed.

uā Mei sighed, then said, "I have an elder who obtained the 'Prison Fire Nether Spring' fifty years ago. But an accident occurred when he tried to condense his 'Second Incarnation.' As a result, the physical body for the 'Second Incarnation' never fully condensed; instead, an additional soul avatar manifested within him. That soul avatar seems to possess independent consciousness but is controlled by the main body. What is your opinion on this matter?" uā Mei’s expression shifted, as if trying to discern some hidden meaning from his words.

"A soul avatar?"

uā Mei froze, then quickly grasped the implication of Nie Kong suddenly mentioning his elder. "Nie Kong, did I hear you correctly? You want to refine me into a soul avatar?" uā Mei’s laughter abruptly ceased, and her body pitched forward, threatening to fall to the ground. Nie Kong swiftly caught her slender waist, feeling a long sigh of relief within himself.

He mentioned Nao Tian’s soul avatar precisely to test the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring." When "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" was laughing merrily, her expression betrayed nothing unusual, yet Nie Kong detected a subtle fluctuation in her soul waves. Ever since awakening, the soul waves emanating from the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring" had been stable, remaining unchanged even when she was angered. But upon hearing the term "soul avatar," an abrupt disturbance occurred, which seemed to confirm his suspicions.

Nie Kong felt a slight excitement. Stimulating the "Flitting Jade Butterfly Spring’s" soul to awaken had finally yielded a result. Nie Kong had no interest in knowing why the Ancestor of the Spirit Race existed in this manner; what concerned him was how to suppress the growth momentum of the new soul and ultimately eliminate it. Only then would uā Mei be the uā Mei he knew and loved!

For a moment, Nie Kong wished he could immediately return to the oasis outside the illusion space and consult Vice City Lord Que Tian.

uā Mei suddenly opened her eyes, gazing at Nie Kong pitifully. Undisguised panic lingered in her eyes, and her small hands clung tightly to the clothes around Nie Kong’s waist, as if afraid that letting go would cause her to vanish from this world. Seeing uā Mei’s demeanor, Nie Kong knew her original soul had regained control of the body. His guilt deepened, and he quickly comforted her, drawing uā Mei’s delicate body closer into his embrace, his right palm gently stroking her smooth back.

Feeling reassured, uā Mei mumbled as if dreaming, "Uncle, I think I just had a dream. It was dark all around, I couldn't see anything, there was no one, no sound. I thought I had died..."

"Silly girl, don't let your thoughts run wild. How could you die?" Nie Kong stroked her back, chuckling softly.

...and the others. Now, although uā Mei knew there was an issue with her soul and that she needed to condense a "Second Incarnation" to resolve it, she was unaware that a new soul had sprouted within her soul, and her original soul was continuously being devoured by it. Nie Kong felt it was correct not to tell her the truth; revealing it would be an even greater torment for uā Mei. However, Nie Kong also had a faint sense that uā Mei might have already sensed that methods like using the "Prison Fire Nether Spring" to condense a "Second Incarnation" might not resolve her soul problem.

The panic in uā Mei’s eyes gradually faded, and the suppressed shyness subtly resurfaced. Before she realized it, uā Mei’s fair cheeks had flushed a deep pink, feeling burning hot as if a fierce flame had erupted. She squirmed slightly in Nie Kong's embrace, murmuring in a low voice, "Uncle..."

Nie Kong gazed into her beautiful eyes.

uā Mei squirmed again, trying to break free from Nie Kong's hold, but the more she struggled, the tighter Nie Kong held her. Feeling her chest flattened against his, uā Mei grew even more shy and embarrassed, almost suffocating.

"Don't call me Uncle. Did you forget what I told you just now? Call me Brother, and I'll let you go."

"I won't."

uā Mei bit her lower lip, her delicate face redder than fire. She bit her red lip without speaking. Nie Kong felt a touch of helplessness. "uā Mei, if we become husband and wife in the future, you'll still call me Uncle?"

uā Mei startled, her red lips parting, her eyes widening instantly. She stared blankly at Nie Kong, seemingly taken aback by such a bold statement. "Did you... have you ever thought about becoming my wife?" uā Mei bit her lip, looking into Nie Kong's eyes. "I have thought about it, haven't I?" Nie Kong's gaze flickered, and he remained silent, but his face grew even hotter.

"Your thoughts will come true," Nie Kong said firmly. "I will definitely marry you as my wife! Absolutely!" uā Mei seemed to awaken from a dream, blinking her beautiful eyes. Her expression instantly became extraordinarily complex: excitement, joy, worry, surprise, panic, shyness, anticipation, disbelief—it seemed all her emotions were conveyed through those eyes.

"Are you happy? If you are happy, call me Brother..." Nie Kong whispered.

"Bro... ther," uā Mei’s voice was faint as a mosquito's whine, and her watery eyes grew hazy, as if two wisps of mist were rising. Nie Kong gently wiped the mist from her delicate, milky cheeks. "Don't worry anymore about the future. We will find a way to solve your soul problems together. I don't just want to hear you call me Brother; I want to hear you call me Husband every day."

"Mm..."

uā Mei lowered her head slightly, profound shyness enveloping her features. She let out a barely perceptible hum through her nose, but her arms had already wrapped unconsciously around Nie Kong’s waist. He wanted to hold her tenderly until the end of time. But this was not the moment for lingering affection. Before long, Nie Kong released uā Mei’s delicate body. Meeting her slightly shy and questioning gaze, he smiled, "Let's leave the illusion space now. I'll take you to see someone who has studied souls for decades; perhaps he can offer a solution."

"Mm..." The scene of Nie Kong leading her to sell wood carvings in Jiyang City last year flashed before her eyes. Her beautiful eyes involuntarily narrowed until they curved into two tiny crescents...

P.S.: Only one update today. I'll tally up how many chapters I owe later. Tomorrow is the start of a new volume; time to pick up the pace. ~RX