Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

[Rewards settled.]

[Reward 1: Your cultivation level will be restored to the peak of the Cave Profound Realm.]

[Reward Two: Special Spiritual Treasure - Substitute Straw Man (One-time Use)]

Deep within a dark and damp secret realm.

Su Chang'an suddenly opened his eyes.

A surge of heat appeared out of nowhere in her dantian, like a flood bursting its banks, washing over her long-parched meridians.

Click.

It felt as if some kind of constraint within my body had been broken.

The energy surged steadily until it reached that critical point and finally stopped.

The Dongxuan Realm is now complete.

He was just one step away from pushing open that "immortal gate" and regaining his Great Sage strength.

Su Chang'an exhaled a breath of stale air and clenched his fist.

The feeling of being filled with power made her somewhat intoxicated.

Is this the joy of winning without effort?

While the clone is out dating, the main body is at home improving its cultivation.

The feeling of being taken advantage of is just too good to be true.

Her spirit returned to her incarnation and settled in her palm.

There lay quietly a straw figure, no bigger than the palm of your hand.

The weaving technique was rough, even somewhat ugly, and there were a few unknown withered grasses stuck to it.

[Surrogate Straw Man: Can withstand one fatal attack, regardless of the difference in cultivation level.]

nice one.

An absolute life-saving trump card.

But Su Chang'an frowned.

The system never makes a loss.

Giving someone such a top-tier life-saving item out of the blue seems like an ominous sign that "you're about to be in big trouble."

"Tsk."

"Is this a hint that I'm about to suffer a bloody disaster?"

Su Chang'an tucked the straw figure into his bosom and carefully kept it close to his body.

who cares.

there is always a solution to a problem.

Anyway, that silly tiger has been fooled and crippled. As long as she can hold onto this powerful backer, she can walk sideways in this small territory of Xizhou.

……

Ordinary towns, Qinghe County.

The bustling market was teeming with people.

The sounds of hawking, bargaining, and children crying mingled together, creating a huge wave of noise.

A tall figure dressed in a tattered Taoist robe was stiffly walking through the crowd.

Bai Yin lowered the bamboo hat on his head.

All the muscles in his body were taut.

Too noisy.

It stinks.

The stench of sweat and cheap cosmetics on mortals, as well as the smell of poultry and livestock excrement, was nothing short of torture for the tiger demon with its keen sense of smell.

If it weren't for that incident, he would never have stepped into such a place, even if you beat him to death.

He stopped in front of a simple tea stall.

In the center of the tea stall, a storyteller with a goatee was reciting "The Romance of the Western Chamber" with great enthusiasm.

"...Zhang Sheng scaled the wall and entered, where he and Cui Yingying secretly pledged their lives to each other..."

The onlookers were completely engrossed and cheered enthusiastically.

Bai Yin couldn't understand.

But he remembered that the guard at the city gate had said that the person in the city who knew the most about matters between men and women was this old man surnamed Wu.

Snapped.

A gold ingot the size of a fist was slammed heavily onto the table.

The solid wood table groaned under the strain, and a crack appeared in it.

The tea stall fell silent instantly.

All eyes were fixed on that golden object, and everyone's breathing quickened.

The storyteller was so startled that his beard trembled, and he almost dropped the gavel in his hand.

He cautiously raised his head and met a pair of golden eyes hidden in the shadow of a straw hat.

Fierce and cruel.

tyrannical.

It was as if it had been targeted by some terrifying beast.

"Great...Great hero, what brings you here?" the old man asked, trembling.

Bai Yin took a deep breath, trying to suppress the impatience in his heart.

He bent down, leaned close to the old man's ear, and whispered in a tone as if he wanted to kill the whole family:

"How can I make a female...girl like me?"

ha?

The old man was stunned.

The tea drinkers around who had been eavesdropping were also stunned.

This fierce-looking, burly man smashed a gold ingot just to ask this question?

"This..." The old man's eyes darted around, his gaze greedily sweeping over the gold ingot. "Young man, do you have someone you love?"

"Um."

"Has that girl ever been interested in you?"

"...I don't know." Bai Yin thought for a moment, "But she took me to see the stars."

"That means it's intentional!" the old man slapped his thigh. "Since it's intentional, then we must press our advantage and win her heart with words!"

Bai Yin humbly asked, "What did you mean?"

The old man stroked his beard, striking a pose of profound mystery.

"In matters between men and women, there is a principle of 'elegance.' Being too straightforward appears vulgar."

"For example, if you want to compliment her on her looks, you can't just say 'You're so pretty,' that's something only a country bumpkin would say."

Bai Yin nodded.

indeed.

Su Xiaojiu is a fairy-like figure, and cannot be described in common terms.

"How should I say it?"

"You should say—" the old man pointed to the sky, "The moon is beautiful tonight."

Bai Yin frowned: "What if it's daytime?"

"You should say that even during the day!" the old man said, spouting nonsense with a straight face. "That's called using scenery to express feelings. It means that in my eyes, you are more dazzling than the sun, moon, and stars. Whenever I see you, even the daytime becomes a romantic moonlit night."

Bai Yin suddenly realized.

So this is how complicated love is.

high.

It's really high.

"Then..." Bai Yin hesitated for a moment, his ears turning slightly red, "What if I want... to sleep with her?"

puff--

The tea drinkers next to them sprayed water all over the floor.

The old man blushed slightly and coughed twice: "Ahem! Brave man, watch your words! How can you utter such vulgar language? You'll scare the girl away!"

Bai Yin grew anxious: "Then what do you mean?"

This was his most desired, yet most difficult to express, wish.

The old man's eyes darted around again, and he came up with a brilliant way to deceive people.

You should say—I want to wake up with you.

"Get up?" Bai Yin asked, puzzled.

"That's right!" the old man coaxed patiently.

"Think about it, only by sleeping together can we wake up together, right? This statement not only expresses that meaning but also feels very relatable and full of hopeful anticipation for the future. Absolutely brilliant!"

Bai Yin pondered it carefully.

Let's get up together.

Every morning when I open my eyes, I see her.

Indeed...it's wonderful.

He nodded solemnly, engraving these two golden words of wisdom firmly in his mind.

(Good teaching brothers)

Thank you.

Bai Yin turned and left, his steps becoming much lighter.

Only the storyteller remained, clutching the gold ingot, grinning from ear to ear amidst the envious, jealous, and resentful gazes of the crowd.

……

The next morning.

The mouth of Yunmengze Valley.

A thin mist hung in the air.

Bai Yin had been standing there for an hour.

He changed back into the faded Taoist robe and used magic to smooth out the wrinkles.

Her hair was meticulously licked and tied on top of her head with a wooden hairpin.

He even went to the river to check his reflection to make sure there was no meat stuck between his teeth.

Everything is ready.

All that's missing is the east wind.

rustle.

Familiar footsteps sounded.

Bai Yin's heart jumped into his throat.

coming.

Su Xiaojiu yawned as she walked out of the valley.

She had just woken up, a single tear still clinging to the corner of her eye, making her look languid and alluring.

Good morning, Xiaobai.

She waved casually, preparing to go to the river to wash up.

brush.

A dark shadow flashed by.

Bai Yin stood straight in front of her, blocking her way.

It's like a thick wall.

Su Xiaojiu was startled, and half of her drowsiness vanished.

What are you doing?

Bai Yin remained silent.

He stared intently at Su Xiaojiu's face, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

tension.

My palms were sweaty.

Those two "truths" circled around my lips eight hundred times, but I just couldn't utter them.

"Xiao Bai?" Su Xiao Jiu waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Are you stupid?"

Bai Yin suddenly snapped back to reality.

We'll give it our all.

He took a deep breath, focused his energy, and roared in a serious tone, as if reporting military intelligence:

"The moon is so beautiful tonight!"

Su Xiaojiu: "..."

She subconsciously looked up at the sky.

A bright red sun was rising slowly from the east, its rays so intense that it was hard to open one's eyes.

Where did the moon come from?

Did this tiger go astray during its martial arts practice and damage its brain?

[System, what's wrong with this silly tiger?] Su Xiaojiu mentally screamed, [What nonsense is it spouting in broad daylight?]

[Detection indicates that the target, Bai Yin, is experiencing mental confusion, possibly due to interference from unknown information.]

Su Xiaojiu's lips twitched.

She looked at Bai Yin with the kind of compassionate gaze one might have for someone with intellectual disabilities, and cautiously asked, "Xiao Bai, are you... alright? Should I check your head?"

Bai Yin didn't hear what she was saying.

He only saw that Su Xiaojiu neither refused nor got angry.

She was still looking at herself.

There is a play!

That old man wasn't lying after all!

Such profound and unfathomable rhetoric was indeed able to intimidate her!

My confidence soared instantly.

Bai Yin felt that he was now terrifyingly strong.

He decided to press his advantage and unleash his trump card.

He took a step forward, getting closer to Su Xiaojiu.

His tall figure cast a shadow, completely enveloping the petite girl.

In those golden pupils burned a flame called "ambition".

"Su Xiaojiu".

He called her name, his voice low and hoarse, with a slight tremor.

I want to wake up with you.

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The wind stopped.

The birds have stopped chirping.

Even the fish in the river forgot to blow bubbles.

Su Xiaojiu froze on the spot, her expression cracking.

get up?

What kind of insolent and lewd words are these?

When did this innocent little tiger learn to talk like that?

and……

"You want to get up with me?" Su Xiaojiu pointed to herself, then to the sun in the sky. "Now?"

She thought the tiger wanted to invite her for a morning workout.

Or perhaps they wanted to get her up early to practice.

After all, this tiger king only knows how to cultivate and kill; it has no other nonsense in its head.

But in Bai Yin's ears, this rhetorical question took on a different meaning.

Now?

Was she asking about the time?

No.

She was implying something.

She was asking if it was okay to start that kind of relationship right now.

boom--

The string in Bai Yin's mind snapped completely.

Overwhelmed by immense joy, he was engulfed like a tsunami.

It became.

It really happened.

She agreed.

The old man didn't lie to him!

Countless images flashed wildly through his mind.

They became a couple.

They found the largest cave dwelling deep within the Yunmeng Marsh.

He was out hunting, while she was inside counting stars.

then……

A litter of tiger cubs was born.

Or a little fox.

Ideally, it should be a fox with tiger ears, or a tiger with nine tails.

The eldest brother taught him cultivation, the second brother taught him hunting, and the third brother... well, the third brother can just follow her and watch the stars.

What should I name him?

White? Too old-fashioned.

Bai Er? Too vulgar.

Bai Yin was so engrossed in his beautiful fantasy that he couldn't pull himself out. His mouth stretched uncontrollably to his ears, revealing two sharp canine teeth.

That silly look was unbearable to watch.

Su Xiaojiu felt uneasy at his laughter.

Is this tiger trying to trick her into eating it?

Why is your smile so creepy?

She stretched out a finger and poked Bai Yin's hard pectoral muscles hard.

"Hey, Xiaobai, wake up."

"His mouth is watering."

Bai Yin was jolted awake from his reverie by this remark.

He subconsciously wiped the corner of his mouth.

There was no saliva.

But he hasn't completely gotten over that dream about the child.

Looking at the pretty face so close to me, and at her eyes that reflected my image.

Bai Yin had a brain fart.

blurted out:

"Bai Jiu".

Su Xiaojiu was stunned for a moment: "What?"

Bai Yin looked at her with a terrifyingly serious expression.

"Our children."

"Call him Bai Jiu."

Su Xiaojiu: "..."

That instant.

Su Xiaojiu seemed to hear the sound of her own sanity breaking down.

A few fallen leaves were swept up by the wind and swirled awkwardly between the two of them.

Bai Yin remained motionless, maintaining that affectionate pose.

Waiting for her response.

This scene is just as the poem says:

A fierce tiger descends the mountain seeking marriage, mistaking a rogue for a saint.

Praising the moonlight under the bright sun, he openly wishes to have a son.

The gold ingots were exchanged for a confusing account, which terrified the Nine-Tailed Immortal of Qingqiu.