Stop pretending, the seemingly useless junior sister is the real boss.

Xuanhu was fully awake. Although it could smell an unfamiliar aura and a familiar aura nearby, all its attention was now drawn to a small, translucent white snake on the ground.

It tilted its tiger head and blinked its big eyes in confusion.

Weird!

When did a small white snake, crawling like a caterpillar or pupa, appear on Lingxiao Peak?

And its arching, crawling posture confirms that it is a snake.

Seeing that Xuanhu's attention was completely focused on his junior sister, Qin Yuan and Yuanbao had no time to pay attention to his junior sister's strange crawling posture and hurriedly headed towards the medicine garden with trepidation.

Bai Xiaobai arched its back and finally got close to Xuanhu.

Just as Xuanhu stretched out his huge tiger claws to see what this strangely crawling snake was, he suddenly heard a childish, innocent voice in his mind.

"Hey, big tiger, put away your big claws. This princess's little body can't withstand your slap."

The black tiger was startled and cautiously looked around before turning its gaze back to the shimmering white figure beneath its paws.

The little white snake on the ground raised its head high, its forked pink tongue flicking in and out frequently.

Although Xuanhu found it hard to believe, the voice in his mind seemed to come from the little white snake with its rather improper crawling posture.

Having cultivated for nearly a thousand years, its current strength is roughly at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, allowing it to communicate with spirit beasts of the same level through thought.

But this little snake showed no discernible strength; its aura was no different from that of an ordinary snake. So why could it communicate with me through thought?

Could it be that its strength surpasses mine? Is that why I can't sense its true power?

But if the Qingxiao Sect were to send a spirit beast even more powerful than itself, it would be impossible for it not to know.

And this body is just too small.

Furthermore, it seems that very few serpentine mythical beasts are entirely white.

So who is this little guy? Where did he come from?

It was so curious that it nudged its big head closer to the little white creature on the ground.

"Who are you? Are you also a spirit beast? Why haven't I seen you before?"

Soon, the childish voice echoed in Xuanhu's mind again.

"This princess is not some kind of spirit beast. Princess Bai Xiaobai of the Spirit Realm is none other than this snake."

Xuanhu suddenly realized that the little white snake in front of him, which he could flatten with one swipe of his claw, was actually the top student in the sect's entrance disciple assessment, namely the useless princess Bai Xiaobai of the Spirit Clan who couldn't transform into human form.

But if she can't even take on a physical form, how can she communicate with herself using her thoughts?

Is the rumor that she's a good-for-nothing false?

Whether he was a real waste or a fake waste, the Spirit Clan was someone the entire Qingxiao Sect dared not offend, and naturally, he, as the sect's guardian spirit beast, could not afford to offend them either.

"So it's the little princess. May I ask what brings you here so late at night?"

Seeing that Xuanhu was so sensible, Bai Xiaobai didn't intend to beat around the bush.

"Big Tiger, I want to go to our sect leader's residence. Could you take me in?"

Xuanhu was somewhat puzzled by her request.

What was she doing at the sect leader's residence in the middle of the night?

And isn't she one of those two guys who sneaked into the sect leader's medicine garden earlier?

"Little princess, what are you doing at the sect leader's residence? Outsiders are not allowed to enter Lingxiao Palace. If the sect leader finds out, it might be difficult to explain."

Knowing that Xuanhu wouldn't easily agree to take her in, Bai Xiaobai knew she needed to come up with a convincing excuse.

"Were you captured by the sect to be some kind of guardian spirit beast? You say the world is so vast, and the outside world is so wide, yet you're trapped in this tiny Qingxiao Sect. Don't you feel resentful?"

"Furthermore, this guardian spirit beast is basically just there to guard the sect leader's house. He's trapped you here, don't you resent him? Don't you hate him? Don't you want to get revenge on him? Besides, with your strength, you're enough to dominate a region, why should you suffer like this?"

Hearing the childish voice in his mind, Xuanhu was both amused and exasperated.

Bai Xiaobai thought that what she said was enough to make Xuanhu indignant. After all, human cultivators capture spirit beasts either for their spirit cores or to use them for their own purposes. Therefore, she guessed that Xuanhu was probably captured as well.

But to everyone's surprise, Xuanhu shook his enormous head.

"I stayed in the Azure Cloud Sect willingly. Although the outside world is vast, it is fraught with danger. Places with abundant spiritual energy are almost all occupied, and one has to constantly fight for them if one wants to cultivate. Besides, the sect leader has treated me very well, placing me on the Azure Cloud Peak, which has the most abundant spiritual energy. I advanced from the early Nascent Soul stage to the mid-Nascent Soul stage in just a hundred years, so why would I resent it?"

Bai Xiaobai never expected that her plan to "sow discord" would fail.

That's true, there's a difference between having a full meal once and having a full meal every day. This big tiger is actually the sect leader's loyal guardian, so trying to trick it into taking me in might not work.

However, since this path was blocked, she had other options.

"I was just testing your loyalty to the Qingxiao Sect, and you passed. The reason I wanted to see the Sect Master was actually to thank him, since he put me in the Qingxiao Sect under tremendous pressure. But there are too many eyes and ears during the day, and you know that my ability to stay in the Qingxiao Sect wasn't exactly aboveboard, so I came over tonight to express my gratitude to the Sect Master."

She hadn't expected that Xuanhu would actually believe her explanation.

"So that's what the little princess is thinking. Since the princess has come to express her gratitude, I will take her to see the sect leader now."

Bai Xiaobai: This...it actually believed such a lame excuse? Is it stupid or a tiger?

Whether it's truly stupid or truly cunning, now that it has agreed, things will be much easier.

However, since I had sneaked in, I naturally couldn't go in openly.

Xuanhu's large size is still too conspicuous.

"Big tiger, shrink a little. You're too big for me to climb up. You can't expect me to slowly crawl in with you, can you?"

Xuanhu thought about it and realized it was true. Moreover, it couldn't help but laugh at her strange crawling posture.

It nodded to show that it understood, and soon its body shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When its body grew to the size of an ordinary tiger, Bai Xiaobai was still not satisfied and made it shrink further.

Bai Xiaobai only stopped it when its body grew to the size of a cat.

"Alright, that's about right. Let's go, little tiger, let's go have a chat with the sect leader."

Xuanhu: Well, now I'm a little tiger again. She's quite casual about how she addresses me.