Since they’ve already shown their hand, this time… we’ll play it tough.
Ji Shiyu stuck out her tongue.
“You taught me that!”
Yun Liu flicked the young girl’s forehead, caught between laughter and tears.
“Don’t say that. I never taught you that. You picked it up on your own. Jacking up the price on your own teacher, huh?”
Yun Liu shook his head with a sigh. Some things he could do without a shred of guilt, but he didn’t want Shiyu to get even a whiff of them.
That was probably how parents felt. Looked like he’d have to be sneakier with his tricks from now on—couldn’t let the kid learn the wrong lessons.
The Minotaur squad traced their way back to the Coral Palace along the Cracked Cliff, just in time to see a group of Sea Imps tearing through the Coral Cluster. They finally found the two and led them back to a guest room in the Jade Tower.
It was called a guest room, but the Mermaid City dwellings were more like open-air bathhouses—everything was submerged in water anyway.
The Babao Qionglou towers rose like underwater lighthouses, pearl light blazing. Yun Liu’s group was housed in Huaishi Tower, right next to the Immortal Master of Penglai Island.
Madam Yingluo had specially carved out a Dinghai Barrier to provide dry space for the distinguished visitors from shore, with undulating Water Curtains separating them from the sea.
Worth noting, the “bathroom” wasn’t filled with ordinary seawater—it was a Spirit Spring born from the Crystal Vein. Just soaking in the waterbed let spiritual energy seep into the Qi Sea without pause.
“Ahh!”
Ji Shiyu stripped off her clothes and sprawled spread-eagle in the Big Shell, letting out a blissful moan. Her two Big Rabbits bounced free from their restraints, full of life.
“This little fishing village has its treasures—pretty comfy!”
The Spirit Bath was cool, but the girl wasn’t satisfied. She transformed into a Fire Chicken and heated up the tub, turning it into a hot spring.
Ao Tian wore an enraptured expression, spreading his wings to float on the water’s surface, then carved a Spirit Bath with his wing:
“As expected of me. I got praised by Master twice today.”
Ji Shiyu wiggled her adorable Jade Foot toes, her mind filled with nothing but Yun Liu’s doting expression. Her pretty face flushed slightly.
Ever since they came back, Master seemed to have gotten gentler, even though his gaze was still a little different from how he looked at Qin Sister.
But this was a good start!
The Little Yellow Hair was quietly pleased with herself.
“Hey, the fourth Child of Destiny has appeared, and you’re not even a little excited?”
“Ha, what do you want me to do, dance for you to liven things up?”
In the past, Ji Shiyu might have been a bit nervous, but now with Yun Liu by her side, she wasn’t afraid of anything.
The first time she’d “Green Hatted” Xiao Ran was pure coincidence, which somehow unlocked Flame Princess; the second time, she’d stumbled into saving Master and scooped up Peach Ji.
The third Trial of Fate came even faster, completely out of nowhere. Honestly, it was so tiring.
And her opponent was a several-hundred-year-old Old Monster…
Ao Tian licked his beak.
“At least show a little fighting spirit! You’re the Heavenly Fate Girl—with Water Phase Power in hand, are you really afraid of outmatching Miss Xiao?”
Here we go again!
“Nag, nag, nag—are you trying to rush me to my grave? Every time I’m happiest, you come ruining the mood! You useless little coward—you lost all my Spirit Stones and I haven’t even settled the score with you! And at the Great Competition, you were the first one who didn’t believe in me!”
Ji Shiyu waved her hand impatiently and shoved the Yellow Chicken straight into the pool. Glug-glug-glug, bubbles rose to the surface. Day in and day out, all he muttered in her ear was fate, fortune, fate, fortune—it was driving her mad.
Since she was little, that Silly Bird had been cramming her head with grand, empty concepts, then whipping her from behind. Holding a whip and lashing her onward.
Tiny shoulders, enormous mission.
Mother was the same—always telling her to be obedient, to be well-behaved, that this was what made a good child.
Who ever cared about how I felt?
Only on Master did this naive young girl feel warmth and ease she’d never known before, completely free of pressure.
I don’t care. No matter who comes this time, it won’t work. I’m going to be the Bad Girl—starting by snatching Master away from those other women!
The Little Yellow Hair was genuinely angry, tormenting Ao Tian until he flipped belly-up before her anger subsided. Then she slept like a baby. When she woke again, she groggily heard someone knocking at the door.
Ji Shiyu rubbed her eyes, crawled out of the Big Shell, and blinked in confusion at the Little Green Flower Fish outside.
Qing Li stood with her hands on her hips, muttering in complaint:
“Where did you two run off to earlier? You made Sister wait forever. The Sea Market is upon us, and Qiongxiao Palace is a den of mixed company—you can’t just wander off. If anything happens to you, Madam Yingluo and the Rosy Consort will skin me alive!”
Qin Xiang stood nearby with a gentle smile, and one sentence was enough to snap Ji Shiyu fully awake.
“Time to eat, Shiyu.”
“Huh?”
Ji Shiyu patted her stomach, suddenly energized. She was halfway down the path before she noticed it was just the three of them.
“Mas—Mr. Yun?”
“He’s refining an Artifact and won’t be coming. Ah Lian is looking after him.”
Ji Shiyu’s eyes rolled as she mulled it over, then muttered to herself:
“That Little Shigu looks pretty spacey. Who’s looking after who is still up for debate.”
Heading off to help—on the way, Ao Tian tried several times to sneak into the Chicken Nest, but the girl smacked him away each time.
Ao Tian yawned. His feathers were all sticking up after the bath—looked like you don’t have much room to talk either, he thought.
Ji Shiyu ultimately couldn’t take the hunger and decided to scarf down a meal quickly before heading back.
“Hmph!”
“Still mad? I’m sorry, okay?”
The Yellow Chicken sighed and shook his head. It’d been stuck in the mortal world this whole time—wasn’t it rushing things precisely so it could awaken early and return together to the Immortal Realm? For now, it could only perch on the shoulder of the Warm and Gentle Empress.
Shiyu’s mind had matured quite a bit, gradually surpassing her peers—she was just far more rebellious now.
Qin Xiang smiled softly.
“Having a spat with the Little Parrot?”
“It deserves it!”
Ji Shiyu tossed her head and stomped off in a huff.
Meanwhile, Yun Liu was busy in his room—too many things left undone. He was preparing to refine the Divine Wood Dragon Cauldron dropped by the Yinglong. That was the treasure an Elixir Cultivator prized most.
The Dragon Cauldron had been forged and strengthened across generations of shrine rituals at the Hazy Sakura Shrine using Spiritwood Branches. It was a Five-Rank Celestial Artifact, and it could be further upgraded with dragon scales. Thanks to the special properties of the Divine Wood, it would serve well even into the Lianxu stage.
If the furnace at the Rosy Fragrance Pavilion hadn’t blown up during a refinement a while back, he wouldn’t be in such a hurry.
For a Golden Core Cultivator, refining a five-rank Artifact was harder than reaching the heavens. But with Yun Liu’s transcendent Divine Soul, and borrowing the girl from the same origin as a medium—the Little Shrine Maiden—it might just be worth a shot.
The Divine Tree would never reject its “daughter”…
“Good Ah Lian, I’m counting on you.”
“Mm! I’ll do my best!”
Ah Lian had spent half the day frolicking through the Coral Cluster, collecting a big pile of pretty shells. She held them out like a treasured offering to her god.
Yun Liu accepted them with a smile, then crouched down to wipe the grime from the young girl’s face. His heart stirred as he looked at the Spirit Spring in the pool.
The water he’d used for pill refinement before was the clear spring from the Qingxia Peak Forest Sea—already a decent solvent. But if he swapped it for a rarer deep-sea Spirit Spring, steeping it into Divine Path Water—would the results be even better?
Then he wouldn’t just be a Heavenly Dao Alchemy Master—he’d be a Divine Path Alchemist.
Yun Liu’s eyes lit up. He quickly instructed his beloved Junior Sister to go take a bath, soak a while, and see if they could carry on the Shrine Tradition to new heights!
The girl obeyed without question. Before the young man could even look away, she’d stripped bare, hugged the great cauldron, and with a “plunk!” jumped into the Crystal Marrow Pool, leaving only her little pink-haired head poking above the surface.
“Senior Brother, aren’t you going to bathe with Ah Lian?”