“Maintenance? How do you maintain it?” Ao Shuang tilted her head and asked curiously.
Although these two generations of the Azure Dragon Clan had been disappointing, their ancestors were still impressive.
The Azure Dragon Clan was still the most powerful in the Immortal Realm, so this short sword naturally fell into their hands.
To revitalize the Azure Dragon Clan, Ao Shuang had specially brought the short sword to the Red Dragon Clan to ask about it.
She never expected it could actually be used, so she handed it over to Ao Yao.
But today, it finally came in handy.
“Come on, share it with your esteemed master.” Ao Shuang leaned close to the sword sheath, her small, cute face full of curiosity.
She stood on tiptoe, her emerald eyes sparkling, her cyan dragon horns almost touching the sheath.
The other little girls of the Azure Dragon Clan gathered around, chattering noisily as they stared at the sword sheath in Ao Yao’s hand.
“How strange, this sheath looks like a leather bag.”
“Is there water inside? Is this even a sword sheath?”
“Saintess, let us see what’s inside!”
The atmosphere of the Azure Dragon Clan always seemed out of place with the nearby Human Race or Dragon Race. It was like a group of little girls holding a meeting, completely lacking the demeanor of cultivators in a superior position.
Several small heads crowded together, cyan dragon tails wagging behind them.
Ao Yao’s pretty face flushed red at being stared at by her clansmen. She grabbed her master’s hand and ran off to the side.
“I’m not showing you!”
The remaining little dragon girls could only watch them leave, making disappointed sounds. A few even stood on tiptoe to look.
Ao Shuang was pulled behind a large tree and asked in confusion, “Now will you show me?”
Two small heads leaned together.
Ao Yao looked around, making sure no one was watching, then quietly pulled open the opening of the sword sheath.
The mouth of the sword, originally hard, had become soft and was easily stretched open.
Ao Shuang leaned down to look inside and saw everything white inside.
She couldn’t help but change her expression, stepping back in disgust, shaking her head repeatedly.
Her small face wrinkled, her emerald eyes full of disbelief.
“This is the maintenance method?” she asked incredulously.
“Mm.” Ao Yao lowered her head, her ears already red to the roots.
“Whose is this?!” Ao Shuang frowned, her delicate brows tight, and asked with a pained heart.
She stared at the white stuff inside the sword sheath as if she had seen something preserved and pickled.
Ao Yao helplessly rolled her eyes at her master and said irritably, “Qin Xuange’s!”
Ao Shuang was even more shocked. Her small mouth slightly opened, and her eyes widened like saucers.
“What? Qin Xuange’s? Isn’t she female? When did she grow one…”
The Azure Dragon Clan Leader’s young face was full of shock, even her little dragon horns trembled.
Ao Yao replied faintly, “Then why ask? Wasn’t there only one male cultivator who entered the secret realm?”
She sighed, thinking to herself how her master had ever become a saintess or a clan leader.
Ao Shuang suddenly turned her head and looked at Jiang Huai, who was surrounded by many women.
Jiang Huai was talking with White Dew and hadn’t noticed this side.
She turned back to Ao Yao, her tone serious: “I forbid you from being with him. Back then, Qin Qingyue bullied me and stole our clan’s secret realm. You could be with anyone but him.”
Ao Yao said coyly, “What can I do about it? Isn’t this sheath only maintainable by him? I’ll have him come over and apologize to you.”
“Back when Qin Qingyue came, I was watching from afar. He was only a mortal back then and didn’t do anything.”
Ao Shuang shook her head. “Then have Qin Qingyue come and apologize to me.”
“Oh, Master.” Ao Yao shook Ao Shuang’s arm.
The sword sheath at her waist sloshed with a clanking sound, like it was half-filled with water.
Ever since she learned what was inside the sheath, Ao Shuang couldn’t bear to look at it. Her small face was full of disgust, and her green dragon eyes glanced elsewhere.
“Can you put away the stuff inside that short sword? It looks weird.”
“Do you really want me to put it away?” Ao Yao asked.
“Yes.” Ao Shuang said.
Ao Yao took a deep breath and circulated her Lingli.
The sword sheath began to contract, from being bulging to becoming hard again, returning to its normal shape and size.
But at the same time, Ao Yao’s belly swelled up, round and bulging, stretching the waist of her skirt tight.
She looked down at her stomach, a sheepish smile on her small face. “If it’s like this, could I get pregnant?”
“You…” Ao Shuang was furious, pointing at her belly. “Put it back!”
Ao Yao had no choice but to circulate her power again, forcing the contents back from her stomach into the sheath.
The sword sheath bulged again, and her stomach flattened, but the sheath started clanking once more.
Ao Shuang covered her face.
“Oh, Master, these are just small matters from the previous generation. Don’t be so hung up on them.” Ao Yao gently patted Ao Shuang’s back, like an adult coaxing a child.
“Besides, he’s not Qin Qingyue. What does what Qin Qingyue did have to do with him?”
Ao Shuang lowered her hand and looked at Ao Yao for a long time before sighing.
“You… fine. Keep that sword well and don’t let others see it.”
“I know.” Ao Yao tucked the short sword back into her waist, reached out to stroke the hilt, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
In the Immortal Realm, inside a hot spring.
A hazy white mist drifted over the water, half-shrouding the figures of two people, each able to see the other’s nude body without reservation.
Wu Zhaohua’s complexion had clearly become rosier, and her overall condition had improved significantly.
She leaned against the edge of the pool, her long wet hair draped over her shoulders, making her face even more delicate.
“Do you think what’s happening to him over there?” she asked, turning her head.
Qin Qingyue sat behind her, her palm still pressed against her back, the Dragon Essence still slowly pouring in.
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m not sure. Maybe he has gathered all Five Dragon Marks. It’s really a timely rain.”
As she spoke, she continuously transferred the Yin-Yang Power that came from the Black Dragon Mark to Wu Zhaohua.
That power was pure and gentle, like spring rain, seeping little by little into Wu Zhaohua’s dried-up Original Source.
Wu Zhaohua suddenly asked, “Will doing this have any effect on you?”
“No.” Qin Qingyue shook her head, her tone flat.
“Be honest.” Wu Zhaohua stressed her words. “Wouldn’t this good stuff be better used on you?”
Qin Qingyue was silent for a moment.
The hot spring water murmured, and white mist swirled.
She looked at the water surface and answered after a moment, “A life-saving grace doesn’t need such considerations. Even without this, I am still a Heavenly Immortal.”
Wu Zhaohua lowered her eyes and said nothing.
She knew Qin Qingyue was lying. Those Yin-Yang Powers came from Jiang Huai, passed through the Black Dragon Mark into Qin Qingyue’s body, and then were transferred to her.
Qin Qingyue could have absorbed them herself, but she gave them all up.
But Wu Zhaohua said no more.
She closed her eyes and silently accepted the Yin-Yang Power that Qin Qingyue transferred to her.
Both of their Celestial Immortal Origins came from Jiang Huai.
Otherwise, one would likely have perished in the Human Tribulation, and the other died in the Secret Realm.
“Let’s go back together. We’ll talk properly then.” That was all Wu Zhaohua said.
As her voice fell, the invisible barrier between them seemed to crack open with a sound like snap.
The Lingli on Wu Zhaohua’s body gradually transformed into Innate Primordial Qi, Chaos Dao Platform, Hunyuan Dao Fruit…
Qin Qingyue gave up her own share and unreservedly transferred it to this woman she once hated the most.
“The most important thing for you now is to cultivate with all your heart. Don’t meddle with the Five Provinces’ affairs anymore.”
Everyone had reunited, and White Dew spoke seriously to Jiang Huai.
She stood before him, her white dress like snow, her black hair like a waterfall, her blue dragon eyes staring straight at him without room for negotiation.
“Don’t come out of seclusion until you reach the Great Ascension Stage. Even if most of the people in the Five Provinces die, even if I die, don’t come out.”