The real world, inside a warm nest woven from pure white fox tails.
Like a boat that had wandered for a hundred years and finally found harbor, Ye Ying nestled in Fan Zhuo’s arms.
She curled up in his embrace, her body trembling slightly, while her nine immense fox tails wrapped them even tighter together, as if she wanted to merge him completely into her bones and blood.
Fan Zhuo could clearly feel a surge of demonic power, far more immense and pure than ever before, pouring ceaselessly into his body.
Meanwhile, his [Ring of Purity] was continuously… blending the power of the two of them.
Ye Ying’s lonely demonic power was purified and sublimated by Fan Zhuo’s life-giving and gentle holy power…
In the end, it became a brand-new, strange energy that combined both holiness and enchantment, settling within his lake of holy power.
That lake was expanding and deepening at a speed visible to the naked eye.
***
At the same time, in District B, Forest of Dryads.
Lucien de Valois’s handsome face was covered with a layer of frost.
With a large number of prison guards and two personal Holy Knights in tow, he had almost turned this entire forest upside down, yet hadn’t found a single trace of that “heretic.”
Fan Zhuo’s inspection records were also checked. Terminal Ji “Lina,” with her formulaic tone, stated that there were no issues at all, and even the previous core energy anomaly had been properly resolved.
That enormous, filthy wave of energy seemed to have appeared out of thin air—and vanished just as mysteriously.
“This Mother Tree… you truly haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary?”
Lucien stood before the towering giant tree, once again suppressing his impatience to ask.
“Strange child, everything in the forest is as peaceful as always.” The Mother Tree’s gentle, kindly voice sounded.
There was just the right touch of confusion on her face, as if she truly didn’t understand what they were looking for.
And perhaps it was just an illusion, but today the Mother Tree seemed… a little more lush than yesterday.
The female form blended with the trunk had curves that looked softer and fuller, radiating a maternal brilliance that made the life force she exuded all the more intense.
The stronger holy light she radiated caused the surrounding guards and the two Holy Knights to feel dizzy.
For proper clergy like them, this light was simply too “abundant,” too “passionate.” If they looked too long, it seemed their vision would blur.
Yet among this group, there was one who was utterly different…
“Lord Lucien truly is powerful!” a Holy Knight couldn’t help but mutter in awe.
“Even with such dazzling ‘holy light,’ Lord Lucien can look straight ahead without changing expression… If it were me fighting, I’d probably have already drawn my sword and started slashing…”
Lucien’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
It wasn’t that he could ignore it—it’s just that… what he saw was completely different from what they did…
This feeling made him irritable and uneasy, and even… a bit jealous?
“Enough!” he barked coldly.
“That’s it for tonight! Everyone, return to the temporary camp and rest! At dawn, expand the search again!”
“Yes!” The guards, as if granted amnesty, hurriedly turned away, all eager to get some sleep.
Lucien gave the immense Mother Tree one last, deep look, then turned to leave.
Only after every trace of human presence faded into the forest’s depths—
The Mother Tree’s serene, kindly “face” slowly revealed a lingering, rosy blush.
“That little one… truly…”
She remembered the young priest who had barreled into her embrace earlier today, “thirstily” asking for her “nourishment.”
That sensation, the stirring deep within her soul that had slumbered for centuries… it still left her feeling feverish.
That Blessed Heart-shaped Leaf she had bestowed with her blessing… She remembered that child named Fan Zhuo had tucked it carefully away in the innermost pocket of his shirt.
But now…
Following that faint connection, the Mother Tree’s consciousness quietly drifted over.
She could feel that the leaf… was moving up and down in a steady, rhythmic motion.
The frequency wasn’t fast, but it was powerful.
As if… doing some kind of exercise?
The Mother Tree’s massive form trembled ever so slightly.
Countless vines trailed down from her, like a woman’s long hair swaying gently in the night breeze.
She felt her body, fused with the ancient tree, and the two limbs that had lain dormant for centuries now faintly returning to life…
It had been so, so long…
Otherwise, over the ages, she wouldn’t have grown ever closer to becoming a true “tree.”
If only… she could move her body as freely as that little priest, stretch and exercise a bit…
***
Light drifted.
Dawn broke.
Within the warm nest of pure white fox tails, the last trace of lingering passion faded with the morning light.
Fan Zhuo slowly opened his eyes, his mind still foggy.
He felt like a sugarcane stalk, crushed and squeezed repeatedly in a juicer—every inch of his body hollowed out.
But in stark contrast to this exhaustion, the lake of holy power in his spiritual world had undergone earth-shaking changes.
Even more importantly, at the center of the lake, a phantom sakura tree with countless pink blossoms had quietly taken root, swaying with no wind, scattering petals.
On the surface of the lake, a faint, gorgeous halo—woven as if from nine fox tails—rippled gently.
This new power was holy, enchanting, and carried a trace of bond from the soul itself.
Fan Zhuo vaguely sensed that his spiritual world would perhaps become even more… lively in the future.
If he had more “in-depth exchanges” with the Mother Tree, would a whole forest grow along the lakeshore? And if it was with the proud dragon lady… could there end up being a dragon egg in the lake?
The very thought made all the exhaustion feel worthwhile.
A lazy, thoroughly satisfied moan sounded in his arms.
Ye Ying, like a cat that had eaten and drunk its fill, snuggled closer in his embrace. Her long eyelashes fluttered gently, clearly not fully awake.
Looking down, Fan Zhuo saw her beautiful face, flushed with the afterglow of extreme pleasure.
And… under the slightly parted, nearly transparent silken sleepwear, that dazzling expanse of snow-white skin.
“Gulp~”
At that sight, Fan Zhuo felt… perhaps this “squeezed sugarcane” of his still had a bit left in it?
No… No, that’s not possible… I need to leave.
If he didn’t go, and Lucien or Old John realized he hadn’t returned all night, he’d be in real danger.
Fan Zhuo carefully tried to slip his arm out from under her warm, soft neck.
But as soon as he moved, her lotus-like arms instantly tightened, locking him in place.
Ye Ying’s eyes remained closed, but a sly smile curved her lips, her voice raspy and seductive with sleep.
“Little priest… after eating me up, you want to run away?”
Fan Zhuo’s body went stiff.
He wanted to retort: Who exactly ate whom up last night!
“I… I have to go back.” He lowered his voice, feeling his cheeks flush.
Only then did Ye Ying slowly open her eyes, her amber gaze in the morning light shimmering with rare longing and reluctance, lacking her usual playfulness.
She gazed at him for a long time before letting out a soft sigh.
“Fine, your big sister is tired too.”
She let go of him, but extended a slender finger to trace lazy circles on his chest. “But you have to remember…”
Her voice was low, her warm breath caressing Fan Zhuo’s ear, leaving no room for argument.
“Your first time belongs to me, so from now on…”
A fleeting sadness flashed beneath Ye Ying’s long lashes.
“You can’t make your big sister wait so long next time…”