Spirit Cultivation

Xuefeng could only smile bitterly, imagining what punishment Nuwa could grant him for that, but he was sure it was either something extremely painful or… something extremely pleasurable for both of them. With Nuwa, there was just no in between with her.

While walking back to the rest, Xuefeng asked in his mind, recalling Ming's words from before, 'Why couldn't I test your ability in the battle earlier?' Xuefeng planned to test everything in this spar, but when he asked Ming, she rejected him, saying that it wouldn't work in this situation. It made him really curious about what that could be. ​​

'Even if it's useful in battle, it is basically useless in duels. You need another person working together with you if you want to use it. I can assure you that it definitely has many uses. I will tell you when the time comes where we can make use of it.' Ming replied mysteriously, not explaining what it was, which made Xuefeng even more curious now.

To not distract him with this issue, Ming gave him a small clue for now, 'I won't tell you much but the power involves the Spirits and it's more of a control ability rather than an attacking one.'

Hearing the clue, Xuefeng pondered for a moment and actually got quite a few guesses, but he couldn't be one hundred percent sure so he just let it go, satisfying his curiosity for a little while.

"Xuefeng, congratulations on the win," When they reached the ladies, Jiao was the first one to call out to him, showing him a satisfied smile. She decided to act boldly just like he does, switching to his first name. She also wanted to tease Nuwa a bit, so it worked for her, reaching two purposes.

"Thanks, it seems I will be joining you guys soon, right?" Xuefeng asked with a funny mood after seeing Princess Shan's pleading eyes. She still believed there was a chance he wouldn't be coming with her so she was cheering internally for it to work out.

Because of that, even before Jiao could explain, just when Princess Shan heard Xuefeng's question, she quickly hopped to Jiao's side and proposed in Xuefeng favour, "Master, I think we can still give Xuefeng a chance. He won against me after all. Having such skills, we can't miss out on such an opportunity to take him in."

"Alright, if you say so. I can let him join, but it will be your responsibility if anything bad happens, okay?" Jiao couldn't admit to their little scheme of pushing Shan into trying her best to win, so she simply agreed, making it sound like it was all because of her disciple's pleading.

"Xuefeng, did you hear? You can come with us." Getting the reply she wanted, Princess Shan couldn't be happier and walked back to Xuefeng, hugging him across his chest, not caring about her image. There were many people still secretly watching them from the side as they started walking back to the arena, greatly motivated to start their training after seeing Xuefeng's prowess, but Princess Shan didn't care.

Knowing that any other details should be discussed in private, Xuefeng led everyone back to his courtyard and only then did he ask more, "What about the others? I won't be entering alone. If you want me to join, I need more spots." Xuefeng didn't plan on leaving anyone behind, moving together with all of his girlfriends.

"I already decided to choose exactly ten of the best girls from the entire city in tomorrow's selection. If you want your girlfriends to join, they can take those spots. I can't add anyone just like that. You are an exception as you are gifted." Jiao explained which made Xuefeng frown. He wasn't worried that they couldn't pass the selection but considered it an unnecessary bother.

Before Xuefeng could complain, Nuwa opened her mouth first as she asked sarcastically, "You can't? Weren't you are the Sect Master? I thought you had more rights, but I guess this Sect Master position is just for show in the end."

Jiao didn't get mad, remaining calm with the sole purpose of making Nuwa look bad and replied politely, looking towards Xuefeng, "We are after all a branch sect. There are rules that I need to follow. Every member joining has to be approved by the Main Sect and I only have the right to choose three myself without authorization. I've already used two of those spots, so I can only use one on you. The others would have to be confirmed by the Main Sect and they granted me only ten spots when I informed them about this trip. I already announced this to the public so there is no going back. I can't take those spots back and grant them to you."

"You know that they are probably all stronger than me?" Xuefeng asked with a smile, finding it funny that as the weakest member of their group, he had received a free card, but they had to attend the selection. He considered Yiren to be stronger than him as well just because of her Royal Elf's ability, which he didn't think he could overcome, even though she was still in the process of mastering it.

"If they really are as you say, they don't need to worry about the selection. It will be smooth sailing for them." Jiao wasn't surprised to hear it as she could see that Nuwa was even stronger than her so it wasn't hard to believe. What was more of a secret for her was how Xuefeng seduced all of them instead. From the way he talked, it sounded as if there were not just two or three of them.

"Also," Jiao added before Xuefeng could say anything else and continued while side glancing at Nuwa, "To join the Sect, one needs to be at least sixteen years of age. That's the minimum. Unfortunately, there is a maximum as well and that is thirty. Once one reach thirty years old, they cannot stay in the Sect anymore unless they become an elder so their only solution is to get into the Main Sect."

Nuwa knew right away that this comment was fired at her, but before she could come back with an argument on her own, Xuefeng placed his arm in front of her to stop her from doing or saying anything and asked Jiao with his smile gone, "And what do you mean by that? Even if my woman is thirty-one, fifty or one hundred years old, it doesn't really matter. I already told you. Either I join with all of them or I won't join at all. If you don't want me, I will join another Sect."

A quick frown appeared on Jiao's face when she heard that, not expecting Xuefeng to fight back for Nuwa this aggressively, but then she realised it was quite understandable. Nuwa was his girlfriend. Doesn't matter if she was stronger than him or not, he had to stay by her side and protect her. Jiao didn't think about it, but Xuefeng was actually protecting her as well.

Taking a step back in this situation, Jiao explained herself with a gentle smile, "I was just informing you about the rules... Of course, we will take a look at your case with a grain of salt. Special talents deserve special privileges."

"That's great. I thought so too. I was just trying to confirm it." Xuefeng nodded as the small smile return onto his face and his hand finally released Nuwa. Instead of letting go, Xuefeng moved it onto Nuwa's waist and brought her closer to himself.

She looked at him with a strange look in return but accepted it, not commenting on the previous issue anymore. Nuwa actually felt really good inside when she experienced Xuefeng defending her like that, and it would be weird if others also didn't notice Xuefeng's coolness. Just from that, Xuefeng received additional points in their ranking.

Just then, Nuwa turned around and looked towards the sky, feeling like something was approaching them quite fast and the rest followed. They didn't need to wait for long before they saw two flying beasts speeding towards them before gently diving down right on top of them. They were still standing in the garden so they moved out of the way for the beasts to land.

The white tiger was the first to land with a stomp and it immediately glared at the unknown ladies with its sharp eyes, checking them out for potential danger. The tiger's landing was followed by an eagle which arrived in a much gentler fashion, landing almost soundlessly. When Xuefeng saw the faces of the people on top of the beasts, a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Excuse us for a moment," Apologizing to Jiao and the ladies, Xuefeng immediately took Nuwa by the hand and led her towards Lulu who then switched her gaze to Nuwa, who looked like the biggest threat of all the people gathered in the garden. Lulu didn't glare at her only because she was holding Xuefeng's hand, signalling she was someone friendly.

"Xuefeng!" Yiren was the first one to cry out happily when she spotted Xuefeng and she didn't even wait for him to approach her before jumping lightly off of Lulu's back. Xuefeng had to take a few quick steps forward to catch her and with how light she was, he didn't have problems with that.

Yiren quickly wrapped her arms around Xuefeng's neck, hugging him tightly and only when she opened her eyes did she notice her mother.

"Is this how women in love are nowadays? Forget about their parents and only think about their lovers?" Nuwa commented as she sighed in disappointment, but then she heard a short cry, "Mother!", and she also received a deep hug from her loving daughter.

It was then that the other two women dropped down from the tiger and the eagle, creating a soft thud upon landing, which gained Nuwa's attention, their gazes suddenly interlocking with each other.