"Senior Lanyin." Qingyi descended to the ground under the curious gaze of the fox women, immediately joining his fists in greeting.
The beauty did not respond immediately. Her black tail swayed sinuously behind her as she focused her gaze on him.
She had already spoken with the Matriarch and knew that Qingyi was somehow able to resist demonic corruption.
However, she couldn’t imagine that he had progressed enough to have the power to destroy the seed of evil so soon.
Even seeing it with her own eyes and sensing it with her Qi, it was difficult for her to believe.
"You are Long Qingyi..." Lanyin finally broke the silence. "Son-in-law of the Patriarch of the Cat People and, I believe, of the Patriarch of the Dragon People as well."
"Correct." Qingyi nodded.
"But you are not one of us, just a passing visitor." She took a step forward, her eyes full of suspicion. "Why are you helping us?"
Qingyi was silent for a moment. Such suspicions were natural.
He was a stranger to the fox people, and his stay there was short, limited to brief contact with Lingxue.
’The Matriarch must not have told her about Xueyao...’ Qingyi thought.
"Can we talk in private?" He asked.
After a few seconds, Lanyin nodded, turning her back to Qingyi.
With her right hand, she motioned for the other fox girls to leave; with her left, she snapped her fingers.
Immediately, both Qingyi and she disappeared.
They reappeared in a dark, isolated room, next to the cauldron Qingyi had used last time to access the world where the Matriarch was.
"What do you want—"
Lanyin didn’t even get to finish her sentence. A cheerful voice, one she knew very well, echoed as a figure appeared beside Qingyi.
That was... Xueyao?
What the hell was she doing there? How? They had sent Xueyao to the Mortal Heavens!
Lanyin didn’t have time to think.
Immediately, she was forced to open her arms to catch that cute and voluptuous little fox.
"Big sister Lanyin!" Xueyao shouted, her face sinking into the beauty’s breasts as her eyes sparkled.
"I missed you so much..." She whimpered, her voice losing some of its excitement as her eyes filled with tears.
Lanyin stood there, frozen for long seconds. Her gaze fell on Qingyi before returning to the girl in her arms.
She hesitated, shuddered, and swallowed hard before finally enveloping Xueyao in an embrace.
Twenty thousand years was a long time, but she still remembered her Xueyao perfectly and how much she had missed her.
"I missed you too, Little Snow..." Lanyin finally spoke, pulling Xueyao close to her.
Her fluffy black tail swayed behind her with a little more excitement, synchronized with the wagging of Xueyao’s snowy tail.
"Hehehe~~" Xueyao giggled excitedly and took a step back. "hubby promised me that he would save everyone, and hubby never breaks his promises, so don’t worry!"
"Hm-mm..." Lanyin nodded, struggling to contain her excitement and calm her mind. "Does the Matriarch already know about you?"
"Yes," Xueyao nodded, returning to Qingyi’s side, her breasts bouncing with each lively step. "She even gave the Seed of Life as a gift to hubby! Where is she? Can we see her now?"
"The Seed of Life?" Lanyin’s eyes widened in shock.
Just... how much did the Matriarch trust that man?
Qingyi said nothing, just leaning against a wall and checking Lanyin’s stats.
[Name: Hu Lanyin
Age: 65. 454
Corruption: 0/100
Chastity: Intact
Lust: 1%
Talent: Incomparable genius
Reward: High
Cultivation: Second stage of the ancestral emperor realm
Spiritual roots: Ancestral level shadow spiritual root
Lineage: Black moon blood (Ancestral Grade)
Constitution: Black moon body (Ancestral Grade)
Traits: Faithful, Half-blood mythical beast, cold, pragmatic, reclusive, protective, (tainted by demonic energy - dormant)]
Fortunately, the demonic energy in her had not progressed and, apparently, was quite stable.
But that mattered little to Qingyi for now. What he needed to know was how to purify her.
[If this corruption comes from the demonic seed itself, just kill it and don’t allow it to awaken this energy. All these girls should stay as far away from this place as possible when you go to fight.]
"I understand..." Qingyi nodded mentally, raising his eyes to the two beauties who were now chatting animatedly.
"Is that enough?" He asked Lanyin, approaching and stroking Xueyao’s silver hair.
The beauty hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded and made way for Qingyi.
"Uh? Is hubby leaving already?" Xueyao asked, the smile on her face disappearing.
"Yes." The handsome young man replied, placing a soft kiss on Xueyao’s lips. "The sooner I act, the better the chances of getting everything sorted out. So trust your husband, okay?"
The voluptuous little fox nodded and after a farewell hug with the blushing Lanyin, she left.
"Ah..." Qingyi sighed, shaking his head and walking to the edge of the cauldron.
"Don’t die..." Lanyin’s voice echoed behind Qingyi. Her pale cheeks took on a reddish hue as she looked away. "I say this for Xueyao’s sake, not for mine."
"I know." Qingyi smiled. "And I won’t die."
The next moment, he jumped into the cauldron, his body swallowed up by a powerful spatial distortion.
When he reappeared, he was above that familiar forest, plummeting toward the ground.
"It’s stronger..."
Qingyi only needed a single moment to sense that terrible miasma; the demonic energy in that place was about to explode.
He activated his draconic eyes, sensing the Qi around him.
It was violent, more so than usual.
The beasts were agitated, fighting nonstop. At the same time, all the Qi flowed toward a single place: the base of the huge tree in the center of the forest.
"The demonic seed must be about to sprout..." He gritted his teeth.
It was good to have hurried his affairs in the Enlightened Sky Empire, but honestly, he wasn’t that excited.
Feeling that power, he was certain: the demon seed in the fox people was powerful, infinitely stronger than the ones he had seen in the imperial capital.
"Is it enough to defeat me?" Qingyi wondered, but soon shook his head, his lips curving in contempt.
"Not even in a thousand years."