Am I not a heart arsonist if I'm not a sister?

Xia Wantang blinked, a mysterious expression on her face.

"If you call me 'sister,' I'll tell you."

Lin Xi: ...

"Hmph, I won't fall for that."

After saying that, it turned its back again.

Xia Wantang had important matters to attend to and didn't bother trying to pet it. She immediately began refining the Spirit Root Advancement Pill.

About half a minute later, the refinement was complete.

[Congratulations to the host! Your Ice Spirit Root has advanced to Immortal Grade Seventh Tier and can now be fused with your Water Spirit Root!]

[Spirit roots with connected origins fuse very quickly and painlessly. Host, try it now.]

The System's excited electronic voice also infected Xia Wantang, and she immediately began fusing her Ice and Water Spirit Roots.

As the System had said, it only took two minutes for the two spirit roots to fuse.

In her sea of consciousness, she could clearly see a stream of water-blue power and a stream of ice-blue power merging. The two colored spiritual powers intertwined, becoming even more solid and stable than before.

After the fusion was complete, Xia Wantang extended her fingers, alternately summoning the ice and water spiritual powers, as well as the combined spiritual power.

No matter which one she called upon, the speed was incredibly accurate and fast. As soon as she willed it, there was an immediate response.

Seeing this, she was quite satisfied.

Whether it was speed, accuracy, or release effect, it was more than double what it was before. It truly was one plus one greater than two!

So, she immediately refined the Lightning Spirit Root and then fused the Lightning Spirit Root with the Fire Spirit Root.

Although Lin Xi had its back to Xia Wantang, it had actually been paying attention to her movements.

It didn't know what she was tinkering with, why there were continuous spiritual power fluctuations?

So, it turned around and just happened to see Xia Wantang retracting her spiritual power.

"Bad woman, what are you doing? Why do you have so many elemental spiritual powers on you?"

Xia Wantang smiled sweetly.

"If you call me 'sister,' I'll tell you."

Lin Xi: ...This hurdle is unavoidable, isn't it??

Fine, it admitted defeat.

So, with a very reluctant expression and a pout, it said:

"Sister."

Xia Wantang happily acknowledged it before saying, "This is my sister's secret. First, you have to swear that you absolutely won't tell anyone, not even demonic beasts."

In the cultivation world, making an oath wasn't just casual talk; it had binding effects.

If the oath-taker violated the agreement, they would face corresponding punishments.

Lin Xi, believing itself to be upright and honorable, wouldn't casually reveal others' privacy. Without hesitation, it made an oath:

"I, Lin Xi, hereby swear that I will absolutely not reveal Xia Wantang's secrets to any human or demonic beast, or else I shall be struck by lightning and die a terrible death!"

Hearing Lin Xi's oath, Xia Wantang then opened her mouth and said, "It's because my sister has spirit roots of four attributes, but outwardly, it's only claimed that I have an Ice Spirit Root."

"Little Lin Xi, you must help me keep this secret. I don't tell just anyone~"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xi's eyes widened.

"You have so many spirit roots? How did you do that?"

"Even I only know Water and Earth elemental spells!"

Xia Wantang blinked.

"Little brother, that question comes with a different price."

Lin Xi: ...Evil, wicked woman!

Forget it, it wasn't curious anymore.

So, it huffed and puffed and turned its back again. Xia Wantang, meanwhile, happily continued to stroke its fur.

Silently, its favorability increased again:

[Xia Wantang gained 5 favorability points with Lin Xi. Current favorability: 35. Faith points gained: 50.]

For the next few days, Xia Wantang continued to travel with Lin Xi.

During her leisure time, she would take the opportunity each night to study the Compendium of Formations and the Compendium of Spirit Talismans.

As for alchemy and artifact refining, she didn't have many materials on her at the moment, making it inconvenient. She planned to deal with those after returning to Azure Cloud Palace.

Days passed, and Xia Wantang finally returned to the vicinity of Azure Cloud City.

Standing outside the city gates, Lin Xi, nestled in her arms, peeked out curiously.

"Sister, didn't you say we were going back to Azure Cloud Palace? Why did we stop here?"

Lin Xi was, after all, just a young beast. After these past few days together, it had been thoroughly subdued by Xia Wantang.

At first, it had resisted, but now it happily called her "Sister" with every utterance.

Its favorability had also shot up to 40.

"Azure Cloud Palace doesn't allow private ownership of demonic beasts. I'm still the Saintess, so I can't openly bring you in. I need to find a way to hide you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xi's little brain began to whir:

"Sister, why don't you just put me in the spirit pet pouch?"

Xia Wantang was a little surprised:

"You're willing to be my spirit pet??"

Lin Xi puffed out its chest proudly:

"I'll definitely never sign a master-servant contract, but we can sign an equal contract!"

"You're so weak, I can protect you when I'm by your side."

Hearing this, Xia Wantang began to seriously consider it:

An equal contract? It was indeed quite suitable.

Unlike master-servant contracts, equal contracts didn't impose many restrictions on either demonic beasts or human cultivators. Besides the inability to harm each other, both parties were very free. If a demonic beast traveled far away, they could still communicate through the contract.

If either party died, the contract would automatically become void, and there was no mention of the other party being forced to accompany them in death.

It could be said that with an equal contract, there was no question of who commanded whom; everyone was free.

Moreover, if they signed an equal contract, as long as Xia Wantang didn't intentionally reveal it, Lin Xi would absolutely not discover her secret of one soul, two bodies.

With that thought, she immediately agreed:

"Okay, let's sign an equal contract. It's good for both of us, good for everyone."

Lin Xi, on the other hand, was a bit surprised:

"Really? Don't humans usually prefer signing master-servant contracts??"

Xia Wantang would have liked that, but she wanted even less to reveal her secret of one soul, two bodies.

The Supreme Yin Demonic Physique with the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Bloodline was her biggest trump card. Besides the System, she didn't trust any other creature for now.

[Wuwuwu, Host, the System is so touched, ying~]

Xia Wantang: It would be even better if you weren't so talkative.

"I still prefer equal contracts. Besides, you probably don't want to be controlled by someone, right?"

Lin Xi blinked its eyes:

It seemed Sister really didn't intend to sign a master-servant contract with it.

Could it be that Sister was truly a kind human?

Had it misunderstood her before??

Xia Wantang guessed its thoughts and chuckled:

"Alright, I won't go back on my word."

"You know my personality; once I say something, I stick to it."

"After we finish shopping, we'll head back to Azure Cloud Palace."

"Good day, Saintess."

"Greetings, Saintess."

Upon returning to Azure Cloud Palace, disciples greeted Xia Wantang non-stop along the way.

She smiled and nodded at everyone, and even after she had walked away, the discussions of her admirers could still be heard:

"After not seeing her for a while, I feel like the Saintess has become even more graceful!"

"Did you guys feel it? The aura around the Saintess is even stronger than when she left!"

"The Saintess is so powerful. I heard that when she left a month ago, her cultivation was already at the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm. Has she broken through again??"

"How does she cultivate? It's enough to make you angry comparing yourself to others."

"Beautiful, strong, approachable, and kind – the Saintess is too perfect!"

Hearing these discussions, Xia Wantang was overjoyed:

Heh heh, with my charm, aren't I a "Heart Arsonist"?