Xuanxi's words made Donghuang Ziyou's pretty face turn slightly red.
But the little girls had no idea their mother was feeling shy.
Xuanzhu, Xuanhan, and Xuanyou all shouted excitedly.
"Mother, come down and bathe with us!"
"Mother, bathing with Father is so comfortable!"
"Mother, I'll teach you how the Nine-Winged Frog swims!"
The louder the children called, the redder Donghuang Ziyou's cheeks grew.
Although she had forced herself on Lin Xuan four years ago, her emotional world had always been a blank slate.
When it came to relations between men and women, she was utterly innocent, just like a young girl experiencing her first stirrings of love.
Now that the children had made such an ambiguous request, even Donghuang Ziyou, a mighty Empress, felt so embarrassed she wanted to run away.
Having Lin Xuan scrub her back while she bathed...
Just thinking about it made Donghuang Ziyou's heart race.
But after all, she was an Empress and an Emperor Realm expert. Her composure was far beyond that of an ordinary person.
She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly. "Mother is a cultivator. I can use spiritual energy to clean myself now, so I don't need to bathe."
With that, she formed a hand seal.
A flash of azure light swept from head to toe, as if washing her entire body clean.
"Oh, so that's how Mother bathes." Xuanzhu, Xuanxi, and Xuanhan nodded in unison.
Xuanyou shook her head. "That's no fun! When I grow up, I still want Father to bathe me like he does now!"
Lin Xuan shook his head with a smile. "When you're grown up, you'll have to bathe yourself. Father won't be able to bathe you."
"Why not?"
All four little girls looked puzzled.
Lin Xuan chuckled. "You'll understand when you're older."
The children were still young. Telling them too much could affect their feelings.
For questions like this, it was best to brush them aside.
Fortunately, the girls didn't dwell on it and went back to happily playing in the water.
Donghuang Ziyou then helped Lin Xuan bathe the girls.
Compared to Lin Xuan, though, she was much less practiced.
"To be honest, I never expected you to be so good with children," Donghuang Ziyou couldn't help saying.
Lin Xuan replied casually, "That's why Heaven gave me four daughters all at once."
Donghuang Ziyou's pretty face warmed.
Before she met Lin Xuan, she had never imagined she would become a mother so soon.
Much less that she would give birth to four children in one pregnancy.
She was the only one in the entire Northern Profound Heaven royal family to have quadruplets.
Good heavens, she was so fertile... This completely turned Donghuang Ziyou's worldview upside down!
She coughed and hurriedly changed the subject.
"By the way, I'm preparing to send troops to the Ten Thousand Devil Kingdom again. This trip will take longer, so I'll have to trouble you to look after the children by yourself."
"You're sending troops again so soon?" Lin Xuan asked.
"Yes." Donghuang Ziyou thought for a moment, then decided to tell Lin Xuan everything.
"I don't know which mighty expert killed the ruler of the Ten Thousand Devil Kingdom overnight. The Bloodthirsty Devil Lord may have been eliminated too."
"So I've decided to reclaim the Ten Thousand Devil Kingdom as soon as possible and bring stability to both them and Northern Profound Heaven."
Lin Xuan nodded after hearing her out. Donghuang Ziyou's decision did make sense.
As they talked, the two of them finished bathing the children together.
Donghuang Ziyou played with the girls for a while before leaving for the Profound Ice Palace.
The next morning.
After Xuanzhu and the others finished practicing their swordplay, Donghuang Haoyu arrived at the Crystal Palace with several members of the royal family.
The moment he saw Lin Xuan, Donghuang Haoyu respectfully bowed. "Greetings, Cousin-in-law!"
"Mm." Lin Xuan noticed the four jade boxes in Donghuang Haoyu and the others' hands and asked, "Are you here to give something to Xuanzhu and the others?"
"Yes!" Donghuang Haoyu nodded, thinking that Cousin-in-law was truly impressive. He'd seen right through what Donghuang Haoyu had come to do.
Xuanzhu and the others gathered around too, asking curiously, "What are you giving us?"
"Something good!" Donghuang Haoyu teased.
He and the other royal family members set the four jade boxes on the ground and opened them one after another.
Whoosh~
Four dazzling beams of azure light shot into the sky.
Xuanzhu and the others hurried over to look.
Inside each jade box was a fluffy, adorable little spirit beast with snow-white fur.
A ball of azure light glowed in each beast's belly, flickering like a candle and shining brightly.
"Wow, could these be Emerald Spirit Rabbits?" The little girls' eyes lit up.
Emerald Spirit Rabbits were gentle and adorable, and girls throughout the Nine Heavens Immortal Domain especially loved them.
But these spirit beasts were incredibly nimble and very difficult to catch.
Once caught, they had to be kept in specially made jade boxes.
Only by sealing the boxes with spiritual power could one keep the rabbits safely inside.
"That's right. Yesterday, we went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range for a trial and were lucky enough to catch four Emerald Spirit Rabbits, so we brought them to you." Donghuang Haoyu looked proud.
The royal family members behind him looked just as pleased.
Being allowed to undergo a trial in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range meant they had officially embarked on the path of martial cultivation.
That milestone was as important as a boy growing a beard and becoming a man.
And they had caught four Emerald Spirit Rabbits in one go, no less.
"Then we'll take them. Thank you, Brother Haoyu!" Xuanzhu and the others happily accepted the rabbits.
Xuanyou crouched in front of an Emerald Spirit Rabbit and watched it for a while. Then her eyes rolled, and she asked,
"Brother Haoyu, are there lots of powerful spirit beasts in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range?"
Xuanzhu, Xuanxi, and Xuanhan all turned to look at Xuanyou.
They had a feeling their little sister was plotting something again.
"Yes. The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range is the largest range of spirit beasts near the border of Northern Profound Heaven."
"There are countless spirit beasts in there. They say that deep in the mountains, there are even great demons whose power is unfathomable!"
Donghuang Haoyu answered earnestly.
"Wow, that sounds like so much fun!" Xuanyou's eyes sparkled.
She loved catching ferocious spirit beasts.
In the past, Mother would help whenever she had time.
Now Father was here, and the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range sounded like so much fun. Surely they could catch even more fierce and ferocious spirit beasts.
"Father, let's go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range too!" Xuanyou excitedly hugged Lin Xuan's leg. "I want to go on a trial too!"
Lin Xuan asked Xuanzhu and the others, "Do you want to go too?"
"Yes!"
"I do!"
"Definitely!"
After thinking for a moment, the three little girls nodded one after another.
Lin Xuan had already expected them to agree.
After all, they had subtly learned the Wuji Sword Technique and had already mastered swordsmanship.
Now that they'd heard Donghuang Haoyu and the others had gone on a trial, how could they not be tempted?
"Then Father will take you." Lin Xuan smiled indulgently.
With him by the children's side, even a great demon was nothing to worry about.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xuanyou impatiently tugged Lin Xuan along.
Watching them leave, Donghuang Haoyu and the others all looked envious.
"Cousin-in-law is so good to Xuanzhu and the others. He agrees to anything they ask!"
"Yeah. If my father treated me that well, I'd wake up laughing from my dreams."
"Ah, I wish I had a father like that!"
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