The Queen's Pride

Time slipped away like sand through one's fingers, vanishing quietly through the cracks. In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

Over the past few days, Queen Medusa, Cailin, had cast aside all miscellaneous matters and devoted herself entirely to cultivation and consolidating her foundation, making every possible preparation for that crucial evolution.

That day, when she had resolutely chosen the second method—tempering herself with a Heavenly Flame to undergo the most thorough and perilous evolution—Su Baichen had stood quietly nearby without trying to dissuade her.

He had merely looked deeply into those bewitching violet eyes of hers and seen the unshakable resolve and innate pride within them.

He understood her better than he understood himself. That pride came from her identity as Queen Medusa, from the heart of a powerhouse unwilling to bow to others, and even more so from the stubbornness deep within her that refused to depend on him completely.

She would never be content with an ordinary future, nor did she wish to be regarded as nothing more than an exquisite vase attached to the side of a powerful man.

What she wanted was to stand openly and honorably at his side through her own strength, to become an indispensable aid on his journey. When he needed her, she wanted to fight beside him rather than remain sheltered beneath his wings.

However, for an evolution involving the very origin of one's bloodline, external forces could interfere only to a very limited extent. Su Baichen knew well that relying too heavily on pills and other external aids might increase the chances of success, but the bloodline would be unable to undergo the most complete tempering and sublimation. In the end, it would be inferior and difficult to reach the most perfect state.

What he could do—and the only thing that could greatly improve her safety while potentially strengthening the effects of her evolution—was provide the flame she needed.

According to the original course of events, she would have used the violent and untamed Green Lotus Core Flame, enduring the torment of being burned alive and surviving nine deaths for a single chance at life.

Whenever Su Baichen recalled the inhuman pain Cailin had suffered in the original story, an indescribable ache rose in his heart. How could he bear to let her endure such agony again?

A wisp of glass-colored flame quietly flickered at his fingertips, pure and scorching, as though it contained the world's most dazzling brilliance and most restrained destructive power—his own natal flame, the Liuli Burning Heaven Flame.

This flame had come from a system sign-in reward. According to the system's description, it too was a flame born of heaven and earth. Its might was in no way inferior to any known Heavenly Flame, and it possessed unique advantages in controllability and spiritual intelligence.

Most importantly, the Liuli Burning Heaven Flame was connected to his mind and obeyed his will as easily as an arm or finger.

With him personally controlling this flame to assist Cailin's evolution, the process would undoubtedly be far more stable and much safer than confronting an ownerless Heavenly Flame.

He would use this flame, entirely under his control, to pave a relatively smooth path for her evolution and minimize the suffering she would have to endure.

Meanwhile, in a quiet courtyard elsewhere in the castle, Cao Ying had just finished a day's arduous cultivation, and the Dou Qi within her body slowly settled.

Bored out of her mind, she propped her cheek in one hand by the window and gazed at the path outside the courtyard leading to the main hall, her small lips unconsciously pouting.

"Ahh—"

A long sigh rang out through the room. "Master has been out of seclusion for days now, yet I haven't even seen a glimpse of him. Did he forget about his clever, adorable, and exceptionally talented disciple?"

Muttering to herself, she simply rose to her feet, lightly crossed the corridor, and slipped into Caidie's room as though she knew the way by heart.

Caidie was sorting through some medicinal herbs. When she saw Cao Ying enter, a gentle smile appeared on her face. "Little Cao Ying, have you finished cultivating for the day?"

"I finished ages ago!"

Cao Ying plopped down onto the embroidered stool beside Caidie, rested her chin on both hands, and said with a worried expression, "Sister Caidie, what exactly is Master busy with? He doesn't even have time to come see me."

Caidie's hands paused briefly, and an almost imperceptible complexity flashed through her eyes before she smiled and comforted her. "All right, little Cao Ying, stop complaining. Young Master has been... accompanying my sister these past few days."

"Accompanying Sister Cailin?!"

Upon hearing that, Cao Ying sprang from the embroidered stool like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her almond eyes widened in utter disbelief. "Master... he really is with Sister Cailin? For several days?"

She had vaguely heard some rumors before, but she had merely assumed they were idle gossip from the servants and had not taken them seriously.

After all, in her eyes, although Sister Cailin was stunningly beautiful and possessed an overwhelming presence, Master Su Baichen had always been aloof and self-disciplined, seemingly uninterested in affairs between men and women.

How had it progressed to the point of "constantly accompanying her" after only a few days?

"Yes."

Caidie nodded, her voice carrying a trace of wistfulness that even she herself had not noticed. "My sister needs to prepare in peace for her breakthrough to Dou Zong. It is only natural for Young Master to stand guard at her side."

She tried to use a reasonable explanation to cover the subtle bitterness in her heart.

Yet this information clearly struck Cao Ying even harder. She recalled the morning before they had left Danta, when she had excitedly gone to find Master, only to see him emerging from a room with a faint smell of wine on him, along with a refined fragrance she knew quite well—one that belonged to Mistress Xuanyi.

Combined with the fact that Mistress Xuanyi had not appeared to see them off that day, the precocious girl had already guessed most of what had happened. Her own parents were occasionally like that too, so she had long since grown used to it.

The little girl's eyes spun around, and an expression of realization mixed with excitement appeared on her face. She clapped her hands. "Wow! Does that mean I'll soon have another mistress? Sister Cailin becoming my mistress sounds pretty great! She's beautiful and powerful!"

She leaned closer to Caidie, lowered her voice, and spoke with the eager excitement of sharing a secret. "Sister Caidie, let me tell you, my first mistress is incredible. I heard that with just a jug of wine, she got my Master to... hehe."

"Another mistress?!"

Caidie was so stunned by the information in those words that the herbs in her hands fell onto the table. She abruptly seized Cao Ying's shoulders, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and urgency. "Little Ying'er, what did you just say? Young Master... he already has... has a woman?"

"That's right! My first mistress is Xuanyi, one of Danta's three great leaders."

Cao Ying was startled by Caidie's reaction, then understood. Patting Caidie's hand in the manner of a little adult, she consoled her, "Sister Caidie, why are you so surprised? Master is so outstanding, handsome, highly cultivated, and skilled in both alchemy and refining. There must be lots and lots of girls who like him! What's so strange about that?"

"My father is the same. He only has my mother as his wife, but who knows how many female cultivators secretly admire him!"

She paused, saw Caidie's somewhat dazed expression, and continued earnestly, "So, you need to take it in stride. A person like Master will definitely have more than one confidante by his side in the future."

"You need to work harder! Look at Sister Cailin. She might have known Master for even less time than you, yet she has already taken the initiative. But what about you?"

Cao Ying looked Caidie up and down, shook her head, and sighed in a worldly, old-fashioned manner. "You just spend every day busy with these herbs and chores, without making any progress at all. You're far too disappointing! I think you'd make a very good mistress!"