Scarlet King narrowed his eyes and stared at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion by the lake, then sighed.
"Talking to your reflection in the lake really makes you seem like a human child."
Seeing her like this, Scarlet King felt reassured.
There was no way a little thing like her could escape his watchful eye. She probably couldn't even sneak away without him noticing.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion nodded. "I don't mind. Hurry up and put that Heavenly Eye on me."
The way her tail swept back and forth across the ground behind her had already given away how she really felt.
[You can choose to use it yourself.]
Hearing World-Shocking Wisdom, she silently chose to use it. The next moment, a mysterious power seemed to attach itself to her Heavenly Eye.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion admired herself shamelessly in the lake.
Now she could freely interact with any living creature, and she no longer had to worry about triggering the power of attribute affinity and having her Power of Fate stolen.
"Little ancestor, you're not as pretty as your Big Sister Bi Ji. Just lie there and play. I'm going to take a nap."
With three heads resting on one paw, Scarlet King spoke to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who was admiring her reflection in the lake, utterly bored.
He was about as bored as he could possibly be.
Cultivating near the Auspicious Beast doubled one's cultivation speed, and as someone who spent all his time by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's side, he knew that better than anyone.
But after spending so long with a child like her, exhaustion still easily swept over Scarlet King, body and soul.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion glared at Scarlet King, who had closed all six of his eyes, and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
Darn Scarlet King! She was definitely going to get Di Tian to beat up that negligent guard later.
But since Scarlet King was going to sleep, this was the perfect chance for her to sneak out and play.
She activated her clone technique, and another Auspicious Beast as silly as she was appeared in her place. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion circled her clone, pleased.
"Guard the house for me. Don't go running off, got it?"
But the clone bared her teeth at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, refusing to let her get anywhere near.
The sudden scare
made the Three-Eyed Golden Lion retreat on all fours.
She reached out with a paw, feigning a threat to scare her clone. "You're lying! Why would she attack me? You're not my clone at all."
World-Shocking Wisdom hastily explained.
[She's you from the previous version—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion who didn't listen very well and bared her teeth whenever another beast came close.]
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion gave a smug little snort.
"Then she's not as smart as me, hehe~"
After comparing herself with her clone, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion felt rather pleased with herself.
[This clone was separated from you using your Power of Fate and the clone technique you learned. She's the previous version of you. She can only be dispelled by your original self or killed.]
"That's good." Once her biggest concern had been dealt with, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion brightened up.
She'd been most worried that she'd get caught before she could sneak out, with Scarlet King all battered and Di Tian looking stern. That would be the end of her.
"She's so silly. Now I don't have to worry about her running off."
"Off I go, time to sneak out and play!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion cast Invisibility Technique over herself and vanished right in front of her clone.
Seeing the identical creature disappear, the clone came closer in amazement and sniffed carefully. She found that she couldn't even smell her.
That creature must be playing with her.
The clone excitedly ran around the lake. When she saw Scarlet King lying there asleep, she charged at him at full speed.
But Scarlet King, who had his eyes half-closed, wasn't asleep yet. He'd simply heard no sound from the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Based on his years of experience looking after children,
when a child went quiet, she was definitely up to something.
Just as he was about to open his eyes, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's excited voice rang out beside him again.
Not long after,
"Oh... ah..."
Scarlet King looked resentfully at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion beside him, who had a mouthful of fur sticking out between her lips. He shouldn't have let his guard down around that little ancestor.
By the campfire,
Zhang Lexuan was cultivating with the help of the moonlight. Ma Xiaotao had wanted to cultivate alongside her to show how hardworking she was.
But the Next-Door Sister System issued a task, leaving her no choice but to hide in her tent and cry alone.
[Rest and recover.]
[As a next-door sister who already shows signs of becoming a defeated heroine, you don't need to maintain your persona through your actions. For now, please stop trying so hard to interact with him. This is your last choice.]
[Reward: One fragment of a fire-attribute cultivation technique (can suppress Evil Fire)]
In other words, you're too weak.
Originally, she was supposed to show her reliable side in front of her next-door little brother and earn a boost in his affection.
But the system had realized that Ma Xiaotao wasn't strong enough to do anything.
So it had simply advised her to go to bed.
"Are you kidding me? Backing down isn't my style, Ma Xiaotao's style. I'm going out there. I'm going to stay with them."
Ma Xiaotao protested against the task, displeased. Looking down on her was one thing, but calling her a defeated heroine was too much.
She hadn't even succeeded in winning him over, and they were already calling her a defeated heroine. Was this what it meant to be a knight?
[Then tell me, what advantage do you have as a next-door sister? Soul Power? Or being reliable?]
Ma Xiaotao couldn't beat Zhang Lexuan in either of those areas. With the main rival right there, trying to earn his affection was pointless.
That one sentence had killed the competition outright.
"I'd better go to sleep."
Ma Xiaotao took a set of bedding out of her spatial Soul Tool.
Only the loneliness of spending the night alone could fill the sorrow in her heart.
"Hey... will I get that cultivation technique fragment tomorrow morning?" Ma Xiaotao asked from under the blanket, sticking her head out.
[Yes, as long as you stay quiet.]
The system had made plenty of sacrifices for this host. It had thought its host was amazing, but it turned out she was just a theorist. In practice, she was useless.
She couldn't even do a good job of being a big sister. No wonder she was such a weakling.
"Are you badmouthing me in your head?"
[Oh, come on... of course not.]
The firelight turned Xiao Xiao's hands bright red. Beside her, Xuanyuan Sheng simply kept his head raised, staring motionlessly at the sky.
She tilted her head and gazed for a while at the stars that weren't obscured by the branches.
"Love Mentor, don't Xiao Sheng's eyes get sore from staring at the sky like that?"
Xiao Xiao rubbed her big eyes. After looking up for just a little while, she already felt like they were about to tear up.
[Don't you think this is a great opportunity to get closer to him?]
The Love System asked Xiao Xiao.
"Is it? I haven't read many stories set in the wilderness. I don't know what to do." Xiao Xiao shyly scratched her head, rubbing her feet together in embarrassment.
She didn't usually like reading stories set outdoors, so her knowledge of the subject was rather limited.
[You little brat! I wasn't asking about your hobbies. I'm asking you a serious question—a serious one! Do you even know what serious means?]
The Love System's furious voice rang out. It hadn't expected this little girl's head to be full of all this nonsense.
Did she even still want to fall in love?!
Before you continue