Fifteen Levels in a Row! The Saintess Blushed at the Mention of the Celestial Master

Seven days later.

Martial Soul City, the Saintess's private cultivation chamber.

The heavy stone door was tightly sealed. On the walls, the fox clan totems emitted a faint, dim purple glow, and the Spirit Gathering Array had been running for three days and three nights without pause.

Hu Liena sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, her hands resting on her knees with her fingers slightly interlaced.

The spirit power throughout her body circulated smoothly and densely.

There was no rush, no agitation; she possessed a composure that shouldn't exist in someone who had been at level sixty-nine just half a month ago.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Seal between her brows pulsed with a flickering light. With every pulse, a wave of warmth flowed through her meridians and throughout her entire body.

The power of the Primordial Spirit Bead was no longer the torrential flood it had been at the start; it had transformed into a trickling stream, soaking into the origin of her martial soul bit by bit.

Deep within her dantian, the power of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron intertwined with the Primordial Spirit Bead.

One rising, one falling; one dispersing, one gathering.

The Primordial Spirit Bead refined, purified, and sublimated; the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron suppressed, stabilized, and solidified.

One pushing upward, the other pressing downward—these two vastly different forces had found a natural balance within her, mutually drawing upon and restraining each other, operating in a seamless, innate cycle.

Her cultivation speed had more than tripled.

Previously, it took two quarter-hours to complete one major cycle; now, she could finish a lap in less than half an incense stick's time, and the increase in spirit power from each lap was far more substantial than in the past.

This was not the hollow growth of forcing a seedling to grow; it was a solid, rock-solid improvement of her foundation.

In her spiritual world, the snow-white Heavenly Fox curled up quietly.

Its six tails were draped loosely at its sides, the tips occasionally twitching slightly, causing fine specks of purple-gold light to slide off the fur and sink into the clear sea of spirit beneath its feet.

The fox's entire aura was worlds apart from half a month ago—the demonic energy had faded away, leaving behind a noble elegance that was clean to the very bone.

Hu Liena raised her right hand.

A cluster of white flames the size of a fist hovered above her palm.

The color had shifted from the original purplish-red to pure white, and the temperature was shockingly high, scorching the Spirit Gathering Array patterns on the floor of the cultivation chamber until they slightly changed color.

She flicked her finger lightly.

The white fox fire hissed as it shot out, striking the stone wall three zhang away.

A bowl-sized crater appeared, its edges charred black, and a small section of the fox clan totem on the surface was burned away.

The power of this single strike was twenty to thirty percent stronger than her third spirit ability at full power when she was level sixty-nine.

And that was just a casual flick.

A level eighty-four Spirit Douluo—a figure that, within the entire Martial Soul Hall, could only be firmly suppressed by Bibi Dong and a few top-tier elders.

Moreover, she was still rising—though the speed was not as exaggerated as those first three days, she could still perceive her spirit power climbing slowly and steadily every single day.

"Creak."

The stone door of the cultivation chamber was pushed open a crack from the outside.

Six fox tails stood up simultaneously, and her ears turned toward the door.

Xie Yue squeezed in sideways, carrying a food box in his hand, his footsteps very light—

But in the face of the spirit power perception that had been amplified several times over within the chamber, this little bit of caution was as good as nothing.

"Awake?"

His voice was kept very low.

"Not asleep."

Xie Yue bypassed the meditation cushion and sat down in a clean spot. He placed the food box between them, and as he lifted the lid, the sweet fragrance of osmanthus cake wafted out.

"Have some."

Hu Liena reached out, took a piece, and took a bite; it was soft, sweet, and not cloying.

Xie Yue didn't rush to speak.

He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, looking his sister up and down, checking her over once, then again.

Hu Liena felt completely uncomfortable under his gaze:

"What are you looking at?"

"Looking at you."

Xie Yue narrowed his eyes and let out a breath.

"Nana, let me tell you something. Your aura right now is completely different from half a month ago. It's not about the level of spirit power, it's that—"

He scratched the back of his head, struggling for a long time before pulling out a word: "—oppressive feeling."

"You aren't releasing anything, just sitting there, yet even three zhang away, I feel like I can't breathe properly. This feeling—it's about the same as when that old man Chrysanthemum Douluo stands in front of me."

Hu Liena chewed her osmanthus cake without responding.

Xie Yue braced his hands behind him and tilted his head back.

"At this rate, it won't be long before I, as your brother, won't even be qualified to carry your shoes."

"Brother, what are you saying?"

"The honest truth. Half a month ago, you were ten levels behind me, and now you're at eighty-four while I'm still hovering at seventy-two. A few more months—"

He drew out the sound, tilting his head to look at her.

There was no jealousy in his words, only a pure sense of wonder and a hint of unspoken bitterness.

His sister was growing stronger. Stronger than he could keep up with.

This was a good thing—with the battle at Jialing Pass approaching, every top-tier combatant Martial Soul Hall possessed meant a better chance of victory.

Yet, that power all came from a man he had never even met. This fact sat in his chest, feeling more stifling than any battle report.

"Speaking of which."

Xie Yue's tone suddenly became casual—whenever he spoke in this manner, the next sentence was nine times out of ten a trap.

"Who do you think brought about these changes—the Primordial Spirit Bead, the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron, and the Martial Soul Evolution?"

Hu Liena's chewing of the osmanthus cake stopped.

He was probing.

She could hear it, of course.

"...That Celestial Master's."

When these words left her lips, her gaze drifted elsewhere, whether intentionally or not.

The remaining half of the osmanthus cake in her hand was being kneaded back and forth, already beginning to crumble.

Xie Yue took in every one of her small movements.

Kneading the cake, avoiding eye contact, the tips of her right ear beginning to flush pink.

With these three signals combined, the answer was practically screaming to be heard.

He gave a dry cough.

"Then, may I be so bold as to ask—"

"Don't ask."

"Are you—"

"Brother."

"—interested in that Shen Yichen—"

"Xie Yue!"

Hu Liena snapped her head up, her eyes glaring straight at him.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

What Xie Yue saw was this:

His sister's fox ears had popped out from her hair, burning from a pale pink to a deep crimson. The tips were translucent, and her face was burning too, red from her cheekbones down to her chin, with even the base of her neck flushed a soft pink.

But that glare held no anger, no embarrassment.

It held only the panic and distress of someone whose veil of modesty had been ripped away.

Xie Yue swallowed the second half of his sentence.

No need to ask. The answer was written all over his sister's face.

The cultivation room remained silent for a long while.

Hu Liena turned her head away, tucking her chin in. She used the half-crumbled piece of osmanthus cake to shield her mouth, forcing a bite into it—purely to find some cover for her burning face.

Xie Yue did not press further.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his trousers. He reached out to pat the top of her head—carefully avoiding those scorching fox ears.

"Just keep it in mind."

He paused for a beat.

"But I'll say this first—when that man surnamed Shen actually arrives, I'll be the first to stop him. Whether he's worthy of my sister or not, he'll have to get past me."

Hu Liena kept her head down and didn't respond. Her ears twitched.

Xie Yue turned and pushed the door open to leave.

His footsteps faded down the corridor, and after passing the second sealed gate, they were completely inaudible.

Hu Liena walked to the narrow window on the side.

The window was small, a square foot in size, and the afternoon sunlight slanted in, landing on the back of her hand, warm and gentle.

She rested her arms on the sill, propped her chin on her forearms, and looked out, tilting her head.

The sky was very blue, and a few white clouds drifted by sluggishly, barely moving an inch after a long while.

She stared at those clouds, lost in a daze for a moment.

Involuntarily, her mind began to imagine the appearance of that mysterious Celestial Master, and a strange ripple stirred within her heart.