Hmph Hmph! This Saintess Is...

Zhao Linchuan stepped back half a pace to create some distance, a wicked grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he said flippantly:

"Just be my wife and give me a few chubby little ones, that's all."

"What--?!" Bibi Dong's eyes widened even further. "Be your wife?"

Her voice rose an octave, and the expression on her face shifted from shock to a complex look that was hard to define.

She stared at Zhao Linchuan for several seconds, her eyes flickering as if she were rapidly calculating something.

After a long while, she spoke slowly, her tone tinged with a hint of uncertain probing.

"Are you certain that if I become your wife, you'll turn all my subsequent spirit rings into hundred-thousand-year ones?"

"Of course."

Zhao Linchuan wore an expression that said, 'Is that even a question?' "You already have six spirit rings, don't you? I can certainly manage three hundred-thousand-year ones."

"Hmph."

Bibi Dong suddenly laughed, her smile carrying a touch of smugness and coquettish pride, looking for all the world like someone who thought, 'I've finally got you right where I want you.'

"Then you are sorely mistaken!"

She stepped back, spread her hands out in front of her with palms facing upward, and two phantoms slowly emerged from her palms.

In the palm of her right hand, a purple spider silhouette, wreathed in golden silk threads, hovered silently.

In the palm of her left hand, a green spider, looking as if it were carved from black jade and covered in countless golden patterns, crouched upon her skin.

Bibi Dong lifted her chin slightly, her eyes and brows filled with unconcealable pride as she said in a crisp voice:

"Speechless now, aren't you?"

She pushed her hands forward, letting the two phantoms display themselves more clearly before Zhao Linchuan.

"This Saint is a twin spirit possessor! I am a peerless genius, one in ten thousand! I am the only person in this world who possesses twin spirits!"

She withdrew her hands, gathering the two phantoms back into her palms, and tilted her chin even higher.

"If you truly have the ability to cover the spirit rings for both of my spirits..."

She paused deliberately, the pride on her face suddenly fading, replaced by a feigned, magnanimous bravado.

"What would it matter if this Saint became your foot-washing maid?"

"Wow--!"

Zhao Linchuan let out an exaggerated exclamation, his expression shifting from surprise to shock, and then to a strange look of suppressed laughter.

"I am so shocked."

His tone was flat, and combined with his exaggerated expression, it looked for all the world like he was teasing a child.

Just as Bibi Dong was about to ask him what he meant, a verdant green spirit light erupted from his body.

The radiance was like the vitality that bursts forth when all things revive after the first rain of spring.

The light quickly solidified and took shape; a tall, robust Unicorn Spirit Deer slowly emerged at his side.

It was pale green all over, covered in countless moon-white spirit patterns, and its eyes were like golden amber—warm and profound. Wherever its gaze fell, the grass and trees trembled slightly, as if paying it homage.

It raised its head and let out a long, clear cry.

A thick aura of life erupted from its body, spreading outward like a tide. Wherever it passed, even the grass underfoot straightened its stalks, and the dew on the blades refracted tiny, shimmering lights.

Bibi Dong stood frozen in place, her mouth agape, her hands still held in the same outstretched position, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the Unicorn Spirit Deer.

"You, you, you--!"

Her voice trembled. She pointed first at Zhao Linchuan, then at the spirit deer, stammering:

"You are also a twin spirit possessor?!"

"Didn't you just see it?"

Zhao Linchuan's tone was indifferent. He reached out and patted the neck of the Unicorn Spirit Deer, which docilely lowered its head and nudged his palm with its forehead.

"Now you've become the 'one of two' twin spirit possessors in the world."

Bibi Dong's gaze darted back and forth between him and the pale green figure several times, her voice suddenly growing weak.

"This, this isn't real..."

She bit her lip, her voice growing smaller and smaller, as if she were trying to convince herself or attempting to grasp something that completely exceeded her understanding.

"Gold represents slaughter... yet your second spirit is filled with the aura of life... how could these two spirits possibly coexist?"

"Don't you know the principle that when things reach an extreme, they reverse, and that yin and yang must be balanced?"

Zhao Linchuan withdrew his hand, and the spirit deer turned into a streak of verdant light, merging back into his body.

He took a step forward, leaning in closer with that wicked grin that made Bibi Dong's teeth itch.

"How about it? My great Saint~~"

"Do you still want to be my foot-washing maid?"

Bibi Dong stepped back, her lips pressed tightly together.

Zhao Linchuan took another step forward. "You should be able to see that even with a second martial soul, I still have spare God-given Spirit Rings to bestow upon my wife."

"This just goes to show that I really am not lacking in these things."

He took another step forward, and Bibi Dong retreated another step.

"The noble Saintess, the future Pope..."

Zhao Linchuan stopped and tilted his head to look at her, the smile on his face deepening.

"You wouldn't happen to be a petty, backsliding person, would you?"

"I..."

Bibi Dong clenched her two small fists against her chest, her mind in a state of turmoil.

Whether it was his temperament, talent, or intelligence, this scoundrel was the unparalleled choice for the other half of her heart.

Moreover, he was a very interesting person, not rigid in the slightest.

Most importantly, he had gifted her such precious immortal herbs, solving the most embarrassing problem she faced.

By every measure of reason and emotion, he was the most suitable person.

But the problem was, she didn't want to be a foot-washing maid!

Her eyes reddened and she lowered her head, her voice so soft it sounded like she was talking to herself.

"Can... can I not be a foot-washing maid?"

"Of course you can." A lazy voice drifted over from the spring; Yan Lingji had woken up at some point.

She walked over slowly with a calm gait, seven spirit rings—black, black, black, black, black, red, red—rotating slowly around her body.

Those two blood-red hundred-thousand-year spirit rings were exceptionally dazzling under the midday sun, like two miniature suns tamed and circling at her side.

At the same time, the phantom of a spirit core shaped like a Mystic Bird Vermilion Bird, burning with white flames, flashed across her chest and vanished, leaving behind a heart-stopping pressure.

"If you're willing, you can just follow along from now on."

"The two of us sisters can take care of him together, with no distinction between senior or junior."

Bibi Dong did not answer. She looked at Yan Lingji, then at Zhao Linchuan, her gaze lingering for a moment on the mischievous smirk that had yet to fade from his face.

She gritted her teeth, pouted, and said, "Hmph! Scoundrel, I'm ignoring you."

She muttered a soft complaint and turned to run toward Yan Lingji.

Yan Lingji smiled and took her hand, then turned to look at Zhao Linchuan, saying softly:

"Husband, I am at level seventy-five. With the augmentation of the hundred-thousand-year spirit rings and the spirit core, killing that Gu Rong shouldn't be difficult."

She pulled Bibi Dong's hand and walked over to Zhao Linchuan, stacking their hands together.

"Look, a handsome man and a beautiful woman—what a perfect match."