Fringe Zone!

Night fell quietly over the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Ordinarily, no one would choose to spend the night in the mountains, where it was even more dangerous than during the day. Yet amid this darkness filled with lurking dangers, a bright blaze declared its presence...

The campfire drove away the surrounding darkness. Since it was a campfire, it was naturally not just for lighting and warmth. Skewered chunks of some unknown beast's meat were set over the flames, while beside the fire sat a boy and a girl who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen.

The boy was handsome and modest, carrying an air of refined elegance. Though the girl was only fourteen, that did nothing to diminish her graceful, jade-like beauty, enough to captivate at first sight...

Despite being deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the two were like a sweet couple out on a camping trip. They showed no concern for—or rather, no fear of—this mountain range known as a paradise for magical beasts...

"Brother Xia, you know so much..."

At the boy's side, the girl listened as he spoke of knowledge that did not belong to this world at all. It felt as though she had discovered another side of the world. Things that seemed ordinary in daily life could turn out to be so intricate and profound when explained...

"Of course. Don't you know who your Brother Xia is?"

Gu Xia basked in Xun'er's admiring gaze, feeling as though his nose had grown just a little taller...

"Show-off~"

Seeing Gu Xia with his hands already planted on his hips, Xun'er could not help but smile at his smug expression. She grabbed a skewer of meat that had turned golden and was sizzling with oil, blew on it by her cherry-red lips, then stuffed it straight into Gu Xia's mouth, shutting up the big mouth that had been about to sing his own praises...

Gu Xia grabbed the end of the bamboo skewer, tore off a piece of grilled meat and tasted it. Somewhat dissatisfied, he set the skewer back beside the fire...

"Xun'er, skewers taste better if you grill them a little charred, like this..."

Gu Xia picked up another skewer that had already browned slightly at the edges. He took out some seasonings from his storage ring, adding the final touch to the grilled meat, then roasted it over the fire a little longer. More than ten seconds later, he looked with satisfaction at the skewer in his hand, which gave off an aroma capable of stirring humanity's most primal appetite...

"This should be about right. Here, Xun'er, try it and see if you like it."

After testing the temperature, he handed the skewer to Xun'er.

"Wow, it smells so good! Brother Xia, what did you add just now? It doesn't seem like the seasonings we normally use..."

Before Xun'er, the fragrance was even richer and more enticing. She eagerly accepted the skewer from Gu Xia. Although it was delicious, she still tore off tiny pieces of meat from the bamboo skewer with her little mouth, savoring Gu Xia's special grilled skewer with utmost elegance...

"You figured that out? Xun'er is amazing..."

Gu Xia, who stuck to one warm-boy tip every day, once again successfully applied the knowledge from his books: even if it was only a trivial matter, an offhand compliment could bring the two of them closer.

"Hehe, of course. Don't you know who your precious Xun'er is..."

Having received praise, Xun'er looked extremely pleased. Imitating Gu Xia's tone from earlier, she proudly raised her fair, jade-like neck.

"Alright, alright. My Xun'er is the smartest. Then can Xun'er guess what kind of seasoning I added just now?"

Gu Xia dotingly tapped her delicate nose. As he continued tending to the remaining skewers, he asked Xun'er about the seasoning...

"Hmm... Xun'er thinks it must be a very rare plant, because this was the first time Brother Xia had taken out this kind of spice in the past month or so. If it were a common plant, Brother Xia would definitely have used it to cook for Xun'er the first chance he got!"

Xun'er finished the skewer in her hand.

She shifted closer to Gu Xia, making it easier for herself to lean against his shoulder... "Not bad, not bad. It seems Xun'er remembered what I taught you before..."

Gu Xia took the chance to stroke her smooth black hair, then went back to turning his skewers. Yet he did not forget to continue explaining.

"Actually, Xun'er, you missed one thing. This seasoning isn't made from just one kind of plant. To make something like this, you need no fewer than ten kinds of spices..."

"Ah? That many? Xun'er thought there were only a few seasonings..."

"You can't be blamed for that, Xun'er. Several of the spices in it have very similar flavors. It was already very good that you guessed so much from such a simple observation..."

Gu Xia believed in encouragement to keep Xun'er confident. Of course, that did not mean he would blindly praise her. When correction and reminders were needed, he would still give them...

"Really?"

"Of course. Xun'er, you need to have more confidence in yourself, because you're a genius girl..."

"So what if I'm a genius girl? I still can't compare to an absurd monster like you!"

Xun'er was very happy to hear Gu Xia praise her talent. Even though it was nothing compared to a certain cheating bastard with the official, one-and-only cheat, so what if he was monstrously gifted? Didn't he still have to obediently coax his girlfriend?...

Xun'er cast the person beside her a slightly resentful glance. Seriously, why did this monster have to cultivate so quickly? Couldn't he wait a little for his precious baby? What an insensitive jerk!

Of course, this was only a tiny bit of resentment in Xun'er's heart. She was still very sensible. She could tell right from wrong. After all, this world revered strength above all else, and faster progress in strength was a good thing. It was just that someone's progress was like crossing an entire era—he had suddenly reached the Dou Spirit level. It left his girlfriend, who was only a five-star Dou Practitioner, a little dissatisfied!

"Hehe, no matter how fast I cultivate, I'm still your Brother Xia... Here, eat this..."

Gu Xia smiled faintly and handed Xun'er a grilled skewer that had already been seasoned and cooked...

"Hmph ^ω^ At least you know!"

Hearing Gu Xia's words, which pleased her greatly, Xun'er happily took the skewer and began nibbling on it...

"What a little girl..."

Watching Xun'er abandon all concern for her ladylike image, Gu Xia smiled knowingly and removed all the cooked skewers from the fire.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly, and an obscure golden glint flashed through them...

"Xun'er, keep eating. I'm going to get you something that will beautify your skin and reduce internal heat. Wait here for me. Don't leave the range of the firelight, understand?"

Gu Xia rose to his feet and reminded the adorable girl, who was chewing on a skewer while looking at him curiously. Then he walked into the darkness without waiting for Xun'er's reply...

"Hmph, you bad brother. Going out by yourself again without taking me. But for the sake of the beauty products, I'll let you off this time!"

With that, Xun'er continued gnawing on her delicious skewer...

What? You were asking why she was not worried about Gu Xia? What was there to worry about? This was only the "Fringe Zone" of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. He was a "Dou Spirit" capable of forming wings from Dou Qi—he could walk around sideways here without a problem! Did she need to worry about him? Rather than wasting time on that, she might as well worry more about herself...

Still happily eating her skewer, Xun'er did not know that Gu Xia truly could walk around sideways—but not in that so-called "Fringe Zone"...