Ancient One: I'm Not a Pervert!

"Two useless—two senior brothers, stop arguing. I'm fine."

The groggy Natasha nearly blurted out what she was really thinking.

Luckily, she caught herself and did not say the final word.

Mordo and Kaecilius, who had been busy shifting blame onto each other, heard Natasha loud and clear.

They immediately stopped arguing, pulled long faces, and stepped forward to shower her with sarcastic concern.

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty is finally awake. I thought we'd have to find a Frog Prince to wake you with a true love's kiss!"

As soon as Mordo finished, Kaecilius surprisingly chimed in.

"Whether a Frog Prince would work, I don't know. But us two useless fools definitely wouldn't!"

"If we could, we wouldn't have been fooled silly by our Sleeping Beauty and forced to clean up this mess!"

Kaecilius put heavy emphasis on the words "clean up this mess," and coupled with that punchable face of his, Natasha's teeth started itching.

Still, they could not really be blamed. She had indeed run off without saying anything.

She had mainly been afraid that her cultivation was not high enough, and that Feng Xu would not let her seek revenge yet if she told him.

Feeling guilty, Natasha could only purse her lips and put on a pitiful expression.

"Don't be mad, Senior Brothers. I was just muddled from waking up, and besides, I had my reasons for coming out this time..."

After listening to Natasha recount what had happened to her, the two were no longer quite as angry.

Kaecilius in particular, who could empathize with her deeply, only hated that Natasha's methods had been too gentle.

"Natasha, I'm not criticizing you, but you should have made things clear back then. I definitely wouldn't have stopped you. I would've gone with you to get revenge and save them."

"And you let that guy named Dreykov off way too easily. You actually let him die so painlessly!"

"If I'd been there, I would've given him the full Blood Demon Art treatment and made him beg me to kill him!"

Kaecilius spoke with righteous fury, hating that he had not been there to strip Dreykov's bones and refine his soul.

"Enough already," Mordo said, growing a little exasperated as Kaecilius seemed increasingly determined to become a villain.

"It's all in the past. Natasha got her revenge, so she just needs to cultivate properly from now on. Stop talking about skinning people and pulling out their tendons all the time. It's terrifying."

Mordo's good-guy speech immediately drew a scoff from Kaecilius.

"Villains like that deserve such punishment. As for you, stop pretending to be some kind of good person. When it comes to cruelty, even my Blood Demon Art has to bow before your Bone Demon Art!"

"Techniques are dead; people are alive. Cruel people will naturally use cruel methods, while kind people can bloom pure white flowers even in the deepest mud."

Mordo refused to back down, and the two immediately began trading barbs again, looking ready to come to blows for a second time.

This made Natasha, standing beside them, feel a little superfluous.

In the end, to stop them from fighting and leaving the ground covered in blood and dry bones, she could only play peacemaker.

"You play with blood, and you play with bones. Neither of you is a good person, so stop arguing."

"Instead of wasting time on this, you might as well cultivate harder. I heard Master say that these two techniques are much faster to cultivate than ordinary ones..."

At this point, Natasha abruptly changed the subject and shot them a sidelong glance. "So, when will you reach the Body Tempering Third Stage?"

Mordo: "..."

Kaecilius: "..."

Same recipe, same familiar flavor, same inherited sharp tongue.

The two finally understood why Natasha had called them useless fools. So this was where the problem lay!

But admitting it was impossible. Like Ancient One, they were both stubborn and unwilling to yield!

"The Body Tempering Third Stage is nothing. We only slowed our cultivation because we didn't want to discourage you!"

"Exactly, exactly!" Kaecilius once again formed a united front with him. "Senior brothers as good as us are impossible to find, even with a lantern!"

Seeing Mordo and Kaecilius acting like close brothers after her intervention, Natasha nodded in satisfaction.

"That's more like it. We're all loving family here. There's no need to keep fighting."

At the word "family," Kaecilius immediately frowned and snorted coldly.

"Hmph. That black guy and I are not family. My family is waiting for me in Heaven to resurrect them!"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and strode away.

Mordo was used to this and did not get angry. Instead, he reminded Natasha, "Since there's nothing wrong with your body, hurry over to see the Sect Master."

"Even if it was for revenge, leaving on your own without saying anything was still a violation of sect rules."

"Go admit your mistake early. Maybe the Sect Master will show leniency and spare you punishment."

Only after Mordo reminded her did Natasha remember the sect rules.

Her little face immediately fell. "Waaah, I nearly forgot because you didn't mention it!"

At the time, she had acted on impulse and had not dared inform Feng Xu before running off to seek revenge.

Thinking back, she should have left a note. That way, she could have gone out early to get revenge and still argued afterward that she had not violated the sect rules!

What a miscalculation!

With a trace of regret, Natasha crossed the plaza and arrived at the enormous terrace at the highest point of Kamar-Taj.

The moment she stepped onto it, she spotted Feng Xu and Ancient One playing chess at the terrace's edge.

She knew both people playing chess, but what were these clowns performing acrobatics on the terrace, this girl sketching the landscape, and these vendors hawking snacks?!

Could they all be incarnations of that bad old man Ancient One's divine sense?

"You guessed right. They really are all avatars of this bad old man."

A voice came from in front of Natasha, making her lower her gaze.

There, an orange cat lying on the ground with one hind leg raised as it licked its butt stared at her with great seriousness.

Natasha was instantly stunned. Ancient One turning into a young man or a woman was one thing, but now she had stopped being human altogether?

This was way too perverted!

The orange cat frowned, then swiftly lowered its hind leg and rose to its feet, arching its back as its fur stood on end. "The body is merely a vessel. The soul is the essence. Also, I'm not a pervert!!!"

"Y-you can hear what I'm thinking?"

Only then did Natasha realize that she had not spoken at all just now!

And if you were a person, why were you copying a cat and licking your own butt?

"You were thinking so loudly, of course I heard you!"

"Also, I wasn't licking my butt. I was cleaning myself after using the toilet, just using a cat's method!"

With that, Ancient One the orange cat swayed her adorable cat butt and strutted off toward the other side.

As she walked, she grumbled irritably, "Kids these days really aren't cute at all!"

Hey, who exactly wasn't cute here?!

Natasha felt countless complaints rising in her throat. This was just too absurd!

Suppressing the urge to hit the cat, Natasha calmed herself and walked over to the chess table.

But before she could begin making excuses, Feng Xu spoke first without even raising his head.

"Now that your worldly ties have been settled, cultivate peacefully from now on."

Natasha's face lit up. Just as she silently rejoiced at having escaped disaster, Feng Xu's next words made her droop again.

"However, you must still be punished for leaving without reporting it. Your punishment is that you may not leave the sect until you reach the Qi Refining Realm."

"But my sister and family, I still haven't—"

"Hm?!" Feng Xu's nasal hum deepened, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Natasha hurriedly swallowed the rest of her words and pursed her lips in grievance.

"Yes, this disciple understands."