Teacher's Legs Are Something Else!

"Teacher, please let me explain! I really didn't leave because I didn't want to stay by your side!"

As he looked at Bibi Dong, his eyes were full of sincerity and a trace of perfectly measured stubbornness.

"I... I just don't want to live forever under the protection of your wings!"

"Hm?"

Hearing this, Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow slightly. The jade foot pressing against his chin eased up a little, as though she had become interested.

"Go on."

Seeing an opening, Ning Chen secretly let out a breath of relief and continued with great emotion:

"Teacher, you are the supreme Pope of Spirit Hall! And I am your disciple!"

"Ever since I was young, everyone has known that I am your disciple. They respect me and fear me, but it is never because of Ning Chen himself—it is because you stand behind me!"

"I'm not content with that! I want to become as powerful as you through my own efforts! I want the day to come when I can truly stand by your side and share your burdens, rather than forever hiding behind you as a child who needs your protection!"

"So... that is why I wanted to go out and train, to experience real battles of life and death, to temper myself! I don't want to be a flower raised in a greenhouse!"

His speech was impassioned and forceful, every word ringing loud and clear.

Even Ning Chen was nearly moved by his own performance.

With acting like this, it would be a waste of talent if he did not win an Oscar.

"Heh. That sounds nice enough."

After hearing him out, Bibi Dong showed little expression and merely snorted softly.

She withdrew the jade foot that could drive any man mad and elegantly crossed her legs again.

"You don't want to be a flower raised in a greenhouse? You want to experience battles of life and death?"

She looked at Ning Chen, her gaze turning somewhat sharp.

"Then what did you experience on this trip? Tell your teacher about it."

Ning Chen's heart tightened. Knowing this woman would not be easy to fool, he began recounting the fabricated experiences in detail.

Of course, he could not possibly tell the truth.

Forcefully kissing Zhu Zhuqing, teasing Dugu Yan, subduing Dugu Bo, stealing the Blue Silver Emperor... If he said any of that, he would probably be carried out of this courtyard sideways today.

So, he gave his encounter with Dugu Yan and the Shadow Ghost Leopard a bit of artistic embellishment.

In his version, he had been training alone in Sunset Forest when he happened upon a powerful ten-thousand-year soul beast.

He described the battle as thrilling and perilous, fraught with danger at every turn.

"...At the time, that Shadow Ghost Leopard was incredibly fast. It dodged several of my attacks, and more than once, its claws nearly caught my throat. The situation was extremely dangerous..."

As Ning Chen spoke, he watched Bibi Dong's expression.

Although Bibi Dong's face remained unchanged, the hand resting on her knee unconsciously clenched slightly.

There's hope!

Delighted, Ning Chen continued adding embellishments to his story.

He portrayed himself as incomparably heroic, claiming that only after a grueling, desperate battle had he finally managed to slay the ten-thousand-year soul beast at the cost of serious injuries.

"...Although I won in the end, I was badly hurt, and my soul power was completely exhausted. I could only find a cave to hide in and treat my wounds..."

At this moment, he sounded utterly sincere, as though he were on the verge of tears.

And Bibi Dong simply listened quietly.

She neither interrupted nor questioned him. Yet emotions constantly shifted within her beautiful violet eyes.

There was heartache, and lingering fear...

Though she knew the brat's words had to be exaggerated—given his strength, fighting a soul beast around ten thousand years old should not have left him in such a sorry state—she could feel that his emotions as he spoke were genuine.

She understood that desire to grow stronger, that longing to prove oneself.

Because she had once been the same way.

Just as Ning Chen was racking his brains, preparing to continue fabricating how he had narrowly escaped death time and again,

Bibi Dong suddenly spoke.

"Where are your injuries?"

She looked at Ning Chen and asked, "Where were you hurt? Let your teacher see."

"Huh?" Ning Chen froze, then quickly reacted and said,

"Please don't worry, Teacher. They were only superficial wounds. I already treated them myself, and there is nothing seriously wrong now."

What a joke. Forget injuries—he had not even lost a single hair. What wound could he possibly show her?

"Is that so?"

A trace of suspicion flashed through Bibi Dong's eyes.

She kept feeling that something about this brat before her had changed.

Yet she could not say exactly what was different.

It was simply a feeling.

It was as if... his entire aura had become more restrained, more composed.

Especially...

Bibi Dong's gaze fell upon Ning Chen.

She suddenly noticed that the faint, intermittent aura of scorching Evil Fire that had always worried her had actually... disappeared?

No, it could not be called disappearance.

Rather, it had become incomparably stable, perfectly melding into his body and becoming a part of his own power.

This discovery greatly shocked Bibi Dong.

She did not bother questioning him further. A gentle yet incomparably pure stream of spiritual power instantly surged from between her brows and silently entered Ning Chen's body.

After her spiritual power circulated through Ning Chen's body once,

Bibi Dong's cold, queenly expression finally cracked completely.

"How... how is this possible?!"

Bibi Dong abruptly rose from the stone stool, the breathtaking fullness of her chest heaving violently from agitation.

Her beautiful violet eyes stared fixedly at Ning Chen.

Ning Chen was startled by her sudden reaction, and his heart skipped a beat.

Fuck, no way. Did she find out?

Panic instantly overwhelmed him, but he did not dare show it on his face. He could only put on an innocent, bewildered expression and cautiously ask,

"T-Teacher, what... what is wrong? What do you mean, impossible?"

Bibi Dong did not answer. Instead, she took several strides toward him and grabbed his wrist.

An even purer stream of soul power instantly flooded into Ning Chen's body, beginning a thorough investigation.

Ning Chen only felt a warm yet powerful force flowing through his body. He did not dare resist and could only let Bibi Dong do as she pleased.

He could sense that Bibi Dong's examination was extremely meticulous.

Second by second, time passed.

The atmosphere in the courtyard grew tense once more.

Ning Chen's heart rose into his throat. He felt like someone stripped naked, examined inside and out by Bibi Dong, with not a single secret left.

Damn it, what is this woman doing? Ning Chen frantically grumbled inwardly.

Finally, Bibi Dong withdrew her hand, but the shock on her face did not lessen in the slightest.

She looked at Ning Chen, her voice trembling faintly as she said,

"Brat, tell your teacher—why has the Evil Fire in your body... become so stable?!"

"How... how exactly did you do it?!"