Su Lang glanced at the Earth-Fiend Demon Lion, whose head drooped in utter despair. Seriously, junior sister, could your acting get any more halfhearted?
Wen Maimai covered her mouth in disbelief. Didn't Sister Xiangxiang like her master? Had she already fallen for someone else?
Then again, Uncle-Master Lu was too cold by nature. Sister Xiangxiang might not be able to handle him. Senior Brother Su was better-gentle as jade and so good-tempered. He definitely wouldn't bully Sister Xiangxiang in the future.
Wen Maimai gave Ning Xiang an encouraging look. She supported the Su-Ning romance!
Utterly baffled, Ning Xiang ignored Wen Maimai. Recalling how Zhou Ruoxue had acted coy earlier, she shook Su Lang's arm and said sweetly, "Eldest senior brother, I really was so scared. If you hadn't been here, I might not have held out."
Su Lang knew perfectly well that she was putting on an act, but her sweet, innocent manner still softened his heart, and he was about to comfort her.
Ning Xiang, however, was watching Zhou Ruoxue's expression beside them.
Sure enough, the latter's eyes reddened, and she trembled all over.
She had known it. Zhou Ruoxue couldn't possibly stand seeing Su Lang comfort another woman.
Hahaha, I'm only one step away from completing the mission!
Zhou Ruoxue strode forward and pulled them apart. "You seductive slut!!!"
Ning Xiang widened her eyes and said with innocent, pitiful vulnerability, "What are you saying? How could you say something like that..."
But Zhou Ruoxue wasn't looking at her. Instead, she pointed straight at Su Lang's nose and cursed, "Senior Sister Ning risked her own safety to save us, and you actually dared to seduce her! Tell me, what kind of bewitching potion did you feed her to make her this obsessed with you?"
Everyone froze like wooden chickens.
So the "seductive slut" was... Su Lang???
Everyone looked at the poised, composed man, as gentle and lustrous as jade, then at Zhou Ruoxue, who kept stamping her feet. They all wisely chose to keep their mouths shut.
Zhou Ruoxue was fit to explode, ranting without pause. "I always thought you were a gentleman. Who knew you'd repay kindness with betrayal! Aren't you just taking advantage of your good looks? How dare you lay your hands on my most, most, most beloved Senior Sister Ning!!!"
Wen Maimai stood stunned for a long while before quietly repeating what Zhou Ruoxue had said not long ago. "Senior Brother Su's movements while fighting that Demon Beast were truly graceful and elegant..."
"Shut up!" Zhou Ruoxue snapped. "Who doesn't have a little embarrassing history from their youth?"
Ning Xiang felt exhausted. It was a mental exhaustion.
Watching Zhou Ruoxue jump up and down hurling abuse at Su Lang, she was grateful her eldest senior brother had such a good temper. Had it been her, she probably would have kicked Zhou Ruoxue flying.
"Stop!" Ning Xiang halted Zhou Ruoxue, who finally calmed down. "It's getting late. Let's rest a little, then look for the great demon's remains."
"Senior Sister Ning still takes Senior Brother Su's side, after all," Zhou Ruoxue muttered sourly, but she didn't dare say anything more.
Everyone sat cross-legged and circulated the spiritual energy within their bodies.
Just then, Ning Xiang's sharp ears caught a rustling sound.
She exchanged a glance with Su Lang. Both summoned their bonded magical treasures and looked toward the source of the noise.
A head popped out of the ground, revealing a face as black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
"What kind of Demon Beast is this?" Ning Xiang knew of no species this strange, and her Azure Sea Sword was about to stab at it.
The owner of the face spoke. "Senior sister, it's me! I'm your favorite junior brother!"
Ning Xiang fell silent.
A moment later, Ning Xiang said, "He's beyond saving. Just bury him where he is."
Fortunately, Su Lang was still reliable. He reached out and pulled Yu Tingchao up, after which several more pitch-black cultivators crawled out of the ground.
They cast cleansing spells, revealing their true appearances.
Yu Tingchao once again became a graceful young gentleman, as delicately sculpted as jade. As for the others...
Ning Xiang's eyes lit up.
[Wow! So many handsome men. Slurp, slurp!]
Su Lang unobtrusively blocked Ning Xiang's view and asked, "What trouble did you run into?"
"We encountered a third-tier demonic beast," Yu Tingchao said. "That thing was incredibly ferocious. We only barely managed to escape."
He looked at Ning Xiang. "Speaking of which, we have to thank you for your talisman array, senior sister. It helped us get away."
Ning Xiang was busy admiring handsome men and had no time for Yu Tingchao. She waved casually. "You're welcome. You brought back so many handsome men for me. Helping you was as good as helping myself."
Once those words left her mouth, Ning Xiang herself fell silent.
Just as she was thinking about how to change the subject, she looked up and saw a Demon Beast charging toward them. It resembled a blue-green ox, but had only one leg.
Goodness, this Demon Beast really knows how to make a flashy entrance. It even has purple lightning and blue-green frost swirling around it.
"That's the monster! It's incredibly vicious. Everyone, be careful!"
Almost simultaneously, the Earth-Fiend Demon Lion roared at the Demon Beast, "Brother Kui Ox, this female cultivator is a lawless tyrant! You must be careful!"
Yu Tingchao gave the Earth-Fiend Demon Lion a vicious kick. "My senior sister is gentle and beautiful! Don't you dare slander her!"
The next second, Ning Xiang leaped into the air with the Shattered Moon whip in hand. Shattered Moon wrapped around the Kui Ox's horn, and scorching flames burned off all its hair in an instant. The once blue-green, fiendishly savage Demon Beast suddenly became a goofy-looking big black ox...
The flames turned into long serpents that trapped the Kui Ox. It tried to lift its hoof to kick Ning Xiang over, forgetting that it only had one. Wasn't it practically begging her to tie its hoof up too?
Ning Xiang came down leading the Kui Ox, which was trussed up like a rice dumpling, and cheered, "Dinner is sorted!"
She looked at Yu Tingchao's companions and gently asked their opinion. "I'm saying my junior brother caught this Demon Beast, so its Demon Core belongs to him. Do you agree?"
The male cultivators nodded like garlic being pounded in a mortar. They agreed, they agreed.
Ning Xiang was thoroughly satisfied.
Yu Tingchao: ...So this is what getting preferential treatment feels like?
It's actually pretty nice.
Ning Xiang did a head count.
Their original group of eleven had grown to twenty-four.
Apart from the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, the two Core Formation cultivators among them were Mu Jianying of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and Fu Yunsheng of the Beast Taming Sect. Both were men.
The former had sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, with a clear gaze, an imposing bearing, and striking looks. He wore fitted clothes the color of Hundred-Herb Frost, with his hair tied high.
Ning Xiang: [What a great figure. He can't compare to Mingyuan, but he's still one fit hunk!]
Su Lang swept a glance over him.
Mu Jianying: Why does my back suddenly feel chilly?
Ning Xiang then looked at Fu Yunsheng and commented, [A pretty boy with seductiveness in his very bones. Among all the handsome men I've seen so far, his aura is truly one of a kind.]
[Huh? What's up with eldest senior brother today? Why does he keep blocking me?]
Ning Xiang poked her little head out from behind Su Lang, ready to inspect Yu Tingchao's teammates one by one. So many sweet puppy boys. I love them!
Su Lang pushed her little head back behind him.
[Hmm, could he be angry with me because of Junior Sister Zhou?]
No! Su Lang thought sulkily.
Ning Xiang looked up and saw the female cultivators from her group sitting shoulder to shoulder with the male cultivators from Yu Tingchao's team, deep in lively conversation. Wen Maimai was talking with animated delight.
She couldn't help asking Wen Maimai, "What are you talking about?"
The latter beamed. "Senior sister, we're discussing the plot of The Overbearing War God and Her Little Husband! I never expected this book to be so popular. Even the senior brothers from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect have read it!"
A tall, burly male cultivator from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, his muscles bulging, sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Their love is just so moving. I even wrote fan fiction about them."
"Hiss..." Ning Xiang sucked in a cold breath and hurriedly said, "Let's discuss our tactics instead. Next, we..."
No one paid any attention to her words. Zhou Ruoxue cupped her little face in her hands and gazed at the Ten Thousand Swords Sect disciple. "Hurry, read it to us!"
Before you continue