The authority of the Yin-and-Yang Archon

Once Qiu Bai was out of Xiangling's sight, he teleported to a mountaintop.

He had sensed a strange presence, one very similar to his own.

In his current state, however, he struggled to pinpoint its exact location.

A faint smile curved his lips, and he transformed into a woman of exquisite beauty, with lips like crimson clouds and a hint of cool detachment in his pale blue eyes.

She wore a black-and-white dress with a Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram fastened at her waist.

At that moment, the yin half of the yin-yang two principles shone with dazzling light.

A black-and-white headband held his long black hair in place, while his pale legs and feet were left bare.

At a glance, he looked like an otherworldly immortal, too sacred to defile.

His female form stood about 1.7 meters tall.

Qiu Bai was now in a female form. That was right-this was another of the Yin-and-Yang Archon's authorities.

This was only his second time assuming this form. Even his old friend Morax had never seen it.

Under normal circumstances, he was unwilling to take this form, because it altered his personality and perceptions somewhat.

"For example, these two things on my chest."

"Uh..."

Qiu Bai touched the two Slimes on his chest, muttering as his face flushed slightly.

Even his voice had become sweet and clear, like a silver bell.

Then Qiu Bai looked around and flew off in one direction.

"Hmm..."

"Did I sense it correctly?"

After flying for a while, Qiu Bai stopped above a massive crater in his beautiful female form.

Trees covered both the crater and its surroundings, and animals seemed to be running through the woods.

His beautiful eyes turned toward the center of the crater, and he flew down.

"This is... where I purified the black aura on Azhdaha back then."

Qiu Bai extended a delicate hand and briefly probed the area with his senses, then frowned.

Before Qiu Bai could act, the soil shifted, and a white orb of light shot out of it, hurtling into the sky at tremendous speed.

"Don't run!"

He cried out in his feminine voice, then sped after the fleeing orb.

She sensed that the orb seemed to be nurturing a Demon God within it.

The orb and Qiu Bai soared high into the sky, but Qiu Bai was faster in the end. He reached out a delicate hand and caught the white orb.

The orb trembled a few times in Qiu Bai's grasp, then went still.

"Is this the essence I lost when I purified Azhdaha a thousand years ago?"

"To think that after a thousand years, it's actually nurturing a Demon God like me."

Hovering in the air, Qiu Bai held out his delicate hand and carefully examined the orb before him, pure white moonlight bathing his cool, aloof female form.

"Luckily, it hasn't developed consciousness yet."

"Otherwise, I really would have ended up a mother."

Relieved that this had not happened, Qiu Bai let out a breath and patted his chest.

At that thought, Qiu Bai froze, then blushed. Becoming a mother was out of the question. He would never become a mother in this lifetime.

"Wait?"

"Why am I blushing? This form really does change my personality, doesn't it?"

Qiu Bai murmured softly.

Then he looked at the orb in his hand. After all, it had only been nurturing that life for a thousand years.

Forming the orb itself would have taken several hundred years, so its attempt to flee had been purely instinctive.

"In that case, I'll let you return to my body."

Qiu Bai spoke to the white orb in his hand.

Although he was now ten times stronger than he had been a thousand years ago, there was nothing wrong with recovering the essence he had lost, was there?

He then took the orb to an uninhabited wilderness and walked into a cave at random.

He sat cross-legged and extended a delicate hand, absorbing the power of the essence within the orb.

Black-and-white light flickered inside the cave as time slowly passed.

Dawn began to break, and Qiu Bai slowly opened his beautiful, half-closed eyes. The orb before him had vanished.

He briefly examined the power within his body, but Qiu Bai did not feel much of an increase. Half of what I had a thousand years ago?

"Well, it's still an increase."

"Every little bit counts."

At that thought, a radiant smile spread across his feminine face. He stood and walked out.

It was early morning outside. Sunlight fell across Qiu Bai's face as he stretched luxuriously.

"With that settled, I'll go find the Traveler first."

"Lumine should be with that fellow Morax."

At that thought, Qiu Bai briefly sensed Lumine's location, then vanished.

He appeared a short distance from the Traveler and Zhongli, concealed his presence, and walked toward them.

Before he reached them, he saw Zhongli, Lumine, and Paimon offering fragrant balms to the Statue of the Seven. The statue reacted to the third balm.

While he was still approaching, Qiu Bai heard little Paimon's voice.

"It looks like Rex Lapis really likes the third balm."

Lumine spoke softly to Zhongli beside her.

"I never thought the Geo Archon would like this kind of balm."

"Could Rex Lapis actually be a mature older lady?"

Paimon murmured curiously.

The third balm's fragrance was gentle yet lingering, hazy as mist, which made it very popular with mature women.

Hearing this, Zhongli laughed and said, "Hahaha... perhaps."

"Rex Lapis has countless incarnations. Perhaps such a form really does exist."

Zhongli smiled as he explained this to Paimon.

"Unfortunately, we've only seen that enormous dragon form, and..."

"I hope the Liyue Qixing can find the real culprit."

Paimon spoke with a frown.

"Let those in positions of power worry about that. We need only prepare Rex Lapis's farewell ceremony."

Zhongli folded his arms and spoke calmly to Lumine and Paimon.

"So we've finished another preparation. What's next?"

Paimon tilted her head and looked curiously at Zhongli as she asked.

"The next task is..."

Before Zhongli could finish, someone in the form of a beautiful woman approached from a short distance away.

"Lumine, Paimon, Zhongli, you're all here."

The sweet voice, paired with pale legs and feet and a beautiful black-and-white dress...

Left Lumine and Paimon staring in a daze.

"Pretty lady, do you know us?"

Paimon looked at the impossibly beautiful figure before her and asked in confusion.

Oh no! I think I forgot to change back.

I was so focused on absorbing the essence yesterday that I forgot all about it.

Qiu Bai awkwardly rubbed his nose. Now he could only grit his teeth and keep talking.

Meanwhile, Zhongli stood beside them, an expression of surprise finally appearing on his usually unchanging face.

His eyes widened as he stared at the fairy-like figure before him.

"Uh..."

"I... I'm..."

Seeing the beautiful figure at a loss, Zhongli slowly began to explain:

"He's a friend of mine. I told him about you, so he knows who you are."