The dancing Statue of the Seven

Zhongli spoke up, easing the awkwardness.

Seeing this, Qiu Bai hurried to pick up the conversation.

"Yes, Zhongli told me about you. That's how I knew the Traveler and Paimon."

Qiu Bai spoke hastily, then slowly approached the three of them on his spotless, delicate feet.

Zhongli still watched Qiu Bai in astonishment.

He could sense that his old friend had truly become a woman.

Was this the authority of the Yin-and-Yang Archon?

But why had I never seen him take this form before?

Zhongli gazed thoughtfully at the stunning woman before him, sinking into contemplation.

Meanwhile, the Geo Statue of the Seven behind them kept responding as Qiu Bai approached.

"What's going on with this Statue of the Seven?"

"It only responded once to the perfume earlier. Why is it reacting every few seconds now?"

Paimon looked toward the Statue of the Seven, her face full of confusion.

Lumine also turned around in surprise to look at the statue, which was responding like mad.

"Ahem..."

Zhongli's mouth twitched. Then, somewhat awkwardly, he moved his fingers, and the statue finally settled down.

Of course, he did all of this out of the Traveler's and Paimon's sight.

"Lumine, Paimon, Zhongli has mentioned you to me."

"I didn't expect to meet you here."

The woman smiled at Paimon and Lumine as he spoke.

Seeing the beautiful woman's radiant smile, Paimon and Lumine couldn't help staring.

"Miss, you're so pretty."

"You're prettier than any woman Paimon has ever seen."

Paimon smiled and kicked her feet, while Lumine hurriedly nodded along.

"Hahaha, to receive such praise from little Paimon and the Traveler..."

"I'm truly honored!"

As he spoke, Qiu Bai stroked little Paimon's head. This time, she actually didn't dodge.

She smiled at the pretty lady before her, then half closed her eyes, looking eager for more pats.

Qiu Bai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness they didn't recognize me.

Otherwise, I wouldn't even know how to explain this.

Then he sensed something was off. Why had Paimon rejected his head pats before, but not now?

"Wow, your hand is so warm!"

Watching Paimon behave this way, Qiu Bai's mouth twitched. He felt the blatant double standard.

He really hadn't expected Paimon to like pretty ladies.

So everyone was Rex Lapis, huh? Wait, wasn't Zhongli into white hair? My hair is black.

Now Lumine was also looking at Qiu Bai expectantly, signaling that she wanted her head patted too.

"Miss, me too!"

Lumine smiled at the pretty lady before her and leaned her head forward.

Qiu Bai chuckled softly, then gently stroked Lumine's head with his delicate hand.

Lumine: I'm adding him to my harem.

Then he withdrew his hand and looked at Zhongli, who stood a short distance away with a composed expression.

"Oh, right! Miss, what's your name?"

Paimon asked curiously. After all, the beautiful woman before her still hadn't given his name.

Qiu Bai thought it over. Right, what name should he use now?

(The protagonist's female name will be decided by whichever chapter comment gets the most likes!)

Qiu Bai smiled brightly at little Paimon and Lumine. "It's a secret."

"Can I tell you some other time?"

The woman rested his hands lightly over his abdomen, making the gentle, beautiful lady before Lumine and Paimon seem a little more demure.

Qiu Bai wasn't doing this deliberately. Rather, becoming a woman had a major influence on his personality and behavior.

"Okay!"

"Then Paimon will just call you 'pretty lady' for now!"

Paimon said with a happy smile, and Lumine nodded enthusiastically in agreement!

They didn't know why the lady before them wouldn't tell them his name.

But they felt that he meant them no harm.

They were just a little curious why such a pretty lady knew a hopeless freeloader like Zhongli.

After spending some time with him, Paimon and Lumine had come to see Zhongli as someone who ate and drank on others' dime and never brought Mora when he went out.

"Zhongli, it's been a while."

Qiu Bai smiled faintly and greeted Zhongli, who stood nearby.

Zhongli, you were sneaking looks at me just now, weren't you?

Zhongli was still staring blankly at the woman before him.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand how his old friend had become a woman.

Even his manner of speaking and behavior were completely different, as though he had become another person.

Most importantly, Qiu Bai had just made even his rocklike heart give a powerful thump.

"Old friend, it's been a while."

Since we've already started acting, we might as well see it through. I'll ask Qiu Bai what happened afterward.

Zhongli watched the woman walk up to him and look at him with a smile.

At Qiu Bai's current height, he had to tilt his head up slightly to see Zhongli's face.

A lovely fragrance drifted from the woman's body into Zhongli's nose on the breeze.

The woman before him lightly adjusted his hair.

Behind them, the Statue of the Seven reacted several more times, as though it were dancing.

Looking puzzled, Paimon flew over to the pretty lady and circled him.

Watching Paimon circle him, Qiu Bai asked in confusion, "What's wrong, little Paimon?"

"Keep flying around me like that, and you'll make yourself dizzy."

The woman's gentle voice brought little Paimon back to her senses.

Then little Paimon planted her hands on her hips and studied the pretty lady with a detective's expression.

"Hehe, Paimon knows why the Statue of the Seven keeps reacting!"

"It's because the pretty lady has a really, really lovely fragrance!"

Lumine also came closer from the side and took a careful sniff.

"There really is a lovely scent."

"No wonder Rex Lapis likes it."

Lumine waved a hand, looking as though everything now made sense.

"In terms of universal rationality, indeed."

Behind them, Zhongli's mouth twitched slightly at her words.

He looked at the beautiful woman before him with an odd expression.

Now he was a little uncertain whether the person before him was Qiu Bai.

Could this be Qiu Bai's younger sister?

Zhongli immediately dismissed that thought. So was the woman before him Qiu Bai or not?

"No need to wonder, Zhongli. It's me."

Seeing Zhongli's strange expression, the woman pressed a finger to his lips and spoke softly, with a touch of playfulness.

The longer he remained transformed, the more feminine his personality became.

Looks like I need to change back soon.

That was what Qiu Bai thought to himself.

Hearing the woman's words, Zhongli finally confirmed it.

The beautiful woman before him was indeed his old friend, the Yin-and-Yang Archon, Morpheus.

"We're preparing the Rite of Parting. Would you like to join us, my friend?"

Zhongli looked at the beautiful, playful woman and spoke slowly.

(Let me also clarify the protagonist's current strength! With the system's tenfold enhancement, he is roughly as strong as Morax at his peak. Swallowing that orb of essence only made him a tiny bit stronger.)

(As for his Demon God authority: he can change his sex. The power of Yin can destroy beings much weaker than himself, curse living beings, and repair or destroy souls. Of course, the power of Yang can repair Erosion, purify living beings, and restore them as well. Most importantly, at his current strength, the protagonist can resurrect people!)

"The protagonist learned many adeptal arts from the adepti a thousand years ago, and even created several himself."

"With the system's unbinding, the protagonist's strength increased tenfold. Naturally, he couldn't resurrect living beings before.)

(A reader suggested that my pacing was too fast! I'm very grateful to that reader for the suggestion, because I really had been feeling lost for a long time.)

(Also, this is my first time writing a novel. If anything is lacking, please point it out. I'm very grateful for everyone's support, and also very grateful to all the readers who sent gifts.)

(Actually, I started this purely out of interest. I never expected so many people to read my novel. It really motivates me, so all I can do is put that motivation into updating as much as I can!)