At that moment, the little gray wolf on Shi Hao's shoulder lifted his head and sniffed, then jumped down and crawled toward Yun Ying, leaping straight into her arms.
"Oh, this little fellow." Shi Hao was surprised. He hadn't expected the Wolf Pup to warm to anyone besides him and Huo Ling'er.
Yun Ying looked at the Wolf Pup and reached up to gently stroke his head. He obligingly nuzzled her hand.
Yun Ying found this rather amusing. Her delicate fingers scratched the Wolf Pup's chin, and he closed his eyes in contentment.
"Fatty, what cultivation level are you at now?"
Shi Hao blurted it out without a thought. Although Yun Ying didn't mind, the people around them nearly rushed over to beat him up. Calling a fairy a fatty-he must have been blind.
"Can't you guess?" Yun Ying raised her head and asked in return.
Shi Hao's eyes flickered. Of course he had his suspicions, but hearing Yun Ying say that still sent a jolt through his heart.
When he realized he couldn't see through Yun Ying, he had guessed that she must already have reached the king marquis level. What concerned him even more, however, was the peculiar aura she carried.
Back in the North Sea, he had fought the Sea God Descendant. During their fierce battle, the Sea God Descendant had suddenly entered a special state of unity of heaven and man, and his fighting strength had soared.
Although the Sea God Descendant had still failed to gain any advantage over him, Shi Hao vividly remembered the aura he had possessed upon entering that state of unity of heaven and man. It was just like the aura Yun Ying now carried.
Only, Yun Ying's aura wasn't so ostentatious. It was as tranquil as water, as though she and heaven were naturally one, without any distinction between them.
Shi Hao remembered that Yun Ying hadn't possessed such an aura back in the North Sea. How had she undergone such a change in the mere few months since they had last met? He found it astonishing.
"Did you return here at a time like this to settle what happened all those years ago?"
Suddenly, Yun Ying took the rare step of speaking first.
Shi Hao's eyes flashed. He understood what Yun Ying meant. "Why? Is there a problem?"
Yun Ying shook her head. "No problem. I was only asking."
Her answer struck Shi Hao as a little strange. He couldn't work out what she was trying to convey.
"Kid, this girl from the Celestial Clan seems to have undergone an ancestral reversion in her bloodline. Her potential is boundless. If you could marry her and bring her home, you'd hit the jackpot."
"Really, I'm not exaggerating. Women like her are rare even in the Upper Realm." A voice arose in Shi Hao's mind. It was Little Tower speaking.
Little Tower had discerned Yun Ying's origins at a glance, and had also seen that her bloodline had already entered the stage of ancestral reversion.
"Putting aside whether you're telling the truth, does she look like someone I could actually marry?" Shi Hao rolled his eyes. Even now, he could tell that Yun Ying paid him very little attention.
If it were her elder sister Yun Xi, Shi Hao thought he might have some chance. With Yun Ying, however, he felt he had nowhere to start. That was simply the kind of woman she was.
"True enough. One look at this girl tells you she won't halt her steps for worldly love," Little Tower said, momentarily taken aback, before letting out an admiring sigh.
Truly outstanding women were rare in this world. On the path of seeking the Dao in particular, those who could reach the summit were rarer still.
In Little Tower's eyes, Yun Ying already possessed the beginnings of that qualification. That was why he had said those things to Shi Hao.
After a pause, Little Tower chuckled again and egged him on. "Kid, isn't this the time to bring out that thick skin of yours? Put in a little effort, and who knows? You might just succeed."
"Oh, stop it. What kind of rotten idea is that?" No matter how thick-skinned Shi Hao was, he couldn't act that way toward Yun Ying. After all, they had hardly crossed paths, certainly less often than he and her elder sister Yun Xi had.
Besides, if he dared try anything like that, he wouldn't even know how he had died. Yun Ying was far stronger than him now.
Little Tower fell silent. He had only spoken on a whim and wasn't genuinely interested in such matters.
Just then, a group of youths approached. All of them were from the Primordial Sacred Mountain, and they stared with hostile eyes at Shi Hao, who sat opposite Yun Ying.
Even they hadn't dared sit at the same table as Yun Ying, yet a human youth had the gall to do so.
"You're Shi Hao, the one they call the most savage youth?"
A young man of seventeen or eighteen stepped up and spoke without the slightest courtesy.
"That's me. Need something?" Shi Hao replied coolly.
"What nerve! A mere human thinks he's worthy of sitting with Fairy Yun Ying? Get up at once," the young man demanded aggressively.
Before Shi Hao could say anything, Yun Ying's voice rang out. "Shut your mouth. Don't stir up trouble."
As she spoke, Yun Ying swept a glance over them. Though her tone was mild, it sent a shiver through the group, and they reined in their arrogance.
"See? She never said I couldn't sit here." Shi Hao gave them a sidelong look.
"You..."
Their expressions turned ugly, but they didn't dare act out in front of Yun Ying.
"Fairy Yun Ying..."
At that moment, a gray-robed youth stepped forward and sent Yun Ying a voice transmission, saying that Venerable Qingtian had ordered him to deal with Shi Hao and asking her not to interfere.
"Don't make me say the same thing twice." That was Yun Ying's response, sparing him no dignity at all.
The gray-robed youth's face alternated between red and pale. He had come to trouble Shi Hao on Venerable Qingtian's orders, but Yun Ying was blocking him, leaving him caught between two fires.
"Back off. For the sake of the friendship between our sacred mountains, I'll say this one last time."
Seeing him still standing there in hesitation, Yun Ying's tone grew cold. An intimidating pressure swept toward them, making the gray-robed youth and those beside him shudder and stiffen all over.
"Sorry for disturbing you."
In the end, the gray-robed youth and his companions obediently turned and left, not daring to show the slightest reluctance.
"Is it all right for you to do that? Aren't they your companions?"
Shi Hao was surprised. He hadn't expected Yun Ying to be fierce even with her own people.
"Only in the loosest sense," Yun Ying said softly, stroking the Wolf Pup's head.
Hearing that, Shi Hao understood something. It seemed Yun Ying didn't regard those people as companions at all. She probably thought little of them.
A little while later, the birthday banquet finally began.
The guests in the plaza took their seats, raised their cups in cheerful conversation, and enjoyed the fine dishes.
"You! What are you doing here?"
When Yun Xi and the others returned, they were astonished to find Shi Hao there as well. This Bear Child actually dared sit opposite Yun Ying.
"Why can't I be here? Dig in! What are you staring at me for?" Shi Hao reached for the food on the table without the slightest restraint, even beckoning Yun Xi and the others to join him.
If Yun Ying hadn't remained silent, they would certainly have driven him away. His table manners were far too embarrassing.
"Can't you pay a little attention to how you look? Don't eat like a starving ghost. You may not feel embarrassed, but we do," Yun Xi reminded him with a glare.
The commotion he made while eating was outrageously loud, making everyone at their table look like a bunch of oddballs.
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