You're testing cadres with this?

Early the next morning,

Xiao Baichuan yawned and sat up on the stone bed, his long silver-white hair spilling over his shoulders and hanging down to his waist.

He looked down at this body. Red robes edged in gold wrapped its exquisitely curved figure, and every movement exuded an innate elegance.

"Yawning first thing in the morning... could Ling Xi be thinking about me?"

He muttered to himself, then shook his head.

After a night of study, he had begun to adapt to Ling Xi's Dou Di body.

Its strength and resilience far exceeded his imagination. Even the slightest perception of the power surging through its meridians made his scalp prickle.

A Dou Di's body-terrifying indeed!

But Xiao Baichuan hardly dared to use Dou Qi. He feared that one lapse of control would demolish the Heavenly Snake Realm.

Just as he was stretching his limbs, a clear, lovely female voice suddenly rang out from outside the cave abode.

"Big Sister!"

The voice was crisp and pleasing, with a hint of playful pleading.

"Big Sister, hurry and undo the seal! I'm coming in!"

Xiao Baichuan froze mid-movement.

Big Sister?

He stood rooted to the spot, momentarily at a loss.

The voice outside waited a while, then called again.

"Big Sister? Are you in there? I'm coming in!"

Xiao Baichuan considered it, but ultimately could not resist his curiosity. He raised a hand and undid the cave abode's seal.

The curtain of light at the entrance dissipated, and a woman in a white dress hurried inside.

She looked eighteen or nineteen, and her features bore some resemblance to Ling Xi's, though she was less cold and haughty, and more lively.

Her ink-black hair draped over her shoulders, her brows and eyes curved, and two shallow dimples appeared in her cheeks when she smiled.

The moment the white-dressed woman entered and saw "Ling Xi" standing before the stone bed, she immediately used Three Thousand "Lei Dong" and pounced over with the presence of a Mid-Stage Eight-Star Dou Sheng.

"Big Sister!"

Before Xiao Baichuan could react, the woman's body completely engulfed his vision.

"She" stood utterly rigid, both hands suspended in midair, unsure where to put them.

"Mmph... mmph!"

"She" hurriedly patted the woman's back and spoke indistinctly.

"G-get off!"

Only then did the woman release him. She took a step back and tilted her head to study "Ling Xi."

"Big Sister, why is your face so red?"

Xiao Baichuan swallowed, trying hard to calm himself.

"Ahem, it's nothing. You just smothered me a little."

The woman thought nothing more of it. With a wave of her hand, the cave abode's seal closed again.

Then she turned and walked to the spring pool in the corner of the cave abode, took a heap of bottles and jars from her Storage Ring, and dumped them all into the pool.

As the various rare medicinal ingredients fell into the spring pool, the water instantly took on a lustrous glow, and a rich medicinal fragrance spread.

"Big Sister, I recently robbed... got hold of quite a few extremely rare natural treasures. They're perfect for a medicinal bath to temper our bodies."

The woman clapped her hands and turned to look at "Ling Xi," smiling until her brows and eyes curved.

"Let's soak together and wash up while we're at it!"

Xiao Baichuan stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief.

He cursed inwardly-You're testing cadres with this?

What cadre could withstand a test like this!

Without waiting for his answer, the woman casually waved a hand, and her white dress slipped off without a sound.

Xiao Baichuan's pupils quaked.

"She" hurriedly turned her head away, the tips of her ears burning red.

The woman looked back and found "Big Sister" still standing there blankly. She immediately stepped forward and grabbed his wrist.

"Big Sister, what are you still standing there for?"

"Hurry up and get in with me! It took me so much effort to get these!"

Xiao Baichuan was dragged toward the spring pool, his entire body stiff.

"W-wait! I... I don't really feel like soaking today!"

The woman stopped and looked at him in confusion.

"Why? These medicinal ingredients are really hard to come by. One soak is worth half a year of bitter cultivation."

Xiao Baichuan opened his mouth and, after a long while, squeezed out a reply.

"I... I'm not feeling quite right today. Another day, perhaps."

The woman stared at him for two breaths, then suddenly narrowed her eyes and stepped closer.

"Big Sister, you're so strange today. You never used to refuse."

Xiao Baichuan forcibly restrained his gaze from wandering downward. Seeing that he would expose himself if this continued, he could only agree.

He frantically reassured himself inwardly.

It's not my fault. This isn't my fault.

I'm being forced!

I never wanted to look!

I'm doing this to keep my identity hidden. It's for Ling Xi's sake, for the Heavenly Snake Clan's sake.

Ling Xi, don't blame me. I really didn't mean to.

As he silently repeated this to himself, he stiffly undid his outer robe.

The gold-trimmed red robes slipped off, revealing the close-fitting white undergarments beneath.

Xiao Baichuan glanced down, then swiftly averted his gaze. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the spring pool.

The spring water was warm, and the medicinal potency seeped through his skin into his meridians. It was indeed an excellent medicinal bath for tempering the body.

But he had no mind to appreciate any of it.

With his back to the white-dressed woman, he soaked at the other end of the spring pool, keeping as much distance between them as possible.

The white-dressed woman did not mind. She leaned comfortably against the pool wall, her ink-black hair floating on the water and both arms resting along the edge.

"Big Sister, how has your cultivation been going lately?"

Xiao Baichuan gave a vague response.

"Not bad."

The woman closed her eyes and hummed contentedly, then suddenly remembered something and turned around.

"Big Sister, massage my back for me, will you? Lately, I've been out fighting... no, out meeting new friends, and I'm sore all over."

Xiao Baichuan froze.

He glanced back at the woman, wanting to refuse, but when he met those clear eyes, he remembered his current identity.

Ling Xi's younger sister.

If it really were Ling Xi, she probably wouldn't refuse.

Xiao Baichuan gritted his teeth, moved over, and placed his hands on the woman's shoulders.

The moment his fingers touched her smooth skin, his entire body tensed.

To make his act more convincing, he imitated Ling Xi's usual manner of speaking and lowered his voice slightly.

"Be careful when you're out."

"If you can't win, run. Don't push yourself."

The woman leaned over the pool's edge, narrowing her eyes in comfort under his massage.

"Mm-hmm, I know!"

She had barely finished her perfunctory reply when she realized something seemed wrong.

Big Sister actually didn't scold me today?

Before, whenever I came back from fighting, even if she didn't scold me, she would at least look displeased.

What was going on today? She was actually being so gentle.

And so concerned about me.

Her heart brimming with delight, she abruptly turned around and threw herself at "Ling Xi."

"Hehe, I know!"

"Ling Xi" went rigid all over at the sudden attack.

A soft, enveloping sensation shot straight into the clouds.

It nearly broke through Xiao Baichuan's defenses, and he pleaded bitterly inwardly.

Lady, could you please stop launching surprise attacks!

I may have a strong heart, but I really can't take this!

Xiao Baichuan was honest in his heart, and his eyes were honest too: wherever he should not look, he absolutely looked.

Just as Xiao Baichuan was enjoying this lovely, leisurely moment, a slightly husky female voice suddenly came from outside the cave abode.

"Clan leader, the Heavenly Phoenix Clan's holy son requests an audience!"