"Huff-huff-"
The wind swept goose-feather snowflakes down in a rustling fall.
Yu Tianqing climbed out of an ancient well, panting. His skin was red all over, and wisps of white vapor rose from his body.
"Tianqing, hurry and put your clothes on."
A gentle, pleasant female voice rang out. A mature woman stepped forward slowly and draped a robe over him.
The robe was exceptionally thick, made from the hide of a thousand-year snow yak.
Once he had it on, Yu Tianqing immediately felt less cold. He looked at the person beside him.
Though she was in Dragon City in the Far North, the woman wore only a perfectly fitted pink qipao. The fabric clung to her delicate figure, showing off her mature curves to the fullest.
Her cloudlike hair was swept up high, and a beauty mark sat just beneath the corner of one eye, adding even more charm to her lovely phoenix eyes.
"You little rascal, what are you looking at?"
She chided him coquettishly and reached out with a jade finger as pale as a scallion to tap his temple.
"Ah, Aunt Nan, you're just too beautiful."
Yu Tianqing scratched his head awkwardly and hastily offered her a flattering remark.
"Hehehe-"
Nan Shuishui covered her lovely red lips, her laughter ringing like silver bells.
Her body swayed like a flowering branch in the wind, her ample bosom surging like waves. Yu Tianqing swallowed again and thought to himself:
Who said qipaos were trash? They're beautiful. I want to look, I love looking, and I want to look some more.
"Oh, you-"
Nan Shuishui drew out the words, as though she wanted to say something, but then she shook her head and looked at the snowstorm filling the sky:
"Today is your eighteenth birthday. In the blink of an eye, you've grown so big."
"Mm. Thank you for looking after me all these years, Aunt Nan."
"Yes..."
Nan Shuishui sighed:
"Your mother was my very best friend. Back then, your parents went Soul Hunting in the Far North, but unfortunately, once they entered the Far North, there was no more news of them."
"Before I knew it, you'd grown into a man too."
Nan Shuishui spoke wistfully, her eyes holding both pride and melancholy.
In Dragon City in the Far North, wind and snow filled the sky all year round. Such an environment often made people forget the passage of time, and as people grew older, they would find themselves lamenting how times had changed.
"But Aunt Nan, you look exactly the same as when I first met you. You're still as beautiful as ever."
"Smooth talker! With that mouth of yours, who knows how many young girls you'll lead astray in the future. Come on, it'll be dark soon. Qiuqiu is waiting for us in the dining room."
Nan Shuishui gave him a pretty roll of her eyes, then turned and led the way toward the front hall.
The back of her qipao swayed from side to side, offering fleeting glimpses of her plump thighs. As her high heels stepped through the snow, their red soles flashed from time to time, like red plum blossoms blooming across the snowy landscape.
Her figure soon vanished, leaving only the white snow and a lingering fragrance.
Yu Tianqing came out of his daze and patted his cheeks:
Yu Tianqing, oh, Yu Tianqing, you're a noble transmigrator. Your great undertaking of opposing the three is still unfinished, so how can you lose yourself in beauty? It must be because the Yang Lightning in my body is too strong. This troublesome Martial Soul!
On Douluo Continent, the stronger a Martial Soul was, the more it influenced its Soul Master.
Yu Tianqing had transmigrated to Douluo Continent and been born into the Heavenly Dragon Sect. His great-great-grandfather was its current sect master, a rank ninety-three Titled Douluo whose Martial Soul was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
When his Martial Soul awakened at age six, it underwent a mutation, becoming the Twin Martial Souls of the Yin Yang Thunder Dragon.
The yin and yang attributes had to be kept in balance within his body, or he risked exploding and dying.
At his insistence, he had cultivated the Yang Thunder Dragon first, using the Earth Dragon Sect's secret realm to suppress it. And because it was a dragon Martial Soul...
Yu Tianqing felt that even though his Dao heart had long been steadfast, he must have been influenced by his Martial Soul.
This troublesome Martial Soul!
He complained inwardly once more, then followed the faint footprints in the snow, striding quickly toward the front hall.
Because Dragon City lay in the Far North, night fell there earlier than in other parts of the continent.
The lights were already on in the dining room, and a soul tool heater filled the room with warmth. Unlike the freezing weather outside, it felt more like spring as people knew it.
The dining room was small, furnished simply with a square table.
Steaming dishes covered the tabletop, and two figures in pink clothes, one older and one younger, were already waiting there.
"Brother Tianqing, hurry up! I'm starving!"
Nan Qiuqiu urged Yu Tianqing to take his seat, her little hand tapping her chopsticks against the table as though she couldn't wait another moment.
"Pa!"
A crisp sound rang out as Nan Shuishui used her chopsticks to give Nan Qiuqiu's a light tap. She said irritably:
"Look at you. You're never eager to cultivate, but you're first in line to eat."
Reprimanded by her mother, Nan Qiuqiu pouted, her big, round eyes filling with grievance:
"Brother Tianqing, look, Mom's being mean to me again."
"All right, all right, I'm here now, aren't I?"
Yu Tianqing rubbed Nan Qiuqiu's head and sat down in his seat. He glanced at the dishes on the table, then smiled at Nan Shuishui:
"Aunt Nan, what a feast you've made today!"
"Mom cooked it all herself!"
Nan Qiuqiu added, biting the ends of her chopsticks with her pearly teeth, as though that would keep her from drooling.
"You're the talkative one. Now that everyone's here, let's begin."
"Yay!"
Nan Qiuqiu made a face at her mother and eagerly picked up her chopsticks.
Red-braised yak meat, stir-fried snow lilies, snow shellfish with pine nuts...
They were all dishes Yu Tianqing loved, and Nan Qiuqiu loved them too.
Yu Tianqing and Nan Shuishui exchanged a glance and both smiled helplessly.
Just as the three of them were enjoying their cozy dinner, an Earth Dragon Sect disciple came to report:
"Sect Master, a woman has arrived at the gate. She says she's a disciple of Shrek Academy and has come to visit you."
"It isn't too late yet. Have her come straight to the dining room and eat with us."
Before long, a woman entered the dining room.
She wore a blue top and a short white skirt. White stockings showed off her two straight legs to just the right effect.
Her long, straight black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, revealing a delicate oval face, deep-set eyes, and porcelain-white skin. Most striking of all were her two long, clean-cut brows, sharp as blades, lending her a cold and distant air.
She was an ice beauty through and through.
She bowed respectfully to Nan Shuishui, who sat at the head of the table:
"I am Ling Luochеn, from the inner court of Shrek Academy. Vice Dean Cai Mei'er sent me to request your help, Sect Master Nan, in hunting a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for my fifth Soul Ring."
"Dean Cai also said she wanted to invite a young man named Yu Tianqing to study in the inner court."
Hearing his own name, Yu Tianqing looked up at Nan Shuishui in puzzlement.
Nan Shuishui noticed his gaze and finally explained:
"Your mother was also an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. She studied under Senior Dragon God Douluo Mu En, so she was Dean Cai's junior sister. After graduating from the academy, however, she followed your father back to the Heavenly Dragon Sect."
"Dean Cai Mei'er cares a great deal about you, her junior sister's son. She and I have corresponded by letter all these years."
"This invitation for you to study in Shrek Inner Court is probably because your grandmaster wants to meet you too."
Huh?
Yu Tianqing was a little dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to be half a Shrek celestial dragon himself, though he had rarely heard Nan Shuishui mention it.
Nan Shuishui seemed to understand his confusion:
"You've always needed the secret realm to cultivate, so I never told you. You might as well go out and see the world. At the very least, you can meet your elders in your master's lineage. If you can't get used to staying there, you can come back whenever you like."
Since Nan Shuishui had put it that way, Yu Tianqing could only agree for now:
"All right, I suppose."