"You big bad guy! Quickly give me back my grown-up body! It must be because you were touching me all over just now!"
Zi Yan pouted furiously, her small hands grabbing Xiao Jietian's collar and shaking him like a rag doll.
Xiao Jietian reached out and gently pressed down on her head, stopping her little tantrum.
"Your internal energy isn't sufficient yet. That adult form can only be temporary. Once you accumulate enough energy later, you'll be able to maintain it permanently."
"When will that be? So annoying! Damn that Transformation Grass…" Zi Yan collapsed dejectedly against his shoulder, muttering gloomily.
"This isn't bad either. You're cute and adorable—very likable," Xiao Jietian said with a gentle smile, stroking her soft purple hair.
"You're lying!" Zi Yan immediately lifted her head, glaring at him accusingly. "Just now when I was big, the way you looked at me was completely different from how you usually look at me! Sister Fei'er said that men all like big ones!"
She vividly recalled Xiao Jietian's earlier gaze—his eyes practically glued to her mature curves.
"No, I like you this way too."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Then… I'll grudgingly believe you." Zi Yan huffed softly, then buried her face against his neck again, inhaling his familiar scent. "How much time has passed?"
"Over four months!" Xiao Jietian roughly calculated and answered.
"Ah! It's been that long already?!" Zi Yan instantly sat bolt upright, small mouth falling open in shock.
"Is that long? You should know this is with the blessing of Heavenly Beast Mountain's energy density. Otherwise, it would have taken you at least close to a year."
Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!
Zi Yan immediately planted several loud kisses all over Xiao Jietian's face.
"Consider this my thanks to you!"
Xiao Jietian felt his face covered in saliva and thought helplessly: What else can you do now besides slobbering all over me?
"What? You don't like it?" Zi Yan immediately put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
"No, how about a few more over here?" Xiao Jietian pointed to the other side of his face with a grin.
"No way! I refuse!" Zi Yan shook her head vigorously.
"Let's go. You must be bored after sleeping so long."
Xiao Jietian stood up, scooped her into his arms, and walked outside.
…
A day later.
Zi Yan—who had spent the entire day running wild—finally dragged Xiao Huiying and the Little Fairy Doctor to find Xiao Jietian.
Meanwhile, Xiao Meng and Xiao Ling were with Xiao Zhan, receiving his personal instruction.
"You big bad guy! You said you'd tell me about my origins after I advanced. You can tell me now, right?"
Zi Yan stood beside the Little Fairy Doctor and Medusa, arms crossed, expression clearly saying: You better not go back on your word.
Xiao Jietian was genuinely surprised to see Zi Yan had even rallied a crowd to pressure him.
Could advancing really make someone smarter? This wasn't the same naive little Zi Yan he once knew.
"Quickly tell me—what kind of magical beast am I exactly?"
Zi Yan leaped forward, jumping straight onto Xiao Jietian's lap and straddling his thigh without the slightest reservation.
She completely ignored the gazes of the others and pressed close to him.
The women around them were long accustomed to such behavior. Even Medusa only raised an eyebrow, tacitly allowing it.
"Exactly. We're all quite curious too," Ya Fei said, sitting gracefully beside Xiao Jietian and urging him on.
A sharp glint flashed through Medusa's beautiful eyes. She instantly moved to claim the other side of Xiao Jietian.
The Little Fairy Doctor, Han Yue, and the others reacted a beat slower, inwardly cursing the two vixens for being so quick to seize opportunities.
Qing Lin, however, did not join the encirclement. Instead, she quietly moved a chair beside the Little Fairy Doctor.
"Sister Xian'er, please sit."
The Little Fairy Doctor was already very close to giving birth—her belly prominently rounded.
"Thank you, little sister Qing Lin."
She stroked Qing Lin's head gratefully and sat down without ceremony.
Han Yue and the others also pulled up chairs, completely surrounding Xiao Jietian.
"Alright. But before I explain Zi Yan's origins, I need to first tell you about the three top-tier magical beast clans of the Central Plains."
Yun Yun frowned slightly. "Does that mean Zi Yan is from the Central Plains?"
"That's right," Xiao Jietian confirmed, stroking Zi Yan's head as he nodded.
"The Central Plains… isn't that where Sister Han Yue's family is from?" Zi Yan asked innocently, placing a finger against her lips.
"Ranked third is the Nine Serene Earth Nether Python Clan. They possess the bloodline of the Ancient Heavenly Serpent."
At the mention of "Ancient Heavenly Serpent," all eyes instinctively turned toward Qing Lin, who sat perfectly upright and proper.
"Qing Lin's Ancient Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent is the king among Ancient Heavenly Serpents. And her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils are the most powerful tool to restrain—and even enslave—the Nine Serene Earth Nether Python."
Xiao Jietian explained with a gentle smile.
Medusa's eyes sparkled with interest. "Then if we take Qing Lin for a few strolls in the future, wouldn't we gain a bunch of free thugs?"
"That can be arranged later—but don't rush it. Because the Nine Serene Earth Nether Python Clan has three Dou Saints: two one-star and one two-star, though the two-star one is currently imprisoned by their own clan."
"Dou Saints?!" The women—except the Little Fairy Doctor—exclaimed in unison and stood up in shock.
"Many top-tier forces have Dou Saints. I'll explain more about this later. For now, just know they exist. But there's no need to be overly wary. These Dou Saints are mostly in seclusion and rarely emerge unless it concerns the extinction of their clan."
Xiao Jietian spoke calmly.
The women gradually settled back down. They remembered what Xiao Jietian had once said: with the current suppression of Eternal Heaven World and their authority over it, anyone below high-level Dou Saint would generally be helpless upon entry.
"Dou Saint… with your current aptitudes, it won't be too far off."
Hearing this, the women calmed completely. All of them had undergone physique transformations—Dou Saint was no longer an unreachable dream.
Even Han Yue—who once believed reaching Dou Zong in this lifetime would be a miracle—now saw Dou Saint as achievable after meeting Xiao Jietian.
Her gaze toward him grew even more intense, practically overflowing with affection.
"Ranked second is the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan. They possess the bloodline of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix and have five Dou Saints."
"Ranked first is the Void Ancient Dragon Clan. They are the undisputed overlords of the magical beast world—preying upon the second-ranked Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan. Their clan possesses over a dozen—or possibly even more—Dou Saints."
After he finished speaking, the women were all stunned by the sheer power of the Void Ancient Dragon Clan.
"Is it really that outrageous? The first preying on the second… that's practically annihilation," Ya Fei murmured, covering her mouth.
"Even the number of Dou Saints far exceeds the other two clans combined," the Little Fairy Doctor said in quiet amazement.
"Yes. Now… guess which clan Zi Yan belongs to."
Xiao Jietian deliberately left them a riddle to solve.
But unexpectedly, the women did not rush to guess.
Instead, they subtly exchanged glances with Ya Fei and Medusa.
The few had long developed a tacit understanding. Ya Fei and Medusa instantly reached out at the same moment—pinching Xiao Jietian's waist from both sides.
"Guess? Impossible. We'll never guess in this lifetime." The two narrowed their eyes slightly, a dangerous glint shining within.
"Exactly! Hurry up and tell us! There are many of us here—you'd better think carefully. We haven't even sent out our strongest weapon—Sister Xian'er—yet. Do you dare refuse?"
Zi Yan, emboldened by the numbers, sat up straight and arrogant. She even tried to "command the nobles by holding the emperor hostage."
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Seeing he was thoroughly outnumbered, Xiao Jietian could only raise both hands in surrender.
"Zi Yan's true form is the magical beast overlord—the Void Ancient Dragon."