Chapter 179 - 178: May I?

Pei Yin was certain that Jian Yu was a Primordial Beast.

And a Primordial Beast that had undergone Transformation, at that.

In the past, he would have definitely delved into researching whether she was a human who had transformed or a beast who had taken human form.

Was it an ancient bloodline, or was she an Awakener who had Awakened, just like them?

Did her kind prefer to live in seclusion, or was there some reason they couldn’t be discovered? Or perhaps her clan was guarding some kind of treasure?

A cool, faint fragrance rode the autumn wind, insistently finding its way to Pei Yin.

He didn’t know what Jian Yu had done, but starting one day, they could always catch her scent.

It was very faint and light, a fragrance that was almost negligible.

They never brought it up, and Jian Yu didn’t seem to know about it either.

Pei Yin was filled with questions. He forcibly suppressed them, but the effort made him itch with curiosity.

Staring into Jian Yu’s big, innocent eyes, he ultimately only said one thing.

"I’ll go look up some information. See if I can figure out a way for you to strengthen your soul domain."

The soul domain was a place to store a Soul Beast’s energy, something only people who had Awakened a Soul Beast possessed.

Jian Yu’s Soul Beast was fake, but during his research, Pei Yin had discovered she seemed to have a similar place to store energy.

The only difference was that theirs was at the center of their Spirit Domain, while Jian Yu’s was located at her heart.

Pei Yin turned. "Until I find a solution, try not to go anywhere alone."

Ting Ying spread its wings and, very deliberately, dropped a single black feather.

With a flap of its wings, the feather was sent drifting onto Jian Yu’s lap.

The long, glossy black feather, tinged with a hint of dark cyan, floated down onto her beautiful dress.

Jian Yu picked it up, her fingers closing gently around it.

Before flying off, Ting Ying let out a shrill, spirited cry.

Pei Yin placed his foot on its back. "You’re so damn loud."

Jian Yu: "..."

Ling Yanzhi looked up, a hint of focus entering his lazy expression.

Among their group, Pei Yin was the most unrestrained. He didn’t have to worry about his family, nor did he ever care what others thought of him.

Outside of his research, very few things could capture Pei Yin’s interest.

When it came to his research, Pei Yin would never compromise, not even under pressure from the Alliance.

It was incredibly difficult to make Pei Yin give up on his research.

Both he and Xi Yu had been pestered endlessly by Pei Yin.

They started fighting when they were ten and didn’t stop until they were fourteen. By then, they’d fought their way into a friendship, and Xi Yu finally agreed to let Pei Yin study him.

Ling Yanzhi snapped out of his thoughts and saw Jian Yu staring at him, lost in a daze.

He gently pinched her cheek. "What are you thinking about?"

Jian Yu didn’t want to admit she’d been staring like a fool.

She leaned in and wrapped her arms around Ling Yanzhi’s waist. "I’m tired."

Remembering the popular thread on the forum, Jian Yu looked up. "Why did Si Xu close the auditorium?"

Ling Yanzhi scoffed. "He had a fight with Sheng Yue. They agreed to meet at the auditorium to beat each other up, but Sheng Yue didn’t show. So, he got mad."

Jian Yu was dumbfounded.

She hesitated, then couldn’t hold it back. "Are... are you serious?"

’Aren’t Si Xu and Sheng Yue supposed to be best friends?’

Ling Yanzhi closed Jian Yu’s Star Brain.

He pulled Jian Yu to her feet. "Don’t worry about that jealous fool."

’One jealous fool, one coward.’

’Neither of them is any good in a fight.’

Ling Yanzhi had been worried for so long, he now found his own concern a bit ridiculous.

Jian Yu stared at him blankly. "What are we doing?"

Ling Yanzhi tilted his chin up. "You just learned, so let’s practice. This time, you take me back to the villa."

Jian Yu opened her mouth. "Oh."

Jian Yu tensed up immediately.

’A test! This is definitely a test!’

Jian Yu’s eyes darted up, down, left, and right.

She reached out and wrapped a hand around Ling Yanzhi’s waist.

It looked slender, but she couldn’t get her arm all the way around it.

Jian Yu lowered her gaze. "Is it okay if I hold you like this?"

The tips of Ling Yanzhi’s ears turned red.

’My waist is going numb.’

He awkwardly removed her hand.

"Let’s just hold hands instead."

...

That evening, Xi Yu still hadn’t returned.

Jian Yu sat on the bed, contemplating the faint lines on her wrist.

’Is it draining too quickly, or was it never full to begin with?’

Ling Yanzhi emerged from the bathroom, towel-drying his hair.

The short bathrobe hung loosely open, revealing a stretch of warm skin from his collarbones to his stomach. Droplets of water from the tips of his hair slid down his jaw and disappeared into the opening of the robe.

He was barefoot on the plush carpet, the lines of his legs lean and defined.

Jian Yu heard the sound and looked up.

Her expression was placid, but her eyes sparkled. Her voice, unlike its usual cool tone, held a hint of soft warmth.

"Why do you need to towel-dry your hair?"

Normally, the specialized bathroom would have wicked away all the moisture from his body, including his hair.

Ling Yanzhi raised an eyebrow. "Wasn’t this what you asked for?"

As he looked up, the corners of his eyes were flushed red and still looked a little damp.

He cast a casual glance her way, bringing with him the languid warmth of a fresh shower.

Jian Yu pushed herself up and shuffled to the edge of the bed.

Her legs dangled over the side as she tilted her head back obediently to look at him.

Her aura was innocent, her words audacious.

"Do you want to?"

The towel in his hands stilled. Ling Yanzhi’s gaze froze for a moment, and he swallowed hard.

’It was true he’d wanted to seduce her. It was also true he’d wanted her to look at him longer.’

’But she was giving him too much, too soon, and for a moment, he couldn’t process it.’

Ling Yanzhi’s eyes darkened. He used Instant Teleportation to appear by the bed.

He lowered his head and asked, his voice uncertain, "What?"

Jian Yu had been looking up for a while, and her neck was starting to get sore.

She lowered her head in silence.

’It had been a momentary impulse. She didn’t want to say it a second time, nor could she bring herself to.’

Ling Yanzhi leaned down over her.

He wrapped an arm around Jian Yu’s waist, pulling her into his embrace. His arm tightened slightly. "I can... right?"

"Mhm." Jian Yu looked up, her eyes glistening with moisture and a trace of lingering affection.

Ling Yanzhi repeated again and again, "Is this okay?"

Jian Yu lifted her vulnerable, hazy, tear-filled eyes. She let out a muffled groan and quickly bit her lip.

A few more sounds escaped her control.

...

Two days later, Jian Yu received another reply from Shi Zhao.

Shi Zhao: "Emotions from the internet can’t be converted into energy. Try doing something showy in a crowded place."

Shi Zhao: "Absorb selectively. Remember to filter out negative emotions using the method I taught you, Little Leader."

Shi Zhao: "You were depleted after fighting just one Yan Yu? That doesn’t seem right. There might be a problem with your bloodline’s Awakening, or perhaps you were severely injured at birth."

Shi Zhao: "I can get back to Weis Lan today. We’ll talk about the details when we meet in person."

The anxiety that had kept Jian Yu on edge all night finally subsided.

’It’s good that he’s okay.’

She had thought something had happened to Shi Zhao.

If something had really happened to him, her only known clan member would have been gone.

After a moment of thought, Jian Yu requested a list. "In the Human Domain, who else is part of our clan?"

Shi Zhao sent over a file.

It contained many videos.

Jian Yu opened it, and her eyes widened in shock.

She asked weakly, "Did you... send the wrong file?"

Shi Zhao didn’t know what she was seeing. "It’s the right file. Open it with your pink mist. It’s enchanted with an Illusion, so whoever opens it sees what they most want to see."

Shi Zhao couldn’t resist asking, "What did you see, Little Leader?"

Jian Yu despised herself, filled with self-loathing.

She chose to lie. "Money."

That ended the topic.

Jian Yu brushed her fingers over her eyes. When she opened them again, the strange videos had been replaced by a list of clan members.

Perhaps because the Soul Ghost Body had abandoned her on Emperor Source Star, most of her clan had settled on Emperor Source Star and Emperor Wolf Star in their search for her.

Imperial Capital Star was a great distance from Emperor Source Star, so the Primordial Beast Clan People rarely set foot in the Imperial City.

Jian Yu committed each name to memory before permanently deleting the file.