"Eat slowly, I still have more," Gu Yi said, watching Tang Yuehua devour her meal. It was the first time he'd seen her eat so ravenously.
Tang Yuehua quickly finished her medicinal porridge upon hearing this. "Another bowl, please."
As he handed over the bowl, Gu Yi couldn't help but notice the rice grains clinging to her lips due to her hasty eating, making her look adorably silly. Tang Yuehua seemed increasingly unconcerned with maintaining her image when she was around him.
"Greedy cat, lick your lips," Gu Yi said, taking the bowl and stepping outside.
Tang Yuehua instinctively licked her lips, eating the remaining grains, then realized how close she was getting to Gu Yi, lowering her guard around him. Gu Yi, however, didn't overthink it, enjoying the natural progression of their relationship.
By the evening, Gu Yi and Tang Yuehua had returned to Heaven Dou City. Upon entering the city, Gu Yi paused momentarily, then resumed his stride. "What a magnificent and orderly city," he remarked meaningfully.
After dropping Tang Yuehua off at the Moon Pavillion, Gu Yi headed back to Tianwen Academy. In his room, he absorbed and resisted the spiritual power and memory fragments emanating from the Evil God Bead and the accompanying evil forces: corruption, desire, and slaughter.
Gu Yi's expressions shifted rapidly, displaying bloodlust, greed, and lust—everything except kindness. He spent the entire night managing the evil forces from the Evil God Bead, which stored these energies, allowing him to withstand them. What Gu Yi had to do was to clean the evil thoughts and memories regularly to not let the Evil God Bead be filled up.
Gu Yi discovered two women in these memory fragments: Liu Erlong and Bibi Dong, revealing that these memories belonged to Yu Xiaogang. His dark side had previously absorbed these, keeping Gu Yi unaware. Despite being immature in the images, Bibi Dong's beauty was already apparent.
...
In the following days, Gu Yi resumed his focus on teaching Zhu Zhuqing and the others. Zhu Zhuqing, in particular, caught his attention with her relentless pursuit of surpassing her limits, especially after being tainted by evil thoughts before. She not only paid close attention in class but also sought Gu Yi privately to train her willpower using his evil domain. But with a knot in her heart, no matter how hard she tried to train her will, it was in vain. If you don't open the knot in your heart, you won't feel truly liberated.
Despite his advice about the importance of resolving inner conflicts, Zhu Zhuqing remained determined, training rigorously, which led to significant progress. She managed to reach level 30 within three months, partly due to Gu Yi adding spirit-power-enhancing herbs to their meals. Ning Rongrong also progressed quickly, nearing level 29.
With Zhu Zhuqing needing her third spirit ring and Lin Qing also likely reaching level 20, Gu Yi decided it was time to help both girls. As the spirit beast closest to the Blue Silver Empress in cultivation on the Douluo Continent, the Blue Silver King was something even more precious than a hundred thousand-year spirit ring to the owner of the Blue Silver Grass martial spirit.
Gu Yi, bringing Zhu Zhuqing along, headed to Sunset Forest. "Have you thought about your third spirit ring, or will you follow your family's tradition?" Gu Yi asked, encouraging Zhu Zhuqing's independent thinking.
"No, this time I want to choose my own spirit beast." Zhu Zhuqing said firmly after a moment's hesitation.
"Tell me" Gu Yi prompted.
"Shadow Leopard" Zhu Zhuqing answered, revealing her carefully considered choice.
"Good choice" Gu Yi praised, recalling the Shadow Leopard's details—a spirit beast known for its erosion effect and incredible speed. Gu Yi had once considered it for his third spirit ring but in the end, chose a different spirit beast for various reasons.
Zhu Zhuqing, smiling shyly at the rare praise, feeling recognized for the first time, recalling her lifelong struggle to escape her sister's shadow and her own insecurities.
"Let's go find it." Gu Yi said, extending his spiritual power to locate a suitable spirit beast, using evil thoughts to aid his search. Soon, he identified a nearly three-thousand-year-old Shadow Leopard, surpassing Yu Xiaogang's theoretical limit, but these are nothing, everyone's limits are different, and the martial spirit alone is completely different for each individual. How can one set of theories cover everything? Besides, with his guidance, nothing would happen to Zhu Zhuqing.
"Let's go" Gu Yi urged, leading Zhu Zhuqing toward the beast.
In the forest, Zhu Zhuqing's agility, enhanced by her cat-like traits, was impressive. Upon locating the Shadow Leopard, Gu Yi encouraging Zhu Zhuqing to fight it herself to test her progress.
Charging at the beast with ghost-like movements, Zhu Zhuqing's determination was evident. Despite her sinister appearance, her mastery of Lingbo Weibu was clear, showing her dedication and skill.
(End of Chapter)