What's wrong with a snake that just wants to cultivate and transform?

The circular hall where the competing disciples resided was situated at one corner of the island. At the island’s center was a commercial street resembling mundane city streets. As night fell, the dazzling lights made the street as bright as day. Various shops lined the street in close succession, offering not only the common food, clothes, and jewelry of the mortal world but also specialized items from the world of cultivation and local specialties.

These shops, capitalizing on the influx of disciples from various sects, had invested considerable thought into their decorations.

Take Danbao Hall, for example. They had crafted an elaborate signboard from thousand-year-old Shuixuan wood, carving the likeness of a pill box and inlaying it with glittering Donghai Jiaozhu pearls to symbolize spiritual pills. Among the many shops, it stood out prominently. Danbao Hall offered not only commonly used cultivator pills like Qi Nourishing and Gui Yuan Pills but also sold well-prepared alchemy materials.

The alchemy materials were not only meticulously processed but also had perfectly balanced medicinal properties. Perhaps due to the convenience of transport, the prices were quite reasonable. Mu Yanyu, a pill cultivator, immediately stocked up a large quantity, also packing extra to later present to her master and senior sisters.

Furthermore, Danbao Hall had a stall for beauty-enhancing fruit wine as a special attraction. They employed two adorable Qi-Training stage girls to enthusiastically promote the product: “Fanyin Pavilion’s specialty fruit wine, nourishes body and soul, beautifies and rejuvenates. Don’t miss out, ladies of immortality!”

Many female cultivators strolling the street, like Mu Yanyu and Xu Nian, were clearly visiting cultivators, drawn by the promise of beauty and skincare. They eagerly lined up to make their purchases.

“Give me ten jars.”

“I’ll take fifty jars.”

…

Mu Yanyu quietly noted in her notebook: Cultivators also have a need for beauty products.

As the two girls handed out samples, Xu Nian also caught the sweet scent of the fruit wine. Suddenly, a cool and soft sensation inexplicably surfaced in her mind. Without fully understanding why, she found herself joining the queue, purchasing a hundred jars.

After getting a sense of the market’s layout, Mu Yanyu and Xu Nian disguised themselves for a nightly exploration of the island’s various gambling houses. They gathered detailed information while enjoying themselves, visiting many gambling houses. By this time, Mu Yanyu was confidently prepared.

“Xu Nian, wait for my good news. I might need your help with a small matter later.”

Xu Nian, who had watched her effortlessly exchange chips for spirit stones, was clueless: “Do you have a plan?”

Mu Yanyu just smiled mysteriously, not clarifying for Xu Nian, but generously offered:

“You’ve helped me, and I want to repay you. Let’s go shopping. Whatever you like, just say it. Tonight, I’m covering everything.”

Xu Nian hesitated to accept: “I couldn’t possibly accept this; I haven’t really helped.”

Mu Yanyu explained with a smile, “You don’t need to do anything. Just standing there with your Golden Core stage pressure is a huge help. See how I managed to walk away with so many chips and spirit stones without anyone daring to trouble me? That’s all thanks to your intimidating presence.”

Xu Nian finally felt at ease, but as Mu Yanyu led her towards a clothing store, she hesitated, “Ji Yuebai said she would take me shopping.”

Mu Yanyu glanced back at her, her amber eyes twinkling teasingly, “Xu Nian, you weren’t like this back in Qingshui County.”

Back then, before Ji Yuebai regained her memory, Xu Nian did indeed have plans to choose the better option and considered Mu Yanyu as a backup benefactor.

Now called out, Xu Nian felt a bit embarrassed, “Cough cough, times have changed.” Being a snake, she couldn’t be greedy. She had already decided to be Ji Yuebai’s exclusive pet.

Mu Yanyu chuckled and suggested considerately, “It’s not like if I buy for you, Ji Yuebai can’t. We can both help you buy some things. Wouldn’t that double your happiness? Besides, you can first look at the styles now, and later think about designing some new ones. When Ji Yuebai accompanies you later, wouldn’t that make things more efficient?”

Xu Nian was clearly swayed by her words, and by the end, she was the one pulling Mu Yanyu towards the clothing shop, exclaiming, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Actually, it wasn’t just Xu Nian who wanted to buy beautiful clothes. Mu Yanyu, who loved beauty herself, naturally wanted to shop too. However, she was out on official business, and bringing it up herself seemed rather undignified. Thus, she first encouraged Xu Nian, conveniently satisfying her own desire in the process.

Entering the Fanyin Pavilion’s special clothing shop, surrounded by various gorgeous dresses, Xu Nian was as thrilled as a mouse in a grain store. In no time, she found several dresses she liked and happily haggled with the shopkeeper: “I’ll take a hundred of this one, two hundred of that one. Give us a discount, shopkeeper.”

The shopkeeper, a charming and attractive woman, appraised Xu Nian with her upturned fox-like eyes and smiled, “Sure, if you’re willing to help promote our store, we’ll only charge half the price in spirit stones for the clothes you and your companion buy.”

Mu Yanyu’s ears perked up at this. She squinted at the shopkeeper, intrigued to find someone on Fanyin Island with a similar mindset. She quietly intercepted Xu Nian and stepped forward to negotiate with the beautiful shopkeeper.

Through her efforts, Xu Nian successfully made a spiritual contract with the shopkeeper. Xu Nian would help promote and record images for advertisement, and in return, she could purchase her chosen dresses at only 20% of the original price. The condition was that the dresses were not to be sold at a low price within Fanyin Pavilion’s territory. Additionally, if Xu Nian designed new styles, they would only charge for labor, and if suitable, they would be sold in the shop, with profits split fifty-fifty between them.

This arrangement not only satisfied Xu Nian’s shopping desires but also greatly ignited her creative passion. The beautiful dresses were enticing her, and she decided to start an intense design schedule once she returned.

After all, these were clothes produced by a store in the world of cultivation. Although they were slim-fitting, the material used was so unique that they were not only light and breathable but also perfectly contoured to the body, enhancing the figure.

Initially, the shopkeeper regretted letting Mu Yanyu talk her into the deal, losing a fair bit of profit. However, when Xu Nian emerged from the dressing room, the shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, murmuring “Such a beauty,” under her breath.

She pushed Xu Nian to the most prominent place in the hall, asking her to strike various attractive poses.

This tactic proved extremely effective. Several female cultivators who had initially planned to put down the dresses they were holding, after seeing Xu Nian wearing them, immediately bought them without hesitation.

For a few designs that weren’t selling well, the shopkeeper replicated the strategy, making that night the most successful since the shop’s opening.

At closing time, the shopkeeper sent Xu Nian and Mu Yanyu off with a beaming smile, arranging to shoot the promotional images the next day. She also gifted Xu Nian several unsold sample pieces, encouraging her to visit often.

Xu Nian and Mu Yanyu returned home with their hands full. Besides Xu Nian’s selection, Mu Yanyu had also chosen several relatively conservative dresses, buying hundreds of each, planning to sell them back at Tian Yuan Sect under the banner of Fanyin Pavilion’s style.

When they came out, it was already late. Xu Nian had wanted to browse a jewelry store, but found it closed for the night. Only the taverns and dance houses on the street still glowed with lanterns.

Passing by a dance house, the lights were set in a dreamy yet suggestive way, reminiscent of the modern nightlife, which made Xu Nian momentarily dazed.

Mu Yanyu noticed her interest, “Do you want to go and have a look?”

Xu Nian shook her head, ready to leave, but then spotted a familiar figure swaggering towards them with a folding fan, trying to appear handsome and charming.

Xu Nian quickly pulled Mu Yanyu into a corner, pointing subtly in the direction of the newcomer.

Mu Yanyu almost burst into laughter. Despite the changed appearance and aura, she recognized the figure instantly – it was none other than Xue Ling, the same person she had tricked on the flying boat.

She whispered, “She looks like an innocent little white rabbit, but apparently, she knows how to have fun too.”

Xu Nian feigned sadness, “Just a few days ago, she said she didn’t mind my identity. And now she’s visiting a dance house. It truly breaks my heart.”

Mu Yanyu looked at her in surprise and then at Xue Ling, who was about to enter the dance house, “Looks can be deceiving.”

Xue Ling had snuck out on a whim. Bored with her monastic training, she had read many worldly novels and was curious about the brothels and courtesans described in them. She swore she was just innocently curious.

Disguised as a man and using tools to hide her aura and appearance, Xue Ling was about to step inside, lured by the sweet voice of the hostess, when suddenly someone grabbed her arm.

“Young master, how could you be so heartless? Abandoning me and our unborn child for your own pleasures…”

Hearing this voice, Xue Ling froze.

The hostess, initially welcoming Xue Ling, now looked disgusted – they despised irresponsible men the most.

Xue Ling, trembling, turned around to face those amber eyes, her anger boiling. How could there be such a hateful woman in the world? She had tricked her into opening a terrifying gift upon their first meeting and now, during their second encounter, she was ruining her plans.

Xue Ling swore she had never provoked this woman. Why was she so unlucky?

Xu Nian, hiding in the corner, watched Mu Yanyu’s dramatic act, hardly able to believe her eyes.

Passersby began to point and whisper about the frozen Xue Ling and Mu Yanyu.

Seizing the moment, Mu Yanyu pressed her face into Xue Ling’s new sleeve, whimpering, “Although my husband is heartless, I still care for him. If you’re willing to come back, I’m ready to forgive you. Just return home and live a quiet life with me, and I’ll even accept another concubine for you.”

Passersby shook their heads in pity, advising Xue Ling, “Such a virtuous cultivator is rare these days.”

“With a wife like this, what more could a husband want? Stop wandering these pleasure quarters and take your lady back to live a good life.”

While the crowd was talking, the woman holding her, hidden from everyone else’s view, playfully winked at Xue Ling.

Xue Ling was left speechless with anger by Mu Yanyu’s antics. The romantic scenes she had fantasized about from her storybooks were nothing like this. She barely mustered some courage to refute the deceitful woman in front of the crowd.

Unexpectedly, Mu Yanyu suddenly hugged her and cried out, “I know well that my modest beauty cannot keep you by my side. This time, I have even prepared a concubine for you. Ah Nian, come over and let the young master see~”

Xu Nian, caught off guard by the call, played along with Mu Yanyu’s drama. She approached Xue Ling with a delicate, willow-like grace and shyly called out, “Young Master~”

The onlookers, initially there for the spectacle, were taken aback upon seeing Xu Nian.

They looked at Xue Ling with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Here was a man, they thought, blessed with such heavenly beauty and charm in his concubine, yet still wandering in pleasure quarters.

The once-smiling hostess now looked at Xue Ling with cold contempt, as if she were the scum of the earth.

As for Xue Ling…

She was completely dumbfounded.

…

A cool sea breeze gently wafted through the white palace.

Ji Yuebai lay on a luxurious couch, intending to rest but instead drifted into a dream with the wind.

The gossamer curtains fluttered, ethereal music filled the air, and the sweet aroma of fruit wine lingered at the tip of her nose.

The tinkling of bells approached from afar, coming closer and closer, and then right before her eyes.

Ji Yuebai looked up, finding her vision softly obscured by a delicate veil of mist-colored silk, transforming the scene into an ethereal, dreamlike state.

Beneath the blurry silk, she saw delicate, pale feet that matched the silver bells, smooth and translucent like bamboo shoots, with a hint of petal-pink at the toes, exuding an innocent yet indescribable allure.

The figure before her moved seductively, like a serpent. She seemed to enwrap Ji Yuebai in an invisible embrace, leaving a trail of phantom sensations across her brows, eyes, nose, lips, and then gliding down to her neck and collarbone. Gentle fingers traced over her waist and legs, playfully tapping on her lips.

Ji Yuebai felt a fire ignite within her, burning hotly everywhere, yet remaining elusive and inescapable.

She reached out, pulling away the gauze, drawing the infuriating woman into her embrace, restraining her excessive movements, holding her waist to prevent her from escaping.

The woman’s soft hands willingly encircled her neck, her eyes brimming with emotion, filled only with Ji Yuebai’s image. Her moist, red lips parted slightly, leaning in for a kiss.

As a cultivator, Ji Yuebai knew she should push her away, yet involuntarily leaned in, following the woman’s motion to tilt her head back.

The cool, sweet scent drew near, soft and full lips meeting hers, as the thin gauze once again obscured her vision.

It was just a ludicrous dream, so what did it matter if she indulged her heart a little?

This is how she reassured herself…