The Little Young Master went silent for a second, simply throwing caution to the wind: “If not for you leaving for three hundred years the moment you went away, and refusing to tell this Young Master where you went, why would this Young Master need to waste effort mulling over all this!” If not for that Concentric Lock being restricted to Dao companions and having a limited range of effect, he wouldn’t have gone through all the painful trouble to mess with this fruit.
The Master of the Earthly Realm was still smiling, subtly carrying a bit of teasing in his tone: “In that case, from now on, throughout Heaven, Earth, and the cosmic wilderness, this Master’s whereabouts will be entirely in the palm of the Little Young Master’s hands?”
This single sentence sounded extremely satisfying to the Little Young Master, who couldn’t help raising his chin slightly with quite a bit of smugness: “What of it? Could it be that the Master of the Earthly Realm is scared? There’s no need to overthink it; as long as the Master of the Earthly Realm treats this Young Master with wholehearted devotion, this Young Master naturally won’t treat you poorly.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm burst into laughter, raising his hand to lightly tap the tip of the boy’s nose, saying with a chuckle: “It seems in these three hundred years you haven’t hung around that fellow Taihao any less; who knows how many human storybooks you were dragged along to listen to?”
The storybooks the Master of the Mortal Realm took him to listen to were plenty indeed—what he should have heard and what he shouldn’t have heard, he had long listened to all of them, except these naturally couldn’t be let known to the Master of the Earthly Realm. Thinking of this, the Little Young Master couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty in his heart. Fearing the Master of the Earthly Realm might notice something amiss, he hastily shifted the topic: “I almost forgot the important matter: after the Xuanchu Fruit is refined inside your body and mine, it still needs to be awakened before it can truly exert its effect.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm glanced at him, shifting the topic according to his wish: “How is it awakened?”
Speaking of this, the Little Young Master paused for a moment: “This… let me think.” All matters of this world resided within his divine consciousness; it was merely that for things he hadn’t personally experienced, he sometimes needed to think it over properly. It was just like worldly people flipping through books, except he was searching within his own sea of consciousness, which was naturally much faster.
Closing his eyes for merely a moment, the method of awakening the Xuanchu Fruit after refinement was clearly displayed in his sea of consciousness. The Little Young Master examined it in detail, yet when he opened his eyes again, his gaze flickered, and his expression looked quite odd.
Seeing him like this, the Master of the Earthly Realm couldn’t help finding it amusing: “Did you run into a difficulty? When mulling over this Xuanchu Fruit back then, did Chushi lack the patience to read to the very end?”
Hearing this, the Little Young Master raised his head and glared at him: “This Young Master naturally read it! It was merely… lacking a bit of thoroughness, that’s all…” The original righteous confidence in his voice unconsciously lowered toward the end.
The Master of the Earthly Realm shook his head helplessly: “Very well, tell me about it then.”
Unexpectedly, the moment these words were spoken, the Little Young Master leaped up like a cat whose fur had been stroked the wrong way. After turning around half a circle on the spot and realizing what he was doing, he feigned composure and sat back down. Hesitating for a long while, seeing that the Master of the Earthly Realm was about to ask again, he finally gritted his teeth and opened his mouth: “This method isn’t hard; close your eyes first.”
“Close my eyes?” The Master of the Earthly Realm raised an eyebrow.
The Little Young Master affirmed: “Yes, close your eyes first, then just follow my movements afterward.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm looked at him fixedly. Seeing that the Little Young Master bore no intent of playing around, he didn’t ask further, directly closing his pair of eyes.
The Little Young Master only felt as though a extraordinarily lively little rabbit was cradled inside his chest, thumping so hard his heart felt like it would burst open. Troubled and chaotic in his heart, he simply closed his own eyes as well, taking a deep breath. Seeking out the refined Xuanchu Fruit inside his body, he raised his head slightly and leaned right over!
Afterward, his shoulders were held by a pair of hands, firmly fixed midway in his motion…
The Little Young Master: “…”
The Master of the Earthly Realm had opened his eyes at some unknown point, looking at him with quite a helpless expression: “Chushi, this method of yours is rather unique.”
Hearing this, the Little Young Master’s face turned red in an instant, and he said with quite a bit of flustered irritation: “It’s not as if this Young Master came up with this method; what is recorded in my sea of consciousness is just like this! One must hold the Xuanchu Qi in the mouth, letting the two blend together, only then can… It was merely leaning a bit closer, that’s all.” Speaking up to this point, the Little Young Master was genuinely a bit annoyed, blaming only himself for not having examined it properly before. Now that he was short of only this final step, he was truly riding a tiger and unable to dismount.
The Master of the Earthly Realm was also quite helpless. The force resting on the Little Young Master’s shoulders loosened a bit, yet he still confirmed once more: “Has Chushi examined it carefully now?”
The Little Young Master couldn’t stop himself from glaring at him again, biting his teeth as he nodded: “I have naturally examined it carefully; I must ask the Master of the Earthly Realm to make allowances!” Yet his face was flushed bright red from embarrassment.
The Master of the Earthly Realm released his hands holding the Little Young Master’s shoulders, saying helplessly: “You are still young and do not understand the affairs of the world; I must naturally look after you well. How does it touch upon making ‘allowances’? Forget it, when you grow a bit older you will understand. For now, let us awaken the Xuanchu Fruit first as you said.”
Do not understand the affairs of the world? Hearing this, the Little Young Master subconsciously wanted to refute. If the Master of the Earthly Realm had said this three hundred years ago, he would definitely raise both hands in agreement. However, during these three hundred years—taking advantage of the Master of the Earthly Realm’s absence from the Immortal Realm—the Master of the Mortal Realm had brought him along to visit lively places like teahouses and art houses in the human realm quite often; affairs of romance and worldly matters were things he had heard and seen not a single bit less of. No matter how ignorant he was of worldly affairs, he should still understand that blending breaths together was an extremely intimate matter; even if their lips didn’t touch, it was already ambiguously hard to put into words.
He had originally intended to refute the Master of the Earthly Realm’s “ignorant of worldly affairs” argument, but before the words could spill out, his thoughts shifted. He suddenly didn’t want to say more, merely lowering his eyelids slightly and nodding in a disguise of absolute obedience.
Only upon seeing him like this did the Master of the Earthly Realm offer earnest advice: “Chushi must remember: you absolutely must not do such actions with others at will.”
The Little Young Master’s heart skipped a beat. The sentence “Then is it fine with you?” spun around the tip of his tongue before he forced himself to swallow it back down, merely nodding and agreeing obediently: “Mm, I understand.”
“Then let us begin.” Seeing that he agreed properly, the Master of the Earthly Realm spoke no further. Looking at the young boy’s ear tips that were still flushed red before him, he simply reached out and lightly tipped up the Little Young Master’s chin, saying: “Close your eyes, and hold the qi in your mouth.”
Startled by this sudden gesture, the Little Young Master panicked amid the distance between the two that had abruptly closed, hastily closing his eyes. Just as he held the Xuanchu Qi in his mouth, another stream of Xuanchu Qi—carrying a familiar aura—fell onto his lips extremely lightly and slowly, separated by a distance that was practically non-existent.
His lightly closed eyelashes couldn’t help trembling. That little rabbit in his heart that had originally quieted down a bit suddenly leaped up again, as if it were about to bounce out of his chest in an instant! The Little Young Master couldn’t stop himself from tightly clenching his fists; his rounded fingernails dug slightly into his palms, bringing a touch of subtle stinging pain that barely allowed him to stay firmly in place.
In this manner, after merely three breaths of time, the two felt the refined Xuanchu Fruit inside their bodies move slightly. As if waking up, it began to spin from slow to fast. An extremely wondrous sensation gradually surged through their torsos and limbs from the inside out, yet it didn’t stop, continuing outward until it entwined with another similar aura and followed it into the other’s body.
The Little Young Master only felt his body suddenly grow soft. Subconsciously wanting to steady his frame, he raised his hands to rest them against the chest of the person before him, whereupon a warmth spread across his waist and back—a broad palm supported his lower back to hold him steady.
The Little Young Master felt that every spot on his body was exceedingly strange; his hands and feet lost their strength and went soft, while an odd itch surfaced in his heart. He subconsciously bit his lip to endure it, unknown for how long he endured, until a soft, low murmur finally slipped out from his mouth uncontrollably. As if receiving a signal, the various strange sensations on his body receded like a tide.
As his mind gradually cleared up, the Little Young Master only then discovered that he was drenched in sweat all over, looking quite disheveled. That was bad enough, but at this moment, one of his hands was resting on the Master of the Earthly Realm’s chest while the other hand had landed on this man’s leg at some unknown point—his entire person was almost snuggled in this man’s arms. Feeling inexplicably flustered in his heart, he inadvertently raised his eyes, bumping right into a pair of pitch-black, exceedingly deep eyes…
The reaction caused by the Xuanchu Fruit had gradually dissipated. The Little Young Master didn’t know if what the Master of the Earthly Realm experienced was the same as him, but regardless of whether it was the same, at this very moment, neither he nor the Master of the Earthly Realm made a move. The two’s faces were exceedingly close, their nose tips lightly brushing against each other, the distance between their lips being no more than a hair’s breadth, their breaths blending together as if in the very next instant they were about to press together…
The one who pulled back first was the Master of the Earthly Realm.
As he pulled back, he raised his hand to gently stroke the side of the Little Young Master’s cheek, smoothing his damp strands of hair. In mere instant, both of their bodies were dry and refreshed as before. As usual, he sheltered the tired youth in his arms, saying in a warm voice: “Are you feeling better?” His tone was as ordinary as could be, as if everything prior had been commonplace.
The Little Young Master blinked, for a moment not knowing what was feeling in his heart, so he merely lowered his eyelids slightly and shook his head: “It’s fine, just a bit tired. If I had known earlier that this Xuanchu Fruit was this strange, I definitely wouldn’t have bothered with it.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm chuckled softly in a teasing tone: “If that’s the case, Chushi must remember it well—don’t go forgetting it completely the moment you turn around.”
The Little Young Master already had some strength by now. Hearing this, he simply sat up from his arms, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at the man, saying: “Where does ‘forgetting the moment I turn around’ come from? This Young Master’s memory is quite good; don’t go throwing wild slander around!”
Seeing him in such high spirits, the Master of the Earthly Realm put his mind at ease, nodding in accordance with his wishes: “The Little Young Master is naturally exceptionally clever; it was this Master speaking wildly.”
The Little Young Master appeared satisfied, raising his chin slightly with a soft hmph: “It’s good that you know your fault; you still have some discernment.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm hastily cooperated by cupping his hands in humility: “Many thanks for the Little Young Master’s praise.”
The Little Young Master: “…”
The two looked at each other and went quiet for a moment, before suddenly bursting into laughter together. This laugh finally dissolved the slight awkwardness between them. The Little Young Master patted his chest, tossing aside those faint, strange feelings in his heart, turning instead to lean close to the Master of the Earthly Realm’s ear, speaking in a mysterious tone: “The Xuanchu Fruit is in place; why don’t we go test out how effective it is?”
The Master of the Earthly Realm’s gaze dimmed slightly when the Little Young Master leaned before him, yet returned to normal in a single blink. He allowed the Little Young Master to lean into his embrace without any reservation, asking him with a smile: “How shall we test it?”
Hearing this, the Little Young Master knew he had agreed. Standing up in two or three moves, he raised his hand to pull the Master of the Earthly Realm’s broad sleeve, saying with intense interest: “Let’s go; we are heading to the Demon Realm.”
The Master of the Earthly Realm had already stood up, but his posture paused slightly upon hearing this, asking: “What are we going to the Demon Realm for?”
The Little Young Master knew he would ask this question. Crossing his hands behind his back, he shook his head and said: “Naturally because the Demon Realm possesses the world’s largest, most complex, and most interesting—maze!”
Since they were going to test the tracking effect, what could be more suitable than a maze!