System 38 didn’t get the task completion method it wanted, but it couldn’t deny that Chu Xuan had indeed completed the task. Thus, it could only announce with tears in its voice:
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the task ‘Spend a Night with Beast Husband Xie Xingwen.’ Reward: +30 Points, additional reward: Ability Awakening Card ×1. Rewards have been sent to the system backpack. Please check them yourself.]
Hearing the rewards arrive, Chu Xuan was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to find out what ability she could draw.
She turned to Xie Xingwen: “Xingwen, thank you for staying up all night practicing swordsmanship with me. Since it’s still early, why don’t you go back and rest? I’m going to catch up on some sleep too.”
As she spoke, she even pretended to yawn.
Having helped Chu Xuan forge the sword the night before last, Xie Xingwen had only slept for two hours. Last night, he taught her swordsmanship and stayed up all night again. Now, he was truly struggling to stay awake.
He waved at Chu Xuan and headed back to his room.
Chu Xuan also jogged back to her room. She had been secretly taking recovery potions all night, so her energy was still quite good.
Back in her room, she closed the door and eagerly opened the system backpack. She tapped on the Ability Awakening Card, but when it was time to draw the ability, she suddenly felt nervous.
“I wonder what ability I’ll get.”
Chu Xuan closed her eyes, said a prayer in her heart, and then flipped the Ability Awakening Card.
A “ding” sound echoed in her mind, followed by 38’s voice: [Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Speed ability.]
Chu Xuan: “…”
“Speed ability? What does that mean?” She couldn’t quite believe it.
She thought that, no matter what, she should get one of the elements like wind, rain, thunder, or lightning. But instead, it was none of those. What was this “Speed” ability?
System 38: [Host, as the name suggests, with the Speed ability, the higher your ability level, the faster you’ll be.]
Chu Xuan: “So what’s my current ability level? How fast am I?”
38: [Currently, your ability level is Tier 1. Your speed is roughly equivalent to normal running speed.]
Chu Xuan: “…”
To be honest, she felt like the system had played a trick on her, and the feeling was all too real.
Sensing Chu Xuan’s low spirits, 38 quickly comforted her: [Host, don’t be discouraged. You should know that in martial arts, speed is the ultimate weapon. As your ability level increases, your speed will become faster and faster. In the future, if you encounter pursuers or something, even if we can’t win, we can still escape! I guarantee they won’t be able to catch up no matter how hard they try. Doesn’t that sound awesome?]
38 sounded quite proud of itself.
Chu Xuan couldn’t even be bothered to reply. Although the ability seemed pretty useless for now, having something was better than nothing. She’d just have to make do!
After practicing swordsmanship all night, she was drenched in sweat and felt uncomfortable. She fetched two buckets of water to her room, took a proper bath, and then lay down to rest for about two hours. Jian Ze came to call her when breakfast was ready.
“Female Master, you practiced swordsmanship all night last night. Why not rest at home today and go to the mountains with us tomorrow?”
Mo Jingxing felt sorry that Chu Xuan hadn’t rested well the previous night and wanted her to take the day off.
Chu Xuan said, “It’s fine. I’ll go with you today.”
Seeing her insistence, everyone said nothing more.
After the meal, Shen Lingjun once again beat Mo Jingxing to it, transforming into his beast form and using his tail to scoop Chu Xuan onto his back before dashing toward the mountain forest.
Mo Jingxing: “…”
That damned leopard was competing with him for the Female Master again.
Jian Ze also transformed into his true form—a majestic white tiger. Sensing the black wolf’s anger beside him, he remarked:
“You should be content. At least the Female Master has ridden you before.”
Hearing this, Mo Jingxing froze, then turned to cast a rather sympathetic glance at Jian Ze.
Indeed, no matter what, the Female Master had at least ridden him once. But Jian Ze? Though he attended to the Female Master’s daily needs, she had never even touched him.
With this thought, Mo Jingxing suddenly felt much better.
But after receiving that sympathetic look, Jian Ze couldn’t feel good anymore.
Hmph, what’s there to boast about?!
While the two were secretly competing, a fiery-red fox strode past them with its head held high.
“Instead of wasting energy competing, you should hurry and set off to hunt more prey. If Shen Lingjun returns with more game than you while carrying the Female Master, you’ll truly be disgraced.”
As Yu Jinglan’s voice faded, his figure vanished before the two Male Beasts, leaving only an afterimage.
Mo Jingxing and Jian Ze exchanged a glance, then also sprinted wildly into the mountains.
.
While carrying Chu Xuan through a grove, Shen Lingjun suddenly noticed her excitement as she spotted something in the grass.
“Lingjun, let me down first.” Chu Xuan patted Shen Lingjun’s back eagerly.
Shen Lingjun halted, carefully wrapping his tail around Chu Xuan’s waist to lower her to the ground.
Chu Xuan walked over, bent down, and parted the grass to reveal numerous wild Matsutake mushrooms.
Scanning the area, she found the entire patch filled with wild Matsutake. How wonderful!
Chu Xuan immediately began digging them up joyfully.
Watching her actions, Shen Lingjun asked curiously, “Female Master, are these edible too?”
“Yes,” Chu Xuan replied. “They’re delicious. I’ll cook them for you all tonight.”
Chu Xuan stored the harvested Matsutake in her Storage Ring. Seeing this, Shen Lingjun joined her in digging.
Together, they nearly cleared the area of Matsutake. Then Shen Lingjun transformed back into his beast form, carrying Chu Xuan onward.
Not far ahead, Chu Xuan asked Shen Lingjun to stop again.
Some wild vegetables grew nearby. As Chu Xuan began harvesting them, Shen Lingjun assisted.
Deeper in the mountain forest, Chu Xuan discovered millet and a wheat-like crop. She gathered them all without hesitation, storing everything in her Storage Ring.
This outing proved immensely fruitful for Chu Xuan.
On their return journey, they passed a pond. Chu Xuan suddenly craved fish and said, “Lingjun, let’s catch some fish to take back!”
Among Beastmen, fish were considered low-value food—scarce in meat and full of bones—so hardly any Beastmen ate them.
But since Chu Xuan wanted some, Shen Lingjun naturally obliged.
He coiled his tail around Chu Xuan and placed her on the bank. “Wait here.”
With that, he plunged into the water. Soon, several sizable fish were flung ashore by Shen Lingjun’s paws.
While Shen Lingjun slapped one fish after another onto the bank, Chu Xuan cheerfully collected them onshore.
Before long, she had already stored quite a few in her storage ring: “Lingjun, that’s enough! Come back up quickly!”
Tonight, they could have fish soup. The remaining fish could be made into salted dried fish, which would last longer, and the extra could be taken to the Mutual Market to trade for other things.
By the time Shen Lingjun and Chu Xuan returned home, Jian Ze and the others had also come back one after another.
Chu Xuan brought out the day’s harvest and said, “Tonight, I’ll make something different and delicious for everyone.”