After finishing his meal, Xie Xingwen looked at the others still standing motionless and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you going to eat?”
Shen Lingjun glanced sideways at him before turning to leave the room. “Eat as much as you want.”
He absolutely refused to eat anything made by this Female Master.
Jian Ze also went into the yard to chop the remaining firewood. Seeing that none of them had eaten, Mo Jingxing felt too embarrassed to eat as well, even though the aroma was truly tantalizing.
Adhering to the principle that what he couldn’t smell couldn’t tempt him, he left the yard directly to go hunting in the forest.
Yu Jinglan, with his thicker fox skin, simply sat down and started eating.
After the first bite, his fox eyes lit up. “Female Master, your cooking skills are truly remarkable,” he praised with a beaming smile.
[Ding! Yu Jinglan’s favorability +1, reward Points +1.]
The system’s voice chimed in timely. Hearing the announcement and seeing Yu Jinglan’s eyes narrowed into slits from smiling, Chu Xuan knew this guy wasn’t genuinely praising her.
After working hard for so long, she only gained one Point. It seemed those sayings about capturing a man’s heart through his stomach were all lies.
Chu Xuan was satisfied after one bowl, and the rest was devoured by Xie Xingwen and Yu Jinglan.
At least Yu Jinglan kindly contributed one Point, while Xie Xingwen was as stingy as an iron rooster, not giving a single feather.
Just thinking about it made Chu Xuan angry.
Truly a cold-blooded creature, utterly heartless.
After the meal, Chu Xuan went to Xie Xingwen’s room as promised. “What did you want to see me about?”
Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with Xie Xingwen’s stinginess, thinking of the system’s conquest mission, she still greeted him with a smiling face.
Xie Xingwen said solemnly, “Regarding your recent kidnapping, do you have any thoughts?”
“Huh?!”
Chu Xuan hadn’t expected Xie Xingwen to call her over just for this. What did he mean? Was he testing her?
From the system, she learned that the original host had been seduced by Cheng Xu, leading to the trap and kidnapping.
Was Xie Xingwen suddenly asking this to gauge her attitude, to see if she would be foolish enough to repeat such a mistake in the future?
Understanding his intention, Chu Xuan declared righteously and earnestly, “This incident was my fault. I reflect, I self-criticize, and I swear that if I ever encounter that scoundrel Cheng Xu again, I’ll beat him every time I see him until even his parents can’t recognize him. I will never be seduced by him again.”
“Good, that’s the spirit.” Xie Xingwen gave a thumbs-up and praised gravely. “But I think with your current ability, you definitely can’t defeat that Male Beast. So, I’ve decided to help you become stronger.”
Chu Xuan: “?”
She wondered if she had misheard. She remembered the world’s setting was that Female Beasts couldn’t awaken offensive abilities. Female Beasts only possessed spiritual power, which could help Male Beasts soothe their frenzied spiritual sea of consciousness, hence why Female Beasts were particularly revered.
A Female Beast could marry multiple Beast Husbands to protect herself.
Xie Xingwen said he would help her become stronger, but without abilities, how could she improve?
Noticing her confusion, Xie Xingwen said confidently, “As long as you follow my teachings, I guarantee that before long, you’ll shed this weak physique. Ordinary individuals will no longer be your match, and if you encounter any danger in the future, you’ll have the ability to protect yourself.”
It must be said that Xie Xingwen’s final words had truly tempted Chu Xuan. If there really was a way to grow stronger without awakening an ability, she was willing to give it a try.
Rather than entrusting her safety entirely to others, she preferred to grasp it firmly in her own hands.
“How do you plan to do it?”
“Have you heard of Body Tempering?”
Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly. She remembered that the bastards from Tianmo Palace were particularly fond of Body Tempering—each of them as tough as steel, impervious to blades and spears, with bodies hard and ugly.
Only that Great Demon seemed decent, likely due to some secret formula.
To be honest, Chu Xuan wanted to become stronger, but she didn’t want to turn ugly either. She hesitated.
“Of course,” Xie Xingwen continued, “with your current physical condition, it would be very difficult to train your body to be impervious to weapons. But your physique is too weak—you need to toughen it up first, build a solid foundation. Then I’ll teach you a sword technique, guaranteed to let you roam freely in this world.”
If it meant fully committing to Body Tempering, Chu Xuan couldn’t accept it. But learning swordsmanship? That was doable.
“When do we start?” Chu Xuan asked, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Xie Xingwen.
“Right now.”
A satisfied smile curled at the corner of Xie Xingwen’s lips as he pointed outside. “Go to the courtyard and hold a horse stance for two hours. You’re not allowed to get up without my permission.”
Chu Xuan genuinely wanted to grow stronger. Without another word, she went straight to the courtyard and began holding the horse stance.
Jian Ze was chopping wood in the yard. Seeing Chu Xuan emerge from Xie Xingwen’s room and steadily assume the horse stance in the courtyard, he frowned in confusion. What kind of game was this now?
Xie Xingwen, observing Chu Xuan’s obedience, nodded with satisfaction.
“System, this doesn’t count as breaking character or plot, right? The task you gave me was to keep her alive, but you never said I couldn’t help her get stronger.”
He asked triumphantly to the system in his consciousness.
The system, however, had no response.
Xie Xingwen believed that instead of protecting Chu Xuan at all times, it was better to let her grow stronger herself. That way, even if he wasn’t by her side occasionally, she could protect herself if danger arose.
The afternoon sun was scorching. Chu Xuan hadn’t held the stance for long before her legs began trembling, and she was on the verge of collapsing.
“Back straight, chest out, stomach in.”
The moment she slackened slightly, Xie Xingwen emerged from the room, holding a twig he’d somehow acquired. He lightly tapped her trembling calves and back.
Chu Xuan’s legs shook uncontrollably, sweat pouring down like rain. In a trembling voice, she pleaded:
“Um, can I take a break and continue later?”
Xie Xingwen replied sternly, “No. The path to becoming stronger is a thousand times harder than this. If you can’t even endure a little hardship, how do you expect to grow stronger?”
His tone was unyielding. Gritting her teeth, Chu Xuan fell silent.
[Ding! Jian Ze’s favorability +5. Reward Points +5.]
[Ding! Shen Lingjun’s favorability +5. Reward Points +5.]
[Ding! Yu Jinglan’s favorability +10. Reward Points +10.]
Chu Xuan: “…”
Listening to the system’s rapid notifications, Chu Xuan was utterly bewildered.
She had worked hard cooking for these Beast Husbands, yet couldn’t earn their favorability. But watching her suffer here made their favorability skyrocket?
What was the meaning of this?
Especially that damn fox—was he so happy to see her in misery?!
With tears in her eyes, Chu Xuan accepted these Points, thinking indignantly that one day, when she became powerful, she would definitely make these Beast Husbands behave properly—no, behave like proper beasts.
She would make them kneel at her feet and sing Conquer!!!