26 Meow!

Rising to his feet, Hou Hui spread his arms and summoned his yin lotus and miniature sun within his right and left palms. Although his Grand Reverence Palace was originally a cold palace for the disgraced members of the imperial family, his imperial uncle had seen fit to expand and refurbish it by adding several quarters with fitting furniture and lowering the initially unbearable extreme yin qi to a mild chilling yin force.

This allowed Hou Hui to get attuned to the path of yin in infancy. Initially, he planned to have his three siblings suffer the same treatment to temper their overwhelming exuberance and familiarize them with the yin path. But now, he was thinking otherwise. It was time to return true life to this place.

"Yin and Yang Harmonization!"

His hands moved in mysterious incantation gestures, and he slammed the miniature sun into the lotus.

Yang combined with yin, and the closed lotus flower bloomed in a haze of white and black light which spread throughout the palace and changed its yin leaning atmosphere into a balanced one.

"Huh, why is it that the place is suddenly so much warmer?"

"Did big brother really light a fire?"

"Is the temperature in the Heavenly World that moody?"

The three speculated in their respective cultivation rooms.

Hou Hui spread his spiritual sense toward Qing Yun who was sitting cross-legged on his bed, and with rapt attention, studied the nature of all the different paths through the scroll he had gifted him.

Thinking about how he would soon turn thirteen, he was brimming with excitement!

Seeing such a dedicated Qing Yun, Hou Hui's lips curled into a gentle smile, and his spiritual sense moved toward Qing Yue and Qing Ya who were diligently getting familiar with the mnemonics of scripture he had passed onto them.

"Good lads."

He muttered and was reassured in his belief that with careful cultivation, their future achievements wouldn't be low.

"Qing Yun, Qing Ya, Qing Yue, come meet me in my cultivation room."

The mental message echoed within the three's minds and pulled them out of their respective work.

And without a second thought, they left their rooms and rushed toward his.

His doors sprang open, and they barged in.

"Here we are!"

"I am about to go on a trip and will be gone for some time. I don't know how long exactly so there are some preparations that we need to make. Qing Yue, Qing Ya, step forward."

Like correctly trained soldiers, the twins stepped toward him.

Hou Hui placed his hands on their foreheads and released rays of green light which moved toward their spiritual roots and lit up their bodies.

Depending on their grade, cultivation roots stood between an ethereal and physical shape. Regardless of their nature or attribute, low-grade roots were nigh invisible while high-grade roots were fully formed and seemed tangible. As for sublime grade roots, they all glittered with diamond light.

The rays of green light dived into the intangible roots and latched on their very essence. The roots grew clearer and went from intangible to tangible in the blink of an eye.

The green light rays completely disappeared within and the now fully formed roots released mesmerizing diamond light.

Hou Hui removed his hands, allowing the twins to digest their gains.

"Wow, I feel so much better! I can clearly feel the spiritual qi within the air!"

"It's like I'm in harmony with heaven and earth!"

They jubilated.

"You now have sublime grade spiritual roots. Unfortunately, only gods can improve root grades to the immortal level. But with your current roots, there should be no problem until Soul Transcendence. By that time, I would have prepared accordingly."

"Qing Yun, diligently study the scroll I've given you. I hope I can return before you turn thirteen."

"I will never slack off!"

Qing Yun pledged.

"Alright, it's time for me to leave. Cultivate well."

Hou Hui turned into light particles and teleported to the front of his palace.

Unsurprisingly, Feng Wu Shuang awaited.

"Ready to go?"

"Aren't you going to join the bird alliance's team? Why are you standing on my doorstep?"

He grinned.

"Oh, that would be intolerably dull. I'd much rather stick with you."

She leisurely said.

"The Phoenix God is truly blessed to have a dutiful son like Feng Wu Chen. Otherwise, the future of the phoenix clan would be worrying…"

Hou Hui thought.

"What about your preparations? I don't see anything allowing you to join the competition without exposing your…"

But before she could finish, Hou Hui shrouded himself in a purple haze and turned into a three-eyed white cat.

"Meow!"

"Meeeoooow!"

"Meeeeoooooooow!"

And Feng Wu Shuang's jaw dropped to her knees.

"You…"

"Meeeeeooooooow!"

The cat meowed for attention and trotted toward Feng Wu Shuang's feet.

As she stared slack-jawed at the three-eyed cat, Feng Wu Shuang could no longer feel Hou Hui's innate aura. Instead, she felt like he had substituted himself with a truth law beast.

The cat leaped on her right shoulder and comfortably installed itself on it.

"What? Astonished? Speechless? Stricken with disbelief?"

"I know, I know. I'm amazing. Fantastic. Unparalleled within heaven and earth. Now drive. We have a competition to attend!"

Hou Hui's narcissistic voice echoed within Feng Wu Shuang's mind and filled her forehead with black lines.

Without a second thought, she pulled the cat from her shoulder and threw it far into the distance!

"Damnable creature!"

"Meeeeeeeoooooooow!"

The cat mewed but fell right back on its paws.

"Animal abuse! Wu Shuang, don't you know that mistreating cats is frowned upon in at least twenty-thousand jurisdictions? Do you want to completely lose face?"

Hou Hui's voice once more echoed within her head.

"Face? Heh, do you still know what that is? Shameless creature!"

"That is natural. Shameless is my dao, cultivated since infancy for peerless results!"

Cat Hou Hui mentally affirmed while raising his paw.

Facepalming, Feng Wu Shuang stepped toward him, pulled him into her arms and warped him against her chest.

"Since you're going to be shameless, be shameless to the end."

"Ummm, comfortable…gogogo!"

And with Feng Wu Shuang leading the way, they walked toward the palace's gates.

But on the way out, they stumbled on a distracted Long Ming whose grief-stricken eyes trailed on the ground.

Long Ming was initially not paying attention to the road, but when an exquisite pair of embroidered shoes appeared in his sight, he lifted a furious gaze toward its owner.

"Who da…Wu Shuang?"

Suppressing the fit he was about to throw, he forced out a smile.

"Oh, it's you. Sorry I didn't see you. Do you want to go for a walk with me?"

"Meow!"

Faster than the eyes could follow, the three-eyed cat leaped from Feng Wu Shuang's chest and bared its claws at Long Ming.

*Smack*

In a resounding mixture of slashing and smacking, Long Ming was sent spiraling into the ground with a cat claw mark on his left cheek.

"Damnable creature! How dare you?!"

Long Ming roared and rose to his feet. He had not paid much attention to the three-eyed white cat, and certainly didn't expect it to assault him.

"Meow!"

But before he could do anything, bright white light shot from the cat's third eye and dived into his dantian.

And instantly, his cultivation base was sealed.

"No…not again."

Merciless, the cat flew at him with its claws, hacked at his face, threw him onto the ground and slammed him back and forth until the pain was so intense that he could no longer move an inch of his body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"Since the previous lesson wasn't enough, it is obvious I must resume teaching you manners."

"Asking my woman to go on a walk with you? The galls!"

"Since when was I so good to bully?"

Cat Hou Hui thought as he brutalized the fallen dragon prince.

"Bad kitty come back here!"

Feng Wu Shuang interrupted and pulled the three-eyed cat back into her grasp.

"Third prince I apologize for my cat's rash behavior. It is a truth beast that has been trained to assault the men that approach me with impure thoughts. I hope you won't take offense."

On the ground, Long Ming wailed.

"Why? Why is the world so dead set against me!?"

"What have I done to deserve this!?"

"I only wanted some company, is that also a crime!?"

"Aaaaaaaargh! Kill me already!"

"Alright!"

Cat Hou Hui once more pounced onto Long Ming and trampled his chest with paws that carried the weight of ten mountains.

"Bad kitty! Stop!"

Feng Wu Shuang admonished while struggling to prevent herself from bursting into laughter.

"Meow."

The cat purred and rubbed its head against Feng Wu Shuang's chest with innocent, beady eyes.

Seeing the innocent and docile attitude the cat held within Feng Wu Shuang's arms, Long Ming spurted blood and passed out on the floor.

From a distance, imperial maids and servants had witnessed the scene but didn't know what to do.

"That cat should at least be a grade eleven law beast right? What should we do?"

"What stupid question is that? Report to the Heavenly Empress!"

The servants and maids turned, but before they could make another move, a cat appeared in front of them.

"AAAAAAAAARGH!"

"Lord cat please have mercy!"

"Mercy, mercy! We won't dare tell a soul!"

"Meeeooow!"

*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*

The servants and maids were sent flying in disarray by the cat's fierce paws. Afterward, the cat erased their memories with the power of truth and returned to the comfort of Feng Wu Shuang's arms.

"Hum…I think we should leave…quickly."

And following her own advice, she turned into a beam of light and flew out of the palace at breakneck speed.