Eighteen hundred miles east of Ziyang City lies a vast marsh with a water path spanning three thousand miles, known as Cloud Dream Marsh.

Perhaps due to the name’s familiar ring, Lin Yun and Bai Jiaojiao chose to seclude themselves here for their cultivation. Bai Jiaojiao arrived in Ziyang City the day after entering her dream and then left quietly with Lin Yun. They came to this marsh and settled down.

The area around Cloud Dream Marsh is also one of the more prosperous places in the Central Plains, with ample plains and water to fully satisfy the needs of agricultural civilization.

Bai Jiaojiao also liked this place. Although it was winter and the lake had become desolate, she and Green Snake could still have a lot of fun playing in the water.

For Bai Jiaojiao, what made her happier was not the waters here but that she could now spend time alone with Lin Yun in their own little world.

Far from the clamor of war, not thinking about the strife among tribes, it seemed especially elegant to build a small bamboo hut and live in seclusion by this great lake.

She didn’t know that Lin Yun, using the excuse of a breakthrough, was actually avoiding an emperor’s throne that was about to be pushed onto him.

If he outright said he didn’t want to be emperor, Dongfang Hongyue, with her cleverness, might guess something.

If she knew the truth, it would only produce more variables.

Moreover, the Divine Pact Lin Yun made with Canglan included a secrecy clause. If he revealed this secret to anyone, those who learned of it would be cursed.

Lin Yu was rather fortunate; her life was robust, having formed a connection with the White Tiger. Canglan’s curse probably wouldn’t affect her.

But that might not be the case for Dongfang Hongyue, who had no such backing. She relied solely on her diligent cultivation and caution, plus a bit of talent, to achieve her current status and cultivation level. Although many considered Dongfang Hongyue gifted and leading a charmed life, compared to Lin Yu’s meteoric rise, she was rather ordinary.

To avoid involving innocent people, Lin Yun had to keep this matter as concealed as possible.

Using secluded cultivation as an excuse was the best way to hide.

It just so happened that he indeed wanted to make a breakthrough.

In one year’s time, he had gone from nothing to the Celestial Knowing Realm, a level many never reach in their lifetimes. This pace was outrageous, but Lin Yun still felt it was a bit slow.

The mortal path was not yet complete, and it was uncertain when he would become a god.

In any case, take it step by step.

He was now in the process of assimilating a drop of Bai Jiaojiao’s Dragon Blood.

With the Dragon-Elephant Divine Skill from the grassland, Lin Yun had already reached this level of cultivation. He only needed one drop of Dragon Blood to achieve perfection.

Next, he would need a small female dragon.

As Lin Yun’s Divine Skill broke through, his vitality also surged.

He hadn’t yet broken through to the Celestial Knowing Realm, but his physical body could now compete with cultivators of that realm.

The breakthrough in the Dragon-Elephant Divine Skill was not only about enhancing strength but also improving defense.

Feeling the surging power of his vitality, Bai Jiaojiao didn’t feel like playing in the water anymore. A White Dragon flew out of the waves, landed on the shore, and transformed into a stunningly attractive woman.

"Is this level of cultivation complete?"

Bai Jiaojiao approached Lin Yun and asked eagerly, her impatient appearance making Lin Yun laugh involuntarily.

"Tonight, we will start cultivating the next level," he said.

With Lin Yun’s talent, he could start cultivating the next level right away, but this was more than just cultivation.

Hearing Lin Yun’s words and exchanging a look with him, Bai Jiaojiao understood his intentions, and suddenly she became nervous.

"Then... you rest for a while; I’ll go prepare dinner for tonight."

Bai Jiaojiao’s heart was pounding, and her mind was a bit of a mess.

She seemed eager before, but now, when it was actually happening, she became flustered.

Wanting to tease her, Lin Yun grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace, saying, "No need to prepare; you are tonight’s dinner."

Bai Jiaojiao immediately blushed deeply, her body going limp, her eyes watery and even more enchanting.

"But... I’ll get hungry; I need to find something to fill up first."

Bai Jiaojiao was still making excuses, trying to escape. This Little White Dragon always talked big about being eaten when not in the moment, but when it came down to it, she chickened out.

The more she tried to run, the more entertaining Lin Yun found it to tease her, holding her even tighter and jesting, "Don’t be afraid; I will make sure to fill you up completely."

"?"

Bai Jiaojiao couldn’t keep up with Lin Yun’s pace and looked puzzled. Lin Yun felt that explaining was a waste of breath and decided it was better to show her in action.

This is the gentlemanly art of fighting with words, not hands.

With his talent for verbal fencing, Bai Jiaojiao, the Little White Dragon, could only plead for mercy under his relentless assault. Her pleas turned the cultivation session planned for evening into a daytime affair.

Outside the bamboo hut, Green Snake listened to the playful sounds coming from inside, clenching her fists tightly.

When she heard Bai Jiaojiao begging for mercy, there was a moment when she thought of going in to help and rescue her.

However, Green Snake wasn’t as naive as Bai Jiaojiao. After so many years of cultivation, she understood these amorous matters.

It was just the thought of her sister making those fiercely blushing and heart-racing sounds with another man that made Green Snake feel as though she had completely lost something.

But she also knew she had no right to stop Bai Jiaojiao.

Bai Jiaojiao liked Lin Yun, so she wanted to be affectionate with him in this way.

When they were still living as demons in the Demon Domain, Green Snake had seen such scenes, but back then, Bai Jiaojiao remained completely unmoved.

"The joy of men and women is merely the lowest form of carnal desire. As cultivators, we should discipline our bodies, practicing abstinence and asceticism."

Bai Jiaojiao was a moderate Demon Cultivator, unlike many others who absorbed the vital essence of men to cultivate, Bai Jiaojiao, even among the Demon Kings, was known for her purity, and the same could be said for her two younger sisters, who were also considered upright demons.

But now, listening to her coy pleas for mercy, which sounded both pained and pleased, Green Snake found it impossible to associate Bai Jiaojiao with the same sanctimonious woman as before.

Faced with this scene, Green Snake, looking at the sun in the sky, could only find a cool place in the distance to stay.

Stay where it is cool!

Bai Jiaojiao assisted Lin Yun in his cultivation from dawn until dusk, and by nightfall, Bai Jiaojiao was completely exhausted.

However, when the cultivation practice had ended, she suddenly felt that her True Dragon body had achieved complete perfection.

Her True Dragon Realm had been imperfect, so while she appeared to be a true dragon, she was still only at the Enlightened Realm. Although she was more powerful than the average Enlightened Realm practitioner, it was limited.

But now her True Dragon body was fully perfected, she naturally advanced to the Defiant Heavenly Realm.

To say she assisted Lin Yun’s cultivation, in truth, what she gained from him was actually more than what she gave.

With a resounding dragon’s roar, Bai Jiaojiao felt as if her body and her Dharma body had completely merged into one.

The Demon Tribe originally had three forms, but now she was no longer limited by the three forms, only two remained.

One was her true form, and the other her human form.

Between human and dragon, she could now transform at will, no longer like before when her battle form was just a conjuration of her mana, rather than her constant state.

At this dragon’s roar, all living beings within a thousand miles were shocked.

Feeling the dragon’s might in the roar, the sentient beasts all knelt in the direction where Bai Jiaojiao was, while those with lower intelligence lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to move.

As for humans, they took this dragon’s roar as a divine sign. When they came out to see, they only saw dark clouds gathering, and the winds howling. It had been a clear day, but now late in the evening, a storm had come.

Having become a True Dragon, Bai Jiaojiao naturally triggered a small-scale phenomenon between heaven and earth, but a bit of rain was not considered unusual.

Yet Bai Jiaojiao, who had just advanced in her realm, was not the least bit excited at the moment. She ran frantically out of the little house, saying as she ran, "Let me go, I’ll go find Qing’er to keep you company."

She was babbling in fear because of Lin Yun.

Lin Yun, hearing this, could not help but gape. He was just teasing Bai Jiaojiao, but now she had dressed and run away, speaking such words.

What made Lin Yun most embarrassed was that when he walked out of the Bamboo Hut, he ran into Xiao Qing.

How awkward was that.

It was as if a couple were discussing something flirtatious, and the wife, feeling overwhelmed, suggested her younger sister step in. It was a joke, but the younger sister just so happened to pass by. This...

Lin Yun could only smile awkwardly and said, "Don’t listen to your sister’s nonsense, she’s just kidding."

While saying this, Lin Yun forcefully dragged Bai Jiaojiao away from behind Xiao Qing.

"See how I punish you later."

Hearing this, Bai Jiaojiao’s face turned, and she repeatedly pleaded to Green Snake, "Qing’er, save me!"

Green Snake: "..."

She had the distinct feeling that whether she intervened or not, it would be extremely awkward.

Why did she show up here?

Suddenly, Green Snake felt like an outsider.

Her sister now had someone she cared for more, and she was only a spectator, just like now.

Bai Jiaojiao was with Lin Yun, and she was alone.

Jealousy, hatred.

These two negative emotions suddenly surged into Green Snake’s heart, and she felt that the power she could exert from her Divine Skills had increased significantly.

Was it really so easy to draw strength from hatred?

The heavy rain finally fell.

Pitter-patter, it beat on the surface of the water.

Amid the sound of the rain, many strange noises were masked.

On a small boat in Cloud Dream Marsh, a girl looked up at the sudden downpour and couldn’t help but sigh.

"Could this rain be the Dragon King weeping?"

In some sense, she was right.

The rain was particularly heavy that night, and the Dragon King was particularly miserable.

Only by the next morning did the rain begin to ebb, and the clouds gradually dissipated, as if after a night of rainfall, even the clouds had wilted.

The girl stepped out of the cabin, looked at the water-filled cabin, scooped out the water with a bend of her body, and then took up the bamboo pole to row the boat.

"I heard that Lin Yun went to the Cloud Dream Marsh area to find a place to cultivate. I don’t know exactly where he is; it’s been over a month, and I haven’t even found the person. If I don’t go back soon, my brother will start to get suspicious," said the girl muttering to herself, making up her mind.

If she didn’t find Lin Yun today, she would return to the East Sea!

This girl was none other than Yuan Zihe, who was bent on stealing...