To the astonishment of literally everyone watching…
Little Liz’s eyes closed. Her chin lifted. She leaned into the scratch like a pampered kitten.
She wanted more.
She demanded more!
’Little lizard? One bite from that thing and your arm’s a broken snack stick empress!’ The others screamed internally.
Not that it would’ve mattered.
Even if they said it to her face, Empress Shen Qianrou probably wouldn’t have listened.
“Mother.” Princess Yunlan Qingyi suddenly piped up, eyes sparkling.
“Can I pet her too?”
Empress Shen Qianrou smiled. “Ask her yourself, Yiyi.”
Princess Yunlan Qingyi turned toward the lizard, hands politely folded in front of her. “Miss Lizard, may I pet you?”
Little Liz – still half-melted in comfort under the empress’s touch – tilted her scaly head and gave what could only be described as a graceful nod.
Permission granted.
Princess Yunlan Qingyi squealed softly and rushed forward, immediately showering the lizard with gentle pats and delighted giggles.
“She’s so smooth! And warm!”
Watching from nearby, Hua Feixue couldn’t hold back anymore. She walked over with cautious steps, then knelt beside Princess Yunlan Qingyi and reached out with a small smile.
“Can I try too?”
Another nod from Little Liz.
More head pats. More scratches. More sparkling eyes.
Time passed, and the store slowly turned into a pampering session.
Somehow, Little Liz had become the star of the mmorning – at least for the girls. Even a few men were peeking over with curious eyes, wondering if they should get in line.
What they didn’t expect was the second revelation. It was completely allowed to share store products with one’s contracted beasts or companions.
As long as it was done properly – not forced, not tricked – it was permitted.
Senior Hao himself confirmed it.
And honestly, trying to cheat the system? Might as well try licking lightning.
Everyone agreed. Who’d be dumb enough to test the limits of the mysterious immortal store owner?
Meanwhile, the girls had somehow gone from awkward strangers to giggling companions around Little Liz.
Yushou Ya’er had even become sort-of besties with Empress Shen Qianrou. The beast tamer girl had no idea who she was talking to or ranting at.
She just knew this elegant lady gave good head pats and was easy to complain to.
“So then I said to the guy, if your spiritual bear can’t even roll over on command, how dare you judge Little Liz’s performance! Yushou Ya’er huffed, pouting dramatically.
Empress Shen Qianrou only smiled, nodding gracefully as she picked her another potato chip.
“How dreadful of him.”
“Oh, I know right? Some people just don’t understand beast communication these days.”
Just like that, the day slipped away.
And the next one arrived.
Fast.
Hao, deep in his “totally serious training session,” was inside the storage area of the store, stretching a little lazily and trying to recall if he was supposed to meditate or run drills today.
But then –
’Master.’
A familiar black blur dropped down from a stack of carton boxes.
Kurome.
’I have developed something new.’ she said with a bow of her head.
’May I show it to you, Master? I would greatly appreciate your opinion.’
Hao raised an eyebrow.
Now that caught his attention.
He straightened up, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeves. “Alright, let’s see it.”
Kurome nodded once.
’Thank you, Master.’
Then, with a gentle movement of her small paws, a pulse of inky darkness spread outward like silent waves.
The entire storage area dimmed.
Then blacked out.
In an instant, everything was covered in a heavy black fog.
The storage room became pitch black.
Not regular darkness.
This was the kind of dark that made you question if light had ever existed at all.
Hao blinked instinctively.
Didn’t help.
He couldn’t see. His spiritual sense was dulled. Even his hearing felt off – as if wrapped in cloth.
’Abyssal Veil Expansion.’ Kurome’s voice echoed from within the gloom, calm and respectful.
’It was inspired by your Sunblind Burst technique, Master.’
“Damnz” Hao muttered, truly impressed and slightly alarmed.
“Kurome, you’re really a genius…”
“You honor me with your words, Master.”
“I only attempted to adapt your brilliance in a way that suited me.”
Adapt?
You call that adapting, Kurome?
That was no mere tweak or simple copy.
From a cultivator’s standpoint, there was a massive difference between “learning” a technique and developing one.
Most cultivators spent years just trying to understand the principles of a technique passed down by their sects – memorizing forms, mimicking flows of spiritual qi, struggling to reproduce the same effect as the original creator.
What Kurome did?
She didn’t just imitate Sunblind Burst.
She reverse engineered it.
Hao’s original technique was centered on explosive radiance – an overwhelming flash of light and pressure designed to disorient, blind, and scatter enemies.
It played on sensory overload, using speed and timing to catch opponents off-guard.
But Kurome… she’d taken the opposite approach.
Instead of overwhelming with brightness, she smothered with silence.
Darkness instead of light. Suppression instead of eruption.
It wasn’t just clever – it was precise!
To pull that off, she would’ve had to understand the foundational logic of Hao’s burst: how sensory systems react to qi shifts, how pressure affects perception, how long the human body can operate under disorientation before instincts kick in.
And then?
Flip all of that inside out.
Tailor it to her form. Refine it to perfection.
This wasn’t adapting.
This was creating!
Sure, she borrowed the concept.
But everything else – from the execution to the delivery – was uniquely hers.
Her own identity. Her own strength.
What made it even more absurd, maybe even terrifying in a way, was that Kurome hadn’t even asked Hao to teach her the technique.
She just watched.
No questions. No notes. No requests for another demo.
She’d seen him use Sunblind Burst a few times. During sparring.
That was all.
And yet…
Kurome.
Somehow.
Had taken that fleeting moment, compressed it like a fragile dry leaf, and rebuilt it into a technique entirely her own.
Had she broken it down piece by piece from memory? Figured out the spiritual flow, timing, and directional force just from observing.
Apparently, yes.
“This is a great ability of yours, Kurome.” Hao said, or at least he thought he did.
He couldn’t hear his own voice. The weight of the darkness muffled even the sound in his head.
But he was sure Kurome heard him – she’d replied earlier without trouble.
“Don’t deactivate the technique just yet, Kurome.”Hao added.
“I want to test something.”
’As you wish, Master.’