Even in his previous life, Su Yang has never seen a Phantom Cat personally, only learning about them from stories and ancient scrolls, hence why he was so shocked to find one in such a place. As for Qiuyue, she's never even heard of a Phantom Cat.
Once the Phantom Cat finished its transformation and calmed down, it turned to look at Su Yang with a profound gaze, its long transparent fur dancing like grass during a windy season.
"Meoooow!" It suddenly released a sharp cry, causing the air to vibrate and the earth to tremble.
A few seconds later, large black clouds began forming in the air above the Phantom Cat, and the atmosphere in this desolate area became even more frightening.
When Su Yang saw this, his eyes widened with surprise. Even Qiuyue was baffled by the situation.
"H-Heavenly Tribulation? Why is this Phantom Cat evoking a Heavenly Tribulation?"
They were puzzled, as Heavenly Tribulations would only appear when it's angry because an individual is doing something that would defy the heavens.
Bang!
Suddenly, a bolt of purple lightning shot down from the black clouds and towards the Phantom Cat.
"Meow!" Using its supreme speed, the Phantom Cat dodged the purple lightning with ease. But immediately after the first strike ended, another bolt of lightning appeared.
Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"..."
Both Su Yang and Qiuyue watched as the Phantom Cat dodge the lightning strikes one by one with seemingly zero effort.
"I have witnessed people endure Heavenly Tribulation with their bodies, even people who consume them but never anything like this before…" Su Yang said with a smile.
"Perhaps the only thing in this world that can dodge Heavenly Tribulations with so little effort are Ghost Cats — no, Phantom Cats," he added.
The scene of the Phantom Cat dodging countless purple lightning strikes continued for many minutes until the black clouds started to lose color and slowly fade away like smoke.
When the Heavenly Tribulation completely vanished, the Phantom Cat looked towards the dark sky with a smug look, its expression filled with pride and arrogance, seemingly telling the heavens 'touch me if you can!'.
A few moments later, when the Phantom Cat was certain that the Heavenly Tribulation was not coming back, it returned to looking at Su Yang, who was also looking back at it.
"Meow!"
Suddenly, as it released a low cry, its small figure began transforming once again.
"T-This is…"
Qiuyue's eyes widened, her gaze filled with surprise as she witnessed the Phantom Cat's body grow larger and taller — until it resembled a human's figure.
While she knew that beasts were capable of turning into humans after reaching certain Cultivation bases, she has never seen it happen before her very eyes.
As for Su Yang, he silently watched with a calm expression, but his eyes were filled with awe like he was admiring a once-in-a-lifetime miracle.
A few moments later, the Phantom Cat no longer resembled anything like a cat, not even a single bit. Instead, it'd become a human being!
However…
"A child?" Both Su Yang and Qiuyue — mostly Qiuyue — did not expect the Phantom Cat to take the appearance of a child.
Surprisingly, the Phantom Cat had transformed into a young girl that looks around the age of 13 or 14! And she was breathtakingly beautiful to the boot!
With long, wavey silver-colored hair and sharp silver eyes, the Phantom Cat somewhat resembled Qiuyue during her childhood. And if closely inspected, one would be able to see that her hair was slightly moving, just like her fur in her beast form, almost as though it was alive.
"Ghost Cats can only be female so it's not weird for Phantom Cats to be like that too, and they are all small in nature, so I guess it's also not that surprising for it to take the form of a child…"
Once the Phantom Cat finished her transformation from beast to human for the first time in her life, she took a step towards the direction of Su Yang and instantly disappeared from her spot.
Before Su Yang was even aware, the Phantom Cat was already standing in front of him, her gaze staring into his eyes as though she was trying to see his soul.
Qiuyue's heart expanded with horror when she saw this and immediately rushed to him.
However, Su Yang raised his hand and shook his head with a calm expression, telling her to not worry. He then looked at the beautiful young girl before him, who was also stark naked from top to bottom without even a single strand of hair on her body, patiently waiting to see what she wanted from him.
The Phantom Cat started walking around him while sniffing his scent, just like a real cat. Then, she tipped her toes and raised her head, licking him on the face with her soft pink tongue.
When the Phantom Cat licked Su Yang's face, her eyes flickered with delight, almost like she'd just tasted something amazing, and she began licking him all over the face like he was some kind of ice cream, seemingly unable to stop.
This scene dumbfounded Qiuyue who was watching from a distance, not because Su Yang was being licked right before her eyes but because Su Yang allowed it to happen without showing any signs of struggling, nor the desire to! Not to mention how joyful the Phantom Cat looked while licking him! What did the Phantom Cat taste on him that's causing her to act like this?
"Okay, that's enough…" Su Yang gently grabbed the Phantom Cat by her shoulders and slowly pushed her away, but by that time, his face was already shiny from all that licking and saliva.
And although it showed a reluctant expression, the Phantom Cat stopped licking him and returned to silently observing him.
"Now that you are in your human form, can you speak the human language?" Su Yang asked her.
The Phantom Cat shook her head. Although she understands some of his words, she does not have the capability to speak it just yet.