Not knowing how much time had passed, the sweet darkness gradually receded bit by bit. The refreshing, clean wind of the divine realm brushed against her face, stirring the black gauze covering her eyes, rubbing itchily against her eyelashes. Xuan Yi couldn’t help but rub them.

Fucang’s low voice sounded from above her head: “Awake?”

She pressed down a yawn with her sleeve, squinting and looking around everywhere. She saw this place was a slender and extremely winding suspended corridor. The upper realm was in the height of summer, and heavy clusters of wisteria flowers drooped down in masses, their dark fragrance overflowing. Outside the corridor was the Heavenly Palace’s most famous Outer Celestial Cloud Sea. Within the cloud sea were raised countless rare and precious immortal-grade fish. Enormous immortal-grade lotus flowers of various colors appeared and disappeared amid the ethereal cloud mist.

Fucang sat on the railing, one hand holding her, the other hand actually gripping a fishing rod, methodically watching the fishing line that rose and fell with the wind.

He actually knew how to fish? Xuan Yi’s eyes went completely round.

Seeming to sense her surprise, a trace of slightly embarrassed smile actually passed over his face: “Father said my conduct still had impatient and insufficiently meticulous aspects, and advised me to learn fishing to temper my temperament.”

The wind blowing on her face felt strangely comfortable. Xuan Yi nestled in his embrace and brazenly stretched languidly, while reaching to touch the wisteria flowers drooping from above, lazily asking: “How did we end up at the Heavenly Palace?”

Because she lived inside Chun Jun, she only wore a thin silk garment on her body. The cloud sea was incomparably bright, making the silk garment appear almost translucent. Fucang pulled open his crow-blue long robe and wrapped her into his embrace: “You slept for six days. Two days ago was Tian Di’s seventh imperial son’s wedding. The wedding banquet is still being held up front.”

Wedding banquet? Xuan Yi instinctively looked down at herself. He actually let her out looking so disheveled to attend an imperial son’s wedding banquet?!

Angry, she wanted to drill back into Chun Jun: “I don’t want to go out dressed like this.”

Fucang couldn’t help but laugh: “We’re not going up front. Don’t move—you’ll scare the fish away.”

As he spoke, an incomparably enormous golden carp tumbled and leaped in the cloud sea, stirring up endless rippling cloud layers. Xuan Yi’s attention immediately strayed: “Why are our family’s golden carp here?”

Fucang’s chin gently bumped against her forehead: “It’s our family.”

They had been engaged for five years already, yet she still spoke so carelessly.

“Originally there were two pairs of golden carp in Chengjiang Lake. Later, when Tian Di married, Grandfather gave one pair as a congratulatory gift, and they were raised in this Outer Celestial Cloud Sea.”

Seeing she had quite an interest in the Outer Celestial Cloud Sea, he spoke to her in a low voice about those extremely precious fish and rare beasts raised inside. He had just spoken of the legend from extremely ancient times about golden carp leaping over the dragon gate to transform into dragons, when suddenly he heard a delighted cry from the corridor: “Shenjun Fucang! You came too?”

Fucang turned his head and saw beneath the wisteria flowers a mass of pink gorgeous shadow joyfully drawing near. Behind her, nine snow-white and enormous long tails still transformed unpredictably like cloud mist—it was precisely the ninth princess of the Celestial Fox Clan from Qingqiu whom they had encountered extremely early on. He immediately nodded in salute.

The ninth princess, just like back then, saw him and her whole face flushed red, her tails drooping down, her voice thin: “When this concubine encountered Shenjun Fucang at Qingqiu that year, this concubine could never again forget. To be able to meet again today, this concubine’s heart is extremely joyful.”

Fucang said indifferently: “Ninth Princess is too kind.”

The ninth princess covered her bright red cheeks, her voice beginning to tremble: “Not having seen you for many years, Shenjun’s grace surpasses the past even more… Shenjun Fucang, if you could smile at this concubine once more like you did that year, this time this concubine would be willing to cut off three tails to gift you…”

Before she finished speaking, she heard a low, soft, gentle voice suddenly sound from before Fucang: “So the three tail hairs from last time were exchanged for Senior Brother Fucang’s one smile?”

The ninth princess was too overjoyed upon suddenly seeing Fucang and completely failed to notice there was another goddess beside him. When she focused carefully to look, she saw that within Fucang’s luxurious crow-blue long robe was actually hidden a slender figure. Her long hair cascaded gracefully, her complexion pale, with a black gauze covering her eyes. Though her true features couldn’t be seen, her outline was bright and enchanting—truly a rarely seen beauty.

The ninth princess quietly retreated two steps, hurriedly restraining the too-obvious joyful expression on her face. Several years ago, she had already heard that Fucang had arranged an engagement with Princess Xuan Yi of the Zhuyin Clan. The goddesses whose hearts secretly shattered all speculated that the Zhuyin Clan had probably used the name of world savior plus forceful seizure methods to compel this shenjun to submit. However, seeing the two of them now, it seemed rather different from the rumors.

“I was only joking.” She gave two dry laughs and retreated several more steps. “You two continue enjoying the beautiful scenery. I’ll take my leave first.”

Xuan Yi squinted watching the ninth princess’s nine enormous white tails rapidly disappear along the winding slender corridor. After a while, she arrogantly gave a light humph: “Even if I wore a dishrag, I’d look better than her.”

She was still annoyed about her own disheveled appearance.

Fucang could only find it both funny and exasperating. Seeing her long hair was somewhat messy, he gently combed it with his fingers. She quietly nestled in his embrace, picking out the golden threads of cloud patterns at his collar one by one. Her delicate face drew near, her breath fragrant. He couldn’t help but bow his head and kiss her nose tip.

Yet he heard her say in a delicate soft voice: “For this one kiss from you, I don’t have three dragon scales to give.”

After speaking, she gave a little laugh first.

Very mischievous. Fucang swept all her combed and tidied long hair behind her head. He no longer had any mind for fishing. With both hands, he gently cupped her face and once again bowed his head, kissing her lips.

*

On this night staying at the Heavenly Palace, Xuan Yi did not sleep peacefully. In deep sleep, she always felt the skin below her ribs aching faintly in waves. After the pain passed came waves of intense itching. She unconsciously scratched continuously, but it couldn’t be relieved at all.

By the fifth time she scratched, Fucang finally pressed her hand still and wouldn’t let her move. He carefully lifted the silk garment a little. Her ribs had been scratched all red, about to bleed any moment.

He frowned, just about to inquire, when he heard a “poof” sound. The dragon princess on the bed suddenly transformed into a pitch-black enormous dragon, then immediately shrank circle by circle, shrinking into a horned loach about a foot long.

This scaleless loach displayed its belly, looked down at her ribs for a long while, then spoke: “Oh my, it seems dragon scales are about to grow.”

As soon as the words fell, the tiny loach’s sides seemed to be dotted with several drops of ink, slowly growing a patch of pitch-black shiny dragon scales.

In the tenth year after the dragon princess awakened, her first dragon scale grew out just like that, without any warning.

She still seemed somewhat incredulous, forcefully tapping on it. A hand reached over to stop her behavior, then gently caught her in its grasp. Fucang held this tiny dragon deity in his palm. That long-missed ice-cold yet soft feeling—he first carefully touched that patch of shiny dragon scale with his fingertip, making her roll around curled up in his palm from the ticklish sensation. Just as she was about to transform back to human form, she suddenly felt a finger press extremely lightly on her skull.

The two grain-of-rice dragon horns on her formerly bare skull had finally grown to look somewhat proper. Fucang carefully rubbed those two small coral-like dragon horns. A trace of smile appeared in his dark eyes. The feel was still this good.

The tiny dragon deity with only one dragon scale grown stretched her body in his palm, then suddenly burrowed headfirst into his collar. The ice-cold mass curled up at his chest and slowly said: “You can only touch for a little while.”

Fucang rubbed her tiny dragon horns. This probably felt very comfortable, as she exhaled a breath, pillowing on his hair, and suddenly said again: “Senior Brother Fucang, how did you smile at the ninth princess last time?”

…Still bringing this up. She had probably forgotten the evil deed of forcibly pushing him out back then.

“Want to know?” He gently asked in return.

Xuan Yi nodded.

He didn’t speak. His fingertip lightly traced twice on her bare belly, tickling her so much she swam in one rush from the collar to the sleeve opening. With a poof, she transformed back to human form. Caught off guard, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, pinching her waist several times. She nearly laughed herself to tears. Fucang said indifferently: “Your laugh is quite good.”

This fellow was too wicked, bullying her with all his might when she was at her weakest. When she became powerful again in the future, she absolutely had to get revenge. Xuan Yi forcefully scratched his hand several times.

Several drops of tears from just laughing still remained on her eyelashes, so he kissed them away. Recently, because she had no dragon scales, his wicked nature had actually grown much greater than before. As he kissed, he couldn’t help but follow along her jaw to kiss toward her ear, sucking a bruise there.

“Does it hurt?” He lightly touched that mark, asking in a low voice.

She forcefully nodded again.

“Really?” His hand passed through the silk garment, stroking her heart. Her skin was already burning hot.

False. Xuan Yi hooked his neck and opened her mouth to bite his ear.

After the revelry’s clamor scattered, in a state between sleep and wakefulness, she heard Fucang saying something to her, vaguely about “returning to Zhongshan” and such. Yes, she had finally grown dragon scales. She should let Qing Yan and Father be happy too. Then they’d go back tomorrow to visit. After the visit, she still wanted to go to many places with him. Oh right, she hadn’t forgotten about the brothel in the lower realm either—she definitely had to find an opportunity to see how beautiful the courtesans were. And also, those immortal islands on the four seas he mentioned last time were very interesting too. She wanted to see them.

But if he was too busy, just staying inside Chun Jun reading books, and also watching him exterminate scattered demon race members, was also quite interesting.

Xuan Yi fell happily asleep.

When she woke again, she was already in the dragon-nurturing pool atop Zhongshan Mountain. Father Qing Yan and Fucang were keeping watch by the pool’s edge, not knowing what they were saying. Seeing her awake, Fucang said warmly: “Properly grow your dragon scales in the dragon-nurturing pool. When I have time, I’ll come see you every day.”

All right then. Xuan Yi blew out a string of bubbles in the cold qi-overflowing dragon-nurturing pool. Those pleasant journeys would have to wait until later.