Nighttime, back hall of the Eternal Heaven Palace.
"If you won't let me watch how you punish Xiao Jietian, then I'll just secretly watch!"
A small white figure flapped its wings rapidly and landed in front of one of the palaces. Carefully, it pushed the door open just a crack.
By the time the little figure drew near, Xiao Jietian had already sensed its presence. A faint, meaningful smile curved his lips. Medusa and the others, however, were far too preoccupied to notice anything around them.
The small white silhouette tiptoed into the bedchamber.
Roughly half an hour later, the little figure seemed to realize it had been discovered. Covering its face in embarrassment, it bolted out of the palace and fled.
Up on the rooftop of Xiao Jietian's palace, the Heavenly Thunder Dragon watched the fleeing figure and curled its lip in disdain.
It was a Magical Beast itself—wasn't this sort of thing perfectly normal? And yet this one was so much worse than itself.
With another curl of its lip, it continued pretending to sleep on the roof.
An hour later, once everyone had fallen asleep, the Heavenly Thunder Dragon transformed into human form, slipped quietly into Xiao Jietian's palace, stripped bare, burrowed straight into his quilt, and promptly fell asleep draped across his body.
Xiao Jietian and Medusa opened their eyes, glanced over, and—seeing it was her—simply closed them again and went back to sleep. After all, this wasn't the first time.
…
Time passed in the blink of an eye. A whole year went by.
During that year, many graduates from Jia Nan Academy chose to join Boundless Heaven Hall, instantly injecting the organization with a large wave of fresh, talented blood.
Among them were Hu Jia, Ah Tai, and several others from the Inner Academy, as well as quite a few from the Alchemy Department.
As for Wu Hao, Lin Xiuya, and the like, some returned to their clans while others chose to remain temporarily at the academy as guest elders.
Xiao Jietian never forced any of them. Everyone had their own path to walk.
…
Early morning. Xiao Jietian, metal fishing rod in hand, arrived at the lake beside the Eternal Heaven Palace full of anticipation.
He found a nice spot, sat down, and began preparing to fish.
The reason he had suddenly decided to go fishing wasn't out of personal interest—it was because his beloved daughter, Xiao Meng, had said she wanted to eat fish.
He had no intention of using Dou Qi to cheat. He had been cultivating nonstop for so long that his usual entertainment and relaxation had dwindled to almost nothing. This was the perfect chance to unwind.
Han Yue, Qing Lin, and the other four women also found the idea interesting and decided to join in. Three of them sat not far from Xiao Jietian, also holding rods.
Zi Yan and Xiao Huiying, meanwhile, were playing with Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng. Both of them still retained a childlike innocence and genuinely loved spending time with little kids.
As for the fishing rods—each one was a gleaming golden-red, forged from Cloud Dream Phoenix metal. With their current resources, they could afford to be this extravagant.
All seven of them tacitly agreed not to use any Dou Qi. They fished like ordinary mortals, savoring this rare moment of tranquility.
The fishing itself wasn't important. What mattered was having loved ones by your side—wasn't that the very definition of happiness?
Half an hour later, Xiao Jietian began to seriously question his life choices.
Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of beginner's luck? A protection period?
He had never fished in either of his lives. By all logic, beginner's luck should have been overwhelmingly in his favor.
He glanced down at the empty bucket beside him, then at the buckets next to Han Yue and the others. Theirs were all brimming with fish.
His alone remained full of nothing but water.
"Want me to give you one?" Medusa glanced over, her tone dripping with mockery. Opportunities like this were rare.
Rubbing salt in the wound!
Xiao Jietian helplessly propped his head on one hand and gritted his teeth as he stared at the lake. "No need. I'm just chumming the water."
"Oh? Another one already? Did your chumming drift all the way over to my spot?"
Medusa gave a light tug and effortlessly pulled a glistening spiritual fish from the water. She deliberately dangled it in front of Xiao Jietian's face a few times.
"Could it be that all your chumming talent is reserved for women? No way… would anyone really be that skilled?"
So annoying. Such a beautiful woman—why did her mouth have to be so vicious?
The other five women, listening to the two bicker, covered their mouths and giggled softly.
"Maybe so."
"I think so too. Looks like we were all caught by his chumming."
Seeing Xiao Jietian's thoroughly depressed expression, Medusa was over the moon. She had finally gotten her revenge. He was always deliberately making her lose face in front of the sisters.
Xiao Jietian: Wasn't it because you were the most playful and stubborn one? Also, they were just jealous—you got the most attention.
"Meng Meng, Ling Ling, come here." Medusa waved to the two little girls.
"Fei Yan Mama~" The two children, now over two years old, were exquisitely carved like little jade dolls.
They had perfectly inherited the finest features of Xiao Jietian and their respective mothers. No one could imagine just how breathtakingly beautiful and ethereal they would become when they grew up.
"Come on, Fei Yan Mama will prepare fish for you. How would you like it cooked?" Medusa put away the Cloud Dream Phoenix metal rod, scooped the two girls into her arms, and asked gently.
"I want grilled!"
"I want braised!"
The two little ones bounced happily, their childish voices announcing their preferred cooking methods.
"Fei Yan Mama, I'll help you!" Without another word, the pair lifted the bucket together, flapped the tiny fiery-red wings on their backs, and flew straight toward the kitchen.
That's right—their cultivation had already reached the Dou Wang realm. Two years old and already Dou Wang. If word of this got out, it would stun countless people senseless.
"Daddy, good luck!" ×2
Before flying off, they didn't forget to cheer for their father.
Yun Yun and Ya Fei watched their excited daughters and playfully scolded them for forgetting all about their mothers the moment food was involved.
The women poured their fish back into the lake, then linked arms and headed toward the kitchen. As they passed Xiao Jietian, they didn't forget to toss him a few more encouraging words.
Among them, the Little Fairy Doctor was already nearly four months pregnant, while Medusa was over seven months along. Han Yue and Qing Lin had not yet conceived—Qing Lin's special physique still needed time to fully mature, and Han Yue was waiting to conceive together with her.
As always, Xiao Jietian used physique-enhancing cards and nourishing pills on the two fetuses.
Because Medusa was half-human, half-Magical Beast, and her tribe possessed special secret methods for nourishing the womb, Xiao Jietian also took out the Eighth Grade pill he had once been rewarded by the system—the Dragon Marrow Nourishing Blood Pill—and gave it to her.
The pill complemented the Snake-People Tribe's secret technique perfectly. Medusa was so moved that she threw her arms around him and kissed him wildly, then combined the pill with the secret method to nourish the fetus.
Even though she was already seven months pregnant, her belly showed almost no sign of swelling. According to both the Snake-People Tribe's traditions and her own bloodline, the gestation period was significantly longer.
…
About half an hour later, Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng flew back and landed directly in Xiao Jietian's arms. Xiao Meng spoke in her soft, childish voice:
"Daddy, it's time to eat."
Xiao Ling, on the other hand, grinned mischievously: "Daddy, Mama and the others told me to tell you—if you can't catch any fish, just drain the lake. Don't spoil their appetite, hehe."
Xiao Jietian's face darkened with black lines. He stroked Xiao Meng's head and lightly pinched Xiao Ling's cheek.
"You two go back first. Daddy will clean up here."
"Okay, Daddy! Be quick!"
His two little daughters flapped their fiery-red wings and flew away.
He always felt like his daughters had somehow swapped personalities. Xiao Ling was nothing like Yun Yun's gentle, scholarly demeanor—instead she was mischievous and cheeky like Ya Fei. Xiao Meng, meanwhile, was the gentle one.
Clang!
"You're such a loser! You can't even catch a single fish!"
The empty bucket at Xiao Jietian's feet was suddenly kicked flying by a small foot. A mocking voice rang out from the side.
He turned his head to see Zi Yan standing there with both hands on her hips, her face full of disdain and barely concealed amusement.
The moment she saw Xiao Jietian set down his fishing rod with a dangerous glint in his eye, Zi Yan suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"I—I'm going back to eat! That's all, goodbye!"
With that, she hurriedly turned to scamper away on her short little legs.