After a nice hot shower, Du Yu took Xiaobai and headed to the last empty room in the house.

The other Demon Pets all had their own little spaces, so of course Du Yu couldn't play favorites.

There were four empty rooms in Du Yu's house.

The main bedroom counted as Prince Yan's bedchamber; the children's room was shared by Little You Ying and Little Tai Sui—though most of the time, Little Tai Sui was still under the Firethorn Tree, receiving special training from the Gold Medal Teacher.

Another room was Du Yu's study, where he kept Demon Soldiers, rings, and so on.

The last empty room, naturally, was saved for Bai Yujing.

"What kind of environment do you want?" Du Yu rested a hand on the snow-white deer antler, thinking this room really didn't need much decoration at all.

Especially after nightfall, the multi-colored flowers on Xiaobai's antlers emitted a magical glow, which was beautiful enough, perfectly magical!

"Nai~" Xiaobai naturally understood Du Yu's words.

She called softly, nudged Du Yu with her antlers, and gently pushed him out of the room together.

It seemed Xiaobai misunderstood—she didn't want to live here alone after all.

"You silly little deer, it's fine whether you live here or not."

Being pushed, Du Yu glanced back, smiling as he continued, "We only have so many rooms at home. If I contract more Demon Pets later, the rooms will get taken by others!"

"Nai?" Bai Yujing stopped in her tracks, tilted her head, and looked at Du Yu curiously, blinking her lively eyes.

Du Yu: "Changed your mind?"

Little Fen Yang: "Du Yu, you're so weak~"

Hearing the sudden comment, Du Yu was resigned: "What now?"

Little Fen Yang mumbled, "All your communication with Xiaobai is just guesswork."

Du Yu: "..."

It's true—Bai Yujing could understand him, but Du Yu really had no clue what "Nainai" meant.

The Demon Soul·Little Du Yu in his acupoint lacked all spirituality.

It was just like a little clay figure—if its little arms and legs didn't break off, that was a success; forget about talking!

"Let me help you." As Little Fen Yang spoke, she quietly flew out from Du Yu's body and perched on Bai Yujing's back, trying to look all knowledgeable.

After a round of communication, Little Fen Yang raised her little hand and pointed at the living room: "This territory, Xiaobai wants it!"

Du Yu: "Huh?"

Little Fen Yang: "The rooms are too small. Xiaobai can't run. Only the living room is useful."

"Ah..." Du Yu scratched his head. The room was big enough for humans, obviously.

But for Xiaobai, it really wasn't enough space to romp around.

Since the entire building's floor plans were the same, that meant Master Qing's first floor was the same size as Du Yu's own home.

The living room was nearly 200 square meters, and only here could Xiaobai actually run around a bit.

"Alright, let me decorate it for you!" Du Yu signaled to the Firethorn Tree, looked around, and finally landed his gaze on the open balcony.

The Firethorn Tree's branches were already horrifyingly dense, nowhere left for anything to stretch, and the balcony was completely swallowed up by a sea of green.

Under Du Yu's command, the Firethorn Tree twisted a mass of branches together to mimic "little trees." With several mini-trees set up, Bai Yujing now had her own "forest home" on the balcony.

Just as Du Yu was basking in his success and Xiaobai was happily shaking her antlers, Little Fen Yang suddenly flew off her back and back into Du Yu's body.

This time, Du Yu had learned from experience.

He immediately turned his head, and a moment later saw Master Qing carrying Little Tai Sui into the living room.

Du Yu secretly praised: "Little Fen Yang, your perception ability is top notch!"

"That's part of it," Little Fen Yang muttered, "but the Firethorn Tree told me too—it's the one who opened the door for Aunt Qingqing."

"Oh, right!" Du Yu's expression got weird, muttering, "Damn, I'm really a dumb Du Yu now..."

"Hee hee~"

"Get ready, Sword Province will be picking us up soon." Yang Qingqing bent down and set Little Tai Sui on the ground.

"We're leaving now?"

Yang Qingqing looked at Little Tai Sui, who had gotten to his feet and was running over to Du Yu, her face showing a faint smile: "Mm."

"Then I'll go change." Without hesitation, Du Yu strode towards the main bedroom.

"Ying!" Originally running in a straight line, Little Tai Sui immediately veered off when Du Yu left, scampering after him.

When Du Yu had put on his Black Rock Tree Coat and came out, Master Qing was nowhere in the house.

He patiently waited a little while—sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Senior Brother Fu called him.

"Brother Tree, keep the house safe! I'll be back in a few days." Du Yu took the Demon Soldier Linked Beads and Demon Soldier Pattern handed over by a branch and patted the Firethorn Leaves.

With the Firethorn Tree seeing him off, Du Yu gathered his Demon Pets and headed downstairs with Xiaobai.

Sure enough, a black sedan was waiting outside the apartment building.

He opened the back door first for Xiaobai to hop in, placed the Demon Soldier Bow inside, then pulled open the front passenger door: "Good afternoon, Senior Brother Fu... Whoa~"

Du Yu looked at the beautiful Pear Blossom Fox on the front seat and couldn't help but sigh in wonder: "Xiaohua's grown so big already!"

Fu Jianzhou smiled: "Yeah."

"Tsk tsk." Du Yu clicked his tongue, recalling the scene when he rescued the Pear Blossom Fox.

Back then, it was just a tiny thing.

Pear Blossom Fox, though a "fox" in form, wasn't a flesh-and-bone being like Xiaoyan. The Pear Blossom Fox was a Celestial Treasure Race Demon Beast, its entire body pieced together by pure white pear blossoms, always emitting the fragrant scent of pear flowers.

Once grown, the Pear Blossom Foxes became rather large. Though this one was an Earth-level Demon Pet, it was already bigger than the Heavenly-level Xiaoyan.

The Pear Blossom Fox was about half a meter long. Compared to the Fire Fox Race, its pear-blossom tail wasn't so big or long.

"Ying!" Hua Mantang looked up at Du Yu, of course remembering this Human boy. After all, more than a month ago, they'd spent a long time together living in Bamboo Grove.

Du Yu bent over and picked up the graceful Pear Blossom Fox, inhaling the pear blossom fragrance, and plopped himself in the front seat: "If Little Mengnan saw you, she'd probably be killed by your beauty!"

"Pa~"

The elegant Pear Blossom Fox in his arms suddenly shattered.

Du Yu was so startled he didn't dare move. All he felt was a shower of pear blossom petals, swirling around him like it was raining flowers.

Just two seconds later, Hua Mantang reconstituted, and a little girl quietly took a seat in Du Yu's lap.

She was wholly pieced together by pure white pear blossom petals—even her hair was woven from folded petals.

She looked to possess a delicate, fragmented beauty. Her fox eyes glinted with mischief as she gazed at Du Yu.

Du Yu: ???

"Mantang, stop fooling around." Fu Jianzhou said softly.

In the next instant, the little girl fashioned of petals shattered again, turning back into a Pear Blossom Fox.

For a moment, Du Yu had no idea what to do!

What a Pear Blossom Fox!

Seriously, that was wild...

Du Yu carefully put Hua Mantang into Fu Jianzhou's arms.

Fu Jianzhou patted Hua Mantang's flowery head and looked at Du Yu with a smile: "That's a natural trait of the Pear Blossom Fox Race.

Once she advanced to Earth Level, her Intelligence Attribute improved a lot, and she started mimicking other life forms."

"Yeah, yeah." Du Yu nodded repeatedly. "No need to explain too much, Senior Brother."

Fu Jianzhou gave Du Yu a helpless, amused look.

"Pa!"

As they spoke, Hua Mantang shattered again into a pile of petals.

As the gently falling petals gathered, they formed a neat, square board.

Du Yu felt confused: "What's that?"

Fu Jianzhou hesitated: "Probably a TV?"

Du Yu: "Maybe it's a chopping board? Do you cook at home all the time?"

Fu Jianzhou: "..."

The back car door opened. Yang Qingqing, dressed in a black wool coat, returned Xiaobai to her body and finally sat down: "Let's go."

Whoosh~

The "pear blossom chopping board" flowed like a river to the back seat, gathering by the woman's side to reform.

"Ying~" Hua Mantang looked up at the woman and called softly.

"Hehe." Yang Qingqing smiled and reached out to tap the tip of Hua Mantang's nose.

Fu Jianzhou started up the car, and, looking into the rearview mirror at the cozy scene in the back seat, couldn't help but sigh deeply: "Sigh..."

"What's wrong, Senior Brother?" Du Yu whispered.

Fu Jianzhou shrugged, a bit helpless: "Sometimes, I wish Demon Pets would grow up faster and get stronger. Other times, I don't want them to grow up so fast."

"Why?"

Fu Jianzhou: "After reaching Spirit Level, most Demon Pets' mentality changes a lot. Spirit-level Demon Pets cultivate a Demon Soul; the way they see the world is different.

They shed their childishness, become more composed, and aren't so dependent on their Demon Tamers. Playful interactions like this become pretty rare."

"Hmm..." Hearing this, Du Yu felt a little emo too.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen Fu Jianzhou's Wolf Lake Dog·Qing Yi—whenever he wanted to summon Qing Yi for battle, it always took convincing!

If that ever happened to him...

If one day, Little You Ying was no longer mischievous, no longer liked to snuggle in his arms and mess with people, that'd be too sad.

Damn~

Du Yu scratched his head. Do I have some kind of masochist tendencies?

"Most Demon Pets." From the back, Yang Qingqing's cool voice cut in.

"Right." Fu Jianzhou nodded in agreement, "Some Demon Pets keep their nature—it really depends on the race, there are lots of influencing factors."

Fu Jianzhou composed himself and changed the topic: "Master Qing, are we exploring Gourd Mountain again?"

"Yes." Yang Qingqing toyed with Hua Mantang's petal paw. "Your Junior Brother has a different take on Gourd Mountain."

Fu Jianzhou: "Oh?"

Yang Qingqing was about to say more, but pulled out her phone.

Seeing the caller ID, Yang Qingqing's face became more serious. She answered: "Ms. Shu."

Meanwhile, far away in Shandai Province – Jingu City, Gourd Mountain area.

An ancient-style woman in a long white robe stood atop a mountain peak, a modern cellphone in hand, looking wildly out of place with her aura.

She looked down and spoke: "I heard you're coming back, bringing your student."

"Yes, Ms. Shu."

Shu Qinghe, expressionless, gazed into the giant gourd-shaped pit at her feet, where icy branches tangled and crisscrossed: "You and I have risked our lives together here more than once—no need to be so formal."

Yang Qingqing: "Mm, Sister Shu, wait for us. We should arrive at Gourd Mountain around 7 pm."

"Alright." The woman hung up and silently stared at the abyss below.

Meanwhile, in the pitch-black sedan, Du Yu turned to look at the back seat.

Seeing Du Yu's curious expression, Yang Qingqing couldn't help but smile: "A comrade I shared the battlefield with."

Du Yu: "She must be really strong, right?"

Yang Qingqing nodded: "She helped us conquer the Shadow Gu Tower."

Du Yu was stunned: "Shadow Gu Tower?"

Du Yu had conquered levels 1 and 2; Yang Qingqing, level 4!

As for the other, there was no way it was just Third Level·Demon Tamer, so it had to be stages 5, 6, or 7!

Demon Taming General, Demon Taming Emperor, or Demon Taming Saint?

No matter which power tier it was, for Du Yu, that was the stuff of legends!

Yang Qingqing turned to look out the window, speaking softly: "Since I'm bringing you into the mountains, naturally I need to do everything I can—one more safeguard."

Hearing this, Du Yu opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

"Mmm." In his mind, Little Fen Yang whispered, "Aunt Qingqing is so nice."

"Yeah..."

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