Life must go on somehow.

After the Glazed Palace on Yaolai Island was completed, Luo Yu clipped a few feathers and fashioned a new teleportation array within it, with a direct route leading straight to the Heaven-Defying Palace. Qin Yue also dispatched his subordinates in all directions to gather information on Wu Lin's whereabouts.

One of the reasons they established their stronghold here was to tempt the black dragon into seeking revenge, allowing them to trace its movements. To their surprise, a month passed without the slightest reaction from the black dragon.

The black dragon had been severely injured, and the mystical arts it used during its escape were extraordinary. Bai Wuhuo deduced that such an escape technique likely required burning primordial essence, causing immense damage to both its physical body and primordial spirit. Coupled with the beast's already critical condition, it was probably at death's door and unlikely to engage in any activities in the near future. It must have found some desolate, uninhabited place to hide.

Reflecting on their bitter lesson, Luo Yu and Qin Yue concluded that the irreversible consequences were ultimately due to their insufficient cultivation levels. Consequently, the two of them furiously farmed experience points, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage before long.

The three of them secretly traveled to the Kara Empire, finding a deserted location to advance to the Void-Transforming stage.

Aside from being momentarily mesmerized by the illusion of the black dragon during the inner demon phase, everything else went quite smoothly, hazard-free despite the suspense.

Ordinarily, the three siblings should have advanced simultaneously, but this time there were only two. Remembering Kitty, all three felt somewhat heavy-hearted, and entering the Void realm did not bring much excitement. Although the "Gold-Refined Version of Heaven-Stealing" had been blended with "Nirvana Essence Gold," due to the poor quality of the raw materials, it had nearly reached its limit after withstanding two rounds of Void-Transforming heavenly tribulations. Using it to survive the Deity-Unification heavenly tribulation was entirely out of the question; they could only take it back for their loyal underlings to scavenge, where it might barely suffice to withstand Nascent Soul heavenly tribulations.

Having completed their upgrades, the three tidied up and hastily returned to the Glazed Palace.

Upon entering the bedchamber, Luo Yu crawled onto the bed, sat cross-legged, and performed an introspective scan: the Nascent Soul within his body was much larger than before, now identical to an ordinary human infant. However, because the "body" of the Nascent Soul did not conflict with his physical flesh, it fortunately did not cause his belly to protrude like a pregnant woman's...

Even so, Luo Yu still felt somewhat awkward inside: he always felt as though he were nurturing something bizarre... It actually grew... Furthermore, Qin Yue had one in his belly as well; it really was far too strange...

He withdrew his spiritual sense and beckoned to Qin Yue, "Wife, come here!"

Clueless, Qin Yue obediently walked over, sat down beside him, and looked at him with an inquiring gaze.

Luo Yu chuckled, reached out to push Qin Yue down onto the silken quilt, and pressed himself on top with his rear end hoisted up. He even rubbed his head against Qin Yue's lower abdomen, pressing his ear to it as if listening intently.

For a moment, Qin Yue failed to grasp the meaning of this gesture and calmly let him mess about.

Putting on a serious act of listening for a moment, Luo Yu suddenly raised his head with an earnest expression and declared, "My wife, you've conceived... Your husband is going to be a father!"

Qin Yue froze, a row of dark lines instantly dropping down his face.

Seeing Qin Yue successfully teased by him, Luo Yu rolled around on the bed with irrepressible delight. "Hahaha~~! It's a big, chubby boy, and he looks just like his wife!"

Beyond endurance, Qin Yue pounced like a hungry tiger, trapping Luo Yu beneath him, and sneered, "I see the missus has lost her mind." He reached out to grab little Yu, gently pinching it. "Since it's a virgin, where on earth would a child come from? Could it be that the missus has gotten pregnant and fainted with joy? Allow your husband to investigate thoroughly."

Luo Yu struggled underneath him. "No... Ah... Ha, don't listen, it tickles~``"

After rolling around and making a fuss together for quite a while, Luo Yu saw that Qin Yue had no intention of letting him off and hurriedly changed the subject. "Why does the Nascent Soul grow larger? Did your parents ever tell you about this?"

Knowing this fellow wanted to divert his attention, Qin Yue chose not to punish him further. "My parents' cultivation never reached the Nascent Soul stage, so how could they understand the principles behind it?"

Luo Yu grew anxious. "Then will it keep growing larger and larger... until it finally can't fit anymore and limbs start poking out?"

Qin Yue slapped him on the head. "Idiot, acting foolish again. Have you never heard of 'feathering and ascending to immortality'? Since it's 'feathering,' it naturally resembles a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon, detaching itself from the physical body."

Luo Yu was astonished. "Ah? It even does that? Why didn't you ever tell me!"

Qin Yue replied, "You never asked."

Luo Yu said, "I always thought the physical transformation during foundation establishment and so on was feathering... Doesn't that count?"

Qin Yue shook his head. "Of course it doesn't. Qi-refining cultivators are 'human immortals,' and foundation establishment merely qualifies one as an earth immortal; you and I can now be considered on the level of 'divine immortals,' with 'celestial immortals' above us. Feathering is equivalent to Nirvana, and by then this physical body will likely leave behind only relics. The heavenly tribulations we've survived are merely lesser tribulations; failing them still leaves a physical body to return to. If a cultivator fails to endure the greater heavenly tribulation while their physical body has already undergone Nirvana... then there is no way out at all, and annihilation is the only path."

Luo Yu asked, "Can't we undergo body possession?"

With a deadpan expression, Qin Yue said, "How could there be so many tribulation-stage cultivators available for you to possess? A low-tier physical body cannot bear the soul and body of a tribulation-stage cultivator, and attempting possession would cause one to explode and die. After foundation establishment, the soul and spiritual energy merge into one, making it impossible to even become a ghost... Still, there are always exceptions, and perhaps the method to cheat death is simply unknown to anyone."

Luo Yu found this fascinating. "No wonder we couldn't damage Supreme Lao Jun's physical incarnation... So that's the unknown substance formed by the growth of the Nascent Soul! Buddhism claims the state of a Buddha is formless and featureless; it seems they were somewhat reliable after all..."

After pondering for a moment, he continued, "In that case, this stinking sack of skin of ours will be discarded sooner or later. Doesn't that make the body's function just like a cocoon—used to facilitate the soul's transition and provide energy? Is it actually just a form belonging to a certain stage in the evolution of human life? Much like the crutches people use during rehabilitation, which must eventually be thrown away one by one? Does this mean the highest form of human life is actually not bound by form?"

Qin Yue smiled faintly and said, "Perhaps not the 'highest form,' but merely a 'higher form'... Who can truly know what the highest level of life form is? Unless we stand higher."

Luo Yu was amused. "You learned that tone from me!"

Qin Yue replied, "Mmm... True, being spouses for a long time naturally brings some influence. However, these questions are a bit too far off to discuss just yet." Qin Yue's expression grew serious. "However, the missus's derangement is something your husband must treat properly... Otherwise, it might be too late once it drags on." With that, he lunged at Luo Yu, and the two figures instantly collapsed into the silken quilt, entangling together. Before long, the intermittent groans of the patient echoed through the room: "Mmh ah~~` Be gentler, it hurts~``` You thirsty... little goblin~~`` That place is going to break``` Ouch!"

...

Ever since the accident at the Thousand-Vine Immortal Gorge, none of the three dared to reveal the truth to their families, and over a month had already passed.

The old master missed his grandchildren dearly, and the moment the teleportation array was completed, he had hurriedly rushed over to the Glazed Palace to visit.

He walked a full circle around the palace, but alone failed to see Kitty, so he went to question Luo Yu and Qin Yue.

Just as the two were hesitating over whether to make a clean breast of it, that rascal Bai Wuhuo popped out from nowhere, transformed into the appearance of Luo Luozhi, and threw his arms around the old master, acting spoiled and adorable. The two of them were forced to swallow the words right back down their throats—though such behavior was an evasion of reality, they still couldn't bear to let Grandpa suffer. Better to conceal it for a day and get through it day by day...

However, while Bai Wuhuo could fool Grandpa and Dad, he couldn't fool Mom.

On the third day after the two entered the Void-Transforming stage, Mom and Dad suddenly passed through the teleportation array to grace the Glazed Palace with an inspection visit.

The newlyweds and "Luo Luozhi" hastily rushed out to greet them, leading the two on a tour around the island, and instructed their subordinates to prepare a banquet of fresh-water spiritual shellfish and shrimp, a local specialty of the Langhai Plains.

After consuming the Clear-Insight Relics, Dad and Lampeis retained their senses of taste, and it didn't affect their appetites in the least. Lampeis, in particular, was like a dog that had starved for centuries; as long as it wasn't fairy grass or immortal fruit, he found everything delicious and wasn't picky at all.

Father Chu ate three spiritual shellfish in a row and was in quite a good mood. Casually, he spoke up, "Where's Xiao Huo? Why isn't he called back to eat? Did you tick him off, Kitty?"

"Luo Luozhi" froze instantly, and Luo Yu hastily said, "N... No, recently Baqi opened a branch in the north, and he went over there to manage it."

Father Chu nodded, giving it no further thought. "Why did you suddenly change locations? The teleportation array over there suddenly wouldn't work, and when I asked them what was going on, every single one of them claimed ignorance—Grandpa was worried sick... You should give advance notice the next time you relocate."

Luo Yu hurriedly nodded in assent.

Trembling with apprehension, the three waited upon Dad until he was satisfied, then bowed and scraped as they escorted him back into the teleportation array, only finally letting out sighs of relief.

To everyone's shock, Lampeis suddenly staged a surprise return that very evening.

At the time, the three of them along with the four great palace lords of the Heaven-Defying Palace were gathered together to discuss the roster of trusted aides they wished to promote—their subordinates' cultivation was far too low, and the Heaven-Defying Palace currently boasted only a scarce three or five Nascent Soul cultivators, which fell woefully short for conducting searches across the Mother Continent. They had to provide these subordinates with special training.

Just as their discussion was hitting its stride, Lampeis abruptly materialized. "Hi, good evening, babies!"

Luo Yu was startled out of his wits. "Y... Why are you back again! Where's my dad?"

Lampeis gracefully swept his gaze across the gathering. "Mommy lulled Daddy to sleep... Who are you looking for? Did Mommy's little sweetheart run away from home?"

Hearing this, the expressions of Luo Yu and the other two instantly paled into ash.

The four great palace lords fell completely silent, lowering their heads and shrinking backward to minimize their presence.

Lampeis's pupils contracted slightly. After waiting for a moment, he slowly reached out to rake his fingers through his hair, his voice dropping extremely low. "Mmm? Is there some problem... that cannot be frankly shared with Mommy?"

Qin Yue had never intended to keep it from him indefinitely anyway. Seeing him suddenly run back, he surmised that Lampeis must have grown suspicious, and simply stated bluntly, "Kitty... she is just as you think."

Lampeis turned his face slightly to the side, continuing to rake through his hair. His expression remained nonchalant, but the muscles on his shoulders suddenly tensed. "Just as Mommy thinks... And what is it that Mommy thinks? That's not entirely clear..."

With a deadpan expression, Qin Yue said, "You always scratch your head when you're nervous... I think you already understand."

"Bang!" A deafening explosion echoed through the great hall. Lampeis suddenly made his move, slamming Qin Yue against the wall. The wall behind him caved into a concave shape, splintering into a spiderweb of cracks like bullet-pierced bulletproof glass.

Lampeis's azure eyes turned blood-red as he clamped his arm around Qin Yue's neck, pinning him viciously into the fractured crevice. Fangs faintly flashed in his mouth. "Darling, don't tease Mommy... Today isn't April Fools' Day."

Qin Yue's expression remained utterly calm, though a trace of sorrow surfaced in his eyes. Meeting Lampeis's gaze in dead silence, he said, "Do you want to go outside and fight? Coincidentally, I have a bit of an interest in that."

Lampeis stared at him unblinkingly, fire practically spouting from his eyes.

Luo Yu had been frightened completely stupid by the berserk Lampeis—he had never seen him angry before, and had rarely even seen him "not smiling." Bai Wuhuo stood quietly to one side, making no move whatsoever.

The hall remained silent for a long while before Lampeis abruptly released Qin Yue and asked softly, "The person you are searching for... was it he who killed my sweetheart?"

"Mmm."

"Very well..." Lampeis reached out, gently lifting Qin Yue's chin, and said tenderly, "Darling, Mommy has a request: please make sure not to kill him... Giving in to a moment of impulse will rob you of a great deal of amusement, and Mommy believes you understand that, don't you?"

Without changing expression, Qin Yue turned his face away. "I understand. Have that little bunch of ghosts under your command search the chaotic region as well; I will give you the target's dossier."

Lampeis let out a soft chuckle, his fingertips withdrawing with fluid elegance.

He lifted his chin slightly, recovering the noble poise of a vampire prince—though the endless darkness and cruelty leaking from his eyes betrayed his true nature, alongside that trace of a smile at the corner of his lips that invariably carried a spine-chilling, perverted air.

"No problem... Mommy will prepare a uniquely tailored, meticulous service for this gentleman? Lady?... Oh, I suppose I should be getting back. If Daddy wakes up and finds Mommy isn't by his side, he'll be terribly upset." He turned and walked out of the hall, pausing briefly at the threshold. "It's best not to let Daddy know about this matter for now. We can discuss the rest next time; Mommy sneaked out, after all..." With that, he flashed away at top speed.