Since ancient times, the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been considered one of the most subtle and difficult challenges a family can face. Handled well, it adds infinite harmony and warmth; handled poorly, it can easily ignite conflict and even shake the very foundations of a marriage.
And right now, with both of Fuli's parents gone, Fu Hua felt that as his only cousin, she bore an undeniable responsibility.
She had to be the gatekeeper for him. She absolutely could not stand by and watch her simple, innocent, kind, and adorable little cousin be swindled out of his purity by some scheming woman with ulterior motives—or one who was just thirsty for his ji-yin.
Take, for instance, the woman standing beside Fuli right now, the smiling Heaven-Smiting General of the Yaoqing.
Objectively speaking, her status and position were just barely a match for her cousin. Her looks were passable, and her figure was decent enough.
As for her age…
Ahem!
The Celestial Phoenix, already over fifty-five thousand years old, let her gaze wander slightly, deciding to skip over that rather sensitive topic for the moment.
As for everything else, Feixiao's personality was indeed a bit assertive, but she was far from unreasonable. She was steady, magnanimous, and understood how to be flexible and tolerant, not one to rigidly stick to rules. You could almost say she had no shortcomings.
The only problem was her inability to carry on the family line.
Reproductive isolation existed between Foxians and humans. Even if a passionately-in-love young couple didn't care about it during the honeymoon phase—and might even find it more convenient and cost-effective—the reality of being unable to have children would eventually crush the vast majority of them when it came to marriage.
In Fu Hua's old-fashioned view, Fuli wasn't some pure-blooded dragon who could impregnate all of creation. If they were truly to be together, they would sooner or later have to face this cruel reality.
Unless… her cousin took another wife who could bear children?
The thought popped into her head unbidden.
Hua's gaze fell upon Fuli once more, her cool eyes drifting unconsciously downward, finally settling three inches below his navel.
Hmm, with his capital and scale, once he reaches S-rank, let alone marrying one more, marrying a whole cartload probably wouldn't be a problem.
Even if his rank wasn't high enough, there were highly effective medicinal pills and auxiliary formations to compensate.
Fu Hua remembered that the genius Diviner named Qingque had created a peculiar formation called the "All Beings Are Equal Formation." When activated, it could forcibly equalize the physical attributes of anyone who entered to a similar level. Not only was it a killer weapon on the battlefield for the weak to defeat the strong, but it was also a killer weapon… on the bed.
Beyond that, there was The Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon. The book had little to do with the Yellow Emperor himself and was a classic pseudepigraphical work, much like how The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica was attributed to Shennong—all to bolster its authority by borrowing the name of an ancient sage king.
After all, there was no way Ji Lin (the Yellow Emperor) could have ascended to heaven in broad daylight after pleasuring three thousand women. She literally didn't have the equipment for it, you know?
But the techniques and medicines recorded within it did have some effect. Should she get them for her cousin—wait! Am I letting my thoughts get a little too out of hand?!
Snapping back to reality, Hua quickly shook her head, flinging those increasingly absurd thoughts away.
"We were just about to head to the Yaoqing's encampment to collect some compensation," Fuli replied, answering her unspoken question while she was brainstorming.
"Compensation?" Fu Hua subconsciously glanced at the bustling registration point for the Wardance preview tournament not far away. At a time like this, the word "reward" immediately brought that to mind.
"Precisely," Feixiao said with a refreshing smile, taking the initiative to continue the conversation. "Your cousin here has performed a great service. It's just that due to special circumstances, it's not convenient to commend him publicly. So, as compensation, he gets to personally pick a reward to his liking."
"Is that so..." The girl frowned slightly.
To be honest, Fu Hua herself found it difficult to pass judgment on the rules of this Wardance. What repulsed her the most was its cruel nature, treating human life as a game.
However, she also knew that to the major figures who participated in the planning meetings, the lives of freelance operatives and members of smaller factions were of no consequence.
If it weren't for the insistence of a few—with the Galaxy Ranger representative even slamming his revolver on the table and roaring—the rest of those heartless bastards wouldn't have minded lowering the entry requirements to below C-rank.
To put it bluntly, when these restrictions were first proposed, many openly clamored that the lives of freelancers and small organizations were just consumables. So what if the strong take the weak onto a high-intensity battlefield and the weak die? What's the big deal?
But in the end, for the sake of appearances and public image, the Taixu Front, as the organizer, made the final call and set a bottom line. At least the current rules largely ensured that the strength of team members wouldn't be too disparate, preventing the frequent occurrence of extreme tragedies where the strong would either secretly dispose of their burdensome teammates or imprison them to farm points as a lone wolf.
As for whether those wandering mercenaries knew about this inside story? Some could see it, some couldn't. But as long as the rewards were tempting enough and could be cashed in, they would risk their lives for it.
One couldn't judge these desperadoes by the standards of a peaceful society. Even if they weren't quite as beastly as the thugs that Pela hunted down, who among them didn't have blood on their hands?
What if they ended up screwing over their own people? That was the purpose of Fu Xuan's negative-point system, specifically designed to dissuade people from Shenzhou. As for the rookies from other factions… well, if they got screwed, they got screwed. The various factions present were hardly a united band of friendly partners. If not for the deeply hidden, common external threat of the World Serpent, the representatives would most likely have started beating each other's brains out the moment they met.
Ultimately, as the Honkai crisis intensified, the top organizations would inevitably seek to centralize power. The small and medium-sized factions, unwilling to be annexed, would desperately resist, and the dirty dealings behind the scenes were simply innumerable.
As for the fairy tale of a low-level nobody rising to the top? That was just for show, a seemingly fair opportunity to make the scene look good. Who actually believed it was possible?
Dancing to rules set by others might look spectacular, but in essence, you were still just a weakling unable to participate in the rule-making, forced to lick blood from the razor's edge to survive. For the rule-makers, if it achieved their goals, the rules themselves could be trampled at any time.
Brutally cynical? Standard operating procedure for the ruling class.
As the Marshal of the Taixu Front, Fu Hua was, of course, aware of all this. Even if her sometimes overly pure mind couldn't immediately grasp the intricacies, people like Situ Qinghong would patiently explain them to her ever-virtuous self.
So, were the higher-ups of the Taixu Front afraid that their Marshal would find it unbearable and suddenly intervene? The answer was no. As mentioned many times before, Fu Hua's position as Marshal was largely a symbolic, honorary title, mainly serving to boost morale and act as a figurehead.
It was like the relationship between political appointees and civil servants in some parliamentary systems; no matter how loud the appointee shouted, the actual execution and interpretation of rules remained firmly in the hands of the civil servants, the real managers.
You could vent your dissatisfaction, and I would listen to the leadership's criticism with a fawning smile, but then it would be "read but no reply, and I'll do it again next time."
Unless you could do better, raise a banner of rebellion, and lead the Taixu Front to greater prosperity.
Could Fu Hua do that?
She couldn't.
She had long ago soberly realized that she wasn't cut out for it, nor was she good at the intricate power plays and balancing of interests. That was why she had spent so long in seclusion on Mount Taixu, trying not to interfere in worldly affairs, lest her good intentions make things worse.
The girl simply had too much of a conscience, and to be a qualified leader, the last thing you needed was to be emotional.
"By the way, why would Big Sis Himeko have you participate in this kind of competition?" Fuli asked, a little strangely and a little dissatisfied. The identity of the Taixu Marshal was scheduled to be officially announced at the end of this celebration. If people found out that the esteemed Celestial Phoenix had condescended to participate in a preparatory match aimed at the younger generation, it would be utterly humiliating.
"It's alright," Hua shook her head, offering her concerned cousin a faint smile. "Qinghong and the others and I have already discussed it. From now on, Fu Hua is Fu Hua, and Azure Empyrea is Azure Empyrea."
"When the time comes, I will attend the ceremony in the traditional image of white hair, red eyes, and cloaked in flames. That is the most widely known form of the Celestial Phoenix recorded in historical texts," she said softly. "As for the gray hair and green eyes, let that remain for the current A-rank Valkyrie, Fu Hua."
"White hair and red eyes..." Fuli's eyes shone with undisguised longing and admiration. "I really want to see you like that, cousin."
That was the primordial source of the Shenzhou "white hair fetish"! It was literally etched into their DNA!
"Do you want to see it now?" Fu Hua asked gently, her tone serious.
Although the area was crowded, if her cousin wanted to see it, she was willing to grant his wish. As for the potential commotion and onlookers, she could just use the power of Fenghuang Down afterward to perform some harmless memory alteration on the relevant people.
"Maybe not right now. There are too many people here."
The concern was mutual. Even knowing his cousin's capabilities, Fuli didn't want her to expend extra effort on troublesome clean-up just to satisfy his momentary whim. Besides, there was plenty of time in the future.
He changed the subject, "Strange, has the World Serpent not contacted you yet, cousin?"
Whether through the foresight of a regressor or through half a year of in-depth investigation by Theresa and others, the fact that the World Serpent organization was closely related to the Previous Era was already undeniable. And when it came to the Previous Era, it was impossible to bypass the Celestial Phoenix, a survivor and Flame-Chaser of that time.
Or rather, Hua, one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.
Fu Hua shook her head. "No."
Her memories had been mostly burned away by the first rated power of Fenghuang Down. Although she later learned about parts of the Previous Era's past through Prometheus and Dr. MEI and could read historical documents to understand recent major events, the long millennia in between were still a vast, blank fog for Fu Hua.
As a result, the World Serpent had never, from beginning to end, taken the initiative to make any contact with this Flame-Chaser who should theoretically be one of their own.
Of course, it was also possible that they had a guilty conscience and didn't dare to approach her.
Serpent Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company under the World Serpent, was founded in 2000 by the high-ranking cadre Jackal, with its headquarters in Giza, Egypt.
The company's core business was the research and development of anti-Honkai energy drugs and genetic medicine, and it maintained a cooperative relationship with Schicksal, with multiple branches established worldwide.
In 2014, it even cooperated with Shenzhou to establish an industrial branch in Arc City to produce the anti-Honkai energy vaccine HBA-022.
However, the underground laboratory in its industrial zone was secretly used for inhumane Stigmata activation experiments and research related to Honkai beastification.
So, the question was: during the research and development process involving controversial human experiments, would that woman Jackal go through the trouble of transporting all the human consumables for these Stigmata activation experiments from other countries, risking huge losses and exposure?
Or would she choose the more convenient option...
And how many more camouflaged strongholds like Serpent Pharmaceuticals were hidden within the vast territory of the world's most populous nation?
"Oh," Fuli nodded, not surprised by the answer. He glanced at the bustling crowd around them. "Did you come to register alone, cousin? Do you want me to join you?"
What about the compensation reward? It wasn't going to grow wings and fly away. Nothing should get in the way of him spending time with his dear Cousin Hua! As for General Feixiao, he was sure she would understand.
After all, the legend of Azure Empyrea was also told in Qingqiu and Tushan. In fact, for anyone who had contact with ancient Shenzhou civilization, the Celestial was a topic that could never be avoided.
"I didn't come alone. I came with—huh?" Fu Hua looked left and right, only to find that the real-life Bocchi the Rock who had come with her to register had disappeared again. She wondered, "Where is Asakura-san?"
"Asakura? Asakura Miyuki, the one who awakened the Deva Stigmata?" Fuli clearly remembered this comrade-in-arms. "She helped me so much during the Third Eruption. I never even got a chance to thank her properly."
If it weren't for the Deva's healing and energy restoration, which were comparable to the first rated power of Abyss Flower, he would have had no way to fight the Herrscher of Thunder manifested from the Heavenly Emperor's divine ego.
Fu Hua nodded. "She came with me to register." She couldn't help but feel puzzled. "She was right here just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, she's gone."
"Maybe something urgent came up," Fuli speculated. "Anyway, I'll wait in line with you until she gets back."
"Okay."
Generally speaking, with the Heaven-Smiting General of the Yaoqing right there, registering was just a matter of a single word. But the two of them enjoyed this mundane process of waiting in line together. What was that saying again? When you're with someone you like, nothing you do feels boring.
The result was that even after Fu Hua successfully completed the registration for the preview tournament, the ever-elusive Asakura Miyuki never reappeared.
After promising Fu Hua that he would definitely come to watch her match tomorrow, Fuli finally turned to look at the slender figure not far away.
"Finished?"
Feixiao, who had been leaning lazily against the wall with her arms crossed, raised an eyebrow, showing no sign of impatience despite the long wait. A gentle breeze stirred, and the afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the lush leaves, softly falling on her waterfall of silvery-white hair.
"Yeah."
Fuli had told the general she could return to the encampment first when he decided to wait with his cousin. He hadn't expected her to wait until now, which made him feel a little guilty.
Little did he know, that guilt was exactly what she was aiming for. The beautiful general very naturally took Fuli's hand and walked magnanimously into the Yaoqing office.
After a few twists and turns, they entered a—gym?
A two-story building of gray bricks and black tiles stood quietly on the west side of the courtyard, its floor-to-ceiling glass windows revealing various pieces of fitness equipment inside.
"This is pretty much the style of my place," Feixiao said casually, pointing to a corner. "That's the staircase to the second floor. The bedroom is up there."
I don't think you needed to specify where the bedroom is, Little Li muttered inwardly.
"Next to the bedroom is my study, where I usually pile up and read various cultivation manuals and secret techniques."
"Let's go, let's go!" The boy turned the tables, grabbing her hand and eagerly rushing up to the second floor.
Numerous scrolls were quietly arranged on the bookshelves. At a glance, there was no dust, but their arrangement was relatively messy, clearly indicating that their owner frequently read them. Most were paper materials, which was a tradition of the Taixu Front.
To this day, physical barriers remained the best anti-theft method. The hackers here were omnipresent; with the various strange technologies spawned by Honkai energy, they could potentially hack into any electronic device to steal secrets.
"Pick whatever you like," Feixiao waved her hand grandly. "As per your previous request, you can choose any manual here that suits you."
"Thank you, General." Fuli didn't waste any more words and dove headfirst into the movement techniques section.
He had been using Void Dash for too long. It was fine before A-rank, but now that he had reached the Critical-rank, it was outdated. In fact, Fuli had thought about changing his movement technique long ago, but unfortunately, whether it was from the system store or the Peerless Martial Arts Catalog, nothing he found felt quite right.
He had to admit, Feixiao's private collection was indeed extensive and of high quality.
Fuli soon found a precious manual recording Yu's Pace. The name came from ancient times and later evolved into the Daoist practice of Pacing the Dipper. It was said to have been created by Yu the Great, though that was likely just an attribution.
The technique combined the Daoist Yu's Pace with the Earth-Shrinking Art, resulting in an incredibly difficult technique. Once cast, it allowed the user to move within the earth's ley lines, akin to teleportation, reaching any point connected by the lines in an extremely short time. Its difficulty and rank were second to none.
The only problem was that this technique was more suited for long-distance travel and large-scale strategic repositioning. What Fuli wanted was a close-combat evasion and dashing skill that could decide life and death in an instant. Thus, he regretfully put it back.
He picked up another one. This time it was a secret Vidyadhara combat movement technique, Serpentine Leap of Freedom. When used, it manipulated fluids to assist in high-speed movement or dodging in battle. Its effect was top-tier among B-rank movement techniques and completely met his requirements.
The only unfortunate thing was that Fuli himself didn't meet the prerequisite of controlling water flow. Perhaps he could do it after inscribing the Stigma of Wind, since liquid was also a type of fluid, but it was clearly not possible right now.
After that, he quickly browsed through numerous other manuals like Azure Stream Treading, Divine Form Hundred Changes, and Wind Riding Art, even touching upon the Western Achilles's Heel. But they either lacked a certain flair or had unacceptable flaws or risks.
It was at this moment that Feixiao, who had been quietly observing, understood his true needs from the focus of his selections.
The corner of her mouth curled up. She closed the door and silently approached him.
As the boy was frowning and flipping through a pile of manuals, a pair of warm and strong arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind.
The beautiful general rested her chin lightly on Fuli's shoulder, her warm breath caressing his ear as she whispered in a deep, magnetic voice full of temptation:
"Stop looking at these... Big sister here has something much better."
"What did you think of the Arashi Body from earlier?"
"That's my own creation, a one-of-a-kind A-rank movement technique."
"If you want to learn it... I can teach you personally, you know?"
Her voice was like aged wine, carrying a hint of lazy huskiness and undeniable confidence.
Fuli, finally noticing the closed door:
(° °;)
Bu hao!
Big Sis Feixiao, nooo!!!