Wu Long looked at Zhao Xieren with a serious face but a playful look in his eyes.
"You still have a lot of work ahead of you, Old Man Zhao.
Who do you think would be one of the Deputy Valley Masters?"
He then added with a chuckle as the old man's already slightly red from before eyes became even redder and he bowed to Wu Long cupping his hands.
"Thank you, Daoist Wu... no, Valley Master"
Wu Long lightly laughed, standing up and raising Zhao Xieren's hands to stop him from bowing further.
"Hmm, Wu Long... if you've lived the life that you told us... isn't it strange age-wise for you to call Senior Zhao 'Old Man'?"
Wu Mengqi suddenly asked with a smug face, as a few beauties around made wry smiles.
'Hahaha, she still hasn't learned her lesson from before...'
Hua Ziyan inwardly chuckled as she saw the glint in Wu Long's eyes as he turned to Wu Mengqi.
"Hahaha! A cultivator's age is determined by their lifespan.
An immortal generally won't be considered old if they look and behave young.
But for a mortal cultivator, as long as they are near the end of their natural lifespan, being considered old is common knowledge.
He's an old man so I call him Old Man. What's so strange?
Hmph! Speaking without knowi-..."
As Wu Long made a look that foretold Wu Mengqi's future troubles and retorted, he suddenly froze with his words cut midway, slowly turning to Ye Ling who looked at him with a gentle smile.
"...of course that concerns only men..."
Three men sat on a porch outside the hall that the gathering was previously held in, as cheerful female voices could be indistinctly heard talking and laughing behind the doors not far behind their backs.
Wu Long, General Feng and Elder Hai were all propping up their cheeks with a fist, sour expressions on all three of them while Feng Huan a bit awkwardly stood to the side in front of them.
Zhao Xieren and Zhao Biren long since swiftly left the scene.
"...I clearly said it concerns only men..."
Wu Long murmured beneath his nose.
"...I only said Master Wu was enviable to have so many beautiful women around him... isn't that just being honest?..."
General Feng spoke in the same tone of voice.
"...and I only agreed, I just said it is every man's dream..."
Elder Hai's words could also be heard in the exact same tone.
"""Haa~... how unreasonable..."""
All three of them slightly sighed, Wu Long feeling a sense of camaraderie with General Feng and Elder Hai for the first time ever.
"Haha... well, if it is a trouble about your woman, isn't it a happy trouble? It means you have a woman to be troubled over..."
Feng Huan awkwardly made a slightly dry laugh as he spoke, his hopeful message causing all three men on the porch give him a look saying 'what is he talking about?' with only their eyes without turning their heads or otherwise changing their postures.
"Happy trouble? I wish you so much happy trouble in the future, youngster, you won't dare to look me in the eyes later!!!"
Elder Hai suddenly exploded as Wu Long and General Feng held him back while Feng Huan retreated with a confused expression.
"Haa~ it seems Brother Hai has quite a bit bottled up~..."
General Feng sighed, feeling so close to the man his way of addressing him changed to "Brother" while Wu Long inwardly agreed with his assessment.
"...but then again, if one often walks by the riverside, one's shoes will eventually get wet.
The Rice is cooked, so the only thing is to eat it"
But as General Feng's next words fell, Wu Long's face slightly twitched.
'Aaa~and it's gone...'
He inwardly concluded, feeling that the sense of camaraderie that was budding within him toward the red-haired man melted like a whisp of smoke in a windstorm.
"Well, I have some things to do, so no need to see me off"
Wu Long chuckled and stood up from the porch, patting his clothes to remove any dust, raising his hand to signal the others to be at ease and leisurely walking toward the mansion at the very top of the Peak of Unity.
As he arrived in the main bedroom, he was greeted by a graceful figure illuminated in the moonlight, a figure he noticed leaving the hall a bit before.
Xue Bing's icy turquoise eyes looked at him with seemingly usual expression, but there was something imperceptibly different about her gaze.
Something he saw the night before as she glanced at him in the light of the fireworks, and saw in the peeks she sent in his direction throughout the day.
"Congratulations on conquering your physique, Bing'er"
Wu Long chuckled, entering the room and closing the door behind him as her eyes very slightly widened.
She asked, as she now controlled her physique she could willingly freeze her emotions, which she did as they were hard to bear for her.
"By the look in your eyes.
While you succeeded in controlling your physique, your control is not perfect yet. But don't worry, you will be able to improve"
He shrugged, speaking in a light and carefree tone of voice.
I... wanted to ask if the time you spoke of has arrived yet"
She first nodded with understanding, and then asked him.
"That depends... what do you think?"
Wu Long chuckled, looking the beauty in the eyes.
"I... don't care if it arrived... I can't hold back anymore..."
She said as her cheeks turned rosy, turning her head slightly to the side, as her feelings, freed from the confines of her ability were about to burst.
Xue Bing was no longer able to hold back the desire to be his, to express her feelings.
And at the same time she wanted to feel what it felt like to be held in his embrace, an ancient, primal craving hidden deep within any human awakening within her.
'Which means that it has come'
Wu Long smiled, inwardly thinking as the beauty raised her hands to her sash, and her robes were enveloped by Spiritual Qi, the tied knots untying on their own as the whole outfit became unraveled, any cloth still remaining on her body removed using her Spatial Ring, as her robes fell to the floor.
Her long dark hair with dark blue hue freely falling on her bare shoulders and back as she took out two intricately designed hairpins and a beautiful hair comb, freeing them.