After one person and one beast finished their meal, Ye Ju collapsed on the beach and finally had time to examine Xiao Bai.
“Xiao Bai, you’re four-tailed now, do you have any new abilities?”
“Master, I can shapeshift now, but my shapeshifted form isn’t as good-looking as yours.” Xiao Bai’s timid voice carried a hint of shyness.
“Xiao Bai, don’t call me Master anymore, call me Sister. Does shapeshifting mean you can turn into a human? Come on, show Sister!”
Ye Ju thought to herself that there were no ugly fox spirits in ancient legends, and she knew her own appearance. She was at best considered delicate. However, come to think of it, she hadn't looked in a mirror since arriving on the isolated island. And who said one could see clearly in water? She swore she'd kill them if they told her that! It was utter nonsense; the vague outlines of her features were nowhere near clear enough to be considered looking in a mirror.
“Okay Sister, I have a Sister now! Xiao Bai was so lonely for a very, very long time. It was just me from the moment I came out of my shell…” Xiao Bai was incredibly excited!
Hearing this, Ye Ju felt a pang of sadness. She could imagine Xiao Bai living a muddled life on the island without sentience, perhaps occasionally fighting electric eels and losing, getting bullied. She had originally wanted to discipline it, but now she couldn’t bear to. The grievances it must have accumulated over time were immense. Catching fish was likely difficult too, otherwise, the blue spirit fish, being top-tier food for fox-dragons, would have certainly been very good for Xiao Bai, boosting its cultivation. If it had eaten a lot, it would have gained sentience and started cultivating long ago.
“Sister~ Sister, I’m shapeshifting now!” After speaking, Xiao Bai spun around in place as if casting a spell. Xiao Bai transformed into a little girl, but with black hair and two fox ears peeking out, plus four tails on its behind. It looked so adorable, around seven or eight years old, with very beautiful and delicate features. Ye Ju was stunned; it was too cute! Wearing the same shorts and tank top as Ye Ju, it looked utterly charming. Ye Ju couldn’t resist stroking its pink ears. Its black hair cascaded past its waist. If it were dressed in ancient court attire, it would have been a perfect little fairy!
“Xiao Bai, why didn’t Xiao Bai’s ears and tails disappear?” Ye Ju asked curiously.
“Sister~ Sister, because I just advanced, my state is unstable, and I can’t fully shapeshift,” Xiao Bai said shyly.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll just drink more spirit spring water and eat spirit fruits, and then you’ll be able to fully shapeshift. We need to cultivate diligently, let’s work hard together!” Ye Ju couldn’t help but comfort Xiao Bai. Seeing its four fluffy white tails, she couldn’t resist petting them a few times. The texture felt like it would be very warm in winter.
It seemed Xiao Bai didn’t know what clothes were. It just saw what Ye Ju was wearing and mimicked her, wearing the same shorts and tank top. Ye Ju suddenly felt she could use her spiritual power to manifest a Tang dynasty outfit she liked. She recalled some beautiful Tang dynasty clothes she had seen on Earth. With an idea, her body changed, and a beautiful Tang dynasty dress appeared.
Seeing Ye Ju suddenly change into a beautiful outfit, Xiao Bai couldn’t help but exclaim with delight, “Sister~ Sister~ I want clothes like that too! Can I have clothes like that too?”
Ye Ju said, “Of course!” Then Xiao Bai transformed into an exact replica of Ye Ju’s Tang dynasty dress, just a miniature version. Seeing it like this, Xiao Bai looked incredibly beautiful! Ye Ju had never seen such a beautiful little loli before. “Xiao Bai, you are truly too beautiful, too adorable!” Ye Ju couldn’t help but pinch its cheek.
“Hehe, Sister, you are also very beautiful. Sister, don’t you know what you look like?” Xiao Bai really wanted to know what it looked like! Thinking about the principles behind making a mirror, should it try to make one? But it would have to make glass first, then find mercury or tin foil… Glass could be fired from sand, and it would need to find limestone and other materials. It didn’t know if seashells could be used… Forget it. It was better to cultivate with this time.
Not long after, with a *bang*, Xiao Bai suddenly reverted to its original form.
“Sister, my spiritual power is unstable, and the shapeshifted form can’t last long,” Xiao Bai’s slightly annoyed voice sounded.
Ye Ju patted Xiao Bai’s head and quickly comforted it, saying it was fine. “You’ve gained sentience and shapeshifted in less than three months; that’s already very impressive.”
After saying this, Ye Ju herself was a bit stunned. She seemed to be quite capable too. Transiting from an ordinary person to a cultivator was incredibly easy…
She had lost track of time on this island. At first, she would check the sundial, but later, after meditating and regulating her breathing for cultivation, she no longer knew what year it was! She estimated it had been about three months since she arrived on the island.
Seeing the sun seeming to be setting in the west, she thought of the ice spirit fruit. Xiao Bai didn’t know about it yet, so she’d give the little one a surprise.
“Let’s go, Xiao Bai, Sister will take you to eat something delicious.” Getting up from the beach, she still wasn’t quite accustomed to wearing this outfit. She again used her spiritual power to manifest shorts and a t-shirt for convenience. Clothes were still necessary, but manifesting them with spiritual power consumed too much. However, Ye Ju didn’t know that in the cultivation world, very few people could manifest clothing. She picked up the purple bamboo water flask. This time, she wanted to use the stone milk for cultivation, and the spirit spring side was safer.
Upon reaching the spirit spring, Xiao Bai immediately rushed over, scrambling up a tree in a few moves. “Wow, there are so many spirit fruits! Sister, did you grow them?”
Ye Ju said with a smile, “Of course. You can have as much as you want. But you need to know your limits!”
After instructing Xiao Bai, Ye Ju also took out the stone milk she had stored earlier and asked:
“Xiao Bai, what happens if you eat this stone milk?”
“Besides getting stronger, it also tastes bad.” Xiao Bai said with a look of disdain.
Ye Ju…
It seemed not bad, getting stronger was also good. She wanted to ask about Yu Shou, but Yu Shou had been motionless in her sea of consciousness since she knocked them both out, falling into a deep sleep.
Ye Ju was also reckless. She directly downed two bottles of stone milk. She sat cross-legged under the tree to regulate her breathing, while Xiao Bai was already gobbling up spirit fruits one after another, embodying the image of a glutton. For mortal bodies, eating too many spirit fruits would be unbearable, but for spirit beasts with strong physiques, it was not a problem.
Shortly after Ye Ju sat down, she felt a surge of immense spiritual energy, almost making her cry out. Her dantian and sea of qi began to spin rapidly. The five-colored bead spun around her sea of qi like a celestial body in space. The energy of the stone milk converged in her dantian, then spread throughout her body along her meridians, as if seeping into her bones. The pain was excruciating, making Ye Ju wish she were dead. It was an unprecedented pain that pierced her very bones. Her limbs and bones felt as if they were being hammered, and then slowly repaired. She could visibly see the energy of the stone milk destroying in front of her, and white spiritual energy repairing behind it. This was the greatest crisis Ye Ju had encountered since she started cultivating – a complete reshaping of her meridians and bones. Ye Ju opened her eyes and, with great effort, picked up another flask of spirit spring water, gulping it down. The spiritual energy of the spirit spring water was gentle.
Much later, she would realize that this unreliable fellow had really gotten her into trouble. The stone milk couldn’t be absorbed all at once; its energy was too domineering. Most people would have exploded and died, and it was only suitable for slow absorption.