If Leng Qingqiu hadn't brought it up, Ye Ling would have almost forgotten.
In the Cultivation World, it was perfectly normal for the Demon Race to take human form.
If he really had a cat demon, he'd probably want her to transform once or twice.
But that wasn't the main point right now. What truly caught his attention was—
"Entertainment with the Demon Race… There's actually a brothel that specializes in that?"
Ye Ling never hesitated to assume the worst about human nature, but even he hadn't expected supposedly pure-hearted cultivators to run places like that.
"Heh. Men."
Thinking he was interested, Leng Qingqiu spoke in a teasing tone.
"There are places like that. If you want to go, I can help you get in touch."
She had only brought it up earlier to change the subject.
But judging from Ye Ling's expression now, he really did seem like he was considering it.
"Your connections are pretty impressive."
Ye Ling gave her a somewhat surprised look. He understood exactly what she meant. If she could introduce him, that would save him quite a bit of trouble.
Besides, he had no particular feelings toward Leng Qingqiu, so he didn't care how she viewed him. Even if she really thought he was a lecher, it wouldn't cost him anything.
As long as he could settle matters concerning the Succubus clan, reputation meant nothing. A disciple of the Heavenly Gate Sect didn't need to live by other people's opinions.
"Then I'll trouble you with it."
"…"
Leng Qingqiu was speechless for a moment.
But after what had happened earlier, she no longer treated what she saw at first glance as the absolute truth.
She looked at Ye Ling and asked,
"Can you tell me why?"
"Oh? You're improving pretty quickly."
Ye Ling put on an exaggerated look of surprise.
By then, they had already returned to the small courtyard. He didn't answer her. Instead, he headed straight toward his room.
He needed to check whether Eve was still there.
If Eve had already left, there would be no point in explaining anything. But if she was still here—
Then you're getting on this pirate ship with me.
Ye Ling didn't have many friends outside the mountain. Leng Qingqiu counted as half of one. Besides, he had taught her quite a bit. It wasn't unreasonable for her to repay him in return.
So he felt no guilt about making use of her. He still hadn't settled the score over the Heavenly Silk Jade Armor.
Bai Yiyi might not know, or perhaps simply didn't care.
But he knew. And Leng Qingqiu knew even more clearly.
No matter how you looked at it, she owed him this favor.
"Still here."
Ye Ling didn't step inside. He simply pushed the door open and saw Eve once again transformed into a little girl, curled into a small ball on the bed. She looked like a tiny animal, soft and pitiful.
"Hng… haa… hng… haa…"
Eve was sleeping soundly. A faint, blissful smile rested on her small face. Her pale golden hair spread across the bed, glimmering softly.
This…
Ye Ling remained sharp. No matter how adorable Eve looked, he didn't miss the letter placed beside the bed.
With a slight motion of his hand, the letter flew into his palm.
He closed the door and caught a scent from the paper—completely different from Eve's usual youthful fragrance. This one was mature, rich, and lingering.
Though both belonged to Eve, the scent naturally differed between her two forms.
"So that's how it is."
Ye Ling unfolded the letter and quickly skimmed through it.
"What is that?"
Leng Qingqiu leaned closer, curious.
"Oh?"
Ye Ling, who had just been startled by Eve's identity, suddenly found himself in the mood to tease. He turned to Leng Qingqiu with a half-smile.
"Do you really want to know?"
"???"
The moment she saw that friendly expression on his face, Leng Qingqiu's guard shot up.
"!!!"
But curiosity killed the cat.
And she was quite confident in herself.
So she nodded.
"Go ahead."
Ye Ling had reminded her more than once to stay wary of unfamiliar people.
Yet for some reason, she simply couldn't be on guard against him.
Or perhaps it was because being around Ye Ling felt strangely comfortable. Comfortable enough that she forgot to stay cautious.
"Then sign this contract."
Ye Ling didn't waste words. He formed hand seals with both hands, and a talismanic contract manifested out of thin air.
He had no idea that this single move left Leng Qingqiu completely stunned.
Talismans, she understood. Contracts, she understood too.
But using a talisman to directly create a contract out of nothing—
This guy is cheating!
Leng Qingqiu was utterly dumbfounded. In her more than twenty years of life, she had never seen someone as blatantly overpowered as Ye Ling.
She considered herself well-informed about the Cultivation World. There were even many things modern people regarded as myth that she knew to be true. Her horizons were anything but narrow.
What kind of techniques hadn't she seen before?
And yet, after watching Ye Ling casually forge a contract with his bare hands, she could only admit—
This… I've truly never seen before.
As a receptionist dispatched by the Righteous Path Alliance, Leng Qingqiu naturally cultivated the Talisman Dao. If she were to neglect visiting cultivators who might serve as judges, it would be considered a serious failure on the Alliance's part.
Because of this, Leng Qingqiu was extremely well-versed in talismans. Although she devoted most of her energy to the Void Sword Technique, her attainments in the Talisman Dao were still outstanding among cultivators of the same level.
At the age of twelve, she had already passed the Qi Cultivation Stage talisman master assessment. Recently, she had begun preparing for the Foundation Establishment Stage talisman master examination.
With progress like that, she could be called a genius anywhere.
Yet even if she passed the Foundation Establishment Stage exam, let alone something as distant as the Great Ascension Stage, she still couldn't believe it was possible to create a contract using simplified talismans. It was completely beyond her imagination.
But it wasn't that she was ignorant. Even if Ai Yueli were here, she would have to admit Ye Ling was on another level.
Ai Yueli might be able to create a contract out of thin air the way Ye Ling had, but if she were asked to reverse-engineer a full contract from simplified symbols, she would still need a long time to re-decode and interpret it.
So Leng Qingqiu being stunned wasn't her problem.
The problem was Ye Ling.
"Y-you… you you you…"
Leng Qingqiu felt her worldview collapsing. Even her Dao Heart began to shake. She stammered for a long time before finally forcing out:
"Are you really here to take the Qi Cultivation-level talisman master assessment?"
The way she looked at him was like an atheist witnessing Gods descend in person.
"What? Am I not qualified?"
Ye Ling shot her a sidelong glance, clearly dissatisfied.
Why are you so weak?
They'd barely walked this far and her Emotion Points were already gone?
Ye Ling was genuinely disappointed. Extremely disappointed.
After getting used to Bai Yiyi and Ai Yueli having Emotion Points around five thousand, Leng Qingqiu's not-even-two-thousand felt painfully mediocre.
But whatever. It was her, after all.
With that thought, Ye Ling spoke again.
"Sign it, and I'll tell you the truth."
It was a binding contract, ensuring Leng Qingqiu wouldn't leak anything about the Succubus clan.
To be honest, if word about the Succubus clan got out, it would create endless trouble for his future plans. At that point, he would probably have to drag Bai Yiyi and the others into it.
"I… I understand."
Leng Qingqiu was still dazed, unable to recover from what she'd just witnessed.
But relying on instinct, she still signed the contract.
Truthfully, her curiosity about Ye Ling was only growing.
A body cultivator who could crush her in combat. A master whose teacher casually handed out Spirit Artifact-grade soft armor. A man whose understanding of human affairs was good enough to be her mentor.
And now, someone who could craft contracts with his bare hands.
She really wanted to know what Ye Ling couldn't do.
Like… give birth?
"Take it. Read it."
Seeing that Leng Qingqiu was foolish but decisive when it mattered, Ye Ling didn't make things difficult for her and directly handed her the letter.
"This… this!"
Compared to Ye Ling, Leng Qingqiu knew far more.
She was aware that a group of demonic creatures had migrated over from the Western lands.
But what she never could have imagined was that the little girl she had interacted with earlier was actually the Empress of the Succubus clan.
Even more unbelievable was that this Empress was willing to trade a thousand years of her life in exchange for Ye Ling's protection.
Th-this… this this this…
Leng Qingqiu's worldview shattered again.
In the end, she was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If they fought head-on, even an ordinary Golden Core cultivator might not be her match.
But what was happening now was far beyond anything a Golden Core cultivator could even touch.
Even a Great Ascension rogue cultivator would be powerless.
Only high-ranking officials of the Four Great Imperial Dynasties, or the upper echelons of a Super Grade sect, would have the authority to shelter the Empress of the Succubus clan.
Otherwise, if this news leaked out, it would immediately draw an onslaught from righteous cultivators across the world.
"You'd better be careful," Ye Ling said casually. "Don't let this slip out."
Ye Ling didn't feel much pressure at all. After all, with Leng Qingqiu included, only three people knew Eve's true identity.
If it were just an ordinary succubus, or even a half-human half-succubus, it wouldn't be enough to lure out true experts. At most, a few lust-driven opportunists would try to take advantage of the chaos.
So he wasn't afraid.
And now that Leng Qingqiu was bound by the contract, she couldn't talk nonsense even if she wanted to.
"I… I understand…"
Thinking back to the earlier brothel conversation, Leng Qingqiu began to understand what Ye Ling was aiming at.
She asked hesitantly, "You want to open a succubus brothel?"
"According to the Western Continent," Ye Ling corrected, "it would be called a Female Pleasure House."
"…"
The corner of Leng Qingqiu's mouth twitched. After a brief pause, she said,
"Fine. A Female Pleasure House. But you've really decided to help her?"
"What else would I do?"
Ye Ling looked at her, his tone light and flippant.
"It's only a thousand years, but that's more than enough. Any longer and I'd probably get tired of it."
"Do you even know what you're doing?"
Leng Qingqiu ignored his casual attitude and spoke with absolute seriousness.
"If something goes wrong, you'll be facing every righteous cultivator under heaven. Do you want to become a demonic cultivator?"
But in response to her questioning, Ye Ling's expression turned solemn.
"A disciple of the Heavenly Gate Sect acts as he pleases. Why would I care about anyone else's face?"