This kind of obviously provocative look made Tian Shen, a young man brimming with passion, feel a bit overwhelmed.
Without thinking, he stepped forward and pulled Feng Yin into his embrace.
Wearing a cocky smirk, he declared arrogantly:
"Hmph! I don't care about anything else—I only know you're my fiancée now!"
"Mm~"
In Feng Yin's startled and flustered gaze, Tian Shen's face inched closer and closer to hers.
And just when the distance between them was but a breath away, Feng Yin closed her eyes tightly, flustered and unsure—caught in a swirl of nervousness, anticipation, and bashful complaint.
But in the end, Tian Shen only gave the lightest touch, his lips brushing like a whisper across her delicate, rosy lips—barely a kiss before he pulled away.
"Little minx, I'll let you off this time. I'm tired—take me to rest!"
With that, Tian Shen released Feng Yin and turned away from her with exaggerated indifference.
"Y-You~"
Feng Yin's heart fluttered from that fleeting contact.
But upon hearing his words, she cracked one eye open and caught sight of Tian Shen's slightly stiff back, clearly embarrassed despite trying to hide it.
Her heart stirred.
A handsome, slightly flushed profile peeked into view, full of nervous tension and warmth.
"Hehe~"
A delighted giggle escaped her lips.
Feng Yin realized that the domineering act Tian Shen had put on just now... was mostly a bluff!
Scoundrel! Always trying to act bold!
She pouted in her heart, but her smile was full of happiness.
Silently, she walked back to his side and led him to a place where he could rest.
---
Once they reached the residence, Tian Shen promptly sent Feng Yin away.
Now alone, his heart was anything but calm.
In his past life, he was just a poor guy from the bottom of the barrel.
Forget kissing a girl—even holding hands was a fantasy out of reach.
He'd never been particularly bold either.
Maybe it was precisely because of that—because he'd never experienced it—that he was so moved by Feng Yin's gentle affection earlier.
A girl like that, who genuinely cared for him, was someone worth protecting with his life.
If I had been some kind of playboy back then...
Would I have been moved by something so simple?
No. If I were such a horndog, Feng Yin's actions wouldn't have touched me at all.
Lying in bed, he tossed and turned, sleep refusing to come.
Eventually, he sat up with a sigh, opened his attribute panel and noticed something.
His spiritual Qi had accumulated to 1000 points.
He took a deep breath.
"Let's hatch the beast egg."
He trusted the system.
Since there was no warning or danger, he didn't hesitate. Even If he wasn't at the Foundation Establishment Realm yet, there might not be risk involved in forcefully contracting a beast by the system.
"Consume Spiritual Qi—hatch the beast egg!"
Tian Shen commanded.
As the system complied, he felt his cultivation dropping from Qi Refining to Body Refining Realm, but he didn't pay it mind because Even though he was now a Body Refining Realm cultivator, he could fight a Core Formation Realm Expert physically, thanks to his physique points.
『Consuming 1000 Spiritual Qi points. Monster egg successfully hatched.』
『Congratulations to the host for acquiring a 1-star Spiritual beast— Blood Fox.』
『Detected that Host has obtained a Spiritual Beast Companion. Spiritual Beast Space unlocked. Additional slots can be activated using Spiritual Qi.』
"Crack!"
Ignoring the follow-up prompts, Tian Shen focused on the egg in his hands.
A fine crack appeared along its surface, then another.
Moments later, a small, flaming-red fox poked its head out.
Its big, glistening eyes blinked at him curiously, and in that instant—
Tian Shen felt a powerful sense of connection, as if the little fox was bonded to his very soul.
It felt less like a pet, and more like... his own child.
"Emmm~"
"Wait, I'm human! How could I possibly give birth to a monster?!"
Tian Shen shook off the strange notion with a blush.
Composing himself, he began to inspect the attributes of this adorable little creature.
__________
『Spiritual Beast: Blood Fox』
『Grade: 4-star (Upgradeable)』
『Cultivation: 2-star』
『Loyalty: 100 (System-contracted pet will have Permanently full loyalty. No risk of betrayal.)』
__________
The Spiritual Beast's attributes were simple and clear—just enough for Tian Shen to grasp all the vital information at a glance.
"It can be upgraded? How do I do that?"
After an afternoon buried in books on beast taming, Tian Shen had already picked up a basic understanding of pet classifications.
Which meant... that Tier 3 monster he took down the other day hadn't even fully matured yet?
But no. That wasn't the case.
Normally, the Blood Fox species was just a 3-star beast. At full maturity, it'd only reach Tier 3.
The egg he hatched had been upgraded through the system reward, bumping it into the 4-star rank.
And that wasn't all.
Tian Shen tapped the [Upgradeable] prompt and was shown the upgrade requirements.
『100 Fire Element, 100 Blood Element and 1 Beast Core of a 5-star monster/10 Beast Core of 4-star monsters.』
"I don't have any Blood Element yet, but I do have a few points of Fire Element. Looks like these drop from monsters, spirit treasures, or cultivators. Shouldn't be too hard to gather."
"But…"
"5-star Beast Core? If I'm strong enough to kill a beastly strong creature like that, why wouldn't he just tame it directly as a Spiritual Beast Companion instead of feeding its core to the little Blood fox?"
Still confused, Tian Shen turned to the system.
"Can't I just contract with adult beasts instead of hatching eggs?"
『Adult beast contracts are costly, carry a high risk of rebellion, loyalty is unstable and most importantly— system enhancement functions are disabled.』
"…Fair enough."
Upon hearing that, Tian Shen immediately gave up on the idea.
"Kyu~"
Just then, the new born Blood Fox nuzzled against his arm with its tiny head, letting out a soft chirp that could melt stone.
"…Is this the sound a fox makes?"
Tian Shen chuckled and lifted the tiny creature—barely the size of his hand—from the floor.
"Kyu~"
Being lifted so suddenly startled her. Her tiny paws instinctively latched onto his fingers, and her large watery eyes blinked anxiously as she looked around.
"Eh...?"
Even Tian Shen, a grown man, felt his heart melt at the sight.
"You're supposed to be a Spiritual Beast, not a cuddling cutiepie. How am I supposed to let you fight like a p*k*mon? You might end up charming the enemy into surrendering instead."
Recalling a character he liked from a two-dimensional world in his past life, and confirming the fox's gender was female, he said with a grin.
"You're just too cute… I'll call you Little Mei from now on!"
"Kyu~!"
As if she understood, the little fox chirped excitedly, clearly pleased with the name.