CHAPTER 39: DO STRAIGHT MEN SEE ALL WOMEN AS BEASTS?

Inside Lu Chen's mind, Nantian Wan'er saw Lu Chen standing in a room filled with pink mist. He was surrounded by several half-naked female fox demons with alluring figures. They exuded a sweet, seductive fragrance—each one of them was dripping with temptation.

They tried to take advantage of every possible opportunity to wrap themselves around Lu Chen, caressing his skin with delicate hands, teasing him relentlessly. Such a temptation would have stirred the heart of most men, but it was met with cold steel instead. Lu Chen brandished his Hunyuan Greatsword, continuously swinging it to keep them at bay.

Their voices were laced with irresistible charm, constantly trying to lure him in.

"Little brother, just give in to us, stop resisting. We sisters will take such good care of you."

"That's right, little brother, stop fighting it."

As Lu Chen swung his sword, one of the fox women seized an opening and slipped into his arms.

"Little brother, just look at our bodies. Aren't we tempting?"

Her lips brushed against his ear, her soft chest pressed tightly against his arm, and her hands roamed his chest in a teasing manner.

For a moment, Lu Chen's breathing grew heavier, and the speed of his sword swings began to slow.

"So this is your method of attack? I'll kill you all."

Feeling the heat rising within him, Lu Chen assumed it was the effect of inhaling the poisonous mist the fox women were releasing. He forcefully shoved away the fox women clinging to him and immediately increased the intensity of his attacks.

Yet, the fox women didn't even try to dodge. It was as if they were driven by instinct, obsessed only with seduction. No matter how many he cut down, more kept appearing. They seemed endless.

"Red Fox's so-called trial is disappointing. These demonic beasts can't even block a single strike."

Just then, Lu Chen noticed Nantian Wan'er approaching. "Eh? Wan'er, why are you here? Be careful, these creatures release poisonous mist. If you breathe it in, your whole body will start to burn."

Still swinging his greatsword, he slowly made his way toward her.

"Ooh, a little sister's arrived. Let's serve our little brother together."

Seeing the indecent scene before her, Nantian Wan'er instantly understood what "serve" meant. Her face flushed red. Soon, she began to feel a wave of heat rise from within her. Her breathing quickened, her chest heaving as she exhaled warm, unsteady breaths. Feeling the growing heat inside her, she didn't dare linger and immediately ran toward Lu Chen.

Lu Chen saw the flush on her face and assumed it was a result of the poisonous mist. "Wan'er, did you inhale the poison? Quick, take the antidote."

As her warm breath swept across his skin, the burning in Lu Chen's body grew stronger. At the same time, he felt something unusual stir within him. Thinking the poison was getting worse, he quickly took out two antidote pills, one for himself and the other for Wan'er.

As the fox women began to close in again, Nantian Wan'er quickly grabbed Lu Chen's wrist and ran toward the exit.

Seeing her panicked expression, Lu Chen was puzzled. "Wan'er, what's wrong?"

"Lu-gege, we have to leave now. If we don't, it'll be too late!"

"But... I was just—"

Before he could finish, Nantian Wan'er dragged him toward the light at the door.

Bang!

Following a crisp sound, Nantian Wan'er's consciousness snapped back into her body. She gasped for breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. As the memory of what she had just witnessed flashed through her mind, her breathing grew even more ragged. Hot air spilled from her lips, falling across Lu Chen's face.

Perhaps because her breath had stirred him, Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes in her arms.

Confused, he asked, "Eh? Wan'er, why am I in your arms?"

"Lu-gege! You're finally awake!"

Noticing he had regained consciousness, Nantian Wan'er tried to hide the lingering restlessness in her body and threw herself into his embrace. Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking the back of his robe.

"Lu-gege, do you know how scared I was? I thought I'd lost you forever."

"Wan'er, don't cry. I'm alright now."

Lu Chen still had no idea what had just happened, and all he could do was try to comfort her.

Meanwhile, Wind Dragon's voice echoed nearby, "Huh? He woke up that fast? Let's see how much of an effect it had."

Wind Dragon, Bai Ze, and Red Fox were convinced that Lu Chen had finally come to understand the matters between men and women.

Wind Dragon asked, "Little Lu, do you finally understand what it means to have a wife now?"

But Lu Chen, completely oblivious, frowned. "Red Fox, your so-called trial was useless. Those demonic beasts didn't even try to fight back. They just kept touching my face, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. When I attacked them, they didn't even try to resist."

Hearing his words, Red Fox's blood surged with fury. She nearly coughed up blood on the spot.

"I don't believe this! My Seductive Illusion Spell failed on someone at the Qi Regulation Realm?"

Unable to bear his mockery, she formed a series of hand seals, preparing to cast a deeper layer of illusion on him.

Nantian Wan'er quickly stepped in. "Big Sister Red Fox, let it go. I don't want Lu-gege to suffer again."

"Hmph

, I'll let him go for your sake. Still, how dare he treat all those beautiful women around him like enemies? He let them touch him and didn't even enjoy it?"

Red Fox's face was ashen with rage. Her shoulders and chest heaved violently. She had been driven to the brink of madness.

Lu Chen, completely unaware of the emotional storm surging within Red Fox, turned to her and asked. "What touching? Weren't they attacking me?"

That one line completely shattered the last thread of restraint Red Fox had left.

"You! You! I'm going to kill you, you damn man!"

Wind Dragon and Bai Ze broke into a cold sweat and rushed forward to calm her down.

Lu Chen looked at Red Fox's reaction and remained confused. "Wan'er, wasn't I right? They were attacking me just now, weren't they?"

"Yes, yes, Lu-gege, you're absolutely right."

Nantian Wan'er didn't want him to go through any more illusions. As long as she could stay by his side, that was enough for her.

They still had a long future ahead of them. She believed that one day, he would understand everything.

But in Red Fox's ears, those words were like sparks igniting a barrel of gunpowder.

"What... did you just say?"

Her barely soothed emotions erupted once again.

In an instant, she transformed into her true form—towering over thirty feet tall, with nine tails whipping through the air behind her. A fearsome aura radiated from her claws as she lunged straight at Lu Chen.

Wind Dragon and Bai Ze struggled to withstand her frenzy. They were quickly overwhelmed and had no choice but to call for reinforcements.

"What's going on with Red Fox? Why does she look just like those female demonic beasts from earlier?"

That comment left everyone drenched in cold sweat. At this point, they weren't sure if even all of them combined could stop her.

Red Fox was completely unhinged. "Lu Chen! I'll kill you, I swear!"

Bai Ze quickly pulled Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er away, fleeing the scene.

***

As they walked, Lu Chen had been asking the same question repeatedly, "What's wrong with Red Fox exactly?"

He truly couldn't understand why a single sentence from him had triggered such an explosive reaction.

"Forget it. You'll get used to it with time. The Red Fox clan is just prone to this kind of thing."

Bai Ze had given up on trying to reason with Lu Chen and began brushing off his questions.

In his heart, he could only hope that time would eventually teach Lu Chen about the matters between men and women.

Lu Chen suddenly remembered how Bai Ze had rushed over earlier. He asked, "By the way, Bai Ze, why were you in such a rush to find me?"

Bai Ze looked at Lu Chen and responded, "My king, I came to ask you to grant me access to the small world.

"You already know the Bai Ze clan can see into the past and future. However, ever since we arrived here, more and more things have become clouded, and I'm unable to see them properly. I want to get to the bottom of this."

Lu Chen raised his right hand and gently pressed his fingers to Bai Ze's forehead, granting him access to the small world.

"Thank you, my king."

With the permission granted, Bai Ze bid farewell to Lu Chen and the others and went off to uncover the truth.

After he left, Nantian Wan'er looked at Lu Chen and asked softly, "Brother Lu, what should we do now?"

"The Innate Green Sovereign Divine Tree is still restricting the small world. For now, let's take a look around."

***

Lu Chen and Wan'er arrived at the medicine field.

The spirit plants had matured long ago, but Lu Chen hadn't gotten around to harvesting them. During that time, they had kept blooming and bearing fruit, scattering seeds across the entire field.

Under the influence of the rich spirit qi, the herbs had quickly multiplied. Now, the entire medicine field, spanning over three thousand zhang, was completely overgrown with all kinds of spirit plants.

Lu Chen looked over the field and muttered to himself, "Looks like I need someone who knows these plants well to manage this place. Otherwise, I won't know how to sort any of them, and waste everything."

He took out the Hunyuan Greatsword and summoned Wind Dragon for some advice.

Wind Dragon responded, "Managing spirit plants? The Eighth Ancestral Avatar is the most skilled when it comes to this sort of thing. If you can find her, even if the field grew tens of millions of times larger, she could still handle it with ease."

"The Eighth Ancestral Avatar... she's the only female among the Green Emperor's avatars, right?"

Lu Chen knew this from Feng Tiancheng's memories. The Eight Ancestral Avatar was a woman who had devoted her entire life to studying medicines and herbs.

"That's right. But the Eighth Ancestral Avatar is nearly impossible to track down. I don't have any leads on her right now."

"Eighth Ancestral Avatar... Eighth Ancestral Avatar..."

Lu Chen kept repeating her name, trying to think of a way to find her.

After thinking for a while without any results, Lu Chen gave up and turned to look at Wind Dragon. "Sigh... forget it. No use overthinking. Can you help me manage the field for now?"

Seeing the field was just under a thousand zhang for now, Wind Dragon readily agreed. "Sure. Since it's still relatively small, I can help manage it."

After checking on the medicine field, Lu Chen made his way to the Beast King Manor.

The hundred thousand demon beasts had already settled around the area. From the Wild Plains to the Forest of Despair, and from the Frozen Hills to the Deep Sea, nearly a thousand different types of beast clans had taken root in each region.

As Lu Chen approached, the beasts bowed respectfully.

Just then, an unexpected change occurred.

Nantian Wan'er pointed to the back of the Beast King Manor and called out urgently, "Lu-gege, look over there!"

"What is that? A tower? It's so tall!"

The mist behind the Beast King's Manor gradually thinned and cleared under the influence of the Innate Green Sovereign Divine Tree.

A towering structure that pierced the clouds slowly came into view before them.