Shout-out to Fastus and EvilSmirk for supporting me on patron.

***

Ryu'er was feeling bubbly. Her body was already at a level that her peers could never even hope to match. Unlike her mother, who turned into a human after reaching 200000 years, she was a variant. A humanoid beast turned into a human. Her mother admitted that she ate her father once she was pregnant. So, Ryu'er never knew about her father.

She also never felt the need. Her mother was that father she only needed.

But friends, she needed plenty of them. So, pushing her mother's tight embrace aside, Ryu'er woke up on time. She tiptoed outside the room and filled the wooden bucket with water. It weighed more than 80 kilos. It was a substantial tub instead of a bucket.

But with her physical attributes, it weighed less than a glass of water.

"Heup!"

She let out a sharp breath and picked the humongous wooden tub over her head and quickly walked around the house. Her mother owned a rather famous onsen, and she quickly filled the water of the ladies' side of the onsen. She did not like hot water. Her body already exuded unnatural degrees of warmth. Ryu'er loved to bath in cold water that could freshen her mind and spirit.

She quickly pulled down the soft blue robe hugging her petite body and jumped into the pool of cold water!

Plop!

Ryu'er kept her hair short, so, she did not need to tie them and never really adjusted them to look neat. The less attention on her, the better. The moment she swam up out of the water, her hair draped the top of her face, and with a soft huff, Ryu'er swiped her hair back. Her glowing blue pupils were finally revealed as she leaned back on the edges of the onsen and let out a deep sigh that formed a cloud of vapor in front of her.

"A confident male whose slightest of action could make my heart thump... huh..."

Ryu'er whispered the qualities of the man her mother mated with. The poor male beast died under the jaws of her mother, but that wasn't possible for Ryu'er. Now, both she and her mother had grown accustomed to the cultures of human society.

No deep frying of mate and living happily together. Seemed pretty simple.

She then recalled Nik and placed her hand over her slightly plump left breast.

Ryu'er closed her eyes and then let out a soft 'hum.'

After a total of fifteen minutes, Ryu'er had finally gotten ready by covering the top of her face. Even if her vision was hindered, she could easily sense her surroundings clearly due to her heightened sense of smell and hearing. Before leaving, she covered her mother's body with a bedsheet. It wasn't out of fear of her mother getting a cold. It was virtually impossible. Ryu'er covered her mother's body because she did not like how plump and appealing her mother looked. It might not seem like much, but Ryu'er was already 100015 years old and knew about the desires of the opposite gender.

That is also why she did not reveal Nik's existence to her mother and his effects on her.

After all, the scent that soaked Ryu'er body was practically an incense to lure horny spirit beasts.

After Ryu'er left her house, she quickly made way towards the Holy Orchid Institute and to her disappointment, aside from Shen Xiu teaching Ye Ziyun the basics of the entire technique and Ning'er and Korra practicing while Huyan Lanrou was laying on the mattress and snoring away, she could not find Nik.

***

Nik's physique is enhanced, but he overestimated his body's capacity to function without sleeping and resetting his cognitive settings and underestimated his body's need to rest after the accumulated tension of his body.

Nik's enhanced physique made him require high nutritional intake and also functioned way more intense than his peers. The higher the energy of the food he ingests, the greater the amount of energy expended. And the moment his hunger and thirst was satiated with the extremely high-quality thousand-year spirit beast meat and an 80-year-old wine, unknowingly, he finally succumbed to the natural desires of his body.

"Hmm!"

Nik groaned and stood up. His body was covered, and he felt slightly heavy.

"Oh?"

It was official, Shen Xiu was a true-blue hugger with the cutest side possible. His entire physique could comfortably accommodate Shen Xiu's body as her hands coiled around his chest, and her left cheek squished against his chest with his tunic soaked in her drool. Her flaming-red hair covered the back of her body, and Nik never noticed how long her hair truly was.

Not to mention how pleased Shen Xiu looked by mimicking a koala on Nik's body.

'How long did I sleep, anyway?'

Although the feeling of Xiu's breasts on his abdomen was quite soothing, it failed to distract Nik as he looked around and found that it was nearly 8 in the morning. He completely missed his training session!

"Hey, wake up."

Nik whispered while stroking Xiu's cheek and leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. It was okay; she wasn't awake anyway.

"Hnngh?"

Shen Xiu's eyelids fluttered slightly before her eyes snapped open, and she reeled back before knocking her head on the raised edge of the bed and then holding the back of her head with her body trembling in pain.

Nik suppressed a chuckle and waited for Xiu to calm down. It took a moment before she did calm down and looked around, "I slept, too?"

She frowned and then looked at Nik with her gaze narrowed down, "You didn't do anything to me, right?"

Nik shook his head, "You were too fast. But to be honest, I wanted to kiss you, too."

'And I did.'

Shen Xiu frowned and stood up while wiping her cheeks. Her gaze then fell on the puddle above Nik's exposed chest, and she put two-and-two together.

"I am sorry... for getting you dirty."

Nik frowned and then looked at his chest before encouraging a notion, "Say, if I do taste your drool, would that count as an indirect kiss or a direct kiss?"

Shen Xiu snorted coldly before producing a hand towel and throwing it towards the bed, "As long as it isn't on the lips, it isn't a kiss. Direct or indirect doesn't matter."

Nik grinned at her response and took the hand towel before wiping his chest and then removing his tunic to wear a fresh one. He adjusted his hair through his hands and finally inquired the question of the day, "How did you even come to sleep on my bed?"

Shen Xiu turned on her heels and refused to answer. This event would remain a mystery to Nik even after he uncovered his origins.

***

"If you need to bath, I under—"

"Do not say another word."

Shen Xiu snorted as Nik continued behind her. She had already detailed Nik on how she helped Ryu'er and Ye Ziyun start the training and how Lanrou did not even warm-up in his absence and decided to sleep.

Honestly, Nik was proud of Lanrou. He now understood the benefits of sleeping and, in fact, encouraged her actions.

Of course, Shen Xiu paid the price, and she was now walking with a slightly musky scent lingering from the pits of her body. She was still in her training clothes, but her hair was untied and flowing.

Nik smiled and nudged her shoulders, "Hey, I never got to confront you."

His words made Shen Xiu falter as Nik inquired with an amused expression, "You didn't violate my innocence, did you?"

Shen Xiu sneered and replied, "Which part of you is innocent? Your mouth? or your..."

Shen Xiu did not complete her sentence, but it was evident that she believed Nik not to be a virgin.

"That is quite judgmental, you know... Innocence doesn't always mean virginity."

Shen Xiu frowned at his words and walked towards the classroom, "Your mouth is still uncouth."

'And your ass is still wonderful.'

"And you are as beautiful as ever."

Nik dignified his statement before walking behind Shen Xiu, unaware of the elated smile on her face.