Qi Yu couldn't suppress her gossipy heart and cast a spell to reply:
"I don't know, there are so many species that can lay eggs. Our dad is a human, and a male at that, so why can he lay eggs? It's simply incomprehensible..."
Si Qing pursed his lips and continued to cast a spell: "Are those two eggs of Dad's from Mom?"
As he asked this, he looked at Qi Yu.
Qi Yu also turned to look at Si Qing, completely bewildered.
They stared at each other for a long time before finally shifting their gaze to Li Yu.
Li Yu endured his shame and looked at Yu Zhen: "What have you been hiding?"
Yu Zhen suppressed the urge to get to the bottom of it, stroked her chin, and tentatively replied: "Two bad secrets, one good secret. Which do you want to hear first?"
Li Yu rubbed his forehead: "Let's hear the good one first..."
"The good thing is, I secretly had babies for you," Yu Zhen held up her fingers, "Four in total."
Li Yu's eyes went blank. For a moment, he didn't know whether to be surprised that he had four children or shocked that Yu Zhen had so many secrets.
He pondered with a complex expression for a long time, only managing to stammer:
"Then... what about the bad ones?"
Yu Zhen pursed her lips, looking troubled: "The bad thing is... these four children have all grown up, and they are all mixed-bloods."
She looked at Li Yu cautiously, exploiting a loophole in the ice net's rules. She didn't directly say she was a demon, but instead tentatively asked: "If I wasn't human, would you still like me?"
Li Yu said matter-of-factly: "Of course. I like you, what does your race have to do with it?"
"Alright, we'll talk about these things later. Let's focus on what's important now. Are there any other secrets? Can we break this net now?"
Yu Zhen nodded.
She squatted on the ground with Li Yu, studying the formation.
Actually, the formation wasn't very advanced. It was like a small trap designed to trick people.
Yu Zhen and Li Yu studied it on the ground for less than half a cup of tea before they broke it.
The ice net suddenly disappeared, and Feng Siqian, caught off guard, fell down with a scream, only to be held tightly by Qi Nian.
Si Qing hugged Qi Yu and steadied himself.
Only Feng Mingxi, caught completely off guard, almost fell. He had intended to spread his demon wings but suddenly remembered that doing so would expose his identity. He forcefully held back and landed on the ground, hissing in pain.
"So clumsy," Si Qing pouted at Feng Mingxi.
"Utterly stupid," Feng Siqian also pouted at Feng Mingxi.
Feng Mingxi stood up indignantly: "I was frozen in that net for so long, my hands and feet were stiff, and I couldn't cast any spells in time. What are you talking about, clumsy? If it came down to a fight, the two of you combined might not be my match."
Yu Zhen's head ached from their bickering: "Hey, alright, alright. It's good that we're out."
Li Yu held Yu Zhen's wrist: "By the way, you said earlier that we have four children. Can you tell me where they are now?"
Yu Zhen hesitated.
Feng Siqian and Feng Mingxi exchanged glances, neither of them speaking.
Yu Zhen had only told Li Yu that they were mixed-bloods, but she hadn't mentioned they were demon mixed-bloods.
If Li Yu knew Feng Siqian was his daughter, he would surely guess Yu Zhen's identity as the Demon Lord.
Could Li Yu truly accept Yu Zhen as the Demon Lord?
Feng Siqian and Feng Mingxi didn't want to cause their parents to argue by being too eager to acknowledge their father.
Li Yu saw Yu Zhen's hesitation and didn't press her. He gently said: "It's okay, I can wait. Tell me when you're ready. Yu Zhen, remember, as long as they are our children, no matter how many, no matter their talent, how they look, whether they are boys or girls, I will love them all."
Yu Zhen's eyes instantly turned red.
Feng Siqian snorted and mumbled, "Let's go quickly," before directing Qi Nian to carry her forward.
On the way.
Qi Yu felt uncomfortable being held by Si Qing. She shifted her position, resting her head on his back: "Keep going, keep going. This damned place is so cold."
Before her cultivation reached the Nascent Soul stage, she hadn't formed a physical body and used the original form of the Yan Zhen Mirror. Her five senses were weaker, so she wasn't afraid of the cold, nor would she shiver to this extent.
But now that she had a physical body and her five senses were sensitive, she couldn't stand the cold.
Si Qing felt Qi Yu shivering on his back, her fingertips ice-cold.
He took a cloak from his storage bag and draped it over Qi Yu.
Feng Siqian was also freezing. Holding Qi Nian, she shivered and complained: "What kind of place is this? It's nothing like the legends. How can ice-element cultivators train here? And they said our cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds. Bah!"
After speaking, she shriveled back into Qi Nian's embrace.
Qi Yu curled her hands: "I think... it's okay."
In a way, they hadn't lied.
Since coming here, her cultivation had indeed advanced by leaps and bounds. She had only been in this forest for a short time before crossing her tribulation and reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
Feng Siqian clearly thought of this too and puffed up with anger.
Seeing Qi Yu sneeze uncontrollably as she spoke, Sui You took off his red cloak and placed it over Qi Yu's cloak.
As the Phoenix Lord of the Phoenix Clan, Sui You's cloak was filled not with ordinary cotton but with the down of the Fire Phoenix tribe, which was as warm as a small stove.
He had several such cloaks.
After giving one to Qi Yu, he took out a new set and changed into it.
Qi Yu felt the warmth of the cloak Sui You had given her. She turned and thanked her third senior brother before nuzzling Si Qing's neck. In the warm embrace, she unconsciously drifted off to sleep.
As Qi Yu slept, in the ice forest, streams of spiritual energy seemed to have eyes, actively drilling into her body.
The tiny Nascent Soul within Qi Yu's body diligently swallowed all the spiritual energy that actively flowed into her meridians, devouring it with joy and circulating it ceaselessly within Qi Yu's dan field.
Feng Siqian watched this scene speechlessly and turned to Qi Nian: "See? That's the difference!"
"Perhaps it's because Qi Yu needs spiritual energy, while you need demonic energy. Your needs are different," Qi Nian comforted the stimulated Feng Siqian.
Feng Siqian pointed at the demonic energy that circled around Qi Yu, lingering around her even though it couldn't get in: "But the demonic energy is like this too! It's only circling around Qi Yu!"
Qi Nian couldn't explain it this time either, so he could only purse his lips and chuckle.
Feng Siqian was furious.
Qi Yu, sleeping soundly on Si Qing's back under the warm cloak, had no idea what had happened.
When she yawned and opened her eyes, she found her cultivation had inexplicably advanced by two more levels.
Qi Yu looked confused and turned to ask about Feng Siqian's cultivation progress. Before she could speak, she was met with a roll of the eyes.
A bewildered Qi Yu: "..."
What happened...
Feng Siqian jumped down from Qi Nian's embrace, her face contorted: "Qi Yu, come here, I want to duel you!"
Qi Nian hugged Feng Siqian's waist from behind:
"Siqian, Third Princess Feng, everyone's talent is different. You can't want to beat him up just because Qi Yu is favored by spiritual energy. Moreover, what if you can't beat him? Wouldn't that be embarrassing? No need, no need..."
"Qi Nian, you scoundrel, let go of me!" Feng Siqian struggled hysterically in Qi Nian's grasp, pointing at Qi Yu and demanding: "Qi Yu, I ask you, did you use some blessed spiritual artifact? You must have used it secretly, otherwise, why would both spiritual energy and demonic energy in the ice forest be so eager to find you!"
Hearing this, Qi Yu looked utterly bewildered.
Her cultivation, however, advanced another level at this moment.
The tiny Nascent Soul within Qi Yu proudly emitted a halo, as if showing Qi Yu how powerful it was.
"Ahhh, Qi Yu, stay away from me, I don't want to play with you anymore!" Feng Siqian ran off in anger.
Qi Yu tilted her head and looked at Si Qing and Yue Zhiyin, her expression a mixture of confusion and grievance:
"So, what exactly did I do wrong??"