After nearly ten hours in a military plane, Shawn Young and Tang Qianqian finally landed at the Southern Military District's airbase. As soon as they got off the plane, a military vehicle picked them up. After half an hour of transfers, they switched to a regular Buick with city plates at a military compound, and the Buick drove them straight back to Southern University, which they'd been away from for almost a week. It was already past five in the afternoon.
As soon as they got out of the car, Tang Qianqian hurriedly blushed and said to Shawn Young, "I'll find you again soon, and I'll bring you the credentials for the National Paranormal Task Force. Uh, remember to keep this mission a secret, okay? I have to go now, bye!" With that, she dashed off like the wind.
Just then, the officer who drove them handed Shawn Young a small black bag, waved politely, and drove away. Shawn opened the bag and found his phone, a gift from Lilian Grace, along with some personal items. According to the special mission rules, everyone on the mission had to leave behind anything that could reveal their identity, including their phones.
Shawn turned on his phone and saw it was full of missed calls and messages from Lilian Grace—she'd called and texted almost every day. Only then did Shawn remember: after leaving Lilian Grace's villa, the special circumstances meant they hadn't been in touch, so Lilian Grace had been worried sick, trying to reach him every day.
Warmth filled Shawn's heart. Clearly, the campus queen Lilian Grace really cared about him. He quickly dialed her number, and her voice came through, full of surprise and joy: "Oh my god! Shawn, you—you finally answered! Where are you? I need to see you right now!"
"I'm back at Southern University, Lilian! Where are you? I want to see you too!" Shawn felt he really needed some Lilian Grace TLC right now, and from her excited tone, she clearly needed some Shawn Young TLC too.
"It's the weekend, so I'm at home. Wait for me in your dorm—I’ll head out right now! Don’t run off!" Lilian Grace said.
"Okay! I’ll wait for you in the dorm!" Shawn said excitedly, hung up, and patted his little Shawn Young to comfort himself. "Bro, sorry for making you hold out so long. Time to let loose!"
Just then, a curvy, good-looking girl walked by. She gave Shawn a second glance—he was pretty handsome, after all. But when she saw him talking to his crotch, she covered her mouth in curiosity. Shawn looked up, blushed, and barked, "What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll harass you! Drag you into a corner and then—hmph!"
"Hmph—like I’m afraid of you! If you’ve got the guts, then bring it on! Harassment? Whatever! It’s already 2022, the world’s practically ending, and if a hottie like you wants to harass me, honestly, I’d call that a blessing! So, it’s the weekend—dare to hang out with me tonight? We can fool around in some corner, your call!" The girl was totally unfazed by Shawn Young’s threat, flipping the script in a heartbeat.
"Uh—well—actually—I, I’m busy right now, maybe next time! I—I’ve got something to do—" Shawn Young broke out in a cold sweat, scrambled for an excuse, and made a run for it. Today he finally understood what ‘reverse harassment’ meant! Girls these days are seriously wild!
The girl called after him, frustrated, "Hey—I’m not scared, so what are you running for? Afraid I’ll eat you alive? Seriously! Wasted all my expressions on you, jerk!"
Her voice drew curious glances from passersby. Shawn Young was totally defeated, ducked his head, and dashed all the way back to Dorm 2. As soon as he opened the door, it was quiet—he didn’t even need to check, he knew his three animal roommates were all out ‘letting their birds fly free’ for the weekend!
But Shawn remembered Lilian Grace should be arriving soon, and his own ‘big bird’ would get to ‘hunt for food’ too. He got excited, stripped off, dashed into the bathroom for a shower, got dressed, and came out to find Lilian Grace already standing at the dorm door looking at him.
It was obvious Lilian Grace had dressed up for him—a pink, elegant long dress hugged her curves, her hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders, and her lovely face glowed with a hint of spring. Her eyes carried a touch of longing as she gazed at Shawn.
Shawn Young knew Lilian Grace wasn’t happy he’d vanished for a week without a word, so he quickly went over, grabbed her hand, and smiled, "Lilian, you got here so fast!"
Lilian Grace pretended to be mad and pulled her hand back, pouting, "Hmph—if I didn’t show up, would you go on a date with Tang Qianqian? She’s a total knockout, you know!"
"Come on, Lilian, don’t get the wrong idea! Qianqian and I are just friends! She’s into cultivation too, so of course we spar and swap techniques sometimes!" Shawn Young hurried to explain.
"Oh!? So you’re saying Tang Qianqian can do those magic tricks like you?" Lilian Grace perked up, clearly interested in all that mystical stuff.
"Yeah, that’s right, she’s pretty skilled," Shawn Young replied.
"Then—then teach me too! Let me learn a few moves! I don’t want to feel like I’m always second to her!" Lilian Grace suddenly blurted out.
"Uh—Lilian, you really want to learn?" Shawn Young asked her.
"Of course! Those magical techniques sound super fun—if I could pick up a few tricks, that’d be awesome! Are they really that good or not?" Lilian Grace pouted, acting cute.
"They’re great, but you need to lay the groundwork first! Even the most basic cultivation techniques take time to build a foundation. If you don’t stick with it, it won’t work—it’s not as easy as it sounds!" Shawn Young explained.
"Is building a foundation really that hard? Isn’t there an easier way—like something quick and fun? I just want to learn a few moves to play around!" Lilian Grace pleaded.
"Uh—there’s really no shortcut, but with our relationship, helping you build a foundation isn’t that tough!" Shawn Young said.
"Huh? How come it suddenly got easy? Didn’t you say building a foundation takes persistence?" Lilian Grace pressed.
"Heh heh—because we can use the Twin Spirit Rite to help you build your foundation! Then, with a few extras, you’ll be ready to go!" Shawn Young grinned, eyeing her ample chest.
"You big perv! So this whole time you just wanted to do naughty stuff! Ugh, I’m trying to be serious here and you’re always thinking dirty! You’re the worst!" Lilian Grace blushed, pretending to be angry.
"Lilian, I’m serious! I just figured out a way to help you build your foundation using the Twin Spirit Rite, and then you take some special pills to boost your cultivation—you’ll get the hang of it super fast!" Shawn Young said earnestly. In fact, he already had a plan—since the Codex of Ascension had all sorts of recipes for miraculous pills and talismans, and now that the Celestial Secret Realm was unlocked, plus he had Dragon Spirit Grass as a solid backup, and that bored fire dragon hanging around, he was itching to start making those magical pills.
"Huh? Really? But I still have to swallow pills? Are they bitter?" Lilian Grace was actually worried about the taste.
"Uh—don’t worry, those pills taste great! Let’s go do some dual cultivation first, then we’ll talk about next steps—" Shawn Young saw Lilian Grace’s flustered, adorable look and couldn’t help but feel a rush of heat below the belt—his tent was already pitched!