Li Meirong rubbed her chin between thumb and index finger, then tapped a finger against her lips thoughtfully.

"Did you forget that our house is situated on another floating island?" she asked him. "It's not like you can suddenly sprout a pair of wings." She paused for a moment, considering, then did something akin to a double-take as she looked him up and down whilst raising an eyebrow. "Or can you? Do your shapeshifting abilities extend to that level of transformation?"

"Obviously not," Snowball scoffed. "Do I look like a bird to you?" He stared at her with an icy stare; his glacial glare let her know exactly how unimpressed he was by the assumption.

Li Meirong threw her hands in the air in an exasperated fashion.

"I guess I was wrong," she admitted with a little huff. Could anybody truly blame her for asking?

She did raise a pitcher plant that could run as fast as a cheetah and transform into the likeness of a little boy. Not to mention the sassy, floating turtle that could create shields so powerful that not even lava could seep through. Or what about a flying cat, or a horned tiger?

In this kind of wondrous and magical world, a fox sprouting a pair of wings seemed like it could be entirely possible and maybe even common, for all she knew!

"Hn." Snowball grumbled, but did not say anything further on the matter. "Climb on."

She obediently followed the instruction, climbing carefully onto his back and settling herself as comfortably as she could manage. His fur was very soft and silky to the touch.

"Now what?" she asked, tapping him lightly on the head. She just barely held back the urge to laugh cynically.

Snowball was a fox spirit, and as such he didn't really smile, but for a moment he turned his furry snout to the side and revealed his long canine mouth to be curving in a way that made his expression seem awfully similar to a smirk. And a very devious smirk at that.

He puffed his chest, kicked his hind legs hard against the ground - and took to the skies!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very sudden, very unexpected upwards leap tore a sharp yelp from Li Meirong's lips, and she hurriedly grabbed fistfuls of Snowball's fur in both hands. Much to her shock, they did not descend after the leap, but continued to zigzag up into the air as she held on for dear life.

"You can fly?!" she exclaimed breathily.

She didn't actually need an answer or confirmation, as it was quite obvious that Snowball was indeed flying, but she was stunned that she had never learned of this fact before. What else did she not know about her beloved Snowball?

"Of course, Master," Snowball responded in a rather condescending manner. He sounded slightly offended, as though her prior question still irked him. And it did; as if he would need to form wings to fly!

Snowball continued to climb higher and higher in the sky, soaring up through the wispy low-flying clouds without a moment's hesitation. As he did so, Li Meirong peeked nervously down at the island from which they'd come.

As she watched, it reduced in size until it seemed like a mere speck. It was joined by several other specks which were most likely the nearby islands.

The sight was akin to a painting; the ocean surrounded the specks in a cobalt blue frame. It was beautiful; her breath caught briefly. A moment later she inhaled deeply and looked up once more, only to discover a smoky haze enveloping Snowball and herself.

They were now quite literally dashing through the clouds.

The air at this altitude was fresh and cold; as they flew, the wind caressed Li Meirong's fair skin and turned her cheeks pink as her hair unfurled and flowed behind her.

Brilliant golden sunlight shone through endless hues of white. The clouds in the distance congregated lazily, looking like the softest silk.

In contrast to the sect's cranes that flew nearby at a steady pace, Snowball made flying a form of entertainment rather than just a means of transportation. He skidded and sped, dived under clouds, and dashed above them. Li Meirong gulped and hunkered down, pressing her entire upper body to his back in the hopes of gaining more stability.

She simply wished to enjoy the breathtaking moment, but she was still not used to flying on a spirit beast, even after years in this realm, and so she could not relax.

It was alarming to know that with one simple push to the side, she could plummet to the ground and into an inevitable death. Whatever survived the impact would surely be nothing more than a flattened meat patty.

"Nervous?" Snowball asked her; his ears perked up attentively.

"No," Li Meirong replied immediately.

She didn't want to ruin this special moment with her silly fright, and she trusted Snowball enough to know he would catch her should she fall. Her response, as reflexive as it had been, was not entirely false, but neither was it entirely true. She couldn't help her fear, despite trusting Snowball with her life - literally.

Snowball let out a low chuckle; the sound only just reached Li Meirong's ears before the wind whipped it away.

He didn't say a word, but his pace slowed down significantly.

Li Meirong's ashen face regained a bit of colour, and her tense expression relaxed.

"Snowball is the best," she murmured.

He didn't answer her, but the tips of his ears reddened for the second time that day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the arena grounds, Xiao An Fei and Xiao An Hua remained in place as they had been instructed. Their Sovereign Lord had ordered them to stay put until Her Ladyship's acquaintance, Bao Li, would go back home safe and sound. Since Bao Li did not return to her residence as soon as the twins' lord and lady had left them, they had no choice but to stay there and supervise the mortal.

The grounds were filled with cultivators waiting for the time between each battle to pass. There were many stalls to keep them occupied between battles, and the place grew crowded once more as the upcoming round neared. Customers packed the area and crowded the stalls as the air filled with boisterous laughter and chatter.

Discussions about fights and glory were the primary focus of the day's conversations.

Xiao An Hua purchased a bag of roasted seeds from a nearby vendor and returned to her sister, hips swaying casually, as she cracked a seed between her sharp teeth.

"Want some?" she asked, choosing a second seed and repeating the action of cracking it between her teeth. Xiao An Fei appeared to ignore the question but shoved her hand into the bag to grab a handful nonetheless.

The sisters turned when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and spied the human disciple, Senior Wei, finally stepping down from the arena. Or perhaps limping down would be a more accurate way of describing his movements.

As Senior Wei had won against Her Ladyship, he was required to win two more rounds to succeed in making it to the finals, which he had done. He won his battles with ease and in the process had gathered quite an impressive crowd of fans.

Yet for all his good fortune and success, he looked utterly miserable.

The battles had been relatively easy from what the Xiao twins could guess. What, then, was the reason the young man looked so haggard? He looked as if his very soul had been taken from him.

In the Xiao twins' private opinions, the disciple's awful appearance most definitely had something to do with the wrath of the Sovereign Fox Lord. There must have been a reason their Lord took a little longer to descend from the stage. He could have stepped down with Her Ladyship, after all, and so the twins suspected he had done something rather dreadful to the mortal man.