Though there were still some of the group who sensed that Min Hong had just dished out a mixed truth to all of them, but they didn't mind as long as he was safe…

Moreover, though they haven't really begun to sacrifice for each other, the best thing about this group is that they believed one another, not completely, but to a certain extent which supports their group's number one rule; do not do anything that would harm the interest of the group…

​​

"As long as you are safe, every other thing is irrelevant…" Kun Chao added with a slight nod…

But Min Hong on the other hand, was feeling absolutely conflicted…

On one hand, he was happy to see that the rest of the gang were worried about him…

But then, on the other hand, he wasn't sure if their concerns were just because Min Hong was missing, or just because, they couldn't achieve the goals they had set since that would reveal the fact that they were overly reliant on him for the success of their group, and such set of people are not the ideal set of people Min Hong was about to make the backbone or the primary experts of his dynasty…

"Now that everyone is here, how has preparations been going?"

Min Hong looked around to all of them before beckoning Little Qing over with his free hand as Min Qing had already latched onto his other arm like a leech…

"We are ready." Kun Lin looked over to Kun Chao before returning her gaze towards Min Hong…

"We are also ready!"

Mu Li spoke for the Mu twins, after all, they have been cultivating under the same roof since Min Hong had destroyed Kun Chao's apartment…

Long Sha simply nodded as Min Hong gave him a knowing look before he finally gazed towards Little Qing who was now within her embrace before asking in the softest tone ever;

"What about you, have you made preparations yet?"

Min Hong surely knew how chaotic her emotions were just by taking a simple glance at her, and this was because of the alternating expressions on her face, and there wasn't a single joyful expression within other than relief, worry, anxiety, and other expressions which described just how emotionally lethargic she was…

"I don't need much preparations to make… I can always buy whatever I want after we enter the inner court" She snuggled into Min Hong's free arms as she responded…

Min Hong who was now clamped by two girls with potentially divine and godlike beauties then answered;

"I want to take a week away from cultivating and rest, then when I finally come out, we can go ahead with the challenge…"

"Sure… if you need anything just let us know…"

Long Sha responded as the rest of the group tactically left without him even saying a single word…

Little Qing followed Kun Lin who could only sigh at her…

She was a total mess at the moment, and as a girl herself, there is no other person who will understand Qing Tan's current emotional state other than her, and this was because, Kun Lin, herself, was also in the same situation, but she had the strength to bottle up her emotions perfectly…

This was the reason why no one knew of her feelings towards Min Hong except her brother; Kun Chao, who had long since discovered the situation long before they even physically met Min Hong in person…

Min Hong, who to his justification, can never understand the complexity of a female mind guessed as much but was not sure, but he wasn't bothered about it…

He cared for everyone within the group equally, bar Min Qing and Long Sha…

As the rest of the group left, Min Hong headed straight for the bath, his body was so full of the desert sand that they nearly added a whole 50kg to his body weight, and though Min Qing wanted to follow him, he simply told her to wait for him to take his bath first...

After all, he was going to be washing a lot of sand off his body which would definitely create a mess within the bath, and that will ruin the moment, no matter how hard they tried to ignore it…

Min Qing went into the restroom and boiled Min Hong's bath water before he went in to soak himself for the second time in the last 15 hours or so…

"~hmm~" Min Hong felt like a baby kangaroo who had been lost within the biting cold winter for half a year before finally entering his mother's pouch for warmth and absolute cosiness…

Submerging himself completely within the steaming hot water, Min Hong soaked and washed all the sand of his body before the black star kin actually formed a pyjamas over him as he returned to the bedroom and saw a slightly still worried Min Qing in nothing but a pyjamas that was held closed by only the tiny string or rope at the tummy area…

Min Hong who could see everything but at the same time nothing couldn't help but feel a burning sensation gradually spread all around his loin area… No one would see what he was seeing right now and not fall into a long train of lecherous and perverted thoughts, but that was for outsiders…

This was his own Min Qing and he could have whatever thoughts about her if he wanted to, thus, without further ado, Min Hong slipped under the covers as Min Qing also joined him underneath, and the moment their clothed bodies slightly touched, their skins trembled and separated like as if a terra-watt of current just transferred into both of them from that point of contact…

But after a few moments for they joined together once again, as the spooning began with the occasional sounds of American kisses filling the entire room…

Then Min Hong began to whisper sweet nothings to her in between kisses, and at first Min Qing simply smiled, but after a while of delivering several irresistible punch lines, she began to giggle and after about thirty solid minutes, all of her worries completely melted away and her joyful giggles became more frequent within the room…

Thus began the one week long, romantic and blissful marathon of Min Hong…

He spent every single shred of that time with Min Qing and they never separated even when they took their bath, they did it together, and it was the first and only time they couple would have an intimate stretch of time without any lecherous activities…

It was just a day to day living full of loving deeds, words and promises…

There was a time when Min Qing made a breakfast in bed for Min Hong, and when he woke up to see the food, he instantly became nostalgic and his nose began to itch…

This was because what Min Qing had cooked for him was his favourite and most eaten delicacy he had eaten all through his life; it was a perfectly grilled Spirit Tailed Fox…

Yup. It was the same spirit beast Min Tian and Min Rou fed him when he was born with a feeble body, so that the energies within the meat of this Spirit Beast could strengthen his body…

Thus, when Min Hong saw it, he instantly looked over in Min Rou's direction who was still busy cultivating within the ancient formation, and he thought to himself;

"~I hope we can once again be united in the future, gramps~" In this current moment, it was extremely obvious that he still misses his old man a lot...