Shen and Long Xue’er had unknowingly walked for quite a bit of distance. Fortunately, the city was quite big, hence they had stumbled across new areas. The crowd had slightly decreased but there were still a large number of people.

At this point, Shen asked Xue’er.

“Since we’re staying for the competition, we need to find a place to stay in. We can’t walk around for ten days straight.”

“Ok Big Brother Shen. Let’s try to find an inn.”

After a while.

“Haaa…Why are all the inns full…” Xue’er lamented.

They had walked around for a good few hours to all the inns in the city. None of them had a free room not to mention two.

Shen gave Xue’er a consoling look.

“Well, it’s ok, at worse I can take us back straight to the forest and stay there until the competition starts.”

“Nooo, I don’t wanna go back! There are still places I want to take Big Brother Shen to.” Xue’er pouted very cutely.

For Shen who could see her true facial features, it was a very fatal blow.

He recovered after a while, then suggested. “How about we rent one of those small houses, didn’t Xue’er say they were managed by the City?”

“Oh! How could I forget. Let’s go Big Brother Shen.” Xue’er laughed and started heading towards a direction while pulling Shen.

Soon they arrived at a rather small and insignificant looking building near the centre of the city. The guards at the entrance seemed to have fallen asleep. There was a large notice posted on the door that read ‘Low and Mid Grade Cave Mansions – No Vacancies’.

“……”

“So, those houses are called cave mansions. What about them resembles a cave, aren’t they just normal houses? Still, there are high grade ones, right?” Shen muttered. ‘At this rate, we really might have to go back to the forest.’ He thought as the couple went inside, past the sleeping guard.

Inside, there was a small counter behind which stood an old man who was also seemingly asleep.

“Excuse me shopkeeper!”

Shen shouted at the sleeping old man.

“Ha, wha- Who is it?!” The old man woke up with a fright and looked around in a hurry.

“Hello, we wanted to rent a cave mansion.”

The old man gave Shen a lazy look after seeing that they were only two young cultivators.

“Didn’t you see the sign on the door? No more cave mansions!” The old man replied gruffly.

“Ah yes but it only said low and mid grades. There should be higher grades, right?”

“Hmph, so what if there is. Can you two babies even afford it? It costs 100 high-grade spirit stones for one week for a high-grade cave mansion.”

Long Tian had given the couple quite a bit of spirit stones as he had no use for them at his cultivation stage. Shen had tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones, not to mention the ones held by Xue’er.

“Sure, we’ll get one for a week. Thanks for your help shopkeeper.” Shen smiled in response. To him, spirit stones were just rocks that held a bit of energy. Higher grades simply contained more energy. He could instil chaos or other energy types, producing similar items, if he was able to obtain a suitable material.

The old shopkeeper was startled. He examined Shen closely before turning his sight to look at Xue’er.

‘Half-step False Immortal!’ The old man fiercely exclaimed in his head. Powerful cultivators weren’t a rare sight in the city. However, the old man has not seen one who looked so young.

There are many cultivation techniques and heavenly treasures that could make one look younger. The old man could not see any unnaturalness on Long Xue’er, which most likely meant she really was as young as she looked.

“Young lady, may I ask how old you are?” The old man wanted to confirm his conjecture.

“Senior, this junior is eighteen years old currently.” Xue’er didn’t think much and answered honestly.

The old man was shocked even further and went in a small daze. He even ignored the spirit stones that Shen took out.

After a few seconds, the old man deeply looked at Xue’er once more. He collected the spirit stones from Shen and handed him a wooden badge.

“The cave mansion is in northern quadrant, area fifteen. Enter your divine sense into the badge, it will guide you to your mansion. Be sure to return the badge in one week, otherwise the city guard will kick you out of the city.”

‘If that girl is to enter the competition, it will surely live it up. Who dares to call themselves geniuses after they see her? Haha!’ The old man mused to himself and immediately closed his eyes and went back to sleep afterwards.

The couple headed to the northern area of the city. They arrived at the cave mansion quickly. The building was located very close to the city centre. Spiritual power is more abundant towards city centre and the spirit gathering formation would display a larger effect.

The cave mansion was a simple and elegant stone building. There was a courtyard at the back for exercising martial arts.

The mansion was equipped with a simple kitchen, a bathroom, bedroom and an enclosed chamber for cultivation. The wooden badge allowed the holder to activate the formations in the cave mansion.

“Bi-Big Brother Shen!” Xue’er who was checking out the interior called out nervously.

Shen looked over and saw Xue’er standing at the entrance of the bedroom.

“What’s wrong Xue’er?”

“Umm, Big Brother Shen, th-there’s only one bed.” Xue’er’s voice trailed off to a whisper at the end.

“Oh, I guess we’ll have to squeeze onto it.” Shen stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Of course, the chaos beast, the almighty being of the universe, would not have a clue as to what went on inside a woman’s mind.

Xue’er didn’t reply and kept glancing between the bed and Shen.

“I think I’ll lie down for a bit then. We’ll resume the tour of the city tomorrow.”

Shen said as he entered the bedroom and proceeded to lie on one side of the bed. The bed wasn’t all that big and would be barely fit two people on it. Cultivators could go without sleep for weeks or even months at a time during closed door cultivation, so beds weren’t a large necessity.

“I’ll go take a bath!” Xue’er shouted out before running off towards the bathroom.

It was unknown if she was preparing herself or if she was just nervous.

Shen had fallen asleep when Xue’er had returned. The fairy maiden approached the bed with her hair still partially wet. Her perfect body was alluring and gave off a sweet scent. Any man who saw this figure would have an irresistible impulse to push her down.

Xue’er was only wearing a thin robe. She gazed at the sleeping Shen for a while as her face gradually turned red. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Xue’er crawled into the bed beside Shen while thinking about their time together. Shen was the first male outside of her father that she had interacted. This left a deep impression on the innocent girl’s mind.

Xue’er slowly fell asleep while subconsciously snuggling up to Shen.