Chapter 83: Roses have Thorns

Chapter 83: Roses have Thorns Henrietta had successfully broken through to the 1st Stage of the Golden Core. Yet despite the rushed process, the amount of Qi in her Dantian and the stability of her foundation couldn’t be compared to anyone else Xu Tao had seen. He was confident that Henrietta now had the potential to go toe-to-toe with even the Platinum-Ranked Cultivator under her brother, Gula—if they fought without weapons! After confirming that her core was stable, Xu Tao gently let go of her back. At the exact same moment, he also undid all the arrays he had set around them. One by one, the formations dissipated. And just as the final one—the Qi Gathering Array—was disarmed, Henrietta’s body began to fall backward. "Oh." Xu Tao caught her swiftly, not letting her collapse to the ground. She must have instinctively understood that it was over, finally releasing the last sliver of consciousness she had been clinging to. However, there was one problem. Thanks to the flames that had enveloped her earlier, she was left without anything covering her body. Xu Tao had already anticipated it and reached for another robe when— "I’ll take it from here, Mr. Master~." A childish voice drifted in—just before a large white mantle floated down to cover Henrietta. Xu Tao turned calmly to the source of the voice—a woman standing just a few feet away. "You are..." he spoke, his eyes as serene as ever. "The one who’s been observing us from the beginning," he added, hinting that he had known of her presence all along. This subtle message—’You can’t hide from me’—made the little maid smile. "Interesting..." she whispered, licking her lips as her green eyes swept over Xu Tao from head to toe. "Well, too bad. If the young miss wasn’t after you, I would’ve been." "Sorry?" "Nothing." The maid shrugged before walking forward, turning around, and performing a proper curtsey in her black-and-white uniform. "Let me introduce myself. Yifalia Servienne, head maid under Miss Henrietta’s employ, and one of the few Platinum-Rank Cultivators in the world. Pleased to meet you~!" Xu Tao nodded in return, offering a formal introduction of his own. "Xu Tao, former Sect Leader and current Great Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect. At present, I serve as master to Henrietta and Uriel, having taken them as my direct disciples. The honor’s mine, Lady Yifalia." "You can call me Yifa, Mr. Master. And yes, yes, I’ve heard all about that," Yifalia replied with a smile. "I was shocked to learn that my worthless disciple picked up a new master, but... after seeing your strength up close, I’m convinced." Though her words seemed light, her eyes held no warmth. In fact, they gleamed with challenge. Her gaze said more than her lips ever did—’Let’s see if you’re really worthy.’ The next instant, with a wave of her hand, Henrietta’s body began to float toward her—drifting through the air like a feather. It was done casually, and Xu Tao didn’t stop her, simply watching as his disciple was moved away. "Anyway, Mr. Master, let’s catch up and exchange notes later, shall we? First, I’ll take care of this sleeping beauty." "Sure. She deserves a proper rest after all she’s endured," Xu Tao nodded. "Fufu, it’s been forty hours of long, painful torture for her, after all." Yifa chuckled, continuing on her way. "Well then, see you later, I guess?" And with that casual farewell, she disappeared with Henrietta into the shadows. After they vanished, Xu Tao shook his head lightly and chuckled. "That’s one energetic maid," he muttered, then opened his palm—and dropped something. It looked like a mass of shadowy residue, which turned to dust as it touched the air. "To think she’d test me like this for a greeting. She’s got guts, at least," he said, slightly amused. To clarify: throughout their entire exchange, Yifa had never stopped attacking. She’d launched projectiles—tiny needles forged from shadows—at him from countless angles and varying speeds. By the end of their talk, she had fired exactly 5,691 of them! But of course, none touched Xu Tao or Henrietta. He neutralized every single one before they could come close and gathered the remains in his palm. Shaking his head, he whispered, "Why do I feel like I’ve just made trouble for myself?" Xu Tao then touched his forehead, noting the cold sweat that had formed. Sweat—not from exertion, but from maintaining such intense focus during Henrietta’s forced cultivation for so long. "...Guess I’ll take a shower and rest." He muttered and disappeared from the training ground without a sound. ???????????? "What a curious fellow," Yifa murmured as she sat beside a giant bed. In its center, sleeping peacefully, was Henrietta. She was no longer naked, now dressed in soft, comfortable sleepwear as she rested. There was no one else in the room—just the two of them. Yifa glanced at Henrietta’s sleeping face and smiled faintly. "The new master you picked up is weird. To think I’d meet someone who didn’t call me ’little girl’ at first glance..." she muttered, clearly amused. Despite looking somewhere between ten and fifteen, Yifa’s true age was already in the triple digits. She was old enough to be Henrietta’s great-grandmother! And yet Xu Tao, despite her youthful appearance, had treated her like a proper adult—not like some brat running her mouth. ...Though the truth was far simpler: Xu Tao just didn’t care. In his eyes, everyone around him was basically a child. After all, he was already over ten thousand years old. So he didn’t judge people by age—only by strength. Yifa was a Platinum Rank cultivator, or in Xu Tao’s terms, a Nascent Soul Stage. Unlike Gula, who barely scraped into Nascent Soul, Yifa was different. Xu Tao could tell immediately from the numerous attacks she launched—she had already mastered the abilities of a true Nascent Soul cultivator. She wasn’t a beginner. She had enough strength to maybe even injure him with a lucky strike. That alone was enough to earn a sliver of his respect. "What’s more..." Yifa recalled Xu Tao’s appearance. A manly face with sharp, brave features. Well-toned body that was easily visible even under his robe. Big, burly hands, and a deep voice that sends shivers down her spine. Her small tongue peeked out, licking her lips sensually. "He’s just the way I like it. Perfectly in my strike zone~!" At that moment, Xu Tao had no idea— That he had just opened Pandora’s Box.