The layout of the guest rooms upstairs was largely the same. Jiang Lijin led the two men upstairs to choose their rooms.
Her own master bedroom was the largest, a suite complete with a living room and a study. The other bedrooms were located opposite hers. Tinia did not hold back, directly claiming the room diagonally to the left of Jiang Lijin's bedroom, citing its good lighting. Baal, without saying a word, pushed open the door to the room diagonally to her right.
One on the left, one on the right—meaning neither of their doors directly faced hers. Otherwise, who knew how much they would have argued over it.
The atmosphere in the hallway became inexplicably tense. The two tall males stood at their respective doorways, their gazes crossing over the top of Jiang Lijin's head, clashing silently in the air.
Jiang Lijin could not be bothered to deal with them. "You both must be exhausted from the journey. Get some rest early."
Leaving those words behind, she turned and entered her own bedroom, locking the door behind her.
The room was finally quiet. Jiang Lijin walked over to the sofa in the small living room of her suite and sat down, tapping on the optical computer on her wrist. She had asked Chiron to throw away all her previous clothes, so she now urgently needed to log onto the Star Network's largest shopping platform to purchase a batch of daily necessities and clothing.
Just as the screen of her optical computer lit up, a knock came at the door.
Jiang Lijin paused.
Could it be Tinia? He did look like the type who could not sit still.
She sighed, but still got up, walked to the door, and pulled it open.
"What is it now..."
The words caught in her throat. Standing outside the door was not the blond-haired, blue-eyed Tinia, but the tall, stern-faced Baal.
He must have taken off his coat, revealing a black shirt underneath that perfectly showcased his broad shoulders and narrow waist. His broad frame almost blocked out the light in the hallway.
Jiang Lijin was a little surprised.
"Is something the matter?"
Baal looked down at her, seemingly weighing his words. After a couple of seconds, he spoke in a deep voice, "Can we talk inside?"
Inside? A lone man and a lone woman, sharing a room?
Jiang Lijin frowned slightly, but on second thought, Baal was the Supreme Commander of the Federation and her legally matched beast husband assigned by the Main Brain. It was not like he was going to eat her.
She stepped aside, making way for him. Baal strode into the room, and Jiang Lijin casually shut the door.
"Speak. What is it?" Jiang Lijin leaned against the back of the door, her arms crossed over her chest.
Baal turned around, his gaze meeting Jiang Lijin's eyes directly, without any preamble. "I need a mental energy purification."
Jiang Lijin froze for a moment, then the gossip she had seen on the Star Network forums flashed through her mind. Rumor had it that Federation Commander Baal's mental energy had long been on the brink of going berserk, held back only by his astonishing willpower. Because there had never been a 3S-grade female in the entire galaxy, he could not receive any effective soothing.
No wonder he was in such a hurry.
Jiang Lijin nodded. Baal was willing to hand over his entire fortune to her; it was just a mental energy purification, so of course she would not refuse.
"Alright."
She stood up straight and was just about to recall the original owner's process for mental energy purification. When the original owner purified her three ex-husbands, she usually soothed their spirit animals.
Just as she was about to ask Baal to release his spirit animal, the man in front of her suddenly moved.
Baal took two steps forward, instantly closing the distance between them. His tall physique loomed over her with an intense sense of oppression. He pressed both hands against the door panel Jiang Lijin was leaning on, practically trapping her in his arms.
He was too close, so close that Jiang Lijin could clearly feel the heat radiating from his body.
Baal lowered his head, his face drawing closer and closer. Jiang Lijin's pupils shrank sharply.
[Ahhhhh! Host! He's going to kiss you! Lord Baal is so direct! Is this something I can watch for free?] Xiao Yi let out a groundhog-like scream in Jiang Lijin's mind. [Hey, hey, hey? Wait, why did the screen go black! Let me go, I want to watch!]
Horrified, Jiang Lijin reflexively raised her hands and pushed hard against the chest pressing down on her. The sensation against her palms was rock-hard; even through the fabric, she could feel the distinct outlines of his muscles. She snapped back to reality—now was not the time to be studying his pectoral muscles!
Baal stopped his movements and lowered his eyes to look at her, his expression full of confusion. Had she not agreed?
Jiang Lijin coughed lightly, the tips of her ears burning. Across three lifetimes combined, she had barely even held a man's hand! In her previous life, acting as a sycophant in a novel world, the most intimate thing Gu Chenyuan had ever done to her was choke her by the neck...
Baal looked at her flushed cheeks, even more puzzled. In his purely pragmatic, straight-male understanding, physical contact was merely the means to achieve the most efficient purification, completely devoid of any personal emotion.
"Physical contact is the most efficient purification method," Baal said in a completely serious tone. "You just advanced to the 3S grade, and your mental energy is not yet stable. If we use spirit animal contact, it will significantly drain your energy. I was worried you wouldn't be able to handle it."
He paused, his gaze turning somewhat sharp. "You and your three ex-husbands... have you never done intimate purification?"
Jiang Lijin choked on his words. This man really spoke without any filter.
"No! And I'm not used to this method," Jiang Lijin immediately interrupted him, pushing hard against his chest to widen the distance between them.
Baal took half a step back, not forcing the issue. He watched Jiang Lijin avert her gaze, a faint, imperceptible ripple flashing through his eyes.
"I apologize," Baal apologized crisply. "I was inconsiderate."
He raised his right hand, palm facing up.
A wave of black mental energy rippled through the room, and a faint hissing sound could be heard in the air.
A massive black python appeared out of thin air behind Baal. Its black scales gleamed with an icy luster, and its vertical golden pupils exuded cruelty and coldness.
This was the 3S-grade spirit animal belonging to the Federation's Supreme Commander, a creature that had strangled countless Zerg on the battlefield.
Jiang Lijin held her breath.
The next second, the majestic giant python suddenly went "poof" and shrank into a little black snake only about as thick as her arm.
The little black snake darted in front of Jiang Lijin with a swish, skillfully wrapping itself around her wrist. Its cold, smooth scales rubbed against her skin, and the little snake's head nuzzled against her palm in a highly ingratiating manner.
The whole process happened so fast that by the time Baal reacted, his face had instantly darkened like the bottom of a pot. He stared deadpan at his completely undignified, frantically fawning spirit animal, the veins on his forehead throbbing twice.
He reached out his hand, wanting to yank this embarrassing thing back.
Sensing its master's intentions, the little black snake immediately shrank into Jiang Lijin's sleeve, leaving only its eyes exposed as it let out a wronged "hiss."
Baal's hand froze in mid-air. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to strangle his own spirit animal, and withdrew his hand.
"I'll leave it to you," Baal said stiffly, looking away.
Jiang Lijin looked at the highly contrasting little snake on her wrist and could not help but want to laugh. She gently tapped the little snake's head with her fingertip, and the snake immediately pushed its luck, rubbing against her finger affectionately.
[Xiao Yi, what is his berserk value right now?] Jiang Lijin asked in her mind.
[Host, I can't check it.] Xiao Yi's voice sounded somewhat helpless. [My authority isn't high enough. Baal is a 3S-grade! How would I dare to scan him!]
[...] Jiang Lijin was speechless.
[I will grow, you know!] Xiao Yi argued reasonably. [The longer we survive in this world, the more my database and permissions will upgrade in sync. Right now, you can only rely on your own perception. When you channel your power into his spiritual body, you will clearly understand his condition.]
Jiang Lijin did not press the matter further. She gathered her thoughts and began to recall the original host's method for spiritual purification.
It actually wasn't complicated. She just needed to concentrate her own spiritual energy into her hands and, through physical contact, gently channel it into the other person's spiritual body.
Jiang Lijin closed her eyes, drawing upon the immense yet gentle power within her. Wisps of soft white light slipped from her fingertips and slowly seeped into the little black snake, gliding along its scales.
The little black snake narrowed its vertical pupils in comfort, its ice-cold body clinging tightly to her wrist.
Following the white light, Jiang Lijin's consciousness sensed Baal's current state.
Frenzy. That was her only impression.
Jiang Lijin furrowed her brows slightly. This frenzy level was at least approaching the critical threshold of 80 percent. It was an absolute miracle that he had managed to hold on until now without losing his mind.
Without pausing, she increased the output of her spiritual energy. The soft white light acted like a giant net, soothing the manic energy bit by bit.
She had originally thought that purifying an impendingly berserk 3S-class powerhouse would be exhausting, but instead, she felt his frenzy level dropping rapidly, and it seemed to take no effort from her at all.
80 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent.
As the frenzy level continued to drop, the little black snake wrapped around her wrist went completely limp, allowing Jiang Lijin to stroke its scales as if she were petting a cat.
Just as the frenzy level dropped to 30 percent.
A large hand with distinct knuckles suddenly thrust into her line of sight, pinching the little black snake right at its weak point and mercilessly yanking it off Jiang Lijin's wrist.
Jiang Lijin paused her movements and looked up in astonishment.
Baal was standing just half a step away from her.
His breathing was heavy, his chest heaving violently. Those once cold and sharp black eyes were now clouded with a layer of mist, revealing an unconcealable darkness. Even his icy face was flushed with an eerie red.
Jiang Lijin's gaze shifted downward and abruptly froze.
On Baal's right arm, which was gripping the little snake, patches of hard, black scales were spreading upward from his wrist, covering the once firm and smooth skin of his forearm.
