Both girls were doing their best not to show how much pain they were in, in order to not worry the other. Time seemed to flow slowly as they felt their bones and muscles being torn apart and regenerated over and over. The red liquid was quickly soaking into their bodies and being replaced with even more black filth that had been excreted out of the pores of their skin. This filth was all the impurities that had been building up within their bodies. Only by refining one’s body with a body cultivation technique would they be able to push every last impurity from within them and protect them from further contamination.

As time passed, the once red water was now fully black, both girls could feel the pain easing up within them and the stench coming from the water below. Yuki wrinkled her brow as she slowly opened her eyes and looked down at herself. She had never smelt something so foul in her entire life, and she had smelled many rotten things since escaping from her village.

Nana, too, opened her eyes and gaged on the scent entering her nose. She quickly climbed out of the bath, took a towel from the side, and began wiping her body down. “Yuki, I will be going first.” Dragon’s noses were much stronger than a fox’s nose, so she was even more affected by the smell than Yuki. 

Yuki was not far behind her as she too rushed out of the room as well and entered the bathroom. Both girls washed their bodies off from head to toe, even helping each other with the spots that they could not reach. 

Only when they got every speck off their bodies did they get a good look at themselves and each other. While they had snow white skin before now, their skin seemed more supple and shiny, as if it was the skin of a newborn baby. Being girls, they couldn’t help but find this quite an amazing outcome.

Once the bath was over, both girls decided to take a rest for a few hours. They got back into a set of fresh nightgowns and sat on the bed grooming each other’s tails. “Nana, how many times do we have to do the herbal baths?”

“We have to do it about one hundred times before we can get to the next stage. It does not look good for use, but I can feel my body seems lighter and stronger as well.” Nana replied.

“Yes, the effects outweigh the pain. I just hope the black goop is not something we need to deal with every time.” Yuki sighed as she finished the last scale on Nana’s tail. “Well, I guess the pain will be easy to get used to after a while.” 

She was not just speaking wishfully, she had much experience in the department of getting used to pain. Yuki looked over at Nana, who was still carefully combing her tail, and smiled. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Nana’s neck and pushed onto her back, and laid kisses all over her face. “But having such a cute dao partner makes the pain worth it.”

Nana blushed and hugged Yuki’s waist. She allowed Yuki to have her fill since she could see the fox girl’s tail wagging back and forth. After kissing every inch of Nana’s face, Yuki propped herself up and sighed. “I think from now on I will no longer hold back….”

“Hold back?” Nana asked.

“Against people who dare to start trouble with me. After the run in with Elder Shoji, I realized I had mellowed out too much. I am letting people get away with things because I do not wish to be kicked from the sect. But now….” Yuki sighed and buried her face into Nana’s neck. She loved the fact that her lover was able to be by her side all the time.

“So, what do you plan to do?” Nana asked curiously, the petite body in her arms was warm and inviting. She wanted to let her instincts take over, but she was doing her best to hold back since she knew Yuki was not ready for anything further than what they were already doing. But even still, while she wanted a little more, Nana was unwilling to cross the line and push Yuki into anything. She was actually quite content with the current situation. Her Yuki was so cute that she sometimes wanted to die from her cuteness.

“I think I should deal with that Yuko girl. My guess is that she is still angry over how Senior Sister Haruhi had stuck up for us. As such, she would want to deal with us to regain her face. She would not go after Senior Sister but after us, who were just normal outer sect disciples even if we are Master’s disciples.” Yuki knew how the minds of these rich young masters and young ladies worked. She had read enough novels with such people in them to read them like the back of her hand. She had not really thought too much about it as of late, but now that she was thinking about it, it would be best not too low to make people think they were easily bullied.

“I see. I will follow with whatever you decide. With our breakthrough to the forth fate star, we are now one step closer to being able to enter the inner sect. If we do enter, it is most likely a fact that she would use her influence to try to harass or even attack us.” Nana was of the same mind. She did not think that they should let such a looming threat go so easily.

“I think the other person who followed us on our mission was one of her lackeys as well. So we should plan appropriately. We need to take care of her in a way that will not make it look like we did it on purpose.”