Meow~ Meow~ Meow~"
Inside Jingyang Palace, the sounds of Little Cat's meows rose and fell, exceptionally lively.
The Cat Overlord Cafeteria was open again, and Princess Ankang and Yuer were busy distributing food to the Little Cats.
Li Xuan watched happily from the side, enjoying the peaceful and harmonious scene before him.
The menu at the Cat Overlord Cafeteria was the same as before, consisting of steamed raw meat.
However, Yuer no longer had to painstakingly steam it herself as before.
The newly renovated Jingyang Palace had many practical new facilities.
For example, the hot spring where Golden Pig resided had pipes that directed steam to the kitchen.
Using this steam, Yuer only needed to put fresh raw meat into the steamer every day, and then just wait a moment for the tender steamed meat to be ready.
Currently, Cat Overlord and the others were eating with great relish, burying their heads deep in their food bowls.
Princess Ankang and Yuer felt a sense of accomplishment seeing them eat so happily.
Especially now that the Cat Overlord Cafeteria had a few more "customers."
Next to Cat Overlord and the others, Little Qi Si jumped completely into the bowl of steamed meat, pouncing and biting at a palm-sized piece of steamed meat inside, busy as could be.
But this Little One had been busy for a long time, and not much meat had been bitten off; only small tooth marks were scattered all over it.
"You Little One, the energy you're expending isn't even enough for what you'll eat back."
Princess Ankang couldn't help but be amused. She squatted in front of Little Qi Si and helped him tear the meat in his bowl into tiny shreds so he could eat it more easily.
Little Qi Si thought Princess Ankang was going to snatch the meat away, so he stubbornly bit down on the meat and wouldn't let go. As a result, his entire body hung from it, swinging back and forth, but he still wouldn't let go.
Princess Ankang and Yuer immediately burst into laughter.
"Little Qi Si looks like Fat Orange, but his brain really takes after Niu Niu."
Princess Ankang sighed and stuffed the torn meat shreds into Little Qi Si's mouth.
As a result, Little Qi Si still wouldn't let go, nor would he eat the meat shreds stuffed into his mouth.
"Don't even mention it, this Little One really has a temper."
Yuer said with a smile, coming to help Princess Ankang get this Little One down.
The two girls spent a good deal of effort to separate Little Qi Si from the steamed meat.
Although this Little One was stubborn, he didn't exhibit any food-guarding behavior.
Hissing, baring teeth, or showing claws, none of that happened.
He just continued to diligently move towards the steamed meat.
The piece of steamed meat Little Qi Si was originally eating was in Princess Ankang's hand, so this Little One stood up, stretched out his two small paws, trying hard to reach up, meowing incessantly, terribly anxious.
But with his tiny height, it was nothing more than being cute.
"Oh dear, Your Highness has already torn the meat into shreds for you, hasn't she?"
"Eat this first!"
Yuer picked up a shred of meat with a headache and directly stuffed it into Little Qi Si's throat.
Little Qi Si was meowing enthusiastically when he was suddenly ambushed by Yuer, immediately falling for it.
By the time he realized something was wrong, he had already unconsciously started chewing, then he lay back down on the ground, seriously moving his mouth, munching on the meat shreds.
Princess Ankang tore meat for Little Qi Si while sighing:
"Sigh, it seems another Niu Niu has appeared."
After speaking, the Three Little Ones all turned their gaze, only to see Niu Niu happily battling with the steamed meat in his bowl.
Niu Niu seemed to have bitten into a tendon and couldn't bite it off, so he began shaking his head wildly, directly flinging the steamed meat up to hit his own head, making loud smacking sounds that sounded painful.
Yet even so, Niu Niu showed no sign of letting go, until his body was thrown off balance by inertia, and he rolled into a ball, cat and meat together.
Cat Overlord and Fat Orange acted as if they hadn't seen anything, focusing on their meal.
Li Xuan, as the boss, couldn't help but shake his head and sigh:
"You, Little One, are truly gifted."
And today, besides the addition of Little Qi Si, the Cat Overlord Cafeteria also had a big friend.
Naturally, it was Dabai, the only large cat in Jingyang Palace.
The meat in front of Dabai was served in a large wooden basin, and he ate unhurriedly, occasionally casting curious glances at Cat Overlord and the others.
As for Cat Overlord's side, only Cat Overlord would look up at Dabai a few times, while Fat Orange and the others dared not even glance at him.
After all, Dabai was a true Rin Tiger, with an inherent huge difference compared to these Little Cats.
At first, Fat Orange and the others dared not approach Dabai, and only cautiously walked over at Li Xuan's request.
But Cat Overlord was different; even with a clear size difference from Dabai, he dared to approach Dabai.
However, after getting within about ten feet, Cat Overlord also showed a solemn expression.
Among beast races, the difference in bloodline is very intuitive.
Unlike humans, beast races can discern differences in strength at a glance.
For humans, it's very difficult to tell strength just from appearance.
Even Great Inner Experts like Elder Ye and Chief Steward Shang, from their appearance alone, would look no different from ordinary old men on the street.
Humans can only distinguish strength through aura, but weak humans who haven't cultivated cannot even perceive auras.
But beast races are different; they are born with keen five senses, and the Qi and Blood Power, which is the main difference in strength, is as conspicuous as a flame in their eyes.
If Dabai was a torch, Cat Overlord and the others were at most a single spark, insignificant.
This was an inherent bloodline difference.
Even if Cat Overlord and Fat Orange had cultivated to the strength of the Ninth Rank Ningxue Realm, it would be difficult to erase this inherent difference.
Yet, enduring such great pressure, Cat Overlord still dared to approach Dabai, which surprised even Li Xuan.
With Cat Overlord's personality, as long as he can continue to cultivate smoothly, his future achievements are immeasurable.
"Truly a born warrior."
As for Dabai, this meal was not enjoyable at all.
He had never imagined that one day he would eat with so many small, weak creatures.
If it weren't for Li Xuan's sake, Dabai would have driven Cat Overlord and the others away long ago.
Dabai looked at Cat Overlord and the others with cold eyes and chilling killing intent, causing the surrounding temperature to drop a few degrees.
But at this moment, Dabai suddenly felt a prickle on his back.
Dabai glanced to the side, meeting Li Xuan's displeased gaze.
Dabai was so scared his heart trembled, and he could only whimper pitifully a few times, then honestly focused on his meal.
"This fellow, he's been running wild in the Forbidden Garden, arrogant and disrespectful."
Li Xuan warned Dabai with his eyes, telling him to behave.
Currently, throughout Jingyang Palace, Dabai only obeyed him; he wasn't very afraid of anyone else.
Li Xuan thought that this was absolutely unacceptable.
"I need to find an opportunity to have Ankang and Yuer beat Dabai up until he submits."
"However, with their current strength, it's still a bit difficult."
Dabai indeed had the capital to be arrogant; ordinary Lower Three Ranks martial artists simply couldn't do anything to this big fellow.
"When I'm here, I can let Dabai be a sparring partner for the two girls."
"When I'm not around, it's best if he can still be restrained somewhat."
Li Xuan suddenly thought of something, so he tried pressing his paw onto Dabai's body.
Dabai seemed to sense something and stopped eating.
When Li Xuan lifted his paw, a pink cat paw print appeared on Dabai's back.
Li Xuan left a faint trace of Yin Yang True Qi within Dabai's body.
He then closed his eyes to investigate; the position of the Yin Yang True Qi was clearly traceable, and he could even control it within a certain range.
"Freeze!"
With a thought from Li Xuan, Dabai's entire body stiffened, unable to move, firmly locked by the Yin Yang True Qi left inside his body.
However, this would accelerate the consumption of Yin Yang True Qi, so Li Xuan quickly restored Dabai's movements.
As Dabai's movements loosened, he gasped for air, looking at Li Xuan with both reverence and fear.
The Yin Yang True Qi remaining in his body then began to slowly absorb the Five Elements power from heaven and earth to recover.
"This, Yin Yang True Qi can even be used like this?"
Compared to the cat paw print he had unintentionally left on Princess Ankang before, this current cat paw print was clearly "upgraded" much more.
"Is it because of the completion of the Yin Yang True Extremes Art?"
"As the Yin Yang True Qi in my body gets stronger, the cat paw prints I leave on others will also get stronger."
Controlling Dabai's body was something the previous Li Xuan couldn't do.
"Interesting, interesting."
Li Xuan narrowed his eyes, looking at Princess Ankang with ill intent.
The unsuspecting Princess Ankang was still feeding Little Qi Si, completely unaware.
Li Xuan stealthily approached, then pressed a paw onto Princess Ankang's hand.
"Huh?"
"Li Xuan, what are you doing?"
When Li Xuan lifted his paw, Princess Ankang saw the familiar cat paw print and couldn't help but feel speechless.
"Really, is it because I only care about Little Qi Si, and Li Xuan is jealous?"
Princess Ankang's eyes were full of mischievous smiles, looking as if she wanted to tease Li Xuan.
With that, Princess Ankang offered a shred of meat to Li Xuan's mouth, and Li Xuan instinctively took it.
"Li Xuan, good boy."
Princess Ankang said, patting Li Xuan's head with a gentle smile.
This scene made Dabai and Cat Overlord's eyes nearly pop out, and the meat in their mouths dropped in shock.
Fat Orange was the quickest to react, nudging Cat Overlord with his big butt, telling him to stop looking around and quickly eat his meat.
Niu Niu and Little Qi Si, however, never lifted their heads from their food bowls from beginning to end, so they didn't see this scene at all.
Li Xuan noticed Dabai's astonished gaze, couldn't help but blush, then glared fiercely at Dabai.
Dabai lowered his head pitifully, no longer daring to look around.
Li Xuan turned back to see Cat Overlord and the others obediently eating, nodded in satisfaction, then said to Princess Ankang:
"Stop messing around, see if there's anything different from before."
Li Xuan wrote with his tail.
Princess Ankang giggled; she had laughed inwardly when she saw Li Xuan look shy earlier.
But she still seriously examined the cat paw print on the back of her hand.
"The color is lighter; it was red before, now it's pink."
Princess Ankang immediately noticed the difference.
"And what else?"
Li Xuan himself could see such obvious things.
"Hmm, as for the others…"
Princess Ankang stood up, stretched her arms, twisted her waist, and bounced twice in place.
She then tilted her head, saying somewhat uncertainly: "It feels like it's a bit lighter, but I don't know if it's just my imagination."
Li Xuan's heart stirred, and he also pressed a cat paw print onto Yuer, then asked her to try performing Flying Dragon Sleeve.
"Li Xuan, the consumption has decreased, and it's much easier for me to use the technique."
Li Xuan's conjecture was immediately verified.
"Leaving Yin Yang True Qi within other people's bodies can also have some effects."
Then, Li Xuan eagerly imprinted cat paws on everyone and every cat present.
Two girls, plus five cats big and small, a total of seven cat paws.
As more and more cat paws were imprinted, Li Xuan also noticed that his control over the cat paws weakened slightly.
Although he could still immobilize Dabai as before, the duration became shorter.
Li Xuan thought about it and felt that his current limit should be to leave ten cat paw prints.
If there were more, the effect should be greatly reduced.
But he believed that if his cultivation continued to strengthen in the future, he should be able to leave more and more cat paw prints.
"There shouldn't be any harm, right?"
To be safe, Li Xuan told them to immediately inform him if they felt any discomfort.
This was still the experimental stage for the cat paw prints, and Li Xuan still had many functions he hadn't fully explored.
Currently, Li Xuan could perceive the location of the cat paw print holders by sensing the Yin Yang True Qi.
As for the maximum distance, it hadn't been tested yet, so it was hard to say.
But having a positioning ability was a good thing after all.
This would make it much more convenient for Li Xuan to find the cat paw print holders in the future.
As for controlling Dabai earlier, it was by spreading the Yin Yang True Qi from the cat paw print throughout the holder's entire body, creating a binding effect.
Even with Dabai's great strength, he couldn't resist, so ordinary people should have no problem at all.
In the future, when Li Xuan needed to capture an opponent alive, he could use this move.
Li Xuan also tried it on Princess Ankang and Yuer. Although their efforts to resist would accelerate the consumption of Yin Yang True Qi, he could still control them for a considerable amount of time.
If they didn't resist at all, the control time could be extended even longer, making it a divine control skill.
"This Yin Yang True Qi is getting more and more interesting."
Li Xuan didn't know if these abilities were available to all cultivators of Yin Yang True Qi, or if it was his special situation.
To clarify this, he needed to look at other Yin-Yang attribute cultivation methods.
At least, the Yin Yang True Extremes Art didn't record these things; the entire text only taught how to use Yin Yang True Qi to transform the Five Elements.
Li Xuan guessed that perhaps every Yin Yang True Qi cultivator had different special uses.
And the cultivation methods they left behind were the keys to unlocking these special abilities.
Although Yin Yang True Qi was the fundamental force from the same source, everyone had different ways of using it.
The more Li Xuan thought about it, the more he believed this was possible.
"It seems collecting other Yin-Yang attribute cultivation methods is imperative!"
This unexpected discovery filled Li Xuan with joy.
After the Cat Overlord Cafeteria closed for business, Li Xuan began to guide everyone in their cultivation.
After returning to the palace, Zhao Feng continued to come every morning to guide Yuer, so she didn't need much guidance from Li Xuan.
Mainly, it was Dabai and the Little Cats who needed his introductory guidance.
Cat Overlord and Fat Orange were already familiar with it, cultivating Bloodthirsty Tiger Claw on their own.
Li Xuan focused on teaching Dabai and Little Qi Si the basics of Tiger Form Ten Styles, and incidentally had Niu Niu review it from the side.
Li Xuan patiently taught each movement slowly, but his patience was also quickly depleted.
Although Dabai was also a cat, communication was more difficult, mostly through body language and stick discipline.
If Dabai made a mistake, Li Xuan would fiercely whip him with his tail, making him feel pain.
And surprisingly, stick discipline was remarkably effective on Dabai.
Although Dabai didn't understand what Li Xuan was saying, he now did exactly as Li Xuan instructed, never getting the posture wrong, which greatly pleased Li Xuan.
As for Little Qi Si, he was still too young, so Li Xuan just taught him casually, letting him learn as much as he could, without forcing him.
Of course, this differentiated education policy made Dabai feel so wronged that he wiped away tears.
This couldn't be helped; from the perspective of bloodline talent, Dabai had the highest starting point, so Li Xuan naturally had higher expectations for him.
Because he really wanted to see how much powerful beast races would improve if they cultivated human cultivation methods.
As for Niu Niu…
Sigh, best not to mention it.
Princess Ankang watched from the side, keenly interested as Li Xuan taught the cats martial arts, making her giggle foolishly.
Li Xuan taught for a long time before Dabai finally memorized half of the Tiger Form Ten Styles movements by rote.
As for Little Qi Si, he had long since gone off to play with Niu Niu, frolicking nearby.
However, Cat Overlord and Fat Orange were completely unaffected by them, having completed their cultivation of Bloodthirsty Tiger Claw.
Li Xuan immediately took out the purified Linhu Essence Blood and fed a few drops into their mouths.
After drinking the Linhu Essence Blood, Cat Overlord and Fat Orange immediately became much more energetic, closing their eyes to digest the power within the Linhu Essence Blood.
"I need to find time to compile the subsequent cultivation methods for them, preferably also tiger-shaped."
Seeing how well Cat Overlord and Fat Orange practiced Tiger Form Ten Styles and Bloodthirsty Tiger Claw, Li Xuan planned to teach them similar cultivation methods in the future, making it easier for them to pick up.
But at this moment, Dabai also eagerly came over, constantly rubbing his big head against Li Xuan, making Li Xuan stumble and almost fall.
"Meow? (What are you doing?)"
"Meow. (Have you understood the Tiger Form Ten Styles I told you to practice?)"
Li Xuan pushed Dabai's head away in disgust.
Dabai became even more anxious, rubbing against Li Xuan again, then looking at Cat Overlord and Fat Orange, drooling all over the floor.
"Meow! Woo? (What! You want to eat them both?)"
Li Xuan's voice was so surprised it was a little off-key, his face full of disbelief.