Chapter 522: Who's Tricking Who?

"Hey, Little Ryuu! Look, over there are seven beautiful flowers just waiting for you to pluck them!!" Master Izaria giggled while pointing at Mira's group.

Ryuu instinctively turned his head but froze as soon as his gaze grazed upon Mira, specifically her backside!

'A fox woman!' He internally screamed, and an unknown emotion rose in his chest.

'I want to fluff those tails!'

As if Mira's illusion meant nothing to him, he stared at her with a stare so intense that it seemed to burn a hole through her body. Unknowingly, his cheeks gained a slightly pink hue to them.

*Smack!*

"Ouch!"

"Tch! If you really want to penetrate her, do it with your body, not your eyes!" Master Izaira scolded before turning back to Mira's group and waving at them, "Hey, beauties! Come here! My disciple has taken an interest in you!"

Mira's group paused as they could all feel a faint pressure exuding out of the woman, bearing down on their souls!

'An expert!' They screamed and cursed in their hearts. They couldn't help but lament their bad luck at meeting such a powerhouse in the middle of nowhere!

Mira saw that Ryuu was staring directly at her tails and sighed inwardly, but outwardly, her expression remained calm, without any fluctuation.

'It seems my illusions are useless on him, but... why does his gaze feel a bit weird?' A slight frown formed on her face as she detected a hint of infatuation in Ryuu's eyes.

'Fuck! Don't tell me tails are this guy's kink?!' Mira cursed.

A hint of killing intent leaked out of her eyes, but she forcefully controlled herself as her instincts told her that the person next to Ryuu was at the same level as Aelina. A Divine Sea Realm expert.

'However, if he dares to do something untoward to me...' A fierce light flashed in Mira's eyes, 'I'll kill him! Even if that woman were god herself, that man wouldn't be able to escape my wrath!''

Maria also frowned, seeing Ryuu looking at Mira so intently, and whether consciously or unconsciously, she reached out and grabbed Mira's hand as if to tell him she was already taken!

"We're a bit busy right now, Senior. So, we're unable to spend time with your disciple. I apologize for the inconvenience," Nova tactfully declined Master Izaria's sudden demand as her instincts told her nothing good would come from hanging out with this woman.

"Hmph! Who's a senior?! I'm as old as you are!" Master Izaria pouted, leaving not only Nova, Eden, and Seraphine speechless but Ryuu as well.

"Master, it's not good to lie! Didn't you tell me you were over 1,000 years old when we first met?"

*Smack!*

"Stupid disciple! I thought I taught you that a man should never reveal a woman's age!"

Ryuu rubbed the back of his head and said with a sullen expression, "You also taught me not to lie to beautiful women and to live my life as an honest man!"

Now it was Master Izaria's turn to be speechless, and she couldn't refute his claims as she had indeed said that.

"...Hmph! Age is just a number. In my heart, I'm just as young as those girls!" She pointed at Mira's group, or at least where they were supposed to be, but it seemed that they had scurried off sometime during her bickering with Ryuu.

".....Wow. What great advice you give.... Master. It was so good that you scared them all off." Ryuu said emotionlessly with a blank expression. He didn't even get a chance to talk to them, much less stroke those marvelous tails.

Master Izaria sighed, "Little Ryuu, why are you simping so hard for that fox woman? Don't tell me you're really into beastiality?!"

Ryuu,s expression became awkward, but then he remembered something, "Master, that woman wasn't a beast. She clearly followed the humanoid cultivation System as I felt the aura of the Core Formation Realm around her."

"Oh? Now that you mention it, I also noticed such a peculiarity. However, how can she have nine-tails? Is she related to that bitch from the Fox Clan?" Master Izaria's eyes narrowed dangerously as she felt that the situation had just become many times more complicated.

Naturally, as someone who has lived for many years, she knew more things about the world than Ryuu did. And while she didn't fear the Fox Clan, she understood that her life would become very annoying if she harmed someone from their race. Especially someone who had nine-tails.

"What are you mumbling about, Master?"

"Ah?! Nothing!" Master Izaria shook her head, then grabbed Ryuu, "C'mon! Let's go catch up to those girls!"

The two of them disappeared and reappeared right before Mira's group.

"Oh? Would ya look at that? To think we'd bump into you beautiful young ladies again in this large city? Hehehe~ The world sure is small, isn't it?" Master Izaria chuckled, and Mira's group was once again stunned by her shamelessness.

"Senior, we really are busy and don't have any time to play around with your disciple. It may be presumptuous of me, but I hope someone as magnanimous, young, and beautiful as you can let us go about our business." Seraphine cupped her fists and said politely.

"Oh? Finally! Someone other than me understands my greatness! Hahaha~"

"Actually, Senior Sister, as the sea of people pushed us further away from you two, we talked it out and agreed that it'd be fine to hang out with such a beautiful fairy," Maria suddenly chimed in, claiming everyone's attention.

'Eh? Sea of people?' Ryuu looked around, and his eyes twitched.

'...'

There was literally nobody except for them and a few others walking around.

'S-Senior Sister?' Master Izaria stammered, not expecting a junior to brazenly call her such an 'intimate' term!

Meanwhile, Mira and the others stared at Maria, coldness filling their eyes as they felt betrayed.

However, Maria just smiled and gave them a nod, which seemed to say, "Trust me. I got this!"

Though they were skeptical, it seemed like Maria had a plan, which was more than what they had.

Suddenly, Maria's expression became depressed as she stared at Master Izaria pitifully, "However, now's really not a good time, Senior Sister, as we are on a tight schedule to complete our mission!!"

"Oh? What's your mission? No, before that, which Sect are you guys from?" Master Izaria's interest was piqued.

"We're from Big Sister Aelina's Sect! She gave us a mission to raid at least one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone mine funder, but we only have three weeks left until the deadline is up, and we still haven't met our quota. What are we supposed to do?! Wuwuwuw~ I don't want to disappoint Big Sister Aelina!" 'Tears' streamed down Maria's face as she cried.

Mira, Nova, and the others had to admit that Maria's acting skills were award-winning. Even Mira, who knew that Maria was lying, would have a hard time seeing through her act as she technically had said anything that was a lie.

However, Izaria's mind was elsewhere at the moment, 'Aelina? Is she talking about that Aelina? The Sect Master of the Battle Maiden Sect? But then, why is this little girl calling her Big Sister? Are the two of them that close?'

A hint of competitiveness arose in Izaria's heart, but then she suddenly frowned.

'Wait! Did she just say their mission was to raid Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines? With their cultivation? That's no different than a death sentence! How cruel!! But that's Aelina's style, alright. Mean to the extreme.'

Master Izaria snorted coldly and said, "Hmph! Don't worry, Junior Sister! It's just a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine. I'll just go steal one from one of those Unorthodox Faction bastards. Then, we can go back to the Battle Maiden Sect and shove the results in that stupid Sect Master's face! I'd love to see her face when she finds out you guys actually conquered one! Hahaha~!"

Maria's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Izaria's hands with misty eyes, "R-Really?! You would do so much for us even though we just met? Thank you, Senior Sister! You're the best!"

Master Izaria puffed out her chest and stuck out her nose, "Hahaha! Of course, I'm the best! I'm much better than that stupid Aelina! In fact, you should stop calling her Big Sister, as well. That person is too nasty. How could someone you thought of as a Big Sister dare to send you to your death with this mission?! She clearly doesn't care about you!"

Maria frowned and pretended to ponder over her words before reluctantly nodding, "W-What you said makes sense, Senior Sister, b-but I believe Big Sister Aelina just wanted me to improve. I believe she still had my best interest at heart!" Maria said sincerely.

Master Izaria sighed and shook her head, " You're still so naive, Junior Sister, but that's okay! I'll protect that innocence of yours!" She gave Maria a few pats on the head and then said, "Now, let's go capture one of those mines!"

Afterward, she walked over to Ryuu and whispered into his ear, "Alright! I've set the stage, Little Ryuu! This will be your time to show off in front of that fox woman. All women love strong me. I'm sure she'll fall in love with you after she sees how large and majestic your sword is! Maybe she'll even let you pet one of her tails after this is all over."

Ryuu's eyes sparkled, and he gave his Master a firm nod.

Master Izaria chuckled, wrapped them all in her Qi, and they disappeared.

If Maria were to have heard her, she would've immediately begun wondering who was tricking who.