The Essence of the Moon

Eight days later, Langya Palace.

Ear Room.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof!"

The fat black doggy Yue Yun stuck his butt in the air lying on the carpet, facing the little ha who was sprawled on the ground with his head tilted, and let out a string of barks.

Du ke lay curled up in a cat bed nearby, watching this scene playfully with his paws covering his smile.

"Young Master Thirteen, bark just like I did earlier!"

The one named Thirteen tilted his head, then opened his mouth wide, "Awooo!!"

"Oh no, that's not how dogs bark!"

Yue Yun was just about fed up with Thirteen, he had been teaching him for almost an hour but the silly dog still just kept howling awuuu.

"Young Master Thirteen, just give me some face!"

Yue Yun and little ha Thirteen stared at each other for a moment. Finally Thirteen moved, scrambling on his four little short legs over to Yue Yun's arms. Then the floodgates opened and a deluge ensued.

"Oh my dear mother!"

Seeing Thirteen peeing and pooping on him, Yue Yun immediately held up Thirteen by the scruff of his neck and put him back on the carpet, before rushing out himself to change clothes.

"Meow hahaha!"

This scene made Du ke laugh loudly, though he couldn't make the "ha" sound and could only meow.

Seeing Yue Yun leave, Thirteen scampered excitedly over to Du ke, who immediately jumped out of his cat bed and onto a nearby cat tree upon seeing the puppy coming his way.

By now, this Ear Room had been completely transformed into a cat house.

The floor was covered in a thick wool carpet, and intricate climbing posts for cats filled the entire room.

These cat climbing posts were extremely exquisite, custom-made by artisans to resemble Waterside Pavilions and Terraces.

In addition, there was Du ke's cat bed, Thirteen's doggy bed, jacquard woven with pearls and embroidered silk balls.

Fist-sized night luminous pearls covered the floor, along with various other cat and dog toys filling up the entire room.

"Awuu!"

Seeing Du ke climb up onto the cat tree, Thirteen stood up on his hind legs and started howling ceaselessly at Du ke.

Du ke ignored him and leaned into the crook of the cat tree, climbing to a specially built platform on the wall the size of a tea table.

On the platform was placed a small wooden chest.

Du ke crouched in front of the chest and lifted open the lid with his paw.

Inside the chest were hemispherical recesses the size of beans, each holding a blood-red pellet also bean-sized.

These were blood vitality pills for cultivation, specially prepared by Su Qiluo for Du ke.

And considering Du ke's current physical condition, the dosage had been specially adjusted.

Extending a claw, Du ke fished out a bean-sized blood vitality pill and lowered his head to curl his tongue around it before swallowing it down.

As soon as the blood vitality pill entered his stomach, a surging warm current erupted.

At the same time as the warm current burst open, Du ke perked up his butt, lowered his head with his tail hanging low, straightened his hind legs, bent his front limbs, looking just like a leopard about to pounce on its prey.

He had just assumed this stance when the inner qi in the cat's body began circulating, blending with the efficacy of the medicine to temper Du ke’s skin and flesh.

Feeling his skin and flesh constantly tightening and stretching, Du ke half-closed his eyes and silently digested the effects of the medicine.

A while later, Yue Yun, now changed into fresh clothes, walked into the room. Seeing Du ke cultivating, he quickly retracted his outstretched leg and silently closed the door behind him as he left.

And as usual whenever Du ke started cultivating, time would slip by unnoticed. In but a fleeting moment, an entire afternoon had passed.

Du ke had also consumed three blood vitality pills. Outside, the evening sun cast its dim golden rays through the window into the room.

"Roar!!"

A low roar resonated within the room. Hearing the sound from outside, Yue Yun opened the door and walked in, seeing Du ke shaking his fur. "Sir Cat, would you like your bath or dinner first?”

"Meow!"

Du ke meowed in response. Yue Yun immediately nodded, "Alright, I’ll go prepare your bath now."

A while later, Du ke was soaking in a wooden tub as Yue Yun washed his fur.

"Sir Cat, your recent progress has been astonishingly swift!"

As he spoke, Yue Yun stroked a layer of fur off Du ke’s body.

For humans and animals, the tempering of skin and flesh through cultivation is different.

As cultivation deepens, human skin will gradually peel off and new skin will grow. But animals will constantly shed fur and grow new fur instead.

The tempering of skin and flesh is judged by how much skin or fur sheds, to determine the progress of cultivation.

When the entire body molts once, it represents a complete transformation.

The new grown skin is as tough as ox hide, impervious to blades and spears.

The muscles become even denser and more delicate, as if they have been compression-forged into steel, bursting with explosive power.

But since animals are already furry, the shedding of skin and flesh during cultivation leads to severe hair loss.

At first after finishing his cultivation sessions, with every step Du ke took tufts of fur would fall out all over the floor. Initially he was somewhat disturbed, afraid that he would become a bald cat. But later after learning about the situation from Yue Yun, he was no longer concerned.

"Meow~~"

Du ke responded indifferently with a flick of his tail, and Yue Yun said, "You're right. To begin with Miss doesn't stint on resources for you. In just eight days I've already changed your pills five or six times.”

Speaking to this point, Yue Yun also clicked his tongue.

Each case of pills held forty-nine pieces. The number Du ke had taken these past few days was already in the hundreds.

Although these were specially made for cats, if all the silver and gold used to refine these pills were cashed out, it would be enough for ten households in the city to live comfortably for a lifetime.

"But Sir Cat, you still have to pace yourself. Cultivation requires a balance of work and rest. Not just madly training whenever you can like you do now!"

"Meow!"

Du ke lashed his tail, splashing water droplets onto Yue Yun's face. Yue Yun didn't mind, knowing that the cat was throwing a tantrum.

But Yue Yun still continued, "You should at least go out for walks once in a while instead of being cooped up here training all day. It’s not good for your health."

"Awuuu!"

Hearing this, Du ke let out a yowl. Yue Yun cringed, hurriedly pleading, "I won't say anymore, just let me properly bathe Sir Cat.”

Seeing that the little fat black one had stopped talking, Du ke also let him slowly bathe himself, washing away the fur shed from cultivation as well as the accumulated grime.

How could he not understand what Yue Yun said?

It was just that, ever since arriving in this world, Du ke had felt an inexplicable sense of urgency that he could not put into words. Although it didn't manifest externally most of the time, that urgency was always there.

And he, who had the chance to cultivate and become stronger, how could he waste his time wandering around like an ordinary cat?

He had his own plans!

Moreover, he had to rely on himself in all matters. One had to have self-reliance when striking iron!

He must hurry, that was imperative.

...........

In the depths of the night, Du ke crawled out from Su Qiluo's embrace and looked at the little girl who had drool dripping from the corner of her mouth as she slept. He lifted his paw to wipe the saliva from her face.

Then he hooked the edge of the blanket with his claw and covered her properly.

These past few days he had been obsessed with cultivation and neglected Su Qiluo quite a bit.

Fortunately Su Qiluo had been busy recently with lessons, so she didn't have time to complain much.

At most she would hug him when sleeping at night.

But most times Du ke would slip away to go practice his stances.

Having leapt off the bed, Du ke’s figure abruptly vanished into the darkness, as if dissolving into the black of night.

Having activated his bloodline talent, instead of heading out the door Du ke walked towards the pavilion side.

There was a special viewing pavilion in Su Qiluo's room, similar to a balcony from Du ke’s past life.

Jumping onto the railing of the balcony, Du ke looked up. Su Qiluo’s bedroom was on the top level, and this pavilion was still three meters below the roof.

Du ke looked down. The usually expansive lake now seemed no bigger than a washbasin, and the waterside pavilions and terraces below were as tiny as stacked building blocks.

He was currently twenty-seven or twenty-eight meters high off the ground. If he were to fall from this height, he would definitely be smacked into meat paste.

"Thank goodness I reincarnated as a cat in this life, otherwise I would’ve been scared to death of heights!"

Du ke stood upright and directly sprang upwards from where he stood, reaching over two meters high. Extending his front limbs, he caught the edge of the roof eave and nimbly climbed up.

Stepping on the glass roof tiles, Du ke swiftly made his way to the top of the multi-story tower.

Gazing up at the night sky from the rooftop pinnacle, an enormous full moon hovered aloft amidst the gossamer moonlight like smoke and fog.

Du ke's figure gradually emerged, exposing himself under the moonlight as well.

Bathing under the moonlight, Du ke's eyes sank as the Black Cauldron also appeared in his eyes.

"Whether it succeeds or fails depends on this attempt!"

Du ke took a deep breath, then looked up at the moon. At the same time, the Black Cauldron shook with a roar, and the ethereal moonlight also flowed into the space where the Black Cauldron was located, using Du ke as a medium.