Clear crystalline eyes concentrated their full attention onto Bai Qingyue's blazing golden ones. The sudden intensity he received from Li Meirong's stare made him second-guessing his wife's naivéte. Anxiously, he wondered if he underestimated her a little too much?

For a moment there, he received the impression of her dark orbs seeping into the very depths of his soul, unveiling his thoughts similarly to peeling an onion.

As if on cue, the candles illuminating the room simultaneously flickered, enhancing Li Meirong's enigmatic visage and making it even more difficult for Bai Qingyue to analyze her thoughts.

A moment later, the sharp light of her eyes was gone. She blinked once and her lips stretched into a faint, pleasant smile, with her dimples peeking from each side of her mouth.

Bai Qingyue's keen senses noted the fear-filled smell had evaporated and her quick heartbeat stabilized. Lingering a second longer to double check her reaction, he tossed out the idea. He must have imagined it. After all, Li Meirong absolutely trusted "Snowball".

Instead, he indulged in the sight of her captivating beauty and considered the idea of her possibly possessing some sort of power that created a bewitching effect on him due to the curse…

"Ah! So that's what happened." Li Meirong curled her fingers tightly and tapped her fist on her other outstretched palm as if to emphasize a point.

A few moments later, she continued, "Well, it's just a few mosquito bites, definitely not as bad as the facial scars I had before, not that they've really disappeared, but it's easy enough to maintain my skin as a cultivator."

She snorted at her own words, although she seriously meant what she said. Forget power, greatness or immortality. Even to an unattentive observer, it was unmistakably apparent that most of her seniors and juniors cared for their matchless looks and the maintenance of their youthful appearance more than anything else.

It was very much like the judgemental society she used to live in. If a person was older, unattractive, without prestige or dared to deviate from the standards dictated by the cultural norm, it would become inevitable for that person to be frowned upon and belittled.

In the sect, it was no different. This type of discriminating mindset was just as rampant.

No wonder it was so rare to find an unattractive looking cultivator. Naturally, if a person could hone their physique to perfection, they would choose to do so.

Luckily for Li Meirong, maintaining one's beauty as a sect disciple was fairly easy to accomplish, even for servants such as herself who are not granted knowledge to practice the art of cultivation. The reason for this was because nearly everything in the sect was enriching, nourishing both the body and the soul. From herbs to spirit infused materials and even the water. In fact, the very air in the Forgotten Waters was beneficial for an individual's health.

Now that the effects of Li Meirong's medicinal brew were reaching their yearly expiration date, she contemplated whether or not it would prove to be more beneficial for her to leave her face untouched.

It was of utmost importance for a cultivator to preserve an "elegant air". The facial disfigurement meant that once again, her unusual appearance would become eye-catching. Being in the spotlight was the thing she hated the most and yet, it always seemed to happen to her.

On the other hand, with Li Meirong's reputation as a furnace and the burden placed upon her by the imminent participation in the martial arts tournament, she was bound to draw attention. At this point, if she becomes "ugly" again, the probability of her fellow disciples losing interest in her was rather high.

She found the prospect of a life free of pestering, concubine-seeking men to be quite appealing.

While Li Meirong thought of the hypocrisy shared between this realm and her original one, Bai Qingyue focused on her earlier comment, making a show of childlike interest and curiosity as he did so.

"What scars? What do you mean 'they haven't disappeared'?"

Right after Snowball's question, Li Meirong felt his callous, padded paw as it reached out and rubbed across her cheek. He exclaimed, "It's as smooth as an eggshell!"

She giggled as she cupped the cub's paw with her palms, placing it back on her lap and explained, "It's a long story, but suffice to say, I woke up one day in a brothel with gaps in my memory and my face full of scars. It was almost as though someone had drizzled boiling oil on me! After I joined the sect, a friend of mine gave me some special, rare medicine to mend the disfigurement, but turns out it was only a temporary effect. I have to concoct the same brew once a year to maintain my skin, otherwise, the scars will return…" Luckily, by this time, she grew the herbs in her garden with year-round availability.

As she spoke, Bai Qingyue's Fox eyes darkened into a warm caramel glaze. This friend of hers? He could somewhat speculate as to who that person was.