Reining in his temper with a certain amount of difficulty, Bai Qingyue cast a furious glare at her.

"I'm already married," he growled through gritted teeth, enunciating every word carefully. 'To you, stupid!' he added internally, fuming.

Unfortunately, he had already come to expect Li Meirong's carelessness in front of 'Snowball', and she certainly lived up to his expectations this time as well. Her charming dimples were showing as she giggled at his declaration.

"Alright, 'Elder Snowball', then I'll be aunty to your babies. I want a whole pack of little Snowballs running around!"

Li Meirong fantasized about her familiar growing up, and coming back with a little missus and a whole litter of cute cubs trailing behind them. Perhaps they would rush to greet her, like the fox demoness's cubs had!

Despite the ever-increasing desire to throttle his little wife, Bai Qingyue disregarded the beginning of Li Meirong's comment and concentrated on the latter part. Her words were not entirely displeasing this time.

"Then you shall have your heart's desire," said the fox spirit, and bobbed his muzzle in agreement.

Bai Qingyue was hoping for one, maybe two children to continue the bloodline, but if his wife wished for a whole litter, it would be his rightful duty to assist her with this ardent task!

"Little Snowball is the cutest!" Li Meirong pinched Snowball's nose lightly, completely unaware of his devious thoughts.

She then placed her other hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn, feeling sorely in need of rest.

After her thorough soak in the tub, she felt a lot healthier, and could almost swear her skin had picked up a shimmer. Spirit-infused herbs were really on a whole different level to common medicinal ones.

The truly strange part was that she could barely keep her eyes open at the moment. She still needed to bandage Snowball's wounds, dry them both, and head back into the cabin.

Slowly reaching out her delicate hand to grasp the bandages, Li Meirong found her body working against her, and was unable to complete the action. Her eyelids fell shut and refused to open again, every movement becoming incredibly difficult. She leaned her head back on the rim of the tub, giving in to her fatigue, and sighed tiredly.

"Snowball, I'm going to take a short… rest…'kay?"

Sensing something amiss, Bai Qingyue's eyes darted to Li Meirong, only for him to discover she had fainted!

He concernedly placed his paw on her smooth, pale forehead, and came to the unpleasant discovery that her energy was entirely depleted!

When a mortal used all their inner energy, their physical self could suffer a terrible backlash.

Cursing himself for his negligence, Bai Qingyue reproached himself internally. He should have been more attentive to her health, even if she seemed not to care for her own wellbeing.

The little fool had used every last ounce of her inner force! No wonder she had lost consciousness. Not only did she recently absorb the Foxfire as her own, but she had also decided to play the hero and had wasted all her resources.

Who did she think she was? Some goddess of righteousness? Didn't he tell her not to worry with him around?

Luckily, Li Meirong was only exhausted. In the worst of cases, pushing one's body to the limit could result in an untimely death.

Bai Qingyue shuddered at the thought, recalling how his heart had almost stopped when he saw her fall into the volcano. He solemnly swore to make sure he never had to relive such an experience ever again.

The best method to prevent drainage was to cultivate frequently, and expanding one's spiritual aptitude, so a cultivator would be capable of maintaining balance after utilizing one's internal energy.

In other words, increasing a cultivator's spiritual capacity to contain more qi in their body.

As one cultivated to a higher stage, circulating the qi regularly was necessary, so as to avoid becoming utterly drained of life force. Meditation and qi circulations were crucial in replenishing stamina and caring for a cultivator's health.

Bai Qingyue would have to properly scold Li Meirong for her self-neglect tomorrow, but for now…

The quiet cubicle was filled with vibrations of energy, rising as if to burst.

Bai Qingyue's golden eyes glowed with the force of his power unleashing.

A fine trail of mist began to shroud the bamboo stall where Li Meirong lay unconscious in the bathtub.

A long, muscular arm wrapped around her slim waist, holding her gently as the other arm reached to cradle the back of Li Meirong's neck with the utmost care.