Night fell. Miao Juan had been locked in her room for half the day. Ordinarily, one of the males would have come to check on her, but they must have been repulsed by her hideous appearance. The courtyard outside was utterly silent. When she came out again, she was wrapped up from head to toe. But even so, her shorter, stooped figure immediately gave her away as an old female.

"I’m hungry," she said, not daring to speak loudly. Her voice, just a whisper, was aged and hoarse.

The males exchanged a glance, and one of them rose to bring her some food.

"Juanzi, you... what on earth happened to you?"

"It’s nothing. Someone just used a Curse Technique on me. It’ll wear off eventually." Miao Juan had kept her superpower a secret, even from her own Beast Husbands.

’The more people who knew, the greater the danger. She had their Beast Marks, which guaranteed their loyalty, but every additional person who knew her secret also meant an additional risk.’

The table was covered in all her favorite foods—nuts, roasted meat, apples, and pears. She channeled her anger into appetite, grabbing a piece of roasted meat and taking a vicious bite. And then... two of her teeth broke off...

The yellow, tartar-caked teeth, stained with blood, rolled across the long table for a long moment.

Her Beast Husbands saw the whole thing. Miao Juan gritted her teeth in hatred. She was past the point of shame now. Grinding her teeth, she said, "You are not to reveal a single word about my condition to anyone.

If anyone asks, you are to say I’ve caught a cold!"

The males nodded, avoiding even a glance in her direction. Their mate had turned into an old crone, a horrifying transformation they were unable to accept. There had been no gradual change whatsoever.

Miao Juan lost all appetite for food. She immediately called for a Beast Husband to escort her to the City Lord Mansion.

The night was deep, the moon playing hide-and-seek behind heavy, dark clouds. The Beastmen, exhausted from a day of work, were sound asleep. Even the patrolling Beast Soldiers yawned incessantly, casting lazy glances around as they patrolled the city in shifts, their timing based on the position of the moon.

Miao Juan and her escort expertly dodged the patrolling Beast Soldiers, ending up in the treetops of a courtyard within the City Lord Mansion.

Upon hearing a cuckoo’s call, the female in the room spoke in hushed tones to send a male away before opening the window.

The female inside raised an eyebrow and stepped aside, allowing the male outside to help Miao Juan climb in.

She had Array Flags in her room. Even without a male present, she could activate the Array to prevent anyone outside from eavesdropping.

Closing the window, the Black Swan female sneered, "Does the great Thousand faced Saintess have such pathetic moments?"

Miao Juan kept her wide hat on, sitting on a wooden chair with her lips pressed into a thin line. Her chest heaved as she growled through gritted teeth, her voice a dark rasp, "I want Si Shuo dead!"

When she finished speaking, both females felt the air suddenly drop in temperature, making the hairs on their skin stand on end. However, they paid it no mind. The feeling was fleeting, gone in an instant. They figured it was just the Beastmen’s innate reverence for life.

"The Si Shuo Divine Female? Isn’t she your daughter?" Ying Lan asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "I’ve heard you two don’t get along. That it was always your domineering nature, bullying her to the point she nearly ended up in a female cave.

Now that she’s finally managed to build a good life for herself, instead of offering a Blessing as her Mother, you want her dead?"

At this, understanding dawned on Ying Lan. "I get it now. You want to take Si Shuo’s place? To transfer everything that’s hers to yourself?"

’The Si Shuo Divine Female has it all, doesn’t she? A group of exceptional males, outstanding in both looks and power, and a litter of adorable, beautiful cubs. Who wouldn’t be envious of her wherever she goes?’

Miao Juan paused for a second, then a smile touched her lips. "Why not?"

’Before, she’d only been thinking about how Si Shuo had repeatedly spoiled her good fortune. If Si Shuo were simply gone, she could return to the easy, prosperous life she had before.’

’But now that Ying Lan brought it up, she couldn’t help but imagine it. If she could trade places with Si Shuo entirely... not only would she be twenty years younger, but she would also have all those exceptional males who knew how to cherish a female, plus several litters of beautiful, cute, and smart cubs.’

Ying Lan laughed softly. "Miao Juan, your ambition is growing, isn’t it?"

"You and me both," Miao Juan replied with a smile. "Speaking of which, Si Shuo and her family can be considered our common enemy. If not for their arrival, wouldn’t you still be the one calling the shots in all of Golden Lion City?"

Ying Lan’s expression turned grim. "I actually thought Dao Yuan was ruthless enough to expand Golden Lion City’s power, maybe even unite the entire Southern Continent.

But he turned out to be so pathetic!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"At the end of the day, a male’s strength is what ranks first. Males worship power; a strong leader will naturally attract more followers." Miao Juan had calmed down and was starting to feel hungry again. She picked up some grapes from the table and ate them slowly. "It looks like, for the sake of our mutual future, we’ll have to team up to take Si Shuo’s place."

"That would be you, though, right?" Ying Lan said flatly. "You become her, but what about me? What do I get out of it?"

Miao Juan smiled. "Ying Lan, if we combine our superpowers, we can literally become anyone we want. Take that Xia Ming, for example. Isn’t she young and pretty? What if I give you her lifespan and her bone structure?"

Ying Lan clicked her tongue, looking at her. "Miao Juan, she’s rumored to be a female who served the Beast God. They say she carries Divine Power. You’d dare make a move on her?"

"That’s right. This proves the sincerity of my offer to cooperate. How about it? We team up, and you become twenty years younger, with delicate, beautiful features and that pitiful, endearing look of hers. That’s not a bad deal, is it?"

Who could possibly refuse youth and beauty? Ying Lan was deeply tempted. She nodded without a second thought. "Deal. What do you need me to do?"

"It’s simple. We turn one of Si Shuo’s Beast Husbands into our puppet. When he gets her alone, he’ll knock her out. Once the puppet gives his consent, can’t we just take her vitality from wherever we please?" Thinking of those young, powerful males, Miao Juan couldn’t suppress the smile on her face. "Then, when Si Shuo looks like I do now and tries to tell people she’s the Si Shuo Divine Female, who’s going to believe her? Her Beast Husbands will be disgusted by her old, ugly appearance. Even if they know it’s really her, they’ll just pretend they don’t."

’It would be just like her own Beast Husbands, whose attitudes did a complete one-eighty after seeing her change. She was convinced that males were creatures who thought with their loins. What was all this talk of love and affection? It was all built on a foundation of youth and beauty.’

’Besides, with her experience with so many males, she was certain she could win over their hearts far better than Si Shuo could!’

’Seven Beast Husbands were hardly enough. She could easily take on another ten or twenty.’

’And conveniently, the upcoming tournament was sure to have plenty of young, powerful males with excellent talent. With Si Shuo’s standing, she’d be able to take her pick of the litter.’

Ying Lan saw her lecherous smile and knew exactly what she was thinking. Feeling a stir of heat herself, she asked, "But which of Si Shuo’s males should we choose?"