"You’re fine where you are," Hanbi replied with a giggle, then rested her chin on the log.

"Are you really curious about how life is up there?"

Xuan stared at her face for a moment. Her white hair was wet, and the make-up she had on had slightly washed off. Normally, she wouldn’t show this side of herself in front of him, but clearly, something was different.

So with that in mind, he decided to play along.

He slowly waddled along the water, and once he reached the log, he decided to climb up slightly, then lay down on a flat portion. He was just low enough for Hanbi to not see his junior brother, but high enough for Hanbi and him to maintain eye contact.

"I am curious."

"Mmm... In that case, I guess life over there is different? Here, it’s very peaceful, and there aren’t that many cultivators, so the nature’s really nice to look at."

She paused for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"In the Lower Heavens, there are trillions of cultivators. Every day, someone’s fighting. Also, there are so many sects and cities... There’s almost no nature, only tall mountains preserved by cultivators, since everyone believes cultivating at a high altitude helps you absorb Qi better."

Life over there was basically not what Xuan imagined. He thought since she was someone important, she’d have it easier. But if she complained about nature and other cultivators, it was really rough.

"So you’re saying life in the Mortal Realm is better?"

Hanbi smiled slightly.

"If I were a powerful cultivator with no more dreams or aspirations, then I would settle down in the Mortal Realm."

Xuan raised a brow. "But...?"

"But even with so many people, the Qi density, the techniques, special arts, and many secret wonders are way too important to pass up."

Hanbi leaned over slightly, trying to take a peek at him without continuing her story.

Xuan smirked, then reached over with his hand, grabbing Hanbi by her armpits, and tossing her to his side of the pond.

As she flew over him, Xuan half expected to see the twin peaks. Instead, Hanbi’s breasts and privates were covered in ice armor, which dissipated the moment she fell into the water.

But with the steam rising from the sudden temperature change, and only Hanbi’s head being visible, Xuan couldn’t see what he wanted to see.

"Tsk..."

"Don’t tsk me! Y-You... I didn’t expect you to do that!" Hanbi yelled.

Xuan let out a chuckle.

"You were pretty fast in creating that armor for someone who didn’t expect it. But hey, you should’ve expected it with how much you’ve been teasing me."

His smile widened.

"Tease me more and you might regret it~"

"Cough..."

Sierra suddenly coughed from behind.

"I’m still here, you know? If you two are planning to bang, then take it elsewhere..."

"B-Bang?"

"Our relationship is far too fresh for us to bang. I, for one, like to know a lot about a woman first before I sleep with her. But if Hanbi or you throw yourselves at me, how can I refuse~?"

"You’re too arrogant," Hanbi said, crossing her arms.

As for Sierra, she just giggled and began washing herself, not saying anything else.

But even if she didn’t say anything, she didn’t try to hide the fact that she had her Qi concentrated on his lower bits. She was clearly interested, and Xuan felt like this revealed a little bit more about the kind of woman she was than he thought.

Smiling to himself, he hopped back into the water, then leaned against the logs. Hanbi used the steam to hide her privates and, with the same pout as before, continued speaking:

"Humph. I guess you’ll just have to see for yourself. As for how I’ll take you there, have you ever been to the Heavenly Steps?"

Xuan tilted his head. "The what now?"

"The Heavenly Steps is a place where us cultivators go if we want to move up or down a realm. It’s always located in the southern part of any world, and in this case, your Heavenly Steps is in Antarctica," Hanbi explained patiently.

This was Xuan’s first time hearing about something like this. But then again, how else would cultivators descend from the higher realms if not through something this fancy-sounding?

"So, like, is it just a massive staircase?"

Hanbi thought it over for a moment, then nodded.

"Something like that. Every step is heavier than the last, and the steps all the way to the top are meant to test your resolve. If your resolve is strong, then you’ll pass. If it’s weak, you’ll forever stay in this realm."

"Hmm, so Yuelan, Sierra, and I will probably have it easy then," Xuan said.

She just shrugged at him.

"Maybe~ Though, the steps are only the first part. Once you arrive at the top, you’ll need to choose a personal mission you’ll have to complete in my world before you can move on higher."

"Uhh... Hanbi?" Xuan stammered.

"These missions, they’re meant to be done per world Tier, right? So, like, if I want to jump up from our world to a Tier 2 world, then I’d need to do one. Then from Tier 2 to Tier 3, right?"

She nodded.

"Yep. That also means since I’ll be taking you all the way up to a Tier 4 world, your mission difficulty will be that of Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 worlds. Also... since you’d be jumping from the Mortal Realm to the Lower Heavens Realm, the difficulty would increase even more."

Xuan’s brow twitched, and his junior brother descended from the heavens, realizing that him trying to skip so much had actually made everything that much harder.

But he also knew that if such a system was in place, then it was possible. And if it was possible, then that also meant he could get that much stronger because of it.

So with that in mind, Xuan just smiled and finally finished washing up.

Since Hanbi and Sierra had already seen all there was to see, Xuan shamelessly stood up, startling Hanbi as he walked over to his clothes and quickly dressed up.

"I hope you two enjoyed the show, because I’ll remember this. Actually..." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Xuan glanced over at their clothes to the side.

"D-Don’t you dare! I don’t have a spare!"

"Oh, Hanbi..."

Xuan clicked his tongue as he approached their clothes. Sierra had also realized what he was doing, but once he grabbed their clothes, it was already too late.

"That makes it even better~"

And before either Hanbi or Sierra could react, Xuan suddenly Void Stepped away.