When Xuefeng told his parents that he is leaving to explore the world, they were quite worried at first and Liu Xiaobei even decided to test his son's skills first. Even if he had Xiao Wen with him for protection, he still had to be able to protect himself.
For his parents to be able to stay home without any worries, Xuefeng was supposed to strike the black wall in Clan Leader's study, and leave a half a foot deep hole in it. When he heard of this challenge Xuefeng was more than happy to take it. He still had some unfinished business with that black rock.
Knowing that the Fire Qi wouldn't help Xuefeng against the rock, he pulled out his Black Flames Slayer and instead of using its ability to convert Qi into Flames, he covered the blade with sharp Lightning Qi. Creating a neat Lightning sword this way, Xuefeng slashed against a wall and found it amazing that he actually didn't feel any obstruction at first. His sword cut through the rock as if cutting butter, and even if his slash slowed down at the end, he was still able to finish a whole clean cut.
"Haha, good." Liu Xiaobei laughed as he praised before asking out of interest, "Just curious, how many Elements did you learn already?"
"I know six already." Xuefeng said modestly before patting his father on the back and assuring him, "When I find an easy way to help you absorb other elements I will make sure to tell you. I'm working on it."
He couldn't say that he has a method right now, as he still had neither a sufficient stock of Fate Stones for that nor did he have Wisdom Trees that he could give out as gifts. He felt that it would only bring them bane instead of a fortune. If one day a Fate Fragment holder passed above the Phoenix City and sensed his father using Fate Stones, he would definitely investigate.
He was a filial son and would love to see his parents at the top of the world, but if it meant they were more exposed to someone's hate, he would rather choose if they didn't involve themselves in this business. As normal Cultivators without Fate Fragment, they didn't stand a chance against those of his kind.
He was worried that Thousand Blades could actually attack his parents and try to blackmail him, but Xiao Wen assured him that he would for sure not do that. Even if a Fate Fragment Holder was out of the Central Region, he was still a part of the system.
If he suddenly turned evil and start killing innocents, he would be quickly stopped by the Fate Law Enforcers. He still didn't understand all about this, but he believed in Xiao Wen words and felt better.
"Good son. I know you do. Go and experience life, we will be waiting for you here." Liu Xiaobei hugged his son for goodbye and said with a bright ambition in his eyes, "Only when I regain my strength fully, will we decide what should do further. There is a possibility that our family will one day come back."
"Come back to the Central Region?" Xuefeng asked curiously.
"Yes. Hopefully, you still won't ruin your relations with Xiao Family by that time, and we will receive help from them in moving our clan there. You have to take good care of Xiao Tianshi. Maybe you can use Xiao Wen to meet with her earlier, and also repair your relationship with Xiao Feng. Don't let her wait for too long." Liu Xiaobei looked at his son in the eyes and advised.
Xuefeng smiled lightly, knowing what his father implied and said "Don't worry father, I already made plans. There shouldn't be any problems. My bond with Tianshi is stronger than you would think."
"Okay, then mother and I are assured. Have a good rest with your lovers today." Liu Xiaobei winked at Xuefeng which to his wife who has been silent this whole time hit him on the head before she hugged her son herself saying simply, "Take care." She was happy and proud of Xuefeng for growing into a fine man.
"Yes." Xuefeng nodded and after returning the hug, he left. He had already been away from home for a few months, so his parents knew he would be fine without them.
When he exited the study, he saw Xiao Wen waiting for him outside while leaning on the wall with her eyes closed. As he looked at her, he thought that her image right now would work best for a painting, especially with her long red hair covering half of her face and with one of her legs bent, supported on the wall.
Xuefeng knew that she was just pretending and sensed that he was coming, so he approached her without worries. Xiao Wen probably heard the whole conversation that he had with his father, and something was telling him that she will mention it.
"Hey, I am sorry I made you wait this long. We can go now." Xuefeng said as he arrived next to her as watched her pretty face from up close. Many would give anything to stay this close to her, and even more talk with her, but Xuefeng treated it as a normal occurrence. She was after all his future sister-in-law.
'Huh?' Even after he called out to her, Xiao Wen didn't react to him and continued to lean on the wall, taking deep, regular breaths as if she was sleeping. Her chest moved up and down with her breasts trying to leave her clothes as she inhaled, before hiding again as she exhaled.
"Are you having fun?" Xuefeng asked with a smile as he reached out to fix Xiao Wen's hair which covered her face and put it behind her ear. Her face was revealed and Xuefeng could see a subtle smile from her cherry lips right away. Xuefeng had a small urge to touch them to feel how soft they are, but he retracted his hand back.
'Am I already used to him? This fast?' Xiao Wen thought surprised as she actually didn't even flinch when Xuefeng's fingers touched her face. Finally opening her eyes, she saw him looking at her from up close with his hand leaning on the wall next to her head. Normally she would already kick away a guy who stood this close to her and beat him up later, but with Xuefeng, she didn't have such reactions.
Her hands didn't automatically move to push him away, which made her feel that something was not right. He didn't do anything other than staring at her from up close, but she still felt anxious for some reason. Xiao Wen stared back at his handsome blue eyes and shiny white hair imagining different scenarios that could now happen when Xuefeng suddenly broke her dreams by asking curiously, "What evil stuff are you planning?"
"Do I look like I am planning anything evil…?" Xiao Wen asked back as she rolled her eyes and touched Xuefeng's hair with her barriers now gone, saying, "I was just wondering what are you doing to make your hair this soft."
"Oh, so that's what you thought about. Hmm, you know what they say. With enough night activities, your body will only have positivities, cough…" Xuefeng grinned and said the saying he made up with a cheeky smile but then coughed a few times after he felt Xiao Wen fist on his stomach.
Xiao Wen smiled seeing Xuefeng in pain and said, "No one is saying that at all."
"But it is true, did you look at your sister or Yiren? Check how nice their skin is right now. It is all cause of my sacrifice, cough, cough…" Xuefeng recovered and continued to prove his worth, but then he got hit once again which made him go back to coughing.
Xiao Wen rubbed Xuefeng's cheek like an elder sister to her brother and smiled warmly, saying, "I told you already. You can only tease me if you are strong enough. You are still far from even trying right now."
"Cough, you can't silence me by force…" Xuefeng coughed and defended his pride.
"Oh really?" Xiao Wen asked with an evil smile as she reached out with her hand again, which made Xuefeng flinch, but she only ended up brushing his hair before saying, "Let's go back. Your girlfriends probably can't wait for their 'night activity'.", before she walked first in front of him.
Hearing her mention that, Xuefeng now wondered where Xiao Wen would even stay, while he would be sleeping with Yiren and Wuying. She would definitely be able to see everything he is doing with them.
'I guess I am still the same. I was just confused for a second… Just confused…' As Xiao Wen walked, she looked at the fist she beat Xuefeng up and smiled, knowing that she didn't change after all.
Xuefeng thought that this night will be quite awkward with Xiao Wen staying in the second room while still watching them with her Spirit Awareness, but when he actually got to bed with Wuying and Yiren he slowly forgot about Xiao Wen spying on them, and just thought about what was in front of him.
Wuying was the most pitiful out of all of his girlfriends as they spend the least time being intimate with each other. Xuefeng knew that he had to satisfy her plenty as they finally met after more than three months, and she actually expected the same.
Xuefeng was not exactly in the mood because of the situation with Ling, but he thought that maybe if he drowned himself with pleasure, his thoughts would clear a bit. He didn't need to convince the ladies as they were already very willing to do anything for him without even him asking.
Wuying was the first one who threw herself at Xuefeng with desire. Her outfit dropped to the ground as they kissed even before they entered the bed. There was no need for any words as she knew what she wanted. That night she wanted to be savoured by him over and over until they couldn't anymore.
After she kissed him until she was full, she started going down on him while taking off all the clothes she had in her way. At this point, Yiren also joined in on the fun and took over Xuefeng's lips, which were left unattended. Knowing that all he was focused on today was the pleasure that could repair his lost mood, Xuefeng held both of her hidden ears and rubbed them as he danced together with her tongue.
They were already very experienced with each other's tactics, so he knew what to do to make her feel better. When Wuying finally reached towards his waist area, she didn't hesitate like she did with their first time, and grabbed it confidently. After a few recognition stokes, her tongue moved right away from the shaft up to the head.
Xuefeng didn't see it but as Wuying changed from licking to sucking and then swallowing, her pupils started to fill up with red. Her desire for more began gradually increasing as she swallowed deeper and deeper with each movement. Wuying quickly got the feeling that something was missing for her, and she tried different things to find what it was.
She used her breasts to please him more while gently kissing the tip but there was still something missing for her. The endless desire was filling her up entirely, and she finally tried the last option. While Yiren and Xuefeng were still kissing, she suddenly separated them and pushed him onto the bed.
"Wuying, why so suddenly… Mhmm..." Xuefeng asked confused when he felt that Wuying already jumped onto his body hurriedly, but he didn't get an answer as she instead started kissing him deeply while stroking his staff up and down.
"I want you so badly… I waited for three months…" Wuying finally whispered as she switched to kissing his neck and Xuefeng could feel the burning desire in her voice. Instead of letting her ride on him, he rolled on the bed, putting her underneath him. Feeling the gentle rub on his back, he knew that Yiren was giving him a green light to satisfy Wuying first and saying that she will wait.
Having Yiren's support, Xuefeng quickly entered inside of Wuying, which made her cry out in pleasure. With that simple push, Wuying finally realised what she desired. She wanted him and only him. She wanted everything, his body and his mind to be solely focused on her.
He thrust into her with his usual strength and kissed her lips while having their fingers wrapped together. It was exactly what she wanted.
"I love you so much… Do you also love me...?" Wuying said out of breath with her words filled with emotions as they separated. Her eyes were closed but at that point, Xuefeng didn't find that weird.
Xuefeng rubbed her cheeks saying sweetly, "I do." before kissing her again which made her extremely happy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and just hugged his naked broad chest as he pumped with his waist.
Loosening her arms, he glanced at her face again and noticed her eyes were still closed so he said warmly, "Hey, look at me…" Unfortunately, she responded differently from what he imagined and instead kissed him again trying to silence him.
Sensing that something was not in the right order, he pulled away from her again and asked concerned, "Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine... Don't stop moving…" Wuying assured him as she hugged him, avoiding his gaze. After seeing that he didn't continue, she flipped him herself and started working with her waist by herself.
"Wuying, don't ignore me, aaah…" Xuefeng tried to talk to her one more time but she still didn't reply and only intensified her movements as an answer, which made him moan lightly.
From that moment, it did not take Xuefeng long to finally release his seeds as she moved rhythmically while repeating how much she loved him. Only after Wuying dropped onto his body without strength, she opened her eyes and looked at him, saying with a smile, "I'm alright, see? You don't need to worry about me…"
"I see…" Xuefeng rubbed Wuying's cheek and nodded staring into her blue eyes. In the end, it was just him thinking too much. From the side, Xuefeng could feel Yiren cuddling up to him, so he reached out and embraced her.
"I know you were in bad mood today… I am fine just like this. You don't need to push yourself this hard." Yiren said, recalling Xuefeng's emotions that she felt through their connection, and cuddled into his chest without expecting anything.
"You are too good for me… Sometimes I think I am too fortunate to have you all by my side..." Xuefeng gave Yiren a kiss, feeling lucky he had her before he hugged them both and said thinking how his life would look like if he didn't meet any of them.
In the opposite room, Xiao Wen was laying down on the bed with her head drowned in the pillow. She didn't know what to actually think as each time she thought about Xuefeng, she would imagine him sleeping with other women.
'Idiot… You knew that I will see everything but you still did it… Did you want to show me how good it feels to be with you…?' Xiao Wen thought as she tried to not release her Spirit Awareness outside, but each time she retreated it, she couldn't help but send it back again.
She didn't feel like herself anymore. Normally she wouldn't think about any men for an extended period of time but Xuefeng kept coming into her mind. Each time she tried to chase him away in her mind, he insisted on coming back and haunt her again right after.
"Aaargh!" Xiao Wen hit her head onto a pillow and cried out into it, suppressing the sounds before she thought, 'I won't be able to sleep… When I meet him tomorrow, I will for sure beat him up… It's all his fault…'
Slap! Slap! Slap!
"Idiot! You can not even do one thing correctly! Look at the mess you created!" Tang Fei slapped his son repeatedly as he cursed at him. He thought that he would be able to save the situation with the Xiao Family, but nothing he did helped. As there was nothing else to do, he vented his anger on the person responsible for that.
"It is not my fault! I picked the best of the best to do the job…" Tang Taizong defended himself but it only caused his father to hit him even harder.
"Bullshit! Your best of the best failed his job and was probably chased away by Xiao Feng who happened to be there. Now, all of our business contracts which we had with Xiao Family, were halted after he came back, and now he is suppressing us in other areas. The war between our families is now inevitable and it's all because of you!" Tang Fei exclaimed before he proceeded to beat his son up until he had sufficiently relieved his stress, and Taizong finally lay on the ground in pain.
"Looking at Xiao Feng's reaction, the assassin you hired probably revealed the identity of the person who ordered the murder, which is you! To think that you were so stupid to not even hide your face when you talked to him. Gosh… What did I do to have such a stupid son…" Tang Fei sat down on the chair and continued his speech as he massaged his temples.
"We can still fix it!" Taizong called out desperately to his father as he struggled to sit down on the floor. He was no match for his father in terms of strength, so he did not even defend, or else it would get even worse.
Tang Fei hit the table and shouted, "Bah! There is no 'We' anymore! You will stay away from everything from now on until you finally start using your brain!"
"We can kidnap Tianshi and make her our hostage! This way we would be able to make Xiao Family our puppet!" Not caring about his father's threats, Taizong still suggested his plan.
Tang Fei glared at his son as he called out loudly, "You think I did not think about that?! It is actually the only effective way to stop the war from happening. Others might despise us later but in the times of war there are no rules, so I already carried out the orders."
"That's great! Cough, cough…" Hearing his father, Taizong smiled while exclaiming happily but then he was suddenly hit once again by his father's leg, which made him fly to the other corner of the room.
"Don't even think about touching her. It was all because of you the whole family is in this mess. All that awaits you are punishment." Tang Fei said before he turned to the guards and ordered, "Take him away and lock him up in his room. Until I say otherwise, don't let him out."
"Yes, sir!" The guards who stood by the doors nodded and picked Taizong up before taking him away. They were only obedient to Tang Fei so there was no risk they would let him go.
"Oh, Xiao Feng… You shouldn't have started this war… You could just follow our plan… Sigh…" Tang Fei sighed as he thought out loud.
...….
"Milady, it is almost midnight, we have to go back to the city before the guards close the gates…" Yi called out to Tianshi worriedly, seeing her still sitting on the edge of the wooden pier. Since they came back, Tianshi would insist to come to the closest lake near the city every single evening.
The lake was extremely cold, but one could still spot Tianshi playing around in the water with the tip of her toes despite this obstacle. She stared at the water as she rubbed a round token in her hands. She got it from Xuefeng right before they were separated and this habit of hers calmed her down.
She recalled the words that he would use it to reunite with her thanks to this token and connecting his previous stories with the present information, she figured out that he would travel by the water. She did not especially know how he would do that as it seemed quite impossible, but she still believed him.
She kept waiting for him every night in the hope that he would finally arrive, but after a few days, nothing happened. The water was as still and cold as ever. She knew that there was a high possibility that she would have to wait a lot more, but she still missed him.
"Okay…" Hearing Yi's reminder, Tianshi nodded and finally stood up keeping her token away. She was not destined to meet her lover today but that did not take her smile away from her face. Each time she imagined Xuefeng coming to meet her, it would always put her in a good mood.
"Milady, you know that we are already risking a lot by sneaking away together from the palace and coming here… The atmosphere between Xiao Family and Tang Family is very tense at the moment. There is a huge chance that there will be a great war between our two families, so it is too dangerous to go alone like this…" Yi said worriedly.
Each time they left the palace she always looked around them on full alert, regretting every day that she agreed to sneak anyway once again. But, she could not help it. Yi was very against it at first, but when Tianshi told her that they can meet Xuefeng with this method, she was somewhat convinced and she followed with Tianshi's plans. She also wanted to meet with him
"Do not worry. No one is coming near this lake anyway. I told you we should be safe." Tianshi approached Yi and assured her.
Fizz… Fizz.
"Did you hear that?!" Suddenly Tianshi heard the bubbles in the water and she quickly returned to the edge of the pier. She saw various ambits on the water spreading around, but nothing else other than that. Tianshi waited for a moment but no one popped out of the surface as she expected and she sighed.
"It was probably a fish… Milady we should really go. I get a feeling that something is not alright…" Yi approached the edge as well and tugged at Tianshi's clothes to convince her to go back. As she looked at their surroundings, something was telling her that it was not the right day to wander around at night.
"Yeah probably… Okay, let's go. We can always come back tomorrow." Tianshi agreed and they put on their hoods back on their heads before heading back.
Just as they were halfway through the pier, they suddenly felt the presence of someone else behind them and they quickly pulled out their weapons. There was no one around them just a moment ago, but suddenly someone appeared, which instantly made them alerted. There were only a few types of people who would sneak behind others in the middle of the night, and none of them were positive.
When Tianshi and Yi turned around with their weapons aimed at the person, they heard a dead male voice asking them, "I wonder why such fine ladies like you are walking outside, alone in the dark?"
"Who are you?!" Tianshi cried out coldly, recalling all of the training she had with Xuefeng as she held the handle of her sword tightly. She knew that at this moment, she could only count on herself and Yi.
The man walked forward to stand under the light of the small lamp and said while smiling gently, "Don't worry. We are not here to hurt you girls. As long as you go with us on your own free will and don't cause any problems, nothing will happen to you." He was quite handsome for a middle-aged man, but one could see some signs of ageing.
His hair was originally short and black, but recently some grey spots started appearing on the edges. It made him look older, but at the same time added some mature presence to his face as well. Under his leather coat, one could see abundant muscles as well, which added to his appeal.
Just as the girls saw the man, they instantly recognized him and Yi exclaimed excitedly, "I know you! You are Master Kai! The only Sword Sage in the capital who is on the verge of becoming a Spirit Monarch!" There was a bit of excitement in Yi's voice but it soon disappeared when she recalled at what situation they were in.
Master Kai smiled hearing Yi's enthusiasm and checked out her skills before praising her, "Oh, I see that I met a fan. Your stance is very good and with the way you hold your sword I can tell that you put lots of time in training your swords skills. Good kid."
"Thank you, Master Kai!" Yi called out with a smile, feeling happy to be praised by the man she admired this whole time. Xuefeng was different as she held admiration and blooming affection towards him, but Yi only held admiration towards Master Kai as he acted as her role model.
"Yi!" Tianshi exclaimed as she poked Yi on the side with an elbow, waking her up from her daze. Everyone knows that Master Kai worked for the Tang Family, so just from that, they could figure out what was the purpose of Master Kai's appearance.
"What do you want to do with us?" Tianshi asked right after as she glared at the middle-aged man. She was not at all convinced by Master Kai's gentleman-like attitude, as she knew there was nothing good happening from their meeting.
She recalled the stances Xuefeng taught her and aimed the tip of her sword at Master Kai's face while keeping her body balanced. Her right leg was moved forward as she kept the right angle that allowed her the best mobility. Such sight made Master Kai surprised as he pondered for a moment and asked, thinking that he understood, "I see that there must be a new sword teacher in the Xiao Family. Can you maybe tell me what his name is?"
"Will you let us go if we tell you?" Tianshi asked with a smirk.
"No. I will just find out myself then." Master Kai quickly shook his head. He was only curious, and this wouldn't affect his mission, so he continued by asking calmly, "Can you girls put down your weapons and follow me, or do you want us to take you away by force? You know you can't resist me and I do not like to hurt girls, so please don't force me."
Tianshi caught one detail and asked, "Us?" She instantly scanned her surroundings but couldn't find anyone around them. It only meant that whoever was hiding in the shadows was either stronger than her, or too far for her to detect anything.
"Oh, you think I would be alone on such an important mission? Who knows how many people protect you in secret. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to catch you without any guards." Master Kai explained before he whistled.
Swish, swish, swish.
Right at that time, multiple shadows started landing all around them from the sky, surrounding them quickly. The ladies knew that Master Kai was enough to beat them up, but they still planned to run. Now that more cultivators arrived, it would be even harder for them to escape.
'Fifteen Saint expert and one Sage…' Tianshi counted each enemy they would have to face to escape before she looked at Yi, who was getting anxious seeing them being surrounded and thought, 'Should I take her with me…?'
"As you can see, you have no other choice but to surrender. What do you girls choose? Will you behave?" Master Kai asked as he showed his small army.
"How about this. If you can defeat Yi in a sword fight, we will surrender and go with you guys." Tianshi suddenly dropped her sword and proposed.
"Oh, you want to stall for time? Fine by me. I will be done in under a minute." Hearing Tianshi's proposition, Master Kai instantly recognized what she had been planning, but that did not worry him too much.
"But you can only use your sword skills. Without using your stage to your advantage. If we win, you will let us go." Tianshi added another condition seeing him agree on this fast.
"Deal." Master Kai agreed again with confidence without thinking too much and pulled out his shiny one-handed sword before asking Yi, "Miss, would you mind joining me?"
Before Yi could reject, Tianshi encouraged her by patting her on the shoulder and by saying, "Just go. Follow the training you learned last week and show him who is better."
"Okay." Yi did not know what Tianshi was planning, but looking into her eyes, she noticed that she was not scared. She definitely had a plan to get them out.
Unfortunately, Tianshi's proposal was not part of her plan. It was just a side idea which she thought of, that could help them stall for time and maybe someone would notice they were missing before sending a team to save them. Her own plan was too dangerous to perform, so if there was any other plan than that, she would choose it.
As the fight began, Master Kai did not waste any time and shot straight towards her, focusing on attacking. She had greatly improved from the first time she fought with Xuefeng, thanks to their daily sessions which made her instinctively block the strike and reply with her own.
Knowing Master Kai's fame, she was quite hesitant to fight, but as she fought through the first few exchanges with him, Yi got much more confident with herself. She actually didn't lose versus a legendary Sword Sage at the beginning of the battle and even better, she managed to fight back a few times!
After about one minute into the sparring, Master Kai finally got serious, seeing that he already broke the one minute mark he set for himself. It wasn't that he didn't try at the start, it was more like he didn't expect her to be this good! In the middle of the fight, he wondered who was the one who could actually train someone to such level.
Most Sword Arts were already forgotten in the history and it's quite rare to see someone with this level of knowledge. If she could be this good at her age, then how good was their master?
In the end, It was still Master Kai who won thanks to his countless years of experience, but it took him almost three minutes to beat a young lady, which was extremely shameful to him. He was definitely not satisfied with this win.
"He taught you well." Master Kai praised impressed, before he asked curiously, "Who is your Master?"
"Haha," Tianshi laughed as she approached Yi and pulled her back to their original spot by the hand, before saying with a smirk, "Well, you will soon be able to see him. Don't worry."
"What do you mean?" Master Kai asked confused, looking around on instinct. It was completely dark at the moment, but he could still see as if it was bright. He didn't see anyone in the distance.
"Haha, you think we would just come alone to the quiet lake in the middle of the night just to look at the views? The war is about to break down and you think my father would allow me to go out without hundreds of guards? It was obviously just to lure you guys here and kill you…" Tianshi laughed evilly, as she explained. Every Saint cultivator who heard her suddenly had shivers.
It was all because she was all right! Why would Xiao Feng allow two lone girls to go out every night just to return after wandering near the lake? It was all to lure them into a trap! Even Master Kai felt unease as he put Tianshi's words together. It all made sense!
"Watch out! Spread out and check your surroundings!" Master Kai quickly gave out orders to his saint experts who got ready for a fight. They didn't know what awaited them, so they had to get ready for the worse.
"Haha, it's too late already." Tianshi laughed before she called out as she looked behind Master Kai, "Father, Master Mo, kill him!" Her tone sounded as if there was actually someone behind him which made him swiftly turn around. Knowing there was a possibility of there being a master swordsman in Xiao Family ranks, he could not allow his opponent to sneak attack him.
Swish!
Just as he turned, with the sword in his hands, he heard a sound of wings fluttering and he knew he was tricked, seeing no one behind him. In the sky, Tianshi was speeding upwards with Yi in her arms, trying to gain as much lead as possible thanks to her sabotage.
She knew that it would be easier for her to escape without taking Yi, but she couldn't leave her alone. Since they got back from the Eastern Region, Yi stopped being annoying, and actually sided more with Tianshi instead. They even sneaked out of the palace with the risk of getting scolded by Xiao Feng or even getting fired in Yi's case. Also, it was not in her nature to leave her own behind. Even if Yi was still a pain in the ass, she would still take Yi with her.
"Fuck, we were tricked. Chase after them!" Master Kai cursed after realising he was fooled and launched into the sky while calling out the order.
"Milady, you could leave me there. They will catch up to us pretty soon." Yi complained as she held onto Tianshi's arms, and looked down at their pursuers. They were quickly catching up, because of the additional weight which was her.
"We just need to reach the gates and we will be safe. I already activated the Crystal Signal and my father should soon rescue us." Tianshi said as she pushed harder and harder, flying towards the capital.
"It will be too late, we can't allow them to catch us, or our family will be in huge problem. Milady, use the Teleportation Artefact and escape!" Yi cried out, feeling touched that Tianshi saved her, but she had to make the right decision to save her milady.
After her last word, she suddenly let go of Tianshi and started falling. She was not a Saint cultivator, so she couldn't fly and didn't have any flying spells like Tianshi did.
"Yi!!" Tianshi cried out slowing her escape for a moment.
"Milady! Escape!" Seeing this Yi shouted in the last moments but her voice slowly quietened as she continued to fall down towards the lake.
"Catch her!" Master Kai pointed towards Tianshi, completely disregarding Yi falling down. His main goal was the daughter of Xiao Family and not a servant. She would only be a nice bonus.
"Damn you, Yi!" Tianshi cursed almost crying, seeing Yi's sacrifice, she pulled out the only Teleportation Artefact she had. It was a single use artefact, which only allowed one person to transport a few Li away.
It was because of this, that she decided not to use it from the start. She couldn't just selfishly leave Yi earlier. Now that they separated, Tianshi had no other choice but to use it. Yi knew that all the experts would chase after Tianshi if they separated, which would allow both of them to escape. After all, Yi would not die from falling into the water from such height.
Unfortunately, just as Tianshi started channelling her Spirit Qi through the Teleportation Artefact, she heard Master Kai cry out, "Don't think you are escaping from me!"
Boom!
A ball of blazing fire exploded right in front of her, sending her artefact flying away and blowing her at the same time. Master Kai had mastered Ether Qi and Fire Qi which made it possible for him to send bombs of fire in short distances.
He was supposed to not hurt her at all, and bring her back safe, but with the situation developing in this way, he did not have any other choices. Seeing Tianshi dropping towards the lake, he rushed towards her, to prevent any further damage she would get after a crash into the water.
Both of her wings were destroyed as she blocked most of the impact with them, and due to the lack of Air Qi, she couldn't make another pair. Master Kai rushed towards her, but Tianshi dropped too fast for him. She would inevitably fall to the ground, which left him with only being able to pray that she would be alright afterwards.
"What?" Master Kai exclaimed. Right before Tianshi was about to hit the still water of the lake, a wave suddenly formed, exploding forward before taking Tianshi with it. In the next second, the lake returned to being as still as ever.
"Find her!" Master Kai ordered to his subordinates having a bad feeling about this situation.
One hour earlier in the Liu Clan.
Yiren kissed Xuefeng the moment he opened his eyes as if she was waiting for him and said quietly, "Good morning Xuefeng~"
"Mhmm, good morning…" Xuefeng hugged her when she wanted to pull away and prolonged their usual morning kiss. Each time Xuefeng slept together with Yiren, she always welcomed him with a kiss the moment he opened his eyes. He got quite used to it already, so when she wasn't around, he felt like there was something missing in his life.
She already got heavily involved in his life, being the shiny bright light in his everyday existence. She was the sweetest and the kindest girl Xuefeng knew. If one proposed to him that they could switch Yiren for many other beauties, he would definitely not agree. She was already his and only his.
"Shhh, let's not wake her up. She is still soundly asleep…" Yiren put a finger on top of Xuefeng's lips to prevent him from talking, as she pointed at Wuying who was still cuddling onto Xuefeng's chest.
"I have never seen her sleeping so soundly. She must be having a good dream." Xuefeng said and at the same time, as if to confirm his words, Wuying hugged him tighter. She did not allow him to go away.
"Mhmm, probably. Well, you can't move your body, but you don't need to move for me to taste those…" Yiren nodded before she smiled as she leaned over and patted Xuefeng's lips again.
"Oh, really?" Xuefeng got intrigued by her trying to act alluring and licked the finger she placed on his lips, which made her giggle. She leaned more and they kissed passionately once again, deepening their bonds.
"...No… Xuefeng, help me…" Suddenly they heard Wuying randomly saying stuff in her sleep, which forced them apart. Xuefeng quickly moved his gaze onto Wuying who had a frown on her face and shivering lips.
"Wuying? I am right here." Xuefeng instantly reacted and hugged Wuying into his arms while calling out to her. He rubbed her cheeks, trying to wake her up but no matter what he did, she continued to mutter in her sleep.
From Wuying's point of view, earlier she dreamed about walking around the grasslands hand in hand with Xuefeng and she could not enjoy herself more. Unfortunately, suddenly her surroundings changed. The world collapsed and darkness started swallowing everything around them.
They ran and ran, escaping from the darkness until Wuying was out of stamina and could not run anymore, which caused her to collapse on the ground. Xuefeng tried to pick her up, but suddenly his leg was caught by the darkness and he was pulled back, right when their hands were about to touch. The darkness began turning into blood and Wuying was soon drowning in it.
"No! Xuefeng, help me!" Wuying called out as the pool of blood turned into a whirlpool and she was being sucked deeper and deeper into the blood pool. She tried to reach out to Xuefeng's hand which he desperately tried to extend to save her, but the blood kept getting into her eyes, which blocked her vision.
"Wuying! I'm right here!" She heard him crying out to her and she tried to locate his hand by his voice. He kept calling out to her and after a few tries, she finally caught it.
"Hold me tightly…!" Wuying let out those last words before the blood waves completely covered her head, only to be strongly pulled out by Xuefeng right after. He quickly hugged her tightly as if he tried to squeeze the demons out of her before he covered her lips with his.
"Wuying, are you alright? You just had a nightmare." Xuefeng asked seeing that Wuying finally behaved normally after they separated. She opened her eyes, very confused about what happened and looked around before finally landing her gaze at Xuefeng and hugged him once again.
"Yes, I'm alright… Thanks to you…" Wuying said as she sighed in relief. She hugged him tightly hoping that he didn't see her eyes colour change a moment ago, but she knew there was a low chance of that happening. She used to take care of that, but today it happened by accident.
Sure enough, Xuefeng pulled away from her and said, "Wait, look me in the eyes…"
"What is wrong with my eyes?" Wuying asked innocently, showing her blue eyes which already reverted back to normal.
Xuefeng's face turned serious and he asked sternly, "Do not lie to me, Wuying. They were bloody red just a moment ago. Was it like this yesterday night too? Was this what you tried to hide from me by closing your eyes?" He didn't like her hiding the truth.
"Mhmm…" Seeing Xuefeng's expression, she could not get herself to hide it from him anymore and nodded.
She expected him to scold her for hiding such information from him, but to her surprise, Xuefeng kissed her instead and asked while rubbing her cheeks, "Does it hurt? What are the symptoms that cause it?"
"No… It doesn't hurt… They change colour when I get emotional… When I am with you, they disappear as you calm me down…" Wuying shook her head, looking at him while thinking how blessed she was to be with him and she explained calmly.
"Uff, I was worried that you are in danger… When did this start? Does it affect you in any way?" Xuefeng sighed in relief knowing that Wuying was safe but still asked more to make sure.
Knowing that there was no need to hide anything from him anymore, Wuying told him everything, "It started from the moment I left the Blood Inheritance and began training the Blood Arts I gained there… My emotions often get out of control now. Only when I am with you can I calm down…"
"Sigh… Then I hope you can stop training it, or else it will only get worse. I don't want anything bad happening to you, okay?" Xuefeng asked to confirm that she understood.
"Yes, I promise." Wuying nodded which to Xuefeng rewarded her with a kiss.
"If you feel that anything is happening, just tell me. I will help you." Xuefeng assured Wuying while hugging her before he reached out and hugged Yiren as well. He wanted to be a pillar of support for all of his women.
"Okay, let's get out of the bed. It is morning already." Xuefeng called out and stood up.
It was the first day of their journey so he could not help but get excited. Of course, before they could begin it, there was one more thing he needed to do. He needed to visit Tianshi at least once. He didn't know if there would be an opportunity to do so later, which made today the best chance.
Firstly, he wanted to make sure she was fine after their rushed goodbyes and secondly, there were a couple of dresses in his hands that he wanted to deliver to her. There might be one set missing as he gifted it to Yiren, but she should still be happy.
When everyone got dressed and ready, leaving their rooms, Xuefeng noticed that Xiao Wen actually looked quite tired, but when he tried to ask her about it, she only blushed before glaring at him and walking away without leaving any words. His instinct somehow told him to not dig deeper into it.
"Xiao Wen, can you take care of them for a bit? I have something to take care of." Xuefeng asked when they landed on the shore of the familiar lake. He already used it a few times to travel between worlds, and now he planned to do so another time.
"Do whatever you want…" Xiao Wen replied unhappily, still not over her yesterday's experience. She only wanted to beat him up today and she already did him a favour by not doing it.
"Come back quick!" Yiren called out after hugging him for a goodbye. She was the only one who had any idea of what Xuefeng was about to do, so she knew he would be safe.
"Yes. Stay safe," Xuefeng nodded and kissed both of his girlfriends before running towards the lake.
Xiao Wen looked at Xuefeng's back, before glancing at Wuying's and Yiren's lips, thinking 'To think I wanted a goodbye kiss from him so badly. Idiot…'
...….
'Brr, so cold. Now I only need to find Tianshi and the mission is accomplished.' Xuefeng thought after appearing in the ice cold water. He had to first enter the Holy Land and then travel one more time to Tianshi's location. The only disadvantage of this tactic was that he could only appear in a nearby water source, so if she was in her Clan right now, he would most likely appear in the lake outside the city, just like in his hometown.
'To think that it is evening here already. Hope she is not too far away." Xuefeng thought as he swam towards the surface until suddenly he halted, noticing someone was sitting on the pier.
Hearing Master Kai's order, the Saint expert who was the closest to the water, dived in alone to find her. Everyone was anxious that she would be hurt from Master Kai's attack as well as the fall, which would mean that their mission was not fully successful.
They were ordered to bring Tianshi alive and unharmed back to the Tang Family Main Palace, but now they could only hope that she was alive. As long as the injuries were not too severe, they could give her full recovery with just a few high ranked pills. After all, they belonged to the biggest alchemic family under the heavens.
"Find the other girl too! She must be in the water or somewhere close." Master Kai ordered nervously. He could only blame himself for getting tricked by a young lady like that. If only he straight up caught them without playing any games, he would already be done with this mission.
"Sir, I was the closest to the ground when she started falling from the sky, and I saw her falling into the lake. Unfortunately, she has not come back to the surface yet." One of the Saint Experts suddenly flew up to Master Kai and reported, but that only brought a backlash onto him.
"Why are you still here then?! Go and pull her out of the water now!" Master Kai cried out, kicking the unlucky cultivator in the butt, sending him straight into the water. The lake wasn't big enough for Yi to run away from them, even if she wanted to swim underwater far away, so they weren't worried about that.
Sending two experts underwater, Master Kai watched from the sky, waiting for good news to come, when suddenly he frowned, getting a feeling that something was not right.
Boom!
An explosion happened underwater, blowing a large amount of water in the air. It was a clear sign that a battle was happening underwater, or at least, was happening. Right after that explosion, another one followed, but this time a person was thrown into the sky together with the water, and it seemed to not be moving at all.
Master Kai acted quickly, catching the body before it started to fall down and checked it out. It turned out it was the body of the first cultivator who entered the lake first. The body was lifeless and charred completely black. It was a strange sight to see a Saint Cultivator being killed by fire literally submerged in water.
"Fuck, there is another cultivator inside the lake!" Master Kai cursed and warned his subordinates when he heard another loud noise.
Boom!
Something exploded underwater once again, and another body was blown into the sky in the same fashion as the first one. Master Kai took the Storage ring from the hand of the expert in his arms and dropped him before rushing to catch the second one. He was already dead, so he wouldn't need his valuables anymore.
The second body had a similar cause of death, but this time there was also a sword wound on the expert's chest. Normally, Master Kai would be happy to see another sword user he could beat, but this time he was worried.
'Those two were at the Saint stage, so to kill them this quickly, one would have to be at least on the Sage stage or have the power of Water Element which gave him an ultimate advantage in the water environment. It has to be the latter!' Master Kai thought as he plundered his second underling, and quickly figured out what could be going on.
"Everyone! The enemy probably controls both Fire and Water elements! The ones who mastered Water Element, go lure him out so we can kill him! He should be of lower or the same stage as you!" Master Kai ordered.
With two dead, the amount of Saint Cultivators was lowered to thirteen, and only four of them had the qualifications for the job. They quickly grouped up and dived into the water together, shielding and covering themselves from any sneak attacks.
'Fuck, they figured out my advantage... I have to think of something else.' Xuefeng cursed in his mind, hearing the leading enemy cultivator. He was still not strong enough to face four Saint Cultivators fighting him together on the same ground. Xuefeng didn't think that he was even able to fight one without the advantage of his surroundings.
'Just try to stall them for as long as you can. Tianshi is telling me that she already sent the emergency signal to her father, so he should be arriving soon.' Ling proposed, but she sounded different than the usual. Her tone was much warmer as if she cared for him.
As they travelled towards the lake near the Phoenix City, Xuefeng asked Ling about the stuff that was bothering him, but he didn't receive an answer. Instead, Ling decided to smooth their relations by talking sweet to him, hiding her cold nature. She wanted him to forget about it and move on, but Xuefeng wouldn't forget. He wanted to know the truth.
'Mhmm, I will try. How long can they stay in your space?' Xuefeng asked as he prepared for another incoming battle.
'Another two minutes. Don't worry about spending Water Qi. I will provide you with more as you spend it.' Ling assured him.
Before he could respond, he heard four sounds of water splashing and saw four cultivators diving into the water. They instantly released their Water Qi around them to protect themselves from Xuefeng's attacks, but that only made him smirk. That was not his style of battle at all.
Releasing his own Water Qi around his legs, he repeated the process from before and formed two fins that could allow him to have more mobility inside the water. Pulling out his Black Flames Slayer, with its flames extinguished, for now, he swung strongly with his legs, speeding towards the four experts.
Even if he could not beat them, he could at least try and push his limits further. It was a rare occurrence to have a battle versus a bunch on Saint Experts, so he couldn't waste such an opportunity.
As he swam towards them, he created Air Qi orbs layered with Water Qi, before launching them at the enemy. With a Water Qi layer as protection, the bombs would quickly skip through the waters.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Unfortunately, his new enemies were not bad and knew they couldn't allow the bombs to blow up next to them, else they could be injured from the water pressure created by the explosions. They knew how dangerous water battles were, so they didn't hesitate to wrap themselves with Water Qi suits that would protect them, and destroy the projectiles from the distance.
Seeing his attack didn't trick them, Xuefeng didn't give up and rushed towards them head on, right after the explosions. Their movements inside the water were greatly limited, so Xuefeng had to use his advantage well.
His sword started burning again with black flames which began vaporizing the water around it. Before they could collect themselves after the explosions, Xuefeng was already there slashing at the closest Saint Cultivator. He used Water Qi to separate the water from the blade for a few seconds, which allowed him to take a full swing for more power.
Crash!
The water right before the expert suddenly turned into ice, creating a thick wall which Xuefeng crashed his sword onto. It broke the wall in half but the momentum of his attack was already broken, allowing the cultivator to escape.
'Watch out! They want to trap you!' Ling cried out to warn him, but as he felt his surroundings, it was too late. They sneaked their Water Qi behind him and now the water all around him started turning into ice, trying to trap him in the ice.
'Fuck, I really need to learn this from Shan. It seems to be useful in battles…' Xuefeng looked at the approaching ice with amazement, recalling that Princess Shan also used ice in her battle style. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think about it now, as the ice was almost upon him.
To stop that, he could only do one thing, which was separating himself from the water. He quickly released almost half of his Air Qi stock and created a ball of air around of him right before the water froze, creating around space of around three meters in diameter.
Just as he thought of a possible escape route from this situation, Ling appeared in his mind saying something that would only add to his troubles, 'I can't support their lives anymore, they need to leave. It wastes too many resources.'
Right after Ling's message, two girls were ejected out of Xuefeng's pendant and to prevent them from hitting the sharp walls, Xuefeng reached out to grab them both into his arms. The girls knew that it was Xuefeng that saved them due to Ling's explanation and Tianshi already couldn't wait to meet him. She was very excited knowing that Xuefeng came to save her just when she was in trouble.
"Xuefeng! You came!" Seeing the man herself in front of her, she could not help but cry out and kiss him in happiness.
"Mhmm, I missed you, so I came to see you," Xuefeng said, only allowing her a slow kiss and asked, "Did I came in the wrong moment?"
"No, no, the timing was perfect. I'm glad you are here." Tianshi shook her head happily and hugged him.
"Cough… Young Master, thank you for saving me…" Yi who was held by Xuefeng coughed as she thanked sincerely before she glanced at the hand which held her round boob firmly, saying shyly, "I don't mind you touching them… but I don't think its the right time…"
"Oh! My bad." Hearing her, Xuefeng exclaimed realising what he was doing and released her. He got used to being only around his women, so he didn't think about it.
"It's okay… Where are we? And why are you here?" Yi asked while looking at the closed space they were in.