"I want you…"
After finally putting out there those three words that she wanted to say this whole time during their last few days together, Xiao Wen finally felt relaxed, feeling like all of her stress was gone. At the start, she wanted to find a perfect opportunity, getting into his heart with one arrow but she realised she wouldn't find a better moment than this.
'I finally did it… Please… Say something… Say you want me too… Say you will take care of me… Hug me… Kiss me…' Xiao Wen thought, patiently waiting for his response but with each second that passed, her mind was going astray, imagining all scenarios that could happen. Her arms hugged him tighter, seeking more assurance and warmth to calm her mind.
His hands were on her back, gently rubbing it up and down as if he was cheering her up. Did that mean he will reject her? 'No!' Xiao Wen screamed in her mind, rejecting this thought, pushing it as far away as she could. She wanted to whisper more, but only her mind listened, begging him with love emanating from her words, 'Say that you want me and I will be yours… Please…'
After all those seconds that were like hours for her, Xuefeng finally spoke to her, his words far from what she wanted to hear right now. He patted her on the back and whispered back to her, "Don't worry, I'm here for you. Just tell me what you want and I will give it to you."
Just after his words, Xiao Wen felt like her brain stopped working. Her body froze momentarily and she started losing her strength, staying in Xuefeng's embrace only thanks to his support.
'How did he not get it? I clearly said it to him… Did he think I am going to say something else after that? Idiot… I want you! Your body, your mind, your heart…' Xiao Wen cried out in her mind, not understanding how Xuefeng didn't get her.
With her heartbeat increasing, she began regaining her strength and uttered the same words once again, this time properly, saying that straight into his ear, "I want you." This time she was sure she made a correct accent, putting a dot at the end of her plea.
Unfortunately, Xuefeng still was focused on the same thing, continuing to ask, "Yes? What is it? Don't keep me hanging this long. You are making me anxious."
This time she wasn't as shocked as the first time and reacted differently, pulling away from him, staring at him weirdly. Xiao Wen was certain he was doing it on purpose, but looking at his curious expression, she realised didn't know for real. She measured his temperature with her hand, testing if maybe alcohol didn't cause him to have a fever or something, but knew that it was impossible.
With her looking at him weirdly and her cheeks getting even more crimson with each second, Xuefeng rubbed them gently, asking with worry, "Are you okay? You seem to have too much redness on your cheeks… Do you want to lay down for a bit?"
"No! I'm okay…" Xiao Wen cried out, pouting as she grabbed the hands which held her face. She wanted to push them away, but with the way he looked at her, she couldn't get herself to do it. His eyes filled with care and kindness. She knew he didn't mean it.
'He doesn't even think that I can love him so his mind didn't even take that into consideration... Dummy…' Xiao Wen finally realised what could be happening inside of Xuefeng's mind, but that didn't make her feel better. She had to make him understand her feelings today and only her actions could move this blockhead.
Knowing that she was okay, Xuefeng continued asking, "Then what is it? It seemed like you wanted to say—", but Xiao Wen couldn't handle it anymore, deciding to go with the plan she thought of, placing everything on one card.
Before he could end talking, she suddenly pushed his hands away, quickly covering his eyes with her hand before finally leaning over and pressing her lips onto his. No matter how she acted, it has been years since the last time she came this close to another male's lips.
Their lips connected and she held on with her kiss as long as she could. She knew this could be their first but also the last kiss they had together, so she wanted to make the best use of it. Just as she thought of pulling away, the initial shock inside Xuefeng's mind ended and his lips responded on instinct, returning the kiss with some interest.
Xiao Wen kissed him on impulse, irritated that he didn't understand her, but then she didn't know what to do next. When Xuefeng lips moved, closing on her bottom lip, she thought it would end like that, but something pushed him for more. She repeated the motion, planting another kiss before he pulled away, leaving with a sweet taste on her lips.
She wanted to be the one in control, creating a mess in his mind as punishment for making her like this. He just had to say that he wanted her too, but instead, he pushed her to move a step ahead, breaking her boundaries. As Xiao Wen pulled her hand away, uncovering his eyes, she could see his shocked expression fully. Some satisfaction filled her mind.
Looking at him with a warm smile, she said gently, once again repeating her confession, this time making sure he understood, "I said I want you, dummy. I want your body, your mind and your heart to love me, take care of me while allowing me to stay by your side for the years to come… I know you have others, but I couldn't lie to myself anymore. You said you will give me what I want, and I want you…"
Xuefeng was even more shocked after Xiao Wen's confession compared to her kiss, that he could somehow explain. After this, they couldn't be the same anymore and both of them knew that. Not knowing where to start, he called out to her, thinking words will come to him, "Wen—"
Worried that he will say something she didn't want to hear, Xiao Wen stopped him, closing his mouth once again and said sweetly, "You don't need to answer me now… You can think about it overnight and tell me tomorrow… If you want to find out if there can be something between us, hold my hand when I reach out to you tomorrow… If you don't want to, I will understand."
As she said so, Xiao Wen stood up and left, running towards the bedroom, not looking back at him anymore. Xuefeng raised his arm, wanting to grab her but stopped himself in the last moment. He realised that even if he did, he wouldn't have anything to say. His mind suddenly became really cloudy, not pushing any ideas forward.
It was also the very first time where Xiao Wen couldn't handle the pressure and simply escaped from her troubles, pushing them into another day. Xiao Wen knew she wouldn't be able to sleep that night, but Xuefeng was the same.
She lay down on the bed next to Yiren who already fell asleep and especially left some space for Xuefeng, hoping that maybe he will come after a while, but that didn't happen. Both of them spend the whole night thinking of the other and the future they could potentially share together.
The next morning, far away from the City of Liquor that Xuefeng's group was staying in, a cold beauty in her late twenties with blue hair opened her ice blue eyes, glancing coldly into the distance. The whole hall room around her was all covered in ice, together with the small podium she sat cross-legged on.
She was training when she once again heard the buzzing inside of her ring which disturbed her. The buzzing usually meant that someone tried to contact her using Signal Crystals, but now she regretted ever buying one, always getting called for stupid reasons.
Even her new student was alerted as she also opened her eyes. If Xuefeng was there he would immediately recognize this beauty. It was Princess Shan but in a completely new form. Even if her appearance was the same, the aura around her turned much colder from the last time she showed her ice domain skill.
After checking who was trying to contact her, she sighed glancing at Princess Shan and informed her, "It's just my annoying niece, Shan, continue with your training."
"Yes, Sect Master." Princess Shan nodded, closing her eyes once again, beginning to absorb both Spirit Qi and Water Qi around her. The main method to increase the power of the Elemental Domain was raising one stage and increasing the dantain capability. Domains needed a lot of Qi to sustain them but the more Qi one had, the better effects one could get.
The Sect Master nodded, satisfied with how diligent Princess Shan was with her training. Compared with her niece who only cared about herself, Princess Shan was much more like herself. As she looked at her, she could actually see her younger self in her.
She was already the Sect Master of White Lotus Sect before she even reached thirty years old, so she knew what one needs to succeed in life, and the new student she had discovered by accident, definitely had it. Pulling out the Signal Crystal, she answered it asking with an annoyed tone in her voice, "Ning, what do you want?"
"Auntie! I finally got a hold on you! Why didn't you reply to me yesterday… Do you know how much pain I'm going through right now?" Ning's voice came through and she sounded as if she just had the worst day of her life, wanting to complain about the unfairness of the world.
"Sigh, what happened this time?" The Sect Master rubbed her forehead the moment he heard her niece but still asked, even though she knew she will regret it right after.
Hearing that she had her aunt's attention, she called out excitedly, dropping the sad tone and switching it into a celebratory version instead, "I met him! The one I have been searching for my whole life! This time I'm not wrong. I can feel it in my veins each time I'm looking at him. My stomach is always fuzzing and buzzing when he is near me. Aaah, how I wish to be next to him right now… I think I fell in love..."
The Sect Master rolled her eyes, asking with a frown, "Again? How many times have we gone through this? Each time you fall in 'love' it's just your imagination and you get bored with them right away. Are you planning to play around once again?"
"No! This time it's for real. He is so interesting that I would never get bored with him. I even asked my father to propose marriage to him. That's how serious I am about him." Ning cried out denying her aunt before proving her words with how determined she was to marry Xuefeng.
Hearing about that detail, the cold Sect Master finally raised her brow, getting interested with the character which could push her niece this much and asked, "Who is he? Describe him to me."
"Auntie, not only is he super handsome and kind, his cultivation is high as well. He is also much stronger than he looks, probably mastering many elements together with Spirit Qi. Ah! He also has connections in Central Region as he has just recently came back from there. He was selling many pills on the auction and Miss Rose was treating him very respectfully." Ning exaggerated Xuefeng's introduction as much as she could, even though she didn't actually know anything about his fighting capabilities. Only with her auntie on her side would Xuefeng bend his knee for her.
When Ning began describing her love interest, an image of Xuefeng appeared inside of Princess Shan's mind but after listening about the Central Region, she knew it wouldn't be Xuefeng. He was in Liu Clan not long ago so it was impossible for him to get into Central Region all of a sudden. Knowing it wasn't Xuefeng, she focused on her cultivation instead.
Sect Master nodded, beginning to like what she heard and dug for more information, "Oh, not bad. Do you know his background? If he is a genius from this area, we probably know of him already."
"...I don't know much about him as he acted very mysteriously but I know his name, Xuefeng." Ning was anxious to say Xuefeng's name to her aunt, but that was all she knew about him. It was well known that her aunt liked stealing men from their women, playing around with them before dumping them when she became bored with them.
It was how she herself became like this as she followed her aunt's footsteps. The only difference in them was that she genuinely thought she had feelings for them but her aunt put pleasure on the first spot.
Ning couldn't see this, but the moment she said Xuefeng's name, both Princess Shan's and her aunt's eyes opened wide. It was soon followed by a playful smile on Sect Master's face and a worried expression on Princess Shan's side.
Just as Princess Shan wanted to say something, the Sect Master raised her hand, signalling her to not disturb her. She knew very well what Princess Shan wanted to say as she used to listen to her talks about Xuefeng all the time. Her new student loved to talk about him, but she wasn't much interested at that time. Now she started getting more impressed at the man himself, looking at him from the side.
"Tell me, did he reject you already?" Sect Master asked with a grin. She already knew the answer after recalling Princess Shan's stories.
"Cough… Well, it's complicated… I think I just need to give him some time first…" Ning coughed hearing her aunt get on the right track from the start, forcing her to confess everything.
The Sect Master smiled on the outside, but her voice remained cold as she pressured her niece, "Don't lie to me. Does he have other women by his side? I know you are trying to hide the truth, but you know that I will find out anyway."
Ning couldn't help but sigh and finally give in, telling what her aunt wanted, "Sigh… He did have other women... Not only one but three… But I still believe I can get him. I just need to shamelessly work my way into his heart. Auntie, will you help me?"
Knowing all she wanted, the Sect Master ended the signal without answering the question, "I will contact you when I gather more information on him." With the connection cut, she suddenly looked at Princess Shan with an interested gaze beginning to approach her.
"Master…" Princess Shan called out worriedly, not knowing what the sect master wanted to do. She knew that there was no point in fighting back if anything happens as she had no chance of beating her.
Arriving by Princess Shan's side, the Sect Master reached out to grab her gently by the chin and called out, "I suppose its the same Xuefeng you told me about, right?"
"I think so… I don't think there are any other people named Xuefeng in Aurora Country..." Princess Shan answered the question before she looked at her master's eyes and pleaded, "Master please, he is mine… Can you not touch him?"
"Heh, to think you have such an opinion about me. Don't worry, I just want to know more about him. I'm not going to fool around with kids like him. If I like him, I might actually help you meet up with him instead." The Sect Master assured her, pretending to be indifferent, with just a bit of curiosity.
Seeing that Princess Shan was still hesitating she added, "I took you in to protect you from that prince. The least you can do is be a good student who listens to her Master."
"Sigh… Fine," Recalling how she was protected by her new master from the Zhen Zhao's shameless marriage certificate that her father signed, Princess Shan couldn't resist her anymore, telling everything her master wanted to know.
Xiao Wen didn't sleep for the first half of the night but then she forced herself to sleep, pushing aside all of her worries for tomorrow. If she was feeling unwell after not sleeping properly, she wouldn't look as pretty for Xuefeng, which was her priority right now.
Fortunately, her regeneration ability could keep her awake and fresh even after intense sleep loss, but she knew it was always better to stay natural. She really wanted to hug someone to calm her nerves during the night, and it just happened that Yiren was next to her. Xiao Wen quickly turned her into a hugging bear but Yiren didn't mind as she did the same with her.
They only woke up to Xuefeng's call when the sun already rose from the horizon, "Everyone, wake up already. It's morning. It's time for us to leave." They both opened their eyes at the same time, still in each other's embrace and smiled, tightening their hug on each other. Xuefeng's voice was like a bird's song, enough to smooth their feelings and heal their pains.
Wu Kong who slept while hugging his sister's arm also partially woke up and called out with one leg still in his dreams, "Big brother… Is it time for breakfast…?"
"Haha, yeah, the breakfast is already ready. If you want to eat it, you have to wake up and clean your face, only then can you rush to the kitchen to eat." Xuefeng laughed, teasing the small boy. He didn't expect it to actually work, but it did in a heartbeat.
"Yey!" Wukong exclaimed happily with his eyes wide awake momentarily and he quickly rushed to the bathroom, cleaning himself, before speeding towards the kitchen.
"Don't eat everything! Leave some for us too!" Xuefeng called out to him before he disappeared in the kitchen.
"Xuefeng…" Yiren rubbed her eyes to get rid of her sleepiness and asked, noticing that he didn't come back as he promised, "You didn't sleep with us tonight, what happened?"
"I'm sorry, I somehow didn't feel sleepy at all and decided to cultivate the whole night," Xuefeng explained as he walked up to the edge of the bed, picked Yiren up and gave her a sweet morning kiss, asking right after with a gentle smile, "Will you forgive me?"
"Mhmm, I will, but I need another kiss as a bribe…" Yiren agreed and rubbed her nose against his, asking for more as a payback. Xuefeng didn't mind, gladly complying with her request, before he patted her on her butt, saying, "Go wash. We are going to leave the city after breakfast and we might not have access to such nice rooms on the way."
Yiren nodded happily and asked, "Okay, but will you join us?" But Xuefeng shook his head, pointing with his head at Wu Lan, saying, "I already took a shower myself. Take Wu Lan with you and you can all go in together with only ladies."
Hearing that her name was called, Wu Lan finally opened her eyes, getting out of bed. She loved sleeping as that was the only time when her ability didn't tire her mind. Just as she woke up, she looked strangely at Xuefeng before glancing at Xiao Wen who was also staring at her.
Blinking at Xiao Wen with a smile, she nudged Wuying on the arm, busting her plans to everyone, "Sister Wuying, are you waiting for Big Brother to pick you up like a princess? Come, let's take a bath together."
Just as she said so, Wuying opened her eyes and sat up as if nothing happened. Looking at Xuefeng she stood up and walked up to Xuefeng's side while fixing her nightgown and jumped into his arms, kissing him deeply.
Wuying then hugged him, pressing her chest against his so he can feel everything beneath her nightgown before saying alluringly, "Good morning darling…"
"Good morning sweety," Xuefeng was more than happy to hug her like that and asked, "Should I take you to the bathroom like a Princess?"
"Tsk, Wu Lan was joking… I have legs." Hearing his tease, Wuying snickered playfully, before jumping down from him, showing off her smooth legs to him.
Just as Xuefeng wanted to banter more with her, Wu Lan picked up Yiren and Wuying's hands and pulled them towards the bathroom while calling out to Xiao Wen, "Sis Wen, we will go inside, join us quickly, okay?"
Seeing how Wu Lan worked in her favour, she couldn't help but be grateful. She sat up, showing off her black nightgown to a certain someone and called out to the ladies with a smile, "Mhmm, I will join you guys in a moment."
The girls went inside while being led by Wu Lan, finally leaving Xuefeng alone with Xiao Wen in the bedroom. Wu Lan knew both of their intentions and did everything to help them both. She only regretted she couldn't watch the whole situation playing out, finding it very amusing.
"Good morning Wen…" Xuefeng called out as Xiao Wen stood up and walked towards him, to which she replied with the same, giving him a sweet smile, "Good morning Xuefeng…"
Xiao Wen approached him as she looked him in the eyes, before passing in front of him with her hand grazing against his chest. She intentionally slowed down her footsteps sticking her hand behind her so that he could grab it. She walked slowly, but Xuefeng's hand wasn't coming.
The closer she got to the bathroom doors, the harder it was for her to breathe. With just one meter away from the doors, she was almost certain that he wouldn't move, that he didn't want her and she already began taking it back, needing another hand just in case she needed to block her tears but then, she finally felt the warmth on her palm that she was waiting for.
Xiao Wen turned around, but instead of happy expression on Xuefeng's face, the same he was showing to Yiren and Wuying just a moment ago, she saw the rarest kinds he had. He looked angry. It was a rare expression from him that she would not usually see.
Just as she wanted to ask what happened, he pulled her hand, dragging her outside of the bedroom with him without saying anything. Closing the doors behind him, Xuefeng suddenly pushed her against the wall while pinning her hands above her head.
Xiao Wen thought that he will scold her about something or at least say something, but Xuefeng continued to stare at her angrily. With him this close to her, she could only look him in the eyes, but that wasn't an easy task. With each passing second, the feeling of being stared at by a predator who wants to eat you was increasing in her heart.
Normally it was her being a wild tigress, but under Xuefeng's stare, she gradually felt like a small kitten. Bracing herself, she asked pretending to be calm, "Why are you angry?"
"How about you answer this question instead?" Xuefeng finally spoke, asking back.
"I did not do anything…" Xiao Wen replied while glancing to the side, trying to avoid his gaze, but then Xuefeng called out, "Look at me.", forcing her to look into his eyes once again.
"You confessed to me out of nowhere and you say it's nothing? You expect from me that I can just change my whole mindset towards you in a single night, accepting you with open arms and live a happy life together with you?" Xuefeng asked with his voice raised, clearly filled with many emotions.
Hearing Xuefeng's words, Xiao Wen realised that it's exactly what she wanted and nodded with her head, confirming it, "Yes, that's exactly what I want."
Xuefeng countered right away, asking sternly, "But that's not that easy, you know? This whole time you were my friend, a person I admire and want to share my adventures with. Love doesn't appear out of nowhere but it's a gradual process instead. I already have four crystals in my heart, growing and developing each day, filling the space inside of it. Do you know how hard it will be to push one more crystal inside?"
"I know, but I wish to try." Xiao Wen replied without hesitation, already knowing what she wanted.
Xuefeng slowly leaned over, grazing her nose with his before whispering after some time, "I can't do it this fast. I need time. Now I know about your feelings, so let me get used to this thought of having you as my lover. Can we slowly develop our relationship instead of jumping straight into it?"
"Mhmm, we can…" Xiao Wen nodded, rubbing against him and just as their lips were about to touch, she suddenly caught his hands that held her against the wall and rolled together with him, pinning him instead.
Before he could comment, she kissed his lips, learning a little from their last experience. Recently she hasn't been herself, anxious about the whole situation with Xuefeng, but the moment he finally accepted her, she felt as if something unlocked inside of her, bringing her confidence back on the right place.
Pulling back from their kiss, she said calmly, leaving no space for discussion, "We can, but I already decided to make you mine. You have no other choice anymore…"
"Big sis, you have finally arrived. You seem to be in a good mood today." The moment Xiao Wen entered the bathroom, all the ladies turned their heads towards her from the bathtub and Wu Lan was the first to comment on the change in Xiao Wen's mood.
"Yeah, I think I'm alright today. Everything is great right now." Xiao Wen said happily, infecting others with her smile before throwing her nightgown on the ground and entering the bathtub, just as naked as the rest were.
Yiren was still in her cuddly mood and the moment Xiao Wen sat down next to her, she quickly hugged her across her waist, asking sweetly, "Sis, what is your type for a guy? We can help you find a nice one in the future."
Xiao Wen imagined Xuefeng in her head and based the answer on him, "What is my type? I guess kind, gentle and someone who can take care of me if I ever need help. He also needs to be handsome, hardworking, caring and it would be best if he was intelligent as well. I think most of those are basic stuff every girl wants."
"Sigh, but it's hard to find someone with all of those attributes." Yiren sighed, thinking that Xiao Wen wanted too much, but then realised that Xuefeng was exactly what her sister wanted in a man and Yiren admitted it, feeling happy she was the one who was with him, "Actually, there is someone like that, but he is already taken, hehe."
Xiao Wen patted Yiren's head and asked with a knowing smile, "Are you talking about Xuefeng? He really does seem to have all of those qualities, don't you think?"
"Mhmm, he does. But he is already taken by us, so sister can't have him, right Wuying?" Yiren nodded, before claiming Xuefeng's ownership, pulling Wuying together onto her ship.
"That's right. If you want him, you better prepare for a fight!" Being in a good mood as well, Wuying joined their fun, tickling Xiao Wen as a warning.
"Haha, don't worry. If I ever plan on stealing him away from you girls, I will tell you first and we will have a big battle." Xiao Wen laughed, assuring them. She didn't want to hide the truth as it was unfair towards them, but she needed to first consolidate her relationship with Xuefeng before even trying to seriously talk with them.
"Sis! It's unfair… You are much stronger than us…" Yiren called out the unfairness right away, knowing they had no chance of beating her, to which Xiao Wen just shrugged, not claiming that life was fair before using it to motivate Yiren, "Use this opportunity to work hard in your training or I will one day take him away from you."
"But I don't know how…" Yiren sighed, blaming herself for never actually working hard on her fighting capabilities and asked with puppy eyes, "Sis, will you teach me how to fight?"
"You want me to teach you how to fight so that you can beat me when I try to take your Xuefeng away?" Xiao Wen asked with a smile, trying to confirm what she just heard. Wuying sat on the side, enjoying the playful argument between the two, thinking that Xiao Wen was just teasing Yiren this whole time, but only Wu Lan and Xiao Wen herself knew that she wasn't joking.
"Yes! I'm a good student." Yiren didn't catch the sarcasm in Xiao Wen's voice and nodded happily which made everyone laugh, with even Wu Lan chuckling under her nose.
"Sure, why not." Xiao Wen couldn't find a reason not to accept, finding the future to be quite promising.
After they finished their bath, which took much longer due to the girls playing around, they ate what was left from the breakfast after Wu Kong began his feast and it was time for them to leave the City of Liquor. Xuefeng made sure to stock up on the best wines with Red Rose and she didn't mistreat him, reminding him after the transaction to visit in the future.
They also had to buy one more means of transportation as they now had two more people being the pair of brother and sister from the Wu family. At first, he planned to let them stay with Red Rose for the time being until he comes back, but knowing they were very important, he decided against it, taking them both with him.
Having a pair of eagles and a white tigress, they could comfortably reach the Border Town without sitting on top of each other. After a quick brainstorm, they decided that Xuefeng would take Wu Kong, Wuying would take Wu Lan and this time Yiren happened to be the one to ride with Xiao Wen.
Xuefeng acted a bit weird at the start with how Xiao Wen acted towards him, always clinging to him or finding an opportunity to sneakily flirt with him, but after seeing how she wasn't bothered by any of this, he also became used to it.
In reality, their behaviour towards each other didn't change from before Xiao Wen's confession, but Xuefeng's perception did. Earlier he was thinking of those as just playful teasing between friends but now all of her actions wore a different label of Xiao Wen showing her affections towards him.
...….
Meanwhile, as Xuefeng's group finally departed, deep in the mountains right on the border of Sacred Sword Kingdom and Aurora Country laid a secret hideout of the most notorious bands of the area.
Thousand Blades was sitting by the dining table while sipping his wine when the man leading the whole bandit group asked annoyed, "Lord, how long will it take for them to come? My boys are already hungry for blood and horny for women. I allowed you to mobilize my army because you promised me the best woman I have ever seen, but I didn't even see the glimpse of her body yet."
"Calm down. I told you it will be soon. They should arrive today. Tell your boys to be on lookout. Don't worry, I keep my promises. After I defeat her, you will be able to play with her all you want. Isn't it a dream come true to have a Sage Stage beauty all to yourself?" Thousand Blades assured the Bandit Leader even though he didn't even look at him as he continued to play with his dagger.
"Heh, that's right. Definitely, a dream come true. Don't disappoint me. I will give you two more days but if I don't see them by that time, you know the consequences." The Bandit Leader grinned as he imagined taking a Sage Stage cultivator on his bed before ravaging her the whole night. He couldn't help but trust Thousand Blades one more time.
Thousand Blades watched the back of the leader with his eyes sharp like daggers, not even for a moment thinking of giving him his great Xiao Wen, cursing in his mind, 'Idiot. I can kill you with one hand and you dare threaten me. You won't even get to touch my angel before my dagger pierces through your throat.'
'She is mine and only mine…' Thousand Blades thought as he stabbed the table for the hundredth time, his eyes having crazed emotions reflecting inside of them.
Xuefeng's group continued their journey, but this time they flew straight towards their goal without any delays. They would be extremely lucky if they happened to meet a fragment holder somewhere in the wilderness, but Xuefeng knew that such luck wasn't quite probable.
He decided to just focus on improving himself first with the current mission of destroying the bandit camp on the border. No one wanted to bother taking this mission because of the small reward, but Xuefeng wasn't after rewards. He wanted to fight a battle with many opponents at the same time, to test and further improve his skills.
"Big brother, did something happen today? You seem to be happier than you used to be yesterday." Wu Kong asked as he observed Xuefeng smiling from time to time without any reason.
Xuefeng nodded, patting the boy's head, "Mhmm, big brother had something nice happening to him today. Sometimes good things happen even without you even asking for them. Don't you think that having so many big sisters around you is nice?"
Wu Kong glanced at the other eagles and agreed, laughing happily, "Hehe, yeah. When I'm older I will definitely follow big brother's footsteps."
Xuefeng also laughed, saying confidently, "Heh, big brother will teach you some skills when you are older." Only afterwards did he realise that he was never the one to initiate the relationship, which made him quite embarrassed but seeing Wu Kong's happy face, he didn't say anything else, deciding to study more before that time.
...….
"Sigh, he didn't come yet, right?" A bored voice of a lady sounded from behind the bed curtains. Nothing interesting happened around her since the last time she rushed with the gold-robed youth to meet a certain Fate Fragment Holder, who appeared out of nowhere inside the Central Region.
The same golden-robed youth was currently reporting the news from her domain right now and hearing the same question which she already asked many times. he replied patiently, "No Milady. I still didn't get any news from him. I will inform Milady as soon as he appears in the Central Region again."
The lady pushed the curtains to the side and sat at the edge of her bed, wearing only a pair of white undergarments. She wasn't worried that the youth would ogle at her body as she knew he wouldn't. His head was looking downwards from the moment he entered the room, to not accidentally see her pure body.
"Gosh, I wish I stopped him before he ran away… It would be very interesting to meet with him in person." The lady sighed again, blaming herself for not stopping Xuefeng in time before she asked, thinking of other solutions, "How about we search for him in other Regions?"
"Milady, we are already very busy with our current work. If we were to order anyone to search aimlessly through all the Regions, it would definitely cripple our plans." The Youth presented his opinion frankly, knowing that his milady wanted full honesty from him.
Rubbing her chin she quickly thought of another idea, "How about we use someone else instead? There are many Fragment Holders who can work for us. You can ask the one you told me about recently. He is at least somewhat interesting. What was he called?"
"He is called Pio, Madam. He recently won his first battle in the arena, showing some interesting skills. I can bring him if Madam wants." The youth introduced the recent star they found.
"Right, he is the one. His soul is very pure. With a little persuasion, he will do what we want. Bring him to me here right now. I will convince him to help us." The lady nodded, recalling the cold man she found interesting and decided to use him this time.
"Bring him here? Milady, how about moving to the meeting room instead after dressing up? He doesn't know the proper etiquette, which could lead to him sneaking a peek at Milady." The golden-robed youth advised but the lady didn't mind, waving with her hand and said while yawning, "I feel like lazing around in my bed the whole day. I don't plan on going anywhere. You can just explain it to him before you bring him here. Now go, don't waste any more time."
"Yes, Milady." The youth could do nothing else other than complying and disappeared after using a golden token with a small star engraved on it. Not many people knew about it, but each contracted Fate Fragment Holder had his own token which could allow the youth to teleport near them at any time and place.
Pio just happened to be cultivating alone in his courtyard which he rented with the money he won in the arena. When he arrived here, Pio realised that his Cultivation of Stars was improving at a very fast pace inside this land. He didn't hesitate to start training the moment he paid for this place.
The star-shaped mark on his forehead shone brightly as the white mist was floating around him, with tiny fragments of it being absorbed by his skin each second. If one looked closely, they would see some white dust turning into black ones and Pio would also absorb them.
Suddenly, he abruptly opened his eyes, noticing that someone else in the room and saw that the golden-robed youth he met a while ago was standing on the side, watching him with a curious gaze.
"When there is a light, there is also a shadow. How is your control over the latter?" The youth asked mysteriously.
Pio normally wouldn't talk much, but this youth helped him a bit when he first came here so he didn't mind answering to repay him, "It will still be within my control for a while. I am already preparing to face the black side in the near future. It would be best if I can control it, else you all would have to stop the other me. Why did you come?"
The golden-robed youth didn't reply and instead pulled out a small round crystal which shone with very pure white light. He made it float towards Pio and said, "Take it. Before trying to cross to the other side and it shouldn't be hard for you to control it for a while."
The moment Pio touched the crystal, his cold face which rarely showed any emotions finally expressed some surprise. He was overwhelmed by the amount of Pure Star Qi being gathered inside the crystal and muttered under his breath, "Such a pure Star Crystal… Where did you get it?"
"Let's say I know someone who has access to such goods." The youth said humbly, not revealing his source. Of course, the truth was that the person he mentioned was his Milady but he couldn't tell that to anyone else, because she would beat him up if he did.
"Thank you, I will take it. I really need it. If you need something in the future just tell me." Pio didn't hesitate to take the crystal as he really was in need of such items. Each cultivation step was harder than the previous one and if he wasn't careful, the dark side could easily consume him.
The youth smiled, predicting such reaction and decided to use that favour right away,
"Actually, I would like to ask you for something right now. My Milady would like to meet with you. Would you mind following me now to meet with her?"
"Of course." Getting such a gift, Pio couldn't say no, so he stood up without wasting time and asked, "Where is she?"
"I will take you there. Don't resist." The youth approached Pio and placed his hand on Pio's shoulder, making them both disappear after Pio confirmed with a nod.
"Remember to not look at Milady's body as you talk to her. She is not, cough, dressed properly right now. I don't want you to get punished by her. Just look down and follow me." The golden-robed youth reminded Pio after they appeared just outside his Milady's bedroom and only after Pio's nod did they enter inside.
"Milady, I'm back and I brought Pio with me." The golden-robed youth announced right after they crossed the line of the room, looking at the ground. Pio found that quite ridiculous but also followed the custom.
"That's good. You can leave him behind and go. Let me talk to him in private." Pio heard a gentle female voice call out from within the room and then the doors closed. The youth went out after hearing the order, leaving Pio alone with the mysterious Milady that wanted to meet him.
"Can I know the reason for Milady's invitation?" Pio asked curiously, looking to the side instead of the ground, finding it a bit awkward, but as he saw the frame of the bed with the corner of his eyes, he knew that her being without clothes could be true.
The lady observed Pio, finding his reactions quite amusing and called out to him with a mesmerising voice, "I just wanted to meet you. Come here. I want to look at you from up close."
Hearing her command, Pio suddenly felt a desire in his mind to follow her orders but finding it quite weird, he tried to cut it out from his mind, successfully pushing it away after a single try. She was surprised by his strong will and smiled, knowing she found another interesting person.
Pio didn't want to look at the lady as he walked up to the bed, but the moment he saw her smooth legs, gently dangling at the edge of the bed, his eyes naturally followed its way upwards. Besides being cold and collected, Pio was true with himself, without limiting himself with anything.
As his eyes travelled up to her naked belly, passing through her white underwear that covered her private region, Pio wanted to check out more. He wasn't driven by his sexual desire but rather curiosity.
Just then, his body froze, his eyesight stopping right before they moved towards the lady's chest and face. He tried to resist it but couldn't, making him completely immobile.
"Were you not informed to not ogle at my body while you are here? Can't you see that I'm not fully dressed?" The mysterious Milady asked calmly, interested to find out his thought process.
"I was invited here by Milady, so it is not my fault Milady is not dressed properly. I have a habit of looking into the person's eyes as I talk to them, so I am not fine with such limitations." Pio didn't hesitate to tell the truth, showing his dissatisfaction with this form of conversation.
The Milady giggled a bit at his response and released him with a wave of her hand, "Hah, alright. I guess you are right. Go ahead and look if you can." Having permission, Pio of course listened and finished his overview.
As he saw Milady's face, he gasped for a moment, truthfully finding her beautiful. In his eyes, there was more of admiration towards beauty rather than an evil desire. The lady looked mature but at the same time, he could find traces of innocence as she blinked curiously at him while giving him an inviting smile.
"Milady is truly beautiful. Many would do anything just to take a glimpse at Milady's beauty." Pio commented after analysing her as a whole, not hesitating to look into her golden eyes.
He didn't expect the Lady to suddenly blush from his words as she asked surprised, "You can see my face?!" One had to know that she didn't go out of her way to uncover the protective mist which covered her face, but Pio could see right through it with ease.
"Isn't Milady right in front of me? Milady gave me permission to look." Pio looked at her weirdly, finding the question stupid and reminded her about their previous agreement. In his defence, Pio didn't see any mist or anything, causing him to become confused.
"No, no. I don't have problems with that. I'm more than happy right now! I finally found another person blessed by Fate, haha!" The golden-eyed lady quickly assured him before she stood up from the bed and grabbed him by the shoulders happily.
Seeing the confusion on his face, she the lady quickly explained, "My face is covered by a protective mist and only those who are blessed by Fate can see through it." before asking as she gently held onto Pio's face, "Would you like to work for me and help me achieve the ultimate goal?"
Pio wasn't surprised by blessed by fate part as his Fate Fragment already told him that but the ultimate goal made him curious. The lady knew that and she explained right after, "The ultimate goal of all Fate Fragment Holders is the opening of the Fate Kingdom which was closed because of a certain accident. I gather all holders blessed by Fate to help me as only they can be trusted. What do you think? Want to join me and be one of the first to witness the greatest moment in history?"
The lady got extremely excited as she talked about it, smiling happily but Pio wasn't moved as he took her hands away from his face and apologized, "I'm sorry but I'm never going to work for anyone. I am also in the crucial part of my cultivation right now which prevents me from focusing on anything else."
The golden eyes of the lady suddenly shone brightly, showing the ultimate power behind them as she proposed, not accepting a no as an answer, "What if I told you that I can fix your troubles and make you much stronger? I know about your Fate Fragment problems with a dark element. I can help you control it fully as long as you pledge loyalty to me."
Unfortunately, Pio wasn't moved by her demonstration and once again shook his head in denial, "If receiving help from Milady means losing my freedom then I would rather face it myself."
Knowing it would be hard to convince him, the lady changed her method, ordering, "Close your eyes." Even against his will, Pio's eyes suddenly closed. Milady quickly leaned over and kissed him on the lips without much hesitation.
Her lips lit up with gold and Pio quickly exclaimed, feeling the foreign Qi filling up his body. Golden lines started spreading from his lips on his skin towards his whole body, making them both turn golden.
Pio wanted to protest but then, he felt the darkness which was recently brewing inside of his dantian, calm down to the point where it was so gentle that it started following his thoughts. He had problems as it wanted to take control over the other half of his dantian, but now both Qi's lived in harmony together.
"How…?" Pio asked after the mysterious Milady pulled away from him and stared at him with a confident smile.
The lady didn't explain her methods but said with a satisfied smile, "This effect will last for the next month. You can easily use both of your powers with ease now."
Pio couldn't help but test it and suddenly a lump of black matter appeared on top of his palm, while the other hand had the familiar stardust floating above it. Even as he pulled them closed to each other, the two energies didn't fight or try to consume one another.
"How about you do one request for me to repay me? I won't force you to work for me and instead, we can do it like a trade relationship. I can do something for you and you will do the same. What do you think?" The lady suggested as she gently grabbed his chin. She already figured out Pio's personality and knew that this method had to work. He didn't like to owe anyone anything.
"Fine. One request." Pio absorbed two energies back, finally agreeing.
The lady clapped her hands after getting what she wanted and explained her mission, "Great! I want one small thing. I wish to find out the location of one person. You will infiltrate Xiao Family and learn more about a person called Xuefeng. Report to me anything you find out about him."
After Pio left, the golden-eyed lady smiled as she laid back on the bed, thinking to herself, 'To think that he didn't react to my kiss at all. I wonder how much more interesting that Xuefeng is…'
Xuefeng was cultivating almost the whole journey as there was nothing else to do, but he was already impatient, finding constant cultivation boring. He could feel that his Spirit Qi capacity was increasing and he was approaching the Overlord Stage with big steps, but he would still rather prefer improving with other methods like battles or fighting instead, as he found that more interesting.
If only there was a method to connect his cultivation and fun, he wouldn't have to continue with this boring routine. Xuefeng even asked Ling about it, but she blushed right away, refusing to tell him.
Only after many pleas did Ling pull his consciousness into her space and told him so he would stop bugging her, "You can't dual cultivate like that with other humans, but if it's between Fate Fragment and it's holder… It's possible… But I'm not doing it with you! Don't even think about it."
Seeing how Ling turned around, not looking at him anymore, Xuefeng hugged her from behind and asked warmly, "Tell me, how does it work? You didn't connect with me earlier without providing any reasons. At least tell me this much."
From the time since he found out about her hiding it, Ling was much gentler with him than before as she still felt guilty about it. She stopped pushing him away when he touched or hugged her.
Hearing his reasoning, Ling bit her lip and gave in, not wanting to hurt him again, "...It's a temporary connection between our souls which would strengthen your absorption speed thanks to me… You would basically turn into a half spirit for a moment, but that would boost your cultivation at least ten times. Together with your elf royal bloodline, you would progress very fast…"
Xuefeng eyes opened wide when he heard how much improvement he could get and quickly turned ling around, asking excitedly, "Really?! That's amazing! Let's do it! It sounds like fun. What should we do?"
"Idiot, do you even know what you are proposing?" Ling quickly bashed him, hitting him twice on the chest, but she clearly didn't want to do anything to him as he felt no strength behind these punches.
Seeing her reaction, Xuefeng couldn't help but smile playfully and tease her as he held her chin so she looks at him, "Ling, if you didn't think of trying it with me, you wouldn't even tell me about it. Tell me, if there is such a method, shouldn't we use it? It is a ten times increase! You can't tell me to just ignore it now that I know of it."
She looked at him, trying to convince herself, but in the end, after thinking of Xuefeng's recent actions that she was mad about earlier, she still looked to the side, saying with a pout, "Do you even have time to cultivate? Recently you are only playing around with your women… How is that Xiao Wen? You like her too, don't you?"
"Wait, are you jealous?" Xuefeng asked confused, never seeing such expression from her.
"You promised to visit me here more often… I never heard you ask to come on your own…" Ling pushed him away, walking away from him but Xuefeng caught her hand and pulled her back into his arms which caused her to ask angrily as she hit him in the chest after each sentence, "What else you want? You want me to admit it? Yes, I'm jealous! Can't I be selfish even once? I also have feelings!"
"Ling…" Xuefeng called out her name embarrassed, letting her vent the anger before he added, "You didn't tell me about it earlier… I'm always here, so If you want to see me just tell me..."
Ling stopped hitting him and said reminding him what was more important, "You are supposed to think about that on your own. With so many women around, you forgot about the one who was with you from the beginning…"
Before she could calm down, she added unhappily, "I don't want to talk to you about it anymore… Go to your girls, they are calling for you." Xuefeng wanted to say something but Ling clicked with her fingers and he disappeared from her space.
Looking at the empty space where he stood just a moment ago, Ling sighed and also vanished from her castle, emerging outside on the lush grasslands she created. Sitting down on the grass she looked at the sky while bathing at the sun and sighed once again, laying down completely.
At that moment a squirrel ran up to her from the nearby tree and sat down on her chest, staring at her with confusion. She added some animals into her space and now she found that idea the best one she had. Rubbing the squirrel's cheeks, she muttered, "Isn't he a dummy? I am not demanding too much right? I just wanted what he promised... I didn't ask for much… Now I'm going to miss his hug for a while…"
...….
"Xuefeng! We have arrived!" Xuefeng opened his eyes the moment Ling ejected him from her space and he heard Wuying calling out to him from her eagle right behind his own. He looked around and saw a long mountain range in the horizon which was supposed to make him happy as they reached their goal but he wasn't in the mood right now.
'How come I always fuck everything up…' Xuefeng thought, blaming himself for all that happened just now. He really didn't spend enough time with Ling recently, but she also didn't tell him anything, acting like nothing bad was happening.
'Ling, let's talk… Ling!' Xuefeng started calling out in his mind but didn't get any response from her. He knew that she heard him so he said apologetically, 'Ling, I know you are listening to me… I will make sure to give you more care in the future so please, don't be mad at me anymore. It is always better to talk things out instead of acting like that. Tell me when you are ready to talk.'
He didn't get any response after this which made him feel frustrated. He was forced to try again later after she calms down.
Hearing no response from him, Wuying called out once again, "Xuefeng, are you okay? I'm calling you."
"Yeah, I heard you. Sorry, I just finished cultivating." Xuefeng forced a smile and replied before asking, "Do we need to visit the Border City first or can we go straight into the mountains?" Xuefeng somehow felt the urge to beat someone up and the current mission would help him with that. He needed to vent his frustration.
"Actually, there is no need, but it would always be better to get someone who knows the area first, else we would be just searching for the hideout endlessly," Wuying said while presenting the importance of a guide, but Xuefeng waved with his hand and called out, "Don't worry, I have a better idea."
...….
Puh! "Fuck you, I'm not going to tell you anyth— Mhmm! Mhmm!" A bandit Xuefeng caught spat on his face and shouted before Xuefeng could put the cloth into his mouth to stop him from talking.
"Is this the better idea you were talking about? They are obviously not going to talk." Wuying asked as she recalled their conversation in the air.
They went straight towards the road that was passing through the only mountain pass and happen to find ten bandits which were taking bribes from everyone who wanted to pass the narrow passageway. They quickly beat them all up as the strongest of them all was only a Spirit King Cultivator. Then Xuefeng began interrogating their leader to learn the position of their hideout.
Cleaning his face from the bandit's saliva, Xuefeng smiled evilly and turned to the ladies, asking as he switched into a kind smile, "Yiren can you turn around for a moment together with the kids?" Yiren didn't know what Xuefeng wanted to do but she listened and turned around happily together with the Wu siblings.
What they all heard afterwards were the sounds of punching and kicking together with the bandit's whining through the bloodied cloth. After he vented a bit, making bandit's face unrecognizable, he pulled out his Black Flame Slayer sword and stood up, aiming towards bandits crotch before asking coldly, "Do you want me to burn it, cut it and feed it to the birds or you will kindly lead me to your boss?"
The bandit didn't understand what Xuefeng meant by burning but then black flames suddenly burst out of the blade and he felt the hotness near his crotch right away. He never made up his decision faster than today, nodding hurriedly in panic.