On the wooden couch, Jiang Xuan was resolutely resisting Nangong Liu Yun’s deliberately weak act.
He had fallen for it once before, and let’s just say he had been feeling pretty puny for a while after that.
He knew that if he let slip any unwarranted thoughts, he would end up being subjected to all sorts of tortures.
Facing Nangong Liu Yun’s intentionally gentle assault, Jiang Xuan kept his mind sharp and rational.
However, the Great Sage controlling his body’s instinctive reactions was being downright honest in its surrender.
Jiang Xuan’s inner voice was shouting, “Great Sage, what are you doing? Why are you giving up for no reason?!”
As the Great Sage faced defeat, Jiang Xuan quickly transitioned from willing participant to a mere puppet in this one-sided battle.
As the defeated one, Jiang Xuan was completely subdued.
“My husband is surprisingly easy to understand! Do you like the feeling of ruling over everything?” she teased.
“No…not really…”
“Oh, I see… So my husband still isn’t being honest. Then let’s continue practicing the Hehuan Formula.”
“Wait, I do like it… very much…”
“Mm? So you really plan to escape when you’re on top, only to then suppress me?”
“Okay, okay, in that case… well, I’ll just have to cripple your escape plans!”
Jiang Xuan: “…….”
At that moment, even the slowest of minds would’ve realized that his response didn’t matter at all.
Because Nangong Liu Yun wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily.
……..
Three days later, Nangong Liu Yun gently pinched Jiang Xuan’s face, her smile as bright as the sun.
“In just five days, it’s our wedding day! So, husband, you should take a good rest for the next few days. I’ll handle all the wedding preparations and then come back to fetch you. There are probably some bad women lurking around the Great Jiang Imperial City, so I need to deal with that, too. The ones I previously captured have all fled, but honestly, they won’t just back off.”
As she spoke, Nangong Liu Yun pulled out a sack from beneath the wooden couch.
“Lan Xin, make sure to keep a close eye on your master. He should be subdued now. If I come back and find he’s gone, I won’t be as nice this time—I might just have to beat you up again!”
Coming back to reality, Lan Xin quickly nodded, “Don’t worry, Lady Liu Yun, I will keep a close watch on my master!”
Jiang Xuan: “…….”
Seeing Lan Xin’s earnestness, Jiang Xuan couldn’t help but wonder who was really the master here.
Just as he was silently judging Lan Xin, Nangong Liu Yun suddenly pinched his face.
“Husband, what’s your answer?”
“Uh… I’ll diligently practice here and wait for you to come and take me back…”
“Alright, from now on, you should focus on practicing. You need to hold on for at least thirty days before the wedding, okay?”
Jiang Xuan: “？？？？？”
“I’m really looking forward to how my husband will perform then.”
With that, Nangong Liu Yun casually untied the sack around Lan Xin and vanished into thin air.
After she left, Lan Xin slumped down onto the ground, completely exhausted.
Jiang Xuan let out a sigh of relief.
After practicing the Hehuan Formula dozens of times in the past three days, Jiang Xuan’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Sky Martial Ninth Level.
However, the cost had been significant.
Simply put, the Hehuan Formula was just a shady technique for Jiang Xuan.
It was slower than his normal training speed and came with severe side effects.
Right now, Jiang Xuan felt utterly weak; he didn’t even have the energy to stand.
But he didn’t rest immediately. Instead, he turned to Lan Xin and said, “Hey, Lan Xin, you… really betrayed me, huh? It’s honestly making your poor master feel pretty heartbroken.”
“I was going to say the same! You let me get stuffed in that sack for so long without pleading my case!”
Jiang Xuan: “？？？？？？”
“No way I’d plead for you in that situation! Even begging wouldn’t help…”
“Sigh, in the end, you’re just useless.
I thought you had conquered her, but it seems you didn’t even satisfy Lady Liu Yun.”
Jiang Xuan: “……..”
“What kind of talk is that? Do you think I’m some kind of perpetual motion machine? At least acknowledge I’m a human!”
As soon as Jiang Xuan finished, Lan Xin shifted her approach.
“Master, let’s be real… why don’t we just accept our fates? I see no chance of you escaping. Look at me! I’ve lost one of my horns just to buy you time. For my kind, that’s more humiliating than d*ath!
But here I am, giving it my all, and it ends up with you thinking I’m just scared for my life and betraying you.
Master, you’ve really broken my heart… I’ve been nothing but honest with you…”
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan was momentarily stunned.
Regaining his senses, he quickly comforted her, “Lan Xin, I apologize… I lost my cool… This isn’t your fault at all. Liu Yun isn’t someone you can oppose…”
“Um… Lan Xin, you should go recuperate, and I need to recover as well.”
“Okay… Master… Actually, if you really don’t want to get married, I can go back to the Water Qilin Clan and ask the Martial Emperor elder to come out of seclusion… But… the Water Qilin Clan is too proud. If they found out about our master-servant contract, it could bring danger to you…”
“No need for that. Let everything happen naturally; I have no intention of running away from the wedding.”
……..
At this moment, Jiang Xuan didn’t want to think about anything else. He decided to focus on improving his cultivation.
Typically, once a normal cultivator breaks through to the Sky Martial Ninth Level, they enter the Martial Spirit realm. But Jiang Xuan planned to keep compressing his energy and push for the ultimate realm of Sky Martial, the Tenth Level.
Since he started cultivating, each realm had given him an extra peak zone compared to others. Each of those peaks gathered more spiritual power than the total of the previous nine minor realms combined.
This ancient level, stepping into it in this age, would encounter heavenly tribulations. And those heavenly tribulations were there to eliminate any variables entering the peak zones.
To Jiang Xuan’s relief, the heavenly tribulations didn’t dare to touch him.
That’s why he felt emboldened while pushing for the peak zone.
With the added benefits of the peak zones, his power far exceeded that of any other cultivators in the same realm.
Speaking purely in terms of the peak zone, the Sky Martial peak zone was his fifth move.
Once Jiang Xuan broke through to the Sky Martial peak zone, his battle power would skyrocket again.
On the other side, Lan Xin had her own little agenda.
Before returning to the lake bottom, she used a communication jade to inform Nangong Liu Yun that Jiang Xuan was now completely subdued and had no thoughts of escaping.
After the messaging ended, Lan Xin muttered to herself, “That wicked woman is too much! She made me listen under the couch for a whole three days. If I weren’t injured, I would’ve made my master serve me properly right then and there.”
After saying this, she suddenly blushed and quickly dove back to the lake bottom to cool off.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xuan remained oblivious to Lan Xin’s rebellious thoughts.
After consuming a potent elixir given to him by the former deputy pavilion master, he sat cross-legged and activated the Taixuan Formula.
Meanwhile, deep in the lake, Lan Xin was using a spiritual gathering array to slowly heal her wounds.
Half a day later, Jiang Xuan stabilized his cultivation and regained some stamina.
He stepped out of the small wooden house, ready to do some barbecuing as a reward for himself.
At the same time, deep in the lake, because Lan Xin had absorbed too much spiritual power, the chains binding the spiritual gathering array started to loosen.
In the next moment, a massive whirlpool formed on the surface of the lake.
