Once her friends were gone, Wu Long looked at Luo Mingyu who seemed to be pondering about something.
“It is unexpected of a young lady like you to have such an outlook on martial arts, especially since you explicitly stated that you do not wish to pursue it”
He said with a tone of appreciation.
Despite her naivety in interactions with people and recognizing their motives, he did admire her rather mature perspective on the question raised earlier given her upbringing and how sheltered she seemed to be.
“I am only able to have such a stance now that I am being targeted and can do nothing but hide behind people who protect me. It was not always so”
She said, and he now was even more appreciative of her since her introspection allowed her to see her flaws and her insight as well as her honesty allowed her to not deny them.
“It actually allowed me to take a big step forward and that is why I was able to breakthrough into the Qi Condensation Realm and even reach 2nd level almost in days”
She then said in a happy tone. As Dao Cultivators required achievements in their comprehension of Dao to cultivate, they could potentially become stuck quite easily if they were stuck in their mental realm, but as long as their mental realm rose they could advance a lot easier than others, and a sudden enlightenment could take one even an entire Major Realm forward without worrying about an unstable cultivation base.
“Do you think I was correct?”
She suddenly asked.
“I cannot say for sure”
“Why is that? Can you give me your reasoning?”
“The Dao is formless”
Wu Long simply replied as he decided to give her a little helping hand on her path that was bound to be bitter. He was also very interested now that he saw her level of introspection about what this helping hand could give her.
She seemed a bit taken by surprise at his not-straight answer, but then a little sour as she took his answer as a mocking. This part of a very famous axiom was not something she could be stumbled by.
On the next day when Wu Long started to follow Luo Mingyu and that Dao discussion was held, one of the capital guard commanders came to check up on the perimeter, and also to ask Luo Mingyu if she noticed anything suspicious.
When Wu Long saw the fiery red hair from the distance, he smiled and waved at the surprised beautiful commander.
“Sister Feng Yi!”
Luo Mingyu greeted the commander, Feng Yi in a familiar way.
“Mingyu, how have you been? … and … it’s you?”
Feng Yi smiled at the young lady and then shifted her eyes to Wu Long, who she did not expect to see here.
“Hello, pretty lady, it seems we meet again. Thank you for your help, by the way”
Wu Long replied with a charming smile.
“Hmph, flattery won’t get you anywhere. I just did my duty”
She said, not batting an eye. She was indeed somewhat surprised by his appearance, but that was just an initial surprise and she was now completely composed.
“You know each other?”
Luo Mingyu looked at them in confusion, it seemed that Wu Long was a fairly widely known person. The two explained how they met, and Luo Mingyu explained to the puzzled Feng Yi why Wu Long was around her. When she heard of his supposed prowess, shock and disbelief appeared on her face. She herself was one of the most powerful practitioners in the kingdom excluding sects that were located within the borders with her Revolving Qi Realm. To kill people at the Revolving Qi Realm while being in the Qi Gathering Realm was something truly unbelievable.
But since it came from Luo Mingyu, who heard it directly from an elder of the Frozen Garden Palace, she had no choice but to believe it, she also did feel when she first met him that he was a tough opponent, that she could not accurately gauge the strength of.
They talked a bit more, and then she left. She would visit like that sometimes each day, sometimes with a day in between it seems.
A week passed since then, and Luo Mingyu started to show signs of fatigue. She would go to sleep, and Wu Long’s voice would sound with the phrase “The Dao is formless” over and over again in her mind.
She heard and read that phrase from a famous axiom of ‘Dao is formless, soundless, and is incorporeal’ many times in her life. It was basic knowledge that any novice would first learn.
But in his voice and tone when he said those words, there was something ancient and profound, something she could not completely grasp.
She would sit up on her bed in frustration and start pondering until it was morning and her classes would start, giving her no time to sleep.
Meanwhile, Feng Yi’s visits would continue as they have before Wu Long arrived. Her family was one of the three pillars of stability for the kingdom. The Luo family of scholars, the Feng family of warriors, and the Nin family of merchants. Thus Luo Mingyu was very close to Feng Yi as she always looked up to her from early childhood.
One day, Feng Yi showed up late in the evening at the door to Wu Long’s small house in the Luo Family Manor.
As he opened the door and looked at her with a question in his eyes, she folded her hands below her chest and looked at him with a challenge in her expression.
“So? Are you going to make a move or not?”
She said to him, dropping any greetings.
“What do you mean?”
Wu Long replied as if he did not know what she meant.
“Cut the crap, I saw the gaze you gave me, and your subtle hints did not escape me either. Are we going to do it or not?”
She responded a little impatiently as she did not like to beat around the bush. During the visits, she saw how Wu Long looked at her, and she has lived enough not to know what that look meant.
“Come in”
He smiled, and let her inside, closing the door behind her.
She went to the center of the room and looked around a bit without much interest as this was a temporary dwelling provided to those helping to protect Luo Mingyu.
“You are quite bold in coming here yourself, not that I do not like it”
Wu Long said to her with a smile as she turned back to him.
“Hmph, I know what I want and am not shy to show it”
She said proudly. Her attitude toward Wu Long during the visits to Luo Mingyu was mostly cold and somewhat indifferent on the outside, but as she looked at his gaze and his handsome appearance, coupled with his strength, she found him more and more attractive. Despite her beautiful appearance, not many men looked at her as a woman in this kingdom, because she was stronger than any of them. She was one of the five strongest people here, three of which were related to her by blood and the other being an old man. So seeing the look that made her feel coveted after so many years since it happened last time when she was still not as strong, made her impatient to grasp this chance.
“Are you sure you want to do this? I may not be the one who should be saying this, but giving your Pure Yin Essence away is a one-time act, and is irreversible”
“Are you looking down on me? I would not have come here if I was not sure. It’s not like I am not interested in men because of my profession, I just never encountered any decent men except my father and brothers”
“Does that imply you consider me a decent man?”
“You are passable, I guess” 𝘦𝘯.𝘰𝘳𝘨
“Heh, what an honor”
He looked at her with a chuckle and went a little closer.
“Though I am quite possessive and if you really become my woman I will have to take you away from here eventually”
“Hmph, it depends if you can make me your woman first, who knows if you will disappoint me”
“Disappoint? Now that’s something I have not heard in a long time. This provocation may cost you, you know?”
Wu Long’s smile widened at her words, and a slightly dangerous light appeared in his eyes, as that was a challenge he could not simply ignore.
“Heh, what confidence. I really want to see if it is empty or not”
She replied doubling down. While she did find Wu Long attractive and wanted to grasp the chance to finally experience the touch of a man, she was not a little girl in love, so she did not feel like giving him too much face and acting all submissive. She would probably not do so even to a man she was madly in love with.
“Hmm~, I see…”
For the first time in all half a year since he has awakened in this world, the eyes of not Wu Long the mortal, but eyes of the God of Pleasure looked at a woman, as he accepted this challenge. A slight shiver of unknown origin went through her as she sensed an almost imperceptible change in his atmosphere.
“Let’s start then, why don’t you get out of that armor first?”