“Are you going to leave words on me every single time?”
A helpless sigh echoed beside the hot spring, where spiritual mist lingered in the air.
Jiang Huai was forced to lie back on the warm stone platform, most of his body still submerged in the flowing warm spring.
He strained to lift his head, and within his line of sight was Chi Lian’s graceful figure, her back turned toward him.
Chi Lian rose and helped Jiang Huai up, smiling as she said, “It is just for fun. If Husband does not like it, I will simply wipe it away.”
“Speaking of which… how long do you plan to teach the young lady sword practice, Husband? When will it ever end?”
Hearing this, Jiang Huai sighed.
As he stood up, he gave a disgruntled snort and replied, “What do you think? Naturally, it will be until you can truly increase your combat power! As the Saintess of our Nine Heavens Palace, if your strength does not improve, how can you face anyone?”
“You must not take your identity as the Saintess of Nine Heavens Palace lightly.”
His expression became serious. He stared at Chi Lian and cautioned her, “In my heart, I deeply cherish the Nine Heavens Palace that my madam left behind.
I can give you time to improve.
But if you do not take yourself seriously, and if you do not take the position of Saintess seriously, then I will truly be angry and give the position to someone else.”
“I like you, but do not make me dislike you,” he told Chi Lian sincerely, baring his heart.
If it were not to improve Chi Lian’s combat power, why would he need to go every day without fail to spar in the way of the sword with that ill-tempered Saintess Chi Huang?
Nine Heavens Palace was something Qin Qingyue had left behind, and Su Yingman and the others were also recalling the personnel of the palace.
Jiang Huai placed great importance on this, and naturally, he valued the position of Saintess even more.
Panic welled up in Chi Lian’s heart, and she hurriedly said, “Then it is my fault. I will certainly keep my husband’s teachings in mind, cultivate well, and never fail your high expectations. I will definitely cultivate properly and be worthy of the title of Saintess.”
She spoke with tender affection, her tone soft and lingering, seemingly filled with infinite guilt and determination.
In the future, she would surely be a good Saintess and do something meaningful for the Nine Heavens Palace.
“Husband, the water seems a bit cold? Are you finished bathing? If so, let us head back. I will help you dress.”
As she spoke, she moved to pick up the clothes nearby to help Jiang Huai put them on.
Jiang Huai looked down, inspecting himself once more.
It was almost unbearable to look at. The warm spring water steamed with mist, blurring his vision.
“Chi Lian.” Jiang Huai raised his other hand and gave her forehead a gentle flick with his knuckle.
His tone was helpless yet indulgent. “You have picked up some bad habits.”
Chi Lian shrank back slightly, but she took the opportunity to grab Jiang Huai’s wrist and pull him into an embrace.
She tilted her face up, blossoming into a guilty yet flattering smile amidst the hazy water vapor.
Her voice softened again.
“Not at all. It is just that Husband is too good to me. I simply could not help myself.”
As she spoke, she helped Jiang Huai into his robes, carefully tying his belt and tidying his hair with great attentiveness and obedience.
While serving him, a sense of joy surfaced in Chi Lian’s heart.
She suddenly felt that there was nothing bad about being a concubine.
She even began to wonder if she was simply suited to be a concubine rather than a wife.
In her ideal, a wife should be like Qin Qingyue—powerful, formidable, with a proud and strong personality.
At the very least, a wife would not feel happy over such trivial matters of service.
It just so happened that when Jiang Huai initially went to the Red Dragon Clan, it was to take a concubine.
Perhaps it was destiny that allowed her to become Jiang Huai’s concubine?
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Huai turned his head, looking at Chi Lian, who was lost in thought behind him while tidying his clothes.
“Nothing much. I just feel that I am quite suited to be a concubine,” Chi Lian said in a low voice.
Once she finished helping Jiang Huai dress, Chi Lian lightly pressed a devout kiss onto his lips.
“Speaking of which, is Siyao coming back soon?” she asked Jiang Huai softly.
“Yes. She followed Su Yingman to gather the original personnel of the Nine Heavens Palace. She should be back soon,” Jiang Huai answered.
“Thinking back, Siyao had grievances toward Husband before she left. She wanted to improve her innate talent,” Chi Lian laughed, covering her mouth as she put on her bathrobe again, wrapping up her curvaceous figure.
“That was indeed my fault. We will talk about it when she returns,” Jiang Huai admitted his mistake sincerely.
“However, her innate talent is already very high. When she was injured previously, I was the one who helped her replenish her deficient Xiantian source energy. Now, she is not only complete in Yin and Yang, having become a thorough human, but her original source is the same as mine. Her talent is extremely high.”
Since even her original source had been supplemented by Jiang Huai, this was even more terrifying than the talent improvement Chi Lian had received.
She could be considered a Small Yin-Yang Body.
It could be said that Zhu Siyao had gained a blessing through misfortune, becoming the one with the highest talent among the women.
“No wonder Siyao was not actually in a hurry,” Chi Lian replied with a smile.
At the mention of supplementing the original source, Jiang Huai’s expression became slightly strange.
Come to think of it, Zhu Siyao was born through Zhu Rongxin’s Secret Technique and unique physique.
Ordinary people were complete in both Yin and Yang, but she was born lacking the Yang source energy.
Previously, she had relied on other methods to compensate as she cultivated.
Now that he had supplemented her original source, did that count as…
Thinking of this, Jiang Huai’s expression grew even more peculiar.
Over the next several days, aside from sparring with the Saintesses like Chi Huang and Cang Ling, Jiang Huai spent most of his time in quiet meditation within his courtyard, where it felt like spring all year round.
Now that the bottleneck of the Yin-Yang Body had been broken, the path of cultivation had suddenly opened up. Watching the duel of the previous generation’s Yin-Yang Body again brought him even greater enlightenment.
The Small World within his body changed with each passing day.
Under the regulation and command of the Two Energies of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements foundation became increasingly stable and majestic.
His cultivation rose steadily at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Occasionally, he would go alone into the depths of the Forbidden Land to sit in silent meditation before the coffin of the previous Yin-Yang Body, sensing the other’s world from up close.
On the other hand, as the de facto Alliance Leader of the Five Provinces Alliance, Bai Lu, whose cultivation had reached the Great Ascension Stage and who held the highest prestige, was submerged in unprecedentedly complex organizational affairs.
The plan to migrate to the Northern Plains had entered its most critical stage.
As long as they made it through this moment, the basic defense of the Five Provinces would be considered complete.
At this time, things could not afford to go wrong, and Bai Lu had to respond with heightened vigilance.
Every day, countless Jade Slips flew into the palace where she resided, reporting on the progress of various migration teams, resource allocation, the arrangement of formations along the way, and the status of contact with the remaining human forces in the Northern Plains, among a thousand other tangled matters.
She sat upon the Dragon Throne, her exquisite face appearing slightly weary as it was illuminated by the mountain of Jade Slips on her desk.
She handled every decision in an orderly manner.
But lately, beneath this calm, a sliver of anxiety had begun to grow, making it difficult for her to find peace of mind.
Her fair fingers mindlessly tapped against the cold armrest, and her gaze would occasionally drift toward the blue sky outside the palace.
Chi Hong, who had been sent to receive several important human sects traveling from the Central State to join the Northern Plains, had been gone for quite some time.
The reception point was within the safely controlled outer regions of the Northern Plains. Logically, there should not have been any deviations.
Chi Hong herself was a Great Ascension Stage expert who acted with stability and wit, and she was leading an elite squad of the Dragon Race.
Why had she been gone for so long without even sending back a single routine message?
At first, Bai Lu assumed it was just a delay on the road. But as time passed, this silence gradually turned into a heavy stone pressing against her heart.
‘Could something have really happened?’
Once this thought arose, it could not be suppressed. She furrowed her brows, cold intent gathering in her icy eyes.
Should she send another team of experts to investigate and provide backup along the route? Or should she go herself? This thought made her mind even more unsettled.
Going personally would naturally be much safer given her Great Ascension cultivation.
However, the migration affairs were currently at a critical juncture.
A thousand different matters required her presence to make decisions. How could she easily leave? Moreover…
Publicly, Jiang Huai was the key to countering the Heavenly Demon, and the growth of the Yin-Yang Body concerned the future fortune of the Five Provinces. Privately, her feelings made her want to stay here, near him, to personally protect this hard-won relationship.
To go, or not to go?
Just as Bai Lu’s mind was in turmoil and the frequency of her fingers tapping the armrest increased, a sudden flurry of hurried and slightly panicked footsteps echoed outside the palace.
Bai Lu raised her eyes at the sound. She saw a fiery red figure practically stumbling into the palace.
It was Chi Huang.
Her usually bright and assertive face was now as pale as paper.
Her eyes were rimmed with red, and fat teardrils still hung from her thick lashes, rolling down her cheeks.
Her hair was slightly disheveled, and her breathing was uneven—she had completely lost her usual arrogance and composure as a Saintess.
“Clan Leader Bai! Clan… Clan Leader Bai…” Chi Huang’s voice carried a clear tremble and a sob.
She rushed several steps to the foot of the jade stairs, looking up at Bai Lu with eyes filled with terror and helplessness.
Bai Lu’s heart sank as that ominous premonition suddenly flared. She steadied her mind, maintaining a surface level of calm, though her voice lowered a fraction.
“Chi Huang? What has happened to cause such panic? Why are you crying like this?”
Chi Huang seemed unable to even speak clearly. She hurriedly took an object out of her Storage Ring and held it up with both hands.
It was an ancient Bronze Soul Lamp.
The style of the lamp was simple, and the single bean-sized flame in the center should have been burning steadily, symbolizing the owner’s vigorous vitality and unharmed soul.
However, at this moment, it flickered erratically, its light dim.
Occasionally, a weak spark would suddenly flare up, only to rapidly fade again, as if it would be completely extinguished in the next instant.
The entire lamp was like a broken oil lamp in a violent storm, swaying on the verge of going out.
“Master… she did not return on time, and the soul lamp…” Chi Huang choked up, tears gushing out once more.
She clutched the soul lamp tightly, her voice broken. “Her soul lamp turned into this! Clan Leader Bai, is Master… is she…”
A Soul Lamp was connected to a cultivator’s original soul.
When the lamp died, the person perished.
And such a state, where the flame was on the verge of vanishing and was shrouded in the aura of death, usually meant only one thing.
The owner of the soul lamp was currently suffering an extremely severe, life-threatening injury to their original source.
Bai Lu stood up abruptly! Her icy blue eyes locked onto the flickering soul lamp in Chi Huang’s hands.
Chi Hong was critically injured and on the verge of death?!
What shook her soul was far more than just the matter of Chi Hong’s safety.
Where did the incident happen? The Northern Plains!
The place she was ordered to receive the human sects was an area already initially controlled and repeatedly cleared by the Dragon Race.
What kind of enemy could be there, capable of heavily wounding a Red Dragon Clan Leader at the Great Ascension Stage who was leading an elite dragon squad to this extent?! They might even cause her to fall!