Zi Mo woke slowly, her lashes fluttering as she stretched beneath the blanket. A cute yawn slipped past her lips before her gaze settled on him… and stilled. For a brief moment, she simply watched him watching her. Then she raised an amused brow.
"Did you watch me the entire night?" She asked.
Li Yuan leaned back in the chair and didn't look away, still appreciating his fiancee's beauty. "Not the entire night. Only an hour or so," he said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Hope it doesn't come off as weird or creepy."
Her lips curved slightly as she shifted closer, reaching out to take his arm and tug him back toward the bed. "No. It's endearing." Then, without giving him room to argue, she added, "Cuddle with me."
He let out a quiet huff of amusement as he allowed himself to be pulled down beside her. "Yes, ma'am."
She fit against him easily, her head resting against his chest while his arm draped lazily around her form. For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then, halfway through the cuddle, Zi Mo stilled, her nose twitching slightly. She pulled back just enough to look at him properly, and her gaze narrowed.
"You seem… different." She said. Li Yuan raised an eyebrow, not having expected her to notice anything. She leaned in and sniffed again, more deliberately now, her expression turning faintly puzzled. "You smell different as well."
"How so?" he asked, watching her reaction carefully.
Zi Mo didn't answer immediately. She leaned closer, almost pressing against him as she took another breath, her brows knitting together in concentration. "…I don't know," she admitted after a moment, clearly unsatisfied with her own answer.
Li Yuan's lips quirked faintly. "Is it a good different or a bad different?"
That gave her pause. She pulled back slightly, thinking it through before finally nodding. "Good," she said. "You smell better." Her eyes flicked back to his. "What did you do?"
Li Yuan didn't hide it and told her about the Heaven-Breaking Titan Body Scripture. About finally grasping its core principles.
Zi Mo listened without interrupting. She was good at that, he noticed. At listening. He appreciated her greatly for that alone. The few girls he dated in his past life were usually not good listeners. But then again, they hadn't lived for a century and half either.
By the time he finished, her expression had softened entirely. She leaned back into him, her head settling against his chest once more.
"I see…" she said, letting out a soft chuckle. "Why am I not even surprised that you mastered an entire Body Cultivation technique in just a single night," she murmured, almost to herself. And there was a quiet satisfaction in her voice.
Her fingers idly traced against his arm as she continued, "Maybe, just maybe, with that ridiculous comprehension of yours… you might actually walk the path of tri-cultivation."
"Who knows," she added dryly, "you might even reach Golden Core in your lifetime."
Li Yuan didn't respond immediately. Instead, he lowered his head slightly and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"Have some more faith in me." He said.
Zi Mo sighed softly at that, the sound more tired than dismissive. "There's little else I can do when you've already made your decision," she said, though there was no real resistance in her voice.
He didn't let the matter drop. His arm tightened slightly around her, just enough to draw her attention back. "I'm being serious. I want you to actually have faith in my path," he continued, his voice calm but firm. "Not just tolerate it. And especially not make snide remarks about whether I'll succeed or not."
Zi Mo held his gaze for a moment. Then she exhaled slowly and leaned back into him, as if using the hug to apologise for her earlier remark.
"…Alright," she said quietly. "I'll try." There was a brief pause before she added, softer this time, "I'm sorry."
He nodded and pressed another kiss on her forehead. "There's nothing to be sorry for." He said. And he was being truthful. If Zi Mo had known how bullshit his cheats were, she would never have doubted him. But for his own safety, she had refused to learn about them. And he appreciated her greatly for that, and everything else she's done for him.
They stayed like that for a while, the silence between them finally become comfortable once again.
Eventually, as the sun started to rise in the horizon, Li Yuan spoke again. "Don't you have to go help with making preparations for Ning Renxue's breakthrough?"
Zi Mo shifted slightly at that, though she didn't move away. "I do," she said. "In Snow Peak, every Golden Core cultivator is expected to contribute to their junior's ascension. Whether it be in resources, wealth, connections… whatever they can offer."
Her tone grew more practical as she continued. "I refined a batch of Aurora Spirit Stone and gave it to her. It would increase her chances of breaking through by around 20%. That alone more than covers my share."
Li Yuan nodded slightly.
"She's still preparing, though," Zi Mo added. "Partly because of me… but mostly because she wants everything to be perfect." A faint smile tugged at her lips. "At this point, almost everything is ready. We're just waiting for the right moment for her to make the breakthrough."
Li Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly in thought. Then, quietly, he said, "Take me with you to see Ning Renxue."
Zi Mo paused. "She doesn't want to show herself to you."
"I'm aware. She could wear a robe and a mask to cover herself." He replied. "But take me with you when she's about to start her breakthrough."
Zi Mo turned to look at him properly. "Why?"
Li Yuan paused and then activated the privacy formation surrounding their home. "Because I would be able to tell whether her breakthrough will succeed or not," he said simply.
The change in her was immediate.
Zi Mo sat up straight, the warmth from earlier vanishing in an instant as sharp alertness took its place.
"…Are you serious?" She asked.
Li Yuan met her gaze and nodded once.
Zi Mo didn't speak for several long moments after that. Her expression shifted subtly, thoughts clearly racing behind her eyes as she weighed what he had just said. Finally, she let out a slow breath.
"Very well, we'll go together. On the day she's decides to make her break through,You'll come with me then." She said, before her gaze sharpened. "But you have to promise me something. You will never ever tell anyone about this ability of yours," she said, her voice low but firm. "Not a single person. Do you understand?"
Li Yuan held her gaze for a moment, then nodded. "I promise."
Zi Mo studied him for another second, as if confirming whether he truly meant it. Then, slowly, the tension in her shoulders eased. "…Good. Because if word of this ability gets out, then the entire Snow Peak would be in danger."
—————
He and Zi Mo lazily flew through the Crystal Yin Mountain. Once again, she flew under her own power while he relied on a flying sword. He didn't quite mind it though, as flying on a sword could also be a lot of fun. It felt a bit like surfing. Except, instead of water, you're surfing on air.
"There." He said and pointed at where a spirit herb was glowing on a steep cliff. The both of them flew close to the cliff, and he carefully dug out the herbs and placed it within his Ancient Spatial Ring to be replanted later. And they continued flying.
After a while, Zi Mo noticed something in the distance, and they flew over to collect another treasure. A Yin crystal that forms in Yin heavy place. He'd already found dozens of such crystals in the mountain before but wouldn't say no to more as each one could sell for thousands of spirit stones.
As they continued flying, he suddenly spoke up. "You know... I've been thinking about Chu Tianming recently."
"Oh?" Zi Mo said, flying closer to show that she was paying attention.
"I was wondering how he keeps finding it whenever I bring you along to ambush him." He said. "And I thought that maybe he still has connections with the Sect Leader. With that connection, he could make partial use of the Formation that covers the entire Nine Peak Sect, and use it to survey us."
Zi Mo looked thoughtful at his words but then shook her head. "Or, he could have a Divination Artefact, or a Divination-type Gu to help him. Do you have any proof behind your conjecture, or is it just a wild guess?"
"I don't have any proof. But maybe we could put it to the test."
"How?" She asked.
"You'll leave the sect with the excuse to do something and stay out for a week or so. Once outside the Sect's boundary, the Formation covering the sect will no longer be able to track you. Then, a week later, I'll leave the sect, and lure him to a designated place where you would be hiding." He said. "Then, we could attack him together, and kill him."
Zi Mo looked thoughtful. "It seems like a risky plan. What if he catches you before you reach my location"
"Don't worry. I'll know if our plan won't succeed in advance and act accordingly." He told her and Zi Mo frowned for a moment and then nodded.
"We'll have to discuss this in more details. And we might also have to leave behind our sect identity tokens. Who knows if those things have trackers within them."
He blinked at those words and nodded. Somehow, that thought hadn't even occurred to him, but it now made sense. Even if Chu Tianming didn't have any connection with the Sect Leader but has a way to sense sect tokens. Then of course he would be able to tell when Zi Mo is nearby.
Maybe the answer was just that simple, and not something as complicated as a divination tool.
"There's also something else I wanted to ask you." He said again.
"What is it?"
"Before coming to the Snow Peak, didn't you ask me to take your master as my master as well. What happened to that?"
"Oh… I talked with master about it as well. She said that she doesn't want to accept you as a disciple." Zi Mo replied and he blinked in surprise.
"Why?" He asked. Had he done something to upset her?
Zi Mo paused for a moment before she shrugged. "I don't know."
His eyes narrowed at that. Something in the way Zi Mo replied made him feel like she just lied to him. But he decided to give her the benefit of doubt and didn't call her out for it.
Just as they were about fly into the lower areas of the Crystal Yin Mountain, his Sect Identity Token suddenly buzzed.
He curiously picked it up, wondering who could be calling him. Did his Family send someone to meet him?
But then he heard the voice from the other side, and its contents, and his face went dark.
"Zi Mo. We need to go down to the city." He said.
Zi Mo, who had listened in on the talk nodded grimly as well. "Okay."
And so, they left the sect in a hurry.