Lixue nodded, her eyes burning with a fierce, unwavering light. "I understand, Yu'er. I am your hidden blade."
Satisfied, Shen Yu stood up from the wreckage of the floor. "Come. Let us wash away the night's dust. Today marks the true beginning of our counterattack, and we must look the part."
As they moved toward the bathing chamber, Shen Yu paused in front of a shattered bronze mirror. His new, shimmering silver hair was far too majestic and eye-catching; it screamed of a supreme bloodline awakening.
With a mere thought, he activated the Celestial Fox Veil.
The illusion washed over him seamlessly. The unearthly, liquid-moonlight iridescence faded from his strands, retracting back into the flat, stark white hair he had possessed since childhood.
They bathed together in the warm, scented waters, the intimacy reinforcing the absolute bond forged between them. Afterward, they dressed with meticulous care. Shen Yu donned a set of crisp, unblemished white robes that hung perfectly on his newly reconstructed frame, exuding the refined, untouchable aura of a scholarly cultivator. Lixue wrapped herself in an elegant, flowing blue robe that subtly accentuated her curves while keeping her lethal, newly awakened physique completely hidden.
Just as Shen Yu was tying his sash, hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway. A breathless maid stopped at the ruined doorway, her eyes widening slightly at the destroyed bed before she quickly bowed her head.
"Young Master Shen, Young Miss Lixue," the maid stammered nervously. "Madam Yilan sent me to fetch you. The Young Master of the Peng Clan and his Uncle have arrived unannounced. They are currently sitting in the main hall."
Shen Yu's hands paused on his sash. A cold, dangerous glint flashed in his golden eyes.
The Peng Clan.
They were one of the undisputed powerhouses of Thousand Waves City, holding a near-monopoly on the region's herb and pill trade. Ever since Mei Yilan had brought them to this city to hide, establishing their struggling medicinal business under the alias of the "Tang Clan," the Pengs had been a relentless thorn in their side. They had used every underhanded tactic, market manipulation, and brute-force threat available to suffocate the Tang Clan's business.
And at the center of this harassment was Peng Bo, the Peng Clan's Young Master, a notoriously arrogant, lustful bastard who relied entirely on his family's prestige to mask his own mediocre cultivation and degenerate habits.
"Understood," Shen Yu said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Tell my mother we will be there shortly."
As the maid scurried away, Lixue's hand drifted instinctively toward her waist, where her sword usually rested. "They dare to come into our home after cutting off our herb suppliers last week?"
"They are coming to deliver the final blow," Shen Yu sneered, offering his arm to Lixue. "Let us go greet our esteemed guests."
The atmosphere in the main reception hall was suffocatingly tense.
Mei Yilan sat in the host's chair, her beautiful face pale but composed, though the slight tremble in her hands betrayed her stress. Sitting comfortably across from her, sipping premium spiritual tea as if he owned the estate, was a middle-aged man with sharp, hawkish features, Peng Bo's uncle, Peng Tai, a 5th Level Golden Core Realm Cultivator.
Beside him slouched Young Master Peng Bo, dressed in ostentatious gold and green silks, aggressively fanning himself with a smug expression.
The moment Shen Yu and Lixue stepped through the grand archway into the hall, the conversation abruptly halted.
Peng Bo's eyes immediately locked onto Lixue. His gaze raked over her blue robes, his eyes lingering on her chest and hips with undisguised, repulsive hunger. Then, he shifted his eyes to Shen Yu, and his lustful grin twisted into a look of absolute, mocking contempt. To the arrogant Young Master, Shen Yu was nothing more than a crippled piece of trash occupying space.
"Ah, the Young Master and the beautiful Young Miss have finally graced us with their presence," Peng Bo drawled lazily, snapping his fan shut. He didn't even bother to stand. He turned his attention back to Mei Yilan. "Madam Yilan, my Uncle and I did not come here today to endlessly debate the price of spiritual herbs. I will be blunt. I want the hand of Tang Lixue."
The words dropped like a boulder into a stagnant pond.
Mei Yilan's eyes narrowed, a flash of genuine disbelief crossing her beautiful face, not from fear, but at the sheer, suicidal audacity of the request. As a formidable Seventh Stage Golden Core cultivator, her knuckles turned white against the armrests solely because she was physically restraining herself from obliterating the two men on the spot.
Beside Shen Yu, Lixue froze, utter revulsion flashing across her features.
But it was Shen Yu whose internal reaction was the most terrifying.
Though his face remained a mask of polite, scholarly detachment, the 400-year-old demonic soul inside him practically erupted. A possessive, bloodthirsty rage clawed at his mind. This pathetic, talentless insect dared to sit in his home and demand the woman who had just sworn her absolute existence to him? He was coveting a dragon's hoard.
Shen Yu's golden eyes bore into Peng Bo, visualizing exactly which nerves he would slowly peel from the arrogant bastard's spine using his Blood-Hand Demonic Arts.
Sensing the sudden, icy drop in the room's temperature, Uncle Peng Tai set his teacup down with a sharp clack. He subtly reeled in his own aura. As a Fifth Stage Golden Core expert, he was a full two minor realms beneath Mei Yilan. He knew perfectly well that while the isolated Tang Clan was absolutely no match for the vast numbers, wealth, and deep roots of the Peng Clan overall, directly provoking a high-level Golden Core expert in her own home was foolish.
He shifted his tactic, relying on the suffocating weight of his clan's monopoly rather than personal martial might.
"The Tang Clan's business is on the brink of collapse, Madam Yilan," Peng Tai said, his voice smooth but dripping with calculated, political menace. "A union between our houses would... alleviate those struggles entirely. We are reasonable people, so we will not force an answer today. We will give you exactly one week to think it over."
Peng Tai stood up, brushing an invisible speck of dust from his sleeves. Beside him, Peng Bo rose to his feet as well.
The young master snapped his fan shut with a smug, arrogant smirk, his lustful eyes taking one last, lingering look at Lixue before shifting his contemptuous gaze to Yilan.
"Use that week wisely," Peng Bo sneered, his voice laced with absolute entitlement. "Because if you disagree... you already know exactly what will happen to this precious little estate of yours."