Yun Ruoyan woke up in the crook of Li Mo’s arm. When she did so, Li Mo was still sound asleep, his silver-white hair tangled against her black. His skin was as pale as snow, almost translucent, but his lips so red they looked like they might bleed at any moment.

Despite this not being her first time seeing Li Mo’s true appearance, Yun Ruoyan was still shocked that such a beautiful man could exist. She found that his appearance was more and more stunning each time, as though his beauty was only deepening.

Finally sensing Yun Ruoyan’s ardent gaze, Li Mo slowly opened his eyes to reveal icy blue pupils, like lakes reflecting the starry sky.

“You’re awake,” Li Mo murmured, a tiny smile dancing by his lips.

“I… I’m awake.” The man in front of her was a man she was entirely familiar with, but her heart couldn’t help galloping at a frenetic pace, as though she were seeing her sweetheart for the first time.

Li Mo sat upright. The blanket slid off his upper half-body, revealing his firm muscles and snowy-white skin. Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help thinking back to how it had looked the night prior, glistening with sweat, and her face blushed even redder.

“Yan’er, come over here.” Li Mo stretched a hand out toward her, pulling her into his embrace. It was only then that Yun Ruoyan remembered that he was still injured, but he didn’t look anything like it from his expression.

“Li Mo, aren’t you hurt?” Yun Ruoyan glanced skeptically at him, her voice quavering. “The first elder said that you received a grievous wound. That Pi Batian was trying to kill you!”

“Yan’er, don’t worry. I’m really alright now.” Li Mo hugged her even more tightly. “Here, look!”

Li Mo showed her his bandaged arm, glowing with a cool blue light. Ice encased his bandage, then cracked apart and splintered to reveal an unblemished arm.

“You—you’re really alright?” Yun Ruoyan opened her eyes wide, almost unable to believe what she was seeing. “I’m not dreaming, am I? All we did was… sleep together!”

Yun Ruoyan occasionally did dream, and her dream visions were so realistic it would be easy to mistake them from reality. When this incredulous sight unfolded in front of her, she couldn’t help wondering if she had fallen into one of her episodes.

“Of course it’s not a dream.” Li Mo lowered his head and gave her a kiss, one whose warmth she could clearly feel.

“Li Mo, you’re really better now! I was frightened half to death!” Yun Ruoyan lay against his chest, a tiny bit of fear and trepidation still lingering in her voice. She had always thought of Li Mo as near-invincible; except for the first time they met, when she had seen him quite seriously injured, this was the first time she had seen any other injury on his body.

“Yan’er, I do have to give thanks to you, or I might really not have recovered.”

“Me? What did I do?” Li Mo had asked for her help, then had sex with her. Could this be what he had been referring to? The moment she had that errant thought, she shook her head. No, that’s impossible!

Li Mo spoke before she could overthink matters any further. “Yan’er, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you, but I’ve never found a good opportunity to do so—no, that’s not right. There’ve been a few opportunities, but I don’t know how to bring it up to you.”

“What’s the matter? Why don’t you know how to bring it up?” Li Mo’s words had sparked Yun Ruoyan’s curiosity, and she sat up all of a sudden.

“Because I’m afraid,” Li Mo replied truthfully. “I’m afraid you’ll be angry once you know the truth, then leave me.”

Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help laughing. “Your Highness, I didn’t know you were scared of anything!”

“I never was, until now,” Li Mo replied seriously.

Yun Ruoyan leaned down again, right next to him. “I’m yours now, so what’re you afraid of?”

“You’re mine now,” Li Mo sighed, repeating her words as though freed from some great burden. “You once said that you didn’t want there to be any secrets between us. You’ve already told me all your secrets, so I shouldn’t hide anything from you either. Even if you’ll get mad, I can’t bring myself to hide this any longer. But—Yan’er, please promise me not to leave me. You can get angry and beat and scold me, you can attack me in any manner you want, but please don’t leave.”

Yun Ruoyan frowned. What matter could there be to make Li Mo so serious? Could he have been keeping a mistress on the side? That surely wasn’t something that could be resolved by a simple fight.

“Yan’er, I first approached you with an ulterior motive.”

The confession broke Yun Ruoyan’s train of thought. “Motive? What motive?”

Yun Ruoyan clearly remembered the first time she had seen Li Mo, back when she was still the ugly second miss of the Yun family. She was neither favored by her family nor had a maiden’s good looks, so what could Li Mo have approached her for?

“Because I wanted your body.” Li Mo looked at Yun Ruoyan, his palm landing on her shoulder, his pale blue eyes glowing as though fire burned within an icy prison.

Li Mo’s words and current appearance caused Yun Ruoyan to blush again, but his subsequent words were something she could never have expected. “The reason I wanted your body wasn’t because I fell in love with you at first sight. In fact, I didn’t like you at the beginning,” Li Mo continued. “The reason I wanted your body was because of your unique constitution, which would be very helpful for my cultivation.”

“My… constitution? What constitution?”

Li Mo explained to her that she was a human furnace. “Those born with this unique constitution always turn out to be immensely talented blademasters, one with a natural advantage no other cultivator can best: experiencing no bottlenecks during their cultivation. Furthermore, this constitution is unusually resistant to poison, and this explains how you were able to survive despite being poisoned with the carmine embrace.”

Li M outlook a deep breath. “Not only that, coupling with someone who possesses this unique cultivation would greatly aid me in breaking through my own bottlenecks.”

Li Mo told Yun Ruoyan that, before he knew that she was a human furnace, he had been stuck as a ninth-rank blademaster for over two years, never able to find a chance to break through. When he found out about her unique constitution, he couldn’t help wanting to couple with her.

His arms looped around her body tightly after his admission, the first time in his life that the Slaughtering King had felt such fear. His heart thumped as he stared into Yun Ruoyan’s eyes for any sign of a reaction.

“You mena, it was when we consummated our wedding that you broke through to the ranks of a sword saint?” Yun Ruoyan didn’t jump up nor become furious; her words were unusually calm.

“Yes,” Li Mo replied. “After almost three years as a ninth-rank blademaster, unable to break through, my spiritual energy frothed the moment I laid with you, and my bottleneck disappeared as though it had never been present.”

“And the reason you were able to recover from your life-threatening injury so quickly was also because of my constitution?” she continued.

“Yes,” Li Mo responded. “I hadn’t expected that your constitution would also confer such a benefit. Pi Batian’s spiritual energy is unusually domineering, and I was battling against its invasion while unconscious. I tried to force it out of my body, but I was no match for it. However, the moment you kissed me, the moment your body got close to mine, my spiritual energy seemed boundlessly vigorous once more.

Yun Ruoyan’s initial shock had turned into her usual cool, contemplative mask, but it was this lack of reaction that most frightened Li Mo. If she were angrier, if she had interrogated him about her deception or accused him of malicious intent, he would have felt quite a bit better.

But since Yun Ruoyan didn’t volunteer any questions, Li Mo could only continue pleading his case. “Initially, I was worried that doing so might hurt your body. I would have stopped immediately the moment you showed any sign of discomfort, but you seemed to be rather… enjoying the process.”

Yun Ruoyan turned her head aside.

“Yan’er, I’ve hidden this from you, and it’s entirely my fault. As long as you’re willing to forgive me, I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you, but I won’t let you leave! No matter what, you’re already my consort, in life and in death!”

When Li Mo was finished, he glanced hopefully at Yun Ruoyan, but her face was still turned away. In the end, she finally broke the pregnant silence. “Li Mo, when did you first start liking me?”

Almost without thinking, Li Mo replied, “It was during the empress’ flower-viewing banquet. You wore a ridiculously ugly birthmark, but your grace and confidence spoke of so much more. It was then that I thought you were far more than you seemed at first glance. Then, in the pool hidden deep within the glade of phoenix orchids, I saw your true appearance, and I almost had my way with you then…”

Li Mo’s words suddenly triggered one of Yun Ruoyan’s memories. When Li Mo brought up the flower-viewing banquet and the pond hidden deep within the glade, a man’s face, clad in otherworldly beauty, appeared in her mind’s eye.

Yun Ruoyan broke free from Li Mo’s grasp. “So that man was you!”