The morning light shining through the window brushed against Wu Jian’s eyes. He groaned and tried to roll over but couldn’t. Something was pinning him to the bed. It was warm, soft, and very squeezable. Whatever it was, he decided to deal with it later, and so he wrapped his arms around the object tried to go back to sleep.

Or, at least, he would have if something warm and wet didn’t slap his face.

“Ugh… Yōuměi, stop that…”

Despite his orders to stop, the licking didn’t ceased. The tongue went from his chin to his forehead, leaving a wet trail up his face.

Since it was no longer possible to go back to sleep, Wu Jian opened his eyes to find another pair of eyes staring right at him. Two brightly colored eyes, one gold and the other blue, stared at him expectantly.

“All right. All right. I’m up. Now get off. You’re heavy.”

Yōuměi stared at him with a curious tilt of her head, but then she slowly removed her paw from his shoulder and sat back on her haunches.

Yōuměi was a black yāomó panther magical beast--a rare species if there ever was one. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying had found her one day while training and brought her home.

Father had not been very happy to discover her at the time, but he came around to the idea after Wu Meiying told him that yāomó panthers were not only loyal but also strong. She was already the equivalent to a Anima Realm cultivator.

She had grown a lot since they had found her. Back then, she’d been small enough to lay comfortably on his lap. Now she was even bigger than Wu Jian. Powerful muscles hid beneath shiny black fur, rippling with every movement. The three vertical scars running down her left eye stood out starkly on her fur. She still had the necklace around her neck.

Wu Jian tried to get up, only to realize he was still pinned in place by something. He had thought it was Yōuměi, but when he looked down and saw the dark hair, pale face, and beautiful features of a young woman lying on his chest, he realized who was actually responsible for his inability to move.

“When did she get in here?” Wu Jian pondered before shaking the woman awake. “Mei. Mei. It’s time to get up.”

“Just… five more minutes…”

“No. Come on. Get up.”

“Mmmmrrrrggg.”

Wu Meiying groaned and tried to burrow her face into his chest, but Wu Jian was relentless, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes before stretching her arms above her head and yawning.

No longer a girl, Wu Meiying had blossomed into a beautiful young woman. Her pale face was like a work of art. She had eyes a purest blue, rosey lips, an exquisitely small nose, and elegant cheekbones, all framed by locks of glossy black hair.

As he admired her, Wu Jian realized with some small consternation that her robes weren’t tied on right. They slipped off her shoulders and revealed a more than generous portion of cleavage. He sighed, pulled her robes up, and cinched the sash at her waist.

“Thanks, Jian,” Wu Meiying mumbled.

“You’re welcome.”

“Ggrrrrrr.”

“All right. I’m getting up.”

At the urging of Yōuměi, Wu Jian and Wu Meiying got out of bed and dressed themselves in training gis. He also grabbed the necklace sitting on his nightstand and tucked it into his pocket.

He studied the young woman out his peripheral, frowning. Wu Meiying was just standing there with her robes half-removed. Dark bags hung under her eyes.

“Mei, are you okay?” he asked.

“Mmmm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course. I’m just a little tired. I was in sequestered cultivation for over a month, you know.”

“You were looking into the future, right?”

“…”

“Mei?”

“I was, yes.”

“Did you find what you’re looking for?”

“I… no. Not quite. I found a solution to my problem, but it’s… it’s not what I was hoping for.”

“I see.”

Wu Jian didn’t ask her about it. Wu Meiying always told him about her problems without being asked, so if she was keeping silent, then it meant this problem was one he couldn’t know about because that would change the future into one Wu Meiying didn’t want. And Wu Meiying always had his best interests at heart. He trusted her with everything.

The three of them left his building. A pair of guards stood stationed outside. They greeted the trio with wry smiles.

Father stopped insisting that Wu Meiying sleep in a separate room. He had probably gotten tired of futilely trying to convince her to sleep in her own building. The fact that Wu Meiying’s powers were important to the clan might have also been the reason. Her ability to predict the future had grown in recent years and elevated her status within the clan.

“Good morning, young master,” they said in unison.

“Morning,” Wu Jian greeted back.

“What’s the plan today?” asked Wu Meiying.

“I’m doing pushups today,” Wu Jian answered.

“So should I get the boulders?”

“Yes, please.”

They soon entered Wu Jian’s private training ground. It was just an empty plot of land made of sand with several large boulders strewn about it. A normal person would probably assume those boulders were part of a zen garden, but Wu Jian had a more practical use for them.

Wu Jian didn’t hesitate to move into a handstand, balancing on his arms. Wu Meiying dug her hands under the sand and lifted two boulders that were about half her height and leapt onto his feet. Were it not for the sudden increase in weight, he wouldn’t have even known she was standing on him.

Now feet-to-feet, Wu Jian began performing pushups. The weight of the boulders caused his body to sink into the sands. He wasn’t sure how much each one weighed, but they were enough that veins bulged on his arms as an intense burning sensation spread through her triceps and shoulders.

Yōuměi walked over to him until they were face-to-face. Then she licked his face before walking into his shadow and vanishing. She reappeared on one of the boulders Wu Meiying was holding, then began periodically leaping from one boulder to the other. The additional shifting weight forced Wu Jian to put more effort into maintaining his balance. By the time he was done, his shoulders and arms felt like they were gonna tear from his body.

“Haaah… haaaaah…”

As Wu Jian gasped on the ground like he was dying, a shadow blotted out the sun as Wu Meiying appeared above him, smiling.

“Are we gonna spar next?”

“Give… give me a moment… to catch… my breath…”

“You know an enemy isn’t going to let you catch your breath.”

“I wouldn’t… wouldn’t exercise while an enemy… was nearby…”

“I wouldn’t be out of breath if I were you.”

Wu Jian glared at her. “You’re also just a step away from the Anima Realm. Trying to use that kind of logic is fallacy here.”

Wu Meiying was indeed sixteen years old. She had broken through to the Hunger Realm five months ago, and it had been quite the spectacle. Wu Jian would never forget the sight of her as she broke through, her body surrounded by an intense energy that seemed to explode from within her. Zhou Lihua’s breakthrough had been impressive, but Wu Meiying had skyrocketed all the way to the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm.

Her incredible display was another reason she had such a high position within the Wu Clan. A cultivators potential could be determined by their breakthrough. Cultivators who were able to skip subrealms had far greater potential, and the higher they could ascend during their breakthrough, the more potential they had.

Needless to say, Wu Meiying’s potential was limitless.

Wu Jian eventually climbed to his feet.

“Ready?” asked Wu Meiying.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Wu Jian replied.

Yōuměi lay on the veranda overlooking the training ground and watched as Wu Jian and Wu Meiying stood several li apart.

Wu Jian spread his feet, bent his knees, and brought up his hands. He didn’t attack, however. Wu Meiying was now far stronger than him. As a Hunger Realm cultivator, her body was infused with chi to enhance her physical prowess, and she had a lot more chi than the average cultivator of her level. Attacking her recklessly was just asking to be defeated.

“Not gonna attack?” asked Wu Meiying, grinning. “Then I’ll come to you.”

Sand exploded around her feet as Wu Meiying launched herself at Wu Jian. She was so fast. Even without actively using chi to increase her speed, she was much faster than Wu Jian, who could barely duck in time to avoid her punch.

Wu Jian felt the wind whistle around his head. That attack would have knocked him out cold had he been even a second later.

He tried to manuver into a helicopter kick, but Wu Meiying ducked and performed a flawless leg sweep. Her foot connected with his arms. Wu Jian cried in shock as he landed on the ground head fist. He had enough sense to roll away, however, which allowed him to avoid the foot that slammed into the ground.

Standing back up, Wu Jian was forced to fend off several of Wu Meiying’s blows. Her left fist shot out like a whip. The loud crack as her punch landed against his forearm echoed across the training ground.

Wu Jian hissed in pain but didn’t give up. So what if Wu Meiying was currently stronger than him? That was no excuse to quit.

He avoided her straight punch, then grabbed her arm, prepared to toss her. He didn’t expect Wu Meiying to simply use her physical strength to lift him off the ground.

“Whoa--aaaaaah!”

Wu Meiying threw Wu Jian away. He flipped around and landed on the sand, then performed several backhand springs to gain some distance.

He warily eyed Wu Meiying as the two of them circled around each other. The girl was smiling. It looked so innocent that he knew it was anything but. This girl was like a predator stalking her prey.

She’s stronger than me, faster than me, and can use chi. I’m at a complete disadvantage, but that’s what makes this such great training.

Wu Jian was happy that Wu Meiying was older than him. He was glad she had broken through first. Now he had a sparring partner who could really put him through his paces. Thanks to their daily spars, Wu Jian’s own battle instincts had grown by leaps and bounds.

They exchanged several more blows, but the battle ended when Wu Meiying surprised Wu Jian by tackling him to the ground. He gasped only a little as the oxygen was expelled from his lungs. Wu Meiying used that time to pin his hands above his head with one hand. She brought the other two his face and began stroking his cheek.

She was no longer smiling.

“Mei, why do you look so sad?” he asked.

Wu Meiying blinked several times. It looked like she was sucking tears back into her eyes. She smiled, but it was tremulous.

“I’m sorry. I… I can’t tell you.”

She must have seen something during her cultivation. Something bad is coming, but she’s keeping silent because whatever is going to happen isn’t something that can be stopped. And telling me will likely make it worse. What must it feel like to know the future but be unable to change it?

Wu Meiying had spent an entire month cultivating. It wasn’t something the Wu Clan had decided. One day, Wu Meiying had simply told Wu Jian that she was going into isolated cultivation, then locked herself in her room and refused to come out. That was the reason he felt surprise at seeing her in his bed this morning.

Wu Jian couldn’t understand what Wu Meiying was going through. There was only one thing he could do.

“I’m always going to be here for you, Mei. You know that, right?”

“Mmm. I know. Thank you.”

Wu Meiying leaned down, until her large chest was squished against his. She was so close he could feel her breath on his lips. Their mouths were only a cun apart, but even that distance soon closed when Wu Meiying leaned further down.

She kissed him hard. Her actions were filled with so many emotions that Wu Jian felt like he was trapped within a storm. Anxiety. Fear. Love. Longing. Passion. He could feel it all, every emotion Wu Meiying possessed was put into her kiss.

Wu Jian didn’t know what Wu Meiying was going through, but as he wrapped his arms around her small waist, he decided then and there that he would do everything in his power to help this woman. He wasn’t at the Hunger Realm yet, but he was strong. He was sure there was something he could do to ease her burden.

A spring breeze blew across the training ground and brought with it the scent of fresh flowers.