Mei Xilan Sui, daughter of Emperor Chang Xilan Sui, was the dethroned princess of the Sui Kingdom. Up until about 10 years ago, she had been living with her family in blissful happiness. She had a mother, two brothers, and a father who loved her, but her life was turned upside down when the Undying Sun Sect appeared one day to depose their kingdom.

Mei Xilan had managed to escape through a secret passageway with one of their servants, but the young woman who had tried to protect her died as they were fleeing. Young, alone, and scared, Mei Xilan had struggled with all her might to survive, but she had just been a child of eight at the time. She would have surely died if it wasn’t for the Ice Pheonix Sect’s sect master finding her and taking her in.

Very little was known about the Undying Sun Sect. They supposedly cultivated using the power of the sun, which they worshipped as a deity, and all their techniques were sun-based. However, they were a very secular order. Wu Jian hadn’t even heard of them until he participated in this tournament.

Their leader was a man named Qiang Bao. Quan meant strong or better in the ancient tongue, and bao meant treasure or gem, so the meaning of his name could be stronger treasure or better gem. It sounded pretentious and Wu Jian wondered why someone’s parents would give such a name. However, the important thing he took away from all this was not the name itself, but the knowledge of Mei Xilan’s enemy. Her goal was to kill Qiang Bao, destroy the Undying Sun Sect, and reclaim her father’s throne.

Perhaps it was her dedication that helped Mei Xilan in her cultivation. She was extremely strong for someone who lived in the Shang Kingdom. Her potential was even greater than Yu Chenguang who, up to now, had been hailed as the strongest cultivator of their nation.

A person’s cultivation was determined by many things. First and foremost is their aptitude and natural talent. However, talent only gets a person so far. Without the willpower and determination to constantly push oneself through training, all the talent in the world will amount to nothing. Mei Xilan had willpower in spades. She had trained diligently every day since entering the Ice Phoenix Sect, rose to power, mastered their esoteric yin cultivation method, and even earned the right to have several drops of ice phoenix blood. She did all this in order to reclaim her country.

Wu Jian heard Mei Xilan out, but he couldn’t answer her right away.

“I need some time to think about this,” he said.

“I understand,” Mei Xilan nodded. “It is a lot to take in.”

A lot was an understatement. Wu Jian had known her reason for coming onto him wasn’t out of affection, but even he didn’t expect her reason to be so farfetched. It sounded like something out of the stories he used to read with Wu Meiying.

“All right then. I’ll have my answer by the end of the tournament. I’m gonna head to bed now.”

“Of course. Good night.”

Mei Xilan bowed to him and walked back into her room.

“Youmei doesn’t like that woman,” Youmei said with a sniff.

“Why is that?” asked Wu Jian.

“She doesn’t seem very nice.”

Well, she was trying to use him for her own purposes, and she had not offered anything in return. That was the whole reason Wu Jian didn’t want to get involved with her. He had known she didn’t love him and wanted something from him. Well, now that she had come out and told him the truth, he needed to decide on what to do.

Wu Jian entered his own room. He found Wu Meiying lounging on his bed. She smiled at him as he entered.

“Big Sister!!!”

Youmei bounded over and nuzzled Wu Meiying’s legs. With a gentle smile, Wu Meiying reached down and began running her fingers over the young magical beast’s back. Soft purrs emitted from the back of Youmei’s throat and her tail curled up.

“Jian, you’re kind of late tonight,” Wu Meiying said as Wu Jian removed his mask.

“Yeah. I was stopped by someone to have an interesting conversation.”

“Oh?”

The offer to tell her about it hung in the air, but he didn’t accept right away. Wu Jian sat down beside Wu Meiying, turned toward her, and raised her chin with his hand. Her smile widened before he closed the distance. Her soft lips were as delicate as flower petals and tasted like lavender. She must have been drinking tea before this.

“Hey! Keep petting Youmei!”

Youmei’s complaints went unheard as Wu Meiying placed her hands on Wu Jian’s shoulders and pushed him down. He fell onto his back and let the woman straddle him. Her strong legs pressed against his hips. Her mouth never left his. He felt hands making a mess of his hair, but he didn’t mind. He placed his own hands on the small of Wu Meiying’s back and pulled her toward him, until their bodies were pressed so tightly together not even a slip of parchment could pass between them.

Wu Meiying was an aggressive kisser. She pressed her tongue against his lips as though seeking something, and the moment he opened his mouth, she was inside of him. Her tongue was like fire in his mouth, burning everything it touched. Her passion felt like it contained a desperation, and perhaps it did. They wouldn’t be able to remain like this. Wu Meiying would go back to the Celestial Sword Sect once the tournament ended. And what would he do? Return to the Shang Kingdom probably.

When that thought crossed his mind, Wu Jian felt his own desire take hold. Wu Meiying’s hanfu was already bunched up, so it was easy to lift it further, revealing her lean legs, strong butt, and the undergarments covering them. He reached over and slipped his hands into her clothes, sliding down the small crack, and inserted a single finger.

“Aaah…” Wu Meiying gasped and, as if coming back from her euphoria, leaned back. She smiled sadly and removed his hands. “We… we can’t do that… not yet…”

“Why not?”

Wu Jian felt a little indignant. She was the one who had gotten him all worked up, and now she was telling him they couldn’t have sex? That wasn’t going to fly without a good explanation.

Wu Meiying smiled as if she could sense his thoughts. “Because now is not the right time. You know about dual cultivation, right? I’m planning to help you break through the Perfection Realm and enter the True God Realm by offering you my pure yin chi. If we had sex now, you would only gain middling benefits from it.”

“Ugh… I hate it when you make sense.”

“Tee-hee. You’re just upset because now you have to restrain yourself.”

“Damn right I am.”

Wu Jian sat up--tried to sit up. Wu Meiying pushed him back down and rested her head on his chest. He thought for a moment, then reached up and began stroking her hair, just like he used to do when they were younger.

“Tell me about that interesting conversation you had with Mei Xilan,” Wu Meiying said at last.

“If you know it was Mei Xilan I had a conversation with, you should already know what we talked about,” Wu Jian retorted.

“Maybe, but I can only hear her side of the conversation. You’re still a blank space to me.”

“All right.”

Wu Jian took a moment to collect his thoughts, then slowly explained what Mei Xilan told him. Wu Meiying listened attentively… well, he thought she was. The young woman didn’t say a word and simply laid on him, drawing a circle on his chest with her index finger. It tickled. Did she realize he was feeling ticklish? It was distracting, but he tried his best not to let it bother him and concluded recounting his conversation with Mei Xilan.

…Silence reigned in the room for several seconds.

Wu Jian looked down. Wu Meiying had closed her eyes. She wasn’t asleep. Her breathing wasn’t deep enough, but it was like she had entered a trance. He waited patiently until she opened her eyes again.

“See anything?” he asked.

“Mmm.” Wu Meiying set her chin on his chest and looked at him. “You’ll want to help her eventually, but not for a while. Mei Xilan will at some point acquire the ingredients for a Sixteen Star Advancement Pill. She’ll offer them to you as a reward for helping her.”

The Sixteen Star Advancement Pill was not one he had never heard of, but according to Wu Meiying, it was a tier 7 pill that could help someone in the Seeker Realm break through to the Realization Realm. Tier 7 pills were highly advanced. Very few people could refine them. Pills of this grade also had a limited form of sentience, which was why they were so hard to refine. If it didn’t have sentience, it wasn’t a tier 7 pill.

“Is Zhou Lihua going to refine this pill for me?” he asked.

“That’s right.” Wu Meiying nodded.

So she had seen that far ahead. He did worry a little about whether Zhou Lihua would really be able to make the pill for him. Wu Meiying couldn’t see his time, meaning his past, present, and future were obscured. However, she could see Zhou Lihua, which meant she did see their friend refining a pill. Who it was for was another story, but he liked to believe any pill she made was for him.

“Okay. Should I let her know I’ll help her if she finds those ingredients?” he asked.

Wu Meiying shook her head. “No. She’ll find the ingredients naturally on her own. Tell her that you can’t help her unless there is something in it for you. That should be enough. After this tournament, she’ll go on a journey to acquire allies. She won’t find many, but she will find those ingredients.”

“Her timeline won’t branch off?” he asked.

“Mei Xilan’s timeline is very set. You are the only variable that can affect her timeline.”

Meaning so long as she went on that journey, she would eventually find those ingredients. The question was whether she’d come back and offer them to him after he spurned her. Then again, maybe her lack of reliable allies would cause her to seek him out after finding the ingredients? He didn’t know how this would work, but even if his timeline was invisible to Wu Meiying, he trusted that she knew how the situation would play out. She had a lot more experience than him.

“I understand.”

“Good. Now, it’s about time I should go.”

Wu Meiying made to get off him, but he grabbed her hand. “Are you sure you need to go now?”

She smiled sadly. “Yes.”

“You can’t even stay a few minutes more?”

“… I probably could.”

Wu Jian gave her a very serious look. “You know, Zhou Lihua cannot have sex with me either, but we found a way around that.”

Wu Meiying gave him a flat look. “I’m not having butt sex.”

“Just hear me out.”

“Absolutely not. We’ve done it before in a previous life and I quickly realized I don’t like it.”

“Damn my past self,” Wu Jian clicked his tongue.

“Besides…” Wu Meiying glanced down. “We have someone here who is quite innocent. I don’t want to corrupt her eyes with something like that.”

Wu Jian glanced down as well. Youmei sat on the floor, glaring at them both with tears in her eyes. He had never seen a gigantic panther cry before. It seemed there really was a first time for everything. Youmei was sniffling as she glared at them.

“Youmei cannot believe you two are ignoring her. She hates you both!”

“I’m sorry for ignoring you, Youmei. Why don’t I bring you a large helping of meat tomorrow?” Wu Meiying gently coaxed the panther with food.

Youmei perked up. “Really?! Yay!”

And just like that, Youmei was back to being herself.

So simple.