I'm asking for votes every day — I feel like my dignity's scattered all over the ground, folks. Could you all help me pick it up? ~~~~ Be gentle, don't break it! If it breaks, it's gone for good!!
********* Although Yang Kai hadn't yet cultivated to the point of generating Divine Sense, he could clearly sense the existence of that single drop of Yang Liquid within his dantian. The moment his will reached it, the Yang Liquid responded to his command without hesitation.
Yang Liquid could be used in combat, but Yang Kai hadn't tested it yet. How exactly it transformed would have to be honed through real battle — these kinds of experiences weren't something the Wordless Black Book could teach.
Though he'd endured many days of hardship, now that he'd condensed a single drop of Yang Liquid, Yang Kai felt thoroughly satisfied. With a surge of excitement, he pushed on and cultivated by the edge of Kunlong Gorge for another half the night.
When he woke in the latter half of the night, he decided to stop.
He'd been training these days with total disregard for food and sleep. While he'd grown considerably stronger, the strain on his body had piled up as well. The path of cultivation demanded a balance of tension and relaxation — only by alternating between the two could one avoid planting hidden dangers for the future.
Yang Kai stood up, dusted off his backside, and made his way back to his little wooden hut with light steps.
The door was ajar, which struck him as odd, because he was certain he'd closed it before leaving.
He stepped forward and gently pushed the door open. One glance inside froze him where he stood. The scene before him seemed as if it had been lifted straight from a painting — dreamlike and ethereal, almost too unreal to believe.
On the only small bed inside his wooden hut, someone was sleeping. A woman.
Moonlight poured through several holes in the roof and fell directly upon the woman lying on the bed. By that silvery glow, Yang Kai could see her hands folded together over her flat belly. Her full, high chest rose and fell gently with steady breathing. Under the moonlight, the skin of her neck was as translucent and pristine as ice and snow. Her raven-black hair lay soft and loose, draping over her seemingly delicate shoulders, and her exquisitely shaped earlobes radiated a quiet allure.
Because she was lying down, her long, shapely legs, slender waist, and generous curves were displayed before Yang Kai's eyes in all their beauty. He couldn't make out her face — a veil as thin as a cicada's wing covered it — but on her smooth forehead sat a single deep blue gemstone. The lone piece of jewelry was not expensive, yet it perfectly accentuated her aloof purity and sacred grace.
The hazy moonlight only added to her air of misty, otherworldly beauty.
She looked like a celestial maiden descended from the Moon Palace. Not a single flaw marred her, and every inch of her radiated a holy nobility. She lay there so still, as though she might never wake, and for reasons Yang Kai couldn't explain, his heart ached at the sight.
He'd never considered himself a sentimental person, yet this moment — poetic and painterly — touched him profoundly. Even if decades passed, even if time flowed on without end, this scene would likely remain etched in his memory forever.
As if guided by some unseen hand, Yang Kai tiptoed over, restraining his breath and heartbeat, terrified of disturbing her.
Standing about a zhang away from the bed, he studied her more closely and confirmed what he'd suspected — this woman was the senior sister he'd nearly bumped into at the Contribution Hall the other day. The moment he'd noticed the veil, a vague suspicion had taken shape in his mind.
But back then, she hadn't carried this air of untouchable sanctity, this inviolable, godlike aloofness. All he'd seen then was timidity, shyness, and innocent charm. He glanced up at the holes in the roof and chuckled softly — those holes he'd never bothered to patch had actually done something good for once.
That soft chuckle startled Xia Ningshang awake. By the time Yang Kai looked back down, the senior sister was staring at him wide-eyed.
Those bright, luminous eyes held a moment of confusion and alarm before flushing with embarrassment. In the span of a single blink, her petite earlobes turned scarlet again.
Fortunately it was nighttime. Though the moonlight filtered in, Yang Kai couldn't see all that clearly, which spared Xia Ningshang at least a measure of awkwardness.
They simply stared at each other — one on the bed, one below it.
Yang Kai's mind was full of questions, while Xia Ningshang wished she could smack herself into unconsciousness. Her heart twisted with mortification. She never imagined she could be so careless and absent-minded as to have fallen asleep right here.