Heavenly Soul

Tomorrow, the third and final stage of the Hundred-Year Tournament would take place in the Battle Arena, but for now, it was just another normal day for Qinghe.

After waking up and rolling around in the sheets with Wei Xiang for a while, Qinghe finished his morning ablutions, put on an appearance changing talisman before dressing neatly, then headed off towards the sect hall to a.s.sist his master with his paperwork as well as to help the Elders in charge make the necessary preparations for taking all the sect's disciples—the selected candidates to partic.i.p.ate and the rest to watch—to the third stage of the tournament tomorrow.

Then, after being notified through a message, Qinghe had to leave the sect and head towards a mortal town to break up a fight between the disciples of Heavenly Peak Sect and Drifting Clouds Sect. He then brought home his sect's disciples and sent them off to the Elder in charge of discipline to accept their punishment while he sneakily went over to speak to the Elder in advance, requesting him to be lenient.

Once that was done, Qinghe had to rush to deliver a time-sensitive package to the Golden Sun Sect, then meet with the sect master of Lightning Sky Sect to discuss about exchanging a batch of healing pills for the spiritual herbs Heavenly Peak Sect's disciple's had harvested recently. And by the time evening rolled around, Qinghe was busy with teaching a group of juniors a few basic moves while the twins helped to demonstrate whenever they were called.

And so the day went on.

All this while, Wei Xiang quietly trailed his lover from his shadow. Since he had been sick just yesterday, he was freed from his duties for another day to take time and recover his health, which he naturally planned to spend with his lover.

At this moment, Wei Xiang was crouched on top of a weathered but well-maintained roof of one of the buildings that bordered the sect's training area.

He peered down to look at his beloved with interest as Qinghe strolled around the large and wide training ground, his hands clasped behind him and his keen gaze a.s.sessing each of the juniors' form carefully as they practiced a few basic moves. Whenever a junior made a mistake, Qinghe would be there, smiling patiently and guiding them to correct themselves before resuming his rounds.

But though Qinghe didn't notice what happened afterwards, from his high vantage point, Wei Xiang could clearly see how those junior disciples who were just advised would blush shyly and look at Qinghe's back with a wors.h.i.+pful gaze.

With glinting eyes and a wide smirk, Wei Xiang continued to observe.

"Alright now, everyone stop. We'll next learn how to execute a basic slash," Qinghe's voice called out, clear and firm.

The attention of all the disciples immediately turned in his direction.

Qinghe walked up to a weapon's rack at the side which held a variety of wooden practice blades. Picking up a worn wooden sword, he turned to the rows of juniors and demonstrated a simple diagonal slash, his posture remaining confident and steady as wind rushed outward due to the pure physical strength behind the move.

The disciples all watched with excited expressions while wondering—if they practiced enough, would they also look as heroic as their senior martial brother when executing that move?

Seeing that the disciples were listening intently, Qinghe began explaining, "It might look simple and easy, but to perform it with maximum efficiency, there are many details that you must pay attention to. For example, the bend of your elbow. If it's bent too much, you will lose some force behind the swing, but if you keep it too straight, it will become rigid and inflexible. Likewise, you must also pay attention to what all parts of your body to use while carrying out the move. For this basic slash, you use your dominant hand to wield the blade while the other hand helps to maintain balance, especially if the footing is unstable. And apart from the arm, you should not only use your shoulder, but you also need to rotate your waist and hip. And while your body is twisting, make sure to keep your feet flat and steady on the ground to maximize friction, understood?"

Several heads bobbed up and down in answer.

After imparting a few more instructions, Qinghe had them practice swinging their wooden blades for a while as he went around correcting their postures and their grips on the practice blades. Once he was satisfied that they'd perfected it, he moved on to the next stage.

"Now that you know the basic slash, it's time to learn how to block such a move…"

The training area rang with Qinghe's pleasant and confident voice as he began another round of explanations while the juniors all looked at him with admiration, their attentions focused on him as they tried to etch his every word into their minds with avid concentration.

"…but to gain a better understanding of how to block a slas.h.i.+ng blade, I think a demonstration would be more informative," Qinghe finally finished speaking, then looked at the twins.

Taking the cue, the twins immediately charged at their senior brother without hesitation, each junior with a single wooden long knife in hand. After all, Fei Jin and Fei Yin were more than clear that their senior brother's level was too far above theirs to be caught off-guard by the suddenness of their attack.

And sure enough, Qinghe easily evaded their joint offensive and leapt up before landing near the weapons rack, then picked up another wooden sword so that he'd have a blade in each hand.

Turning swiftly on their heels, the twins split up without having to exchange a word between them and flew in Qinghe's direction, aiming to come at him from opposite sides at once. Qinghe calmly met their blows with a sword each, parrying Fei Jin's frontal slash first before slipping away to evade Fei Yin's sneaky knife that cut from below.

Throughout the demonstration, both the twins and Qinghe made sure to only use various forms of slas.h.i.+ng and swinging to both attack and parry, moving swiftly yet taking care that the watching disciples would be able to follow their actions.

From his perch on the roof, Wei Xiang observed his little lover's movements with appreciative eyes, marveling at his slippery technique of evading those pair of brats at once while using both his hands at the same time and with the same proficiency. Though Wei Xiang usually only saw Qinghe use his right hand for day to day activities, from the way he was fighting now, it was obvious that he must have taught himself to be ambidextrous.

On the training ground, Qinghe finally twisted Fei Yin's wooden knife out of his hand with a smooth move, then dodging Fei Jin's tackle, he brought a sword down in a powerful blow that knocked Fei Jin's knife right out of his grip.

In this way, the demonstration was finally completed under the fervent gazes of the junior disciples, who immediately began to cheer loudly at the conclusion of such a skilled and thrilling fight.

But just when Fei Jin and Fei Yin picked up their practice weapons to put them back on the rack, a black shadow suddenly descended, seeming to take the twins' place as the opponent as it lunged down at Qinghe.

With a nimble leap, Qinghe dodged the shadow and threw out a wooden sword in reflex, aiming to wound the other person in the shoulder. It was only after he flung out the weapon that he realized the ident.i.ty of this sudden attacker.

Sure enough, Wei Xiang lifted a hand and easily caught the practice sword that had been hurtling towards him, then grinned. "Love, if you want help with a demonstration, I'd be more than willing to cooperate."

Qinghe blinked in mild surprise at this abrupt offer, then seriously considered this option. Though he really didn't want to end up hurting his beloved, he was also very curious to match his skills against a trained Sentinel like Wei Xiang.

So, after a bit of thought, Qinghe finally conceded, "Alright, but limit your speed. Since this is a demonstration, try to make sure that everyone can catch the moves you're making."

Wei Xiang easily agreed, "As you wish."

And so, turning towards the wide-eyed juniors, Qinghe instructed, "Since Sentinel Wei is being kind enough to help us with a demonstration, make sure to watch carefully."

The disciples nodded excitedly. They'd never seen a Sentinel fight out in the open before, but they knew that the Sentinels were all such impressive people, so shouldn't their skills also be top-notch? They really wanted to see a match between one of the most famous Sentinels, Wei Xiang, and the strongest disciple in their sect, Feng Qinghe!

But not noticing the eager gazes of the disciples, Qinghe kept his attention focused solely on his lover, antic.i.p.ation sparkling in his eyes. Unwilling to wait any longer, Qinghe nodded to Wei Xiang and said, "Let's begin."

Flas.h.i.+ng a smile, Wei Xiang immediately shot forward.

Qinghe held up his sword just in time to block a perfect textbook slash, then slipped to the side and twisted his body to dodge a couple of quick strikes. Before he could regain his bearings, Wei Xiang had already pressed into his guard, the tip of his wooden sword aimed at Qinghe's sternum.

Deciding to increase his speed a bit, Qinghe turned sideways to slip out of the way of the sword and used the nearing Wei Xiang's shoulder to flip himself behind his lover, then turned midair to bring his wooden weapon down on Wei Xiang's exposed back. As if sensing his intention, Wei Xiang quickly used the practice sword to guard his spine, the sound of the two weapons impacting each other sending out a crisp clack.

As soon as Qinghe landed on his feet, he was forced to leap backward again to avoid the powerful slash of Wei Xiang's sword. But not giving him the chance to escape that easily, Wei Xiang followed behind with another diagonal swing aiming for Qinghe's hip. Qinghe barely managed to bring up his wooden weapon in time to meet the offensive.

The two figures thus spun and clashed, their practice swords striking against each other again and again in a flurry even as they firmly restrained themselves from attacking with the explosiveness and brutality of a true battle. After all, this was only a demonstrative duel, but even if it were not, neither Qinghe nor Wei Xiang would ever be able to bring themselves to truly go all out against the other. No matter what, they would never point their weapons at their beloved with bloodthirsty intent.

On the other hand, the watching disciples were left in a state of awe as they strained their eyes to keep up with the quick exchange of moves. Even though the pair's movements appeared too fast, the juniors knew that their senior brother and that Sentinel Wei must actually feel like they were moving too slowly.

The entire s.p.a.ce was filled with the sounds of feet s.h.i.+fting over the ground, bodies rapidly whoos.h.i.+ng through the air, clothes fluttering in the wind, the clacks and clatters of the wooden swords clas.h.i.+ng, and the quiet gasps of wonder let slip by the enraptured disciples.

However, after twenty more minutes of Qinghe gleefully indulging himself in a fight with his lover, he finally remembered that he still had a group of juniors to instruct.

And so, with a regretful expression, he forced himself to stop fighting and halted his charging body. Without hesitation, Wei Xiang immediately followed suit and stopped as well.

"That's enough for now. Let's consider it a draw," Qinghe said while panting lightly in controlled breaths, his brows dampened with a thin sheen of sweat.

Similarly, Wei Xiang was also covered in a barely discernible layer of moisture that made his skin seem like it was cast in radiant gold as it reflected the warm evening light.

"Alright," Wei Xiang agreed easily with a satisfied smile.

Getting to fight with his little lover and being able to observe his lithe movements from up close was reward enough for him, so Wei Xiang truly didn't care who the winner or loser would end up being.

With a sigh, Qinghe wiped his sweat and began to complain, "Xiang, you already tire my body out every night as it is, did you have to do it during the daytime too?"

The watching disciples: "…"

Not minding their audience, Wei Xiang let out a chuckle and walked up to his beloved. "Yes, yes, I shouldn't have interrupted your training. But

"Hmph, I don't regret it either, but you certainly could've chosen a better time to propose a match," Qinghe huffed.

Choosing not to mention that Qinghe was the one who had made the final decision to spar with him at the end, Wei Xiang only nodded with a smile while admitting, "Yes, it was definitely my fault, love. Now come here and let me dry your face."

Saying so, Wei Xiang retrieved a soft cloth and began wiping away the sweat on his little lover's face with careful and loving motions, his eyes warm and happy. Qinghe also obediently tilted his head up with closed eyes while trying to stay still, completely used to being taken care of by his beloved by now.

At the side, the twins grumbled with bitterness at the couple's overt shamelessness again, while the other disciples all bit their lips with jealousy at how their beloved senior brother was allowing that Sentinel to pamper him.

But though Wei Xiang noticed the envious glares being thrown at him, he only smiled placidly.

Once Qinghe was sweat-free, he relegated his lover to a background character and resumed training the juniors with renewed vigor.

However, after a little while of training, Qinghe finally had to call for a break. The exhausted disciples immediately plopped down onto the ground in a slump while huffing and puffing with red faces as if they'd barely managed to escape from being strangled.

Just now, after seeing Qinghe fighting, most of these juniors had gone above and beyond during training in a bid to impress their senior martial brother and show him all that they had learnt. The result was that they'd ended up tiring themselves out very quickly, causing Qinghe to take pity and allow them this brief reprieve.

Wei Xiang watched over all this with a smile that could almost be called smug.

Just then, a disciple shyly walked up to Qinghe and hesitantly tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

Turning his gaze away from the wooden swords he had quietly been inspecting for damage, Qinghe smiled and asked, "Yes? Do you need help with something?"

Being looked at directly like this by his idol, the young disciple flushed and stuttered, "Ah…y-yes! Senior Brother Feng, I-I wanted to consult you about m-my cultivation. C-Can you give me some advice?"

Putting down the practice swords back on the rack, Qinghe turned to the junior and nodded. "Of course. I'll help you however I can. So what did you want to consult me about?"

The disciple looked down and swallowed nervously. Then taking a deep breath, he tried to keep his voice steady as he replied, "I would like to request Senior Brother to advice me about how to proceed with my cultivation. My attribute is of the rare mist element, but I don't know how to fight with it or put it to any good use, and no one I asked till now seems to know either. Does Senior Brother have any suggestions?"

Qinghe lowered his brows in a considering look. "Mist element, you say?"

The disciple peeked up at his senior brother's handsome face and nodded carefully in reply. "Yes."

"I think I might indeed have a few ideas. But implementing them will require a lot of practice on your part," Qinghe said as he tapped his chin absentmindedly.

His eyes lighting up with hope, the disciple happily declared, "As long as I can use my cultivation somehow, I don't care how hard I have to train!"

Looking at the burning determination in the disciple's pair of wide eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a child-like purity and vigor, Qinghe couldn't help but smile and nod encouragingly. "Good, then allow me to help you craft a cultivation method tailored specifically for you."

The disciple stood straighter and beamed brightly. "Yes! Thank you, Senior Brother Feng!"

Then seeming to consider something, he asked, "But what can I even do with the mist element?"

Qinghe smiled and explained, "The more simpler use would be to distort the surroundings and obstruct the view. In critical moments, this can confuse the enemy's sense of direction and even split them up if they happen to be in a group. However, one thing to always keep in mind is that mist is a just collection of tiny water droplets floating in the air, so using this knowledge, you can even implement a few relevant water-element based techniques. If you want to take it further, then after perfecting your control over your element, you might even be able to make the water droplets reflect and refract light in such a way that it creates illusions that won't lose to those of a light-element wielder."

The more the disciple heard, the wider his eyes became. It seemed that he had really been narrow-minded before to not see any of these possibilities. It was truly a good thing that he'd come to consult Senior Brother Feng, otherwise none of these options would have occurred to him!

Not knowing the impact his words were having on his junior, Qinghe continued with a thoughtful look, "I remember seeing a few books in our sect's library that explain the manipulation of fine water particles with spiritual force. How about this? Let's go and get you some materials to read that would be useful in creating your own techniques, then we can discuss with a few Elders who specialize in the theoretical aspects of cultivation and ask their help with creating a cultivation method specifically for you, alright?"

The little disciple vigorously nodded his head with s.h.i.+ning eyes. "Yes, if Senior Brother and the Elders don't mind sparing some time to guide me, then I would like that very much!"

Qinghe smiled affectionately at the enthusiastic little junior disciple. Then turning to his lover, he finally spoke, "Xiang, I'll be gone for a while with this little one, so can you train the other juniors for a bit instead?"

Smiling widely, Wei Xiang easily agreed. "Sure, you go and do what you need to. I'll take care of these ones very well."

Saying so, he looked over the tired disciples still slumped on the ground with a sharp and antic.i.p.atory look in his eyes.

The junior disciples who had been paying attention to the happenings in this direction all this while suddenly felt a chill. Why did they get the feeling that they might not make it out of this Sentinel Wei's training alive? Senior Brother Feng, please don't leave us with this man!

Not seeing all the pleading looks being cast his way, Qinghe led the little disciple and cheerfully walked towards the sect's library.

Once his little lover's figure was out of sight, Wei Xiang turned back to look at the terrified little disciples and chuckled happily. With his hands on his hips, he commanded, "Break time is over, my dear little chicks, so you better get your b.u.t.ts up immediately. We're going to have lots of fun training today."

The poor disciples quickly stood up while gulping. They could already tell that this wasn't going to be fun at all!

And reality proved that their worries were quite valid.

An hour later, Qinghe returned to the training grounds alone, having left that little disciple in the care of an Elder for today. Tomorrow, that disciple would come along with the rest of the juniors to spectate the matches and hopefully gain some insight about fighting with his own element.

However, after his mind finished thinking about that disciple and his attention finally s.h.i.+fted to the training grounds before him, Qinghe could only stop and stare with shock at the scene playing in front of him right now.

Currently, the juniors were running laps around the entirety of the huge training grounds with sizeable boulders on their backs that seemed almost as big as the disciples themselves. On top of that, they had brick-like weights tied to their upper arms, forearms, thighs, lower legs, shoulders, chests, backs, and stomachs. Adding to their already grueling circ.u.mstances, they were also balancing a bowl of water on their heads while running, presumably already having been instructed to not spill even a single drop throughout the exercise.

As expected of this sort of unreasonably arduous training, the juniors were all in a pitiable state, their chests heaving and bodies drenched with sweat while they made miserable wheezing noises. But yet they still pressed on while shooting terrified looks at the Sentinel standing at the side, not daring to slow down or let the bowl on top of their heads tip even a little bit.

Meanwhile, Wei Xiang merely watched this scene while casually leaning against a pillar of a bordering building, a small smile curving his lips and his eyes gleaming with amus.e.m.e.nt. Then sensing his beloved's arrival, Wei Xiang put away his smug expression and straightened up with an innocent look, knowing that his fun was about to come to an end.

Sure enough, after shaking his head and sighing at the wretched state of the disciples, Qinghe called out to the juniors, "Okay, that's enough, please stop."

Turning their heads in the direction of this familiar voice and seeing the figure of their beloved senior brother, the disciples all immediately shed their various burdens and ran towards Qinghe with despairing expressions.

"Senior Brother! You're finally here!"

"Senior Martial Brother, my back hurts so much, I think it's broken!"

"Senior Brother Feng, your lover is so mean!"

"My entire body feels like it's going to fall apart…"

"Ah, everything hurts!"

"…I think I might be dying…"

A gaggle of juniors quickly surrounded Qinghe, each of their complaints more dramatic than the last as they tried to elicit maximum pity from their senior brother.

Seeing this, Wei Xiang's brow twitched at their audacity while Qinghe looked at his juniors with open concern on his face.

Shoving their way to the front, the twins pitifully tugged at Qinghe's sleeves and looked at him with wide and moist eyes that displayed a wronged expression.

"Senior Brother, it really hurts too much. Can you please give us a ma.s.sage to make it feel better like you used to do before?" Fei Jin asked while blinking his teary eyes.

"Yes, it hurts so much…" Fei Yin also whispered sadly from beside his twin.

Unable to bear their expressions, Qinghe nodded, "Alright then, turn around and I'll start―"

Before he could finish his sentence, voices exploded with shouts of "Senior Brother, me too!", "My body hurts as well!", "Senior Brother Feng, please give me a ma.s.sage too!"

Qinghe looked at the boisterously churning crowd of disciples with a helpless expression, then called out loudly, "Alright, quieten down now! I'll teach everyone about which acupoints to press to decrease fatigue, increase blood circulation and ease sore muscles, so stand in a line and wait for me to come and instruct you one by one."

Within seconds, four neat rows of quiet and well-behaved disciples greeted Qinghe, each of them looking at him with eagerness apparent in their gazes.

Seeing this, Qinghe felt glad that he was finally able to touch others now, albeit with a bit of advance mental preparation. This was definitely not something he could have done even a few months ago, so he was very pleased with his progress.

And so, with a happy smile, Qinghe set off towards the first disciple in the right-most row to begin instructing.

Standing at the side, Wei Xiang watched with narrowed eyes as his little lover went around and taught each disciple personally, his slender finger pointing to and lightly pressing certain points in demonstration.

Every junior who was taught like this blushed red and looked up at their senior brother with wors.h.i.+pful eyes. They focused intently on every word Qinghe said and every gesture he made with rapt attention, not willing to miss a single thing.

But being looked at directly by their senior brother's clear eyes like this while he personally interacted with them, most of them couldn't help but feel that all that torment that dreadful Sentinel Wei had put them through was worth it. After all, they now got to have their senior brother touch them with his gentle hands and hear him speak in his pleasant and warm voice from right beside them! They could even smell his cool and soothing scent from up close!

Looking at how those juniors appeared as if they would ascend to heaven right now due to pure bliss, Wei Xiang felt displeased in his heart.

From tomorrow onwards, he would be very busy dealing with matters relating to the remnants of Black Fang and might not have that much time to spend with his lover. And yet these little pipsqueaks were stealing away the attention of his beloved, preventing him and his little lover from spending time together.

But even though Wei Xiang felt bitter about it, he still withheld himself from acting selfish and interrupting his beloved in the midst of his patient teaching.

In this way, night soon fell and Qinghe finally finished personally instructing everyone. After sending all the junior disciples off, he asked the twins to put away the weapons rack and clear some other things from the training area. Stuffing everything into their storage s.p.a.ce, Fei Jin and Fei Yin ran off to do as told.

By the time Qinghe turned back to his lover, Wei Xiang's face had grown dark and stormy due to having been neglected so long.

With a sigh, Qinghe walked up to where his beloved was still leaning against the pillar and entreated, "Come now, Xiang, don't be mad. I wasn't ignoring you, I was just busy with teaching them how to―"

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Xiang pulled Qinghe close and pushed him against the pillar he had just been leaning against.

Bending down, Wei Xiang nipped his little lover's nose gently and complained in an aggrieved tone, "Love, it's not fair that you have so much attention to spare your juniors but none for me."

Feeling that his mighty Sentinel lover had suddenly become cute, Qinghe couldn't help but smile indulgently and say, "Yes, yes, it was my fault this time. I'll give you all the attention you want throughout the night, alright?"

Seeming mollified, Wei Xiang bent down to nuzzle the crook of Qinghe's neck affectionately. "If you do that, I'm afraid you'll be too exhausted tomorrow. How will you take part in the tournament then?"

s.h.i.+fting so that he could wrap his arms around his beloved, Qinghe leaned back against the pillar and batted his eyelashes coquettishly. "Since that is the case, I can only beg my dear lover to be merciful and treat me gently tonight."

Hearing this, Wei Xiang's eyes grew heated as he swooped down for a kiss. Opening his mouth, Qinghe eagerly indulged his beloved, his hands starting to take liberties with Wei Xiang's still-clothed form.

If his little lover's hands continued to have their way like this, Wei Xiang was afraid he'd lose what little control he had left, so he captured both of Qinghe wrists in a hand and held them far above to press them against the pillar. Wei Xiang's other hand slipped down to loosen Qinghe's belt, then snuck into his beloved's robes explore that familiar body with enthusiasm.

Feeling the hot palm running over his skin and caressing his sensitive points with expertise, Qinghe had to lean back from the kiss and let out a shuddering breath. Wei Xiang unrelentingly began to brush his lips over his beloved's cheek and jaw while murmuring into his little lover's flushed ear.

In the end, this was the scene that the twins inevitably stumbled into when they returned to report the completion of their tasks.

In the quiet of the night, the wide-eyed twins could even hear the lewd things Wei Xiang was whispering lovingly to Qinghe, who didn't seem to mind the indecency at all.

Feeling that both their eyes and ears were being sullied by this scene, the twins refused to stay here in the presence of this shameless couple any longer. And so, without saying anything to alert their seniors of their presence, the twins ran away with expressions that were both sour and flushed in shame.

Uncaring that they'd once again traumatized this pair of juniors, the couple quickly moved to Qinghe's room for several rounds of intense dual cultivation with the excuse of stabilizing Qinghe's cultivation for the tournament tomorrow.

After the couple cleaned up and lied down side by side to sleep, Wei Xiang suddenly spoke, "Love, I don't think Master or I can make it tomorrow for the tournament. I'm sorry for doing this to you again."

Qinghe blinked his eyelids open to reveal his bright eyes and smiled at how his lover seemed even more distressed about it than he himself. "It's alright, don't worry. I don't mind."

But refusing to be rea.s.sured so easily, Wei Xiang held Qinghe closer and promised earnestly, "We'll try to finish our work quickly tomorrow, then Master, I, and the other Sentinels will all come to watch sometime in the middle, at least. The others have been wanting to see you fight for a long time now."

Feeling warm at the thought of how he now seemed to have gained such a large family, Qinghe smiled softly. "Alright then, you can all come and see when you get the time tomorrow."

Kissing his beloved's forehead tenderly, Wei Xiang teased, "Then, for my tardiness tomorrow, let me make it up to you in advance in some other way. What would you like from me?"

"Hmm…" Qinghe murmured in thought before shooting upright suddenly. With gleaming eyes, he asked enthusiastically, "Xiang, do you have wine? I want some now!"

Seeing such an excited reaction, Wei Xiang could only helplessly nod his head. He really should have expected this.

Then with a raised eyebrow, he commented dryly, "But with how much you love wine, I thought you'd have your own stash in your spatial storage."

Hearing this, Qinghe's whole person seemed to droop down in dejection as he said sadly, "The twins snitched on me so Master forbade me from keeping alcohol in my storage s.p.a.ce."

Wei Xiang's lips twitched, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with suppressed laughter. Then considering how the wine he had wasn't strong enough to give cultivators a hangover anyway, Wei Xiang took out a jar of mellow smelling wine and handed it over to his beloved just so he could see his little lover's expression brightening up in happiness, like a flower blooming right in front of his eyes.

"Xiang, thank you!" Qinghe exclaimed cheerily.

Then, taking a large mouthful of the wine, he tilted his head and pressed his lips to his beloved's, leaving Wei Xiang no choice but to quickly open up and receive the smooth liquid into his mouth.

In this way, the pair of lovers shared the wine through sweet alcohol-tinted kisses, their bodies swaying and pressing together in the night as sensual sounds of kissing rang out.

After giving Wei Xiang a few sips worth, Qinghe greedily downed the rest of the wine, then promptly became drunk. As he sat on the bed with a dazed expression, Wei Xiang decided to leave for a bit to clear away the water in the bathtub they'd used before.

When he returned, he found a half-undressed Qinghe looking down with an intent frown. His legs were splayed on the bed childishly, his clothes disheveled and his belt undone. Of his hands, only the tips of his fingers peeked out from the loosened robe, tightly clutching the edge of the wide sleeves from within.

"Qinghe, love, are you alright?" Wei Xiang asked in a mild voice.

His frown smoothening, Qinghe looked up and nodded tipsily, causing his gaping collar to slide down to his elbow on one side. Then as if remembering something, he looked down while lifting up his hands and carefully studied his sleeve.

Not knowing what his beloved was up to, Wei Xiang decided to quietly watch for now even as a smile danced on his lips.

Nodding as if satisfied with something, Qinghe looked up at Wei Xiang with a solemn expression and began flapping his sleeves, declaring proudly, "Xiang, look, I have wings now! Does that mean I can be a wyvern like you too?"

"…"

For a second, Wei Xiang stood stunned.

Then, seeing that hopeful expression, he felt his heart melting into a warm puddle and couldn't help himself from wordlessly rus.h.i.+ng forward to hug his adorable little lover.

Suddenly enveloped in his beloved's arms, Qinghe tilted his head confusedly and poked Wei Xiang's shaking shoulder. "Xiang? Why aren't you answering?"

But Wei Xiang was laughing so hard that he couldn't get a single word out.

As the couple happily spent the night indulging in such antics, dawn soon broke over the horizon, ushering in the day when the third and final stage of the Hundred-Year Tournament would take place.

---------------

A/N: Since the author's note section doesn't seem to be displaying in the PC version, I'm adding this to the end of the chapter. Also, I don't have to mind the 500 character restriction this way, so yay!

.

Mini Theater–

.

When Wei Xiang has Qinghe pushed up against the pillar, he notices the twins out of the corner of his eyes and starts whispering deliberately—

Wei Xiang: Qinghe, I love you, and I love touching you.

The Twins: ('◉⌓◉')

Wei Xiang: I love being beside you, and I love being inside you.

The Twins: (⊙口⊙)

Wei Xiang: I love filling you with my release and being covered with yours in turn.

The Twins: (⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)

Wei Xiang: And I love—

The Twins: *Rapidly fleeing before the rest of their innocence is gone*

Qinghe (laughing): Are you satisfied now?

Wei Xiang (smugly): Yes.

And thus, Wei Xiang finally managed to successfully vent his dissatisfaction at the twins for bringing up the whole ma.s.sage thing which had then ended up taking so much of Qinghe's time.

.

With this, arc 8 is now completed, and the ninth and final arc is about to begin~ (๑╹ᴗ╹๑)

The ninth arc has a considerably different tone compared to most of the novel so far and not as much romantic interaction, but I promise to try and make up for it with the epilogue and extras. (๑⁀ ω ⁀๑)