Soon, it was once again the frigid night.
Qianye was already well-experienced at this point. He quickly picked a temporary place to camp and started laying a circle of traps around it. By the time he was back, Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan were already preparing dinner.
The few wild beasts he had hunted during the day was enough to fill Qianye to the brim. He didn’t need to eat anything more at this point, but he did pick up some food out of consideration for the ladies’ hard work.
Li Kuanglan spoke out of the blue, “I’m sorry.”
Puzzled, Qianye looked up with a big piece of meat in his mouth.
Li Kuanglan inhaled deeply and then waved her hand in front of his face. “I’m sorry.”
Qianye’s adam’s apple moved slightly—the piece of meat felt stuck in his throat, unable to go down or up. He pointed at himself, saying, “Me?”
“Yes.”
“You did nothing wrong, why are you saying sorry?” Qianye suddenly became cautious and started looking left and right. “Oh wait, are you planning on doing something?”
Li Kuanglan clenched her jaws and sent a piece of meat flying toward Qianye. “You’re courting death!”
Qianye caught the incoming food with his mouth. “Now that’s more like you.”
Li Kuanglan collected her thoughts and said, “I haven’t been performing well since I entered the Great Maelstrom, and many times I’ve been a burden to you guys. With so many things happening and the Cold Moon’s Embrace gone, my mind is in disarray.”
Qianye glanced over at Ji Tianqing, who shrugged as though it had nothing to do with her. Not knowing how to placate Li Kuanglan, Qianye could only listen in silence. Fortunately, this meant that she had cleared out a knot in her heart and that was a good thing.
Li Kuanglan hugged her knees for a good while. “You were just an inexperienced young fellow back when I first met you. Apart from fighting with your life on the line, you were just lucky most of the time. Mmm… but you weren’t a bad person and that’s what matters most.”
“Later on, you became stronger and stronger, but you were still a ways off from catching up to me. I was quite surprised, though, that Zhao Fourth would step up to cancel our appointed duel. Everyone knew how singular and proud he was. It could be said that no one apart from Zhao Ruoxi could enter his eyes, including me.”
Ji Tianqing snorted disapprovingly.
Li Kuanglan chuckled. “You merely rose to power earlier. You might not be his match if you fight him now.”
“He merely fooled around on the battlefield for a few years.”
“You know full well what kind of battlefield he’s been on, and yet he’s managed to stay alive through all that. There’s no way you can beat him without a cultivation-level advantage.”
“Cultivation…” Ji Tianqing couldn’t quite continue.
Zhao Jundu’s progress in cultivation was one of the fastest in the world. Qianye was perhaps the only one who could keep up with his brother, with Song Zining trailing slightly behind. Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing were both one level inferior. The most terrifying fact was that Zhao Jundu was never known for having an unstable foundation. Everyone knew that the war between the two factions was the best furnace to forge steel.
It was just that one’s life was forfeit after stepping into battle—countless heroes had fallen along the way. Every peak expert’s hands were stained with the blood of countless enemy geniuses.
Hence, the clans of the Empire formed an unspoken rule that descendants with potential would only be let onto the battlefield after becoming champions. Even then, they would carefully pick the battlefields to avoid needless casualties. Only some true geniuses would join the war to train themselves at an earlier stage, but they would still avoid fighting enemies they couldn’t defeat.
Ji Tianqing stopped interrupting and allowed Li Kuanglan to continue. “Qianye, every time I meet you, you would be a bit stronger than before. There’s a difference even during this short period in the neutral lands. I think I was just unwilling to admit that I can no longer win against you here.”
“What’s this fuss about. Just beat him up and see if he dares to fight back. If he doesn’t listen, I’ll help you beat him up.” Ji Tianqing was there to fan the flames.
Li Kuanglan ignored her completely. She looked straight at Qianye and said, “Actually, I’ve always been thinking about what I would do in the future without my sword. I’ve been panicking for the past few days because I know the blade is likely lost. Even if we can find a similar weapon after leaving the Great Maelstrom, it wouldn’t be as easy to use as the Cold Moon’s Embrace.”
Qianye nodded. The Cold Moon’s Embrace was a perfect match for her, a weapon that would increase her power exponentially. Without her sword, Li Kuanglan’s combat strength would drop an entire level below Qianye and Ji Tianqing.
She looked up at the night sky, saying, “This sword used to be my sister’s, but she stopped using it at one point. At first, I thought she had pa.s.sed it to me because she no longer needed to fight after entering the palace. After obtaining the sword and gaining some achievements, I thought I had already surpa.s.sed my sister in swordsmans.h.i.+p. But only after losing the Cold Moon’s Embrace did I slowly realize her mood when she renounced her blade and gave it to me. My sister’s swordsmans.h.i.+p was never stagnant.”
Ji Tianqing cut in at this point. “Please don’t tell me that the sword lives in the heart, that the tangible and intangible are both valid paths. Too cliche!”
Li Kuanglan chuckled. “The sword already lives in my heart, there’s no need for further discussion. After thinking it through, I should just use whatever is available to me, but of course, it’s best if I can get a good sword. I won’t say no if you’re going to give me one!”
Ji Tianqing rolled her eyes. “Fat chance! You think money can buy a sword on par with the Cold Moon’s Embrace? I’d switch to swordplay if I had one, why would I give it to you? Humph, you even lost Cold Moon’s Embrace. Who’d dare to take a loser like you?”
Li Kuanglan snorted. “Stingy! You can’t even part with a sword. I feel embarra.s.sed for your grandpa.”
Ji Tianqing had had enough. “Is that an ordinary sword we’re talking about? How many swords like Cold Moon’s Embrace are there in the entire empire? I only touched you a bit and slept with you for two nights, the price shouldn’t be that high, should it? Naturally, I might consider it if you’re willing to give yourself to me up until the next life. I could just grab a random old sword for you to swing around.”
Li Kuanglan gnashed her teeth. “You’re courting death!”
“Come kill me if you can!” Ji Tianqing provoked.
How could Li Kuanglan endure this? She pounced over immediately but was knocked back from the impact and pinned to the ground. Li Kuanglan’s forte was her speed—now that she was clas.h.i.+ng head-on against Ji Tianqing, it wasn’t surprising that she would lose.
“You, a sword? Easy, go and ask the person who has seen and touched you all over! With me around, you don’t need to worry about him not taking responsibility. Our long-legged and big-busted lady can’t be inferior to anyone else.”
Qianye was hiding on the sidelines and eating his meat when he started choking. Yet, there were only three people here, so how could he escape?
“Qianye, stop hiding. I’m talking about you! Bring out your sword for Kuanglan.”
Qianye laughed wryly. “I only have East Peak and she can’t use it.”
“Just take it out. Even if she can’t use it, it’ll serve for good decoration.” Ji Tianqing stretched her hand out, so Qianye had no choice but to pa.s.s her his sword.
Ji Tianqing grunted softly as the sword landed in her grasp. Her expression changed several times as the sword’s weight far exceeded her expectations. It would be an embarra.s.sment if she were to drop it.
She was actually channeling a different secret art each time her countenance transformed. Her power increased exponentially after activating numerous arts, allowing her to just barely stabilize East Peak. Despite that, her hand was trembling slightly—she was at her limits.
She spun her wrist around and thrust East Peak into the ground beside Li Kuanglan. “This sword isn’t bad at all. As I see it, it’s quite enough to trade for you. Now that he has agreed to exchange the sword for you, you’ll be his for the rest of your life.”
Qianye was shocked out of his wits. “Tianqing, don’t joke about this.”
Ji Tianqing chuckled and then retreated to the side. “Not fun at all.”
Qianye heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that the girl had given up on the mischief. Her words were a mixture of truths and lies, truly a headache.
The commotion brought them fairly deep into the night. Qianye was feeling quite relaxed against the frigid night. The gravity on them was much lighter now, probably less than ten times that of normal. The intensity of the frigid night would also decrease accordingly.
It was just a small relief to his burden, but his endurance would increase severalfold because of it. Meanwhile, Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan were also getting stronger with the repeated use of the white fruit. Although Qianye couldn’t help both of them at the same time, he could easily help one of them—it was no longer as risky and dangerous as before.
At this point, it was time to decide how they would pa.s.s the night. Ji Tianqing produced a jar of wine and made known her intentions. Qianye frowned in objection. Although Ji Tianqing seemed fine on the surface, his intuition told him that wasn’t the case.
“Tianqing, we still have white fruits, there’s no need to save them.”
“No, I have uses for them.” Ji Tianqing wasn’t willing. Qianye wanted to dissuade her again, but she had already removed the seal and started drinking.
Helpless, Qianye turned to Li Kuanglan. “Just take the white fruit tonight, it can only be beneficial.”
Li Kuanglan didn’t reply. Instead, she stood in front of Qianye and removed every piece of her armor. Then, she faced him naturally without any sign of embarra.s.sment.
Although he had already seen her from head to toe, Qianye was still shocked. The nights before, he had no choice, but things were different right now.
“Embrace me,” Li Kuanglan said calmly.