“Auntie can’t do anything about it. What attribute of Extreme Flame Mystic Power does the mentor want?”
Mentor Yu Xuan thought for a moment before replying:
“The earth attribute’s Rootless Earth Spirit Fire. It pairs perfectly with water and will bolster my defenses.”
Yan Zhen recalled that Mentor Yu Xuan wielded a bow—like an archer—so stacking some armor to avoid being easily taken out made perfect sense.
He leaned close to her ear, deliberately lowering his voice.
“Does the mentor want it now… or back in the room?”
Mentor Yu Xuan quirked her lips and shot him a sidelong glance, offering no reply. Her expression was utterly adorable.
Yan Zhen understood at once. He released Aunt Shui Bailan and drew Mentor Yu Xuan into his arms, positioning her to straddle him face-to-face in an intimate embrace.
—After all, the mentor was special.
Having gained such a tremendous advantage from her, of course he needed to pamper Mentor Yu Xuan and fill her with a Mystic sense of security.
“Yan Zhen…”
Shy yet deeply touched, Mentor Yu Xuan pushed all other thoughts aside. She closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss her beloved.
Yan Zhen met her silently, moving in perfect harmony with her desires.
Mentor Yu Xuan’s heart swelled with utter contentment. She turned her head toward her aunt nearby. Shui Bailan bit her lip and slipped in behind Yan Zhen, wrapping her arms around his waist and drawing him back to lean against her.
The soft, yielding sensation from behind enveloped him like drifting atop clouds—light, buoyant, and utterly carefree.
Yan Zhen couldn’t shake the feeling that sooner or later, they would spoil him into a lazy good-for-nothing with no drive left.
The other three beautiful elders took in the scene, dispersed the purple lightning from their Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire, then rose and made their way to the Clear Waterfall area opposite. They sought to quell the restless heat stirring in their bodies and minds.
At one particular moment, a stifled moan escaped Mentor Yu Xuan’s lips. Water Mystic Force swirled unbidden around her body, threaded with faint strands of earthy brown—clear proof that she had successfully absorbed Yan Zhen’s Rootless Earth Spirit Fire power.
It couldn’t guard her automatically like her body’s innate flame, but it marked a tremendous enhancement to her defenses all the same.
Yan Zhen gently stroked the smooth expanse of Mentor Yu Xuan’s back. Once she had caught her breath, he cupped her ample hips and rose to his feet, carrying her with him to the Clear Waterfall area across the way.
Aunt Shui Bailan hurried after them.
The waters of the Turbid Spring gleamed milky white, like fresh cream, while those of the Clear Waterfall ran crystal clear to the bottom. Soaking there felt like floating in thin air. The drenched Water Cicada Garments turned sheer and translucent, offering scant coverage at all. Thus, Yan Zhen feasted his eyes on vast expanses of alluring spring scenery—beauty beyond measure.
Everyone usually kept a respectful distance from one another, so such a vista was a rare treat indeed.
Yan Zhen’s heart burned with fervor. He approached the Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law and gently set Mentor Yu Xuan down, pressing her into the woman’s embrace before leaning in himself.
The Family Head Yu Lu quickly wrapped her arms around her daughter from behind, cradling her against her chest. She shot Yan Zhen a coquettish glare at his eager, heavy-handed approach.
Yan Zhen poked his head forward and opened his mouth wide, playfully mimicking baby talk: “Hungry… food…”
The Family Head Yu Lu reached out and pushed away that handsome face, adopting the dignified air of a mother-in-law as she scolded him.
“We’re still in the midst of the ceremony. Don’t act so improperly.”
Yan Zhen turned to Big Aunt Yu Yan instead. She propped her cheek on one hand and said with a vexed smile:
“Sorry, Little Yan Zhen. I haven’t gotten mine yet~”
With no other choice, Yan Zhen looked toward Little Aunt Yu Qing—only to receive her fierce retort.
“What are you staring at me for? I don’t have it either!”
Yan Zhen huffed lightly and called out:
“Auntie!”
Shui Bailan sighed helplessly and approached from behind the Family Head Yu Lu. In a meek voice, she said:
“Forgive me, sister-in-law. I-I don’t have a choice.”
The Family Head Yu Lu tensed at once.
“What are you doing, Bailan?”
Shui Bailan seized her sister-in-law’s hands with an apologetic expression, then promptly ducked her head, burying it like an ostrich.
Even with Yan Zhen to back her up, she felt a twinge of guilt in the face of her forceful sister-in-law.
“Bailan, you!?”
The Family Head Yu Lu could scarcely believe her own sister-in-law dared such brazen insubordination.
Little Aunt Yu Qing crossed her arms and cast a sidelong glance at her close friend, her tone laced with implication.
“Looks like Bailan’s already molded to a certain someone’s shape.”
Big Aunt Yu Yan chuckled warmly.
“Because Little Bailan adores Little Yan Zhen so much~”
Their teasing barbs left Shui Bailan flushed crimson from ears to neck. Yan Zhen wouldn’t stand for his obedient aunt to be mocked like this. He promptly extended his mental tentacles, coiling them around Big Aunt Yu Yan and Little Aunt Yu Qing’s waists to yank them close.
In the neighboring chamber, Yu Shizun sat with eyes closed in meditation, yet she couldn’t settle her restless mind. Sure enough, before an hour had passed, soft moans drifted through the walls, snapping her eyes open.
—Perhaps I should just return to my cave abode.
The thought flickered through her mind, but she dismissed it just as swiftly. If she tried to leave, he would no doubt give chase. Alone with him then, the one in the wrong, she could only imagine what he might do.
Yu Shizun felt a pang of vexation. Her resistance was crumbling faster than it should—much faster.
As the highest-ranking figure in the Yu Family, if even she yielded, the clan would truly become his outright possession. That would shatter the vow she had made to her foster mother to safeguard the family.
“Snow Mother, what should I do?”
She murmured to herself.
Some unknowable time later, the sounds from next door finally faded away. Yu Shizun breathed a sigh of relief, squeezed her thighs together against a twinge of discomfort, then decided a bath and fresh clothes would help. She would don something light and comfortable.
The second floor of the Painted Boat held ten chambers in all: the left five belonged to the family head’s lineage, the right five to the elders of the main house. Each set of five encompassed a central main chamber flanked by side rooms and outer wings.
These chambers interconnected freely and shared a single bathhouse.
Yan Zhen and the others occupied the main chamber, while Yu Shizun was in the left side room. Both could access the bathhouse directly.
—Were they still in there?
Yu Shizun probed carefully with her senses. The auras confirmed that the Yu Family Five Women remained, but Yan Zhen was nowhere to be felt. This puzzled her.
—Had he entered the Fire Refining Starry Sky?
Convenient, then.
Yu Shizun opened her door, skirted the screen, and entered the bathhouse. Steam hung thick in the air, veiling her vision in a misty haze. Yet at once, she spotted that familiar silhouette in the bath pool.
Who else could it be but Yan Zhen?
—How… how was this possible?
Yu Shizun stared in shock, but understanding dawned swiftly. Yan Zhen’s cultivation realm now outstripped hers by two full grades. If he chose to conceal himself, a moment’s inattention on her part would make it all too easy to miss.
She had fallen right into his trap!
Just then, Yan Zhen whipped his head around and flashed Yu Shizun a knowing smirk.
“Does Yu Shizun want to join me?”
At those words, Yu Shizun tore open a rift in space without a second’s hesitation and fled lickety-split.
But before she could plunge through, Xuan Huang Dual Qi Flame incinerated the rift, sealing it shut once more.
