?While he and Ye Ling had similar views and ideology on progress, Hua Ziyan and Shen Min’s talent or natural perception toward in-person combat was a lot higher than Feng Yi’s with the reverse in tactical group combat and troop command being true as well.

So Wu Long did not need to push them as hard as Ye Ling pushed Feng Yi for the same amount of progress. Even though he did train with them until they were completely exhausted, but not past that point.

Though he found it a little interesting Ye Ling was equally or rather even more demanding with Wu Mengqi who could be considered a sword prodigy. But he also could understand her feeling since she saw something in her that she once saw in him on that snowy day when they met, that raw potential rivaling her own that she was drawn to and became excited to uncover and polish.

He also once went through her hellish training after all, though his mental condition at the time numbed all the perception of hardship, and his desire for power and tendency to push himself was at times too overwhelming even for her.

As they saw the training end as that window of passing one’s limits was incredibly short even though it yielded tremendous results, he lightly stood up, stepping forward to disappear and reappearing to catch the body of the red-haired beauty in his arms.

“Mm, I guess this will have to do”

Ye Ling softly nodded with a gentle smile.

“Haha, I think it can’t possibly not, since there’s really no way to continue. But, are you sure you wanted this as her first lesson?

I’m not sure she’ll come back for a second”

He chuckled and she softly shook her head as two beauties stepped out of a movement technique to the both sides of Wu Long.

“She will, once she confirms her progress she won’t have a choice. Though it may take some time before then”

Wu Long nodded to Ye Ling’s words finding some truth in them. It truly was hard to ignore results of this magnitude.

“Mm? Wu Long… ah!”

Feng Yi opened her eyes that were cloudy from dizziness and weakness but gasped in the next moment as she remembered the last moments before fainting.

“Shh, it is fine Yi’er”

He chuckled as he saw that expression, giving her a soothing kiss that put her back to sleep as he stood up with her in his arms.

‘Hmm, or maybe it’s not so bad, I guess I’ll not pray to my ancestors after all’

Shen Min thought as she saw that, since Ye Ling’s hellish training suddenly did not seem so unattractive to her as her friend’s thoughts mirrored hers.

“Well, let’s go back to the warmth of the indoors”

He chuckled, and the beauties nodded, all of them disappearing and leaving only a wind that span the snowflakes that just started falling on the new training grounds of the mansion.

A few hours after, Wu Long was walking with Shen Min in the snowy garden, both of them clad in long black robes contrasting the white world around them.

The big flaky snow fell on them without being shielded, in a dance of the windless early evening when the sky was still not dark, accentuating the tranquil atmosphere between the two.

“Min’er, I want you to abandon the position of the final bastion with the light as its beacon” .

Wu Long said in a calm voice as her heterochromatic eyes slightly shook, and then her eyelids slightly lowered as her line of sight went down to the ground.

“You said I could do as I wished, but you did not let me at every opportunity”

She sighed, feeling slightly upset.

“Which is my fault for agreeing in the first place. Even if I want to support your choice, I don’t want you to be in danger as the job you describe is the one where you truly put your life in hands of those you suspect, not deceiving them by making it seem so”

“But it is something only I can do, what my physique allows me to do”

“There are many ways to protect the Dao Family without utilizing that tactic of placing your head in the tiger’s mouth in order to gain its trust.

You can protect us by bringing your suspicion to us as you do already, and you can even lead a group of subordinates whose only job is to assess and observe the insides of the organizations I recruit or build”

He said as the surroundings were very gradually becoming darker, but almost invisible to perception as if an illusion. The white of the snow became even more pronounced, offsetting the feeling that the daylight was already leaving.

“But I…”

“I want to be with you Min’er. To hold your hand as we walk and see that glint in your eyes, to go on dates among the crowds and see the world together.

All of that I want with the real you, the whole, all of you with everything that is you. Not only part that masks your half and has only part of what you remember about me”

He then stopped as he turned to her, causing her to stop as well as he looked into her different-colored eyes that widened at his words as a rosiness caused not by the cold of the twilight winter garden appeared on her cheeks and around her eyes.

His sincere and tender gaze broke through all of the defenses and arguments she had to support her idea, warming up her heart while his words momentarily robbed her of the ability to breathe.

He placed his hands on her cheeks and she felt their warmth as any semblance of resistance melted away as easily as snow melted on her skin as she looked slightly up at his face.

“You really are unfair”

She finally said after a long pause, the snow becoming more and more pale as the darkness rapidly overtook the garden, so imperceptibly and deceptively that one could swear it was only slowly approaching just a moment ago.

“I know, but I have my vices, selfishness being one”

He chuckled and their lips met in a kiss that lasted for a long time. When they finally broke it both smiled at each other as they linked foreheads.

“Besides, it’s not like I’m saying not to ever use your Light side. As I said, even if it only part of you, it indeed is still you”

He chuckled as they resumed their walk. The darkness of the evening not impeding them as their steps were still steady.

“Where do you think it is necessary then?”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. But I can think of a few fun ideas in the bedroom…”

“Haha, you’re shameless”

“I told you I have my vices, besides the way you prank the new Dao Family members has been quite amusing, their reactions always managing to bring smiles to Ziyan and Mingyu”

“It wasn’t pranking you know”

“I know, I’m just saying, it’s fun to watch their clueless faces when they talk with the Light side haha…”

“You really…”

“…”

Their peaceful voices gradually became distant as they disappeared into the darkness of the garden among the falling snow.

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