?Xue Bing’s usually indifferent gaze was now full of turmoil as she looked down and to the side, not sure what to do with the feelings she never experienced before.

Her heart which beat in the same rhythm for the past decades no matter what situation she was in, now resembled a war drum as she sat across from this man.

“You don’t need to be so nervous, Bing’er…”

He lightly chuckled, and the way he intimately called her made her heart skip a beat, and then race at an even higher pace than before.

“… don’t mistake Dual Cultivators for someone who only measures relationships by things happening behind closed doors… we can do it outside as well”

Her eyes darted to him, opening wide to see a light of mischief in his eyes along with a playful smile.

“Pfft”

Her hand went up to her lips as she couldn’t hold in a light laugh.

“But really, you don’t need to prepare yourself for anything right now, since it is not time yet”

He then smiled seeing her relax and calmly explained.

“Time… is there a set time for these things?”

“Haha, not really, no. You could say it is very individual”

Wu Long shook his head with a light smile as her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Then… when is mine?”

“Hmm, hard to say, it is more fluid than you might expect. It could be short or long, and can shorten at any moment”

He put a finger on his chin and looked up in thought, slowly speaking with uncertainty.

“That sounds very vague…”

“Hahaha, because it is. But I am not kidding or being mean by not revealing it. It truly is that undefined”

A light laugh fell off his lips when he heard the slight disappointment and subtle doubt in her voice. But his sincere gaze told her he was not making another joke.

“Then, how will I know it is getting closer?”

“That’s just it, you won’t.

You won’t know right up until the moment it arrives, before you notice it, it will already be here, and when you do notice, you will know”

She knitted her eyebrows in light confusion and deep thought, but felt his finger gently press in between them, widening her eyes as the light wrinkle she made with that expression smoothened out, and her gaze ran up to meet his.

“Don’t worry, don’t be scared, and don’t think about it. If, by slim chance you don’t notice it when it is already here, I will let you know.

In the meantime, you can relax and let everything flow naturally”

His voice, which she heard so many times up to now was strangely more pleasant to her ear, melting away her worries and hidden fears.

‘No, it didn’t become more pleasant now… I just noticed it now… but it was much earlier… when was it? I can’t remember’

Her eyes did not move from his face, as if looking at him with a new understanding that was not there before.

‘Perhaps what he is talking about is the same…’

A thought came up in her mind, while a smile appeared on his lips.

They sat in silence for some time, as she seemed to be deep in introspection.

This silence was not unpleasant or awkward, rather they both felt incredibly comfortable in it.

They did not exchange much words even up to the moment he left her courtyard, only letting her know they would not be having their usual ‘lecture’ today, or rather, from now on.

She was disappointed at first, but then understood what he meant.

Since the nature of their relationship changed.

Not to mention that the goal of their lectures was already achieved in full.

She already gained a great understanding of Yin Qi manipulation, studying it with Shen Min and Luo Mingyu.

What she lacked, was getting a feel of its flow.

With their sessions before, she was able to grasp control over it, enough to partially but consciously use her physique’s ability.

What was left now was practice.

—

As Wu Long was getting ready to leave the mansion, the world around was enveloped in rapid developments, as the war in the shadow escalated.

The sway over the Six Kingdoms was starting to slowly slip out of Gu Zhen’s control, though not entering the hands of Wu Long’s side either.

Even the country with the most unshakeable hold of the Alchemy Tower, the Gutian Kingdom was in turmoil as the change in the situation of food supplies in the neighboring countries had an adverse effect on its stability.

And opposition which rose on this wave from an initially small noble house which seemed to be supported from the shadows, as unlike any previous ones it did not collapse overnight or mysteriously disappeared, only gaining influence.

And while Fantian and Jurong Kingdoms in the South did not have similarly organized opposition to the current Royal Family, they were nevertheless getting more unstable with each passing day.

But while it might have looked to Gu Zhen’s allies like this was a period of struggle that was crucial for Wu Long, and that the winner was yet to be determined, he has essentially already reached his goal.

Since he did not need the Six Kingdoms to fight on his side in the coming war.

There was nothing he gained from that.

What he required was for them to not take the opposing side, effectively exiting the conflict.

Wu Long was with his ladies when he suddenly looked toward the North, and stood up with a sigh.

“I will be back”

He moved toward the mansion’s main gates, and not long after he exited, a figure descended from the skies, the usual calm smile on the young-looking face making the man who arrived look confident and composed.

“You are quite good”

Gu Zhen spoke with a note of being impressed. There was appreciation and even some respect in that tone, which Wu Long did not like.

‘Tch, I guess no matter how many Blood Vitality Pills he consumed or how absorbed he was in the entertaining game, or in proving his intelligence to a “worthy opponent”, there’s still a limit to how long he can be led around by the nose

Well, it is about time, everything has its own time, after all’

He inwardly mused, sensing the change in the latter’s demeanor.

“I genuinely am impressed.

And here I thought I was playing a game of Go with you, but all this time you let me play the game with a ghost, an illusion”

Gu Zhen chuckled, his smile genuine and at the same time somehow eeire.

“Haha, of course, you couldn’t pull this off if I wasn’t so eager to play along.

Silly me, wanting so des~perately to be understood…

Tell me, was it fun? I must have looked like a proper fool in your eyes”

There was even more familiarity in Gu Zhen’s voice than before, and more emotion as he was more lively than usual.

“No”

Wu Long’s reply was short, spoken in a calm, straightforward tone.

But it told Gu Zhen everything.

He instantly understood Wu Long took no pleasure in watching him make a fool of himself. There was no gloating in either his expression or tone. No compassion either.

‘There is… nothing…’

A realization hit Gu Zhen as he looked into Wu Long’s eyes, and for the first time, a shiver went through him as he saw something terrifying in the eyes of this man he thought he understood.

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