Medusa's phoenix eyes flickered with lingering shyness and recollection of their current roles. With graceful poise she glided to Xiao Jietian's side and, after a moment's hesitation, slowly settled onto his lap.
A faint crease appeared between her brows — perhaps some hidden ache from her recent secluded cultivation still lingered in her meridians. Several breaths passed in silence before the tension eased; her tightly knitted brows gradually smoothed like clouds parting after rain.
She leaned forward, crimson lips brushing his earlobe in a soft, deliberate bite. Her voice emerged low and silken, carrying both apology and invitation:
"This Queen spoke amiss just now… Please, punish me as you see fit."
Xiao Jietian's palm settled naturally upon the slender curve of her waist. A faint, knowing smile curved his lips.
"Oh? And how precisely does Her Majesty wish to be punished?"
Medusa's gaze turned liquid and captivating, voice a velvet murmur laced with surrender:
"Anything… Today, this Queen will obey you completely."
Xiao Jietian needed no further invitation. He captured her scarlet lips once more, the kiss fierce yet tender, reigniting the flames that had scarcely dimmed.
Medusa's eyes fluttered shut. Charm bloomed within them like night-blooming epiphyllum — enchanting, radiant, utterly bewitching — as she responded with equal fervor, pouring her pride and longing into the union of mouths.
After the storm of passion subsided into gentle afterglow, the pair whispered sweet nothings, fingers tracing idle patterns across skin, lost in the quiet intimacy that follows thunder.
…
Come dawn, after Xiao Jietian had cleansed himself in warm spring waters, he returned to the bedside.
Medusa still slumbered, the faintest smile curving her lips even in dreams — a rare, unguarded expression of contentment on the proud Queen's face.
Xiao Jietian gazed down at her and let out a soft chuckle.
They had talked through the long night, trading tales both grand and trivial. At times Medusa would gasp in genuine astonishment; at others, when he deliberately teased her with exaggerated peril in his stories, she would roll her eyes in helpless exasperation, the gesture as endearing as it was regal.
Between tales she had spoken of small woodland creatures — the timid rabbit ever fleeing the shadow of the great bad wolf, the delicate kitten unaware it would one day grow into a fierce leopard. Xiao Jietian had listened with rapt attention, as though he had stepped into a hidden realm of beasts and fables.
…
Far away, in a secluded ancient forest within the Eternal Heaven World, a colossal vortex of spiritual energy roared into existence — nearly a hundred feet across, devouring heaven-and-earth qi in endless torrents that poured toward its blazing core.
At a respectful distance stood two figures: an old man with an ethereal presence and a graceful young woman.
As the scene drew nearer, their identities became clear — Yao Lao and Nalan Yanran.
"Is Xiao Yan about to succeed in his breakthrough?" Nalan Yanran asked, voice tight with concern. Her gaze fixed anxiously on the center of the maelstrom where Xiao Yan sat cross-legged, bathed in swirling light.
Yao Lao's deep eyes remained calm as ancient wells. "Rest easy, little girl. I have already examined his aura — it flows steady and powerful. The breakthrough should come at any moment."
A wisp of white smoke drifted forth from Yao Lao's side, condensing into the translucent form of Venerable Skyfire. The old spirit chuckled warmly.
"Little lass, cease your fretting. With two old monsters standing guard, what calamity could possibly befall him? Moreover, that brat Xiao Yan is on the very cusp. You may set your heart at ease."
Nalan Yanran bowed slightly, voice filled with genuine gratitude. "Many thanks to Teacher Yao Lao and Venerable Skyfire for watching over Xiao Yan."
Venerable Skyfire gave a benevolent nod, his gaze briefly appraising the young woman. Excellent talent, pity her attribute was wind — incompatible with his own profound flames — and she already had a master. There was little he could impart.
Yao Lao waved a hand dismissively, eyes never leaving the vortex. He sighed softly.
"We must count ourselves fortunate. The spiritual qi in this corner of Eternal Heaven World is exceptionally pure and dense — precisely what Xiao Yanzi requires to devour without restraint."
Both companions nodded in agreement. Nalan Yanran felt the truth of it most keenly.
Her own meteoric rise — from mediocre talent to Five-Star Dou Huang in so short a span — owed everything to Xiao Jietian's secret aid. Without that intervention, who knew how many more years she would have languished?
She still remembered the day her teacher Yun Yun had sought her out, pressing a card-shaped energy array into her sea of qi. Under Yun Yun's careful guidance she had refined it, and discovered her wind affinity soaring to unprecedented heights.
Only afterward did Yun Yun explain: she had become the bearer of a Heaven-grade Physique — a Wind Spirit Sacred Body, flawless and without hidden drawbacks.
Such physiques were unheard of in the Jia Ma Empire, even across the entire Northwest Continent. In the vast Central Plains they remained one in ten thousand, treasures envied by sects and clans alike.
Nalan Yanran suspected the array had come from Xiao Jietian's hand. Witnessing the boundless mysteries of Eternal Heaven World had only deepened her awe of the man.
She also quietly rejoiced: the annulment of their engagement back then, though handled clumsily on her part, had not been done with true malice or irredeemable humiliation. Had it been otherwise… the Nalan family might long since have been reduced to scattered ashes beneath heaven's wrath.
…
As more and more heaven-and-earth energy flooded the vortex, a majestic aura slowly unfurled from its heart — vast and ancient, like a divine dragon stirring from slumber.
"Break!!!"
Xiao Yan's roar shattered the silence.
A terrifying wave of momentum exploded outward. The energy vortex above his head disintegrated in an instant, scattering into radiant motes that rained across the forest.
His figure shot skyward like a released arrow, aura blazing like an opening sword that cleaved the firmament.
"Hahahaha!!! At last — Dou Zong!!!"
Xiao Yan trod lightly upon the void, laughter ringing across the heavens.
To step into Dou Zong meant the path to the Central Plains now lay open before him — that land of crouching tigers and hidden dragons, where true heroes were forged.
Suddenly a graceful silhouette appeared, wings of wind unfurling behind her as she streaked toward him.
Xiao Yan recognized her at once. Arms wide, he welcomed her embrace.
In the next breath Nalan Yanran threw herself into his chest, fragrant and warm.
"Xiao Yan… you finally succeeded!"
Xiao Yan stroked her silken hair with a gentle hand, voice teasing yet proud.
"Hm. Breaking through to Dou Zong — merely a small matter."
Nalan Yanran lifted her face, rolling her eyes in mock annoyance. "Look how smug you are. Just wait — one day my cultivation will overtake yours, and then I'll make you cry for mercy."
Xiao Yan lowered his gaze to her upturned face and thought silently: And who is it that weeps like pear blossoms in rain every time we duel in private?
Their eyes met. An indescribable atmosphere enveloped them.
Faces drew nearer… nearer… until lips met in a fervent, breathless kiss.
Their bodies slowly spun in midair, drifting downward like falling leaves caught in a gentle whirlwind.
Five minutes later—
Ahem… Ahem!
The sound of a deliberate cough broke the spell.
Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran startled apart as though scalded.
"That's quite enough," Yao Lao said helplessly. "Did the two of you forget there are still two old men standing right here?"
Nalan Yanran's face blazed scarlet in an instant. Steam seemed to rise faintly from her scalp. She hastily straightened her disordered robes, then darted behind Xiao Yan, hiding like a startled fawn, utterly mortified.
She even reached out instinctively as though to snuff out an invisible lamp — wishing she could vanish into darkness.
How could I lose control like this… in front of Teacher and Venerable Skyfire… I've lost all face…
Yet in the midst of her embarrassment a thought drifted through her mind:
Is this what Teacher meant when she said love is the most potent poison under heaven?
No wonder Yun Yun transformed into a soft, clinging little woman whenever she stood before Xiao Jietian — nestling into his arms without reason, content simply to exist in his warmth.
The chapter closes on that quiet, knowing reflection as morning light filtered through the ancient canopy.