Volume One · Chapter 13: A Delicate Moment with the Pretty Maid, and the Empress’s “Injury”

Xiao He looked up at him, her small face tilted, eyes filled with innocent delight—pure and completely unguarded.
Yet that very innocence was more heart-stopping than any deliberate seduction.

This was deadly…

It was like placing a full imperial feast before a starving man and politely adding, please enjoy.

Xiao He, completely unaware, raised a hand and pulled her slightly loosened collar back into place.
That small motion only made certain curves stand out even more.

She stepped aside. “Young Master, come in quickly. It’s chilly outside.”

Circling in front of him, she instinctively reached out to help him undress.

Candlelight cast faint shadows on her lashes. The pale green inner garment rose and fell gently with her breathing.

Xiao Che felt his head heat up. On impulse, he reached out and caught her wrist mid-motion.

Xiao He froze and looked up.

His gaze burned with unmistakable aggression.

Her cheeks flushed scarlet in an instant. As if she finally understood, her lashes trembled. She looked up timidly, her voice quivering.
“Y-Young Master…”

A sweet, youthful scent washed over him.

That shy, trembling call—raw and inexperienced—was somehow even more alluring.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. The last thread of reason stretched to its limit.

He lowered his head, slowly leaning toward those slightly parted, enticing lips—

Xiao He lifted her face, her lashes fluttering a few times nervously before she gently closed her eyes.

“Go back.”

A clear thought stabbed into his Sea of Consciousness without warning.

Xiao Che froze. Their lips were less than half an inch apart. Warm breaths mingled, carrying the girl’s unique fragrance.

…Ancestor, you really are my own dear ancestor!

He wailed internally, but still decided to struggle a little. Carefully, he sent a thought into his Sea of Consciousness.
“Empress… Empress, what are your instructions?”

The voice paused, sounding slightly unsteady, yet still aloof.

“This… this Empress… my injuries have changed. I require your pure Yang Dao body. Immediate dual cultivation.”

“Now. At once. To the Quiet Chamber.”

Xiao Che nearly choked on air.

…Your injury really picked the perfect timing.

After mentally cursing the Azure Lotus Empress ten times over, he released his grip with extreme reluctance.

Xiao He opened her eyes in confusion, moisture shimmering within them.

“Young Master?”

“Ahem… I just remembered a crucial point in my cultivation technique. I need to verify it in the Quiet Chamber immediately.”

Xiao Che blurted out an excuse, barely daring to look at her. “You sleep first. Don’t wait for me.”

With that, he turned and left, his pace suspiciously close to fleeing.

Xiao He stared at the closed door for a long moment before slowly raising a hand to touch her burning lips.

Just now… was the Young Master trying to kiss her?

She buried herself under the blanket, her face scorching hot, her heart tinged with an indescribable sweetness.

…

Inside the Quiet Chamber.

Soft radiance flowed as a figure slowly emerged from Xiao Che’s brow, shifting from illusion to reality.

Moon-white and cyan palace robes trailed like drifting clouds.

Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, framing a face coldly transcendent, yet her brows and eyes carried a breathtaking, fatal beauty.
She merely stood there, and the crude chamber seemed transformed into an immortal palace.

Xiao Che stared, stunned, then sighed inwardly. Beautiful, yes. Deadly, also very much yes.

The Azure Lotus Empress swept him with her gaze and spoke lightly.

“Take your clothes off yourself.”

Xiao Che swallowed and forced himself to speak. “Empress… can we discuss something?”

“What is it?”

“This time… could you maybe not knock me unconscious?”

The Azure Lotus Empress looked at him calmly for a moment, the corner of her lips lifting faintly.

“What do you think?”

Her expression clearly said, dream on.

Xiao Che steeled his heart and decided to go all in. “Then I’m not undressing. You… do it yourself.”

Her gaze didn’t change. She merely raised a finger and pointed from afar.

“As you wish.”

A streak of clear radiance flashed.

Xiao Che felt a chill at his brow. His vision blurred instantly.

Damn—

That was his last thought before he collapsed flat onto the Quiet Chamber floor with a thud.

The Azure Lotus Empress lowered her eyes, looking at the unconscious, sharp-featured young man. She stepped forward slowly, her moon-white and cyan skirt brushing the floor without a speck of dust.

“Too much talk.”

…

The next day.

Xiao Che opened his eyes only after full daylight had arrived.

The Empress was gone. Only a faint lotus fragrance lingered in the air.

He lay stark naked on the floor, his entire body feeling as though it had been taken apart and reassembled.

Propping himself up with an aching waist, his mind felt hazy. He had the vague sense that he’d forgotten something extremely important…

Right!

The seventh day! The academy test!

He slapped his thigh and sprang up, throwing on clothes at random before rushing out the door.

Outside the courtyard gate, Xiao An was already waiting. Seeing him emerge, he visibly relaxed.

“Young Master, you’re finally out! There’s hardly any time left. The Clan Head instructed that you use this!”

Xiao An hurriedly handed over an item.

It was a palm-sized cyan wooden kite, carved in an ancient style. It felt warm to the touch, with faint spiritual light flowing within.

A mid-grade spirit artifact—Cloud-Crossing Kite.

One of the Xiao family’s trump cards, capable of carrying at most two people.

“Father really thought this through!” Xiao Che grabbed it and infused it with spiritual power.

The wooden kite expanded with the wind, instantly transforming into a majestic cyan wooden bird with a wingspan nearly ten feet wide, faint clouds swirling around it.

Xiao Che flipped onto its back. The kite let out a clear cry, beat its wings, and shot off as a streak of cyan light toward Cangyun City.

Strong winds rushed past as mountains and rivers flashed beneath his feet.

Holding his aching lower back, Xiao Che bared his teeth into the wind.

This dual cultivation… hurt the waist more than nonstop overtime.

…

Two hours later.

Cangyun City.
Grand Training Grounds.

A sea of people surged like waves, the noise nearly lifting the sky. Dense crowds surrounded the central platform, where spirit-testing stone tablets had already been set up, shimmering with light.

The preliminary selection was clearly well underway.

Xiao Che’s heart skipped. He urged the Cloud-Crossing Kite to land at the edge of the grounds and immediately squeezed into the crowd.

“Excuse me—please make way!”

After much effort, he finally reached the registration area. The line was long and winding. As he looked around anxiously, a soft, teasing voice sounded from the side.

“Oh my, look who’s finally here.”

Xiao Che turned and saw Bai Ling in a pink gauze dress, making her look even more radiant than flowers. She leaned against a pillar, smiling at him.

That gaze was exactly like a cat catching a thief.

“Junior Brother Xiao, you really kept your senior waiting.”

She strolled over leisurely. “I was thinking, if you came earlier to help out a bit, that thousand contribution points… might’ve been negotiable.”

She blinked, her tone full of regret. “But you arrived slower than a crawling turtle. Now it’s all clear and settled—no credit, no tabs.”

Xiao Che’s face darkened.

Great. The creditor had arrived, and right on target.

He forced a dry laugh. “Executive Bai is joking. I was delayed on the way.”

“Senior Sister,” Bai Ling corrected naturally. “Go register. Any later and you really won’t make it.”

Xiao Che glanced at the snaking line, then at the sky, panic rising.

He looked at Bai Ling’s smiling face and braced himself.
“Senior Sister Bai… with a line this long… could you perhaps make things a little easier?”