“I believe true love can cross all impossible boundaries.” Youjin Chao stood firm on his beliefs. His self-confidence was applaudable, if nothing else.

“I’m surprised you’d have so much faith in ‘true love’ after what Youjin Chun did.”

“She wasn’t the one. How could our forced relationship have ever been committed when we weren’t soulmates? But Su Nanya is.”

“What does that even mean, soulmates? It sounds like nothing more than some gut instinct.”

“It is not!” Youjin Chao shouted as if that proved his point, “I can feel her powerful yin physique wherever I am, no matter the time and place. It calls to me at each breath of every moment, even as we speak now. I am sure her yin seeks to awaken the yang physique I had lost ten years ago. To revive me, to set me upon my rightful path! Can you not see this, Brother Yung? This is for both our sakes. We are meant to be! As mandated by the heavens with my yang and her yin.” Youjin Chao looked frustrated, unable to convince Yung to see from his point of view. He clenched his fists, “And I won’t let anything, or anyone, stand in my way. ”

Yin physique… Is that why my Heart qi cultivates into True qi so rapidly when I hold Nanya’s hand? Yung hid a smirk, “As I said, it sounds to me you wanna use her yin whatever like some cultivation resource.”

“Why must you only see the worm in the apple? Our union will aid her in cultivation as much as it will mine. I will not only take but also give. That is a promise I can commit my heart and soul to. So who are you, a person without powerful yang, to judge our destined path?”

Defensive much? I’ll have you know, my severed yang fire qi circulation technique made her moan the first time we met! Yung sighed, holding back the urge to get defensive himself. Well, Chao is a teenager.

Yung shook the irrelevant thought away, replying to Youjin Chao. “Yet here you are, refusing to commit all your love to one woman who loves you dearly. You want exclusivity from all your partners, but you refuse to reciprocate with the same. That doesn’t raise confidence that you’ll ‘give as much as you take’ now, does it?”

Youjin Chao was shocked, speechless for a good minute. He then said with a resolved nod, “If I am strong enough to make both Ling and Su Nanya happy, why should I settle for any less?”

Spoken like a true protagonist.

“It’s all about you, isn’t it?” Yung sighed once more; he grew weary of this conversation. So he replied with Su Nanya’s signature phrase, “I utterly reject that. I’m sorry, Brother Chao, but looks like we might be at an impasse; so let’s agree to disagree. It’s almost evening, and I really need to get back.”

Youjin Chao looked at him and laughed, “I am a cripple, you know? Even when I was engaged, people called me an ugly toad trying to swallow a graceful swan. It is flattering that you’d even agree to disagree as such, when I’m trying to swallow a phoenix now.”

“It simply means I don’t judge a person’s worth by their social status, physical prowess, and cultivation strength alone, Brother Chao”, Yung answered honestly, glancing at Youjin Chao’s celestial link. “People are nuanced like that.”

“Thank you. But alas, what a shame.”

With that, they returned to the citadel, different thoughts churning in each teen’s head.

They met with the good patriarch and spoke of the voidfiend attack.

Youjin Liu promised to look into the issue within the next few days. The Youjin clan's grain fields were underground, in the caverns below the Dim gold orchard and lake vicinity. They had recently been under fiend attack too. The patriarch set a plan to close the rogue voidrift with the elders. Yung expressed interest in joining. Not only to see the voidrift but also the Youjin farmlands. Or rather, farm caves. The whole concept was a doozy.

Yung then bade the patriarch farewell.

At the citadel’s south entrance, the two rival boys stopped. Yung would head towards the market square and Youjin Chao towards the lower towns.

They shook hands,

“May the best man win.”

“There’s nothing to win here.”

And then they parted.

Their relationship had subtly changed, but that’s how the world worked.

Yung stared at the receding figure of Youjin Chao for a while longer.

“Kii!”

“I know.”

Then ran towards the Dim gold hotel just as fast as he had run away from it that morning.

He’d done Su Nanya wrong.

After everything she did to help him, when he was a confused mess after transmigrating to this cruel, magical world. With only five gold coins to his name and a legacy clan out to exploit him, he would have ended up with fewer rights than an insect if Nanya wasn’t there to shield him.

He would be a true ingrate if he dared to break his word.

As he had so eloquently lectured Youjin Chao, it was his turn to reciprocate. To give back equally what he had taken from the fair vixen.

***

“M’lady, good news.” Su Yafeng tried to cheer up the mopping bundle of blankets sulking on the remains of the queen-sized bed.

“Leave us alone!” Came the aggrieve reply from within.

Nanya was mad.

Rightly so! The new servant had disregarded her as though she was not the fairest maiden in the land.

Usually, at this time, she would be spying on Yung with Su Yafeng’s Azure gale vulpines, but all curiosity to do such had left her maidenly mind.

Under a dusk sky of deep orange and red, the golden glow of the horizon had spilt through the shattered window, illuminating the room. The sun's rays, twisting like a golden mist, had danced with cruel irony around Nanya's sombre nest of woollens. Almost as if they were taunting her, their serpentine movements evoked memories she had wished to bury deep within her. The spark of anger within her was fierce. Yet it wasn't entirely directed at her new, inexperienced servant who was merely a boy.

Stolen novel; please report.

In truth, her rage was more reflective of her own self-loathing: a raw, painful emotion akin to taking a brutal hit from an ugly red fruit.

Nanya’s tears flowed like the spring ocean under a night sky. Reminding her of the same horrendous stenches that had taken her beloved’s heart away.

There was a knock on the door.

“Do not let him enter!” Nanya screamed neurotically.

"Come in," Su Yafeng opened the gate with the best smile she could force her face to make. She bowed at the panting boy; how utterly traitorous of the elegant 'gatekeeper' calligraphy on her hanfu! "M'lady has been awaiting your arrival."

“We have not!”

“Please do tell her what you told that Youjin Chao imbecile.” With that, the maid was out of the room, closing the doors behind her. The Azure gale vulpines left in tow.

Ziyou Yung tiptoed forward and squatted by the heap of quilts.

“I’m sorry for not keeping my word,” He said, his daydreams evincing genuine remorse. “I shouldn’t have lied.”

A violent aura exploded from the bundle, jolting the boy to his bones. But it left as fast as it arrived, followed by her self-deprecating voice.

“No, it was us to blame. We had expected too much, set our standards too low.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ziyou Yung said with a humorous wince, “You calling me ugly again?”

“Is it not a fact? We had thought that if one even so unlovely as you would value us for what we represent, it would perchance give us peace of mind.”

“I’m shocked! Really. First Chao, now you. Everyone is so honest today, admitting their deepest needs.”

“We admit nothing!”

Ziyou Yung wiggled his toes, then stretched his arms. Before Nanya could figure out what he wanted, the madlander boy plopped beside her on the bed and yawned out loud.

“Whew, this bed is so fluffy.”

"Such obvious claims. We only deserved the best, do you not agree?" Nanya peeked out of the fleeces, having applied jade powder to her face in the meanwhile. It would be unbecoming to show such maidenly weakness as a welled-up face to one's lesser. "One such of the servile class as you should indeed experience a sense of pride, perhaps even elation, to partake in this same exquisite fluffiness as we."

“Indeed, my lady. This particular amphibian toad is experiencing the pinnacle of fluffiness, I daresay, if I may be so bold to declare it myself.” Ziyou Yung closed his eyes and raised his chin, mimicking an impression in an accent Nanya had never heard before. She was not amused.

The boy extended his hand, which Nanya cautiously accepted. As their palms met, the cycle reinitiated. Her peak 11th stage body refinement cultivation resumed, with the boy's strange Essence qi again flowing into her.

“Why do you come to us?” She asked, trying her hardest to ignore the swell of guilt brewing within her heart. Here she was, wearing the inner court clothes of her beloved’s palace, yet she shared the moment with a dark-skinned barbarian twenty times younger.

Oh how she hated Ziyou Yung’s sharp words! How she detested this boy’s clear eyes that seemed to pierce through her tulle veil of false emotions.

“I did promise to flip the heaven and earth to woo you! I gotta be who I claim to be.” Ziyou Yung smiled with a toothy grin.

Nanya couldn’t help but stare, “You merely promised to upturn the oceans and mountains, oh newest servant. We do believe the heaven and earth are too big for one such serf as you.”

“Eh? Really? Well, let me be more ambitious and upgrade my ambitions. Heaven and earth it is!”

Nanya covered her face with her tail. It would not be ladylike to show a gentleman a giggle.

“You do not lie?” She asked, her golden irises quivering. “We cannot help but worry that when we reject you, you might go back on your words once more.”

“Which words?”

“Your words of flattery, of how extollingly gorgeous and sensual we truly are in our unrivalled allure. The honeyed phrases you shall employ in the near future in your futile attempts to charm us.”

Ziyou Yung’s mouth hung open, and he laughed, “That’s a problem for the future Yung! Right now, I can swear to the heavens that you are the most gorgeous and sensual woman in town.”

Nanya pouted, turning away.

“City—I mean, the whole Last ascension mortal plane and beyond!”

She turned back, “You are forgiven.”

“But Nyanya, why do you need me to say that? Shouldn’t it be obvious?”

Nanya was stumped. Not at the servant boy’s nickname for her he so casually ventured, but at his piercing question.

“Why indeed, we wonder. Perhaps hearing the truth from others would reassure us.”

“Reassure you that you actually are beautiful? Or that others think you are beautiful.”

“Is it not so that they bear the same meaning?”

Ziyou Yung thought for a while. He looked Nanya in her vulpine eyes, then reached out his other palm too. She blinked, but took hold of it with her dainty fingers nonetheless.

“Tell me, if you find this unpleasant.” Ziyou Yung gently pulled her in and seated her on his lap. Nanya’s heartbeat raced, threatening to break out of her ribcage. She was three thoughts away from sundering this audacious madlander fool to death. To run back to her beloved and beg forgiveness for her infidelity.

But she reigned in the urges and sunk into the gentle feeling of her Essence qi ever so steadily morphing into True qi. It was nice, warm, and unhurried. Neither fast nor violent, as when her beloved embraced her with his extreme yang physique. When her heart would not stay measured, and her Essence qi threatened to fulminate out violently with but a moment of distraction, agonising her blood and bones.

She quite liked the serene feelings this leisurely, slow, but oh-so-steadfast pace of cultivation evoked. Like the adorable moniker, Nyanya. She found it rather affectionate. So she would allow him to refer her as such in the coming days.

“What you think of yourself, shouldn’t wholly depend on what others think.” Ziyou Yung said, his strange voice flowing like mellow wine. “Naturally, it would be best to take into account the feedback from those who genuinely care about you. But to base your entire existence, your self-worth and value, solely on the opinions of others, I can’t imagine living such a hard life.” He entwined his calloused fingers with hers, yet his touch was not rough. Not rough at all, oh my!

Nanya buried her blush, asking, “But should we not correct others when they have the wrong opinion?”

“Maybe you can try. One person, a hundred? A million? How many people live on our mortal plane? And how many beyond?”

“It would be tiring.” Nanya admitted, “Yet we find ourselves unable to tolerate transgressions left unresolved.”

“I understand the feeling. I’d be hurt too if other people disparage me. Especially if ‘other people’ is a pretty lady, speaking ill to my face!”

“You dare accuse me of calling out your disagreeable countenance? But is it not a fact?”

“It’s also a fact that you’re the most beautiful girl ever. But I bet there was once a certain ‘other people’ who did something that went against that fact. Maybe he denied your charms. Or maybe, he chose another girl over you despite acknowledging your supreme allure?”

“…” Nanya pouted, turning away.

“Did it feel good?”

“It felt… as though a devil cultivator had violated our hearts,” Nanya replied, turning back. Her shoulders lightened at the honesty, the first time in years. She revelled in her sinful confession, “We do not want to suffer the same again. Ever. It is too cruel for one such maiden as we.”

Ziyou Yung’s touch turned into an embrace. He held her, ever so softly. And Nanya felt a strange urge to lean onto him. The boy didn’t have a tall frame or a broad back. But his shoulder was just the right height to rest her chin on.

“It hurts when others speak badly of me. Of us. But we are cultivators! Our emotions, our feelings; I believe from the bottom of my heart that we can master them. Even, no, especially love. When a loved one does something that we don’t like, it’s painful. But if we ask why we feel that pain, perhaps we can arrive at the answer we’re looking for.” Ziyou Yung spoke as quietly as he could. Nanya gave the foolish boy her unwavering attention, her gaze tender yet devoted.

“Is that not your biased view, oh servant so wise in the ways of love?” She found it in her heart to banter, and Ziyou Yung smiled with his eyes.

“If it works for me, who are others to judge? They’ll only consider the world from their subjective position in life. Their opinions of us, of you, will be clouded by whatever events and circumstances led up to that point. It’s not your problem to fix, nor your responsibility to shoulder.”

Nanya savoured those words in her mind. She adored them, as the events of the past decades flashed past her eyes like a revolving lantern.

“We cannot accept that. There must be another reason for one so near to our heart, to hurt us so cruelly. If we are not truly deplorable, if we are not enough by ourselves, why would….”

“Why would, what?”

“Why would you men, such baseborn creatures, seek to plant your seeds in as many fair maidens as possible?” Nanya asked, her uncontrolled emotions gushing forth with her enraged voice.