Chapter 33, Wonders
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As Lihua was preparing for breakfast, she can't help but fume her anger onto the poor dough due to how Tengfei acted towards her before.
Though the anger slowly turned to her feeling embarrassed as she realizes that Tengfei finally acknowledges that she's a woman. A young one at that.
Her proud self-esteem returned as she was brimming with happiness. She then released a series of short giggles due to fantasizing about different pinkish scenarios that might occur in the future with Tengfei...
The princess was so immersed that she didn't notice the young lady beside her. Wearing a simple shirt and leather pants, she was none other than Li Meixiu. That lady just rubbed away the small traces of saliva coming from the corners of her mouth.
That young lady then asked Lihua, "When is the food ready?" Her sudden question made Lihua shriek in response.
Lihua calmed her heart before angrily yelling back at her.
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Upstairs
Tengfei tried his best to sleep but to no avail, he couldn't.
So instead he got up and went to freshen himself in the washroom.
After that, he exited the room and found a yawning Zhou Huan.
Seeing that the room he exited from was something that he had to buy again... It made Tengfei feel bad.
Tengfei approached his brother before saying, "Sorry for kicking you out of the room that you worked so hard for..."
Zhou Huan took some time to process the words as he just woke up.
Afterwards he replied back, "No worries, no worries. I did it so you could have a chance with her." He then poked him.
The young man called Zhou Huan was expecting his brother to act cold as usual and rub it off... But what happened instead surprised him completely.
Tengfei was having a shy look and tried his best to avert his eyes away from the person in front of him.
Zhou Huan couldn't help but ask, "Did you seriously fell in love for real?" With a shocked look.
Tengfei became flustered before replying immediately, "No way! I wouldn't care for a lovable spoiled pampered princess like her!"
Hearing his words almost made Huan to slap himself silly before doing it the same to his brother.
He then grasped his brother's shoulder before saying, "I'm rooting for you, my lovesick brother."
Tengfei wanted to refute... But no words could be uttered. He couldn't say anything as he watched Huan go down the stairs before yelling for food.
Though when Zhou Huan saw that Li Meixiu was there, stuffing herself in food... He, without any moment to waste, went up the stairs before aiming to stay in his room.
Before he could enter, Tengfei asked him, "And here I always thought that you wouldn't lose the chance in conquering any beautiful lady that crossed your path?" Tengfei desperately wanted to payback.
Zhou Huan shook his head.
Tengfei asked his reason.
The young man then replied back, "She's a gold-digger unfortunately."
Hearing that caused Tengfei to have a blank look. He couldn't say anything like before and just watched his brother enter his room before closing the doors behind him.
Tengfei had many thoughts running into his mind but didn't delve any further.
He decided to have breakfast and apologize to the sure angry Lihua.
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Later that day
Li Meixiu entered Huan's room and saw that he was training.
As she observed the radiance emitting out of him, the young lady could guess that he just needs one more push before his foundation would take effect.
When she stepped a little further, Zhou Huan's eyes opened before hints of hostility could be seen on him.
Though the hostility stopped when he realized that it was the gold digger.
He stopped his training posture before asking, "What you want?" With a cold tone.
Meixiu grabbed a wooden chair and placed it in front of him. She then wiped on it with a pocket cloth before taking a sit.
The young lady then said, "It seems you're doing well with building your foundation."
He didn't reply back but instead just looked at her.
His silence annoyed Li Meixiu as she asks in return, "Why do you think it's cool to act cold towards me? Do you think that will make me feel infatuate with you?"
Li Meixiu wouldn't notice but beads of sweat could be seen forming behind the neck of Zhou Huan.
He then still tried to act cold as he replies, "You ask this constantly every single time we met. Believe it or not, this is who I am."
"Before I had doubts but now, I can say for sure that your brain is damage. Just recently you acted foolish by requesting to reside in my room and now... You're acting as if that never happened. Not to mention your Brother's remark of how you usually act."
When he heard that... He let out a dry laugh. Right now, he's blaming his brother for betraying him.
Zhou Huan then claps his hands before saying happily, "You caught me this time. Tsk tsk, and here I thought I could last a couple more days."
One of Li Meixiu's eyebrow raised before she asks, " What's the purpose of acting like that? Can't you just be normal?"
"Your guess at the start is almost close to the truth. You see, if I acted normal since the beginning, you would have just ignored me and thought that I was some perverted insect. A toad dreaming to eat the swan’s meat."
Li Meixiu thought about it before replying, "...True."
Zhou Huan already predicted her answer but he couldn't help but feel a bit hurt when she said it bluntly.
He then let out a sigh as he could finally relax his shoulders and look at her normally.
Though by normal, his gaze was stuck on some parts...
Zhou Huan then said, "There's only a man and woman in a room. I'm not like my brother... if you stay any longer... The pent-up lust this previous couple of weeks will erupt and I can't promise that I wouldn't grope you..." His tone got more perverted till the end.
Li Meixiu couldn't understand the term grope before figuring something out by the way Zhou Huan is staring at her chest.
If it was any other man... He would unfortunately be dead by now. A dagger in his throat.
But due to the gratitude of giving things that she needed to her... She couldn't do anything but stop her killing intent from bursting out and pouncing at him.
She calmed herself before saying, "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that." Before looking at him coldly with little hint of warning.
Zhou Huan laughed and then said, "Girl, you still owe me! Don't be reserved and let me stare at you and admire your curvaceous outlines!"
Li Meixiu almost broke her normal doll like expression but inwardly resisted.
Though she was grinding her teeth in the inside.
She then said, "Return back to your cold personality. Your true self is nothing but the incarnation of the lust fiend."
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"It's too late already. You'll have to get used to I, Zhou Huan, the magnificent!"
Li Meixiu thought inside, 'What have I done...'
She then sighed before saying, "That scroll you gave me has been successfully used up."
"Used? So, how strong was it? Were you in such a dire spot that you had no choice but to use it?" He asked.
Li Meixiu blinked her eyes twice before replying, "I have a feeling you're thinking that the scroll you bided for me is some sort of inscription scroll."
"Then what other could it be?"
Li Meixiu turned to look around the dusty room before replying, "It was a mark initiator or secret technique. Though this one is a greater version which is called an Eternal soul technique."
Huan still looked puzzled before saying, "I still don't get it."
Li Meixiu eyed the knight shield laying on the corner of the room before saying, "...They also call it Aerith Malugus by the Krehorian people."
Zhou Huan's eyes lit up as he exclaimed that he gets it now.
He then asked, "Where's the mark located then?" With hints of curiousness in his tone.
Li Meixiu's eyebrows slightly twitched before recalling how much she owes him. She shouldn't be rude.
She then showed her collarbone which had the mark of a drake chasing its tail.
The young man saw it once before thinking of other things like the package hiding beneath the mark.
As if Li Meixiu predicted his thoughts, she gave a cold glare before walking out the room.
Though she was stopped by Zhou Huan's pleading as he asks to teach him as to how to complete his foundation.
The cold lady turned around and replied with a question instead, "You're not going to ask about the Aerith Malugus instead?"
"Isn't that a common thing that everyone should already know and have?" He then continued after gesturing her to sit on the chair again, "The more important thing is as to how I fully complete this foundation thingy."
She, without emotion, sat down again on the chair before saying, "I've never pointed this out... But are your origins not from the Kian people? I noticed that both you and your friend Tengfei don't look that much like us."
Zhou Huan smiled before plainly replying, "I don't know. As for my brother, he too doesn't know."
She surveyed him. "From someone who doesn't know, you clearly have knowledge of the Krehorian magic. You may even be a pretender as a Krehorian spy."
"That's your second time giving out a baseless accusation. Even if I were a spy... Why would I then waste my time killing beasts and rating every fine woman that pass by me."
Li Meixiu thought about it before saying, "...Never mind."
"Now girl, please explain about the foundation."
Li Meixiu coldly looked at him before doing as told.
Though in the middle of explanation, Zhou Huan burst out laughing which made the young lady baffled before asking as to why was he laughing.
She then replied, “Excuse me, but your Krehorian accent was horrible.”
Li Meixiu felt infuriated and went to give him a lesson filled with beatings before continuing the explanation.
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Some while later, in the forest, near the lake
Xiao Lihua was sitting on the grass in a meditation pose as she enters the small pocket dimension created by her master.
Her master appeared out of a dark vortex, revealing her shadowy feminine appearance.
She walked towards the princess before saying, “Even though you’re not improving as much... We still need to keep trying until you perfect the move that I thought you.”
”You know that I’m a slow learner, you obviously saw my past. Still wondering why, me out of all people.”
Her master stared at her for a moment before replying, ”I can’t tell you the main reason yet... But just think of yourself of being special compared to the rest in a certain aspect. Also, your hard work was quite commendable.”
A sense of happiness engulfed the princess before replying, ”I’ll try my best then.”
”You should be.” The master then snapped her fingers before a skeleton arises from the ground.
After Lihua picked up a stick, she did her training of trying to lead away powerful strikes and hit back with haste.
She’s starting to get the gist of controlling the opponent’s attack but her nervousness failed her midway.
At the end of it, she was left black and blue on the ground panting for air like as if she ran around the town twice.
Seeing her like this caused the shadowy figure to survey her a while.
Lihua’s Master then said, “I think it’s time I impart with you the eternal soul bound mark I own.”
hearing this caused her to undergo a dramatic change.
Her haggard expression turned pleasant with eyes brimming with excitement.
The princess stood up with ease, forgetting about her previous pain.
She then eagerly asked a barrage of questions, "A mark? What type of mark? Is it a powerful one? Where will it be located? Will it be pretty or cool?"
The master was speechless from witness the young energetic girl in front of her.
She then said, "This will be a sign that you're under my care and no one in the future may snatch you from me." The shadowy figure then raised her hand before a flow of darkness engulf Lihua's Body.
The back of her clothing got shredded before a butterfly purple tattoo appear on the center.
The insect was spreading its wings with lots of patterns on it.
Lihua was excitedly jumping up and down and asking her master if it was pretty or not. Discarding the use of it.
Her master calmed her down before saying, "This right here is not ordinary mark. By channeling your mana into it, you're able to use the very first technique that i have made before. The 'Invisible barrier'."
"'Invisible barrier? I can try and figure out what it does but I guess it's more sensible for you to explain it." Lihua said with a clever looking expression.
The shadowy figure surveyed her before saying, "I think it's best for now to only show you."
She then twirled her finger around on the air before a dark portal appeared.
A sword fell from it and it was then held by her.
She unsheathed the long sword before a dark purplish visible energy emit from the shadowy figure's body.
It all then condensed to both of her hands before surrounding her weapon's blade.
With swift agile movement, she cut the very air horizontally, causing a purple trail to remain on the air.
That trail then erected a barrier on top of it, to a certain height.
In Lihua's eyes, after she has seen her master cut the air... the upper half of her master's body disappeared.
She was greatly puzzled and walked near.
Though when she got close, she felt something near her throat.
After a few seconds, her master's upper half repapered with her sheathed blade pointed at Lihua's neck.
Lihua exclaimed out with a surprised look, "Wow!"
Her master then caused her weapon to disappear before saying, "Though you have mastered that previous move I thought you. Till then, the technique regarding your mark will not be allowed to be learned."
The princess nodded energetically before continuing her practice.
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In a tavern, in the town of Taesu.
An individual cladded in armor was taking a sit and observing a map carefully.
This person was the fellow who skewered Tengfei and spared him.
As the individual was busy thinking of stuff, a sudden sense of danger caused the person to immediately kick the table in front of him. Before taking cover with it.
Many arrows could be seen stopped by the wooden table. if it were any thinner, then those arrows would have pierced threw.
Even though the individual was covered in armor, he could tell that the arrows were soaked in special magical fluid that dissolves iron.
'Aregloiv sap' the individual silently muttered.
The individual then unsheathed the blade on the belt before standing up and surveying were the opponent is.
She/He saw nothing but frightened civilians.
Though there was one civilian who looked odd.
Before he/she could take notice... The civilian revealed a blowpipe and a dart came flying towards him/her.
He/She thought he/she dodged it, but then she/he felt the dart got into the gaps of the armpit area similar to a boomerang.
'This is bad, I better unleash or things might get hairy.' though when the cladded individual focused to activate his/her beastial power... He/She felt nothing.
He/she then thought, 'restriction poison... they know...'
Opening bag to his/her left, he/she took a vial before shattering it on the floor.
Large amount of white smoke came out of it which quickly surrounded the room.
He/she took this chance to escape with haste.
Though when he/she exited the tavern, what met him/her was a tiger that pounced at him/her
He/she fell on the ground and the help he/she wore, fell off.
Revealing a rugged man in his 40's.
Having black hair with some grays here and there.
The tiger was about to bite off the face of the man but luckily, he already sent mana into the mark. A large explosion between the man and tiger's body then occurred which separated them.
He stood immediately after picking up his rapier.
The man then drank an antidote from his bag as he runs far away. He's currently trying to find a place which is to his advantage.
When he was about to move far enough away from the Tavern, the place around him turned blue before he was encased inside a large bubble.
He snickered before thinking, 'A sealing technique... Those people are not going to be easy.'
Two men then entered the bubble. Both looking like opposites of each other.
One with the beggar appearance was none other than Qi Huai who was responsible in almost killing Tengfei.
The other one who is wearing a clean white scholar's outfit, having a brilliant smile, and the crazed maniac for anything poisonous. He is Gin Fe.
Gin Fe held his necklace tightly before it started glowing.
A figure that is slowly getting larger then appeared out of it.
The figure grew wings and limbs before making sure that every being acknowledges its presence by causing a roar.
Dark black scales, red eyes, two muscular arms and strong pair of legs. Wings with webbings that has the appearance of countless wailing human faces. A woman's body could be seen implanted on the chest of the dragon. Her eyes looked dead but her appearance seems to be alive. Though sucked into the dragon's body. The dragon had scars all around its body.
It then stared at the cladded rugged man in front of it. Breathig out hot air from its nostrils.
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