Set a Small Goal First

Ning Chuan slowly rose to his feet, his expression gradually turning solemn.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced to the window and tilted his head up at the azure sky beyond. His gaze gradually grew melancholy and profound.

In truth, all eight hundred tricks in his head were running at full tilt as he racked his brains, desperately searching through everything he had learned in his previous life.

"Alas!"

Ning Chuan suddenly let out a long sigh,

then slowly began to recite:

"Long have I sighed and wiped away my tears, grieving for the many hardships of the common folk!"

His voice was low and weighty, seeming to contain endless desolation, bitterness, sorrow, and fury...

Leng Hanshuang and Xiao Lian were both stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.

"This brat can actually say something like that!"

Ning Chuan stole a glance at the two women from the corner of his eye, and immediately knew he had them.

He then said slowly:

"The County Magistrate colludes with bandits and harms the people, seeking to destroy the nation's foundations in an act of treason!"

"Though Ning is untalented, I cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in my eyes, nor can my heart hold filth."

"Now that I have joined the Imperial Guard, I must partake of the sovereign's salary and serve the sovereign faithfully. All I ask is to follow you, my lord!"

Ning Chuan's voice was sonorous and forceful, steadily rising until it became impassioned. A righteous aura radiated from him.

"With my three-foot blade, I shall secure the Great Ming's realm forever, let the people live and work in peace, slaughter every bandit under heaven, and carve out a bright and clear world!"

"Even if I am an ant trying to shake a great tree, though ten million stand against me, I shall press onward!"

As the final words fell, Ning Chuan's passionate voice echoed through the room.

"Lord Leng, this is the second path I have chosen!"

Leng Hanshuang stood rooted to the spot. Ning Chuan's words, "Though ten million stand against me, I shall press onward," boomed and reverberated in her mind.

She recalled the first time she had met Ning Chuan outside Qingshi Town: a hot-blooded youth whose ambitions soared higher than the heavens.

"So I had underestimated this brat!"

"This brat came from a poor background. Who knows where he learned such principles!"

A trace of shame rose in her heart. She felt she should not have tested Ning Chuan just now.

The way Xiao Lian looked at Ning Chuan changed. Her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the longer she looked at him, the more handsome she found him.

In her heart, Ning Chuan's figure seemed to grow ever taller and more imposing!

Just now, Ning Chuan had racked his brains and nearly emptied out the knowledge he had accumulated over several decades in his previous life.

Still, the results were not bad. He had finally succeeded in stunning the two women, and secretly felt rather pleased with himself.

He dropped to one knee, his face full of righteous resolve, while inwardly he roared,

Shuangshuang, hurry up and help me up!

Fuck, hurry and help me up! I'm about to lose my composure!

If Shuangshuang won't come, Lianlian can help me up too!

Damn it, isn't the usual move to pull me up in one go, then gaze at me affectionately and say, 'Chuan, I was wrong about you!'

Alas, when other people transmigrate, beautiful women throw themselves into their arms!

But when it comes to me, even after racking my brains, I still can't gain a single advantage!

Ning Chuan looked eagerly at the two women. After waiting a long while without any response, he could only stand up himself with a face full of grievance.

Leng Hanshuang looked Ning Chuan up and down, a faint curve appearing at the corner of her lips.

"Very good. So long as you do not betray this official, this official will never betray you!"

After that performance, the distance between the three of them had narrowed considerably.

Leng Hanshuang had truly begun to regard Ning Chuan as a trusted confidant, and her attitude toward him had become much warmer.

The way Xiao Lian looked at Ning Chuan had changed as well, carrying a faint, inexplicable glimmer.

The three chatted until midnight before leaving the Imperial Guard's yamen together.

Rumble...

Crash...

A torrential downpour came pouring down as thunder and lightning roared through the sky.

Lightning lit up the night sky, casting enormous shadows from the buildings that looked like savage ghosts, making the scene especially chilling.

Ning Chuan stood beneath the gates of the Imperial Guard's yamen, staring at the rain falling as though the heavens were pouring water from a basin, and was instantly dumbfounded!

The heavens had unleashed a downpour, and he had not brought an umbrella!

Even at the 117th level of the Body Tempering Realm, without protective true qi, he still had to get soaked when it rained.

Ning Chuan turned around and looked at the two women who had come out with him.

His gaze swept over their curvaceous figures one by one. A trace of anticipation rose in his heart, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"Oh ho, they didn't bring umbrellas either!"

"With bodies that hot, I wonder what kind of sight they'll make once the rain soaks them through!"

"Hehehe..."

A lecherous smile spread across Ning Chuan's face.

Leng Hanshuang and Xiao Lian seemed to see through Ning Chuan's thoughts. The two women gave him smug looks.

Then golden light spread over their delicate bodies, forming layers of protective true qi as they swaggered straight into the torrential rain.

Fuck, that works too?

"Lord Leng, Xiao Lian, make a shield for me too! Or I can share one shield with you!"

Ning Chuan shouted at the women's retreating backs.

"Rumble! Rumble..."

Thunder roared, and the two graceful figures had long since vanished into the boundless curtain of rain.

Only Ning Chuan remained where he was, standing all alone with only his own shadow for company.

Ning Chuan fumed and muttered to himself,

"Why haven't I cultivated true qi yet!"

"Why does a great expert like me have to get rained on personally!"

"Oh? Why can't a great expert get rained on personally?"

Just then, a teasing voice sounded beside his ear.

The voice was crisp and gentle, like a spring breeze brushing over mountain ridges, making one's heart itch and go numb.

Amid the violent wind, torrential rain, and endless dark night, it seemed especially soothing to the soul.

Warmth rose in Ning Chuan's heart, and a faint fragrance drifted into his nose.

He saw a graceful figure come to his side and stand shoulder to shoulder with him as an oiled-paper umbrella covered the sky above their heads.

"Lady Xiao Lian!"

"Come on, I'll see you home!"

"Thank you, Lady Xiao Lian!"

Ning Chuan was puzzled, unable to make heads or tails of it no matter how hard he thought.

This girl ignored me during the day, yet now she's actually holding an umbrella for me!

Could it be that my little performance successfully captured her heart?

With a beauty seeing him home and no need to get drenched, Ning Chuan was naturally more than willing.

To spare Ning Chuan's pride, Xiao Lian did not use true qi to block out the rain. One side of her body was soon soaked.

"Lady Xiao Lian, you got wet for my sake!"

"Look, the clothes on this side are completely soaked through!"

At some point, a large hand had wrapped itself around her slender waist.

Xiao Lian's body stiffened slightly, then she forcefully pulled away, trying to break free from Ning Chuan.

However, Ning Chuan's large hand was like a mountain, impossible to shake even the slightest bit.

Her face turned red from holding herself back. She barely restrained herself from exploding, while her good impression of Ning Chuan plummeted in a straight line.

"This lecherous scoundrel! It's all the young lady's fault for making me hold an umbrella for you!"

"I'll endure you for now. Just wait and see how I deal with you later!"

Meanwhile, the soft sensation beneath Ning Chuan's hand and the faint fragrance entering his nose sent his hormones soaring.

He was a Body Tempering martial artist, strong of body and brimming with hot blood. How could he withstand such stimulation?

This feels amazing! So fucking amazing!

Ning Chuan was exhilarated, and even his steps grew lighter.

From his experience in his previous life, when you held a woman for the first time, she would definitely struggle.

Once she stopped struggling, there was usually hope. That was called half-pushing, half-yielding.

At a time like this, one absolutely could not let up. One had to press the attack and constantly expand the gains.

Ning Chuan's heartbeat gradually quickened as he desperately recalled the one hundred and eight techniques he had heard of in his previous life, fantasizing about living a blissful life later that night.

First, set a small goal: take down Xiao Lian tonight!

Then, find opportunities with Lord Leng and proceed step by step!

As Ning Chuan's thoughts turned, all kinds of scenes flashed through his mind one after another: one dragon with two phoenixes, sharing one blanket in bed, and more.

How could he know of Xiao Lian's grievance, helplessness, and fury at that moment...

Ning Chuan was simply too strong. At over a hundred levels in the Body Tempering Realm, Xiao Lian was not half-pushing, half-yielding at all—she was using every ounce of strength she had, yet still could not push him away.

The two walked side by side down the road, each immersed in their own world and forgetting to sense their surroundings.

One was filled with springtime yearning, wild fantasies, and secret delight!

The other gritted her teeth, fury blazing in her chest, on the verge of erupting!

Within the shadows ahead, six black-clad figures stood like ghosts, blending into the darkness.

Ning Chuan drew closer and closer.

The six exchanged glances, cold light blazing in their eyes as they abruptly tightened their grips on their weapons.

Rumble!

A muffled clap of thunder exploded in the sky.

At that very moment!

Cold flashes burst forth as six weapons, shrieking sharply through the air, shot straight toward Ning Chuan and Xiao Lian.