You're Just Being Yourself!

Jiang Yunzhou mercilessly slapped himself across the face, the sound crisp and loud.

"See no evil! Jiang Yunzhou, what the hell are you thinking?" he muttered a curse at himself, his face burning hot.

This was the disciple he had picked to be the founding senior disciple of his sect!

How could he entertain such filthy thoughts? He was worse than a beast!

"Tsk, looks like I need to find myself a wife first. Otherwise, I'll be distracted all day and have to rely on my hand to solve the problem..."

He quickly ran through a list of potential disciples who met both his requirements and his standards for looks and figure.

Then he ruled them all out.

Those who were already taken or otherwise unsuitable left very few who truly fit his criteria.

"Huh?"

A thought suddenly popped into his mind. "Other people can marry soul beasts, so why can't I?"

Thinking of the Tang family's generations-long, tangled ties with soul beasts, his mind instantly opened up.

"If I'm marrying one, I naturally have to marry the best! Let me properly research some high-potential candidates..."

He became engrossed in researching his future wife.

Just then, the bathroom door clicked softly.

Zhu Zhuqing emerged after changing.

She was still dressed in her signature black, skin-tight outfit, which perfectly outlined the young girl's graceful figure.

Her wet black hair draped over her shoulders, several strands clinging to her fair neck and adding an even more alluring charm.

Jiang Yunzhou's gaze involuntarily stuck to her. In his mind, the hazy silhouette from earlier overlapped with the incomparably clear sight before him, and an even fiercer rush of heat surged straight toward his lower abdomen.

"Damn it..."

He cursed inwardly and forcibly suppressed his roiling blood.

"This eighteen-year-old body is seriously a headache!"

Zhu Zhuqing still clutched the bloodstained, torn old clothes in her hand, intending to find somewhere to throw them away.

When she looked up, she met Jiang Yunzhou's blazing gaze. Her cheeks instantly flushed again, and embarrassment made her toes curl.

She hurriedly hid the ruined clothes behind her back, her eyes darting away.

"C-could you not look at me like that..." Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"Also, thank you so much for helping me shake off my pursuers and for treating my injuries."

She took a deep breath and tried hard to calm herself.

"I'll definitely repay this kindness someday. I-I'll leave now. You can have this room."

Spend the night alone in a room with a strange man she had known for less than half a day?

The thought alone made her uncomfortable all over.

If she had not been covered in sticky, unbearable blood and grime earlier, she might even have refused to bathe here.

Leave?

A playful curve lifted at Jiang Yunzhou's lips.

He had not gone to all this trouble just to hear a casual thank-you and a promise of future repayment.

What he wanted to hear was: Teacher!

"Leave?" he drawled.

"Where do you want to go? Am I really that frightening?"

"Or do you think that saving your life and treating your injuries are worth only a few gold coins in repayment?"

Pressed by him, Zhu Zhuqing retreated half a step and shook her head repeatedly. "No! That's not it! You misunderstand! I never thought that!"

It was just that this ambiguous and awkward atmosphere made her feel as though she were sitting on pins and needles.

Honestly, if she really left, where could she go? She was completely lost.

"Oh? Then tell me, why are you so eager to leave? Give me a reasonable explanation."

Zhu Zhuqing opened her mouth, yet could not say a single word.

What could she say? That his gaze was too aggressive?

That being alone in a room with an unfamiliar man felt dangerous?

That would sound more like she was blaming her lifesaver. She held it in until her eyes faintly reddened.

Seeing the girl's embarrassed yet stubborn expression, Jiang Yunzhou chuckled.

"I've never liked forcing people to do things. Do you want to become stronger?"

"I can help you. Why not consider becoming my disciple?"

Inwardly, he frantically cursed that damn requirement of mutual consent...

How much easier would it be if he could just suppress her by force!

Who cared whether she was willing? As long as the goal was achieved, wasn't that enough?

The words "become stronger" struck directly at Zhu Zhuqing's deepest desire!

Her body trembled slightly, and her eyes filled with intense bitterness and helplessness.

"I-I want to become stronger. I want it very badly!"

"But there are things I absolutely have to do. I know this little bit can't repay you, but I really have nothing else right now..."

The more she spoke, the more wronged she felt. Her voice began to choke up, and tears welled in her eyes.

"As long as you agree to become my disciple, helping you will be a teacher's duty. It will be only natural. Talking about repayment after that would be far too distant."

"I'm a level seventy-nine Soul Saint. I should be qualified to be your master, shouldn't I?"

Zhu Zhuqing abruptly raised her head.

"A level seventy-nine Soul Saint?"

Her catlike eyes instantly widened, filled with utter disbelief!

This man looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, barely older than she was!

Despite training with all her strength, she had only reached the twenties in level. Could he really be a level seventy-nine Soul Saint?

How was that possible?

Perhaps noticing the doubt in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, Jiang Yunzhou said no more.

With a thought, Soul Power surged around him. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.

Seven soul rings, each gleaming with a different light, appeared one after another!

Zhu Zhuqing held her breath. Her cool catlike eyes widened unconsciously as she stared fixedly at the seven soul rings.

Her small mouth hung slightly open, her soft pink lips looking especially enticing in her shock.

"Well?"

Jiang Yunzhou raised his chin. "You believe me now, right? I wasn't lying to you."

Looking at Zhu Zhuqing's slightly parted pink lips in her stunned state, Jiang Yunzhou inexplicably wanted to put something inside them.

He shook his head, suppressing that dangerous thought.

"Jiang Yunzhou..."

Zhu Zhuqing asked in a somewhat dry voice, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Jiang Yunzhou raised a brow and answered without hesitation.

"Oh, right," he added, as though he had only just realized it. "You meant my age, didn't you?"

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned by the question. "Yes! What else did you think I was asking about?"

"Oh, oh, I nearly misunderstood..."

"That's eighteen too."

"..." Zhu Zhuqing felt a vein throbbing at her temple.

She hated people with no sense of boundaries!

Could this guy really be trusted as a teacher?

An eighteen-year-old level seventy-nine Soul Saint—how had he possibly done it?

She was so jealous!

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing fall into a long silence, Jiang Yunzhou did not press her any further this time.

If he pushed too hard, he was afraid he would make her cry again.

He could roughly guess what Zhu Zhuqing was struggling with.

Weren't they at the Rose Hotel right now?

She had not run into that horny golden-haired dog today, but she would run into him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

When that happened, once she saw with her own eyes what kind of man the fiancé she had been so devotedly pursuing really was, perhaps her resolve would waver without Jiang Yunzhou needing to say another word.

Against someone like Zhu Zhuqing—cold on the outside, strong on the inside, and extremely guarded—forceful methods would only backfire.

Wasn't he acting so unreliable, even a little shameless, precisely to lower her guard and make himself seem easy to get along with?

Sigh, just to take on a disciple, he was practically becoming an award-winning actor. Thinking about it, he was even a little moved.

If Zhu Zhuqing could hear his inner thoughts right now, she would probably coldly remark: Acting? You're just being yourself!