"..."
Ah Yin abruptly raised her head and looked at Chen Xuan. Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with boundless gratitude.
The next second, without a moment's hesitation, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"!!!"
Ah Yin's soft, fragrant body nestled against him, carrying the fresh scent unique to plants.
She buried her face against Chen Xuan's chest and thanked him excitedly, completely unaware that anything about her state was amiss.
Chen Xuan's body stiffened slightly, then relaxed again.
He raised a hand but didn't push her away. He simply spoke in a calm voice.
"Could you put your clothes on first?"
Ah Yin's body in his arms jolted.
Clothes?
Only then did she look down and realize she was completely naked.
"Ah!"
With a startled cry, Ah Yin's cheeks instantly flushed red, like ripe apples.
She let go of Chen Xuan in a flash, wrapped her arms around her chest, and crouched down, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to hide in.
She... she had actually...
But she had only just taken human form. Where could she get clothes?
Just as Ah Yin was overcome with embarrassment, a robe carrying a faint, delicate fragrance drifted down from above and settled gently over her.
A set of clothes had appeared in Chen Xuan's hands at some point. Clearly, he had prepared them in advance.
"Put these on."
Ah Yin looked up and saw Chen Xuan's calm, unreadable gaze. The panic in her heart gradually subsided.
She took the clothes, blushing as she turned her back to him and hurriedly dressed.
It was a pale-blue long dress, simple yet elegant, as though it had been tailored just for her.
Once dressed, Ah Yin seemed less naturally alluring and more dignified and sacred.
She turned around and nervously smoothed her skirt. "D-do I look nice?"
Chen Xuan nodded and was about to speak.
Just then, a cool, noble voice, tinged with urgency, rang out from the courtyard entrance.
"Teacher!"
Qian Renxue hurried into the back courtyard.
She had just finished dealing with some matters at the academy. When she heard that Chen Xuan had gone to the back courtyard, she rushed over at once.
But when she entered the courtyard, she saw a scene that struck her like a bolt from the blue.
Chen Xuan stood beneath the moon.
And before him stood a blue-haired woman she had never seen before, beautiful beyond belief.
That woman was... adjusting her clothes.
Her expression, her movements—it was obvious she had only just put them on!
And considering this was Chen Xuan's private courtyard, and it was late at night...
Qian Renxue's head buzzed, and her mind went completely blank.
Her world had come crashing down.
The high ground she had guarded for over a year... had just been stolen by another woman!
The moment Qian Renxue stepped into the courtyard, the air froze.
She stopped in her tracks, the scene beneath the moon reflected in her golden eyes. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Who was that blue-haired woman?
Why was she here?
Why was she adjusting her clothes?
Why would Chen Xuan allow a strange woman to do such a thing in his private back courtyard, in the middle of the night...?
Countless questions surged through her like a raging tide, instantly sweeping away the composure she had always prided herself on.
She looked at the pale-blue long dress the woman was wearing, then at Chen Xuan's calm face. A bitterness and hurt she had never felt before welled up inside her.
A year.
She had spent an entire year by his side as Xue Qinghe, observing the final boundary and never daring to cross it.
And now, a woman who had appeared out of nowhere had crossed into the forbidden ground she had dreamed of reaching with ease.
Qian Renxue's lips moved. Her voice was hoarse and dry, trembling in a way she herself didn't notice.
"It seems I've come at a bad time."
After speaking, she didn't dare take another look. She turned and began to leave the place that had broken her heart.
"You came at just the right time."
Chen Xuan's calm voice came from behind her. Unhurried, yet carrying an irresistible force, it stopped her in her tracks.
Qian Renxue stood with her back to him and didn't turn around.
Chen Xuan continued, "I'm explaining the fundamentals of Martial Soul Evolution to her. As the owner of a Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, you'd benefit from listening too."
Explaining?
Qian Renxue slowly turned around, her gaze filled with scrutiny and suspicion.
Was this what an explanation required?
Her eyes fell on Ah Yin.
Ah Yin was also examining Qian Renxue curiously. She could sense that this golden-haired woman seemed to harbor... deep hostility toward her.
"Teacher, who is she?" Qian Renxue asked, her tone radiating an innate pride.
Chen Xuan didn't answer directly. He simply raised his hand and pointed to the clearing in the center of the courtyard.
The air there still held traces of the purest life force, left behind when the Blue Silver Emperor's true form had dissipated.
"She's that Blue Silver Grass."
At those words, Qian Renxue froze.
Blue Silver Grass?
Was she the Blue Silver Emperor Chen Xuan had been carefully tending all this time?
After the initial shock, an even stronger thought took hold of her.
So she was just a blade of grass.
Did a mere blade of Blue Silver Grass think she could compete with me?
I'm the heir to the god-level Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, and the future pope of Spirit Hall!
So what if you're the Blue Silver Emperor?
"..."
At the thought, most of the bitterness and hurt in Qian Renxue's heart instantly faded, replaced by absolute confidence and a sense of control.
She straightened her back again, regaining the composure and nobility of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.
"I see."
She walked over to Chen Xuan, her gaze fixed on Ah Yin as she said coolly, "Since Teacher is giving a lesson, this student will naturally listen attentively."
She stayed.
Chen Xuan wasn't surprised. He gestured for the two women to sit on the stone stools.
Moonlight spilled across the courtyard like water.
Chen Xuan stood with his hands behind his back and began to explain his understanding of life and Martial Souls in a clear voice.
"Everyone knows that a Martial Soul determines a Soul Master's potential, and that Innate Soul Power is an impassable chasm."
"That is utterly wrong."
"A Martial Soul is merely a manifestation of the soul's power in the outside world. It is not unchanging."
"Why can't Blue Silver Grass rival the Clear Sky Hammer? Why can't Foxtail Grass evolve into a towering divine tree?"
"The answer lies not in bloodline, but in will—in understanding the very source of life!"
Chen Xuan's words carried no Soul Power, yet seemed to possess a magic that struck directly at the soul.
Every word contained the truths of heaven and earth, the music of the Great Dao.
At first, Qian Renxue listened with an air of scrutiny and comparison.
But gradually, she became completely immersed.
The theories Chen Xuan expounded completely transcended everything she had come to understand over the past twenty years, opening a door to an entirely new world!
Before you continue