Cultivation and Consolidation!

That night.

Moonlight spilled across the snow, turning night into day. Even the far side of the wall was washed in its snowy glow.

Suddenly, a figure appeared outside the perimeter wall.

Under the moonlight, his shadow fell at an angle across the wall.

On the gate steps more than ten yards away hung a plaque.

Three large characters were carved into it.

The Commandery Governor's Office.

Jiang Ning glanced at the wall ahead. His figure stirred, and he vanished from where he stood.

Inside the Commandery Governor's Office.

Wang Qingtan, dressed in plain long sleeves and trousers, walked barefoot across the wooden floor to the window.

She opened it a little wider. A cold wind slipped in, but the charcoal fire inside was burning strong.

As she propped the window open farther, cool moonlight slanted through the gap, casting a bright shaft across the floor.

The moonlight reflected off the wooden boards, brightening the room.

"Is he still not here?" she murmured, gazing at a corner of the view outside.

"What, did you miss me?" Jiang Ning's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

She spun around, glossy black hair whipping through the air, and saw Jiang Ning standing in her room.

He wore a fitted white outfit, his posture straight, his long hair tied back with a white ribbon.

"How did you get in?" Wang Qingtan asked, startled.

"Just like that." Jiang Ning smiled faintly.

"Just like that?" Wang Qingtan murmured. She looked at him, then at the bolted door, then at the window opened to a gap barely five feet wide. Confusion still filled her eyes.

"Your abilities are getting harder and harder for me to understand," Wang Qingtan said with a sigh.

"I have to grow stronger," Jiang Ning said. "If I don't, I won't be able