Zhu Qing Gave Her Heart

Zhu Zhuqing could no longer keep up the act. She slowly lifted her eyelids and opened her eyes.

Her gaze darted away, unable to meet Lu Chuan's, while a faint blush crept over her ears.

Half an hour earlier.

Zhu Zhuqing had woken in a daze, feeling light all over. The aches and exhaustion from the medicinal bath had vanished, leaving warmth in every limb and bone.

She sat up to look for Lu Chuan, but the moment she lifted the covers, a chill swept over her whole body.

Her muddled mind snapped awake.

She had fainted right after absorbing the medicine. Yet here she was, clean and lying in bed.

That meant... Senior Lu Chuan had cleaned her himself and carried her from the bathroom to the bedroom?

Her heart began pounding wildly. Scalding embarrassment swept through her, turning her ears and cheeks crimson.

She wanted to get dressed, but remembered that all her clothes were still in the bathroom.

Senior Lu Chuan was still cultivating and absorbing the medicine. Wouldn't she disturb him if she went in now?

So she burrowed back under the covers, intending to fetch her clothes when she had the chance.

She waited about half an hour.

Click—

The bathroom door opened. Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly shut her eyes and pretended to sleep.

But Senior Lu Chuan saw through her act at once.

Lu Chuan smiled and pointed to the clothes by the bed.

"I left your clothes here. Don't forget to put them on."

"Mm. Senior, could you turn around?"

Her ears burning red, Zhu Zhuqing pulled the covers over half her face, leaving only her bashful eyes visible.

Lu Chuan turned his back to her without hesitation.

"Don't worry. I won't peek."

A soft rustle of bedding came from behind him as Zhu Zhuqing snatched up the clothes and fumbled them on.

"All done."

Lu Chuan turned around slowly. Zhu Zhuqing was fully dressed, though a faint blush still colored her cheeks.

"How do you feel after absorbing the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid?"

Only then did Zhu Zhuqing remember to check herself. She quickly sat cross-legged and meditated.

A moment later, her eyes flew open, surprise lighting them.

"Senior, my Soul Power has risen quite a bit, and I can cultivate faster, too."

No wonder she was so excited. For nearly ten thousand years on the Douluo Continent, a person's talent had been considered fixed. Someone with low Innate Soul Power could never cultivate as quickly as someone with high Innate Soul Power.

Nor could cultivation speed be improved. Time was the only answer.

Yet now her cultivation speed had increased! And that was from absorbing just one drop of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid. If she could cultivate with it a few more times, might she rival a genius with Innate Full Soul Power? She might even have the makings of a Titled Douluo!

But she could never repay the cost of such a miraculous substance. There was only...

She already liked him. Becoming his woman would be a step up for her.

Resolve gradually filled Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.

"Senior, I've made up my mind."

"? Made up your mind about what?"

Lu Chuan stared at her, his face full of confusion.

Before he had finished speaking, Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face, still carrying a hint of baby fat, suddenly drew close.

"Mwah~"

Lu Chuan froze. Good grief, she had turned the tables on him?!

But she was not done. The next instant, two slender hands came to rest on his chest.

The sudden move caught Lu Chuan's breath. He opened his eyes to find Zhu Zhuqing inches away. Her cheeks were burning, and shyness hid in her eyes, but she showed no sign of backing down.

After that, Lu Chuan was forced to experience Space Strangulation.

Plum blossoms drifted down before the window~

After an hour of heartfelt exchange.

Zhu Zhuqing looked dazed. Her face was flushed, and weariness weighed heavily on her.

Lu Chuan lounged against the headboard and drew the limp Zhu Zhuqing into his arms.

Feeling her warm, soft body against him, he looked down at the girl, whose face was still scarlet and whose senses had yet to settle, and spoke gently.

"Zhu Qing, why were you suddenly so forward? Was it because of the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid?"

Zhu Zhuqing nodded, then shook her head.

Leaning against him, she answered in a soft but earnest voice:

"It wasn't just that. I truly like you, Senior. If it weren't you, no amount of cultivation resources would make me trade myself away. I'd rather die."

This time, she did not avoid his gaze. She met it directly.

She had always been one to love and hate boldly, with fierce stubbornness hidden beneath her cool exterior.

Before, she had endured, restrained herself, and stepped carefully. But after meeting Lu Chuan, feeling his gentleness and the special care he showed her, and experiencing how the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid could defy fate, she had made her decision.

Once she had chosen someone in her heart, she would remain true to him for life. She would never hesitate or retreat again.

Lu Chuan's heart trembled.

He had lived two lives and met all kinds of people, but never a girl whose eyes held only him.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze brimmed with her feelings for him.

To be loved so wholeheartedly and depended on so completely brought him a warmth and a stirring he had never known in his previous life.

He tightened his arms around the slender girl, holding her closer. Tenderness nearly spilled from his eyes.

"Zhu Qing, today I'll follow Wu Song's example and fight a tiger!"

"Don't... let's rest first. I'm so tired."

While the two of them explored the mysteries of life.

In the Battle Through the Heavens World, at the Xiao Family estate.

Xun'er sat beside a stone table in the courtyard, eyes closed in thought, while Ling Ying stood guard nearby.

After a long while, Xun'er opened her clear eyes and gazed toward the horizon.

"Elder Ling, did those two truly vanish into thin air?"

Ling Ying bowed as he replied. "Yes. There was no fluctuation of Dou Qi, nor could I sense any spatial disturbance. After Young Master Xiao Yan left, the two of them disappeared, as though they had simply vanished from this world."

Xun'er was now certain that the two came from another world.

Travelers who could cross between worlds, the Douluo Continent, Martial Souls, a hundred-percent boost... everything she had heard today had overturned what she thought she knew.

Lu Chuan had appeared unremarkable, but his ability to cross worlds alone meant his strength could not be simple. He possessed power at the Dou Di level at the very least.

Xun'er looked up at Ling Ying beside her and asked softly.

"Elder Ling, what price do you think we'd have to pay to obtain the chance to become a Dou Di that Senior Lu Chuan mentioned to Yao Chen?"

Ling Ying lowered his head and thought for a moment before shaking it.

"I do not know. But if it truly is a chance to become a Dou Di, the price cannot be small. It could leave even our Gu Clan battered to the bone."

Xun'er sighed.

Indeed, breaking through to become a Dou Di was extraordinarily difficult. The price of that information could hardly be low.

Hadn't Xiao Xuan, the former head of the Xiao Clan, staked everything on the slimmest chance of becoming a Dou Di, only to drag the entire Xiao Clan into decline?

Ah...

Then she thought of Xiao Yan, and her eyes grew deeply conflicted.