Late that night, the women returned to their rooms to rest.
Fang Fan sat cross-legged in his room. He had just changed into a clean white shirt and was consolidating his Level 85 cultivation.
A soft knock came at the door. It was neither as steady and firm as Zhu Zhuqing's nor as languid and casual as Dugu Yan's. There was hesitation in it: two knocks, a pause, then two more.
"Come in."
The door opened a crack, and Shui Yue'er slipped through before gently closing it behind her.
She had deliberately changed into a pale blue gauze dress that evening. Its hem barely reached her knees, revealing her straight, fair calves.
Instead of wearing her hair in its usual twin ponytails, she had left it loose around her shoulders, the slightly curled ends resting against her collarbones.
Two patches of rosy color warmed her round cheeks. Her eyes held nerves, anticipation, and a trace of determination to see this through.
"Your Highness,"
she said, her voice much softer than usual and trembling slightly,
"Yue'er wants to... wants to cultivate through Martial Soul fusion with you."
After speaking, she bit her lower lip and twisted the hem of her dress between fingers that had gone faintly white at the knuckles.
Her sister had already become a Soul Ancestor. Zhu Zhuqing and Dugu Yan were far ahead of her too. Only she remained where she was.
She knew her talent was no worse than her sister's. All she lacked was an opportunity, and Fang Fan was that opportunity.
Fang Fan watched her, so nervous that even her toes had curled, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
Shui Yue'er's Martial Soul was a Dolphin, its attributes leaning toward the gentleness and healing of water. It was nothing like the Ice Phoenix's