Outside the hall.
Liu Xingfang stood quietly, awaiting the True Persons' summons from within. His blue robes fluttered, his bearing graceful and distinguished. Since establishing his Immortal Foundation, his formerly handsome, carefree features had acquired a stern edge that only made him look more clear-eyed and refined.
Knowing that the Wu Household's True Person had come, he naturally dared not neglect Wu Shaoyue. In truth, he had accommodated her at every turn these past few months. If she wanted to test swords, they tested swords; if she wanted to discuss techniques, they discussed techniques.
The only strange thing was that Wu Shaoyue's Immortal Foundation was clearly powerful, as were her Daoist arts, yet she deliberately exposed openings at every turn. She would often be struck by Sword Qi or thunder and come away injured.
Whenever Liu Xingfang held back, however, she became dissatisfied. After spending this stretch of time together, he already felt caught between advancing and retreating.
From childhood until now, he had never truly felt romantic attachment. Even when he sought company outside, he regarded it only as a diversion and left no affection behind. When considering a Dao companion, he thought more of background, cultivation, temperament, and the like.
These were also the criteria most cultivators used to choose Dao companions. Tales of men whose fury for a beauty sent their hair bristling against their crowns, or immortal maidens descending to the mortal world for love, were rare indeed-merely stories in mortal books.
"What are you thinking about?"
Wu Shaoyue leaned toward him and raised her head. Her eyes, like clear blue water, gazed at him with an intensely forward look, ardent and sincere. It left Liu Xingfang somewhat ill at ease, and he turned his face slightly away.
A voice transmission suddenly summoned them inside. Liu