A Heart in Turmoil

"So you two actually don't know each other at all?"

After Xiao Yan finished telling Xiao Yi Xian the story between him and Nalan Yanran, she looked thoughtful.

"That's right." Xiao Yan nodded.

"I thought it would be one of those trashy novels where two childhood sweethearts grow up together, one turns into a good-for-nothing, and the other cheats, casts them aside, then gives them a vicious kick for good measure." Xiao Yi Xian covered her mouth and laughed.

"Senior sister, is a tragic experience like that really something to laugh at?" Xiao Yan shrugged helplessly.

"Mm, why wouldn't it be?" Xiao Yi Xian shook with laughter like a flowering branch in the breeze. The strap of her undergarment slipped down, baring her entire smooth shoulder.

"Senior sister, you actually have a pretty nasty personality, don't you..." Xiao Yan couldn't help quipping.

"I do not!" Xiao Yi Xian was still laughing as she stood up. She walked to the cave entrance, then turned to look back at Xiao Yan.

Her beautiful face, slender willow waist, and long legs were bathed in moonlight, which spilled over her smooth skin and lent her an ethereal air.

She looked like a fairy beneath the moon.

For a moment, Xiao Yan stared in a daze. He swore to heaven that, having lived two lives, even if he couldn't claim to have met countless people, he had certainly seen plenty of the world. Yet that ethereal grace was unrivaled.

No, I can't! Xiao Yan abruptly pinched his thigh hard, snapping himself out of that intimate atmosphere.

Xun'er had stayed by his side even at his lowest point. He had only been away from the Xiao Clan for half a month. How could he already let his heart stray?

"Then who do you think is prettier, Nalan Yanran or me?" Xiao Yi Xian tucked the dark strands beside her ear back and asked softly.

The gesture struck Xiao Yan's heart like a bullet. His temperature shot up, and his face and ears flushed red.

Before this, Xiao Yan had never looked at Xiao Yi Xian as a woman. In his mind, she was someone who had appeared out of nowhere, a super-genius with formidable strength and extraordinary talent, a senior sister with a pitiful past, an unfortunate soul with no talent whatsoever for alchemy...

Xiao Yan had attached many labels to Xiao Yi Xian, but until now, "a lovely woman" had never been one of them.

Now it was.

For the first time in this life, Xiao Yan understood what it meant to have his heart flutter. Its rapid pounding filled him with profound unease. Romantic impulses, the guilt of betrayal, and all manner of thoughts churned wildly through his mind.

All of it only drove his temperature higher.

Xiao Yan suddenly stood up, startling Xiao Yi Xian at the cave entrance.

Before getting to his feet, he had wanted to say a thousand things, but they all stuck in his throat. In the end, all he managed was, "You... are prettier."

"I think so too," Xiao Yi Xian said proudly, as though it were only natural.

"Senior sister..."

"Mm-hmm?"

"It's getting late. If you aren't going to cultivate, you should go to sleep."

Xiao Yan stared straight at Xiao Yi Xian. He knew his heart had already been stirred, but he didn't want to betray Xiao Xun'er. He had to nip all of this in the bud.

Unless Xun'er betrayed him, he would never betray her!

"The look in your eyes tonight is really scary. One moment, you look like you want to gobble me up, and the next, you look like you want to beat me up," Xiao Yi Xian complained.

"But it really is getting late. Thank you for sharing that fascinating story about you and your fiancée, junior brother." She yawned, then rubbed her eyes as she returned to the stone bed.

On the other side of the stone bed, Qing Lin was fast asleep, completely undisturbed by their conversation.

Even in the Magical Beast Forest, this little girl from the Snake-People Tribe had an appallingly low level of vigilance.

Xiao Yan hadn't wanted to bring Qing Lin along at first, but considering that a little girl from the Snake-People Tribe might be in even greater danger if left among humans, they had brought her after all.

Once Xiao Yi Xian climbed into bed, she pulled the covers over herself and held Qing Lin, ready to sleep.

"Mommy..." In her sleep, Qing Lin suddenly caught hold of Xiao Yi Xian's finger and murmured.

"There, there~" Xiao Yi Xian whispered.

Xiao Yan had intended to sit cross-legged and continue meditating, but he soon discovered that he could no longer calm his mind. He couldn't enter a state of cultivation at all.

Helpless, he walked out of the cave as though fleeing.

The moon shone bright among sparse stars, and an occasional crow or magpie could be seen flying south. The chaos caused by the Misty Cloud Sect Master had long since subsided. As for the great fire Xiao Yan had started, it hadn't actually burned a very large area.

Even many of the plants in the Magical Beast Forest possessed considerable cultivation. Not even Heavenly Flames could burn on endlessly.

"Yao Lao, what should I do?" Distraught, Xiao Yan couldn't help seeking advice from the elderly Yao Lao.

With his immensely powerful soul strength, Yao Lao could see Xiao Yan's thoughts perfectly clearly.

"You young people must resolve matters of the heart yourselves. A thousand people have a thousand faces, and no two leaves in this world are exactly alike," Yao Lao's voice sounded in Xiao Yan's mind.

"I understand." Xiao Yan looked up at the moon. More than half the night had passed. Since he wasn't in the mood to meditate, he might as well practice a Dou Technique.

Xiao Yan remembered the Flying Dou Technique he had obtained from Nalan Jie's Storage Ring. With a thought, a black jade slip appeared in his hand.

"Advanced Black Tier Flying Dou Technique: Eagle Wings."

On the Dou Qi Continent, only those at Dou Ling or above could hope to leave the ground and fly short distances. After reaching Dou Wang or Dou Emperor, they could release Dou Qi and condense it into a pair of energy wings on their backs, allowing them to break free of the earth's shackles and soar into the clouds.

This so-called Flying Dou Technique was a rather peculiar Secret Art. It allowed its practitioner to extend two small branch meridians from the meridian network in their back. Once these two branches formed, even someone whose strength had yet to reach Dou Wang could condense wings and fly through the air.

Flight was a temptation powerful enough to set many hearts racing. In pursuit of it, countless experts pressed forward, one after another, striving toward the seemingly unreachable Dou Wang level. Under such circumstances, a Flying Dou Technique that offered a shortcut was naturally quite precious.

Holding the black jade slip, Xiao Yan pressed it against his forehead and carefully read the information it contained.

Then, following its instructions, he began trying to extend two small branch meridians from the meridian network in his back. Though the process was difficult, he had medicinal pills to support him, so replenishing his Dou Qi posed no problem.

If the first attempt failed, he would try a second. If the second failed, he would try a third.

He couldn't sleep tonight anyway. He had plenty of time to keep trying.

The sun rose in the east. When the first rays of morning sunlight fell upon the Magical Beast Forest, Xiao Yi Xian emerged from the cave, fully dressed.

But her eyes immediately widened. Before her stood Xiao Yan, bare from the waist up, with enormous wings spread out behind him. Their vast span filled much of her field of vision.