Yu Tianqing gave her a puzzled look, and Nan Shuishui felt terribly embarrassed. She waved her hand, giving up on the matter:
"Forget it. Call me whatever you like!"
"Mm, Shuishui, you did agree to let me pursue you," Yu Tianqing said with righteous conviction.
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. The thought of how Yu Tianqing had schemed against her made Nan Shuishui's anger flare, and her grip on his ear tightened another notch:
"You've got some nerve bringing that up. You were lying in wait for me then, weren't you?"
Yu Tianqing remained unmoved. He knew Nan Shuishui had to be angry right now, so the thing to do was let her vent, then give her a way to back down gracefully.
He reached beneath the covers, wrapped an arm around Nan Shuishui's waist, and drew her closer against his chest:
"Whatever happened, we don't have to be apart this time, do we?"
Nan Shuishui thought back to the moment when she had been searching for Yu Tianqing. Her only thought then
had been that, no matter what price she had to pay, she wanted Yu Tianqing safe and sound.
Indeed, nothing mattered more than both of them being safe.
Nan Shuishui gazed into Yu Tianqing's eyes for a long while before finally letting out a sigh. Her sharp presence softened, and she buried her head against his chest.
"Next time, you're not allowed to do anything so dangerous."
"Mm."
Yu Tianqing knew he had basically passed this hurdle. He patted Nan Shuishui's back, enjoying the tenderness of the morning.
After a long while, Yu Tianqing cupped Nan Shuishui's face and gently kissed her forehead before asking:
"By the way, my cultivation rose by two levels this time. Didn't you gain anything, Aunt Nan?"
Hearing Yu Tianqing bring up serious business, Nan Shuishui examined her own condition.
The moment she looked, even she got a fright.
She was a Soul Douluo, so the rise in her cultivation was certainly not as dramatic as Yu Tianqing's, but her Soul Power had risen from halfway through level eighty-three to level eighty-four.
Though it was only half a level, it would have taken her half a year of arduous cultivation at her current level.
Nan Shuishui looked up at Yu Tianqing in shock and asked with a slight stammer:
"Th... how did that happen?"
"Uh..."
Yu Tianqing was about to explain, only to realize that he himself had only a partial understanding of Yin and Yang. There was no way he could clearly explain something so profoundly mysterious.
"It has to do with my Yin-Yang Origin. Although the first time has the strongest effect, we can also stabilize our foundations through dual cultivation afterward. It'll raise our Soul Power much faster than cultivating on our own, too."
Yu Tianqing couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only describe the effects to Nan Shuishui. Such things weren't common on the Douluo Continent, but they weren't without precedent.
For example, the awakening of the Xuanming Sect's Black Tortoise Shield Martial Soul, and Yan Shaozhe awakening Feng Ling's Evil Phoenix...
As the head of a sect, Nan Shuishui had heard of similar methods to some extent, so it was nothing unusual.
"So you mean..." Nan Shuishui's phoenix eyes suddenly became somewhat intimidating. "You can find other women to cultivate with too?"
Yu Tianqing was about to nod when he suddenly came to his senses. This was another life-or-death question.
"What are you talking about? With you here, Shuishui, why would I need anyone else?"
"Smooth talker!"
Both amused and annoyed, Nan Shuishui rolled her eyes at Yu Tianqing. Knowing their relationship could never go back to the way it had been, she suddenly grew stern:
"Don't tell anyone about our relationship, understood? I don't want anyone else to know yet, especially Qiuqiu..."
"Mm..."
Yu Tianqing nodded. He knew what Nan Shuishui was worried about.
He couldn't imagine how Nan Qiuqiu would react if she learned that the older brother who had been with her as she grew up had suddenly become her father.
"But paper can't wrap up a fire forever. When are you planning to tell Qiuqiu?"
"Let's wait until she's a little older. At least until she's an adult."
Nan Shuishui sighed. She had been completely unprepared for things to develop this way, and even now, thinking about it felt like facing a tangled skein of thread.
Sensing her inner conflict, Yu Tianqing took her jade hand:
"Shuishui, don't worry so much. You're not alone anymore. You have me, and when I become the strongest in this world, I'll marry you and bring you home in grand style."
"Then no one will question our relationship. There'll be nothing but applause and blessings."
Nan Shuishui looked at Yu Tianqing's soaring confidence and lost herself for a moment.
She had always believed Yu Tianqing would soar to the ninth heaven, but the expression he showed now was one she had never seen on him before. He already carried himself much like a true expert.
Although Yu Tianqing's motive was a little funny, it was only now that Nan Shuishui realized the Yu Tianqing who, more than ten years ago, had blown snot bubbles and called her Aunt Nan in his little baby voice had fully grown into a man.
And the role she had played...
Pah!
At that thought, Nan Shuishui broke free of Yu Tianqing's embrace and glared at him:
"Hurry up and get dressed! How long are you going to dawdle here? Whatever you have to say, can't you say it on the road?"
The cozy atmosphere was broken, and Yu Tianqing scratched his head sheepishly. Once he saw that Nan Shuishui had retreated beneath the covers, he reluctantly climbed out of bed, picked up the clothes scattered on the ground, and hurriedly put them on before heading outside first.
The cold wind hit him, and Yu Tianqing shivered.
Only then did he remember that they were in the Far North.
He took two shivering steps forward and tripped over something. Looking down, he saw Xiao San curled up and shivering just as badly.
He had forgotten the Far North Ice Plains Wolf here. Still, he was quite loyal, knowing to stand guard and keep watch. It was thanks to him, too, that Nan Shuishui had found Yu Tianqing.
Yu Tianqing circulated his Yang Lightning Martial Soul and crouched down to drive away the chill in him:
"Little Scumbag, you're frozen like a dog, aren't you?"
As Yu Tianqing petted the dog, he suddenly looked up and saw a scorpion rising from the snow in the open space before the cave.
Snow slid off its jade-green carapace, revealing a body about three meters long. But its shell was covered in claw marks, and its tail stinger had already been broken off.
It was a ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion, but it had been so badly injured that it probably didn't have long to live.
Just then, Nan Shuishui emerged from the cave, fully dressed. The moment she saw the Ice Jade Scorpion, she shielded Yu Tianqing behind her and warily watched the scorpion before them.
"Aunt Nan, don't be nervous. It probably isn't an enemy."
Yu Tianqing went up to the Ice Jade Scorpion. Seeing that it made no move, he leaped onto its back and beckoned to Nan Shuishui:
"Come on up, Aunt Nan. This should be Luochen's fifth Soul Ring."
In the distance, two figures stood atop a mountain peak.
The Ice Empress watched her clanswoman carry the two people and the wolf out of the Far North, her expression somewhat indignant:
"That human really got off easy."
The Snow Empress simply watched Yu Tianqing leave in silence. Only when he had vanished from sight did she speak:
"Bing'er, pass on my orders. From today onward, seal off the Far North. If any human enters the core region, kill them without exception."
"Xue'er? You!"
"I'll leave the commission for that human to make his move to you. I'll choose to transform and cultivate anew in the next few days."
"Xue'er, why do you still insist on transforming? With the ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow, you can definitely survive the Seven Hundred Thousand Year Heavenly Tribulation."
"No. After the Seven Hundred Thousand Year Heavenly Tribulation, there'll still be the eight-hundred-thousand-year and nine-hundred-thousand-year tribulations. Those can't be overcome merely by piling up ice-attribute energy."
"Ten thousand years ago, those seven became gods, and we failed to seize that opportunity."
"This time, I saw the first light of godhood in that human."
"Bing'er, trust me. This time, I will win it all."
"Restoring the Far North's former glory is a duty we cannot shirk!"