Xuan slowly opened his eyes, his right hand completely numb.

But once he saw that Hanbi was there, resting on his chest, he let out a sigh.

What was I thinking? Xuan grumbled inwardly. I should’ve just taken her back, not slept with her this intimately.

Soon enough, he spotted that the crystals were bright again, which meant that it was daytime.

And what better way to celebrate the day than by hearing distant bells ringing every second?

Do they think we ran away? Shit... The amount of misunderstandings this is going to cause... Xuan facepalmed and tapped Hanbi on the forehead a couple of times, then gently tugged at her ear.

She woke up within a few seconds, and upon spotting the kind of position she was in, Hanbi recoiled with a flustered expression.

"I—"

"No time for chatting. I think your Serene Brothel Valley and my Grand Jade Temple are looking for us. Ought to go, don’t you think?" Xuan cut her off and stood up, approaching the hole that the two had come through.

However, Hanbi’s irritated voice rang out behind him.

"It’s Serene Blossom Valley, not brothel. Also... What happened here... Keep this a secret or I will kill you in the worst way imaginable," she threatened.

"You’re speaking as if we slept together. It’s fine, all we did was train, and what happened after was just our exhaustion speaking," Xuan replied. "And hey, while I’d love to chat more, we really gotta go."

As she was about to reply, Xuan darted into the hole and came out the other side only a few seconds later.

He waited patiently for Hanbi, and soon enough, she came out as well, wearing the cloak she had tossed to the far end of the cave yesterday.

Her face was fully covered, and just like that, the two snuck back into the Grand Jade Temple.

However, the moment they entered the temple grounds, two people appeared in front of them.

One of them was Head Monk Huizhen, and the other was some equally powerful monk with long golden hair.

Yet they had one thing in common, and it was the fact that neither was happy to see Xuan.

"Where’s Xue Hanbi?" Huizhen asked coldly. "If you did anything to her, our heads will roll. Yours will be used as a wine glass, so don’t hold anything back."

Xuan raised a brow and moved aside, revealing Hanbi, who was hiding behind his back.

"This good enough for you?" Xuan rolled his eyes.

The golden-haired monk clicked his tongue. "You really do find every way to cause trouble, huh? Well... It’s fine, at least she’s safe."

He took a step forward, arriving in front of Hanbi.

"Miss Hanbi, he didn’t harm you, did he?"

Hanbi shook her head right away. "I’m fine. All we did was train together, and it seems like we lost track of time."

Both the monks heaved relieved breaths. Huizhen nodded at the two of them.

"Good. I don’t think anyone has seen you yet, so we can avoid all the annoying troubles if we separate you two," he said, then nodded at the golden-haired monk.

"Foyan, take Xue Hanbi to her personal quarters. As for you, Xuan... Go directly to the Martial Training Grounds and begin combat training. If anyone asks where you were, tell them you were training with me."

"Sounds too good to me. I’ll be off then." Xuan agreed right away. He turned to Xue Hanbi and gave her a smile before finally walking away.

It was an interesting encounter, and for some reason, Xuan had the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time he would meet Hanbi.

If anything, knowing how clingy she acted, he was sure he would meet her very soon.

But until then, he decided to get some good training in.

. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

.

.

(3 hours later, Martial Training Grounds.)

Xuan ducked under the punch of a Seventh Level Spirit Warrior monk, and with a sharp uppercut, Xuan sent him flying off into the other monks behind him.

This was the fifth fight he had won in a row after losing one against a Fourth Level Spirit Warrior who focused on external Qi attacks.

Can’t beat bastards like that just yet. Even with my durability, they just run around and spam Qi blasts, Xuan thought with a sigh and turned toward the monks.

"Anyone else want to spar? We still have a few hours till sundown," Xuan asked with a bright smile.

But it wasn’t because he really wanted to spar. To be fair, he was pretty bored, and he knew for a fact that fighting against these Spirit Warriors wouldn’t offer him as many gains as he would get from fighting stronger opponents.

But as he waited for someone to step up, a commotion happened in the very back. The monks moved aside, creating a pathway.

Xuan soon realized why that commotion started as four beautiful women stepped forward, all of whom looked at Xuan as if he were some brute.

They were pretty enough to catch the attention of all the men here, causing them to stare as though they were enchanted.

But more importantly, the woman in the very front was none other than Xue Hanbi.

"I accept," Hanbi said with a slight smile. "Let’s spar, and don’t you dare hold back."

Xuan shook his head. "It might be a little difficult to not hold back. You see, my Qi is sealed, so I can’t—"

"Hold on..." Hanbi raised a single hand. She was about to question him further, but she realized that if she talked about what happened in the cave, then both of them would be in trouble.

And in the same manner, neither of them liked attaching baseless rumors to their name.

Therefore, Hanbi lowered her hand and entered a fighting stance. The monks, as well as the women she came here with, backed off, forming a crowd all around them.

Seeing that, Xuan let out a chuckle and entered a fighting stance as well.

"Ready?"