Chapter 13 – Well-Earned Respite

“Have you calmed down?” Qin Yun asked softly.

Yun Jingfei kept her head bowed, shame painting her cheeks. She managed only a faint, hesitant nod.

Time slipped by. Though her tears had vanished, a lingering heaviness pressed on her heart, softened but not gone. The sweet, maddening scent still hung in the air, but the Heart-Cleansing Spiritual Vines at her wrist dulled its pull, sparing her from the worst of its temptation.

For the first time in ages, her thoughts felt sharp and unclouded.

“Why?’ she uttered. “Why go that far? We barely know each other. You could have…”

She dared not finish the thought. It was all too easy to picture a darker fate, had it been anyone but Qin Yun. Her innocence might have been stolen, yet this man had chosen restraint over desire.

“Why?” Qin Yun repeated, raising a single eyebrow. “You ask the strangest questions. Is it not normal for a husband to care for his wife, or is this foreign to you? I guess normality is alien when one is born of royalty.”

Yun Jingfei hesitated, then lifted her eyes just enough to meet Qin Yun’s steady gaze.

“I never knew my mother… I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I’m told she died during childbirth. I barely saw my father interact with his concubines, so I couldn’t tell you what is meant to be normal.”

“Did you have no other role model? I find it hard to believe there were no couples worth studying even in the Cloud Imperial Palace.”

“I’m an ascetic, so…” she sighed. “I never expected things to come to this. I shouldn’t be here. If not for that incident…”

“I was meaning to ask, if you don’t mind: What happened? These wounds… Why are you alive?”

“You noticed, eh?” Yun Jingfei chuckled sadly. “Do you have a background in medicine, perhaps?”

“A little,” Qin Yun replied vaguely.

He couldn’t very well tell her that he had been a renowned physician in many of his various lives—not now, anyway. She wouldn’t believe him even if he told the truth.

“Is that so? Well, you aren’t the first to have noticed it. I saw many physicians—too many—yet not a single one was able to tell me how I survived. They only said it was a miracle.”

“Did this happen when you were cultivating?”

“How did you know?” Yun Jingfei replied in shock, her pupils dilating slightly. “This is something only my master and family should know. They made sure the news wouldn’t break out.”

“The signs are all there, plain to see,” Qin Yun shrugged, but Yun Jingfei seemed unconvinced, so he chose to explain his reasoning.

“Had this been intentional by a third party, I doubt they would have allowed you to leave your sect, much less marry you off. Your life would have been in danger. So it either has to be completely accidental or the result of a mistake. Making mistakes when trying to make the spiritual seed bloom isn’t unusual, but I heard you were a direct disciple of an elder in a major sect. I doubt they would allow such an outcome, so I believe this was completely outside their expectations. No wonder the physicians were unable to heal you. The spiritual seed has yet to be fully understood, even by the few immortals that still remain on this plane. It truly is a miracle you are still alive.”

“You’re right, but enough about me,” Yun Jingfei resigned herself. Merely talking about it brought forth memories she had tried to bury, but also the intense pain that accompanied it.

“What about you? What’s this about being rootless?”

“So you truly weren’t told?” Qin Yun asked, only to see his bride shake her head from left to right.

“I wonder what those elders were thinking. It’s not as if this is something that could be hidden for long.” Qin Yun sighed. “As you’ve heard. I’m unable to practice our clan’s techniques. I am what would be considered defective.”

“You don’t seem that heartbroken about it,” Yun Jingfei replied with a slight frown.

“Why would I be? It’s not like this makes me less of a man. There are many paths still open to me.”

“Like what you’ve shown me?”

“Indeed. The martial path is as deep and profound as any other.”

“You speak of the Three Saints?”

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“Yes. In ability alone, they rival any of the Five Divines, maybe even surpass them. Who knows?”

“So the rumours go, but I can’t help but have my doubts… the martial artists I have seen have been… underwhelming, if I might say so.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Qin Yun shrugged. “Practitioners’ strength tends to increase in stages, gaining a quantitative leap with each realm. However, the same cannot be said when it comes to the Martial Path. They tend to be late bloomers. That’s why only the three saints can hold their own against immortals.”

“Then… how strong are you?”

“Who knows? I never had to find out, but I reckon I wouldn’t lose to you when you were at your peak.”

Hearing this, Yun Jingfei’s eyes couldn’t help but narrow.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Yun Jingfei replied. “Even in my sect, I was among the strongest of my generation. If the outcome had been different, I would have reached the Void Core Realm already. Those who have reached this realm at my age can be counted on one hand. There’s no way a puny martial artist could have possibly stood up to me.”

“How old are you right now?” Qin Yun asked unperturbed.

“Twenty. I’ll be turning twenty-one in a month or so. Why?”

So, we’re the same age, Qin Yun mused, a flicker of amusement crossing his face as he watched Yun Jingfei’s growing agitation.

She clearly took pride in her gifts, yet kept her humility. Her diligence had coaxed her talents to blossom early. Few could claim the Void Core Realm before twenty-one. Even Qin Meihui, the clan’s prodigy, had only touched the peak of Foundation Building at twenty-four.

“Impressive,” Qin Yun responded. “But you failed, remember? There’s no use thinking about what ifs.”

Yun Jingfei grew silent. Qin Yun’s words rang true, though she loathed to admit it. She had failed at the most important moment, when the core of her seed was about to bloom.

She had prepared for days, leaving nothing to chance, yet when the crucial moment arrived, the unexpected shattered her careful plans.