"A Level 1 fighting a Level 6 is unfair. I refuse to fight."
"Whether it is unfair to you or unfair to me is actually quite hard to determine."
Jiang Yueyi spoke with a hint of ambiguity, but her words were the truth. Even now, she could not fully see through his Level 1 power. She had spent the last few days scouring the ancient records of the Canghua Realm, but she found nothing like him. No one at Level 1 should be able to display such overwhelming strength.
"Are you still holding a grudge about the time I injured you? Has that ruined your state of mind?" Ling Feng asked as he looked toward her fragrant shoulder.
The smooth, porcelain skin of her shoulder looked even more lustrous after soaking in the Spirit Spring. It was refreshing to the senses, and only that single sword scar remained to mar the view.
"No. Since I know your background, being injured by you would not ruin my state of mind. My state of mind is troubled because I cultivate the Flawless State of Mind, and you have become a flaw within it."
'Flawless...' Ling Feng did not feel much about that. Flawlessness was defined by the self rather than by others. If Ling Feng had to define her, he did not think Jiang Yueyi was flawless at all. She was nothing but a tormenting enchantress.
"Are you laughing at me in your heart? Are you thinking that a flirtatious woman like Jiang Yueyi could never possess a Flawless State of Mind?" Jiang Yueyi frowned slightly, and her beautiful eyes showed a hint of resentment.
"No. Being flawless is about how you see yourself. What others think doesn't matter."
"Are you really not thinking about it?" She looked at him with suspicion and picked a seedless grape, popping it into her mouth to chew.
"I've thought about it."
"You aren't allowed to think about it." She raised her slender arm and created ripples in the water as her finger poked his cheek.
"Fine," Ling Feng agreed softly.
Jiang Yueyi seemed to think of something else. Her phoenix-like eyes grew cunning and she quickly changed the subject. "Actually, you should keep thinking about it. That way, your heart will be full of me."
"Heh..." (I don't even know what to say to that). He really didn't know how to respond to this tormenting enchantress.
"If you think about me more, you will fall in love with me sooner or later." She did not stop eating as she popped another grape into her mouth. Below the water, she happily kicked her long, elegant legs.
He said calmly, "You are very confident."
Jiang Yueyi did not get angry when she heard this. She continued to smile brightly and her eyes remained clear.
"Am I beautiful?" She pointed to her own face. Her skin was flushed with a soft, intoxicating red, and her long eyelashes were damp with a misty spray.
"Very beautiful." He could not argue with that. It was a simple fact. No matter how one looked at her, Jiang Yueyi was a stunning enchantress.
She stopped swirling her crystal goblet and pointed the rim toward him. "How do I treat you?"
"Very well." This was also an undeniable fact.
She took a small sip of the fine wine. "Is what I can give you enough?"
"It is a lot..." He still could not argue.
"Since that is the case, I have given you beauty, profit, and my sincere heart. I will continue to do so." Jiang Yueyi reached for another grape. She realized she had almost finished them all and that he hadn't eaten a single one. She caught a grape between her fingers and shoved it into his mouth before he could react.
"So, why should I doubt that you will fall for me? This isn't a matter of confidence. It is a fact that will eventually come true. Of course, if you treat me like a lapdog and ignore me, or if you abandon me after we've been intimate..." Jiang Yueyi's gaze turned dangerous.
"Then it just proves you don't deserve me. You would be a fool who can't recognize a gem, and I would have to draw my sword and kill you."
"When you put it that way, I really should like you." Ling Feng ate the sweet, juicy grape. He did not want to let Jiang Yueyi have her way because she was the type of person who would always take a mile if given an inch.
But he could not deny her logic.
He might not be moved right now, but he could imagine that he would eventually be touched by her actions if this continued. He wasn't ungrateful. Jiang Yueyi's words were a form of calculation. She was plotting for the future rather than the present. If he truly fell for her, he would be willing to sacrifice for her, and his skills would naturally be used for her benefit.
No wonder she had told him before that his value was in the future, and that he had to be willing. She had planned this long ago. Even though it was a clear calculation, he could not bring himself to hate it. She wasn't hiding anything. She told him straight to his face, and the choice of whether to fall for the trap was entirely his.
However, since he had acknowledged it...
He saw the wide, playful curve of Jiang Yueyi's lips. She smiled like a charming girl, but there was a hint of craftiness hidden there. She looked exactly like a villain who had succeeded in her scheme.
"Since even you agree with this twisted logic—no, I mean this truth—do you still think I am being arrogant?"
"I take it back, okay? Sister, I was wrong. Please let me go." She was too difficult to deal with. This enchantress was simply too much.
Jiang Yueyi was in a great mood and felt refreshed. She poured herself a full goblet of wine, and the fragrance filled the air. After draining the cup in one go, she spoke softly.
"My state of mind was flawless. But after I fell in love with you at first sight, it was no longer perfect. You might find it hard to believe, but I consider myself someone who lives with total clarity. That is why I could reach a flawless state. A problem with my state of mind will hinder my path to power, so I must resolve this issue."
"Love at first sight..." Her words were so blunt that she clearly had no intention of hiding her feelings.
He glanced at her flushed face and noticed a trace of shyness within the soft light of her eyes. So, she could actually feel shy. He didn't even know why he was surprised by that.
"Do you think my logic is flawed?" she asked while chewing on a sliced apple since the grapes were gone.
"No." There wasn't always logic to be found in the world.
"First of all, I love beautiful things. Everyone loves beauty, so I am not wrong. This is a universal truth. Your appearance has completely conquered me. Secondly, you are strong. There is nothing wrong with a woman liking a strong, handsome man. Even if I consider this from the perspective of profit, I am still not wrong. Furthermore, I have always been interested in you because of that interesting incident. Interest is often the start of a romance. Based on all that, my love at first sight is perfectly logical."
Ling Feng raised his goblet and toasted her. He had to admire Jiang Yueyi. He admired her from the bottom of his heart. He did not live with the same level of clarity as she did. She understood herself perfectly and left no room for error. Her flawless nature was not without reason.
"Because I fell in love with you at first sight, my Flawless State of Mind was ruined. Something different entered my heart. Because of you, I will feel emotions I never had before. I might get jealous, I might act spoiled, I might be troubled by love, or I might even feel the fires of desire... These are feelings I never used to have. You are a variable I cannot control, so it is not strange that my flawlessness was destroyed."
She stared at him, and her eyes held more than just a charming smile. They held a powerful, predatory intensity.
"Therefore, you must become mine. Otherwise, it will have a massive impact on my path. The only other option would be to kill you, but since I love you, how could I do that? So, conquering you and making you mine is both for the sake of my cultivation and for the sake of my marriage. I must get what I want in this matter."
"Your sense of purpose is terrifying..."
"A person only lives once. You can't go through life without knowing what you should be doing. I don't like living a muddled life."
"If the person you fell for wasn't me but someone else, your state of mind would still be ruined. This Flawless State of Mind has too many holes."
"Have some confidence. Why speculate about problems that don't exist? The person I fell for is you. That is a fixed fact that cannot be changed. Karma and fate don't care about your logic."
"No, I was just saying the Flawless State of Mind has too many weaknesses. I didn't mean anything else." He felt like he had said the wrong thing, as if he were being ungrateful, so he tried to explain.
"Regardless, it is a reality now. You are the tribulation I must pass. The karma has been born, and the marriage is set."
"Aren't you afraid that I might be an evil person?"
"So what? If you commit a great crime, you should be punished. That is only right, and I would never overlook it. But that has nothing to do with my love for you. If you want to do something wrong, I will stop you so you don't fall into the abyss. I will properly discipline the person I love."
She picked up a slice of apple and held it to his lips. He opened his mouth and took the apple. It was crisp and sweet.
"Besides, how do you know I'm not an evil person? Don't forget what I told you. Sooner or later, I will stand against the Canghua Sect. The Canghua Sect is the master of this realm. I am an invader, so naturally, I am the villain."
"You aren't," he said plainly.
"What? Have you fallen for me already? Giving me such a high evaluation?"
"I have just seen many evil people... You don't look like one. But based on what you said, you aren't from the Canghua Realm?"
The world they lived in was called the Thousand Realms of the Cang Court. As the name suggested, there were thousands of worlds like the Canghua Realm. Within the universe, countless planets floated in space, divided into twenty-eight Star Sectors. The Canghua Realm was located in the Pleiades Star Sector. Aside from this world, there were the Canghe Realm, the Cangjue Realm, the Cangfeng Realm, and many others. However, most of them were uninhabited.
"I am indeed from another Star Sector. My hometown is very far from here."
"I see..." He could only imagine the massive power that stood behind her if she had crossed between Star Sectors.
"What? Are you scared? Do you think I'm too mysterious and high-born for you to match?" Jiang Yueyi giggled and stuffed another piece of apple into his mouth.
"I think I'm humble enough, but I'm not going to belittle myself." This piece of apple wasn't as sweet as the last; it was mostly sour.
"That's more like it. If the man I, Jiang Yueyi, like didn't even have that much confidence, he would just end up being a henpecked husband in the future."
"So even if I wasn't confident, you wouldn't let me go?"
"What's wrong with keeping a submissive little puppy?"
Ling Feng was left speechless. He felt that if this continued, he would be led right into another one of her traps.
He decided to change the subject. "You mentioned before that 'Jiang Yueyi' is the name you use in the Canghua Realm. Does that mean it isn't your real name?"
"It isn't. I chose this name because it means I want to move the Moon that stands in my way. By the Moon, I mean the Sect Master of the Canghua Sect. Remember, I want to move her, not destroy her."
"Pfft-cough-cough!" (Are you serious?!) Ling Feng started coughing at the explanation. "I thought it was a poetic name, like ripples in the moonlight. Why does the actual meaning have to be so ridiculous?"
"I didn't think much about it back then. But now, it has another meaning."
"What is it?" Ling Feng wanted to see what she was up to now.
Jiang Yueyi smiled beautifully. "I will move the moon out of your heart, and then I will move in myself."
There really was a moon in his heart. Ling Feng drank a cup of wine, and his gaze became warm and quiet.
"We've talked enough about me. What about you? You have been drifting through the wind and rain all these years. Even if you have the goal of collecting spirit herbs, you look like a lonely ghost wandering around."
"I... There are many things I want to do. Right now, I am just finishing them one by one."
"And besides those things?"
"Many people once told me to live well and enjoy life. I think I'm living quite well." Although Jiang Yueyi's description of his life was a bit bleak, he still felt he was doing okay.
Jiang Yueyi looked into those warm eyes, and her heart tightened for some reason.
"You aren't enjoying life. You are simply existing."
"Is that so... perhaps..."
"From now on, I will teach you how to enjoy life. First... you have to learn to love me."
"That is a bit forced, Sister. It's also illogical. What does enjoying life have to do with whether I like you or not?"
"Because with me around, you will be happy every single day." Jiang Yueyi swam over to him like a fish and smiled. She used her hands to splash water toward him.
He blinked. He didn't know if he would be happy, but he knew for sure she was going to be a handful. But that was life. Occasional bumps in the road were certainly more interesting than smooth sailing.