Note: by screen and floor screen I mean the folding floor screen. I will post the image here.->

RUMBLE--!!!

As Yino’s last word fell, the abyss sword intent within him erupted, resonating with the woman in his arms, the phantom of a circling phoenix sent several ring-shaped ripples shuddering through the night sky.

Cold wind laced with sword intent swept across their faces, and Zhihan’s black skirt and hair whipped into disarray.

Bathed in such overwhelming sword intent, Zhihan’s sword-cultivated body was subtly stirred. She found herself gradually noticing how handsome the young man before her was, refined features, the bearing of a Dao cultivator, his sword dao shining with unmistakable clarity. He looked considerably more upright than before, as though he were an entirely different person from the shadowy figure she’d glimpsed through the screen earlier that night.

"I believe you."

"I can feel it -- Young maser’s sword dao has become even more clear after this round of cultivation."

Zhihan stood in silence for a long moment, then smiled with a trace of embarrassment.

On the other side, Yino stood on the steps with Yuyan in his arms and quietly pulled his sword intent back in.

"In that case, I’m also willing to believe that Lady Pei simply stumbled upon this by accident tonight."

"Mm."

Zhihan nodded. Seeing the misunderstanding resolved, she let out a quiet breath. "I sensed a dangerous surge of sword intent and was worried that Yuyan’s cultivation might veer into Qi Deviation, that’s why I came to check. I just didn’t expect to walk in on... that."

"It’s fine. Lady Pei is a woman herself, and what’s seen is seen."

Yino waved a hand. "Only, after tonight, I do hope Lady Pei can keep what she witnessed to herself and not let it spread. It could cause damage."

"I’m already known as a good-for-nothing young master in the eyes of the world, so I don’t particularly mind for my own sake. What I don’t want is for my senior sister’s reputation as sword chief to be hurt."

By the end, Yino’s tone had turned genuinely sincere.

Zhihan looked at him for a moment, and her impression of the young man shifted considerably.

As a woman herself, she could tell, Yuyan, leaning against Yino’s chest right now, had eyes filled with nothing but love and longing whenever she looked at his face.

If that was the case, what was there for Zhihan to worry about?

She loved him sincerely. And he took responsibility for her. As for the scene behind the screen vile earlier, that was simply the private intimacy between two people who belonged to each other.

"I’ve known Yuyan for many years. I wouldn’t do something that hurts others and gains me nothing."

Zhihan lowered her gaze and pressed her fists together, smiling with a touch of resignation.

She bowed toward the two inside, took one last look at Yuyan’s expression to reassure herself, then turned and left.

Zhihan was gone.

Under the eaves, Yino reinforced the abyss barrier around the courtyard before carrying Yuyan back inside.

"Yino... this time it’s my fault. I let my barrier slip..."

Yuyan leaned back against the headboard and exhaled with a faint, hollow sigh.

Yino glanced at her, then bent down and propped the toppled screen back upright. He stood there quietly, looking over the painting on it, the image of a maiden dancing with her sword, now splattered and soaked.

On the bed, the disheveled beauty seemed to notice, and her face flushed red immediately. She pressed her lips together.

"Don’t put that screen back up. It’s a mess, having it sit by the door like that is humiliating."

"Sorry, sorry. I was too rough with my senior. That’s why she ended up like that in front of Lady Pei."

Despite the apology, Yino made no move to take the screen away. He simply shut the door and windows, climbed back into bed, and pulled the covers over himself.

He rolled over, wrapped his arm around Yuyan, who was still staring at the screen with something to say, and pressed the tips of his fingers, gathering spiritual energy, gently against her lower abdomen.

"Alright. Let the drama go. Tonight, we should focus on cultivation first, dear."

"Otherwise, if I lose tomorrow and embarrass myself on stage, when we get back to the Dragon Palace, my dear furnace will be punished too!"

Yino pulled the blankets around them, the corners of his lips curved in a smile as he drew close to her.

Yuyan’s face turned pink. Yino’s fingertips sent a ticklish thrill through her, and she no longer had the mind to keep staring at the ruined screen painting by the door.

"How could I ever blame husband..."

"Actually... that just now felt really good. Better than usual... like my sword dao suddenly became so much clearer all at once..."

Yuyan rolled over too, burying her face in the blankets and murmuring softly.

They tangled together under the covers again, practiced and unhurried.

"So senior sister got excited from being seen by Lady Pei... could it be that deep down, senior have some hidden fetish..."

"Don’t you dare make fun of me! Even away from Ranmo Peak, I’m still your senior sister!"

"My bad, my bad... So, senior, would you want to try another method next time?"

"It’s not that I wouldn’t... but it’s not because I liked it. I just think that kind of cultivation might produce better results..."

"Senior clearly enjoyed herself... You were also performing exceptionally well when Ruoning was there too..."

"Shut up! Keep talking and I’ll grab your sword root and cut off your sword dao!"

...

...

...

In the early hours before dawn.

Zhihan returned to her room. The images and sounds from behind that screen were vivid in her mind, even the scent that had hung in the air seemed to linger somewhere deep in her head.

After all, she had been cultivating the sword since childhood. To keep her Dao heart steady, she had abstained from such thoughts for over a hundred years.

But tonight’s scene had been far too raw, and it had hit her Dao heart harder than she cared to admit.

For the rest of the night, Zhihan tossed and turned on her bed. There was an itch in her chest she couldn’t shake, her mind and body both restless, unable to settle. Her hands clutched the sheets so tightly the veins stood out across them. Her forehead was slick with sweat. Sleep would not come.

If she was being honest, she felt the urge to touch herself. But she didn’t dare. She was afraid of cracking a Dao heart that had held firm for over a hundred years. Once that seal broke, it would never fully close again.

And on top of that, this was Yuyan.

She wasn’t some fictional character from a story. She was one of the few people in this world whose sword dao Zhihan genuinely admired, a junior she had watched with real respect.

If she actually did it while thinking of Yuyan, she would never be able to face her again.

"Haah..."

Zhihan let out a long sigh and gave up on sleep entirely. She sat up on the bed.

First she loosened her sleeping robe. Then she carefully slipped her hand into her undergarments. Her body shivered, and her fingertip found exactly what she’d feared: a slick, clinging thread already waiting there.

"So this is what they call desire burning through the body..."

"No wonder so many cultivators throughout history have been trapped by lust and failed to pass this tribulation."

By the light of the moon through the window, Zhihan withdrew her hand and held it up, thumb and forefinger pressing together and pulling slowly apart, studying the clear, glistening wetness between them.

She took out a handkerchief and wiped away what remained, then put her black robes back on.

Zhihan raised her hand to summon the Primordial divine sword her master had passed down to her, then walked out into the courtyard with the sword at her back.

Shhhhk!!!

The blade cut through the cold air with a howl. Alone under the moon, the black-robed beauty began to dance with her sword.

She danced until the sun rose. Only then, feeling the fire within her fully pressed down beneath her Dao heart, did she return to her room to wash, wiping away the sweat from her body and the last traces of stickiness from between her thighs.

Afterward, Zhihan heard a knock at the gate.

"Master! Your disciple Lin Che has come to pay his respects!"

The little shaved-head kid, bright and sunny as ever.

Seeing his face, Zhihan suddenly remembered the bet she’d made with Yino yesterday.

She tucked the Primordial divine sword against her chest, holding it between her breasts, then reached out and ruffled the boy’s head with a warm smile.

"Today’s opponent is from Divine Abyss Gate. They say the other side has a Nascent Soul stage cultivation level. Are you confident?"

"Your disciple is very confident!"

...

...

...

...

The Immortal Alliance Tower.

Compared to yesterday’s opening ceremony, today’s official matches had drawn an even larger crowd.

The entire tower was built around a massive central Dao Testing Pavilion, with nine-story luxury spectator stands rising in layers on all four sides.

High-ranking cultivators from the Five Great Immortal Sects were seated in the stands by rank, while the competing cultivators from each sect waited in their respective sect lounges to be called.

Yuyan was, after all, a True Inheritor sword chief under Wuji Sect master Mu Daosheng’s direct teaching. With the sect master absent this year, Yuyan naturally took his place, she was given a spacious private balcony on the seventh floor of the Immortal Alliance Tower as her viewing seat.

Thanks to his senior, Yino was allowed to sit beside her and watch the tournament.

On the same floor, alongside the other high-ranking cultivators from the major sects, was Zhihan. As the sect master of Jianlan Sect, she and Lin Che naturally had their own private balcony on the seventh floor as well.

Down on the Dao Testing Pavilion, after several rounds of matches, the energy from every corner of the stands had been fully ignited.

"The next match calls to the stage, from Wuji Sect, True Inheritor disciple of sword chief Yuyan: He Yino!"

"His opponent, from Frost Palace, Inner Disciple of the same lineage as the Nangong Holy Maidens: Zhou Qi!"

The host’s voice rang out with the same enthusiasm as always.

Hearing his name called, Yino, who had been waiting long enough, finally rose from beside Yuyan and stretched.

"Yino. Don’t underestimate him."

That was all Yuyan said before he left.

Simple enough. After last night’s successful cultivation, they both knew full well where Yino stood. This first-round opponent, Zhou Qi, was essentially someone Yino could finish in seconds. To give Yino a real match, you’d need at least one of Zhou Qi’s senior sisters, Nangong Xi or Nangong Li.

"Yino! Go get ’em!"

From the adjacent Jianlan Sect balcony, Lin Che shot to his feet and cheered.

Yino glanced at him, nodded with a small smile, and was about to ride his sword onto the stage, when a man’s voice drifted out from behind the curtain of the Frost Palace balcony across the way:

"Thank you for Eldest Senior Sister’s concern! But that fellow is a well-known good-for-nothing back in Luo City. What could someone with that sort of character possibly learn from Wuji Sect’s Lady Mo Yuyan? He’s not worth worrying about."

Yino stopped. He found this mildly interesting, so he leaned against the railing and listened.

"That kind of noble family trash, I despise them most."

"Senior sisters, watch me go and come right back!"

With those words, the curtain of the Frost Palace balcony shifted. The clean-featured young man in blue-moon robes pressed his fists together in a salute, gave a cold laugh, stepped back, turned, and walked out.

He lifted the curtain, and found himself face to face with Yino, who was leaning on the railing directly across from him.

Yino’s eyes were sharp. Like a sword that could pierce straight through your soul.

But just as Zhou Qi’s heart lurched with a start, he realized the young man’s gaze wasn’t on him at all, it had slipped through the gap of the lifted curtain and landed on the two silver-haired beauties sitting inside the balcony.

"What are you looking at?! Your opponent is me!"

He snarled with irritation.

Yino snapped back. He propped his cheek on one hand and smiled, the kind of smile that meant nothing good.

"What’s the rush? Do you really want to embarrass yourself in front of your two senior sisters that badly?"