A person’s Essence was like a pillar of water, to which it was divided into three sections, similar to segments of bamboo. These would be the most important meridians in the world dictated by Way of The Sword.

Such as countless streams that merged into the ocean; nothing could stop this flow of nature.

In comparison to the twelve divergent meridians and the eight mythical meridian streams that Zhou Yan knew, it was significantly much simpler. However, it appeared more complicated from a different perspective.

Zhou Yan had fully unblocked and cleared every node in the countless meridians present in his body. Thus, the young lad felt a strong rush of energy surging through his body. It was different from the shackles from his training in the Sword’s Way. However, it felt closer to the segments of bamboo, deep and vast with an abysmal amount of knowledge.

The act of unblocking every single meridian was an arduous task to complete. The young lad now faced a difficult roadblock to his progress as the grueling cumulation of every meridian was forced unto him all at once.

From the current perspective of the young lad, it seemed the depths of the intricacies of a rank one Blade’s Cardinal was a voidless, endless abyss.

The young lad assumed initially that he would be using the wave of focusing the essence of the heavens and Earth into one dense and raw power by the ‘Nine Folds Yin-Yang Manuscripts.’ In addition to that, he would use his body’s remaining strength by his skill of ‘Spatial Destruction’ to break through the roadblocks of this realm with a single rush of force thus ascending to the second stage of the Qi’s pillar, which is better known as the second rank of a Blade’s Cardinal. However, with all his strength and might, he forced a single condensed powerful wave of Qi into his body, and the energy that resonated from his body sounded like the exploding reverberating hum of a sword.

As powerful as this rush of condensed, raw power was, it was still unable to break through the enormous mental fortress. After the transmutation of that powerful wave of energy in his body, the shackles that bound him to his current realm seemed to be reinforced by several folds.

The recoil after such a massive attack forced a wave of blood upwards in his body, making the young lad nauseous and inhumanly dizzy. This setback almost forced him to irrationally burst out with a wave of curses and swears, due to how cold his personality was.

“Master…Are…you…Are you okay?”

Ping’er stared worriedly at her master, Zhou Yan. A wave of anxiousness and overwhelming worry was obvious from her glare.

The lass spent most of the night crossing the treacherous hills and raging streams of water. Although the journey was not a lengthy one, the beautiful dress that she wore was now tattered and covered in dust.

The young lad, Zhou Yan, had attained the capability of night vision. Through the veil of the shrouded darkness of the night, the pale glimmers of dim light allowed the young lad to perceive objects around him. Hence, he was able to see the worried, tattered state of Ping’er and the overwhelming exhaustion of Ning’er.

With utmost compassion in his heart, he stared at Ping’er. Without hiding any emotions, he pulled her close into the comfort of his loving arms and said, “Worry not Ping’er, all will be well.”

As he spoke, he gently kissed Ping’er’s forehead.

This simple, random act of compassion stunned Ping’er as the young lass stood frozen in her spot, as her mind went completely blank.

The maiden in white who stood beside her, too, was surprised by his act of compassion, and her eyes widened. She never expected Zhou Yan to share such comforting compassion towards his handmaiden at that very moment.

Zhou Yan appeared to completely drop his arrogant, stubborn, and inflated ego of the past. It was as though he had totally morphed into a completely different person.

Ning’er stared curiously at Zhou Yan.

“Ning’er.”

Zhou Yan spoke with a calming voice while looking at Ning’er. It was the look of utmost sincerity.

“Yes, Zhou Yan, the state of your current condition seems to have drastically improved. What about your body, how does it feel?” Ning’er never avoided Zhou Yan’s gaze as she was a wise maiden with the facade of a naive girl. She was known to be a young lass that was unfazed by change, extremely generous, elegant but complicated on the inside.

“I’ll explain in great detail about my condition to you later.” Zhou Yan replied with a warm and indescribable sincere smile on his face.

Ning’er slowly avoided his gaze as both their eyes met.

That strong, sentimental, deep, penetrative gaze from his black pearly eyes was not something she wished to see. She knew that at this very moment, the only thing the lad needed was his fighting spirit and not an emotional attachment nor something else.

However, as she got lost in her deep thoughts, the young lad, Zhou Yan, had already made his way over to her. He grabbed her hands and clutching her palms tightly, he tugged the young lass into his strong, loving arms, embracing her whole.

At this very moment, she felt a wave of searing heat. His breath was heavy and blood-soaked, yet so compassionately full of love and unexplainably calm.

As she struggled to escape his warm embrace, she was instead grabbed by the waist and his strong arms wrapped around her tightly, making it impossible to break free.

It was at this moment she realized Zhou Yan was not as frail and weak as she assumed. His strength was inhumanly strong as his newfound change in his personality had completely rid his previously frail demeanor that he presented himself as. He had now transformed into this exceptionally strong and confident man. This was now an extremely attractive and remarkable man!

“Don’t struggle. Allow me to give both of you a tight hug. You both had been through so much.”

As Zhou Yan whispered softly to both lassies, both of them had seemingly fallen into a trance in an instant.

“Although we did not wish to be born on the same name day of the same moon’s cycle of the same year, we very much do wish dearly to die on the very same day! The instant both of you decided to follow me when I left, I am determined to never abandon both of you for as long as my lifetime stretches.

“I will make sure I train harder than I ever did before. This will ensure I can protect both of you for the entirety of my lifetime. No longer will I allow both of you to experience even an ounce of sorrow any longer!”

As Zhou Yan whispered, it almost seemed as if he had spoken the most beautiful and captivating words of romance in the world.

Typical under the moonlight type of romance never existed in this realm. The only thing that existed was the distinction in the various ways of the sword, the possession of crystals, training, legendary swords, mythical artifacts, swordplay alchemy, and strategy.

Thus, Zhou Yan had spoken the exact words of romance from the archives of the collective memories of the ancient sage. Even more so, the lad had spoken with such indescribable volumes of genuine sincerity. It was an undeniably shocking exclamation made by the lad.

This was an exclamation of self-sacrifice. A confession of compassion of the highest degree, which was extremely touching to anyone.

As for both lassies, Ping’er’s heart was beyond moved and touched by his words, and for the calm and collected Ning’er, a glimmer of admiration could be seen reflecting from her face. It almost made her unable to keep her vow of utmost ‘purity and chastity.’

She let out a long-winded sigh after a good long while, as hints of worry became visible on her face.

“Zhou Yan, we spent most of our childhood together. You were forbidden to train, and I was merely trash, abandoned by my family. When we were little, you attempted to ‘heal’ me, even though you knew nothing of the ways of the sword. Even though you were an extremely frail and weak kid, you were always optimistic and never once complained of tiredness.

“Even as we grew up, you were always kind and caring towards me, and I really felt your compassion. However, there’s nothing I could do to help but instead become a burden for you to carry.

“I happened to have a life-saving wild card, however in that situation, I did not dare to use it because I was unsure of this wildcard’s ability.”

…

“I love you with all my heart, and I am extremely grateful for your compassion. However, please do not make your struggles even more difficult than it already is for my sake.”

“In my hand is a golden tablet, it can save lives, and I want you to have…”

“Ning’er, hold on to what you own. We are not left with nothing. I have inherited my father’s grace and teachings. Besides that, I still have my natural gifts and powers, so, how am I, Zhou Yan, useless trash? Both of you needn’t wait too long. Just give me a cycle of a moon’s time, and with that, I will return to reclaim what is rightfully mine!

“That was my father’s obsession, and it’s also the opportunity for stability in this new situation that I can provide you both with!”

Without hiding any secrets, Zhou Yan whispered softly to both maidens while maintaining his utmost sincere gaze toward them.

There was warmth in his whispers, and it seemingly landed directly onto Ning’er’s cheeks. The calm and collected silent lass blushed a little on her face. It was almost as if her status as a glacial deity had gracefully descended amongst the common-folk without warning.

As Zhou Yan stared at her, his heart burned with amusement at the sight of her unparalleled beauty.

This beauty would be the work of creation by the gods to have made a maiden such stunningly beautiful!

Ning’er felt an indescribable odd feeling as she was being stared down by Zhou Yan. She wanted to resist it initially. However, being comforted by Ping’er by her side, she was instantly tamed like a kitten. Hence, her instant submission stopped her from struggling and resisting, simply allowing Zhou Yan to stare at her.

“Zhou Yan… My current situation is unbearably complicated. There’s no need to mention the members of your family. It was even something I had felt. I…am, not a normal, regular human being.

“I can feel that I, too, have a journey that only I must embark on. It feels like a calling in my head, speaking directly to my mind. Recently, these occurrences have been more frequent…

“Zhou Yan, no matter what happens in the future, I need you to believe me. The moment you attempted to heal me when we were little, you already hold a special place in my tiny heart.

“However, I can’t lose my purity right now… I can’t help but feel this would be extremely important to me.

“I will only belong to you alone. Your natural gifts… I too, can’t help but fear it’s ferocity.

“I used to assume I perhaps made a mistake initially. However, as of right now, Zhou Yan, you’re truly a hidden natural genius.”

Ning’er’s heart was touched, thus forcing the calm, collected, and silent lass to speak more than she usually did. Even some of her words were fragmented, almost as if it was dissipating.

However, Zhou Yan knew that these were her true feelings that the lass had spoken. It was due to her compassion and mixed feelings that caused her to lose her composure.

“Yes, anything that troubles you, I will understand. Any hardship you face, I will shoulder it along with you!”

Zhou Yan spoke with a soft tone. He continued with a whisper, “Ping’er, I will do the same for you.”

Zhou Yan’s words undeniably touched the hearts of these two young maidens. The trio had grown up together, struggled together and depended on each other for anything and everything.

The hasty progression of current events was undeniably quickened by his recent encounters.

…

The calm and quiet environment was a rare occurrence. This simple cuddle was a lengthy one. The moment the embrace was broken, unknown to them, they had been hugging till the break of dawn.

As the first light of dawn greeted them, both maidens were still drowsy and dazed, hence inciting a deeper sense of love in their hearts.

The dew from dawn had soaked both their dresses.

One lass was inhumanly adorable, and the other was calm, collected and quiet. Both of them possessed distinctly different personalities that presented to the young lad. The beauty could only be described as different and unique.

Zhou Yan realized that he had an inhumanly strong urge of lust. However, at this very moment, he forced himself to resist the primal urge, even though… strong, powerful flames were dancing in both his pearly eyes.