The Promise

Xu Yuan spoke with earnest eyes. Throughout his journey, he had seen the impact of formation arrays across this world. Traces of arrays could be found in warfare, daily life, and agriculture alike. Technological innovation brought tangible progress to productivity. In eras past, it was common for ordinary folk to go hungry even in times of peace and prosperity. Nowadays, however, the people of Great Yan were generally assured two meals of rice a day. On the market it was even graded into four tiers, and spirit rice infused with Source Qi had even been cultivated. In the parlance of his previous life, this Fourth Sister of his was a top-tier scientific talent. What was a research genius doing running around handling "fieldwork" instead of staying put in the Gewu Academy to conduct research? With that thought, Xu Yuan glanced at the boots on her fair feet and her clothing, asking, "Little Fourth, did you design those boots yourself?" Xu Xinyao did not answer immediately. Her lashes lowered as she pondered his earlier words. Only after a long while did she look up as if snapping out of a daze. "Huh?" Xu Yuan repeated what he had said. Xu Xinyao pursed her lips in a smile. "Mm, yes." Xu Yuan followed up, "Earlier, when I saw you being attacked, a shield appeared. Was that because of your clothes?" Xu Xinyao shook her head, reached for her collar, and pulled it down slightly. "..." Xu Yuan's eyes did not waver, though a flicker of curiosity crossed them. Looking past the girl's delicate collarbones, he saw a formfitting, sky-blue soft armor. Dim array patterns faintly circulated across the armor—exceedingly intricate markings whose tracings were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Only with an intent-soul could one perceive their specific flow. Xu Xinyao said softly, "Ordinary fabric can't withstand array patterns. It's this Heavenly Feather Armor." "Do you have any offensive measures?" Xu Yuan asked. "Yes." Xu Xinyao showed no intention of hiding anything from him. She pulled back both sleeves, revealing what appeared to be bracelets bound around each of her slender wrists. Without waiting for Xu Yuan to ask, she raised her hand toward the floor. *Thwip.* A ripple of Source Qi and an almost imperceptible sound later, a needle as fine as a hair plunged roughly ten meters deep into the ground. The instant Xu Yuan sensed it with his intent-soul, he went completely numb. He glanced sideways at Ran Qingmo. Meeting his gaze, Ran Qingmo said softly, "Useless against me." Xu Xinyao added in a gentle voice, "Sister Qingmo's cultivation is profound, so naturally toys like this won't work on her." As she spoke, she produced two large items from her Sumeru ring. A crossbow and a thick rod roughly ten centimeters in diameter. A puzzled look entered Xu Yuan's eyes. Xu Xinyao showed no signs of stopping. She handed both items to Xu Yuan to hold, as though eager to showcase her entire personal armory to him. Xu Yuan took them instinctively. Sensing them with his intent-soul, he found the rod was hollow and reflexively raised it to peer inside. Right then, Xu Xinyao explained gently, "This is the Soul-Splitting Crossbow, which can attack the intent-soul. That tube can fire Source Crystal explosives." "..." Xu Yuan silently lowered the tube and looked up at his fourth sister, who was still continuing her arms exhibition. By now, Xu Xinyao had retrieved a rather peculiar object from her Sumeru ring. It was a rectangular prism about a foot long, pitch-black like a black lockbox, with a grip beneath it but no trigger. Seeing this contraption, the corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitched. Its appearance reminded him of her "ultimate skill" in Cangyuan. In Cangyuan, whenever this fourth sister unleashed her ultimate, the 2.5D sprite would pull out an ink-black gadget. Just as Xu Yuan was about to ask, Xu Xinyao aimed the black box toward the ground nearby. "..." Xu Yuan froze. *Whoosh—* A faint sound rang out, causing Ran Qingmo beside them to furrow her brows slightly. Xu Yuan could not see what had happened, as the Saint's remnant soul was still sealed, but he felt an enormous surge of Source Qi ripple outward. A moment later, Xu Yuan clearly saw the power of her "ultimate skill." A hole the thickness of a thumb had appeared in the ground. Inside, it was pitch-black, plunging straight down. Even extending his soul power to its limit, he could not find the bottom. After a beat of silence, Xu Yuan frowned and asked, "Little Fourth, where does this device draw its Source Qi?" The earlier bracelet had been single-use, and the crossbow and tube were both embedded with condensed Source Crystals, yet this black box had no apparent source of power. Xu Xinyao offered him a curved, eye-crinkling smile and waved a slender hand before his eyes. A pale blue ring on her index finger was particularly striking. "Isn't that a Sumeru ring?" Xu Xinyao shook her head, her voice gentle. "It is slightly different from ordinary Sumeru rings. It can draw Source Qi directly from the Source Crystals stored inside." "..." Xu Yuan's expression went blank. "You developed this yourself?" Xu Xinyao nodded. "Mm. Though Father helped a great deal. Without his cultivation, this ring couldn't have been made at all." "..." At that moment, Xu Yuan suddenly felt that his old man's educational philosophy was fundamentally flawed. This kind of array innovation was epoch-making. Why hadn't he locked such a scientific prodigy away to focus strictly on research instead of letting her wander around all over the place? Science and technology are the primary productive forces—had the old man never heard that phrase before? After several seconds of silence, Xu Yuan looked at the Sumeru ring on his fourth sister's slender finger, then cleared his throat lightly. "Ahem. Xinyao... your Third Brother hitting you before wasn't entirely of my own free will. This ring and this black box, could you..." After a moment's hesitation, Xu Xinyao handed the black box directly to him and began pulling off the ring. "..." Xu Yuan was stunned. Her willingness caught him completely off guard. He had merely intended to ask her to craft another set for him once they returned to the Imperial Capital. Cradling her arsenal, Xu Yuan freed a hand to grab her wrist as she pulled at the ring. "I meant after we get back to the Imperial Capital, you can make me a new set. You still need these to protect yourself." Xu Xinyao hesitated slightly. "The Soul-Splitting Crossbow and the rest are enough for me. You are always running into trouble, Third Brother. You need this more than I do." Xu Yuan waved his hand and shoved all three items back into her arms. "Enough. If Xu Changge sees me wearing your things when we get back to the Imperial Capital, he'll probably think I robbed you." Pausing, Xu Yuan glanced at the bracelet on her fair wrist and murmured, "That thing is nice, though. You can give me one of those. "Also, give what I just said some serious thought. "Hundreds or thousands of years ago, even during prosperous dynasties, commoners often starved. Today in Great Yan, so long as there are no natural disasters or demonic beasts, anyone willing to work hard can secure two meals of rice a day. "If you want to save the people, it makes no difference where you do it." "..." After a long silence, Xu Xinyao said earnestly, "I will consider it carefully." "Heh." Xu Yuan gave a soft chuckle, waved, and headed toward the main quarters of the courtyard. Night fell. As saviors of Shengshan County, the lodgings and meals Colonel Wang provided for the three of them were the best the county could currently offer. They had essentially been arranged according to pre-disaster standards. Exotic demonic beast ingredients paired with fine wine. Moreover, Colonel Wang was quite worldly; he had even sent several fresh-faced maidservants to attend to Xu Yuan's daily needs during his stay. Yet one glance at the young girls made it clear they had likely just been bought, bathed, and sent straight over. In the wake of a catastrophe, many people had no choice but to sell their sons and daughters just to survive. Xu Yuan refused them. Upon being turned away, the fair maidens wept, unwilling to leave. Xu Yuan understood their plight. In Shengshan County right now, human life was probably the cheapest commodity of all. He offered explanations, but they would not listen. Only after a final, harsh "Scram" did the girls leave obediently. Seeing this, Xu Xinyao looked at Xu Yuan as if staring at a monster. In her memories, her third brother had practically been incapable of going without women. But when she glanced at Ran Qingmo, who stood silently beside him watching the girls, she seemed to understand. Xu Xinyao had wanted to take the poor girls in, but ultimately held her tongue. Xu Yuan was quite pleased with this. He had expected his fourth sister's sympathy to overflow, but she had managed to restrain herself. Blind kindness was not true kindness. They were mere passersby destined to leave; it was far better to let Colonel Wang handle their arrangements. Xu Yuan enjoyed dinner immensely, as the food was delicious. Xu Xinyao only pushed a few mouthfuls of spirit rice around listlessly, while Ran Qingmo ate nothing, clearly preoccupied. Once dinner was finished, Xu Yuan took the lead and returned to his room to cultivate, leaving Xu Xinyao and Ran Qingmo to whisper quietly among themselves. The cultivation efficiency of the Nine Origins Calming Art was roughly two-thirds of his usual meditation, and it lacked the boost provided by Source Crystals. When one had the time and energy, sitting in meditation was still the most effective method. Due to the presence of flying demonic beasts, the mist in the sky still had not dispersed. Tonight was moonless. Drawing the Source Qi drifting from the Source Crystals into his body, he guided it through his meridians cycle after cycle in monotonous repetition. At a quarter past the hour of the Rabbit, in the dead of night, he completed another full cycle. With a soft snap, Xu Yuan broke through to the sixth-rank Iron Body as naturally as water flowing into a channel, encountering no bottleneck whatsoever. Because of his unique cultivation technique, even after reaching the Iron Body realm, his physique did not gain the bronze skin and iron bones typical of ordinary martial apprentices. Lowering his gaze to inspect his palms, Xu Yuan shook his head faintly, put away the Source Crystals, straightened his long hair, and lay down on the bed. As his cultivation steadily advanced, Xu Yuan could no longer pull off the miraculous feat of breaking through two realms in a single month as he once had, but the sensation of growing stronger was pleasant all the same. This breakthrough expanded his Source Qi reserves by more than half, and his senses grew significantly sharper. Even without running his cultivation technique, he could now faintly hear whispers from over a dozen meters away. Focusing his mind and channeling his technique, Xu Yuan clearly heard the heartbeat of Xu Xinyao sleeping in the adjoining guest room through the door. After a moment's thought, Xu Yuan channeled his power fully, probing further toward the room beside Xu Xinyao's. He wanted to hear what the ice block was up to. She had not cultivated tonight; if she had, all the Source Qi in the vicinity would have been snatched away by her. A few seconds passed. Silence. Neither breathing nor a heartbeat could be heard. As expected, once one reached the fourth-rank Body Integration, most cultivators learned to control their bodily instincts, such as their heartbeat, to prepare for unforeseen circumstances. Realizing this, Xu Yuan gave up. Sighing softly, he dispersed his technique and slowly opened his eyes. Then, He saw a dark silhouette standing quietly on his bed. Yes, standing on the bed, not beside it. The air froze. There was no moonlight, no bright-pattern lamp, only the faint glow of bonfires drifting from the distant streets. The dark figure stood straddling his waist, two long, slender legs parted on either side of him, a pair of tranquil eyes staring down at him from above. "..." Xu Yuan was startled out of his wits. In the dead of night, you close your eyes, open them, and there's someone standing on your bed. He instinctively moved to unseal the Saint's remnant soul to call for help, but immediately recognized who was straddling him by those familiar eyes. Letting out a long breath, Xu Yuan relaxed and laughed. "Ran Qingmo, what kind of trick are you..." Halfway through the sentence, Xu Yuan's gaze drifted downward and caught sight of the ink sword in her hand. The ink sword showed no luster, but judging by its shape, it was unsheathed. His smile froze. Xu Yuan stammered out the rest of his sentence: "...tr-trick are you playing?" What did this mean? Pausing for a fraction of a second, "Ahem, I think we can talk things out reasonably. First, put down the..." Xu Yuan watched her, his eyes widening. Even as words tumbled from his mouth, his mind raced to figure out how he might have offended this giant block of ice, but the moment his thoughts started turning— *Hum—* A crisp hum resonated. The dark silhouette shifted, and Xu Yuan felt a chill against his cheek. He shut his mouth instantly. Right, it truly was unsheathed. The ink sword had been thrust straight into the pillow right beside his head, unleashing an icy chill. Then, Xu Yuan saw her slowly begin to move from her stance over his waist. She bent downward inch by inch, the ink sword sinking deeper along with her, piercing clean through the pillow, and then the wooden bed frame... Time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl. Xu Yuan lifted a hand, only for her to catch his wrist and pin it down against the bed. He tried to struggle, but it was futile. Ran Qingmo was vastly stronger than him; even channeling his cultivation technique did nothing. Gradually, however, Xu Yuan realized something was amiss, because the grip of the woman on top of him was tightening bit by bit. The moment she settled down onto his waist, Xu Yuan finally could not hold back: "Hiss... Ran Qingmo, it's going to snap! Gentle!" "..." Ran Qingmo blinked her lovely eyes in the darkness as if snapping back to reality. After a moment's thought, she eased her grip slightly, though she did not let go. With the pain gone, Xu Yuan gave up resisting altogether. He took in the fragrant scent drifting from the woman above him, while the chill radiating from the ink sword began to form faint frost around them. Having done all this, she simply sat upon him with no further movement, seemingly lost in thought. For a time, the two remained frozen like that. After staring into those quiet eyes for a long while, Xu Yuan gave an exasperated chuckle. "Are you here to kill me... or sleep with me?" "..." Pondering briefly, the woman atop him shook her head honestly. "...Neither. You... said it before." "Said what?" "..." She did not reply. Yet her breath, carrying an orchid-like fragrance, drifted softly across his cheek. Without a sound, Her red lips pressed gently against his cheek. When she lifted her head, Xu Yuan looked up into her tranquil eyes, catching sight of a mist he had never seen in them before. A beat of silence passed. He seemed to understand what he ought to do now. "..." "..." A breath later, *Ring—* A clear, resounding sword cry echoed throughout the entire room.