"I have been waiting for you to wake before we go bathe in the hot springs…" She added;

[The hot springs were different batches of private pools created by Ki Ting, Pi Xi and Su San]…

"Hot springs?" Min Hong was also stunned by the situation;

"Yeah, wait till you see it…"

"Alright, let's go then…"

Min Hong responded as he stood up and made his way towards the hot springs with the smiling princess in tow…

Everyone were busy with different preparations, from arming themselves with outfits which had the defense level of war armors to others who began to wear their protective talismans and treasure all over their body;

Some had defensive treasures in the form of necklaces which can be easily activated just by sending some Qi into it, others had attacking treasures in the shape of rings which they could just point at their enemies and let them have it in full force or point blank…

As a result of this, not many saw Min Hong and the princess walk past them, or it was more like they didn't pay any attention to them, and those who did pay attention, simply greeted them and went on with their preparations…

Today was the start of a blood curdling battle that would not only determine the fate of the Land of Stones as a whole, but also the people living on dealing within it…

Though they didn't know what the outcome would be, but they were all sure about one thing;

There was going to be a massive change in the structure by which the Land of Stones is governed, and there would also be a glaring shift in power…

Min Hong and the princess walked to the deepest depths of the hideout and saw the hot springs which were no longer boiling but simply warm since everyone seemed to have used it and left…

The princess took Min Hong to the most private one of them all which was at the extreme end of the entire hideout, and was covered by a C- shaped wall which covered anyone within the hot spring from other's view, and anyone who wanted to see who was within it would have to walk around the wall and peep from the entrance exactly…

She told Min Hong to go in first, and Min Hong stepped into it with his clothes still on, and when he was submerged to his neck region, the Black Star Skin retreated with a thought, transforming into a band that held his hair into a bun, leaving two golden and blood red bangs hanging from either sides of his face...

But Min Hong at this point, if no one had seen him before looked more like a deadly pretty tomboy than an out and out male, except if he spoke, and then his masculinity would be revealed…

"Turn around…"

The princess said, and Min Hong knowing she was about to undress did as she had asked as he heard the heard the sound of silk rubbing against silk and then falling to the ground…

Then he heard the sound of someone walking into the water, until he felt little waves hit him from behind, and with that he knew the princess was already submerged into the water…

The entire hot spring was dark because the wall giving it some privacy had shielded the little light they had away from it…

With just a surge of invisible flames on his hand, Min Hong had the water boiling in no time…

They were cultivators, and boiling water would simply feel like the winter sun to them unless they lower their cultivation to a stage where they can begin to enjoy it…

"Are you in?" Min Hong asked;

"Yeah, come…"

The princess replied softly and Min Hong turned around, and the princess was bedazzled…

There she could see Min Hong's eyes, completely golden with a tinge of green at its center…

This was because Min Hong's eyes was trying to adjust to the brightness of the pool, and because his eyes were naturally golden green due to the effects of the 'Eye of Infinite Daos', they were always much more pronounced in the darkness and looked almost normal during the day, except when Min Hong activates any ability of the 'Eye of Infinite Daos' which would then cause his eyes to glow golden green…

The princess had never seen eyes of such color or nature before in her life, and in a bid to peer into it, her naturally ocean blue eyes became much brighter and Min Hong noticed, but thought that it was probably her eyes naturally trying to adapt to the darkness in here…

But the princess on the other hand froze in shock, because when she tried to peer into Min Hong's eyes, she saw the shadow of a massive head behind him instead, and this shadow had three eyes;

One was pitch black with blood red serpentine slit, another was pure white like snow with nothing else within, and finally one at the forehead of this shadow which was a vertical golden green eye which was exactly the same as Min Hong's normal eye at the moment…

It was the extreme fear and danger that she felt from these eyes that caused her to be petrified and why she froze in shock...

These eyes weren't even looking at her, and the level of bloodthirst, power, mysteriousness and dominion they were imposing on her was suffocating her saint soul, and she immediately ceased peering as her eyes dimmed back to its normal ocean blue color; one that Min Hong himself was captivated by its sheer beauty, especially with the silver hue that was at its center…

"Are you alright?" Min Hong's words jolted her back from her lost state as she quickly replied;

"Y-yes, I'm alright, I just never noticed your eyes were actually golden green in color…"

"They are truly mesmerizing…" She added with a sweet smile as she swam towards him;

"Yours are no less beautiful as well…"

Min Hong replied as she swam into his embrace, ignoring Min Hong's flaccid shlong which was currently pressed in between her laps as they clung to each other like their bodies were one…

They only looked at each other and didn't look at their body parts to avoid getting aroused and being unable to prevent themselves from doing what they had planned not to do [or at least what Min Hong had planned not to do]…

They simply hugged and stared at each other whilst smiling, just enjoying each other's company…

Then after they were done looking at one another, the princess turned around and pressed her back to Min Hong's chest before sighing;

"What's on your mind?" Min Hong asked;

"It's nothing…"

The princess replied but Min Hong understood quite well that she didn't just want to burden him with her problems, but for some reason he didn't want that, and in fact he wanted to carry all of her burden by himself if it meant he could always see her happy, radiant and as possessive she had been with him recently…

"Since when did you start lying to me?"

Min Hong spoke with a flat tone, and the princess knew he was serious, but not out of anger, but just out of sheer concern;

"I'm afraid since we met…" She replied s her shoulders slumped and her head lowered…

Min Hong from behind lifted her chin with his warm hands before placing his hands on her shoulders and pressed them straight and then massaging it;

"No matter the circumstance, never lower your head or slump your shoulders or do both; that is a sign of defeat…"

Min Hong added as he heard the princess give another sigh, and at this point, her eyes had reddened for some reason and it was like she was feeling extremely guilty; like someone who had be shown undeserved kindness…

"Initially, I only had five years at max before I have to bring back my soulmate, otherwise I would have to settle for anyone the grand elders pick for me, and when you told me you needed ten years, I lied and accepted your terms because I was hoping my mother might be able to add another five years to my time limits…"

"You see, I will clock twenty during the coming spring, and it is mandatory for us to get married by the time I am twenty five…"

"Then we are allowed to live our lives the way we want it for fifty years, before we are mandated to return to take control of the clan and give birth to the next princess who would also get married at twenty five years of age…"

"Our clan purposely engineered the cycle this was so that each princess could enjoy her life for 50 years and also serve as the queen of the clan for 75 years before the cycle is being passed down to the younger generation…" She explained;

"I already figured it out when I laid my conditions, the body language of your guards and the expression you had back then made it clear that my conditions was impossible for you to fulfil…"

Min Hong responded and the princess was stunned; she wanted to ask why Min Hong had done what he did, but she realized it didn't matter now, at least nothing matters to her anymore as long as she gets to feel this way around him, and they get to share moments like this…

"But that is not where the problem lies…" She continued;

"I told you how our grand elders wanted a change to the system with which the clan lives by, and from what I and my mother could perceive, they seem to want to use my marriage as the first step that ushers them into that change…"

"And as a result, they have been pestering my mother that I bring my soulmate home, under the guise that they don't know how long it might take him to pass the inheritance test if he ever will, so that someone else can take his place to challenge the inheritance ground and retrieve the bride price on time before the constellation aligns…" She continued;

"I sent my guard home to deliver our conditions and also told her to tell my mom that I would do all I can to make sure I return with you in five years, but I never knew I would come to love you so deeply in less than four months…"

Then the princess paused as Min Hong braced for the massive bombshell which was the endpoint of all the historical narration so far…