Wu Jian woke up with breathing problems. He tried to take in a breath, but it felt like a weight was compressing his chest, preventing his lungs from taking in much needed oxygen. Several moments of this passed before he finally opened his eyes and looked down.

There was a lump under his covers.

He could already tell from the general outline and the fact that it was breathing that there was a person underneath the covers. The question was who?

Wu Jian could tell from the breasts pressing against his stomach that this person was a woman. He immediately ruled out Hou Jingshu. She liked to sleep on one side, using his shoulder as a pillow as she rested within the crook of his arms. It also wasn’t in her nature to sneak into bed while he was sleeping. Come to think of it, why had he not woken up when someone slipped into his bed? He wasn’t so heavy a sleeper that he wouldn’t have been alerted to someone sneaking around inside his room.

I’m not going to find out by just lying here. Might as well get this over with.

Without further ado, Wu Jian peeled back the covers to find Zhou Lihua lying on his chest. He stared at the young woman as she slept on top of him. This was a first. He knew Zhou Lihua was bold and mischievous, but she had never snuck into his bed. What was she doing here? No, the better question was definitely how did she slip past Zhou Wen? That woman had a knack for interrupting them just as the atmosphere between them started heating up.

He reached out to stroke the woman’s hair. Zhou Lihua shifted against him, and Wu Jian became aware of a slight problem when an electric jolt raced through his brain. He could not see this particular morning issue, but he could certainly feel it trapped between Zhou Lihua’s thighs.

“Someone’s lively this morning,” a soft murmur made him freeze.

“I should have realized you were awake,” he muttered. “When did you get in here?”

Zhou Lihua opened her eyes, set her chin on his chest, and grinned at him. “Last night. I was hoping to have some time alone with you, but you were asleep.”

“So you decided to join me?”

“I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go.”

“I suppose… I can’t blame you.” Wu Jian brushed his fingers against Zhou Lihua’s face, then slid them further to cup her cheek. She hummed and leaned into his hand. “We never get much time to ourselves, do we?”

“We don’t. It’s such a shame.”

“Well, we’re alone now. What would you like to do?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

Wu Jian chuckled as Zhou Lihua crawled up his chest and clamped her lips over his. They were warm, soft, and oh so perfect. Her lips were much plumper than Hou Jingshu’s. They were very kissable, and he relished in the act. He bit on her lower lip as she rubbed her body against his. Her nightgown was made from a light fabric. He could feel something poking through it.

Zhou Lihua’s hands made a complete mess of his hair. Well, it was already pretty messy. He had horrible bedhead. The feeling of her fingers as they ran through his hair was pleasant. Her nails weren’t very long since they could get in the way of her alchemy, but the sensation of her nails on his scalp made him sigh into her mouth.

“Mmm?!”

Wu Jian’s eyes opened wide in shock as Zhou Lihua used his sigh to slip her tongue into his mouth. He was so surprised that he couldn’t do anything against her as she explored. Her tongue moved to the roof of his mouth, then the bottom, and then she tangled hers with his. The large amount of saliva her kiss created made it hard for him to breath. He had no choice but to swallow it.

His body was heating up. He could hardly stand the unbearable heat in his loins. Acting on impulse, Wu Jian grabbed Zhou Lihua’s shoulders and flipped them over. Now on top, Wu Jian somehow managed to pry their lips apart, but that was only so he could begin kissing other places.

“Mmm…”

Zhou Lihua’s breathy moan in his ear goaded him on as he kissed her face, her jawline, her ear, and her neck. He wanted to bite her, to leave a mark on her skin. It sucked that he couldn’t. Zhou Wen would notice. Blasted woman. She had a knack for always ruining their fun. He really hoped she wouldn’t find them now.

He looked up at Zhou Lihua. Her eyes were hooded. Lust seemed to fill them, or maybe that was just how they always looked? This woman seemed to embody seduction without even trying.

Wu Jian gulped as he decided to be a bit bolder. He trailed his lips down her collar bone, then parted the seems of her dress, revealing the delicate slope of her bosoms and the pink tips.

“Nnn. Aaaah. Oooh.”

Was she making those noises on purpose? Wu Jian’s thoughts were all over the place as he kissed her, leaving a shiny trail wherever he went. He paid close attention to the noises she made. They were louder now than they had ever been. Her chest must have been more sensitive than he first surmised.

As if to confirm, Zhou Lihua grabbed his head and pulled him down. It was like she was telling him to keep doing what he was doing. He had no problem with that. He kissed, licked, and sucked his way across her chest, switching from one to the other. Meanwhile, his hand trailed down her stomach, slipped into her undergarments, and reached down between her legs…

“Excuse me, Jian Wu? It’s Zhou Wen. May I speak with you?” said someone from the other side of his door.

Blasted woman!! What is with her?! Does she have a sixth sense for these things?!

Zhou Lihua growled under her breath and glared at the door. Wu Jian did, too, but he had to keep calm.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’m looking for Zhou Lihua. Have you seen her?”

He glanced at the woman in question. “I haven’t.”

“I see. May I come in.”

No, you may not.

He wanted to say that, but he knew that would be incriminating. He sighed. Dammit. He was hot, bothered, and now he had to deal with this blasted woman who seemed dead set on preventing him from eating swan meat. Wu Jian considered what to do for a moment, then sighed. This couldn’t be delayed or she would get suspicious.

“Give me a moment. I’m not clothed.”

“I understand. I’ll be waiting.”

Wu Jian sighed and stood up. He silently opened the window, looked at Zhou Lihua, and made a gesture. She understood. With a groan of her own, she moved forward on silent feet. She paused by the window to look out. Then she turned back toward him and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. She smiled before vanishing.

He closed the window.

With another sigh, he readjusted himself and walked toward the door. Now he just had to deal with this woman. He vowed to one day get revenge for all the times she had prevented him and Zhou Lihua from having a moment alone together.

***

Ten blocks competed yesterday, but twenty blocks competed today. Hou Jingshu was in block eighty. They had only reached block thirty, and if this pace of twenty blocks a day continued, she would compete on the fifth day.

Wu Jian, Hou Jingshu, and Zhou Lihua spent their time in the stands, watching the participants as they fought. Yu Mao, Liu Heifeng, Li Hua, and Zhou Wen were also present, but they were sitting further away. Wu Jian could feel Zhou Wen’s eyes on them. He was doing his best to ignore that.

Many of the competitors were not worth their consideration. They were good, but they were only good for people in the Shang Kingdom. Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu were much stronger than they were. Yu Qiang could defeat most of them too.

Only a few competitors really stood out.

“Húndàn Wang is actually really good,” Zhou Lihua pressed a finger to her lips. “His skill with a blade is most impressive.”

The young man she mentioned was currently fighting in block twenty-eight. He had gone up against several other cultivators and defeated them all with ease.

Of course, he was at the Human Limit Realm. That alone meant he had far more power than almost everyone in this competition. The only person who could compete with him in cultivation was Mei Xilan, the seventeen year old Human Limit Realm cultivator.

“I won’t deny that he’s good, but I’m pretty sure I can beat him,” Hou Jingshu declared.

Zhou Lihua giggled. “You’re so competitive.”

“Don’t you find it odd that two people our age have reached the Human Limit Realm?” asked Wu Jian.

“Not really. I mean, yes, it is unusual, but it’s not like this is the first time. Yu Chenguang, Húndàn Qie, and Bing Xiannu all reached the Human Limit Realm at roughly the same time,” said Hou Jingshu.

“Who is Bing Xiannu?” asked Wu Jian.

Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua looked at him like he was an idiot, but he thought they were the ones being idiots here. How was he supposed to know of a person he had never heard of before. Hou Jingshu seemed to realize this before Zhou Lihua.

“Oh. That’s right. You wouldn’t know who that is. I’m sorry.”

He waved off her apology. “It’s fine. So, who is she?”

“Bing Xiannu is the sect master of the Ice Phoenix Sect. She is the weakest among the three. I think she’s actually weaker than Hua Xue. In any case, Yu Chenguang and Húndàn Qie’s rivalry was caused by Bing Xiannu. It was said that her beauty had enthralled them and caused them to compete with each other for her hand in marriage. It’s kind of funny. She rejected them both very clearly, stating that she had no intention of ever marrying.”

“So their whole rivalry was caused by a woman?” Wu Jian looked somewhat disgusted to learn this.

Zhou Lihua gave him a devious smile. “Are you really that surprised? Men have been fighting over women since time immemorial.”

“Ugh… it’s really sad that I can’t actually argue against that.”

There were many stories, ancient folktales that had survived the ages, about men fighting over women. Ancient lore told of Four Great Beauties--women from different dynasties who were so stunningly beautiful that upon seeing them swimming fish would sink, the moon would go into an eclipse, blooming flowers would droop in shame, and birds in flight would fall from the sky. These four women were so beautiful that men fought wars over them.

Of course, there were also stories of women who pacified wars with their beauty. One story of a young girl living in a nation that fell roughly 2,000 years ago was like that. The story went that Wang Zhaojunn was not only an enchantingly beautiful women with an appearance that could bring nations to ruin, but she was also educated in classic texts and renowned for her artistic talents. She was eventually summoned to the imperial palace in preparation to become the emperor’s concubine.

It was customary at the time for imperial artists to paint portraits of the ladies in the harem for the emperor to choose from, but the court was sadly being run by corrupt eunuchs at the time. Any young lady who wanted to be chosen had to bribe them for a chance to be selected. Wang Zhaojun refused, and in retaliation, the artist added an unsightly mole in her portrait, which caused the emperor to overlook her.

The nation at the time had been embroiled in a bloody war between them and the northern tribes that had gone on and off for several centuries. The emperor and chieftain finally agreed to resolve the conflict with a marriage treaty after too much blood had been shed. The chieftain insisted that he marry the emperor’s daughter for the treaty to work, but the emperor wouldn’t have it, and so he ordered another woman be selected to replace her. That person was Wang Zhaojun.

At the time, the emperor had no idea of Wang Zhaojun’s exceeding beauty until she was presented to the chieftain, but it was already too late. She was whisked away to the far north and never returned.

While the emperor was filled with regret over her loss, relationships between the kingdom and the northern tribes improved. Thus peace was restored.

The current ten blocks ended. Húndàn Wang obviously won all of his matches and would proceed to the tournament proper.

“The next ten blocks are starting. It looks like Mei Xilan, Xia Fen, and Xun Xi are all competing in separate blocks this time,” said Hou Jingshu.

The Three Ice Fairies all did exceedingly well during their matches, especially Mei Xilan, who defeated every opponent with a single strike. She had even less trouble winning her matches than Wu Jian. She didn’t even use any techniques. He couldn’t even sense her using chi to enhance her strikes like he had done.

I wonder if I can beat her…

“I’ve noticed the strongest cultivators are not fighting each other in the preliminaries,” Wu Jian said. “Do you think…?”

“It’s definitely on purpose,” said Zhou Lihua. “This tournament is meant to showcase the best and brightest cultivators the Shang Kingdom has to offer. However, this is just a preliminary. None of the most important noble families and wealthy merchants are here to watch these matches. The most important matches will be the main tournament when everyone who’s anyone is present to watch. Could you imagine how bad it would be if all the strongest cultivators were pitted against each other when no one saw it? The fights wouldn’t be nearly as riveting, and the people wouldn’t bet nearly as much money.”

“Yeah… that does make sense. I didn’t think about the economics of these tournaments, but there were a lot of people betting on us during the Three Clans Tournament back then, huh?” he said.

“There were. Just so you know, I was slated to win the whole thing,” Zhou Lihua said with a cheeky smile.

“Guess that means you were beaten by the dark horse.”

Zhou Lihua snorted. “You weren’t a dark horse. Everyone knew your name by that point. Don’t pretend you weren’t very famous already. If anything, I was the dark horse. Everyone just expected me to win after I proved how strong I was.”

Hou Jingshu sighed. “You were both so strong. I was so pathetic back then. I’m ashamed by how weak I was.”

“That couldn’t be helped,” Zhou Lihua said.

Wu Jian nodded. “Don’t feel too bad. You were never trained back then.”

“I guess.” Hou Jingshu perked up a little. “Well, I’m pretty sure I can beat Zhou Lihua now.”

“Ugh… I don’t need you to tell me that,” Zhou Lihua said, looking put out.

Hou Jingshu and Wu Jian laughed.