Zhou Lihua paced back and forth, wringing her hands nervously as she worried about Wu Jian. Was he okay? He had been gone for such a long time. Surely, it shouldn’t take him this long to defeat a magical beast at the Human Limit Realm. He was strong enough to fight people an entire realm above him, or so she assumed from his battle with Mei Xilan. If he could defeat someone at the Human Limit Realm while he was still at the Asura Realm, then defeating a magical beast at the Human Limit realm while being in the same realm would be a peace of cake.

“I worry for the poor ground you’re going to burn a hole into,” Master Wong Jiu said dryly.

“Do not tease me, Master,” Zhou Lihua said. She did not stop pacing. Back and forth she went like clockwork.

“You need to be careful,” Master Wong Jiu warned. “I’m the only one here right now, and I don’t care what your relationship with that young man is, but others aren’t going to feel the same way. You mustn’t allow the Zhou Clan to find out how close you two are.”

Zhou Lihua paused and turned to face her master. The old man stared at her with a knowing gleam. He was already aware of their relationship, though, to be fair, Zhou Lihua knew she had not hid her feelings very well. It was hard to pretend she didn’t love Wu Jian when he was right in front of her. After thinking him dead for the better part of a year, she had realized how precious her relationship with him was. She didn’t want to regret not being honest with herself.

Her relationship with the Zhou Clan was precarious. The Zhou Clan had discovered her talent with alchemy and decided to move her position up, so she was technically considered part of the clan’s main family, but she was on the lowest end of the heirarchy. The clan could decide at any time that she was unworthy of her position. If that happened, they would probably marry her off to sire an heir, who would then be trained to take over her father’s position in Zahn City.

If they discovered that she was in love with Wu Jian… well, the results would not be good.

“I’ll be careful,” Zhou Lihua said.

Her master sighed. “If you want to be careful, you’ll deny being in a relationship with him.”

“And if the Zhou Clan ever asks me, I’ll deny it,” Zhou Lihua confirmed.

“It would be easier for you if you just denied it to everyone.”

“I do not wish to deny my feelings.”

The idea of denying her relationship with Wu Jian rankled on her nerves. She hated it. Zhou Lihua did not want her clan telling her who she could and couldn’t enter a relationship with, but she didn’t have much choice right now. She needed the clan’s wealth and influence to help Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu.

What had started as a simple friendship and curiosity had come to mean so much more to her. Wu Jian wasn’t everything she wanted in a man, but he had all the qualities she admired and even some she hadn’t realized she found attractive. His strength, of course, was something she had looked for in a potential suitor, but she was more interested in the way he relied on her. She enjoyed knowing she could be useful to someone. Her own clan did not rely on her at all. They used her for their own purpose, but that wasn’t the same thing. Wu Jian did not use her. He treated her as an equal, both helping and relying on her. She loved that about him.

Of course, he was attractive in other ways. He had a cute face, nice muscles, and he was a very good kisser.

And if I’m to believe Jingshu’s words, he’s even better at something else.

Hou Jingshu had, under pressure from her, given Zhou Lihua all the dirty details of her and Wu Jian’s sex life. Her friend had been quite descriptive. She probably didn’t intend to be. In fact, she had become downright embarrassed after the retelling of her many escapades in Wu Jian’s bed, but she had really gotten into it before she realized how much information she had been giving away. The things she described had made Zhou Lihua shudder. They had even played a part in her midnight fantasies. She had imagined Wu Jian doing the things described to her while touching herself.

Of course, she could not have sex with Wu Jian right now. However, Hou Jingshu had described one of the times in the bath when Wu Jian had done her in the butt. That had gotten Zhou Lihua’s attention. The Zhou Clan checked her purity periodically. However, that only involved making sure her pure yin essence was still there. Her pure yin essence could only be taken through vaginal penetration, which meant she could have sex with Wu Jian so long as it was in the butt.

The thought sent a thrill through her body. It was so naughty, so… thrilling.

The loud flapping of wings snapped Zhou Lihua out of her thoughts. She looked up to find two specks in the distance. She didn’t recognize them at first, but as they came closer, she realized one of them was Wu Jian. He looked… exhausted. His hair was a mess and his face was long like he’d just spent the last year and a half traversing the continent without food, water, or rest. Had his battle against the crow magical beast really been that exhausting?

It wasn’t until she studied the person beside Wu Jian that she realized there may be a problem.

He was a cerulean haired man with leathery wings jutting from his back, a tail behind him, and horns on his head. This man was clearly not human. Zhou Lihua tensed as they came closer.

“This… looks like trouble,” mumbled her master.

“Hey, Lili,” Wu Jian said as he set down. The man set down beside him and eyed her with furrowed brows. She felt like she was being stripped naked.

“Jian Wu… who is this?” she asked.

“Uh… he’ll be coming with us,” Wu Jian muttered.

“My name is Loong Chen.” The man nodded. “I will honor you by allowing you to refer to me by my name.”

“Uh…”

Zhou Lihua looked at Wu Jian, who shrugged and smiled.

“This man is a dragon and way stronger than all of us combined.”

That explained it. Strength was everything in this world, and if this man really was so strong, then it was important to pay him proper respect.

“Thank you for allowing me the honor of knowing your name.” Zhou Lihua bowed. It was the martial bow that all people in this world knew.

Loong Chen nodded, satisfied. “You know courtesy. Very good. And I smell Lord Seiryu on you as well, though not to the same extent. Are you also sleeping with my lord’s descendant?”

“E-excuse me?!” Zhou Lihua became startled.

“She’s not,” Wu Jian said.

“She’s sleeping with you then?” asked the man.

Wu Jian glanced at Master Wong Jiu from the corner of his eyes, then shook his head. “No… not quite. Not yet at any rate.”

“Hmmm…”

“Wu Jian, please explain what’s going on here,” said Zhou Lihua.

“Right. This will take a bit, so bear with me please.”

Thus her lover explained exactly who this man beside him was and the reason they would be traveling together. It was unbelievable, to say the least.

***

Before Hou Jingshu could make any plans, she needed to gain the support of the noble clan’s who helped rule over the Shang Kingdom. It was generally accepted that all noble clan’s be committed to the defense of the kingdom in the event of an enemy invasion. This did not mean, however, that some would heed her call. Humans were greedy. They would always want to get the best deal they could out of any interaction. Up until now, the clans would have sided with the kingdom because they were under the protection of the Heavenly Sword Sect, but since the Heavenly Sword Sect was in a precarious position themselves, there was no guarantee everyone would bother helping her.

That said, they were at least obligated to show her face.

Even if she wasn’t the Shang Kingdom’s emperor.

She had sent orders before the Ming Province’s invasion began for all clans under the Shang Kingdom’s banner to gather. Some had arrived as little as a day later, a few were even present within the Shang Kingdom and had no need to travel, but some were quite far out and needed time to make it here.

The past few days saw a lot of foot traffic. Civilians in the path of both the Zhou Kingdom and Ming Province fled to the capital and other sections further from the path of conquest. The Shang Imperial Capital saw a large influx of civilians. Among those civilians were one of the fourteen major clans.

One of the first clans to appear was the Hong Clan. They controlled the southern province that was currently being invaded by the Ming Province. Among all the clans under the Shang Kingdom’s influence, they were the most likely to support her. Their leader, Ming Hochang, was a reputable man with a strong sense of justice and loyalty toward his nation. She had met him on a few occasions and had a favorable impression of him.

There were fourteen major clans and forty-six minor clans. The major clans were tasked with ruling over a province rather than a city. Of the major clans, only thirteen showed up. The last clan, the Yong Clan, did not for obvious reasons.

The other twelve clans who showed up were the Fanh, Ning, Wi, Li, Liu, Yang, Chen, Chang, Huang, Yuon, Zhao, and Mihong clans.

The meeting took place in the palace’s Dragon Hall. There were many council rooms where clans could gather, dine, and talk politics. There were also rooms specifically meant for social functions like Hou Jingshu’s political debut when she was younger. The room they were using was a council room with a table large enough to seat over seventy people.

Hou Jingshu sat at the head of this table. Fengli Cai and Hou Gun stood behind her. It was a show of her authority. In most cases, Hou Gun should have been the one sitting at the head. He was the eldest male, but in light of recent events, her showing at the Shang Kingdom National Tournament, everyone in the Shang Kingdom military had deferred to her instead of him. Yu Chenguang and Zhe Fēnglì were also standing behind her.

“Thank you all for coming. You’ve all arrived with due haste, so I won’t bother you with banter. The Ming Province and Zhou Kingdom have invaded our nation and the Heavenly Sword Sect is currently dealing with a crisis. They are unable to send us much aid, though they did send us the sect master’s own son to help.” She gestured to Zhe Fēnglì, who stepped forward and bowed. “This is Zhe Fēnglì, son of Zhe Dāozhe. He and two peak Human Limit Realm experts have been sent by the Heavenly Sword Sect to help us.”

“Forgive me for interrupting, Your Highness, but I have a question before you continue,” said an older gentleman with long gray hair and beady black eyes. He was only at the third subrealm of the Asura Realm, but he spoke with an arrogance that belied his weak cultivation base.

“Oh? That’s unfortunate, because I’m not fielding questions right now. If you have one, you can wait until after I’m done talking,” said Hou Jingshu.

“Do not be so arrogant, girl. You might have a higher cultivation than me, but you lack the experience that I do. I have been ruling over the north-western province since long before you were born,” the man snarled.

“You are Ching Yuon, correct?”

“What of it?”

Hou Jingshu smiled coldly. “The reason you feel like you can speak to me like this is because you are the furthest from the threat we face. The Zhou Kingdom is coming from the south west, and the Ming Province from the south. Your province is located north-east, far from the conflict zone. This has given you a sense of security. You believe you won’t get caught up in this bloody affair so long as you play your cards right. Am I wrong?”

Silence settled among the people as they waited for Ching Yuon’s response. She had met all of these people before and had already taken their measure. She specifically remembered Ching Yuon because he had tried suggesting she marry his son when she grew up. His son was over two decades older than her. The very idea of marrying someone with that big of an age gap disgusted her. The way he had spoken to her father as though he should be grateful for his patronage had left an equally bad impression.

“How dare you question my loyalty! Is this what the Hou Clan thinks of me after all my years of service?” asked the old man.

“So you claim to be loyal to the crown?” asked Hou Jingshu, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course! I am nothing if not loyal to this nation.”

Hou Jingshu would have grinned if she could. Face meant everything to these people. They could not go back on their words because doing so would cause them to lose a lot of face. Like this, she trapped the most problematic troublemaker in a situation of his own making.

“Good. Right now, I am the crown. Show me your loyalty by shutting up and listening. If you cannot do that, then I do not mind putting someone else in charge of your territory,” Hou Jingshu’s words were cold and pierced the living room like a spear.