TIME WITH NIANCI

[ 2268 WORDS ~ I honestly didn't think I would make it to 2000 words with this chapter but I did it. Anyway I don't feel like I did an amazing job of it but I feel like it's fine like this...also the result of the vote from a while ago are inside the chapter somewhere. Thanks for sticking around and enjoy...I hope]

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Hearing her agree Yuji looked at her eagerly waiting for her to start talking about it.

" My master took me in from my early teenage years because of my talent for cultivating the Ice arts, not to say that I was simply used for my talent. In fact I was taken care of very well by her, she treated me lovingly as a part of her own family which I never experienced because the family I was from simply wished to use me as a tool to strength their standing in the world by marrying me off to some influential family. The reason I developed a distrust towards men was related to this because even though I was still a young teenage girl my mentality had developed quite a lot, the men in all the families around me looked at me as if I were a disposable tool and I could tell the only reason they treated me with care was because I was a means for them to gain power. Thankfully she took me away from them and brought me here to begin my cultivation while teaching me everything there was to know about the sect because at that point because of the talent she sensed I had, she decided I would eventually become the Sect Master. From the day she brought me here I decided to devote myself to cultivation effectively isolating myself from normal society. That's all there is to it...there isn't anything interesting." Nianci told a summary of her life as she agreed to.

Yuji listened attentively without interrupting her and he was surprised to hear that she was actually from an influential family.

The original story never talked about Mu Nianci's past so he never knew which served to increase his surprise especially about how the men treated her. It was no wonder she was so hell bent on the rules and eventually unconsciously twisted them to how they best suited her.

Hearing her once again complain about how her own life summary wasn't particularly interesting he shook his head . "It actually was interesting despite how short it was. I learnt a lot about you thanks to it...I could tell you're a dedicated, observant and very loyal woman who would do anything for those dear to you. Devoting your whole life to cultivation isn't something that can be simply decided on, you need the will to resist desires and temptation and determination to push through no matter what. From that simple summary I could tell that you've worked  very hard in your life to get where you are and regardless of whether men from other sects would identify you as a cold and ruthless woman which you kind of are but under that you're a kind hearted and caring person." Yuji explained in a soft tone

Nianci silently looked him in the eyes surprised that from such a simple summary of her story he was able to take that much away from it.

She didn't deny what he said because she knew that everything he said was right. Under her cold exterior was a woman who cared very much for those close to her, namely her master, disciples and the whole sect itself.

The day she was saved by her master she decided to dedicate herself to protecting the place that her master called home by working hard to get strong enough to do so.

Eventually she developed the same attachment to the sect which only served to strengthen her devotion and drive.

From the evaluation Yuji gave of her summary she had one thought on her mind. 'This man might be different from the rest....' She thought to herself but untrue to her thoughts she said. "Stupid pervert.." In a barely noticeable tone she muttered as she turned to look away from him.

Yuji heard every letter clearly causing him to smirk. "Would you mind telling me what happened to your master?" He asked curiously since the original novel never talked about it.

(A-SAN: I do not think they talked about it in the original but if they did just consider this my own original stuff )

Nianci nod her head and replied. "I don't mind since nothing particularly bad happened to her though it was sad....she died of old age because she was never able to make any more breakthroughs to extend her life span...." As she explained Ninaci's eyes looked as if it had lost some light with a hint of longing in them.

Seeing her expression change Yuji felt bad for her because he could tell that she missed her master very much. "Is that one of the reasons why you strive to cultivate and make breakthroughs so much?....because you don't want to leave your disciples behind?" Yuji asked in a soft tone.

Nianci looked at him silently for a bit with surprise in her eyes as she wondered. 'How does this stupid pervert understand me so much...' she then replied to him with a simple nod and said. "You're right...I don't want my own disciples to go through the grief that I did back then."

Yuji smiled hearing her reply. " The disciples of this sect are lucky to have you as their ancestor....even though you don't show it, you really care about all of them very much." He said as he thought to himself. ' The novel doesn't do justice to Nianci's character...most of the time they made her look so hell bent on rules that she disregarded how the disciples felt but here she is devoting herself to them and finding it within herself to somewhat deal with her own distrust towards men to correct the mistakes she made because of her misinterpretation of the rules. Though her master does play an important role in the decision it doesn't change the fact that she made the decision knowing they are also going to be affected by the it.'

Nianci blushed slightly hearing what he said because at this point even though she was able to somewhat keep her indifference up from the repeated accurate evaluations of her personality and the importance of what he's done for her she was struggling.

Emotions and facial expressions that were supposed to be sealed away were slowly leaking out. She failed to give an answer and instead just called him a stupid pervert under her breath again then seeing her predicament Yuji continued. "How about I tell you about the modern world, you might not find it interesting but the information could be useful when you want to give advice to anyone of the disciples whose going there so how about it?" Yuji proposed just to get a conversation going because he could tell if he just sat here talking about what kind of personality she had or teased her eventually he would probably get kicked out...tsundere ice-queens are just like that afterall.

Nianci considered what he proposed for a moment before giving her reply as she thought. 'Lanyin said she wanted to visit the modern society for some auction...the information could be useful...'

Realizing how helpful it could be she agreed. "Since it could prove helpful I'm listening." Nianci said as she turned her head to him.

Yuji began talking about the many changes in the world because he knew that she barely had any contact with it and instead was always involved in the world of cultivation.

Though he didn't go into any details he did lay a basic foundation of most things that developed in that society.

Over their conversation Nianci became visibly more comfortable around him. She started taking the initiative to ask him things she was curious about and her tone although was still neutral if you took time to listen there was a hit of enjoyment in it....something that she barely experienced ever since her master left so she wasn't able to notice that she was slowly acknowledging Yuji as her ideal kind of man.

~~ 4 Hours Later ~~

"Seems that society developed much more from when I was there..thank you for telling me all this. As much as it might be useless to me it would be a big help to disciples who wish to have time away from the sect to be with the man they have chosen." Nianci thanked Yuji because even though to her such stuff didn't matter, now that the rules would be changing it would be helpful information for the others.

Yuji gave a smile and replied to telling herb that there was no need for thanks. "I'm the one that wanted to tell you about it so there's no need for thanks....it was interesting to get to known you during these few hours so I should be thanking you." He replied.

Nianci immediately shook her head slightly. "We'll simply thank each other. I have no intention of retracting my thanks because you've done far too much for me and the sect." Nianci replied determinedly immediately after he tried to deny her thanks.

Yuji simply smiled and nodded then stood up from the bed. "Well it's about time I leave this place, I've gotten what I wanted and I've had fun. No reason to stay any longer." Yuji stretched his body a bit as he spoke.

Meanwhile Nianci's eyes widen slightly hearing that he was going to leave. Not that she wasn't expecting him to leave or anything, in fact she thought he would leave earlier but now that she talked to him for a while she really enjoyed herself for the first time in a while.

Yuji then remembered something he wanted to do but he needed certain information. "Oh and Mu Nianci do you know where the Fire Valley Sect is?" Yuji asked remembering that he had stuff to set up there before they go to the ancient heritage site.

[ A-SAN: The vote ended in a draw between Fire Valley and Seventh Sword so I asked my brother to choose as a tie breaker since no one else was voting as you can see eventually we'll be taking a trip to the Fire Valley Sect.]

Nianci came out of her daze and nod her head at his question. " North-East of here about 300 miles away. They are located between the valley of two mountains there. I assume it must be another one of your secrets so I won't ask why you want to know where they are." she gave him direction while thinking. 'I wonder if those men had angered you somehow.....they won't be able to fight back if they did.' She thought to herself.

"Thanks a lot." Yuji replied and as he did that he took down both barriers and the time chamber that he had set up before this.

He honestly didn't think he would take such little time talking to her but as she was right now even for him unless he blasted her with his KH aura like he did with Qingyu to completely melt her heart it would be very troublesome to get close to her immediately.

Even if he could he wouldn't because the only reason he did so with Qingyu was because it would have been very troublesome to convince her down the road instead for her he wanted her to naturally come to like him with a bit of a push here and there.

Feeling a change in the profound energy around them Nianci's eyes widen slightly. "There was a barrier around us?" She asked in a surprised tone as she looked around.

Yuji nod his head at her question. "Yeah...I didn't want anyone walking in on us since it would have caused you trouble if they saw us so I set them up when I first arrived." Yuji replied.

Nianci let out a low sigh hearing it was him but inside she was very shocked that he was able to set up barriers without her noticing anything. 'Just how strong is this man?'She asked herself.

"Goodbye Mu Nianci." As he said that Yuji gave a small wave and turned to walk to the entrance but was stopped in his tracks hearing what Nianci said.

Hearing that he was leaving she stood off the bed and clenched her fists a bit before asking. "Will we ever meet again?"

As much a she sealed away her emotions and such she could tell that she was interested in Yuji and had been acting very unusual around him.

She hadn't had such an interesting time with anyone other than her own master before she sealed away her emotions that's why she had to ask if they were going to meet again.

Yuji turned his head and even though he was smiling on the inside he looked neutral outside. "Would you like us to meet again?" Yuji asked

Nianci looked at him with slightly wide eyes for a minute as she thought about what he asked. 'Do I really want to meet a man again?....I feel like he's different from the others....'

Yuji patiently waited for her answer and grinned slightly hearing her reply. "I do." Nianci replied with a nod and a light blush but a determined look in her eyes.

"I'll make sure to visit you then." Yuji replied with a bright smile then walked out leaving a lightly smiling Nianci watching his back as he left the cave.

"Stupid pervert."She muttered under her breath as she went to meditate so that she could think of a way to start implementing the new rules without causing too much chaos.