Goodbye (NSFW)- Very Long Ch

"Time for my final round of goodbyes," Su Min murmured, brushing imaginary dust from her sleeves. "Let's start with my favorite one."

With a flick of her sleeve and a glint of mischief in her eyes, she disappeared into golden light.

Half a year. That should've been enough for a certain someone to cool off. And with any luck, Xie Yingying wouldn't try to body-slam her the moment she showed up again.

Well, maybe she would. Su Min wasn't exactly counting on her restraint.

As the saying goes, all things in existence follow the principle of balance.

Pure Yin or pure Yang cannot endure alone.

The same applied to the Lunar Sovereign Body and Solar Sovereign Body. These constitutions required careful nurturing from a young age—otherwise, most wouldn't survive past eighteen.

Just like the many lost Five Elements Holy Bodies, countless Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign possessors had died young. The difference was that these two constitutions were easily detectable, even in infants. Any knowledgeable family or faction would recognize them immediately.

The only catch? Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign could not coexist in the same era.

But if two such individuals ever met, they'd feel an irresistible pull toward each other—a primal urge rooted deep in their souls, not just physical desire.

If both were below the Dao Comprehension stage, there'd be no stopping what came next. But even at the Unity stage, the influence remained.

Which explained why poor Xie Yingying turned beet red every time Su Min so much as looked at her.

As for Su Min herself?

Maybe it was because she was female, or maybe her Taiyang energy wasn't fully matured—not a true Solar Sovereign Body. Either way, she felt nothing.

Either way, teasing Xie Yingying was way too much fun.

And today, she was in top form.

The moment Su Min stepped into her artifact mansion, she was hit by a blast of Taiyin energy so cold it made her teeth ache. Spiritual frost painted the walls in delicate lacework, thick enough to bite skin.

"Oho?" she murmured, stepping into the frigid heart of the room. "Still sulking, are we?"

Xie Yingying sat in the center, legs folded, cheeks suspiciously pink. Her eyes were closed, her face stiff in concentration, but the twitch in her brow said it all.

"Refining ice essence again?" Su Min asked, casually strolling in as if the floor weren't literally frozen. "You know, most people use that for cultivation. Not to cool off after... flustering themselves."

Xie Yingying's eyes flew open.

She looked like a noble phoenix caught in the middle of a very undignified molt—stunning, composed, and completely horrified.

"Y-you—!"

Su Min was already behind her, speaking low by her ear, tone all honeyed affection. "Missed me?"

Xie Yingying flinched so hard she nearly knocked over the jade incense burner beside her. "Y-you're late!"

"Oh?" Su Min leaned in. "So you were waiting for me."

"I was not."

"You were."

"I was not."

"You were," Su Min insisted, voice dropping to a husky murmur. "You even lit incense. Don't think I didn't notice."

Xie Yingying's entire face went red. "It's for cleansing! For focus! I do it every—ah!"

She yelped as Su Min stepped closer, boxing her in between the jade flooring and a slow-burning wall of Taiyang energy. It wasn't searing, but it wrapped around her like midday sun through silk—warm, intimate, consuming.

The temperature shifted at once. The frost thinned, replaced by a steady, coaxing heat. Xie Yingying trembled.

"Stop it... you know what this does," she hissed, burying her face in her palms. "This isn't funny anymore."

"Mm… but your reactions are adorable. Like a rabbit pretending to be a wolf." Su Min crouched beside her now, lips practically brushing Xie Yingying's flushed cheek. "Tell me, how many tribulation lightning in pills do you want this time? I've been feeling generous lately."

"N-no—well… maybe…" Xie Yingying faltered, biting down a whimper as a wave of Taiyang energy surged through her. "T-the Profound Origin Water Yin Pill. I prepared three sets of ingredients… could you refine a few more?"

"Oho?" Su Min's brows lifted. "Asking me to refine water-type pills while sitting here like a melting glacier… How poetic."

That earned her a sharp pinch to the waist.

"Ow! Hey, that's no way to treat your benefactor," Su Min grinned, rubbing the spot with exaggerated offense. "Do you know how many arrogant young masters would beg for me to lean this close?"

The Taiyang energy pulsing from Su Min was concentrated, matured.

Back then, she could only sustain that aura for a few minutes before needing a cooldown. But after absorbing vast amounts of Taiyang Essence, the transformation had reached a new threshold. Now, she could maintain it for an entire day without collapse—no more frantic countdowns, no desperate rationing of breath and strength.

And worst of all—she was definitely doing this on purpose.

Xie Yingying's entire body felt unbearably itchy, like she was being touched from the inside out. Her breath caught; her knees went weak; and the most humiliating part? She was the only one affected.

Su Min remained completely unfazed, lounging as if nothing was happening.

Xie Yingying had done her research. She knew what this was now.

While historical records were vague—and none of the Lunar Sovereign Body predecessors had mentioned it directly—this reaction was undeniably linked to the Solar Sovereign Body.

Yin and Yang shall never meet. But if they did…

Xie Yingying's breath caught, her face turning a deeper shade of crimson. She clenched her fists, trying to resist the urge to reach for the icy surface again. "Stay calm", she told herself, but her body was betraying her, reacting to every flicker of Su Min's presence like a string pulled taut.

Suddenly, Su Min leaned in, lips dangerously close to Xie Yingying's ear. "Are you sure you just need that?" She teased again, her voice dropped to a low murmur, vibrating through Xie Yingying's very bones. "Or perhaps something else entirely?" Her words were light, teasing—but the way she said it, the heat in her tone, made Xie Yingying's heart race faster.

Xie Yingying tensed, her hands curling tighter around her knees, trying to block out the undeniable pull Su Min had on her. "No..." She couldn't be this weak again, not after everything. She couldn't let Su Min have this kind of hold on her. But every word Su Min whispered, every look, every touch of her energy—it was too much. Her resolve faltered, and for the briefest of moments, she wished she could give in.

But no. She was stronger than this. She had to be.

She took a deep breath, attempting to steady her racing heart. "You're insufferable," she muttered, looking away, though her gaze remained unfocused as she tried to hold onto her composure.

"Oh?" Su Min chuckled, the sound rich with amusement. "Insufferable? Maybe you're just saying that because you can't resist." She tilted her head, her lips curling into a knowing smirk. "Is that it, Yingying? Is it really that hard to admit?"

Xie Yingying's mouth went dry, her chest tightening as Su Min leaned even closer, the heat from her body radiating in a slow, suffocating wave. The space between them was nonexistent now—Su Min's breath brushing over her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

"I don't—" Xie Yingying cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath, her whole body trembling. "Damn it."

Su Min was quiet for a moment, watching her with an almost predatory gleam in her eyes. "You're shaking," she noted softly. "I can feel your heart beating faster. You're trying so hard to hide it, but I can see right through you."

"I—I'm not...," Xie Yingying protested weakly, but her voice faltered under the weight of Su Min's gaze. The truth was undeniable. She was feeling it. Every word, every pulse of Taiyang energy. Su Min was breaking her defenses down one layer at a time.

"Not?" Su Min whispered, her lips grazing the soft skin of Xie Yingying's neck. "Not what? Because you certainly seem to be in need of something." Her hands slid gently to Xie Yingying's waist, fingers just barely brushing against her robes, sending a jolt of heat through her body.

Xie Yingying's breath hitched, and she quickly turned her head away, biting her lip to stifle a gasp. "You're impossible," she whispered, but there was no fire in her words, only a quiet vulnerability that Su Min hadn't heard before.

And that was all Su Min needed.

She caught Xie Yingying's chin gently, coaxing her to turn back toward her, their gazes locking. "You're right," Su Min purred, her voice low and silky, "I am impossible. But that's what makes it so fun." She leaned in, pressing her forehead against Xie Yingying's. "You want me, don't you?"

Xie Yingying's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, her control slipping, just a little. "I..." Her words caught in her throat, tangled with her own desire, her own inner battle. Her lips parted as if to say more, but she was at a loss. The truth was there, clear in the way her body reacted to Su Min, in the way she could feel the warmth of her Solar Sovereign energy wrapping around her like a blanket of fire.

"Tell me," Su Min coaxed, her lips brushing over Xie Yingying's, the slightest touch, just enough to make her heart race. "Tell me you want this. That you need it."

Xie Yingying opened her eyes, her breath shallow. "I—I—" Her words faltered again, and Su Min took the opportunity to kiss her, soft and gentle at first, just the barest brush of lips. It wasn't enough. Neither of them was satisfied with the gentle teasing anymore.

Xie Yingying's breath stilled, her hands flying to Su Min's shoulders, pulling her closer, as though she couldn't help herself anymore. Su Min deepened the kiss, her Taiyang energy swelling around them, pushing the heat even higher, making the very air around them crackle with electric tension.

The room, once cold and frosty, now felt unbearably hot. As Su Min's energy wove around them, mixing with Xie Yingying's frenzied Yin energy, the balance between them was tipping. It wasn't just physical anymore. It was an inevitable pull that could no longer be denied.

Su Min felt the shift, the change in Xie Yingying's energy, the way her resistance began to crumble. She deepened the kiss, her tongue tracing the seam of Xie Yingying's lips, coaxing her to open. And when she did, Su Min's tongue slipped inside, tasting her, savoring the sweetness of the kiss that had been building for so long.

Xie Yingying's mind spun. She could feel the intense heat of Su Min's Taiyang energy swirling around them, wrapping around her like an unrelenting tide. She could hardly breathe, each inhale pulling in more warmth, more desire. Her head tilted back slightly, her lips parting with a soft, needy sound as Su Min kissed her more deeply, pressing her against the ice jade with such force it left Xie Yingying breathless.

"No..." She thought desperately. "I can't—"

But it was no use. Su Min was a force of nature. Every touch, every kiss, every pulse of her energy was designed to unravel her. To remind her of what she wanted, what she needed, even if she'd sworn not to fall into that trap again.

With a soft, breathless laugh, Su Min broke the kiss, trailing her lips down Xie Yingying's jawline, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. "Look at you," she whispered, her voice low and intoxicating. "So desperate, yet you still try to deny it." Her hand slid lower, tracing the curve of Xie Yingying's waist, before resting on her hip.

"Stop teasing me," Xie Yingying murmured, her voice rough, laced with frustration and a hint of surrender. "I can't..." She didn't want to admit it, but it was true. She couldn't hold back anymore.

Su Min chuckled, a sound so dark and knowing it sent a shiver down Xie Yingying's spine. "But you're so much fun to tease," she whispered against Xie Yingying's ear, her breath sending waves of heat through the sensitive skin. "You like it, don't you? You like it when I make you want me."

Xie Yingying's whole body trembled, a slight whimper escaping her as she bit her lip to stop from giving in entirely. Her head was spinning with the pressure of Su Min's energy, mixing with her own. The pull of their Yin-Yang resonance was undeniable, but it wasn't just the physical energy that was breaking her down—it was the emotional intensity, the quiet promise in Su Min's every movement, every touch. It was more than just passion. It was a deep, primal connection.

"I... don't want to..." Xie Yingying gasped, but the words lacked conviction, even to her own ears.

"Oh, but you do," Su Min teased, her fingers slipping beneath Xie Yingying's robes, tracing the delicate curve of her waist, her hip, teasing the sensitive skin beneath. "You've wanted this for so long, Yingying. You've wanted me."

Xie Yingying's chest constricted as she tried to push away the wave of heat flooding her. "You're wrong," she breathed, but even as she spoke, her hands betrayed her, sliding around Su Min's shoulders, pulling her in closer.

"Am I?" Su Min murmured, lips brushing the shell of Xie Yingying's ear—just barely a touch, just enough to make her shiver. Her breath was warm, lazy, and unbearably close. "Tell me you don't want this," she said, soft and coaxing. "Tell me to stop."

She nipped gently at her earlobe. Her voice curled like silk through the quiet.

"But you won't. Not after everything. You were the one who couldn't stop touching me back then… remember?" A soft chuckle followed, rich with unspoken memory. "Even now, I see it in your eyes. You're still starving."

She leaned closer, her voice dropping into something dangerously intimate. "Say it. Say you don't want me."

Xie Yingying's breath hitched in her throat. The words were on the tip of her tongue—"I don't want this." But she couldn't say it. She couldn't lie to herself anymore.

Her hands slid up to Su Min's neck, fingers tightening into her hair as she pulled her closer, crashing their lips together in a kiss that was desperate, consuming. It was more than just the need for physical connection. It was the need to let go, to surrender to something she couldn't resist, no matter how hard she tried.

Su Min responded immediately, her hands sliding down to Xie Yingying's waist, guiding her as she slowly deepened the kiss, her Taiyang energy crackling between them, making the air itself feel charged, as though the very room would burst into flames at any moment.

Xie Yingying's hands gripped Su Min's robes tighter, as though anchoring herself to something solid in the storm of sensation that was sweeping over her. She pulled away from the kiss, her breath shaky as she looked into Su Min's eyes, her own eyes wide with a mixture of desire and helplessness. "I... I can't resist anymore. I need you, Su Min."

She didn't remember when her resistance cracked.

Maybe it was the moment Su Min whispered her name like a prayer. Maybe it was the heat curling low in her belly, rising with every kiss, every touch that lingered too long. Or maybe it was the unbearable ache she'd carried for years—an ache only Su Min could soothe.

Whatever the cause, the outcome was inevitable.

Xie Yingying's hands trembled as she tugged Su Min closer, eyes fluttering shut as their lips met again—this time without hesitation, without denial. Her knees parted slightly as Su Min's weight settled between them, the icy jade seat beneath her back already thawing beneath the radiance of Taiyang energy that pulsed with every heartbeat.

"Su Min…" she whispered, voice barely audible over the rush of blood in her ears.

"I'm here," came the soft reply, firm and grounding. Su Min's hand cradled the back of her head, her other trailing lower, palm warm through the silken layers of Xie Yingying's robes.

The air shimmered.

Their opposing energies, once volatile, now danced in delicate harmony. Taiyin and Taiyang, no longer fighting for dominance, began to entwine like two rivers meeting in the valley of fate—gentle at first, then surging, unstoppable.

Xie Yingying arched into the warmth, her breathing uneven. The pressure building within her chest was no longer something she could suppress. It had become something sacred, something alive. Her Taiyin qi responded instinctively, flowing toward the Taiyang heat with reverent longing.

A quiet whimper escaped her throat as Su Min's lips trailed down the column of her neck, lingering at the hollow of her throat—her spiritual pulse point. The moment Su Min pressed a kiss there, her meridians flared open, and their resonance deepened with frightening intensity.

The sensation of being filled—not just physically, but spiritually—overwhelmed her. Her petals bloomed, unguarded, and her energy responded like a tide pulled by the sun. "Please," she whispered, half in desperation, half in surrender. "Don't stop."

Su Min didn't. She moved with purpose now, coaxing the flow of Taiyin qi with each gentle touch, aligning it with her Taiyang. Their breathing grew ragged, bodies slick with the mingling of cold mist and golden warmth. Robes slipped, limbs tangled, and what began as teasing quickly gave way to something far more raw.

And yet, Su Min slowed.

Not out of mercy, but out of reverence.

This wasn't just a reunion—it was a reclamation. Of desire. Of trust. Of the aching, unspeakable bond that had been starved for far too long.

Her lips trailed languidly down Xie Yingying's collarbone, past the hollow of her throat and the slope of her shoulder, drawing soft shivers with every breath. Each kiss was a vow. Each stroke of her fingers coaxed open another knot of tension, another pocket of restraint Xie Yingying had buried deep.

The Taiyang energy… it was different now.

No longer erratic or unstable—it was refined, tempered, rich with control. Like golden honey warmed over a sacred flame. And Xie Yingying, already overwhelmed by the faintest brush of that heat, was beginning to unravel.

Her body arched reflexively with every pass of Su Min's hand, her breaths catching in her throat like silk snagging on thorns. "Y-you're too warm…" she whispered, voice shaking. "It's too much…"

But she didn't push her away.

She couldn't.

Because deep down—past pride, past caution—her Lunar Sovereign Body didn't want to resist. It hungered for this radiance, craved it with a desperation carved into her very bones. And Su Min, with her hands and mouth and maddening patience, was feeding that hunger stroke by stroke.

"Too much?" Su Min echoed, lips brushing against her sternum. "Or just enough?"

She exhaled into Xie Yingying's skin, and a pulse of heat surged through the younger woman's meridians like liquid flame. Xie Yingying cried out—half-gasp, half-moan—and instinctively tightened her legs around Su Min's waist, trying to ground herself, failing completely.

Her hands, once clenched at her sides, now buried themselves in Su Min's hair. "D-don't tease," she pleaded. "Not like this. Not anymore…"

Su Min looked up at her, eyes dark with desire but softened by something else—something older, deeper. "I'm not teasing," she whispered. "I'm remembering."

A pause.

"Every sound you make… every way you tremble when I touch you… I've remembered it all, Yingying. Even after all these years."

Xie Yingying's lips parted, but the words caught in her throat. Her throat burned with unspoken longing, tears stung her lashes, and her body betrayed her with a soft, shameful buck against Su Min's thigh.

She was melting.

Despite the ice beneath her, despite her pride, she was melting. And Su Min was relentless—slow, careful, devastating.

One hand slid beneath her inner robes, caressing skin that hadn't known touch in far too long. Not like this. Not sacred, not safe, not worshiped.

And with every slow glide of Su Min's fingers, every kiss that descended lower, Xie Yingying felt the pressure building—not just within her body, but within her very soul. Her meridians began to shimmer faintly, Taiyin qi blooming like a moonflower opening to golden dawn.

She was unraveling.

And Su Min knew it.

Knew, and savored it.

"I missed you," Su Min murmured again, this time against the soft hollow just below her navel. "Every part of you. Let me remind you what it means… to be wanted like this."

Xie Yingying couldn't speak. Her back arched in silent response, her petals aching open under the warmth, desperate for more.

Then Su Min kissed her there—low, reverent, slow.

And everything broke.

A sound escaped Xie Yingying that was half sob, half prayer. Her legs shook. Her arms pulled Su Min closer, as if she could fuse them together by sheer will. "Su Min—please—I can't—"

"Yes, you can," Su Min breathed, lips grazing her as she moved lower still. "You always could."

And with that, the Taiyang energy surged again—hot, focused, and unbearably intimate.

Xie Yingying cried out, her entire body convulsing under the slow, merciless flood of pleasure and resonance. Her Taiyin qi spiraling in a frenzy around her dantian as her inner world shook. Her petals were soaked, blooming fully beneath Su Min's touch, desperate to drink in every drop of golden warmth.

The resonance locked into place. Perfect.

Yin met Yang. Moon met Sun. Soul met Soul.

And Xie Yingying surrendered—completely, blissfully, tearfully.

Only Su Min remained steady, holding her through every tremor, kissing her through every wave, her aura now wrapped entirely around Xie Yingying's trembling body like the first light of dawn breaking over a frost-covered mountain.

The Taiyang energy didn't burn. It consecrated.

And Xie Yingying, who had resisted for so long, now wanted nothing more than to be scorched clean by it.

Su Min hadn't even pulled back before Xie Yingying moved.

A sudden, desperate shift, swift as moonlight skimming water's edge. Su Min found herself beneath her in an instant, the cold slab of jade at her back, breath caught, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yingying—"

But the girl above her was no longer the bashful maiden flinching from a whisper. Her eyes were bright with frostlight and something deeper—raw want, long-buried instinct finally released. Her breaths came heavy, chest heaving, hair tumbling in pale, inky ribbons as she leaned over Su Min with trembling hands pressed to either side of her.

"I've had enough," she said, voice low, dark, and thick with hunger. "You stirred it again. And now you want to stop?" The trembling in her hands wasn't fear—it was the weight of years collapsing into a single moment of clarity. She wanted. And she wouldn't hold it back anymore.

Su Min blinked. Then smiled, half-lidded and utterly unrepentant. "I didn't say stop."

"You should have," Xie Yingying murmured.

Then she kissed her.

No teasing. No hesitation.

It was bruising and clumsy and perfect—lips crashing with the weight of centuries withheld, of a hundred fevered dreams never spoken aloud. And Su Min, for all her Taiyang arrogance, felt the tables shift beneath her. She shivered as cold hands—chilled only in touch, not intent—ghosted along her thigh, tracing the edges of what little was left of her disheveled robes.

"You did this to me," Xie Yingying breathed against her lips, fingers now exploring, roaming, gripping. "Years. I needed you for years. Do you know what that was like?"

Su Min swallowed hard, her body already folding under the renewed Yin tide. "I might've had an idea..."

Xie Yingying bit her lower lip in retaliation. Not to punish—but to mark. "Liar."

And then she moved lower.

Her mouth found Su Min's collarbone, biting and soothing in the same breath, one hand sliding under the last folds of cloth to cup the heat between her legs. Su Min gasped, eyes fluttering closed. The warmth there was soaked already—her body helpless under the sudden intensity of Taiyin energy now pouring into her.

But it was different.

This wasn't resonance. It was surrender.

Xie Yingying wasn't simply reacting to Taiyang.

She was claiming it.

Her.

Su Min trembled, hips rising against the slow, teasing pressure of fingers that barely brushed her petals. Her Taiyang energy pulsed in reply—but instead of repelling the Taiyin, it curled around it, submitting to it like sunlight drawn into the deepest shadows.

"You're so warm now…" Xie Yingying whispered, lips brushing the rise of Su Min's chest. "Before, I feared it would scorch me. Now it calls to me like a promise I've waited lifetimes to touch."

Her tongue followed the rhythm of Su Min's heartbeat, slow and reverent, each taste dragging a tremor from her core. When her hand slipped lower—unforgiving now, deliberate—Su Min bucked, breath catching as pleasure bloomed where fingers pressed past soaked petals.

"You like this," Xie Yingying murmured, voice low as her fingers danced along slick, trembling flesh. "Being the one undone beneath me."

Su Min's fingers clawed into the fur beneath her, a gasp catching in her throat. "I like being worshiped," she breathed. "And you do it well."

"No," Xie Yingying said, lips curving against her skin. "Worship still leaves something untouched. I'm not praising—I'm taking."

Her Taiyin energy pulsed again—potent, cool, intoxicating. It slithered into Su Min's body like a tide, wrapping around her dantian like ivy choking sunlight. The Taiyang within her surged, but it did not resist. It folded, reverent, like dawn bowing to dusk. In that union, the old order unraveled.

Xie Yingying lowered herself further, breath brushing the sensitive skin of Su Min's thigh. She kissed it, not gently, not chastely, but like a prayer answered too late.

And then her fingers moved, slipping deeper.

Su Min arched off the jade, a cry tearing from her throat, half-formed and helpless. The pressure, the pace, everything was perfectly calculated to unmake her.

"You never should've come back if you weren't ready to be devoured," Xie Yingying murmured against her thigh.

Su Min whimpered, hips twitching under the onslaught of energy and touch. Her Taiyang essence shivered—caught in the flood, flickering, no longer dominant.

"You opened the door, Su Min," she whispered, lips brushing against flushed skin. "Now let me burn."

Her mouth descended.

Tongue parted trembling petals, slow and relentless.

And Su Min shattered.

White qi exploded in all directions, radiant and wild. Her cry echoed through the chamber—high and hoarse, stripped of composure. Hands tangled in silk and ice, in hair and skin, in anything she could hold to keep herself from flying apart.

But she was already gone.

Her body shook. Wave after wave crashed through her. Each lick. Each curl of Xie Yingying's fingers. A new cascade. Again, and again.

She was undone. Not by fire, but by cold. Not by force, but by knowing.

The beast had awakened.

But this time, it didn't need to chase blindly.

It knew exactly what it wanted—and how to take it.

Su Min had always thought herself in control. With her golden tongue and sharper smile, she'd toyed with cultivators and Fallen Ones alike, confident in her ability to tilt any situation in her favor.

But not this one.

Not when Xie Yingying's mouth was pressed between her legs like it belonged there.

Not when her Taiyin qi, potent and hungrier than before, surged up Su Min's meridians and made her spine arch helplessly against the ice.

"Ah—Yingying…" Su Min's voice cracked, ragged and high as her thighs quivered around that cold, merciless tongue. Her hands fisted in the girl's silken hair, but even that was weak—a plea more than resistance.

The only answer she got was a low hum, the vibration of it sending another wave of pleasure straight through her core. The sensation struck like lightning, coiling in her abdomen, radiating outward like solar flares swallowed by the moon.

Xie Yingying was taking her time.

Licking slowly, precisely, as if she meant to memorize every reaction. Her hands kept Su Min open, her fingers curling tightly around flushed thighs that had once crushed demon beasts. Now they trembled, helpless.

"Still so reactive," she murmured, pulling back only far enough to speak. Her lips were slick, eyes half-lidded. "You act untouchable, but it takes so little to break you."

This wasn't frantic. It wasn't rushed.

It was deliberate.

Possessive.

As if she was reclaiming what had always been hers.

And beneath that possession was something softer, more dangerous. A yearning that had festered in silence, in stolen glances and half-held breaths. Every motion now carried the weight of everything unsaid.

Su Min tried to speak, to meet her taunt with something sharp. But only a ragged moan left her lips as the tongue returned, sliding in long, deliberate sweeps.

No one else had ever touched her like this.

No one else had ever dared.

"You lit this fire in me again," she whispered, voice like crushed ice melting over hot stone. "You came back knowing what would happen. You wanted this."

Su Min didn't deny it.

Couldn't.

Her body was already betraying her with every roll of her hips, every helpless moan pulled from her throat, raw and involuntary. She had fought armies, outwitted cultivators. Yet here—against the slow swirl of Xie Yingying's tongue and the unrelenting grip of her cold fingers—she was no better than kindling caught in a storm.

And she was burning up.

"Yingying," she rasped, a tremor shaking her entire frame. "If you keep going..."

"You'll break?" Xie Yingying didn't pause. Her breath ghosted over slick skin. "Good. Then I'll rebuild you."

Another surge of Taiyin energy crept into her meridians. Cool, black, and endless. It coiled in her limbs, nestled in her bones, cradled her core with devastating tenderness. The Taiyang within her should've lashed out in defiance, but it melted instead, like sun slipping into dusk.

This was no longer heat and cold.

It was rhythm.

It was balance.

It was surrender.

Xie Yingying's tongue flicked again, gentle but unbearable, while her fingers curved inside with perfect, infuriating pressure. Every movement echoed through Su Min's body like a bell struck at the center of her soul.

"Let me feel you," she whispered. "All of you."

Su Min choked on a sob as her climax tore through her—slower this time, drawn out like silk unraveling. Her entire body convulsed, caught in the tide. A radiant glow pulsed from her dantian, but it wasn't pure white anymore.

Faint threads of black glimmered in the light.

Xie Yingying didn't stop. She slowed, yes, but her mouth lingered, her tongue pressed reverently against trembling flesh. As if worshipping. As if claiming.

When she finally pulled away, her face was flushed, lips glossy, eyes dark and soft all at once.

She crawled up Su Min's body, trailing kisses over her stomach, chest, collar, jaw.

Until their mouths met again.

The kiss was not a spark.

It was an ache.

Slow, open-mouthed, too full of feeling to be anything else. The taste of her still lingered on Xie Yingying's lips, mingling with salt and breath and hunger.

Su Min thought it would end there—that the slow kiss, full of heat and worship, would be the end of it. That she might finally breathe. But Xie Yingying didn't pull away. Her lips only softened further, tongue tracing the inside of Su Min's mouth like she was still tasting her, still chasing the echo of her shudders. 

Her body was still trembling, hypersensitive from the release, but Xie Yingying didn't retreat. She pressed her palm to Su Min's lower belly, right over the dantian where white now danced with black, and whispered something too soft to catch. Then her fingers dipped down once more, slow and unrelenting.

And with a sudden shift, she slid two fingers inside her—curling perfectly, intentionally, and Su Min shattered again.

White light flared across the room in an uncontrollable burst, like sunlight ripping through winter storm clouds. She came with a cry, full-bodied and uncontrollable, her vision whitening out at the edges as her Taiyang qi surged wildly around them. But even that didn't halt her.

She rode the wave—fed on it—tongue still moving, fingers coaxing another climax from the already shaking woman beneath her.

And Su Min, ever the master of composure, sobbed.

It was beautiful.

Vulnerable.

Shameless.

By the time her body collapsed fully into the cold jade beneath her, her legs barely able to twitch, Xie Yingying finally pulled away. Her breathing was labored now too, but her eyes never left Su Min's face.

There was a quiet sort of reverence in her gaze, softened by the steam rising around them, her skin damp with effort and desire.

Then she leaned down, brushing Su Min's lips with hers—slow, sweet, and final.

"I won't lose control like last time," she whispered. "I'll stop… once more."

Su Min's breath trembled. "Liar…"

A slow smile curved on Xie Yingying's lips.

"Yes," she admitted. "But I want to hear you beg first."

And she kissed her again, slower this time. No longer ravenous, but lingering. Intimate.

Like she had all the time in the world to undo her—piece by piece, breath by breath.

Su Min's limbs were boneless, her breath shaky, body slick with sweat and warmth, still trembling from the last wave. The cold jade beneath her back was no help—it only made her more aware of how hot she was. Of how warm Xie Yingying still felt above her, draped over her like a second skin.

Then she felt it. That slow press of weight again. The familiar slide of skin against skin. And finally, the unmistakable sensation of Xie Yingying's body settling between her legs once more.

Her breath caught.

The heat between them didn't fade. If anything, it had deepened into something darker. Hungrier.

And this time, it was no longer just desire driven by instinct or Sovereign resonance.

It was her.

Xie Yingying—jealous, quiet, possessive—who leaned down, brushing Su Min's lips with hers, slower than before.

"You can still run," she whispered against her mouth, voice like smoke. "But once I start, I won't stop."

Su Min exhaled a breathless laugh, dazed and flushed. "Who said I ever wanted to?"

That was all the permission Xie Yingying needed.

But she didn't rush.

She shifted lower, positioning herself with excruciating care. Their bodies aligned so perfectly it made Su Min shudder. Their flowers met again—soft and flushed and trembling, petals already slick with shared longing.

Su Min gasped at the contact, her breath catching in her throat.

But then... nothing.

Xie Yingying didn't move.

She simply rested there, their buds pressed sweetly together, teasing, warming, maddening.

Su Min tried to arch up, to seek more, but cool hands gripped her hips, holding her down with infuriating tenderness.

"No," Xie Yingying murmured, voice almost gentle. "You don't get to lead this time. I said I'd stop. Unless…"

Her lips brushed Su Min's ear, breath hot and cruel.

"Unless you beg."

Su Min bit her lip, the ache between her legs growing heavier. "Yingying, please…"

"Mmm, no. Not like that." Xie Yingying smiled against her cheek. "I want to hear it properly."

She rocked her hips just slightly, enough for their petals to rub. A tiny spark. A flicker. A promise.

Then she stopped again.

Su Min whimpered. She was already trembling, her nerves taut and frayed. "Please, I—"

"Do you want me?"

"You know I do—"

"Then say it."

Xie Yingying's voice was lower now, husky with want but still in full control. Her forehead pressed to Su Min's, their breaths mixing.

"Say you need me. Say you're mine."

Su Min's thighs twitched, the heat unbearable. Her hands scrabbled at Xie Yingying's back, trying to draw her closer. "I need you. I—I'm yours. Just move. Please, just—"

But Xie Yingying only rolled her hips once more, slow and light. Enough to spark, not enough to satisfy.

"Not convincing," she whispered. "Try again."

"Yingying—"

"I said," Xie Yingying's lips brushed Su Min's throat now, each word a caress and a challenge, "I want to hear you beg. Say it like you mean it. Or I'll stop."

She stilled completely.

The pressure. The heat. The unbearable closeness—it all froze.

Su Min nearly sobbed.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and her voice cracked. "I missed this," she whispered. "I missed you. I want you. I need you, Yingying. Don't stop. Please, don't stop…"

A shiver ran through Xie Yingying at that last word. The desperation. The honesty. The raw, unfiltered ache.

She kissed her then—gently, reverently—before lowering her hips again, letting their flowers kiss more firmly this time, petals slipping, meeting, clinging.

Su Min gasped aloud, her back arching instinctively as their buds rubbed in aching unison.

Xie Yingying moved—finally.

Slow. Steady. Devastating.

Each glide of her hips was a slow burn, a stroke drawn out with care. Their slickness melded into something molten, and their qi pulsed in tandem, the sacred resonance flaring to life.

And when she began to move faster, the slickness between them turned molten.

Friction turned to fire.

Cold turned to gold.

Yin and Yang spiraled out of control once more, and this time, Su Min was the one who wept—climax after climax tearing through her like waves crashing against a sunlit shore.

But Xie Yingying didn't stop.

She kept moving, hips rolling, eyes locked onto Su Min's expression as if memorizing every stuttered breath and flushed gasp.

This was everything she'd been denied.

Worship. Surrender. Claim.

All at once.

Taiyang qi pulsed from Su Min like a second heartbeat, warm and golden, radiating from the core of her navel. Each breath she took shimmered in the mist—white ripples blooming like slow halos across the chilled air.

And Xie Yingying drank it in.

Not in haste.

Not with hunger.

But with reverence—like a ritual performed by candlelight, delicate and deliberate.

She lifted one of Su Min's legs over her shoulder, her palms lingering on the curve of her thigh, fingertips tracing the tremble in her skin. Su Min's breath hitched, but she didn't retreat. Couldn't. Her petals were already slick, already seeking.

Their flowers met with a slow, gliding press—so agonizingly tender it made Su Min choke on a whimper. Xie Yingying didn't push forward; she rocked, shallow and unhurried, watching the way Su Min's lashes fluttered, the way her breath caught in her throat.

The contact burned. Too sharp. Too sweet.

And yet, it was like being kissed open by the sun.

A gasp, then a sob, tore from Su Min's lips as her climax of this round rolled through her—slow and heavy, like the tide. She leaned into the motion, hips trembling, fingers clawing at the jade beneath them as Xie Yingying leaned down, kissed her temple, her cheek, her open mouth.

Not to silence her. To worship her.

"Like this," Xie Yingying murmured, as if coaxing her through it. "Feel me."

Their lips brushed with every sway of their bodies, tongues meeting in slow strokes, not chasing anything—only savoring.

Then, Xie Yingying shifted, ever so gently, guiding Su Min up with careful hands, easing her onto her lap as she sat on the cold jade. The contrast of heat and chill made Su Min shiver, skin flushed, chest heaving. Their foreheads touched.

No words now.

Just breath.

Shared.

Slow.

Sacred.

Xie Yingying's hands settled on Su Min's hips again, encouraging her to move. She began to grind down, hips finding the rhythm again—less sharp now, more fluid. Their flowers met in a dance of friction, slick petals sliding in and out of alignment. The tension built again, not like a storm, but like rising incense smoke: spiraling, steady, impossible to escape.

Another climax crested.

Su Min bit her lip and let it wash through her, collapsing forward into Xie Yingying's shoulder, moaning against her skin as their shared heat spilled between them.

A soft cry broke free—and Xie Yingying bit it back with her lips, nipping at the sound like a secret.

"More," she whispered, not as a command, but a plea against Su Min's parted mouth. "You can give me more."

And Su Min did.

Bent forward this time, palms braced on the glowing jade, knees parted, thighs trembling, she gave herself over. Xie Yingying pressed behind her, guiding her hips back until their slick flowers kissed again. The rhythm was unhurried—slow glides, full contact, like molten honey pooling across cold stone.

The sounds were obscene in their intimacy—wet, rhythmic, delicate gasps that bloomed and faded into the mist. Each motion was a prayer, each press an offering.

Again.

And again.

Time did not chase them.

It cradled them.

Xie Yingying shifted again only when Su Min began to tremble uncontrollably, lifting her and settling her atop her lap once more, their chests pressed close now. She cradled her like something fragile—yet moved with devastating precision, hips rolling in lazy circles, driving friction with every pass.

And through it all, the Taiyang qi kept burning.

Not fleeting, not borrowed.

A whole day.

That was how long Su Min's Solar Sovereign state would now endure. And with the weight of that gift, Xie Yingying did not rush. She gave herself fully to the rhythm of hours, to the breathless space between heartbeats.

White qi danced in spirals around them, lighting the mist with ethereal glow. It sparked off Su Min's skin like sunlight through dew, tracing her spine, her collarbones, her parted lips, catching on strands of hair and tears she didn't know had fallen.

"You're still burning," Xie Yingying murmured against Su Min's collarbone, her voice low, thick with emotion and something deeper—something she couldn't name. "Even now..."

Su Min tried to answer, but another wave tore through her—shattering, breathless. Her voice broke into a sob, and she buried her face in the curve of Xie Yingying's shoulder, trembling.

They didn't count the peaks. There was no need.

They didn't speak of time, either. It passed not in hours, but in shared heartbeats, in the rhythm of skin and breath.

It passed in silence and sighs.

In slow, gliding movements and unhurried kisses.

In the warmth of hands that gave, and mouths that never stopped seeking.

Time wasn't something they measured that day. It was something they were given. A gift, stretched long and golden like the afternoon sun, as if even the heavens had stepped aside to let them exist in peace.

And when the Taiyang qi finally began to ebb—soft as the dusk spilling into twilight—Xie Yingying's restraint dissolved. What took its place wasn't urgency, but something far deeper. A hunger shaped by memory, refined by longing. It bloomed quietly in her chest, too full to hold, and spilled into her limbs, into the way she touched and moved.

She leaned in again, not asking, just taking—drawing Su Min's limp hips flush against her own. Their bodies were slick with sweat and qi, glowing in the low light.

Xie Yingying rolled her hips slowly, grinding petal to petal, drawing a shiver from them both. But Su Min could no longer respond with movement. Her body had gone slack, too spent to chase or flee, her strength melted into warmth and breath.

She yielded completely.

And Xie Yingying guided her through it.

They stayed like that, pressed flush, breath to breath, as their qi settled and the white glow dimmed. Su Min's body sagged into her arms, slick with sweat, her thighs weak, her eyes half-lidded and dazed. Her once-flawless control had melted into softness, raw and open. 

Her breaths came slow and shallow. Her lashes fluttered. Her parted lips gave no sound, only a soft, wordless plea carried in each exhale.

But Xie Yingying didn't stop.

Not when Su Min trembled, limp and pliant in her embrace.

Not when the Taiyang glow dimmed to a low shimmer, scattered like sunlight through mist.

Even when Su Min's gaze grew hazy, her eyes half-lidded and damp with exhaustion, she never pulled away.

And still, she gave.

She let Xie Yingying guide her down again—open, willing, and completely hers.

Xie Yingying's hands shook faintly, but her grip never faltered. She pressed their bodies together with aching precision, hips rolling low and slow. Her thighs were trembling now too, inner muscles clenching from overuse, but her dominance didn't fade. If anything, it sharpened—each grind was a claiming, each breath a quiet demand: "Feel me. Stay with me."

Their slick petals met again, gliding and catching, slow enough to drive a sob from Su Min's throat. There was no rush in Xie Yingying's movements now, only purpose. She angled her hips, timed every thrust so their flowers would meet just right—an unbearable rhythm that made Su Min arch helplessly, her hands scrabbling weakly for something to hold. She found nothing but skin.

And that was enough.

Su Min could barely speak. Her qi was a low flame now, flickering faintly under the weight of so much release. She shivered with every pass of Xie Yingying's body, her hands gripping her lover's back with what little strength she had left. Her voice was hoarse, soft with surrender.

"Yingying… I can't…"

But she could.

Xie Yingying didn't let her stop. Didn't give her space to drift away. She kissed her—harsh, deep, anchoring—and rocked harder, their bodies flushed and soaked and pressed together like one blooming thing. She ground down with one last push, drawing out that final spark buried inside the wreckage of Su Min's control.

And finally—

They came.

Together, at last. Not with a scream, but a trembling silence, so profound it felt holy. Their bodies convulsed, drawn tight and then undone. Petals shuddering, hips locking, breath stalling in their throats.

By the time it passed, Su Min lay boneless beneath her, damp hair clinging to her cheeks, thighs twitching with aftershocks. Her skin glowed faintly with white-silver sheen, her qi emptied, her body open and claimed.

Xie Yingying collapsed beside her, face buried in Su Min's neck, body slick with sweat and mist.

And for once, it was her who whispered, voice hoarse and soft.

"I'll stop now… before I lost it again."

The frost had retreated to the far corners of the room, chased away by the afterglow of Taiyang heat and the delicate sighs of spent desire. What remained was mist, white-tinged and shimmering faintly in the moonlight that slipped through the crystal lattice of the Xuantian Mansion's inner sanctum.

Su Min lay curled against Xie Yingying's chest, hair damp with sweat and dew, her cheeks still flushed with residual heat. She looked dazed, but at peace. Her limbs were too heavy to move, her thoughts too quiet to scatter.

Xie Yingying hadn't said anything since collapsing beside her. She simply held her. One arm draped around Su Min's waist, fingers tracing lazy, cooling spirals across her lower back.

For once, the cold in her touch wasn't defensive.

It was soothing. Reassuring.

"I didn't mean to lose control," Xie Yingying said quietly, after a long while. "Not like that. Again."

Su Min shifted, just enough to look up at her—eyes soft, lashes damp. "You didn't lose control."

"I almost did."

"But you didn't."

Xie Yingying's hand paused, then resumed its slow path along Su Min's spine. "I've waited a long time to feel you like this again. And I thought… I'd be above it by now. That I'd trained my heart well enough to resist."

The words settled between them like mist, tender and unresolved.

Su Min didn't speak. She only listened, eyelids half-lowered, the sound of their breaths mingling in the hush.

Xie Yingying let out a soft exhale, almost a laugh, but there was no amusement in it—just disbelief at her own weakness. Or maybe acceptance.

"I really thought I could endure forever," she murmured, more to herself than to Su Min. "But the moment I touched you again… I knew."

Her fingers traced a slow circle at the base of Su Min's spine, then stilled there, resting.

A pause followed, gentle but heavy, like the quiet after a tide has pulled away.

Then—softly, not as a claim but a truth too deep to deny—

"You're mine."

Not possessive. Not commanding. Just... honest. An ache, barely clothed in words.

And Su Min, who once would have laughed at declarations like that, simply nodded.

"Yes," she whispered. "I've always been."

The warmth around them began to fade, replaced by a silvery glow filtering from the ceiling—moonlight reflecting faintly off melted frost.

Their spiritual energies had stabilized, but something between them had shifted. Settled.

No longer just sovereign bodies pulled together by resonance.

But two people—flawed, scarred, impossibly tangled—choosing again. Choosing each other.

A breathless silence passed. Then, Xie Yingying shifted slightly, just enough to tilt her head and meet Su Min's gaze. Her lips were still slightly swollen, eyes glossed with fatigue and something softer—something she rarely let show.

Not even Su Min had seen it like this.

Despite everything, her voice came soft, barely above a whisper. "...You're leaving again, aren't you?"

Su Min blinked. She should've expected it. "Of course Yingying knew."

"Yeah," she said, more gently now.

"You'll come back." It wasn't a question.

"I always do, don't I?"

"That's not what I meant."

There was a silence. Su Min didn't break it.

Then Xie Yingying turned to her, still flushed—but no longer flustered. A quiet calm rested behind her eyes, like a frozen lake just beginning to thaw.

"You know… when I first woke up, I thought you were just another opportunist," she said softly. "Some half-talented alchemist who thought she could strike a deal with a sealed monster. I was prepared to use you and leave once I got what I needed."

She paused, then let out a breath that shimmered with a trace of spiritual energy.

"But you stayed. We enjoying tea beneath the moonlight and hunted that monster. You teased me senseless and still looked me in the eye when I was a mess." Her gaze dropped, fond and tinged with guilt. "You're the first person who didn't flinch at what I am."

Su Min blinked. She scratched the back of her neck, awkward now. "Hey, hey. Don't go dumping your entire cultivation diary on me—I'm just going out, not dying."

"But you might." Xie Yingying's smile was faint, but heartbreakingly genuine—like moonlight through fog. "The place you're going... it's not like the Avenue. You won't have me watching your back. And we both know you're reckless when you think no one's watching."

Su Min's grin twitched, faltered... then held. "Well, you've seen worse than me being reckless."

"True," Xie Yingying murmured. "You slaughtered the Fallen Ones guarding Senior Jiang's tomb without hesitation. You tore apart that Evil Soul when you were at Divine Transformation—all for me, even when it meant risking everything."

A pause. The ghost of something vulnerable flickered in her eyes. "You've always been reckless with your life... and strangely careful with mine."

"Let me say it," Xie Yingying whispered, leaning closer, her breath warm against Su Min's skin. "Just once."

She met her gaze with that quiet, unyielding intensity—the kind that had once silenced sect halls and now softened only for her.

"Come back. No matter how long it takes. Come back to me."

There was no tremble in her voice. Only steel wrapped in silk—like the girl she used to be, and the woman she'd become.

Su Min didn't answer at first. Her hand rose between them and gently knocked their foreheads together, the familiar gesture warm and unspoken.

"I'll walk my path alone. But that doesn't mean I won't wait," Xie Yingying added, softer now, as if saying it too loudly might break something fragile between them.

Silence settled between them again, but this time it wasn't empty. It pulsed with shared breath, with the rhythm of two hearts that no longer beat alone.

Xie Yingying leaned down, brushing damp strands from Su Min's forehead, and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Sleep. You've exhausted yourself."

Su Min's lips curved faintly, teasing. "You're the one who wouldn't stop."

"Don't tempt me again."

"...Wasn't planning to," she murmured, already drifting into the lull of dreamless peace.

And Xie Yingying? She stayed awake long after Su Min had fallen asleep, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest.

Guarding her.

As she had, always.

And always would.

Morning light spilled gently over the horizon, weaving golden threads through the open windows of the quiet chamber. The lingering scent of incense and crushed osmanthus petals still hung in the air—a heady echo of the night before: intimate, wordless, unforgettable.

Su Min stood at the edge of the balcony, half-dressed in her robes, hair loosely bound with a pale silk ribbon, the wind tugging strands free. Her qi had settled, but her body still remembered—still ached, still trembled in quiet pulses from what had passed between them. There was no hesitation in her, only a reverence for the hush that always followed something too full to name.

Behind her, the bedding of softened ice and silk rustled faintly as Xie Yingying rose in silence, her bare feet meeting the cold jade floor with a quiet grace that belied how her body still ached from all they had done. Her robe—half-slid over one shoulder, collar loosened, dew-slick skin glowing in the pale morning haze—clung more like mist than fabric.

She didn't bother to tie it. It draped around her like the night itself hadn't yet let go. Beneath its folds, bruised petals of love bites bloomed against her throat, her collarbone, the curve of one pale thigh. Hair unbound, cheeks tinged with the faintest flush, she looked almost unreal—like a spirit of snow made flesh, or a fever dream Su Min hadn't quite woken from.

Su Min didn't turn, but she heard her. Felt her.

"I wasn't going to sneak off," she said, voice low, a touch sheepish, as if the intimacy between them had redrawn her edges.

"I know," Xie Yingying replied, stepping beside her.

She didn't look at Su Min—just raised her gaze to the same far-off sky. Light touched her cheek, painting gold across her profile, catching the line of her throat, the damp hollow of her collarbone. Her expression was unreadable, but her presence radiated a quiet possessiveness—like someone who had claimed and been claimed in return.

"I thought you might try to stop me," Su Min added, her voice softer now, like a thread unspooling.

Xie Yingying didn't smile, but her tone warmed, brushing low against Su Min's skin. "I did stop you. Just… not in the way you expected."

Su Min finally glanced at her, smirking—crooked and tired, but touched with something almost reverent.

Last night flashed in her mind without warning—Xie Yingying's breathless moans, her voice breaking at the peak of release as she gasped Su Min's name like a prayer laced with hunger. The heat of her hands, the trembling of her thighs, the way she had pressed Su Min into the jade—unrelenting, desperate. And the way she clung to her afterward, like Su Min was both the wound and the cure, the fire and the balm.

Her body still ached from it. And so did her heart.

"Last night wasn't fair," she murmured.

"Then neither is the world," Xie Yingying turned slightly, the corner of her mouth twitching in something like amusement—or maybe triumph. Her hand reached up to adjust the front of Su Min's robe, fingers brushing the edge of skin she had once devoured and claimed with mouth and breath. Her touch lingered, unhurried. "But it was ours."

They stood like that, side by side in the soft hush of dawn, with only the rustle of robes and the whisper of wind between them. The weight of everything unsaid settled like silk around their ankles—gentle, binding, intimate.

Finally, Su Min stepped back, securing the satchel at her hip. "I'll be gone for a while."

Xie Yingying nodded, slow and steady. "Then go."

Su Min looked at her again. "That's it?"

"If you make me say something embarrassing again," Xie Yingying murmured, voice low and dark with promise, eyes flicking toward her with that familiar glint, "I'll drag you back inside and make sure you can't walk out next time."

That earned her a breath of laughter—low, drawn from somewhere deep in her chest, still a little raw from the night before. "We wouldn't want that."

The words hung there, warm and heavy, like the echo of a kiss not quite given.

Then quiet fell again—this time not aching, but full. A hush thick with everything unspoken. With memory, with restraint. With the weight of things too tender to name aloud.

Su Min stepped forward, lifting a hand to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind Xie Yingying's ear. Her fingers lingered at her cheek, brushing down with gentle finality. Her throat bobbed. And for a moment, it looked like she might say something meaningful, something irreversible.

But she didn't.

Instead, she gently rested her forehead against Xie Yingying's one last time.

No words.

Just warmth.

Then she turned, robes fluttering behind her like the sun splitting through clouds.

Her departure was quiet, but her presence lingered, like the last warmth of sunlight before winter claims the sky.

And in that lingering silence, Xie Yingying closed her eyes and made a vow.

No matter what stood between them—curse, heaven, or chaos—

She would never let Su Min walk the darkness alone.

—

Deep within the sect, beneath the azure canopy of the sacred wood, Su Min raised her hand.

With her Five Elements Sacred Body fully awakened, constructing the Secret Realm wasn't just a possibility—it was a certainty.

Brilliant green light danced between her fingers. Trees rose, rivers formed, elemental pulses hummed through the roots of the world.

Still, somewhere in her thoughts—between the flickers of flame and frost—was a girl with moonlight in her eyes and fire in her veins.

"...Don't wait too long," Su Min murmured, half to the wind, half to herself.

And then the forest bloomed.

===

Xie Yingying: "You know exactly what happens when you tease me like this - and you dared to come back? You want this to happen again, don't you, you little brat?"

Su Min: "I didn't! (ᗒᗩᗕ)"

Xie Yingying: "Liar."

Su Min: (╥﹏╥)

===

Fun Fact About Their Dynamic!

At first glance, you'd totally think Su Min's the one running the show in their relationship, right? I mean, she's all bold, shameless, and unrestrained—while Xie Yingying comes off as this elegant, cold, and perfectly composed ice queen.

But plot twist!

In reality? Xie Yingying is the one giving, while Su Min is the one receiving. Xie Yingying fell first—but Su Min? Oh, she fell harder.

===

Wait, Why is Xie Yingying the Younger One?

Okay, let's break it down:

First Meeting:

—Su Min: Already in her 40s

—Xie Yingying: Fresh-faced 20s

Xie Yingying's first sealing froze her aging completely (time basically stopped for her). So even if she's technically ancient, physically? Still in her prime 20s

After the Second Sealing/Time Skip:

—Xie Yingying only around 30-40s. (The second sealing wasn't perfect—time slowly crept in.)

Su Min once mentioned that going from late-stage to peak Foundation Building took 10-20 years, so I added that to Xie Yingying's age.

—Su Min? Currently rocking her 300s like it's nothing - because when you're a cultivator, age really is just a number. Thanks to her Immortality talent, she's got:

✓ Infinite lifespan (retirement plans? Never heard of 'em)

✓ Eternal youth (aging gracefully? More like not aging at all)

✓ Peak physical prime forever (basically cheating at life)

So yeah, while three centuries might sound old to mortals, she's still out here looking (and moving) like she's in her absolute prime. Some people just win the genetic lottery and the cultivation lottery, huh?

===

Joke aside, Xie Yingying is truly "Stay at home wife". I mean how many times she was holding the rear and waiting for Su Min to come back home?