"Where do you suggest?" Meilin asked him. Her hands were itching for a fight. She had to stay back at the sect to protect it during the war. She wasn’t able to go fight like she wanted to.

  Li Yu stepped forward and closer to her. He reached out and with a boldness that made the siblings gasp, took Feng Meilin’s hand.

  "Here," Li Yu said.

  Space twisted. There was no sound. No flash of light.

  One moment, Li Yu and Feng Meilin were standing in the pavilion. The next, they were simply... gone. Erased from the room as though they were never there.

  Feng Wei jumped up, scanning the room with his spiritual sense. He looked frantic. "Where did they go? I can't sense them at all! Did they quickly go somewhere?"

  "Calm down, Wei." Bai Ruo said calmly as she was finishing her tea. "They simply stepped outside of the standard spatial dimension."

  "Outside?" Feng Xi asked and was confused. To many Core Formation cultivators, space was a solid, immutable thing. Going "outside" it sounded like madness. Only death awaited there.

  "Don't worry," Si Luo said without looking up. "He does this to avoid property damage. Your mom will be safe."

  In the First Layer of the Void stood two people. Feng Meilin floated there but her eyes were wide. She was a Soul Formation expert; she could tear space to travel short distances using certain techniques but to stand inside the rift, to exist in the turbulent currents between worlds? This was not a place she could reach on her own.

  Yet Li Yu had brought them both here and he was now standing there with hands behind his back. It didn’t seem like there was any kind of effort used or willingness from the person he brought with him. He forcefully took her here.

  ‘How incredibly terrifying. If he could do that, that means he could just as easily take me here and leave me here. How would I get back?’

  "Shall we?" Li Yu asked.

  Feng Meilin grinned. The thrill of battle and the thrill of meeting someone strong rushed through her. She recalled the reports, whispers of Li Yu who fought the Crimson Fang Patriarch in the void just like this.

  "So the legends were true," she whispered. "Don't hold back, Little Brother. I won't break."

  She took action.

  Five minutes later. The air in the pavilion rippled. Li Yu and Feng Meilin reappeared before the siblings.

  Li Yu looked exactly the same. His robes were neat and his breathing even. He looked like he had just gone for a stroll and had now come back.

  Feng Meilin, however...

  She was breathing hard, her chest heaving. Her hair, previously perfect, was a wild windswept mane. And her azure robes… They were ruined.

  The left sleeve was gone. A long tear ran down the side of the dress, revealing a smooth leg all the way to the hip. Another tear across the shoulder exposed her collarbone and the hint of her undergarments.

  She looked disheveled, defeated and incredibly alluring.

  "You..." Feng Meilin panted at first. Then she pointed a trembling finger at Li Yu. "You are a bully!"

  "I just dodged," Li Yu defended himself, raising his hands. "You're the one who used your 'Nine Heavens Storm' in there. The backlash tore your clothes not me."

  "You deflected the pressure and most of the attack back at me!" Meilin accused. She began to smooth her hair back when she realized her state.

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  She looked down at her torn dress. She saw the exposed skin of her leg and shoulder. She looked at Li Yu.

  A mischievous glint returned to her eyes. ‘If I can’t beat him in a fight, I will have to beat him where he is inexperienced.’ She thought to herself. Her pride not wanting to leave the loss as is.

  She shifted her stance, accentuating the curve of her hip, letting the torn fabric slip just a fraction more to reveal the smooth skin of her thigh.

  "Look what you did," she said innocently, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper. "You've left me in tatters, Li Yu. How will I face my disciples like this? Half-naked in front of a handsome man… What if rumors leak out…"

  She was watching his eyes. She waited for the blush, the stammer, the averted gaze she was expecting from a young man. She knew she was beautiful and had a body to match it. She knew many men weakened at the sight of her. Giving her that slight edge in negotiations or conversations. She was the Wind Matriarch; her beauty was as legendary as her blade.

  Li Yu looked at her without much thought. He scanned her body for any injuries that might have been more serious than he thought. He looked at the exposed leg. He looked at the shoulder. He looked at her face.

  His expression was... appreciative of beauty but entirely calm. There was no hunger, no fluster. Just a polite acknowledgment of the situation.

  "That is unfortunate," Li Yu said. "I apologize for the damage to your wardrobe. It was a good dress. And it was a good fight."

  Feeling a bit guilty about the ruined clothes, he reached into his storage ring.

  "Here."

  He pulled out a folded garment. It shimmered with a soft iridescent red light. It was the Phoenix-Feather Robe, a treasure he had looted from the vault or storage ring of the Crimson Fang.

  It was a defensive artifact woven from silk and the feathers of a kind spirit-phoenix. Not the real phoenix but an offshoot of its family with a very thin bloodline to it. It was still very valuable and very powerful. A grand gift fit for important occasions but Li Yu was using it to repay a damaged dress. He had no use for it.

  "This should cover it," Li Yu said while handing it to her. "It has strong defensive properties from what I can tell so it shouldn't tear if you use your storm technique again. Consider it an apology."

  Feng Meilin froze.

  She stared at the robe. She could feel the immense power radiating from it. This was a powerful treasure. And he was handing it to her like it was a spare towel.

  She looked at Li Yu’s face. He wasn't trying to buy her affection. He wasn't trying to court her. He was probably too dense to do such a thing, she realized. He was just... paying her back for the dress.

  ‘He really isn't affected by my beauty or charms.’ She thought. It was a mix of shock and bruised ego hitting her. I pour my effort into a tease and he hands me a treasure to cover up.

  Si Luo, watching from the table, covered her mouth and let out a soft musical giggle. She knew exactly what game Meilin was playing as the two of them were birds of feather. Si Luo was enjoying Li Yu’s non-reaction, it made her feel better as well and his accidental counter-move immensely.

  "Take it, Sect Master," Li Yu urged, completely unaware this time of what was going on this time. "It's getting drafty and you can’t be caught not looking dignified."

  Feng Meilin took the robe. She wrapped it around herself. It resized instantly to fit her perfectly, the red silk contrasting beautifully with her dark hair.

  "You are... infuriating," Meilin muttered at him but her cheeks were flushed. "And generous. Thank you, Li Yu."

  She shot one last lingering look at Li Yu. A mix of frustration and intense curiosity. "You are a mystery, Li Yu. Most men would have had some reaction. You just gave me a treasure."

  She swept out of the room to do who knows what with the Phoenix-Feather Robe trailing behind her like a royal train.

  "I apologize," Feng Xi said to Li Yu, looking mortified by her mother’s actions. "She... she gets excited when she meets strong people."

  "It's fine," Li Yu smiled back. He went back to sitting back down and began finishing his fish. "She's spirited. The robe suits her personality."

  Later that night, the excitement had settled.

  Guest rooms had been prepared in the VIP wing of the pavilion. They were luxurious, airy rooms with balconies overlooking the sea of clouds that surrounded the sect.

  Li Yu stood on his balcony as he was letting the night wind ruffle his hair.

  "The Matriarch was disappointed," Bai Ruo observed while stepping out onto the adjacent balcony. "Her attempt to elicit a biological response was unsuccessful. She seemed quite proud of her appearance."

  "She's beautiful," Li Yu admitted and began to understand what had happened earlier from Bai Ruo’s words. “I guess it shows that all the training was a success.”

  He glanced at Si Luo who was floating down from the roof to land on the railing like a violet butterfly.

  "Or perhaps," Si Luo teased, "your standards have simply become impossible."

  "Maybe," Li Yu laughed.

  He looked at the moon hanging over the wind-swept peaks. He turned and went back inside, ready for a restful night in the heart of the wind.

  He was unaware that down the hall, Sect Master Feng Meilin was examining the Phoenix-Feather Robe in her mirror, wondering what it would take to crack the stone-faced young master's composure.