A few days later, the skies were clear, and the Maple Leaf Forest to the south of the city basked under the warm sunlight.
The shafts of golden light filtered down through a canopy of blood-red leaves, casting a dappled glow across the forest floor.
The air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of sap and damp moss, and the occasional whisper of a breeze set the leaves to murmuring.
Deep within the forest, where the paths grew faint and the trees crowded close together, Jun Xie stood alone with no sparring partners. He had precisely chosen this place to avoid all curious eyes.
His breath came slow and steady, but his eyes glimmered with a restless energy. Before him, in the open space between two maple trunks, flickers of black flames danced into existence, twisting and floating in the air.
The flame was beautiful and calm, but beauty could be deceptive.
This was the Flame of Primal Chaos, something he had acquired deep within the second floor of the Hongjun Pagoda. Even Jun Mo Xie had been impressed, and then promptly scolded him into promising never to use it unless absolutely necessary. The warnings had been sharp, his tone deadly serious.
This fire doesn't just burn flesh, Jun Mo Xie had told him. It can consume the soul itself. If you lose control, then there will be nothing left of you, not even ashes.
Jun Xie remembered the words well and chose to ignore them.
If there was one thing about Jun Xie, it was that his curiosity, or perhaps his ego, was a force all its own.
He wanted to feel this power and to master it. And if that meant taking risks, so be it.
The flames were pretty small in his palm, not even radiating heat outward. His robe clung damply to his back from the sweat, his muscles taut as he tried to force the wild energy into some semblance of order.
But the Flame of Primal Chaos was not a docile pet; it was a beast, and he was merely tugging at its tail.
The air crackled, a nearby maple leaf catching fire midair before drifting down in a curl of ash.
Jun Xie's brow furrowed, the fiery orb in his grasp twisting unpredictably. His teeth clenched as he pushed his will into it.
And then, a sharp hiss escaped his lips as the flames suddenly surged outward.
"Ah—!"
An intense threat roared over him in a wave, sending a shiver down his spine. He staggered back and directly slipped through the ground while his consciousness jumped inside the Hongjun Pagoda, but the flame was able to eat through the fabric of his robe like dry paper.
In a heartbeat, his clothing was gone.
One moment, he was swathed in cloth; the next, the flames licked over bare skin before vanishing into nothingness, leaving not even smoke.
Jun Xie stood there, panting, utterly and entirely naked under the high sun.
The danger had been real, and he was only a breath away from passing away. The flames would have scorched beyond flesh. But his gamble had paid off in one regard, as he could feel it.
The energy in his meridians roared like a river in flood. His strength had leapt forward in ways that made the risk feel almost worth it.
Almost!
He jumped in excitement and slowly stepped out of the Hongjun Pagoda again. He stood there, catching his breath, the warmth of the sunlight sliding over bare skin. His eyes were lowered, half-lidded under the brightness of the midday sun filtering through the maple canopy. His mind was still half-immersed in the lingering thrill of the flame's power.
It was because of that lingering excitement that he failed to notice the very obvious fact, and that was... he was entirely naked, in the middle of the forest, and not alone.
"Ahhhh!!!"
The scream tore through the quiet like a blade, sharp and startled.
Jun Xie's head jerked up.
Across the clearing, about ten meters away, stood two figures.
One of them was a young woman in a long white dress, and a young man with a sharp, hawk-like face.
The woman's hair cascaded down over her shoulders like a waterfall, dark against the pure white of her gown. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted in shock, before her hands flew up to cover her face. She stomped a foot against the ground, as though stamping out the sight itself, and her voice rose in a shrill, furious cry:
"Rogue! Scoundrel! To dare... in broad daylight!"
Beside her, the young man's expression was a thundercloud. His eagle-hook nose and sharp cheekbones gave his face a cutting edge, and his dark eyes burned with hostility. His left hand shot out, finger jabbing accusingly at Jun Xie while his right hand gripped the hilt of his sword.
"You dare to commit such shamelessness here?" He roared. "In broad daylight, no less! This young master will not allow it... I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"
Jun Xie blinked at them. His expression remained perfectly calm and even mildly puzzled, despite the very compromising state he was in.
"What lesson?" He asked flatly. "I don't understand you."
His mind ticked over, incredulous. Are these two out of their minds? I'm just standing here... and they came cursing at me... Can't you tell from my face that I'm no petty ruffian? Or is your brain just looking for trouble?
It wasn't often Jun Xie truly took offense to another's words, but something about the absurdity of the situation pricked at his pride. He found himself stepping forward, not in aggression, but with a natural, easy stride.
The movement was enough to provoke another reaction.
The young woman, who had been peeking through a narrow gap between her fingers, curiosity battling propriety, saw him step closer. Her face flushed a delicate pink beneath the veil of her hands. She took a hurried step back, her voice tumoring over itself in panic and indignation.
"You, you, you shameless character… Don't come near me! I'm very powerful! You... you stay right there!"
Her tone was full of anxious complaint, her words tumbling fast and uneven.
Jun Xie almost laughed. Powerful?
She was trembling where she stood, her shoulders tight, her feet shifting in the grass as though torn between fleeing and holding her ground.
But the truth was that she kept looking.
Through the thin gap in her fingers, her eyes flickered over him, just a heartbeat here and there, but enough for Jun Xie's sharp perception to notice.
The sunlight played over the lines of his figure, each muscle carved by years of training, his skin carrying the faint bronze warmth of someone who did not spend his days caged indoors.
For a woman who had likely never seen a man unclothed, the sight was both shocking and strangely compelling.
She knew she shouldn't look, but her gaze betrayed her.
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Spoilers for the next five chapters!
Chapter 126: The Real Scoundrel
Chapter 127: A Horrifying Sight
Chapter 128: A Strange Phenomenon
Chapter 129: Gloomy Magnificent Jewel
Chapter 130: Operating Separately
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