Gu Yue blinked, her expression perfectly innocent. "Not mating? Then what was the midnight ambush for?"
Na'er stamped her foot in exasperation, snatched a pillow off the bed, and hurled it straight at Gu Yue. "I just wanted to mess with him a little! You filthy-minded beast."
Gu Yue caught the pillow with effortless ease and said calmly, "Ah, I see. I misread the situation."
She paused, her gaze settling on the "sleeping" Arthur. "Wait here a moment."
"I have business with Arthur."
Na'er's movements froze. She frowned. "What business? Can't it wait until tomorrow? He's already asleep!"
Gu Yue walked to the bedside, ignoring Arthur's stiffly maintained "sleeping face," and rested her fingertips lightly on the edge of the bed. Her tone remained unhurried. "It concerns our deal."
She added, "I asked Arthur to lose to me in the individual round. In exchange, I would give him compensation."
Arthur stopped "sleeping." He opened his eyes and asked immediately, "What compensation?"
Gu Yue looked him over, then asked first, "When do you hit level forty?"
"Probably still a while off." Arthur thought it over.
He still had some distance to go before level forty.
And when he reached level thirty-nine, he would need to slow his pace and make that trip to Mu Ye, clearly in for a stretch of grueling cultivation focused on his innate secret arts.
"Is that so." Gu Yue nodded and asked again, "After you reach level forty, can your Spiritual Power reach the Spirit Abyss Realm?"
"How would that even be possible?" Arthur had no idea what she was getting at.
He was only at the mid-to-late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm right now. The Spirit Abyss Realm was more than a little out of reach.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Gu Yue sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. "The Spirit Abyss Realm is a prerequisite for absorbing a hundred-thousand-year spirit soul."
"And?" Arthur was still lost.
What, are you actually going to give me a hundred-thousand-year spirit soul?
"I can give you one." The words left Gu Yue's mouth like a small thunderclap.
Holy hell, she's serious?!
Arthur shot straight up from the bed. His eyes went wide as saucers, his voice cracking: "What did you just say?!"
Gu Yue's expression didn't change, as though she were discussing something entirely unremarkable. "I have a way to obtain one. Its attributes are rather unusual. You'll need Spiritual Power at the Spirit Abyss Realm to absorb it cleanly. Anything less and you risk a backlash: best case, severe injury; worst case, complete mental collapse."
As if anticipating his disbelief, she added, "It's one of the spirit souls passed down through my family."
Gu Yue's public identity was that of an heir to a hidden clan.
In that moment, Arthur felt as though Gu Yue was glowing, bathed in the radiant light that only a truly wealthy patron could emit.
"Why?" Arthur's brow furrowed slightly as he reined himself in. A hundred-thousand-year spirit soul was something he could obtain through his own connections. What was worth exploring right now was what Gu Yue actually wanted.
Na'er had finally gathered her wits as well. She had no idea what Gu Yue was after either.
She nudged Arthur's arm and murmured, "Arthur, could this be a trap? A hundred-thousand-year spirit soul, just handed over that easily?"
"If I wanted to harm you, there would be no need for any of this." Gu Yue said plainly. "I won't hide it from you. This is, in fact, mutually beneficial."
"Our family can barely sustain it any longer. This spirit soul is connected to fate and fortune."
"But what fortune could a hidden clan possibly have?"
"I can perceive that you carry a very powerful thread of fortune. The two of you, when joined, would produce an effect greater than the sum of its parts."
Gu Yue was really explaining it to Na'er as much as to Arthur. Na'er, once having shared the same existence as Gu Yue, would know exactly what she meant.
Sure enough, Na'er immediately grasped what Gu Yue intended. Her expression shifted in an instant, and she nodded in agreement. "Arthur, I think she sounds sincere. We can trust her."
Arthur watched Na'er's face change in the blink of an eye, and his mouth twitched.
This girl had just warned him to watch out for a trap, and now she had completely switched sides?
"Are you two hiding something from me?" Arthur looked between them, never quite forgetting their true identities.
Na'er's eyes darted away. She waved her hands quickly. "Of course not! I just think Gu Yue makes sense, that's all. This really is a win-win, there's no reason to be suspicious!"
Between the two of them, Arthur trusted Na'er far more: she had never refused him anything.
He looked at her seriously. "Tell me honestly. Do you know something?"
Na'er's cheeks flushed under his gaze. Her eyes drifted toward the ceiling, and she stammered through half-formed sentences without managing a single complete thought. "I, I just, I just think Gu Yue has no reason to trick us! Think about it: a hundred-thousand-year spirit soul is priceless. If she meant you harm, wouldn't it be easier to just catch you off guard and have her clan finish you off?"
"Is that so." Arthur didn't press further. After a moment of silence, he said, "I trust you."
He turned to Gu Yue. "All right. I accept."
Na'er froze. She stood there, watching Arthur and Gu Yue begin working out the specifics: times, locations, details.
Something warm bloomed quietly in her chest.
To be trusted so completely by the person you love, there was something genuinely beautiful in that feeling.
By the time Arthur finished ironing out every detail with Gu Yue, he turned around to find Na'er still standing in the same spot, her eyes shimmering and bright.
She looked a little dazed.
"What's the matter?" Arthur asked.
Na'er snapped back to herself. Her cheeks tinged pink, and she threw herself into his arms, wrapping both hands tightly around his waist. "Nothing! I just think Arthur is the best!"
She hesitated, then fished out a pendant. At its center was a single golden dragon scale.
Na'er reached up and fastened it around Arthur's neck, her fingertips carrying a faint warmth. "Here. This is for you!"
The pendant settled cool against his chest.
The markings on the scale were crisp and clear, and a faint draconic pressure emanated from it in soft, barely perceptible waves.
"What is this?" Arthur looked at her, puzzled.
"A protective charm." Na'er tilted her head up to look at him, eyes bright as starlight. "Dragon scales ward off harm. If Gu Yue really does have bad intentions, it'll protect you."
A silver dragon scale?
Arthur turned the thought over.
Wait, that wasn't right.
He noticed the scale was gold, which struck him as odd. Shouldn't it be silver?
Arthur didn't know that Na'er had already become the Golden Dragon King. After coming back from the break and finding Tang Wulin unharmed, he had simply assumed Gu Yue and Na'er had let him off.
"Hmph." Na'er planted both hands on her hips and lifted her chin with a smug little grin. "This thing is incredibly powerful. If you're ever in danger, it won't let you down."
Gu Yue stood to one side, watching that scale. She understood. Na'er was making her position clear.
"What about you, then?" Arthur asked, following the thought naturally.
"Me?" Na'er's eyes darted around, and seemingly from thin air, she produced a long string of golden dragon scales, giggling softly. "Oh, I'll be fine."
Arthur stared at the glittering strand of gold in Na'er's hand, struck completely speechless.
"How many of those do you even have?" He reached out and touched the string. The scales were cool beneath his fingers, each one radiating that same quiet draconic pressure. None of these were ordinary.
But the same question nagged at him. Why were they all gold? Not a single silver one in the bunch.
Na'er swung the string with a breezy air. "Not that many, really. A few dozen, maybe. I never use them all up, so what's wrong with giving you one?"
Her words were light and careless, but what her eyes held was something else entirely. The scale she had given Arthur was the most special one of all.
I forgot to use my third spirit ability during that last fight. I'll save it for next time, she thought to herself with a little grin.
*(End of Chapter)*