Blood dripped quietly onto the arena floor. He stared at the wound in disbelief, watching as scarlet liquid ran down his arm, matting the fabric beneath his armour.
His expression cycled through shock, then acceptance, then something almost like respect. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his weapon. "I concede," he said, his voice carrying clearly across the now-silent arena.
The silence that followed was absolute. A Grandmaster had defeated a Second Level Transcendent. It was rarely heard of even in legends.
The man had clearly held back. The part which made Transcendents more formidable than a Grandmaster was not the body nor their elements.
It was the unique ability to transfer soul essence, not just as an energy source to power your element, but to be burnt to increase physical capabilities. Speed, strength, stamina, and all physical aspects are increased.
This is increased by twice their actual power for a First Level and three times for a Second Level, and anything between three to five times for Third Level and Pinnacle Transcendents.
This man clearly didn't burn essence, as it was not easy to regain, and it took a few days to restore this essence. This was common amongst many martial artists during sparring.
This was done both to highlight skill and, in this case, not to overwhelm a junior.
Next, the two went back to get their wedding dress. At least Jin Mulan did. But Luo He followed her as if he were her shadow. He didn't even stop when she entered the changing room and walked after her.
Jin Mulan had gotten used to his presence, and she was not even trying to hide now. She was proud to show her figure to her husband. And Luo He, he wouldn't be that desperate to look at her figure when she was changing.
To him, she was not only his wife but the woman he would always choose to love. Long ago, he had discovered countless things within her that were far more beautiful than the mere body.
That was why he had long since fully outgrown the playful habit of teasing her while she dressed, no matter how tempting or breathtaking her figure was.
He no longer saw only the woman before him. He saw the soul he had fallen irrevocably in love with. Her nakedness no longer held the power to unsettle or distract him on its own.
It had become as natural to him as the sight of her smile or the sound of her voice. To him, she was simply his. That didn't mean she had lost the ability to leave him utterly undone.
Quite the opposite. When she wanted to provoke him, she knew him better than anyone else ever could. She knew every teasing glance, every lingering touch, every mischievous smile.
Everything that could unravel his composure. It was never simply about revealing her body anymore; it was the intention behind it that mattered.
The silent promise in her eyes, and the intimacy they alone shared, that made her impossible for him to resist.
Jin Mulan took off her clothes one by one. Luo He walked to her when she was nearly naked and put his hand around her waist very possessively, as he always did. This had become so natural to her that her body reached for him with no reflex.
"Look how far we have come, honey. Now I don't remember a time when you weren't in my life." With a quick glance backwards, "I feel like you were always a part of me."
He dragged her close and took a look at their bodies existing as one in the mirror. "You came to be a random nobody who felt compassion for a poor nobody who was attacked by a bear."
"I really thought you were a fool for trying to reason with a bear," she said with a laugh. "Now I realise you were simply that skilled."
Luo He chuckled. "Experience helps."
"Didn't you tame a bear that was terrorising an entire village years ago? I haven't seen it around lately. Where is it?" she asked.
"It became a pile of glue after one of my experiments failed."
She stared at him for a moment before gasping dramatically. "You turned the poor thing into glue? You're a monster!"
"It was... a minor inconvenience," he replied with complete seriousness.
She burst into laughter, shaking her head. "You really have no conscience sometimes," she accused.
"I've been told," he laughed.
After their laughter faded, she tilted her head.
"Do you remember dressing as a girl to assassinate the Pirate King?" she asked.
"Of course I do, honey. Who doesn't?"
"That was my first time killing someone with my own hands," he added.
"I'd caused the deaths of thousands through schemes and battles before then... but I'd never personally taken a life. It felt... strange."
She immediately wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head against her chest. "My poor husband..." She squeezed him affectionately.
"There, there. Feeling better now, you big baby?" she teased with a warm smile. "Isn't this what you wanted all along? For me to pity you?" she asked.
He laughed softly.
"Maybe."
She gently stroked his hair.
"So... how did it feel? The first time?" he asked.
Her own smile faded.
"I was thirteen."
She looked away.
"I threw up three times afterwards," she said. There was a brief silence.
"Men smell awful when they die."
Luo He looked at her with exaggerated sympathy before saying in the flattest, most sarcastic voice imaginable,
"They certainly do."
She elbowed him, unable to stop herself from smiling.
"Idiot."
He hesitated for a long moment.
"Can I tell you a secret?"
She slid her hands around his neck, resting her forehead against his.
"You never have to ask me that. Go ahead, husband."
He drew a slow breath.
"I wasn't horrified by killing."
His voice became quieter.
"I was waiting for the opportunity."
She didn't interrupt.
"When I finally did it..."
He closed his eyes.
"It felt exhilarating."
His confession came out almost as a whisper.
"It felt... good. A kind of good I'd never experienced before."
"I know how terrible that sounds. I know killing is wrong. Every rational part of me knows that. But underneath all of that..."
"...I enjoy it."
The words lingered heavily between them.
"That's why I avoid killing people personally whenever I can. It awakens something in me that wants more."
He laughed bitterly.
"So every morning I make myself a promise. 'I won't kill anyone today.' Most days I keep it. Some days it's harder than others."
"I know how to control it. I know I won't become some mindless butcher."
He looked into her eyes, searching for disgust.
"But if you knew this part of me..."
"I thought you might hate me."
She remained silent.
He forced a smile.
"There are many dark secrets I keep from you. Some are for your sake."
"Others... are for mine," he added painfully.
She reached up and cupped his face with both hands.
"I know you carry burdens you'll probably never share with anyone."
"And I appreciate that you trusted me with this one."
She smiled gently.
"But don't force yourself to tell me everything just because you think I deserve to know."
"I'd rather have you beside me than every secret inside your heart."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I love the man you are now. I don't want that man to disappear."
She kissed his forehead before pulling him into another embrace.
"I'll stay. No matter what."
After a long silence, Luo He spoke again.
"Honey... if you were reborn with every memory you have till now, would you still have chosen me on the day of the Selection?" he asked politely.
She looked at him as though the answer was painfully obvious.
"Choose you?"
She smiled.
"I never had to. You were already chosen."
He blinked.
She laughed softly.
"I'll confess something too," she said softly, acting all reddened up and swollen with obvious embarrassment.
"My only requirement for a husband back then was that he had to be at least as good-looking as I was."
She poked his chest.
"Then I saw you on my hunting mission. You felt ridiculously handsome back then. So I brought you home. Not because I knew your heart, but because your face was too unfair for a man."
He raised an eyebrow.
"So all this began because of my good looks?" he asked, genuinely disappointed. "Absolutely." She grinned shamelessly.
"But somewhere along the way, I fell in love with everything underneath the pretty face that caught my attention."
She rested her forehead against his.
"You are a difficult man. A dangerous one. And probably a very bad person by most people's standards." She smiled through her tears.
"But as long as the man standing before me continues to love me, I can bear the rest." She gently intertwined their fingers.
"I told you this once before. Who you are to the world is not my concern. To the world, you may be a villain. To me, you're my husband."
"And that is the place where I choose to hold you."
She squeezed his hand.
"So even if one day you become the cruelest man in the room," she smiled with quiet certainty, "I'll still be standing beside the man I love."