"That must be nice."
Slowly, the golden light receded until the last trace of it disappeared from Li Yan’s body.
He opened his eyes gently; he could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his veins.
The newly awakened power- he had made it to the first stage of Martial Qi.
He could now proudly call himself a practitioner.
"Congratulations, Master; you have managed to advance within the timeframe as well."
Li Yan’s eyes widened as he stood up, examining his body. He did not want to gloat, but he may have gotten taller.
"Indeed, Master, there have been a lot of changes in your body. You have grown three inches; you are most certainly not within the average height percentile, given that you are only fifteen years old. You are taller than most of your peers."
Li Yan beamed; his height had always been one of his advantages. He was over the moon when he found out he had grown three more inches.
"My body feels incredibly light, like I could walk on water..."
"Well, you probably can. Your body has been reborn for the cultivation journey; there are many things that you can now do, ones which you could never do before."
Xiaoxiao’s voice trailed off; moments later, a bright blue light appeared, briefly for a second, and as it receded, it left behind a figure of a grown woman; her long, flowing hair was white as snow, and her skin was smooth as though it had been carved from fine jade.
Li Yan had never seen a woman this beautiful; if he had been told she was a goddess, he would have believed it in a heartbeat.
"Yan Yan. You have quite the stunning face..." She circled him, noting the features Li Yan did not possess before his advancement.
"Xiaoxiao, is that you?"
The woman nodded, placing her hand behind her back. "I do not reveal my true form to anyone, but I figured you deserved more than a voice in your head."
Li Yan studied her in silence. There was something strange about Xiaoxiao’s appearance.
He had never seen her before, yet the longer he looked at her, the more familiar she seemed. It was not merely her face.
There was something about her presence, something in the way she carried herself, that tugged at a distant memory he could not quite grasp.
For some reason, she reminded him of him.
The thought came so suddenly that Li Yan frowned.
"Have we met before?"
Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. You only met me after entering the space."
"I know that, but..."
Li Yan continued staring at her. The feeling was difficult to explain. It was like recognizing a melody without remembering where he had heard it, familiar enough to stir something inside him despite having no memory attached to it.
Before he could think any further, a loud commotion suddenly reached him from outside.
His expression changed.
"What is that?"
Xiaoxiao turned her head toward the sound, her eyes narrowing slightly.
The peaceful atmosphere within the space was suddenly disrupted by muffled shouting. Something struck the ground outside, followed by hurried footsteps and several voices speaking over one another.
Li Yan immediately became alert.
"What happened?"
"I do not know." Xiaoxiao’s expression turned serious. "You need to leave, go find out."
Li Yan glanced toward her. "But—"
"Your body is outside. Whatever is happening, you cannot remain here."
He hesitated for only a moment before nodding.
He had already learned that the space was connected to him in ways he did not yet understand. If something had happened to his body while his consciousness was inside, remaining here would accomplish nothing.
"I will come back."
Xiaoxiao smiled. "I know. This is your space, Master."
The moment Li Yan closed his eyes, his consciousness was pulled away.
The sensation came without warning.
His surroundings twisted, the space dissolving into darkness, and then everything abruptly became heavy.
His limbs. His breathing. His heartbeat.
All of it returned at once. Li Yan’s eyelids fluttered.
The first thing he saw was a familiar face.
Hu Bai was sitting beside him. More accurately, he was lying on Li Yan’s bed as though he had every right to be there.
Li Yan stared at him for several seconds before letting out a tired sigh.
"Why are you in my bed?"
Hu Bai, who had apparently been waiting for him to wake, blinked.
Then he sat up properly.
His teasing expression disappeared for the briefest moment.
His eyes widened. "My, my."
Li Yan frowned, not liking Hu Bai’s tone. Hu Bai leaned closer, openly examining him.
"You are even more beautiful."
Li Yan’s expression went blank. "Get out. It’s too early for such jokes."
"I have barely said a word..."
"You have said enough."
"How can I possibly look away when you have apparently transformed into a completely different person while I was sitting here?"
Hu Bai’s eyes traveled over his face again, and the amusement slowly returned to his features.
Li Yan had changed. After his breakthrough, the last traces of childhood had disappeared from his appearance.
At fifteen, he now looked like a lotus that had just opened beneath the morning sun, delicate and luminous, with features so refined that they seemed almost unreal.
His skin was smooth and clear, his eyes brighter than before, and the subtle changes to his face had sharpened his natural beauty without making him look older than he was.
He was beautiful in a way that made it difficult to look away.
And, unfortunately for Li Yan, Hu Bai had never possessed the restraint required to look away when something interesting was in front of him.
Hu Bai stared at him as though he had forgotten what he had originally intended to say.
Such a pretty flower. Yet it had no thorns to keep anyone from plucking it.
The thought made the corner of his mouth curl upward.
Li Yan noticed. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"I am admiring my sweetheart."
Li Yan sneered, turning his face away. "We are only engaged by contract."
"A contract fiancé is still a fiancé."
"Not the way you say it."
Hu Bai chuckled. He had always possessed a tongue far too sweet for his own good. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, he would take full advantage of it, and Li Yan had long since learned that arguing with him only encouraged him.
Still, this time Hu Bai’s teasing had a slightly different quality.
He could not seem to stop looking at Li Yan.
His gaze lingered on the boy’s face, then moved to his hair before returning to his eyes.
It felt almost as though he had been intoxicated by rice wine he had never even tasted.
"Yan Yan," Hu Bai murmured, "if I had known you would become this beautiful after your breakthrough, I would have demanded a clause in our contract preventing anyone else from seeing you."