The next morning, Qian Yu woke up as he looked at Zhen Yue who was still asleep. 

He smiled, closed his eyes as he felt the qi in his body. There was a subtle difference in it. ‘Hmm, I underestimated the quality of the qi of a soul foundation cultivator. With this much yin qi, it’ll take more than two days to fully refine it. Hopefully I’ll hit the 8th stage by then or if not, I should be very close,’ Qian Yu started cultivating.

An hour later, Zhen Yue finally woke up as she tiredly opened her eyes.

“Good morning beauty!” Qian Yu ran his hand through her messy hair in an attempt to straighten them. 

“Ah! Master, let me go make some breakfast,” Zhen Yue saw Qian Yu was already awake. 

“Owie!” As she tried to get out of bed, she lost her footing and fell back down on the bed. 

“Hahaha, it’s fine,” Qian Yu laughed as he stared at her lower half.

“I'm sorry master. Ahem, yesterday was too rough. It reminded me of the second time we did it where I was completely exhausted after. Wow, it’s been so long already,” Zhen Yue said as she couldn’t help but remember the nostalgia.

“Anyways, I should probably go soon. I think I’ll leave Xinyi in your care though. Now that you’ve successfully ascended, you will have more free time. You must be bored all by yourself and Xinyi can protect you as well if anything dangerous happens,” Qian Yu summoned Tian Xinyi.

“Don’t bring her out and just buy extra food for her though,” Qian Yu didn’t forget to remind her.

“Is that really okay?” Zhen Yue asked, a little worried.

“Yeah, I’m more worried about yourself. I’m in the sect so it doesn’t matter and I’m relatively safe,” Qian Yu reassured her.

“Anyways, rest up,” Qian Yu said as he affectionately kissed her. 

“Hehe, I know, I’m still pretty tired and sore,” Zhen Yue laughed. 

“I’ll see you next week then. Take care of each other,” Qian Yu glanced at the two before he left the room and headed downwards. 

Qian Yu had just reached the lobby of the inn as he heard an unhappy voice.

“Qian Yu, what are you doing?” Bai Jia angrily said.

Qian Yu jolted hearing the familiar voice. “Sister Bai? What are you doing here?” Qian Yu turned around. 

“Hmph, I went out yesterday to get some herbs and I saw you go into an inn with another girl-” Sister Bai started yelling.

“Sister, calm down!” Qian Yu said as he went forward to cover her mouth while bringing her outside. 

“Did you wait the whole night, sister Bai?” Qian Yu said as they left the building and headed towards an isolated area.

“Sister, I’ll explain everything you ask,” Qian Yu pleaded, seeing that Bai Jia didn’t say anything. 

“Hmph. You better answer everything this time!” Bai Jia angrily said.

“Yes yes, I know. I won’t hide anything anymore,” Qian Yu had to agree to her demands.

“Who’s that girl?” Bai Jia took a few seconds to calm down before asking.

“She’s my woman. Originally, she was a slave that I brought and-” Qian Yu started talking.

“You brought a slave! Qian Yu, I know you’re a young male but was that really needed?” Bai Jia said as she started yelling again.

“Ahem, sister, it's not like that. The technique I got from the winter hunt was a sexual cultivation technique that required yin qi,” Qian Yu said in a low voice. 

“Huh?” Bai Jia said as she didn’t expect that.

“Ahem, if that is so, then it makes sense then,” Bai Jia said after a few seconds. Perhaps, it was the only explanation plausible to calm her rage.

“Did you sleep with any other woman then?” Bai Jia gritted her teeth as she asked.

“Sigh, I have another lover as well,” Qian Yu sighed. 

“I met her during Liu Wang’s inheritance realm. You probably know her as the ‘Two Handed Destroyer’. She was my partner during the inheritance realm,” Qian Yu explained. 

“Her?” Bai Jia couldn’t help but be shocked despite still feeling a little angry. She had indeed learned about it a few months ago.

“During the inheritance realm, I was only at the 2nd stage of qi gathering, but later on, she helped me get to the 4th stage before she had to leave,” Qian Yu said nostalgically. 

Bai Jia felt a myriad of emotions sweep over her. Mainly she felt angry, but she couldn’t point out anything that Qian Yu did wrong. 

“Alright, that’s enough about the other women then. Just one last thing, why didn’t you tell me before you left on your journey?” Bai Jia asked.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to ask you for help about such a thing. However, would you have been able to do anything? And even if you helped me out of kindness, did you think about how I would have felt?” Qian Yu retorted. 

“Y-you! Qian Yu, you don’t know that. Besides, there are other methods and even some artifacts or treasures with yin qi that can help you cultivate,” Bai Jia shouted as it seemed like her anger resurfaced.

“Sister, that will be too much work for you! Those items aren’t cheap. I can’t rely on you for everything can I? There are some things that I have to do myself! I’m a man, not a boy!” Qian Yu tried to stay calm.

Bai Jia was taken back as she heard that. “Fine! But in the end, you could have still told me?” Bai Jia said angrily. 

“Sister! I said I was sorry already and told you my reasons!” Qian Yu shouted. The situation started becoming hopeless as he saw that emotions were controlling Bai Jia’s current state of mind.

Qian Yu’s shout had awoken Bai Jia from her rage as she grew quiet for a few seconds. “I-I’m sorry Qian Yu. I don’t know how I’m feeling right now. I’m just a little confused,” Bai Jia snapped out of it, looking dazed.

“I think it’s best that I’ll take my leave then,” Qian Yu said as he stood up. Bai Jia was too unstable right now and he too, needed a break to think.

Walking away, he muttered, “I didn’t want to tell you because I was afraid it'd disrupt the balance of our current relationship that we have.” 

Returning to the sect, Qian Yu started cultivating in an attempt to distract his mind. Nonetheless, it didn’t work. ‘Everything was going fine. I didn’t expect sister Jia to overreact and be so angry. If anything, I thought she’d just feel embarrassed and see me differently, if she saw me as her younger brother or something. However, those feelings… it’s clear.’ Qian Yu sighed worriedly as he realized he had misjudged her feelings.

He loved their relationship and he always felt at home and comfortable with her as if there was nothing in the world bothering him. Now though, he was unsure of what would happen.