Wu Jian was coming to the Southern Tang Dynasty. Zhou Lihua had only received the news yesterday. Why no one thought to tell her this until just a day before his arrival was beyond her, but now she was panicking because she didn’t know what to wear.

Her days in the Southern Tang Dynasty had been pleasant but monotonous; she had worn the same robes every day, practiced the same recipes every day, and spoke with the same three people every day. She loved how much she had learned and grown during her time here, but she had become so set in her routine that even a small break from it was enough to throw her in disarray.

Wu Jian coming to visit was not small in the least.

Zhou Lihua was so excited that she hadn’t been able to sleep.

She stood in her room, before her bed, looking at the three articles of clothing resting upon the white sheets.

The first was an elegant azure-colored robe made of silk embroidered with intricate Moonlight Lillies in silver thread. It featured a high collar and was fastened with jade clasps. She could pair it with silver hair pins adorned with sapphire gemstones and a silver sash.

Next to it was a vibrant vermillion dress with a flowing, floor-length skirt and wide sleeves. It was decorated with hand-painted cherry blossom motifs in shades of pink and white. While the skirt went all the way to the floor, there was a gap in the front that would show off her chest. If she chose this dress, she could complement it with a golden tiara featuring cherry blossom designs and golden lotus-shaped earrings.

Last among her outfits was a recent addition. A soft, moon-white gown made of a delicate, shimmering fabric that flowed like water rested against the soft sheets like it was part of the bed’s decoration. The gown featured silver embroidery of crescent moons and stars along the hem. Zhou Lihua could adorn herself with a silver necklace that had a moonstone pendant and silver bracelets.

Why… is it so difficult to choose a single dress?

Zhou Lihua had never had this much trouble choosing something to wear before, even before coming to live in the Southern Tang Kingdom. Of course, most of her outfits had been chosen for her, but Zhou Lihua had made some of her own choices of wardrobe before--and it had never been this hard.

Is it because I am going to see Wu Jian again for the first time in so long?

It had been over a year since they parted ways, but she had kept abreast of his life. They had been corresponding with letters. She knew all about his performance during the Xia Dynasty’s tournament and his induction into the Heavenly Sword Sect. Zhou Lihua still remembered the first letter she sent. It had been a simple congratulatory letter on his success at the tournament and entering the Heavenly Sword Sect. He had sent back a reply and asked about her life in the Southern Tang Dynasty. From there, they had periodically traded letters.

The easiest way to communicate was via specially linked scrolls called Spirit-Link Scrolls. A skilled inscriber and sealing array expert imbued parchment with their chi, which linked the two scrolls together. The process itself was well-known but difficult to perform. Enchanters who could create scrolls like that were even more rare than alchemists. Because of how hard it was to find someone who could do that, the cost of having it done was exorbitant. However, it was super convenient too.

To send a message, all a cultivator needed to do was write something on their scroll using special ink infused with their own chi, then pour their chi into the scroll to activate it. The message would disappear from the sender’s scroll and appear on the receiver’s scroll, which would emit a faint glow when to notify someone of a message.

There were a lot of advantages to using this method of communication. The biggest was that messages were sent in real-time, making the Spirit-Linked Scrolls incredibly fast for communication across great distances. Because there was no need for couriers, it reduced the risk of interception or delay. It was also much more discreet.

There were some disadvantages to using a Spirit-Linked Scroll, too--the biggest one being that they were costly and time-consuming to make. However, there was also a chance that messages could be intercepted. Zhou Lihua herself did not know the specifics, but there were people who could somehow gain access to the information transmitted from one scroll to another. That was why all her conversations with Wu Jian contained nothing but harmless info. How their training is going, what interesting things happened… all relatively harmless stuff.

Zhou Lihua wished they could use a Talking Talismen, but those were even more expensive and had a limited range. They wouldn’t be able to talk using them unless they were within a day’s walking distance from each other.

She sighed.

Just then, someone knocked on her door.

“Young Miss, the airship carrying Jian Wu and Mei Xilan is set to arrive in one hour. Are you ready to receive him?”

Is it that time already?!

“I’ll be out in just a second!”

“… You are not ready yet, are you?”

“I will be if you just give me a second!”

“I’m coming in.”

“Ah?! Wait! I said give me a moment--”

The door opened just as Zhou Lihua was whirling around. Standing in the doorframe was Zhou Wen, her attendant. The woman had not changed much since they arrived in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Even her hair, tied into two buns, looked exactly how it did when they first met. About the only thing different was her attire, which she had changed to suit their new environment.

Zhou Wen took one look at Zhou Lihua, still in her underwear, then glanced at the clothing on the bed. She sighed.

“If you don’t get dressed soon, you won’t be able to greet Jian Wu with the rest of the delegation.”

“I… I was trying to figure out what to wear,” Zhou Lihua defended, her cheeks burning red.

“I know Jian Wu is your friend, but that is no excuse to take so long to get ready. While maintaining your decorum and upholding the honor of the Zhou Clan is paramount, you can afford to be more lax about your manner of dress right now. It is not as though you are being asked to attend a marriage meeting.”

You just don’t understand, Zhou Wen.

Because she was an heiress of the Zhou Clan, Zhou Lihua was not allowed to engage in courting anyone who was not selected by the Zhou Clan head. She had to keep her relationship with Jian Wu a complete secret. That was easier now than it was before. When they were living in the Shang Kingdom, she would visit often, and the Zhou Clan had forced her to undergo regular inspections to ensure her chastity was intact. This was the case even though Wu Jian’s relationship with Hou Jingshu had been well-known.

“I just want something that looks good,” Zhou Lihua said.

Zhou Wen sighed. “Give me a moment. I shall pick something out for you.”

“I wanted to pick it out myself…”

“Did you say something?”

“No…”

Zhou Lihua grimaced when Zhou Wen walked up to the bed and looked at her choices with skeptical eyes, though she eventually chose the dress that looked like moonlight given form. It was the most conservative among her outfits. That must have been why she had chosen it.

“Hold out your arms,” Zhou Wen instructed.

After briefly considering telling this woman off, Zhou Lihua sighed and allowed Zhou Went to dress her. It didn’t take very long. Zhou Wen even combed and styled her hair and put her makeup on. Even Zhou Lihua had to admit that she looked great by the time her attendant was done.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome, Young Miss. Now, we really should be off. Everyone is waiting for you.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

She and Zhou Wen walked through the central hall, which boasted a soaring ceiling adorned with delicate chandeliers, which cast a warm glow. Elaborate silk tapestries hung from one side of the wall. The other side was open to a vast alchemy garden. Each tapestry depicted the various herbs that could be found in the garden. Meanwhile, the floors were made from rare, polished marble that shimmered with an otherworldly luminescence.

This was the home of Master Yun Chi, one of only a handful of Platinum Rank Alchemists in the entire world.

She soon reached the entrance, where Lili Ling waited. Her hair was devoid of all color, a white so pure even freshly fallen snow looked plain, but it glistened like silk. Perhaps it was because of her white hair, but her crimson eyes stood out on her face. Both her skin and hair were like the most expensive polished jade. Her eyes alone were filled with vibrant color. Unlike Zhou Lihua, who had chosen an outfit based on her desire to impress Wu Jian, Lili Ling was adorned in the robes of an alchemist.

“It took you long enough,” Lili Ling muttered with a sigh.

Zhou Lihua had the decency to look chagrinned. “I’m sorry.”

“Well… it’s fine. Let’s just hurry up. The rest of the delegation is waiting for us.”

While the Heavenly Sword Sect’s influence and power had decreased of late thanks to the magical beast attack over a year ago, they were still the most powerful sect in the world. The Southern Tang Dynasty could not afford to ignore someone from such a sect. It seemed odd to Zhou Lihua, who still remembered when Wu Jian was just a young boy from a small clan in the Shang Kingdom.

They took a carriage and soon met with the rest of the delegates. The meeting place was the airship dock. Mingshi, the capital city of the Southern Tang Dynasty, had both a port where ships coming in by sea arrived, and an airship dock.

The airship dock was called Azure Sky Harbor, and it was a bustling and majestic complex that combined the functionality of a harbor with the intricacies of an aviation port. At the heart of the dock was the grand pavilion. Its vaulted, timbre-frame roof soared above the quay, supported by colossal wooden pillars carved with intricate motifs of mythical creatures and auspicious symbols that represented the sky. The quayside extended from the pavilion, stretching in a gentle curve along the waterfront. Here, airships moored to sturdy, wrought-iron mooring posts ensured they stayed securely in place even during inclement weather.

There were five people, including Tang Tiantian. She was the daughter of Emperor Tang Bailin. She was a woman who resembled a legendary hero of old, with hair the color of tea leaves tied into a tight bun. Even her outfit reminded Zhou Lihua of stories about heroes defeating villains and standing against armies of darkness. It was a form-fitting sleeveless tunic made of lightweight, breathable fabric in slightly contrasting shades of lavender. She carried at her side a weapon called a gun. It was a long staff and one of the four major weapons primarily used by cultivators.

Two of the three people with her were obviously bodyguards. Their bodies were thick with muscles acquired from years of training, and they also carried a gun staff at their side. It was the man behind them who caught Zhou Lihua’s attention. He was a mousy-looking man who wore rounded glasses, a rarity among cultivators since most did not have eyesight problems. She had only seen him a few times when she went to visit the palace. His name was Bao Chen.

“You’ve finally arrived!” Tang Tiantian said with a bright smile.

“We apologize for taking so long, Princess Tang,” said Lili Ling, offering a low martial bow. “Someone took too long to get ready.”

“I already said I was sorry,” Zhou Lihua mumbled as she, too, bowed before the kingdom’s princess.

Tang Tiantian laughed. “Don’t worry about it! Even I’m excited to see our guests again. Jian Wu and Mei Xilan left a huge impression on me during the tournament.”

Tang Tiantian had been so impressed by Wu Jian and Mei Xilan that she had shared numerous stories of their battles after returning home. She would occasionally meet Zhou Lihua and Lili Ling because they were the only people close to her in both age and status. During those times when they shared tea together, she would regale them with stories.

“I have already met him, but he didn’t leave much of an impression on me at the time,” Lili Ling confessed, glancing at Zhou Lihua. “Then again, I was preoccupied with other matters.”

“Right. I remember you told me that you and he were friends, didn’t you Lihua?” asked Tang Tiantian.

“That’s right,” Zhou Lihua said.

“Then perhaps you can properly introduce me to him.”

“I would be honored.”

“Oh, look, that must be the airship he is on.”

Everyone looked up to see an airship descending from the sky. All airships looked quite majestic, though this one was obviously public transportation, for it lacked the ostentatious decore that a powerful clan or sect would use. Zhou Lihua wondered why Wu Jian had decided to use public transportation, but only for a moment as the ship descended in a dock.

It was not long before several boarding ramps were extended so people could exit. Numerous cultivators emerged from the deck. They were like a stream of fish walking single file down the ramps.

There he is…

Zhou Lihua had been keeping her eyes on the boarding ramps, looking for the familiar mask, and so she was the first person to spot him. It was a young man descending from the boarding ramp. His manner of dress was different than she remembered, but she would never forget his face or the mask he wore to hide it.

Her heart hammered in her chest as Wu Jian descended from the boarding ramp.

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