Wang Li never expected his morning to begin with a peach to the face.
"Ack—what the hell?" He staggered back as a ripe, juicy peach bounced off his forehead and landed with a squelch at his feet.
"Serves you right!" Mu Qingling stood on the veranda of the courtyard they now shared, arms crossed and cheeks puffed out like a furious squirrel. "You said you'd train with me at sunrise! It's already past breakfast!"
Wang Li blinked, groggy and disoriented, still wrapped in the silk sheets of his modest (but rapidly becoming luxurious) sect courtyard.
"I trained all night!" he called back, rubbing his temple. "There was this frost moon technique Yuling gave me—"
"Excuses!" Qingling leapt down in a graceful arc, landing beside him. Her robes flared, showing the twin fox insignia of her Mu Clan. "You're lucky I used a peach and not a spirit stone this time."
A second voice chimed in—sweet, teasing, and with the danger of a saber hidden beneath silk.
"Aw, leave him be, Qingling. He looks adorable when he's dazed." Lin Ruoyan sauntered into the courtyard, carrying a breakfast tray balanced on one hand. "Or did you forget, he's our shared treasure now?"
"Shared?!" Mu Qingling snapped. "Since when did you get to call dibs?"
"Since I saved his life three times and patched his meridians with my own qi, thank you very much."
"I trained with him first!"
"I kissed him first."
"You—!"
Wang Li sat up, waving his arms like a stranded cultivator on a desert peak. "Ladies! Can we not argue about… me? Right now?"
They both turned to him at the same time, eyes narrowing.
"You're right," Qingling said, slowly stalking forward. "Let's focus on the real issue—"
Ruoyan's smile grew. "Like why you were seen yesterday talking to the Azure Sky Sect's envoy… alone."
Wang Li froze. "…It was just a formal meeting! Sect Master's orders!"
"Ohhh?" Ruoyan tilted her head. "Then explain this." She pulled out a folded fan embroidered with a sapphire lotus. "You were gifted a token of personal favor by Lady Yun of the Azure Sky Sect. She doesn't give these out unless she's—how should I say—interested."
Mu Qingling narrowed her eyes. "You're not collecting princesses again, are you?"
"I didn't collect them!" Wang Li cried. "They… collected me!"
By noon, Wang Li had been subjected to both a spiritual interrogation and a very awkward lunch where the dishes were all cut in odd, angry shapes.
He escaped only by agreeing to lead a training expedition with both Qingling and Ruoyan to the Falling Petal Grove—a spiritual forest known for its temperamental flora and wild spiritual beasts.
The real reason?
Because Feng Yuling had sent him a moonlight talisman wrapped in a silken note.
> "Meet me beneath the frostwillow at dusk. Alone. And bring no flirtatious foxes or fiery harpies."
He had a feeling if Qingling or Ruoyan saw that note, the forest wouldn't survive the duel.
So he lied.
"…It's a special trial. The Sect Master said only core disciples with promising, erratic qi paths are allowed. He needs us to observe the fluctuation of spiritual veins in the area."
They blinked.
"That sounds fake," said Ruoyan.
"Which is exactly why it might be true," said Qingling.
They both shrugged and followed.
At the grove, petals drifted like colored snowflakes, and trees shimmered with spiritual essence. It was the kind of place that healed the soul—and tempted beasts from every corner of the wilds.
Wang Li made his escape under the pretense of needing to "locate the ley line nexus," which sounded impressive enough that even Qingling let him go without too many questions.
He darted through the grove and arrived at the frostwillow tree just before sunset.
Feng Yuling was already there, her white robes glowing in the fading light, her expression cool but unmistakably anxious.
"You're late," she said.
"I'm literally early," Wang Li said, panting. "I had to dodge two love rivals, three spirit foxes, and a very judgmental squirrel."
She rolled her eyes but stepped closer. "Good. You came alone."
She touched his forehead lightly, and a thread of frost-blue qi passed between them.
Immediately, he felt his meridians contract and then stretch as if expanding under moonlight.
"This is the second stage of the technique," she said softly. "It will begin awakening the lunar root in your dantian. But you must endure the cold. If your fire aspect isn't strong enough…"
"…I'll freeze to death," Wang Li finished.
She nodded. "Still want to try?"
He gazed at her—the snow queen who had once been his rival, now risking secret techniques for his benefit.
He smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
The pain was exquisite. Cold fire laced through his veins, and for a moment, Wang Li thought he truly would shatter like glass. But he gritted his teeth, drew on his dual cultivation knowledge (and vague memories of Qingling accidentally igniting a lake), and focused on balance.
Yin and yang. Ice and fire. Moon and sun.
By the time it was over, he collapsed, half frozen, half steaming, and entirely exhausted.
Yuling knelt beside him, touching his cheek. "You're insane," she whispered.
"And you're beautiful," he muttered, delirious.
She blushed. "Don't flirt when you're barely alive."
"Too late."
She sighed—and kissed him.
Just once. Just enough for the frost to melt.
Wang Li returned to the girls an hour later, claiming to have fallen into a meditative trance near the ley line and "totally not kissed anyone beneath a glowing frost tree."
Qingling raised an eyebrow. Ruoyan looked amused.
But they said nothing.
Instead, Qingling threw him a sword.
"Enough talking. You promised to spar."
"Can I at least have a peach first?"
"No."
And so the chaos continued.
Little did they know, high above them, hidden in the clouds, a figure wrapped in azure robes watched with narrowed eyes and whispered, "So… you're the one who stole Lady Yun's token, Wang Li. I wonder… how long you'll last?"