Of course, these things couldn’t be told to her.
Their identities must be kept strictly confidential.
...
When Evan Xiao said her cultivation was hard to break through, Grace immediately retorted, “What does that have to do with this?”
Then she instantly regretted it, wishing she could just bite off her own tongue.
Why did she always get so hopelessly flustered around Evan Xiao?
And besides, it was completely incurable...
Seeing her embarrassed face, Evan Xiao chuckled and said, “That Spirit Alchemist told me, in cases like yours, you need to clear your mind and focus on cultivation. If you can reach Spirit Master Perfection within a year or two, there might be a way to break through.”
"Really?"
Evan Xiao nodded seriously and told her, “So from now on, you’re not allowed to have any more naughty thoughts about me.”
"Who... Who's having naughty thoughts about you!"
"Then why are you taking off your clothes?"
Yeah! Why did I start taking my clothes off?
Grace’s face turned bright red, and she slid down into the water. "I only took off my clothes because I wanted to soak in the hot spring! Ah! This hot spring feels amazing..."
"The hot spring here really is nice. You go ahead and enjoy it for a while!" Evan Xiao stifled a laugh and got out onto the shore.
After just a few steps, the moisture on his body was completely gone. He looked clean and ethereal, like a banished immortal.
He picked up Chloe Zhu’s clothes and breathed a puff of dragon breath onto them.
Then, her clothes were dry too.
He leaned back against a white stone by the shore, draped her clothes over his leg, and watched Grace soaking in the hot spring.
Grace was torn between her desires and her reason.
That infuriating Evan Xiao—he totally started the flirting!
Now he’s acting all righteous, and she’s the one with the dirty thoughts...
Ugh! I just want to die!
...
Grace was dying of embarrassment. In her mortification, she forgot how high the sky was and how deep the water could be.
She only took a few steps forward, then suddenly the ground beneath her feet disappeared. "Ah!" With a cry, she fell in.
The water quickly covered her head.
Grace flailed in panic, but the more she struggled, the deeper she sank.
Evan Xiao! Evan Xiao!
Help me!
She looked up and saw Evan Xiao sitting there, calm and collected, as if he were watching her.
But he didn’t seem to have any intention of saving her.
Evan Xiao! Didn’t you see me fall into the water?
Come save me!
This pool was really deep.
Grace felt like she was definitely going to die.
But after a long while, she was still perfectly conscious.
She didn’t feel uncomfortable, nor did she swallow any water. It was as if she could survive underwater without breathing...
Her will to survive kept her paddling non-stop. Gradually, she found her rhythm, rose higher, and finally broke through the surface.
She hadn’t imagined it—Evan Xiao really was sitting there, calm and collected, watching her with a smile.
"Evan Xiao! Didn’t you see me fall into the water?" she asked angrily.
"I saw you!"
"Then why didn’t you save me?"
"Why should I save you?"
Grace’s eyes reddened, and she cried out, "Are you just going to stand there and watch me drown?"
"Aren’t you perfectly fine?"
"I—" Chloe Zhu suddenly remembered something. She reached for the dragon scale necklace around her neck and asked, "Is it because of this dragon scale? It keeps me from drowning, even if I fall in the water?"
Evan Xiao nodded.
"Is it really that magical?"
"You can try it again if you want."
She bravely tried again—and it really worked...
When she was soaking in the water, she felt a warm energy in her chest, seeping into her body. Even if she couldn’t breathe, she didn’t feel any discomfort...