"Just a massage?" Chen Wentian asked.
"A massage and perhaps you could stay the night?" Zhou Ziyun asked softly.
"Mmm." He nodded.
"Excellent, come. The bath is ready." She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards a side door.
"Hey! Why so eager?" He asked, laughing.
She responded with a smile and continued tugging him along.
Zhou Ziyun could have asked for many things from her master. She could have asked for more money or power. She could have asked for anything within his ability to provide yet all she wanted was a massage.
The most important thing to her was time and the chance to spend a day in private with her master. As the number of disciples increased, her time alone with him diminished evermore. It wasn't the level of suffering that Bei Yingluo suffered but Zhou Ziyun still had to strive for every extra second she could her master. Such moments were more precious than gold.
After several corridors and dizzying turns, they arrived at the bath. The water was hot and ready, filling half of the room with a comfortable fog. And besides the steaming marble pool, there was a massage table already set up and at the perfect height.
The door closed behind them with a whisper and Zhou Ziyun went for the ribbons holding her dress together. With a few flicks of her hand, the silky fabric pooled at her feet. She stepped forward, as naked as the day she was born.
Chen Wentian managed to get a good glimpse of her before she laid down on the cushioned massage table.
"Master, you'll find everything you need has already been prepared." She said facedown, her head poking out of a small hole in the table.
All he could see now was her white butt sticking up in the air. He resisted the urge to give it a good slap and began his massage.
He took a glass bottle and dumped its contents into his palm. A sweet and spicy fragrance filled the air, cutting through the foggy heat like a knife. He rubbed his hands together to spread out the oily balm and summoned the power of Benevolent Hands.
Chen Wentian's index finger landed on her spine in the small of her back. This elicited a shiver of anticipation. He then dragged the finger up her spine to her neck which drew a happy sigh. Smiling to himself, he started with her shoulder and neck area, squeezing with his fingers, kneading with his palm.
"Ahhh…"
"Mmmm…"
Zhou Ziyun let her contentment be known as he worked his magic. His hand glided across her bare skin; touching, pressing, working all the stress out of her body and replacing it with healing spiritual energy.
She continued to make a lot of noise, ones all too similar to those that she made in throes of passion. It was all he could to hold back his urges and diligently perform his task. He had promised to reward her and this was her reward.
"Your shoulders are quite stiff, any bothers weighing you down?" He teased.
"Mmm… you. You're the one giving me so many tasks. I deserve a massage every week with the amount of work I do for you. No, every three days… Oooh, that's the spot."
Chen Wentian laughed and moved his hands to her middle and lower back. He didn't mind giving her a massage. She more than deserved it.
He put pressure around her waist and spine drew more moans until she gave up on speaking coherent words.
"Naughty girl, I thought you enjoyed that stuff, bossing people around and managing all the money. You're a natural at it." He said as he continued to work her back.
Zhou Ziyun let out a long sigh, "Those are my duties. They are my responsibilities to the sect and to you. I do it all to the best of my ability but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy them. I do them out of necessity and if I didn't have to, I would lose myself in a mountain of books and not leave it for a month!"
"…" Chen Wentian had to admit to himself that he hadn't thought about it this way.
He had indeed dumped a ton of responsibilities on her head as soon as he recruited her. She was responsible for the construction of the sect and its expansions, managing the province and all its finances, recruiting servants and guards, as well as overseeing a steadily growing Zhou Clan whose primary purpose was to support the sect in any and all possible ways. It was a lot for a single person. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to do any of it. Yet she took on the challenge without complaint, utilizing her intellect to the fullest in ways that surpassed his expectations.
He had always assumed that rewarding her with endless money and near limitless authority was an adequate reward.
It seemed… that he was wrong in this aspect.
"Ziyun…"
He renewed his efforts, rubbing and kneading her legs all the way down to her feet and then back up again. He paid extra attention to every minute detail of her body. Zhou Ziyun was always diligent in everything she did including cultivation and training. This left her with a lot of bruises and minor injuries. He made sure to send plenty of benevolent energy and medicinal aura to places that needed it.
"Ziyun, thank you for everything. I will never take you for granted. I will give you unlimited massages until the end of time." He slapped her butt and said playfully, "Personal massages by Immortal Blue Dragon Chen Wentian, think about how priceless that is, how many women would give up half their cultivation to feel these benevolent hands of a peerless genius."
Zhou Ziyun snorted with laughter and turned around. "Master, I will remember your words today forever so don't you forget them!"
She laid back down and closed her eyes, putting herself on full display and making it clear what she wanted. He obliged, putting more medicinal oil on his hands, and continued the massage starting with her hips and stomach area.
"You know…" She said after a while, "There are probably some rumors floating around about me, that I am addicted to wealth and power, that I am greedy and domineering. I don't really care what random people think but you should always know my true desire. If I can abandon it all to simply follow you all over the world, I would mind it one bit. I will be content no matter what as long as I follow you."
In the past few months, things were happening one after another. It was all too fast and out of her control. There was a distinct feeling that a certain distance had developed between her and Chen Wentian. This was unacceptable and struck a deep fear in her heart.
Here, just the two of them alone in a warm bath, she wanted him to know her feelings, her true feelings that she hid beneath a stern demeanor. She was aware of the rising rumblings of dissatisfaction from various factions, whether it was her Zhou Clan or others.
These were still small and almost insignificant but perhaps they wouldn't stay that way for long. Nothing was forever in this world, even her master's love and care. The last thing she wanted was to lose her master's trust to some unforeseen scheme or scandal. She wanted to be his disciple for a very, very long time. And she was going to make sure of it.
"Ziyun, your words today, I will remember them forever so don't you worry." Chen Wentian replied.
Zhou Ziyun looked up at him with a smile that could melt the coldest ice, "Master, thank you. I happened to have another request but it is a little more difficult."
"What is it?"
"For Sister Long Yifei's school year that starts next month, I was wondering if you can take me along with you when you go to the Martial Brilliance Continent?"
Chen Wentian frowned, "I will consider it… but we still have a little demon problem. We have just over two weeks until Yifei has to go but if I can't take care of this sneaky bastard, she will have to go by herself since I promised the Order."
Zhou Ziyun's eyes flashed with mischief, "Master, rest assured, I have already thought of a way to lure that water demon out of hiding and into your palm."
"Oh? Clever girl! Tell me, if it works, I promise I will take you to the Martial Brilliance Continent!"
---
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"How do I look?" Chen Wentian asked.
He adjusted the collar that was uncomfortably tight around his wide neck and glanced in the mirror.
"Wonderfully unattractive, a face only a mother could love." Zhou Ziyun replied, struggling not to laugh.
He wanted to retort but found it impossible. Even he was slightly repulsed by the image reflecting back at him, one of the Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong.
Her plan required him to once again don the disguise of his alter ego. She knew about it but this was the first he had shown it off to her. The only other disciple who had seen in person was Wu Qianyu.
He ran his fingers through a wild mane of gray hair that stuck up in every direction. A scrubby beard covered half his face but he would have been unrecognizable even without it. His head was much bigger than usual, with fat cheeks, a wide nose, and little black eyes in deep sockets. Even his neck was twice as thick as normal. Every piece of makeup, including the fake skin, felt real to the touch and nobody would be able to tell, not even an immortal. At least, that was the intention.
Zhou Ziyun patted his bulging stomach and adjusted the buttons and belts on his outfit. She was skeptical of it at first but now she was confident. Her master's ability of disguise surprised even her. She had been prepared to lend a hand after studying the subject but her assistance in this area wasn't needed.
"You have all the copies I've made for you?" She asked.
"Yup, five thousand copies of the Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style. I'm still surprised you managed to come up with this." He said.
The Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style was something that Zhou Ziyun had developed after careful study of the Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms, Dugu's Tenth Sword, and many other mortal secret arts in Chen Wentian's possession. With her genius comprehension, she was able to extract a tiny bit of the essence of demon slaying from the Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms and combine it with other sword arts into a brand new one.
The Six Meridians Demon Blight sword style was only at the middle level of the Spirit Initiate Realm. In terms of depth and complexity of the Dao of the sword, it was below average. Its sole advantage was that it contained a just hint of demon slaying ability.
The Dao of demon slaying was incredibly complex. For her to obtain even the tiniest amount of comprehension was already a tremendous accomplishment. Chen Wentian himself probably could not have accomplished the same unless he committed at least a year or two to the subject. He was never that good at Dao comprehension and none of his souls were either.
Right now, this mediocre sword art with a small amount of demon slaying power was exactly what he needed, what her plan called for.
"Alright, I'm off. Look forward to good news soon. I'll catch this demon." He said.
"Mmm." Zhou Ziyun nodded and stepped away from him.
"What, no goodbye kiss? Not even a hug?"
She scoffed and backed away further, "Not in a million years when you looked like that!"
"Stingy…" He muttered and flew away.
Chen Wentian left Crystal Bamboo City zoomed high into the sky. He remained clad in a heavy cloak of blue flame until he passed the border of Red Bamboo Province and entered the Eastern Wilderness. There, hidden within the clouds, a black shadow emerged and flew alongside him.
Chen Mo morphed into human form. He was clad in Chen Wentian's usual attire and looked exactly like him. Even his darker skin tone was gone, a product of not some new ability but physical makeup that had been prepared beforehand.
Chen Wentian withdrew his blue dragon flames and at the exact same time, Chen Mo surrounded himself with the same blue flames.
"See ya!" Chen Mo said and continued onward.
Chen Wentian then cast the power of shadow around himself and headed in another direction.
---
The first place Chen Wentian visited was a small mortal sect in the mountains several provinces away. It was currently under attack from an army of jueyuan, the same monkey-like demons that had destroyed Wu Qianyu's Green Leaf Sect. But unlike that time, he wasn't too late to help and he also wanted to help.
This insignificant province did not have an immortal lord. Thus, the whole province was suffering greatly under the recent attacks by crazed demon hordes at the command of the hidden water demon immortal. Every mortal cultivation sect was dealing with the demon problem and nobody had time to help each other. If he didn't come today, then perhaps this sect would have suffered the same terrible fate as Green Leaf Sect.
He quickly descended towards the action, a treasure sword in hand. "Foul demons! Die!"
A vast array of phantasmal swords appeared all around him. With a thought, they shot away in many directions, slicing apart demons at the slightest touch. Like a sword god, he swept over the scene, separating the two sides and bringing a momentary silence to the chaos.
Demons and humans alike were stunned as he instantly brought the battle to an end. For mortals, the power of even a Spirit Lord was unstoppable. In just a few breaths of time, all the souls within his reach were subjugated.
The rear elements of the jueyuan army tried to flee by another array of swords descended from the sky and blocked their escape path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Chen Wentian bellowed, his voice slicing through the air and making all the demons clutch their ears in agony, "Stay still or I will kill you immediately!"
Trapped, the demons had nowhere to go. They snarled and him and howled at the remaining humans but there was nothing else they could do.
Ignoring them, he turned to the frightened human cultivators, "Who among you is the sect master?"
An elderly man in black and white clothing pushed his way through and then fell to his knees, "Lord immortal! I do not know your name but this servant thanks you from the bottom of my heart. I am Liu Jia and this is the Pine Mountain Sect. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for your immortal grace!"
"Thank you, immortal, for your lifesaving grace!"
"Thank you, immortal, for your lifesaving grace!"
All the disciples fell down and bowed over and over.
"Alright, alright, get up. I don't have a lot of time, Liu Jia, come here." Chen Wentian commanded.
"Yes, my lord," The old sect master limped over, "May I ask, what is your great name?"
"I am Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong! My reputation in some places isn't good but they are all lies. I have seen how the common people are suffering and yet the Immortal Association does nothing! This is something that I, Lin Huzhong, cannot stomach any longer. I have set out to help all mortals under the heavens from this demon menace and your sect is merely the first one!" Chen Wentian declared.
He was full of righteous energy that stunned his audience into confused silence.
---
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