On the other side, Zhao Tie had already informed his senior brother, Huai, that he was leaving Blue Star.
Huai gave his permission and without telling Zhao Tie, quietly sent a Galaxy Sovereign powerhouse to follow him in the shadows.
After leaving Blue Star, Zhao Tie and Gu Qingfeng boarded Zhao Tie's space shuttle.
And as usual, Gu Qingfeng didn't shut up for the entire journey.
"Young Master, where are we going? Were you serious when you threatened Elder Gu Shan? Are you... are you taking me back to my family?"
He paused, his voice dropping for once. "If it's my family, then let's not go. No one there ever cared about me. Only Master did... and he's dead now."
The sadness lasted barely a second before he was back at it.
"Young Master! Do you know the Divine Physician? I heard the Eternal Sect belongs to the Divine Physician, right?"
Zhao Tie just nodded.
Gu Qingfeng's eyes lit up. "Whoa! You know him?! Is he your master? Wait ! are you his... his disciple?"
Zhao Tie felt a vein about to pop. He finally answered with one short sentence: "He's my senior brother. And the Sect Leader of the Eternal Sect."
Gu Qingfeng froze, mouth open. "Your... senior brother?! Then who is your master?! And wait, you said you're from Blade Peak before... how many peaks are there? How many core disciples? What rank are you? Are there..."
Zhao Tie said nothing else.
For the rest of the trip, Gu Qingfeng peppered him with questions nonstop, while Zhao Tie stared out the window in silence.
Until the shuttle slowed.
Ahead of them stretched a breathtaking galaxy — stars scattered like jewels, and vast nebulas drifting like slow-moving clouds, painting the void in shades of blue and silver.
The Azure Cloud Galaxy.
Gu Qingfeng pressed his face to the glass. "Beautiful... I've never seen anything this beautiful in my life! Young Master, look! Look at that star , it's glowing like water!"
Zhao Tie paid the entry fee at the checkpoint, and their shuttle slipped down toward the bright core world below — Azure Star.
This Azure Cloud Galaxy was even lower-level than the Red Lotus Galaxy where Blue Star was. The entire galaxy was occupied only by water-element cultivators.
Azure Star itself was almost all ocean — vast seas, countless rivers and lakes stitched together. The strongest force here was only at the 5th level, and the highest cultivation anyone reached was Star Saint, or at most Great Saint.
They landed in a busy port city.
As they walked, the roadside stalls were steaming. Skewers of grilled river-fish sizzled in oil, bowls of pearl-white noodles swam in clear broth, and sweet steam buns shaped like little fish puffed white clouds into the air.
Gu Qingfeng stopped dead. His nose twitched. His eyes locked onto a stall selling crispy shrimp cakes, and he actually started drooling.
Zhao Tie sighed. Without even asking, he turned and walked straight toward a proper restaurant across the street.
Gu Qingfeng grinned shamelessly and trotted after him, hands empty. As a sword boy he was supposed to carry Zhao Tie's sword but throughout the whole road he hadn't even offered once. Zhao Tie didn't care either; he'd only said that back then to save Qingfeng's life.
Inside, Zhao Tie ordered without looking at the menu . The food served on a full table: steamed silver carp, braised turtle in dark sauce, lotus-leaf rice, eight-treasure soup, three kinds of shellfish, and a tower of those fish-shaped buns.
When the food came, hot and fragrant, Gu Qingfeng stared at Zhao Tie with full puppy eyes.
"Young Master... can I...?"
Zhao Tie sighed and nodded.
He didn't even finish the nod before Gu Qingfeng lunged. He grabbed one bun, then two, then a whole fish, shoving them into his mouth with both hands, cheeks bulging, mumbling through the food, "So good! So good!"
Zhao Tie just picked up his chopsticks slowly, watching his so-called sword boy eat like he'd been starved for three lifetimes.
After eating, Zhao Tie placed a single high-grade spirit stone on the table and left. It was ten times the price of the meal.
Qingfeng's eyes lingered on the table for one last second before he snatched the last fish bun and hurried after him.
They walked the city for the rest of the day. Zhao Tie bought things for his brothers and sisters back in the sect — hairpins of cloud-jade, small bottles of sea-pearl powder, wooden swords for the younger disciples. Qingfeng followed a half-step behind, his eyes catching on every shiny accessory.
Whenever Zhao Tie bought something, Qingfeng would stare at the stall a little too long. Zhao Tie noticed, but said nothing.
At one stall, his gaze fell on a simple silver ring. He had seen Qingfeng standing in front of it for nearly thirty minutes earlier, pretending to look at other things while his fingers kept returning to it. When Zhao Tie walked over, Qingfeng quickly put it back and moved to the other side of the stall.
"How much?" Zhao Tie asked, his voice cold.
The stall owner glanced at Qingfeng and snorted. "Five high-grade spirit stones. And I'll tell you now, young master . That boy just now tried to buy it for one. I'm not lowering the price."
Zhao Tie said nothing. He set down five stones, slipped the ring into his pocket, and walked away.
He didn't know why he bought it. He didn't lack money, and Qingfeng had even returned the spirit pouch Zhao Tie gave him that day on Blue Star, saying he hadn't done anything to earn it. Zhao Tie had taken it back out of respect. His heart just wanted the ring.
By the time the sky turned dark, Zhao Tie took a room at an inn. He offered Qingfeng a separate room. Qingfeng shook his head. "I can sleep on the floor. A sword boy should stay by his master's side."
Zhao Tie didn't argue. He still remembered that cold night when Qingfeng had fallen ill. He let him stay.
At night, Zhao Tie lay on the bed while Qingfeng sat on the wooden floor beside the small table, his back against the wall. After a few minutes of fighting sleep, his head drooped and he fell asleep deeply.
Zhao Tie opened his eyes. He hadn't slept at all.
He got up quietly, sighed, and bent down. He lifted Qingfeng from the cold floor easily, for cultivators they weigh nothing to each other. He laid him on the bed.
As he pulled the blanket up, his face came close to Qingfeng's.
For the first time in his life, his heart started beating loudly. Like a war drum in his chest.
He tried to pull back, uncomfortable with the noise in his own ears, when Qingfeng, still asleep, caught his robe and hugged him tight. With a single clumsy turn, Zhao Tie found himself on the bed beside him.
Zhao Tie's face turned red instantly. "You..."
But Qingfeng was breathing evenly, deep in sleep. He couldn't wake him, and he couldn't push him off without doing so.
He lay stiff in that position, heart hammering faster and faster. A strange heat rose through him. His own member started getting hard at this moment , it is extremely unfamiliar and unsettling. He had always thought love and desire were dust in front of the blade. He had never felt this for anyone...
And now, from a single unconscious hug from this noisy boy, his whole body was betraying him...
He looked down at Qingfeng's peaceful face, at his parted lips, and his throat went dry. He swallowed hard...his member got warm in seconds...
Qingfeng, unaware, murmured in sleep and hugged him even tighter, pressing his forehead against Zhao Tie's chest.
Zhao Tie stopped thinking. He stopped fighting it. He just lay there, letting the warmth spread, his member touched qingfeng from the front and he shivered...he stopped thinking, letting his racing heart do what it wanted.
Like that, the whole night passed.
Zhao Tie didn't sleep at all. By morning his eyes were red, his mind in turmoil. But for the first time, he understood what his heart wanted. He understood what it felt like to have feelings for someone....
The first light of the Azure Star sun came through the thin curtains. It made the room look soft and blue.
Gu Qingfeng slowly woke up. Usually mornings were loud for him, but today everything felt warm and heavy.
He was expecting the hard wooden floor. Instead he felt a soft bed. And there was heat against his chest. It smelled like clean mountain air and cold metal.
Then he felt something hard pressing against his thighs...
His eyes flew open. He wasn't looking at the ceiling. He was looking straight into Zhao Tie's eyes. They were very close. Zhao Tie's eyes were red, like he hadn't slept all night.
The room was quiet. They could hear birds outside.
Then Qingfeng understood where he was.
"Wha...! Ah! Young Master!"
He jumped back so fast he almost fell off the bed. His ears turned bright red, like fire. He landed on his feet, tripped on his robe, and quickly covered his lower half with his hands. His body already betraying himself with a he'd memeber in the morning...his face turned red like a tomato.
His heart was beating so fast he was sure Zhao Tie could hear it.
"I...how!" he stammered. "How did I get on the bed?! I was on the floor! I swear I was on the floor!"
Zhao Tie didn't look at him. He moved slowly and pulled the thick blanket over his lap trying to hide his own member. He stared hard at a water jug on the table, like it was the most interesting thing in the world...
"You walk in your sleep," Zhao Tie said. His voice was low and tired. "In the middle of the night you crawled up here. You hugged me so tight I couldn't move. You held my robe like you were drowning. I couldn't push you off."
"I did what ?!" Qingfeng stared at his own hands like they betrayed him. "I grabbed you? I don't remember..."
"You were snoring," Zhao Tie lied blankly throughout his teeth, holding the blanket tighter. "Every time I tried to move you, you just held on harder. It was... annoying."
Qingfeng wanted the floor to split open and swallow him inside itself. He looked down at his feet and tried to think about cold water, or boring books, anything to calm down.
"I'm so sorry, Young Master! I didn't...I must have been dreaming about... a big fish, yes! a big big tasty fish!"
Zhao tie's face twitched for a moment.' What fish ? Do you think that I'm a fish in your sleep. Does your head is completely covered with foods.' He screamed in his head.
He backed up to the door, his face still burning. "I'll go... I'll get ...Yes! Water! Cold water! I'll get it for you..."
He turned and ran out of the room, almost falling over the doorstep.