Dual Realm Exchange System

Willowbank Front looked considerably less miserable when Damian finally returned.

The difference was visible before he even reached the main entrance.

Several crooked barricades had been pulled down and rebuilt properly, the rubbish that previously littered the paths was gone, damaged tents had been shifted into orderly rows, and disciples were carrying timber, tools and supplies between designated sections rather than dumping everything wherever there happened to be an empty patch of ground.

Though, the work was obviously nowhere near finished.

One of the watchtowers was currently missing half its railing, several drainage trenches looked like drunken snakes, and Damian was fairly certain one group had erected a tent facing backward.

Still...

The place actually resembled a military camp now!

More importantly, it was alive with energy as voices carried between the tents, people argued over timber measurements, somebody shouted about a missing hammer, and laughter occasionally broke through the noise.

Considering what Damian had walked into only several hours earlier, that alone was a miracle.

He slowed the Gale Beakrunner as the smell of cooked meat reached him.

Lunch, huh?

Several massive cookpots had been erected near the center of camp, with chunks of Fierce Beast meat bubbling alongside grains and vegetables while another group prepared bowls for distribution.

There was enough food being produced that the entire area looked like somebody had accidentally mixed a battlefield with a school cafeteria.

The first disciple noticed Damian approaching.

”Commander!”

Heads turned as the effect spread, with people placing bowls down, stopping their actions, those stirring a cookpot froze with the ladle still inside, and disciples carrying timber placed their loads down while others emerged from nearby tents.

Within moments, almost everyone who could see him had turned in his direction.

Hands clasped together and hundreds of fists cupped themselves on solemn greeting.

”WE WELCOME THE COMMANDER BACK!”

The roar rolled through the area, and even the Gale Beakrunner jerked its head in surprise.

Damian remained seated for a moment, looking over the crowd.

The respect from the disciples was obvious, and so was the enthusiasm.

These people had been half-dead that morning. Now they were eating, rebuilding their camp and shouting loudly enough to annoy the heavens.

For some reason, the weight sitting inside Damian’s chest eased.

Ning Ruomei was still here and whatever trap she had arranged still existed.

Indeed, something nasty was undoubtedly approaching, but perhaps he had been allowing the unknown to occupy too much room inside his head.

Damian could prepare for trouble when it arrived.

For now though, he could bask in the fact that he had made the correct decision with these guys.

Whatever happened afterward did not change that.

”Alright, alright! Carry on before somebody burns lunch!” Damian called back with amusement.

Several disciples laughed before everyone returned to work.

Damian handed the Gale Beakrunner back to the stable personnel and headed directly toward the command tent.

”Send Jian Rui, Bo Wen, Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian to me.”

The message went out immediately and Damian had barely seated himself behind the rough command table when footsteps approached outside.

He expected four people, but six entered.

Jian Rui came first, followed by Bo Wen, Lin Meiyu and Shen Lian.

Behind them walked Shen Xueyi, still dressed in pale-blue robes with her veil covering that absurdly beautiful face.

And beside her...

Mu Qingyao.

Damian’s expression slowly became cautious.

Shen Xueyi was exactly as usual, carrying herself with that calm, cold elegance that made it seem as though worldly matters struggled to reach her.

Mu Qingyao looked like a boiling kettle whose lid had already begun rattling.

Her beautiful face was smiling... technically.

The smile possessed approximately the same warmth as an executioner’s axe.

”Da...mi...an!!!” Mu Qingyao growled through clenched teeth.

Ah.

It seemed bigger trouble had arrived.

......

The four youngsters suddenly found the walls extremely fascinating.

Mu Qingyao proceeded to inform Damian, in great detail, that leaving the four people specifically assigned to accompany him behind while riding alone into hostile territory was perhaps not the wisest decision ever made by mankind.

She reminded him about enemy patrols, ambushes, Qi Condensation enemies, formation traps, corpse poison, and the possibility of reinforcements.

The fact that he had borrowed her Spirit Boat only to immediately abandon the safety arrangements she had spent half an hour explaining.

Damian attempted several defenses, but none survived contact with an irate Mu Qingyao.

”But I came back without a scratch.”

”That is not the point!”

”I killed thirty-four of them.”

”THAT IS EVEN LESS THE POINT!”

”I was... very careful?”

Mu Qingyao’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Damian immediately deployed his secret weapon.

.

The Novice Specialization did not magically control anyone’s thoughts, unfortunately, but it helped Damian choose his words, tone and timing far better than improvising while under fire from an angry beauty.

He acknowledged the risk, explained that his abilities were especially suited to acting independently against Body Tempering patrols, promised not to recklessly challenge unknown high-level enemies, and somehow managed to frame the entire matter as controlled reconnaissance rather than thirty-four consecutive counts of homicide.

Several minutes later, Mu Qingyao’s anger had reduced from ’murderous wife’ to ’deeply dissatisfied girlfriend’.

Progress!

Damian mentally placed much higher on his Skill Point investment list.

What a handy goddamn skill!

Once peace had been temporarily restored, Damian turned toward the four youngsters.

”Report.”

Jian Rui began first.

The restructuring was progressing well. Healthy fighters had been reorganized, defensive posts reassigned and patrol rotations temporarily reduced while everyone recovered and the camp’s actual numbers were determined.

Bo Wen followed with inventory.

Food was sufficient for now, weapon shortages were manageable, medicinal supplies had improved enormously thanks to Damian, and several storage areas previously thought empty had actually contained forgotten equipment buried beneath disorganized junk.

Lin Meiyu had completed most personnel records.

The previous nominal strength of three hundred was nonsense once wounded, missing, transferred and dead disciples were properly separated. The restored fighting force was still respectable, but the camp had been administratively counting ghosts, cripples and people who had left days ago.

Shen Lian reported on defenses, patrol routes and several weak points around the perimeter.

Damian listened while occasionally asking questions.

Across the table, Mu Qingyao’s expression gradually changed.

Shen Xueyi’s did not change much externally, but her attention sharpened.

They had both arrived expecting this encampment to remain the doomed garbage heap everyone knew it to be.

Instead, Damian had taken command for less than a day and transformed the atmosphere completely.

Then Bo Wen mentioned what Damian had used to treat the wounded.

Hundreds of doses of Basic Holy Water, healing potions, restoration supplies, and additional emergency goods!

Mu Qingyao’s lips parted.

Even Shen Xueyi visibly reacted.

”You used that quantity here?” Mu Qingyao asked incredulously.

Damian nodded casually. ”The injured needed it.”

Mu Qingyao’s lips moved as though another lecture desperately wanted to escape.

Then, she stopped herself.

For all the affection developing between them, she was not Damian’s wife yet.

His wealth was his, and his resources were also his.

She could advise him, worry about him and even scold him when he did something dangerous enough to make her heart jump into her throat.

Managing his household expenditures?

That boundary had not been crossed.

Mu Qingyao eventually swallowed the words.

Shen Xueyi possessed no such concerns.

”That was foolish,” she stated coldly.

The tent immediately became tense.

”You expended strategic medicines worth an extraordinary amount upon the weakest battlefield in the sector. Those resources would have produced far greater military value if allocated to the Three Rivers Line or another major front.”

Bo Wen’s cheek twitched, Lin Meiyu lowered her head, and Mu Qingyao glanced sideways at Shen Xueyi.

Damian, however, merely considered her words.

Once upon a time, he might have found that tone offensive.

Now?

He understood the problem.

There was no malice.

Shen Xueyi’s emotional quotient was simply somewhere below sea level, and tact had apparently been classified as an optional cultivation technique she never bothered learning.

Her actual argument was not even wrong.

Which naturally meant Damian had to mess with her.

He leaned back.

”And what right do you have to question how I use my own things?”

Shen Xueyi paused.

For perhaps the first time since entering, genuine uncertainty appeared in her posture.

She considered the question carefully, then bowed her head.

”None. I overstepped. I apologize.”

A second passed before she added in an almost defiant tone.

”But I still believe my assessment was correct.”

Damian chuckled. ”You’re indeed not wrong logically. However, if you want the same capacity Qingyao has to criticize me whenever I do something she dislikes, you can always become my wife.”

The atmosphere became strange at that.

Mu Qingyao rolled her eyes while Jian Rui looked downward, Bo Wen looked upward, Lin Meiyu suddenly became fascinated by her sleeve, and Shen Lian’s lips twitched.

Lord Damian was truly greedy!

He actually wanted to swallow two of the greatest beauties of the entire Azure Water Sector on his own!

Everyone could tell it was a joke, though.

Surely Shen Xueyi could also—

”Yes. I agree to the marriage proposal.” She answered succinctly, with arms placed before her abdomen.

The command tent became deathly quiet.

Damian, the four youngsters, and Mu Qingyao, who finally stopped rolling her eyes, all looked at Shen Xueyi.

Meanwhile, Shen Xueyi stood calmly beneath everyone’s attention.

There was no smile hidden beneath her veil, no teasing tone, and no indication whatsoever that she was joking.

Damian slowly turned toward Mu Qingyao.

Uhhh... a little help here?

Mu Qingyao met his gaze with elegant composure.

Her eyes practically said, ’You dug this grave yourself’.

Hey!

Your man was about to be divided into portions here!

Were you not concerned?!

...apparently not.

And surprisingly, it had little to do with some tragic acceptance that Damian was too exceptional for one woman and she therefore had no choice but to endure countless rivals.

That was nonsense.

Mu Qingyao’s thinking simply came from a different culture.

Cultivation had dramatically reduced the raw power imbalance between men and women. A sufficiently powerful female cultivator could flatten mountains and murder armies just as efficiently as a man.

However, it had not rewritten sexual instincts.

Women still admired powerful, capable men.

Men still desired beautiful, supportive women.

That remained true whether someone was a mortal farmer or the Super God Celestial Emperor of the Nine Thousand Worlds.

For Mu Qingyao, sharing was less about helpless tolerance and more about qualification.

Damian currently surpassed her in status, power and especially future potential.

If he had merely been her equal?

Heh.

He could try bringing another woman home and discover how resistant his skull was to a Spirit Sword.

But if other wives entered the household of a man standing above her, then their quality reflected upon the first wife as much as the husband.

And Shen Xueyi?

She was the Azure Water Sect’s number one beauty, the daughter of Elder Lan Ruyue, one of their strongest Foundation Establishment prospects, and a woman whose raw facial beauty even surpassed Mu Qingyao’s.

As a prospective first wife, accepting a woman of such quality beneath the same household was hardly humiliation.

It increased her face!

If the proposed woman had been Lan Ruyue, Mu Qingyao would reject it because she simply did not consider her good enough for that position.

Shen Lian or Lin Meiyu?

Also no.

They were lovely girls, but in Mu Qingyao’s eyes they were not qualified.

Shen Xueyi, however, was.

So Mu Qingyao had no intention of rescuing Damian.

In fact, she was rather interested in seeing what he would do.

Damian sighed.

He looked Shen Xueyi up and down once.

”You understand I wasn’t serious, right? That was banter.” Damian stated bluntly, deciding to handle things directly.

”Oh.” Shen Xueyi muttered with a simple nod, then remained exactly where she was.

Damian’s lips twitched.

Oh boy, he sure fucked up this time.

From the moment Lan Ruyue brought this beauty along, Azure Water Sect had probably been hoping Shen Xueyi could find some road into Damian’s heart.

Step one? Show him her face.

Surely a young man would fold before the number one beauty of Azure Water Sect!

Unfortunately, that had not worked.

So step two became proximity.

Why else was Shen Xueyi still here instead of returning home?

This cold-faced beauty had probably been wracking her brains trying to discover some natural opportunity to move the matter forward.

Then Damian Baines, genius extraordinaire, had personally opened the door and shouted, ’Marriage proposals available here!’

And he expected her to politely surrender the opportunity?

What a joke!

Damian rubbed his brow.

”You four, leave. Continue with the camp.” Damian instructed the four youngsters.

Jian Rui hesitated and the other three hesitated, wanting to see how the drama would end, but one cold look from Damian sent them scrambling.

The four youngsters disappeared from the tent with suspicious speed.

Mu Qingyao rose as well with an amused smile.

”You stay.” Damian pointed at her, then at a nearby seat.

She paused, then obediently returned to her seat beside the table, smoothing her robes with a small smile.

Tsk, traitor!

Damian turned toward Shen Xueyi with a severe expression.

Alright, then no more jokes.

”Do you understand what marrying me actually means?” He asked coldly.

”Yes.” Shen Xueyi answered curtly.

”Explain.” Damian demanded with a frown.

Shen Xueyi answered without embarrassment. ”I would become responsible for your needs as my husband, including physical and sexual needs where appropriate. I would support your household, share in its interests and responsibilities, and may bear your children.”

Damian nodded. ”Good. Qingyao, do you understand that you will also do the same?”

Mu Qingyao smiled charmingly. ”I have understood that for quite some time.”

Damian looked between them, not sure what to think.

What was this bullshit?

Why were they more prepared for his hypothetical marriage than he was?

He tapped one finger against the table before focusing upon Shen Xueyi again.

”Then what do you want?” He asked seriously.

For once, she looked confused.

Damian elaborated. ”Qingyao and I have affection and attraction between us. That is supplemented by my talent, what I can offer Evergreen, and the fact that I can save her father from dying. You and I barely know each other. I doubt you’ve suddenly fallen madly in love with me after one afternoon, so what are you expecting to gain? Benefits for Azure Water Sect?”

Mu Qingyao gave him a strange look.

What kind of man discussed romance like a business merger?

Unfortunately...

She could not call him wrong.

Affection alone would not have been enough for Mu Qingyao to surrender herself to Damian so easily and quickly.

His ability to save Mu Jianhong mattered, his support for Evergreen mattered, and his talent, wealth, strange powers and future potential mattered.

Reality was reality.

They were all adults here.

Hell, both women were probably older than Damian!

Damian, for one, had no interest in that strange Earth habit where everybody knew what they wanted but refused to say it, resulting in five-year situationships, one-sided love, mixed signals and heartbreak because apparently clear communication was an extinct Martial Art.

Shen Xueyi did not appear offended. ”That is part of it. Azure Water Sect wishes to form a closer relationship with you, and my mother hopes I can become the connection that binds you more firmly to us.”

Damian watched her for a long moment, then his expression cooled.

”You’re lying.”

Shen Xueyi stiffened and Mu Qingyao turned toward her with interest.

Damian continued flatly. ”Tell me the actual truth. If you lie to me again, you will never come near me afterward, much less gain whatever you’re hoping to gain.”

For the first time, Shen Xueyi hesitated badly.

She clearly did not understand how Damian had noticed, but the threat worked.

Eventually, her shoulders lowered.

”The sect indeed matters to me.” She started.

”But not fully. How much actually?” Damian inquired further.

”...Perhaps ten percent.” Shen Xueyi admitted truthfully.

Mu Qingyao’s eyebrows rose.

”And the other ninety?” Damian pressed relentlessly.

Shen Xueyi’s hands slowly tightened beneath her sleeves. ”It’s my mother.”

Mu Qingyao frowned. ”What’s wrong with Elder Lan?”

Shen Xueyi pursed her lips.

Damian gestured lightly. ”Speak freely. If this conversation goes well, apparently we’re prospective family.”

That finally loosened something inside her.

”My mother once attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment without a Foundation Establishment Pill. She failed, and the backlash severely damaged her foundation.”

Mu Qingyao’s composure broke. ”What?! Why would Elder Lan attempt something so reckless?”

Shen Xueyi shook her head, not wanting to explain.

Instead, those pale eyes moved directly toward Damian.

”Can you save my mother?”

The coldness was gone.

For the first time since Damian met her, Shen Xueyi looked exactly like what she actually was beneath the beauty, cultivation and suffocating composure.

A daughter worried about her mother.

Hope and anxiety mixed openly across the portion of her face Damian could see and that he wasn’t supposed to see.

Heh.

So she really could feel emotions, huh?

Damian considered the problem.

”Probably.” He responded, but his tone was full of surety rather than uncertainty.

Shen Xueyi’s breathing changed.

Damian turned toward Mu Qingyao.

”And with what I have now, completely saving your father should also be possible.”

Mu Qingyao’s body stiffened.

Both women were about to speak, but Damian raised one hand.

”But there’s one condition.” Damian added.

Their attention locked onto him.

Damian’s expression was calm, even a bit cold.

”After I cure them, neither of you needs to marry me.” He stated simply.

The warmth disappeared from the tent, leaving a chilling cold in its place.

Damian looked first at Shen Xueyi, then at Mu Qingyao.

”You can both go your separate ways afterward.”