The aftermath of their three-day, whirlwind passion left Bai Qian draped across the bed, limbs heavy, a delicious ache thrumming through her.

  Xiao Jin lay beside her, an infuriatingly relaxed smirk playing on his lips.

  She glared at him, a blush creeping up her neck.

  "You… you shameless fiend!" she hissed, her voice raspy.

  "Taking advantage of me like that!"

  He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest.

  "Taking advantage? My dear Bai Qian, if memory serves – and after that, I'm surprised mine still does – you were rather… enthusiastic. I believe the word 'ravishing' came to mind, several times, in several different languages."

  Bai Qian’s blush deepened, spreading like wildfire across her cheeks.

  The fragmented memories of her desperate pleas, her unrestrained passion, flooded back.

  She’d practically begged him, hadn’t she?

  Mortification warred with a lingering warmth that coiled low in her belly.

  "Well…" she stammered, "I… I was… under the influence!"

  "Of a potent aphrodisiac, yes," Xiao Jin agreed, tracing a lazy finger down her arm, sending shivers dancing across her skin.

  "But the desire, my dear, that was all you."

  She swatted his hand away, though the contact sent a jolt of electricity through her.

  "Regardless! What's your name, anyway?"

  He raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering in his eyes.

  "Why, Bai Qian, are you asking for my hand in marriage already? Ready to settle down with the man who stole your… well, everything?"

  Bai Qian scoffed.

  "In your dreams! I'm the most beautiful woman in the cultivation world! I don't just marry anyone."

  Xiao Jin let out a low whistle.

  "The most beautiful, you say? See, I've lived for ten thousand and let me tell you, I’ve seen a parade of 'most beautiful women' come and go. You’re… pleasant. Certainly not unforgettable."

  "ten thousand?" she snorted.

  "You’re boasting! No one lives that long! Thousands of years, sure, but ten thousand? Only immortals achieve that. And no one has ascended in ages."

  He looked at her, a strange glint in his eye.

  He leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear.

  "And what makes you so sure…" he whispered, his voice sending a ripple of goosebumps down her spine, "...that I haven't?"

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  "If you've truly ascended, what are you doing slumming it down here in the mortal realm? Shouldn't you be off sipping celestial tea with the Jade Emperor?"

  Xiao Jin leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear.

  "Let’s just say," he whispered, his voice laced with a hint of something dark and ancient, something that sent a shiver down her spine, "the view up there wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. No decent noodle shops. And the Jade Emperor? Total Karen."

  Bai Qian burst out laughing, a clear, melodic sound that echoed through the small dwelling.

  "Karen?" she gasped, wiping a tear from her eye.

  "You're incorrigible! You’re making it up!"

  "Am I?" Xiao Jin’s eyes, usually filled with amusement, darkened for a fraction of a second, a fleeting glimpse of something profound and unsettling.

  "What if I told you… there is no celestial realm?"

  Bai Qian threw her head back and laughed, a melodic sound that echoed through the secluded dwelling.

  "Oh, you’re incorrigible! First, you claim to have lived for millennia, and now you’re telling me there’s no such thing as the Immortal Realm? Really? What, did you fly up there and find it closed for renovations?"

  Xiao Jin watched her, a hint of genuine amusement playing in his eyes.

  He'd been expecting outrage, perhaps a touch of fear, but this… this playful disbelief was refreshing.

  "I assure you, my dear Bai Qian, I’m not spinning tales. I ascended. I saw what lies beyond. And let me tell you, it’s not exactly the celestial paradise depicted in those dusty scrolls you cultivators obsess over."

  "Then what is it?" Bai Qian challenged, her laughter fading as curiosity peeked through.

  "If not a realm of eternal bliss, what did you find at the end of the proverbial rainbow?"

  He paused, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his features.

  "Nothingness," he finally said, his voice quiet, the playful tone gone.

  "A vast, empty expanse. No pearly gates, no benevolent deities, no rivers of ambrosia. Just… nothing. It's like reaching the top of the highest mountain, expecting a breathtaking vista, and finding yourself staring into a fog-filled abyss."

  Bai Qian’s eyes widened.

  His sudden shift in tone, the strange vulnerability that crept into his voice, sent a shiver down her spine.

  This wasn't the arrogant, teasing man she'd spent the last three days with.

  This was someone… different.

  Someone who had seen something that had fundamentally changed him.

  "You're serious," she whispered, a tremor of unease in her voice.

  The idea of striving for immortality, only to be met with nothingness, was a chilling prospect.

  It undermined everything she, and every cultivator she knew, believed in.

  He met her gaze, his eyes dark and intense.

  "Dead serious. Which begs the question," he continued, a sly smirk returning to his lips, "what exactly are all you cultivators cultivating for?"

  Bai Qian crossed her arms, her brow furrowed in thought.

  "But… but the stories… the legends…" she stammered, her conviction wavering.

  "They all speak of the Immortal Realm. Of ascending to a higher plane of existence."

  He shrugged.

  "Legends. Fairytales whispered by those who haven't seen the truth. The carrot dangled before the donkey, if you will."

  "So, what? You just came back?" she asked, incredulous.

  "Just… popped back down to the mortal realm after peeking into the void?"

  "Pretty much," he said with a nonchalant shrug.

  "Found it a bit… underwhelming. Preferred the scenery down here. Besides," he added with a wink, "the food's better."

  Bai Qian stared at him, a mixture of disbelief and fascination swirling within her.

  "This is madness," she muttered, shaking her head.

  "Utter madness. I… I’ve been with a madman." She let out a shaky breath, then a giggle, then another, until laughter bubbled up from her chest, a release of the tension that had coiled tight within her.

  "I, Bai Qian, the most beautiful woman in the cultivation world, have been thoroughly deflowered by a lunatic who claims to have seen the end of all things and found it wanting! The irony is… almost delicious."

  Xiao Jin chuckled, the sound rich and warm.

  "Delicious indeed. Though I wouldn't say deflowered," he corrected, his eyes twinkling.

  "More like… re-potted. Given a new lease on life, so to speak."

  Bai Qian playfully swatted his arm.

  "Oh, you are impossible!" she exclaimed, but her laughter held no real heat.

  The absurdity of the situation, the sheer audacity of his claims, was beginning to chip away at her initial disbelief.

  Perhaps, she mused, there was a sliver of truth in his madness.

  Perhaps he had seen something beyond the veil, something that had shattered his illusions and left him with a cynical, yet strangely alluring, perspective on the world.