Lily's gaze was fixed on Damien as disbelief was written all over her face.
She said with a blinking expression, "How...how can this be possible?"
Lily felt as if her knowledge of cultivation was completely overturned by what she just saw. Even a genius would take a few weeks to breakthrough a single level if their cultivation was at the Nascent Ethereal Realm.
But Damien merely took a few minutes to breakthrough directly from the First Level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm to the Peak or Tenth Level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm.
"Same as how you found it hard to believe that my ethereal core points got fixed. The way I cultivate is different from others. So you might find it surprising." Damien said as he chuckled.
She thought that all the surprising things that she learned about Damien had to do with his secrets. So she didn't ask anymore.
"But still, you are only at the Tenth Level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm. Why don't you let me—"
"Oh?" Damien interrupted and continued in a confident tone, "Why don't you throw a punch at me using your full cultivation?"
Lily was confounded hearing that Damien wanted her to throw a punch at him, "Of course not! I am still a whole realm above you. I will never do anything to hurt you, even if you are the one that's asking me." She said assertively.
Damien chuckled seeing how serious she was, "Hey...I am not joking. I can really take your punch. Why don't you lower your ethereal strength to my level and slowly increase the strength after each punch?" He said as he held out his palm towards her motioning her to punch his palm.
Lily squinted her eyes, and after a brief hesitation, she adjusted her ethereal strength to the Ninth Level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm and punched his palm.
Damien easily caught her fist and didn't even move back.
"Come on, are you really underestimating me?" Damien said as he feigned his tone to sound as if his feelings got hurt.
"No, of course not. I just want to make sure myself and you told me I can increase my strength by a notch each time, hmph." Lily said with a pout seeing how Damien was trying to play mind games with her.
"Well, then why don't you increase your strength, princess?" Damien asked with a smirk.
At the same time, a change took place in Damien's ethereal core,
"Undying Wrath!"
Lily noticed some change in Damien's ethereal aura but still sensed that he was at the tenth level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm, so she didn't think much about it.
Because Damien was not actively circulating his ethereal energy, his ethereal aura didn't have much chaotic change.
Lily punched again as her fist carried the ethereal strength of the tenth level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm.
But Damien again caught her fist without any difficulty as if it was child's play. Her eyes showed a slight surprise as Damien's palm didn't even shake. It was as if her fist was caught by a palm made out of iron.
She reluctantly increased her ethereal strength up to the first level of the Spirit Ethereal Realm and punched his palm.
Her eyes widened as she was met with the same result!
"How is this possible??" She asked with her eyebrows raised.
"Ha...this is nothing, why don't you use your true strength and then you will understand hehe…"
Lily's expression became determined as she wanted to find out if what Damien said was really true.
She gave punches after punches as she increased her ethereal strength by a level each time. But her eyes widened more and more when the result was the same again and again till her mind could not process what was happening.
'Final punch...hope I am not imagining things.' Lily gave her final punch carrying the full strength of her ethereal cultivation at the ninth level of the Spirit Ethereal Realm.
*plonk*
A dull sound of her fist striking his palm sounded and Damien didn't even move back an inch!
His palm simply shook a bit as it absorbed the impact behind Lily's fist.
Lily's brows raised as she felt the whole thing unbelievable and shocking. Her mind was sent reeling unable to comprehend how someone a whole realm lower than her was able to stop her punch as if it was nothing.
"See...your man is way stronger than you...do you feel more at ease now?" He asked with a smug smile.
Lily was speechless and blushed when Damien called himself her man.
Her mind couldn't simply understand what was happening. Unless Damien was faking his cultivation, there was no way he could take one of her punches. But it didn't seem like he was faking it nor he had any reason to do so.
Another fact that surprised her the most was his cultivation even before he broke through. Just weeks ago, he was a helpless cripple whom she rescued and even took care of. But now it seemed as if he got stronger than her!
Even a genius who is at the first level of the Initial Ethereal Realm would take around two to three years to breakthrough to the first level of the Nascent Ethereal Realm.
"Damien...tell me this is not all a dream…" Lily hugged Damien as she got emotional thinking that the person she cared about did not need her protection anymore.
Damien patted her back and lifted her chin as he said gently, "Even I feel this is all a dream. That someone like you developed feelings for someone like me... even though I am not the same Damien you met during your childhood. I am not as kind as the Damien you knew then...tell me...which Damien do you like more?"
Damien had been anxious about whether Lily would prefer his past version or his current one.
Lily softly smiled as she showed him a classic looking bracelet on her wrist with a stone that had different colors on each side, "This bracelet was my mother's which she gave to me when I was little. She wanted to teach me that people have two sides. A good side, a bad side. A past, a future...And that we must embrace both in someone we love. So, no matter how much you have changed or how much you will change in the future, my feelings for you would never change." Lily said in a loving tone.
Damien felt warm hearing her words and was glad that an angel like her fell in love with him.
She continued, "Besides, I think I already had a crush on you when you were a kid. But I fell in love with you after meeting you again. Especially when you took that oath, I think...I already fell for you at that point." Her tone became shy towards the end.
Damien was surprised hearing that Lily's childhood crush was him.
He softly chuckled, "I think you might have been my crush as well. I might have been too dense to notice it."
Damien remembered his past life when he was too dense to notice the feelings of certain people who were close to him.
Lily giggled hearing his words and said, "That's true, you seemed too dense and innocent at that time. It's normal though since you were just a kid."
Damien softly chuckled. He then looked at the night sky and sighed as he said, "I will then leave and come back safely, okay?"
Lily bit her lip and still felt a bit uneasy even though Damien was stronger than her.
Damien saw her anxious expression and pulled her close and kissed her.
"Mmmh…"
They kissed for a few seconds when Damien finally let go of her soft lips. He whispered in her ears, "You are my woman now and I wouldn't let anyone marry you, let alone touch you. If anyone dares to, I would make them regret their lowly existence. So don't worry about any silly tournament or anything. Everything is going to be fine."
His tone was filled with fervor making Lily realize that Damien was very possessive. But inwardly she felt gratified and happy, that he cares so much about her.
Damien slowly stepped back while looking at her. He smiled at her and quickly turned around, disappearing into the night.
Lily looked at his disappearing silhouette and clutched her chest, praying that everything goes well. She was not sure what the future holds for them, but one thing she was sure of was that her heart would forever and always belong to him.
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