With Sara's confirmation, it really was her own fault. Although Li Fusheng was not entirely sure why his usual silent chanting had slipped out loud, since Sara wanted to learn, there was no reason not to teach her.
However, to learn the Calm Heart Incantation, she first had to master the pronunciation of each individual character.
Spells differed significantly from ordinary spoken language, and when chanting them, one had to maintain a specific rhythm and cadence. Only by getting those right could the incantation take effect.
Without proper guidance, successfully teaching oneself would be no easy feat. Therefore, Li Fusheng was not worried that outsiders could pick it up simply by listening.
Of course, he couldn't be too absolute about it.
Li Fusheng vividly remembered the first stage of the Chunin exams in the original story, during the written test, where those fellows from the Sound Village managed to replicate the answers simply by listening to the sound of people writing characters.
Assuming the original work wasn't exaggerating, those guys who played with sound might actually learn it after listening just a few times.
Yet, if they didn't know what it was and merely mistook it for a folk song, who on earth would bother spending time and effort to learn it? Furthermore, there were no Sound Village shinobi present in Loulan.
Having never read the later plot, Li Fusheng had no idea that the Sound Village was an organization created by Orochimaru, who at this very moment was still busy playing around with Hashirama's cells in Konohagakure.
Upon hearing Li Fusheng say that learning this "folk song" required first mastering the characters and pronunciation, Sara felt not the slightest urge to resist.
Her original intention had simply been to find an excuse to spend time with Li Fusheng. If there was even more to learn, that just meant the time they spent together would be even longer. She was practically winning by a landslide—how could she possibly object?
The only one suffering was Saya, who had been left waiting foolishly in her room. She waited and waited, but there was no sign of anyone coming. In the end, she had no choice but to go and check for herself.
When Saya arrived at Li Fusheng's room, she gave Sara—who was in the middle of her studies—a fright. Only then did Sara recall that her mother had told her to fetch Li Fusheng.
As a result, she had completely forgotten all about it. Hanging her head in guilt, she only dared to steal a glance at her mother, terrified of being scolded.
Fortunately, with Li Fusheng present, even though Saya was internally chewing Sara out for being playful and unreliable, she wouldn't voice her complaints in front of him.
"Sara, you go outside for a moment. Fusheng and I have things to discuss," Saya said, seating herself unceremoniously on a stool.
Once Sara had dawdled out of the room, Saya looked at Li Fusheng appraisingly and began, "Fusheng, how do you find Loulan? Compared to your hometown?"
Li Fusheng was baffled by the question, but he simply repeated the answer he had given Sara earlier.
Hearing that his hometown's environment was no better than Loulan's—and that, by contrast, Loulan was far more peaceful during these times of war—Saya felt a wave of relief.
*If that's the case, he probably isn't all that eager to leave Loulan and return home.* Though Saya thought this to herself, she decided she had to ask directly just to be entirely safe.
Without beating around the bush, she asked straight out, "Have you ever thought about leaving Loulan to return to your hometown, Fusheng?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Li Fusheng replied, "Queen Saya, Fusheng has never given such a thing any thought."
Setting aside whether he could even return to his actual hometown, he certainly had no intention of going back to the fictional one he had made up.
Besides, the density of Spiritual Energy Recovery in this place made it a paradise that every cultivator dreamed of. How could he possibly leave so easily?
Unless he found a way back to his original world, and that world had undergone Spiritual Energy Recovery to a sufficient degree, returning would only hinder his cultivation.
In his original world, there was no one and nothing worth lingering for. His parents had passed away years ago after their car fell victim to a mountain landslide on their way to a metaphysics conference. As for his relationships with classmates, they were mediocre at best—certainly not enough to make him give up the chance of cultivation.
Hearing the answer she desired, Saya's smile grew even more radiant.
Just as Li Fusheng was wondering why Saya had asked such questions, she smoothly shifted the topic and asked, "Then what do you think of Sara, Fusheng?"
Though Li Fusheng usually immersed himself in the ocean of metaphysical culture, he was not a fool. Hearing Saya's words, a wave of astonishment washed over him: *Why does this sound suspiciously like a blind date being arranged?*
Instantly, his mind flashed back to his interactions with Sara over the past few days. She was a lively and adorable young girl. Moreover, perhaps because Sara made it much easier for him to absorb spiritual energy, his impression of her was exceptionally favorable.
Besides, in the presence of someone's parent, unless one's emotional intelligence was truly abysmal, nobody would speak ill of another person's child, would they?
"Sara? She's very energetic and very pretty."
It was a rather superficial answer. In the modern era, he'd be lucky not to get chewed out for it. But here in shinobi world Loulan, all Saya heard was that Li Fusheng was very satisfied with Sara—at least to the extent that he had no aversion to interacting with her.
For the women of the royal lineage, that was quite enough.
And so, she cut straight to the point: "I intend for you and Sara to get married. From now on, Loulan will be your home."
Hearing this, Li Fusheng leaped to his feet with a start.
He was genuinely startled. Sara was only a fifteen-year-old girl, after all—at the very least, any romantic involvement meant waiting three years before things could get serious.
Besides, counting from the day they met, they hadn't even known each other for a full month. Why were they already talking about marriage?
*What? This is the shinobi world, and kids mature early here? Well, no… even so, that won't do.*
He had only just begun his cultivation. Even if he truly wanted to find someone to marry, he ought to at least reach the Foundation Establishment stage first. Otherwise, exhausting his primordial essence too early would mean his future was capped right from the start.
As for Sara, Li Fusheng certainly didn't dislike her. Furthermore, as he had just said, Sara was very pretty. The crucial point was that she looked this good even without makeup.
Call him superficial if you like, but even the most deeply romantic souls begin with an initial attraction to beauty.
Yet, as the saying went, his cultivation was still insufficient and Sara was still too young; he simply couldn't accept this right now.
"Queen Saya, wouldn't this be a bit inappropriate? Sara is still young, and moreover..."
A vein throbbed on Saya's forehead as she retorted crossly, "I'm not saying you two have to get married right this instant. You can get engaged first, and hold the wedding after Sara comes of age."
"Oh, is that so? In that case, I have no problem with it," Li Fusheng said somewhat awkwardly. He figured that Sara still had three years until adulthood, by which time he ought to have advanced past the Foundation Establishment stage.
If he couldn't even reach Foundation Establishment in all that time, his life was probably a dead end anyway. Why bother cultivating at all? He might as well just go home and raise kids.
Outside the door, Sara had left the room, but she hadn't gone far. Curious about what the two of them were discussing, she had pressed her ear against the door to eavesdrop.
When she heard that Saya intended for her and Li Fusheng to get married, her face instantly turned beet red. Hearing Li Fusheng's compliments about her nearly made her faint from excitement.
However, the moment she heard Li Fusheng refuse, her complexion instantly drained of all color.
At fifteen years old and raised in the shinobi world, Sara was indeed quite precocious; long ago, she had fantasized about what her future husband might look like.
Upon meeting Li Fusheng, she discovered that he matched her fantasies completely—both handsome and gentle.
She simply hadn't expected that before she even had a chance to confess her feelings, her mother would have already chosen Li Fusheng for her.
Yet his rejection struck her restless heart like a sharp dagger.