Following his father's murder, Wu Ling's mother returned to the life of a courtesan, disguising her young son as a girl to take refuge in the Bamboo Silk House, a women's only sect dedicated to the arts. Now, as his powers awaken, he'll find himself torn between protecting his family and the goals of powerful cultivators who see him as a means to an end. "Wu Ling, I've accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf," the bewitching Hall Master of the Bamboo Silk House declared. "When you enter the Inner Sect, you'll enter under the name 'Hua Qianhu', fiancee of a young lord of the Liang family." "Hall Master, that's impossible!" Wu Ling protested. "Even if you ignore my relationship with Meifeng, I might have dressed well enough to hide as a mortal woman but I could never..." "So you truly didn't realize what you were doing," the Hall Master said, a dark smile on her lips. "Little Ling, you're a natural-born Shapeshifter. I'll teach you what you need to know," she said, her features shifting until she looked like a mirror image of the stunned Wu Ling. "As long as you follow my arrangements and learn my techniques, it isn't impossible for you to reunite with Meifeng..." "But you should consider Young Lord Liang carefully," the Hall Master added. "His affection for you is genuine. Perhaps, one day, you'll even feel the same for him..."
Returning to his seat with the help of his father, Fang Lin managed to maintain his dignified appearance as the main course was served at last with people on both sides of the hall talking about the display of power they had just witnessed.
"Brother Wu," Su Xiang asked between nibbling on succulent pieces of dry fried chicken. "Do you think Yue could resist Young Lord Zhang's powerful strikes?"
"I think she'd manage the first three for sure," Wu Ling said with some humility. "That last strike reminded me a bit of the power that Fenglun put into his staff strikes when you fought him on the mountain. Yue might be able to resist it but she might be injured in the process." Truthfully, Wu Ling felt it was unlikely that Yue would be injured in a clash with the young Brawler, but he didn't want to draw the ire of the young lord if their conversation happened to be overheard.