God Of Crafting

\'Could it be?\' I thought, trying to calmly analyze the new data. \'Could it really be the thing that\'s missing from the Qi in the modern world when compared to the Qi in the spiritual world?\'

I took in a deep breath, hoping to better fuel my brain by providing it with loads of fresh oxygen.

Yet, as opposed to infusing my brain with more spiritual energy, just taking a deeper breath didn\'t seem to do shit.

"Welp, I guess this one is too much to just figure out on my own," I admitted with a sigh before collapsing deeper into my seat and turning my head over to the window as if the changing sights outside could give me some inspiration.

"Don\'t let it get to you," Claire quickly urged only to slide a bit closer on the wide seating before resting her head down on my shoulder. "It was just me talking random stuff, so it\'s not like I have any reason to believe this guess of mine was correct. And even if it is..."

Claire shook her head, which I felt as her cheek brushed against my shoulder.

"Even if I\'m right, this isn\'t a topic either of us can figure out. Quite a few genius cultivators dedicated their entire lifetimes to studying this topic, only to produce no results. So," Claire reached out and closed her hands on my neck only to lean down over my chest and then look up, sneaking up a glance at my face as she smiled, "even if you...

No, even if we actually did the unthinkable, it\'s not like it\'s something we wanted to happen, right?"

With Claire putting her face in just the perfect position for me to look down and see, I simply couldn\'t bring myself to keep moping and looking out of the window.

Yet, the very moment I looked down and saw her encouraging smile... I couldn\'t feel down about what happened anymore either.

"Are you a witch or something?" I asked in a gentle voice as I brought my hand up to caress her cheek, only for my heart to further melt down when she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the caress with a small, perfectly satisfied smile emerging on her lips.

"What makes you think so?" Claire then asked, but not before I brought my hand to a stop, moving from caressing her cheek to just holding her face up in my hand.

"Because, with just one look, you\'ve managed to fully entrap me in those eyes of yours," I replied, only for my lips to then twist into an ugly grimace as I felt the cringiness of those words slap me back. "And as cringe as it might feel to say," I admitted only to then shake my head a little, "this is genuinely how I feel."

"You feel that I\'m a witch?" Claire opened her eyes and grinned, clearly aware that she was pretty much misinterpreting my words. And while her playful smile was one big fat proof of that...

Who was I to deny Claire this small, flirtatious game? Or rather, who would I be if I did so when the problem of our dual cultivation possibly tearing us apart continued to ring in the back of my head?

"More than a witch... Succubus maybe?" I tried to guess, more than happy to direct my thoughts at something other than the deep shit we were quite likely to be in at the moment.

"Oh? So now you are changing your testimony?" Claire grinned, only to then slide even closer on the seat only to then do the usual, and climb atop my lap before seating herself right down on my thighs while locking her hands behind my neck, fully enclosing me in her presence.

"But a succubus..." She pretended to think over something, only to then end up with an even wider grin than before. "Aren\'t those supposed to be sucking the life out of men?" she asked while turning strangely serious as she leaned her head over to the side in one hell of a cute gesture.

"Is this a threat, promise, or an invitation?" I replied, opting to boldly charge in whatever trap she was preparing for me.

"Which one would you like it to be?"

"That\'s a tough question..." I"\'ve played along only to then grin myself. "But you already promised me an intense session of live ASMR, so I think going with another promise would be boring. And that leaves us with a threat and an invitation.

But judging how we are about to get home..." I muttered as I looked outside, at the scenery that clearly indicated we were now on the last leg of our return home, "I guess all that\'s left is a threat?"

"How am I supposed to threaten you with the idea of sucking the life out of you?" Claire then asked, once again using her adorable weapon of choice of turning her head off to the side while giving me the helpless look of a maiden in distress.

A look that only served to stir my instincts to help and protect.

"Why are you asking me what\'s the best way to threaten me?" I asked, trying to use rationality to my own advantage here.

"Oh, it\'s not that I don\'t have ideas myself," Claire grinned, making me realize that in my bid to escape her entrapment, I waltzed right into the bait she prepared. "Which one to pick, though, that\'s the question," she muttered while stealing glances at my face. Her lips continued to tremble as she held back a grin.

"Wait, is this the moment when I should start getting legitimately worried?" I asked, this time taking on the act myself and putting on a scared mask on my face.

"I wouldn\'t necessarily say that you need to be worried..." Claire looked away, acting as if she already hatched the plan in that adorable head of hers and was now just trying to stall for time to wait for a better opportunity to put it into action. "More like... you need to stay on your toes, for you know not the day nor the hour when I will put that threat to use?"

For a moment, I just stared at Claire, all flabbergasted, not sure how I was supposed to respond to this "threat" of hers.

Yet, as Claire saw my expression, her face froze for a second... Only for her to then explode in laughter, giggling away as she tapped her hands on my chest and on my shoulders.

"What a pity you couldn\'t see your face right now!" she cried out through her tears of joy as she wiggled her ass atop my lap. Yet, right as I thought we were done with this test of social abilities that I clearly wasn\'t prepared for, Claire\'s face turned all serious again as her hands locked down on my shoulders, seemingly locking me in place.

"Then again, I really am going to suck the soul out of you at the least opportune time I will be able to find," she claimed only to then put a huge grin on her face as the reality slowly started to dawn upon me. "And until then, you will be unable to guess the time... or even place!"

Hearing this, my eyebrows went up.

"Okay, let\'s stop here for a moment," I suggested, turning actually serious for a moment. "I don\'t really mind you pranking me or embarrassing me for fun, but..."

I held the thought in my mind for a second, not sure if I should say what was on my mind.

Ultimately, however, this was the one aspect I just couldn\'t leave to chance.

"As I said, I don\'t mind you pranking me or getting intimate at the least opportune moment. But I won\'t be able to stomach you doing anything that would expose your beauty, even if it may mean only your engrossed face, to anyone else but me."

This was the topic I simply wasn\'t willing to give up on.

And so, to drive it home, I ignored how Claire held my shoulders in place and raised my own hands only to grab her head between my palms as I looked right down her eyes, all for the sake of making this point as clear as it was humanly possible.

"Whether it is your body, the wide range of your smiles, or the face you make as you get excited..." I took a deep breath before pulling Claire\'s head slightly up as if to make her listen.

"Those are for me and me alone to see, alright?"

For a moment, Claire turned silent.

Then, her face in my hand started to grow warmer... No, hotter, as her cheeks covered in blush and her eyes turned all watery.

\'Shit, I know this look,\' I thought, gulping my saliva down. \'And while there\'s no one else here to see it but me, we still have to go through the courtyard before we can hide in the private quarters!\' I thought...

Only for the third voice to fill the cabin right as the car came to a stop at the end of the driveway leading up to our estate.

"We\'ve arrived at the destination. I hope you\'ve enjoyed your ride!"