Yan Luoluo genuinely had no intention of causing any major trouble at the Immortal Sect Grand Tournament.
As a cannon fodder character in the original novel, surviving until the grand finale was already a blessing from the Heavenly Dao; to keep courting death now would simply be asking to be killed.
Although she had Ye Wuchen as her backer—the absolute pinnacle of the cultivation world—who could predict if the plot would suddenly go haywire and make her Master fall under the spell of Chu Qingyao's "destined Dao companion aura" just like in the original text?
After all, in the original story, that was precisely why Ye Wuchen became so hopelessly devoted to Chu Qingyao!
At this thought, Yan Luoluo shivered all over.
"No way! I absolutely cannot let Master fall into her trap!"
She certainly didn't want an extra vicious master's wife constantly eyeing her spiritual roots!
Thus, Yan Luoluo decided to go find Ye Wuchen and "sound him out."
Barely halfway there, Yan Luoluo bumped into Liu Ziqiang.
Under the moonlight, the young man was dressed in white, his posture as upright as a pine. His brows and eyes still carried the gentle warmth of years past, with just a bit more composure than in his youth.
"So late, and you're still not resting, Brother Ziqiang~" Yan Luoluo greeted him with a smile.
Hearing this familiar form of address, Liu Ziqiang's heart trembled slightly, and a ripple actually formed across his otherwise steadfast ruthless Dao heart.
"Not yet. The others are all hanging out and getting to know each other. Why aren't you over there with them?" he asked softly, his gaze involuntarily falling upon her face.
Yan Luoluo waved her hand and said half-jokingly, "I'm not going to join the fun. With my trash spiritual roots, am I supposed to go over there just to be laughed at? I have no intention of torturing myself!"
Liu Ziqiang frowned slightly. "Spiritual roots are only one part of a person. What matters most is the person themselves, isn't that right?"
As he spoke, his gaze was intense, as if he were trying to convey a deeper meaning through his words.
Sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere, Yan Luoluo quickly changed the subject. "Right, Brother Ziqiang, why did you suddenly decide to cultivate immortality? Did your family agree?"
Liu Ziqiang withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly. "There's no particular reason. It's just that one night I suddenly felt like taking up cultivation might be a pretty good choice, so I just went for it."
He paused for a moment, then added, "My parents agreed! Since they went and had another pair of fraternal twin younger siblings, it was totally fine for me to leave. They must be about ten years old by now!"
Yan Luoluo's eyes widened: "⊙▽⊙!"
The two of them stood there in the moonlight, chatting idly about this and that in a relaxed and natural atmosphere.
At least, that was how Yan Luoluo felt.
Not far away, Ye Wuchen stood under the shadows of the trees, watching the scene expressionlessly.
In his eyes:
- The distance between Yan Luoluo and Liu Ziqiang = 0.01 centimeters (actual: one meter).
- Yan Luoluo's smile toward Liu Ziqiang = brimming with deep affection (actual: polite and formal).
- Liu Ziqiang's gaze at Yan Luoluo = harboring illicit intentions (actual: restrained and forbearing).
"Didn't we agree it was just a joke?" Ye Wuchen's gaze was dark and heavy. "Why are they still chatting so intimately?"
"They're already standing shoulder to shoulder on this meeting, does that mean they'll be together by the next one?!"
(Actual: The two of them were standing rigidly straight, not even their sleeves touching.)
Ye Wuchen's fingertips twitched slightly, and a wisp of Spiritual Power silently wrapped around the tip of Yan Luoluo's hair, as if silently declaring ownership.
(The Heavenly Dao crunching melon seeds in the clouds: "Tsk tsk, my son-in-law's jealousy is even worse than mine back in the day!")
After parting ways with Liu Ziqiang, Yan Luoluo finally found Ye Wuchen.
"Master!" she trotted over, her eyes sparkling. "I have a question I want to ask you!"
Ye Wuchen lowered his gaze to look at her, his tone flat. "Speak."
Yan Luoluo leaned in closer, lowering her voice. "Master, what do you think of... Chu Qingyao?"
Ye Wuchen: "......?"
He didn't react for a moment, frowning slightly. "Who?"
Yan Luoluo blinked. "You know, the junior sister who's the top disciple of Lingtian Sect, the really pretty one!"
Ye Wuchen recalled for a moment, expressionless. "Don't remember."
Yan Luoluo: "......"
(Didn't you fall in love with her at first sight in the original book?! How come you don't even remember the person now?!)
Unwilling to give up, she probed further, "Then... what kind of female cultivators does Master like?"
Ye Wuchen's gaze shifted slightly as he suddenly reached out, pinched her chin, and leaned in close.
"What, are you trying to play matchmaker for your Master?"
Yan Luoluo instantly froze, her heart hammering like a drum.
Oh no, she probed too much!
Ye Wuchen's fingers were still pinching her chin, close enough that they could feel each other's breath. Yan Luoluo's brain instantly went into overdrive mode, her CPU practically burning out—
Option A: Admit she wanted to play matchmaker for Master
→ Risk: What if Master actually gets interested in Chu Qingyao?!
→ Consequence: Warning of having her spiritual roots dug out!!!
Option B: Deny any matchmaker intentions
→ Risk: How to explain why she suddenly cares about Master's preferences?
→ Consequence: Does she have to say, "Master, I don't want to be your disciple anymore, I want to be your wife"?!
Option C: Play dumb
→ Risk: Given Ye Wuchen's cultivation, playing dumb is equivalent to self-destruction
→ Consequence: Being dragged off to copy the *Heart-Cleansing Mantra* a hundred times
Yan Luoluo's eyelashes fluttered frantically, her gaze darting about, and the tips of her ears turned as red as blood.
Ye Wuchen narrowed his eyes. "Hmm?"
Danger!
In a flash of insight, Yan Luoluo suddenly thought of a fatal problem:
The age gap!
Ye Wuchen had lived for at least a thousand years, while she was only twenty-three...
Would this count as an intergenerational romance?!
Would worldly views perceive her coveting her Master as unfilial and rebellious?
But then she reconsidered—
In the cultivation world, the strong are respected; a gap of several hundred years between Dao companions was no big deal at all!
(Next door in the Hehuan Sect, there was even a precedent of an eight-hundred-year-old ancestor marrying an eighteen-year-old disciple!)
What made her feel even more guilty was—
She really *did* crave Ye Wuchen's body!!!
Every time her Master practiced the sword, those six-pack abs were faintly visible beneath his white robes; the image of water droplets sliding down his mermaid line after bathing when his damp hair was loose; plus that perfect ratio of broad shoulders and a narrow waist...
Anyone would be panting and drooling over that, right?!
(Jingzhe: "Chirp?" ── The pure little creature didn't understand any of this.)
Thoughts were just thoughts, though; actually putting them into action...
Yan Luoluo lost her nerve.
What if she got rejected? Wouldn't she make a complete fool of herself?
Yet when she raised her eyes to meet Ye Wuchen's deep gaze, her heart suddenly skipped a beat—
Some nameless, indescribable emotion sprouted and grew wildly like a tender shoot breaking through the soil.
Turns out, unawares and long before she knew it...
She had already fallen for the man who raised her.
Not worship for the strong, not reliance on a Master, but—
A heartbeat as if guided by destiny.
"M-Master..." she stammered, "I-I-I was just asking casually!"
She abruptly took two steps back, only to trip over her own hem and almost fall.
Ye Wuchen extended a long arm and hauled her back, a half-smile playing on his lips. "What are you panicking about?"
"N-N-No panic!" Yan Luoluo pushed him away flusteredly. "I suddenly remembered I haven't fed Jingzhe yet! Farewell!"
With that, she turned into a streak of light and bolted away, not even realizing she had dropped the ring she had refined.
Ye Wuchen watched her stumbling, fleeing figure, lightly touching the fingertips that had just brushed against her, his gaze growing deeper.
(The Heavenly Dao stomped its feet in anxiety: "Girl! He clearly likes you too! Why are you running away?!")
Inside the room
Yan Luoluo: (rolling around wrapped in a blanket) "Ahhh, I'm so mortified!"
Jingzhe: (imitating her rolling) "Chirp chirp chirp!"
Ye Wuchen: (standing outside the door, chuckling softly) "Can you run away?"
"Luoluo, open the door. I have something to tell you."
His low voice drifted through the door panel, carrying Ye Wuchen's usual chill, yet vaguely revealing a trace of hard-to-detect gentleness. Yan Luoluo's fingertips paused slightly, her heartbeat speeding up uncontrollably. She took a deep breath, suppressing all those improper palpitations before she finally reached out and pulled the door open.
A gentle night breeze blew; Ye Wuchen stood tall and upright, the moonlight casting a silver sheen over his dark robes, making his features as exquisite as a painting, yet detached and aloof. His expression was normal, as if the ambiguity from just a moment ago had never happened.
Yan Luoluo bit her lower lip, an inexplicable trace of disappointment welling up in her heart. She had originally thought... she was the only one whose heart was in turmoil, unaware that her Master had already quietly fallen under her spell day after day of her teasing.
"Luoluo, what events are you participating in?" Ye Wuchen asked, his voice low.
"Combat techniques and talisman-making." She raised her eyes to look at him, her gaze hiding a stubborn defiance.
Ye Wuchen raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes. "Not bad, that way you won't be exposed. We all know your combat techniques—top-notch. But as for talisman-making—" He paused, a teasing tone in his voice, "Can you manage?"
Yan Luoluo instantly bristled. "Master, who are you looking down on!"
Ye Wuchen let out a low chuckle, raising a hand to ruffle the top of her head. His palm was warm, and his gesture was absurdly gentle. His gaze deepened slightly, his voice carrying a trace of indulgence. "Having confidence is great. Win or lose a ranking, you will always be our sect's little pride."
Yan Luoluo blinked, then suddenly smiled mischievously. "And the mascot!"
The smile in Ye Wuchen's eyes deepened further as his fingertip gently tapped her forehead, his tone helpless yet indulgent. "Yes, the little mascot."
── The night breeze was slightly cool, yet it could not dispel the silently surging undercurrents between the two of them.
Tonight, someone was destined to toss and turn, unable to sleep.
atop the Sword Peak, the cold moon was like frost, reflecting in Gu Qinghan's deeply shadowed eyes. His knuckles curled slightly as he slowly rubbed the trace of the so-called "severed love thread" lingering on his palm—though that was merely an illusion casually conjured by Chu Qingli that had fooled everyone else, yet could not fool him.
Outwardly, she claimed to cultivate the ruthless Dao, but deep down, her bones were entirely steeped in the carefree Dao. Yet now, this girl was acting the opposite: cultivating the carefree Dao, but practicing "absurdity"—kissing and running away without even leaving an explanation, acting entirely like a fickle and heartless scoundrel!
Gu Qinghan closed his eyes, a vein throbbing faintly at his temple.
A month ago, on the night of his birthday.
Chu Qingli had come looking for him carrying a jar of wine, under the fine-sounding pretext of "celebrating Master's birthday," though her eyes actually concealed craftiness, like a fox plotting something mischievous. Gu Qinghan saw right through it, but remained unfazed, letting her urge him to drink cup after cup.
── His alcohol tolerance had always been exceptionally high, but that night he had "gotten drunk" at just the right moment.
Sure enough, seeing him slumped over the desk, "drunk" and unconscious, Chu Qingli's boldness grew. Holding her breath, she gently brushed aside his dangling hair with her fingertips and leaned down to plant a feather-light kiss on his cheek.
Yet just as she succeeded in stealing a kiss and wanted to sneak away, her wrist was suddenly seized in a firm grip!
Gu Qinghan opened his eyes, not a shred of drunkenness remaining in their depths. He pulled her back without a word and lowered his head to kiss her fiercely.
── That kiss turned day into night.
Chu Qingli struggled at first, but soon her waist went limp as she surrendered to his overwhelming advance. Their breaths intertwined, their passion unmistakable, yet neither of them was willing to pierce that paper-thin layer of window paper.
Yet the next morning, Chu Qingli did something that almost made Gu Qinghan crush the hilt of his sword—
She actually announced to the outside world that she had severed her love thread and cultivated the ruthless Dao!
Gu Qinghan sneered.
A fine "ruthless Dao."
She had clearly done this "severing love and cutting off passion" act specifically because she was afraid her vicious younger sister would target him. But did this silly girl not know? When had he, Gu Qinghan, ever feared such things?
The night wind swept across the Sword Peak, snapping their robes huntingly.
Gu Qinghan raised his gaze toward the direction of Chu Qingli's Cave Abode, dark undercurrents churning in his eyes.
── Since she dared to kiss and run, she shouldn't blame him... for personally going to demand an explanation.