[Congratulations, Host! Your capture value has increased by another 0.2! You have reached 1% progress, taking a giant leap forward in history, and thus unlocking the Newbie Welcome Package!]
The System's celebratory voice rang out.
Luoyun Huan finally remembered that she still had a Newbie Welcome Package waiting for her. Rubbing her hands together with excitement, she let out a pleased hum.
"What's in the package?"
Luoyun Huan still remembered that inexplicable feeling of a fluttering heart just moments before. But she hadn't bitten Eldest Senior Sister's finger on purpose, so surely the other woman would be magnanimous enough to let it go.
After all, Eldest Senior Sister was a very kind person, even if she practiced the Heartless Dao.
That was what real righteous sects were like, after all!
Members of the Demon Sect were arrogant and flashy, committing every evil deed from murder to arson. Reading novels was one thing, but running into them in real life meant you would only ever be saying, "Officer, the bad guy is right over there."
[The Newbie Welcome Package is randomized. You will only know what's inside once you open it.]
The System had no idea what it would contain either; that depended entirely on the Host's luck.
Luoyun Huan reached out her finger and unsealed the package once more. To her surprise, what appeared before her eyes was neither the Spirit Stones she had hoped for, nor the common heavenly treasures or miraculous elixirs of the Immortal Cultivation World.
Instead, it was a bottle of purple liquid emanating a dense mist.
Luoyun Huan clicked to claim it and checked the detailed description of the potion in her inventory.
[Tears of the Succubus: You can tell what it's used for just by the name. However, a reminder to all conquerors: use only one drop at a time. Do not overdo it, or your kidneys will be completely drained.]
Luoyun Huan: "..."
Her face flushed crimson. Drawing such an embarrassing item was practically useless anyway. After all, if she drugged someone right now, getting caught would mean being stabbed to death on the bed in a flash.
[Your luck is truly amazing, Host! This is a rare-grade prop that plays a huge role in advancing romantic feelings.]
The System's congratulatory voice sounded in her ear, leaving Luoyun Huan somewhat helpless.
"With just this tiny bit of favorability, I don't dare do anything. Holding hands probably requires at least ten points of favorability."
If she rashly went to hold Eldest Senior Sister's hand, even though the other woman wouldn't get angry, she would definitely grow distant. Luoyun Huan knew that just by thinking about it.
From Eldest Senior Sister's perspective, it would be: *I treat you as a junior sister, but you're trying to romance me.*
[That is true as well. Still, Host, I believe in you.]
The System was still full of hope for Luoyun Huan. Although she was a beginner, she had already managed to gain one point of favorability in just a few short days, which was already considered quite fast when dealing with someone practicing the Heartless Dao.
***
"Second Senior Brother, which girl did you make angry this master? If Master finds out about this, she will definitely use the disciplinary ruler to beat your backside!"
Lin Rouyun skipped lightly into Su Jue's courtyard, her bright yellow robes fluttering like a lively finch.
As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Su Jue. He was dressed in a deep blue robe adorned with gold ornaments, his face naturally bearing an expression of aloof detachment.
Yet his temperament lacked the unapproachable chill of Qin Yiqiu, especially given the single mole at the outer corner of his eye.
If a mole on a woman made her look like a seductive siren, then the mole on him added an indescribable handsomeness. In any case, as the grand male protagonist of a trashy web novel, his looks were definitely top-tier.
Su Jue was precisely the male protagonist of this book. Though he was the lead, he wore a metaphorical green hat on his head, completely lacking the dignity and face one would expect of a male protagonist.
If Luoyun Huan had seen the male protagonist, she undoubtedly would have mocked him in secret, but unfortunately, she wasn't here.
"Whose virtue have I compromised?"
Su Jue asked, his face full of bewilderment. He remembered the pretty young girl he had set his eyes on a few days ago—he hadn't even had the chance to make a move yet, so how did his junior sister find out?
"Eldest Senior Sister said so."
"She even asked me how to offer a proper apology. I thought to myself, why on earth do you still need Eldest Senior Sister to clean up your messes? Can you even call yourself a junior brother after acting like this!"
Lin Rouyun slapped Su Jue on the forehead. Qin Yiqiu had endless matters to busy herself with every single day, yet this fellow Su Jue was still creating extra work for Eldest Senior Sister. It was simply a heinous crime.
"Nonsense! I've been in seclusion these past few days. You must be trying to trick me."
Su Jue shook his head. Although he had indeed taken a fancy to an inner-sect female disciple—a charming and lovely girl—he hadn't even had time to flirt with her yet, and this huge basin of filthy water had just been dumped over his head.
"How is that nonsense? Don't you know Eldest Senior Sister's character? She would never wrong you. You must have done something shady and shameful!"
Lin Rouyun crossed her arms, looking utterly certain.
"Second Senior Brother, we are members of a righteous sect. You should know the consequences of doing such things. Even if you are the Master's disciple, you cannot act like this."
As Su Jue listened, he began to sense something amiss.
"Junior Sister, how come I remember that a while ago, when Eldest Senior Sister suffered a cultivation deviation, it was a woman who came to notify the Martial Uncle, and that person even carried a token from the Main Peak..."
Su Jue was the male protagonist after all, and his wits were still intact. He instantly figured out the crucial point behind it.
Qin Yiqiu was not someone who would hand out her token casually. Since she was willing to give the token away, and that person could immediately know when Eldest Senior Sister was injured during her cultivation...
That person must undoubtedly be extremely close to her.
After sharing his thoughts with his junior sister, Lin Rouyun wore a look of sheer disbelief.
"You mean... Senior Sister has developed romantic feelings for that woman?"
Lin Rouyun's small face turned pale.
"This will never do!"
"Eldest Senior Sister cultivates the Heartless Dao. If she develops romantic feelings, unless she stabs that woman to death with a single sword, all of Eldest Senior Sister's centuries of cultivation will vanish into thin air! She might even suffer a backlash from the Heartless Formula!"
The Master had previously made the two of them undergo a trial, and neither had been able to resist temptation—Su Jue could not resist the temptation of beauty, while Lin Rouyun could not endure loneliness.
Thus, neither of them was suited to practice the Heartless Formula. This meant that if something really happened to Eldest Senior Sister, the sect would likely face a crisis of having no successor.
"Do you really think Senior Sister is the kind of person who would help me handle my personal affairs?"
Su Jue couldn't help casting a glance at his foolish junior sister.
"She must have run into this kind of situation herself and didn't know how to solve it, which is why she came to ask you."
"Then what should we do now?"
Lin Rouyun had a somewhat spoiled temper, and her very first instinct was that she needed to get rid of that seductress.
Eldest Senior Sister was already grueling in her cultivation of the technique, sometimes spending years in meditation without making any progress in her cultivation level. If this woman were to so simply ruin her Dao Heart, that was something she simply could not accept.
"What else can we do? Naturally, we go and take a look."
Su Jue put his hands behind his back.
In his heart, a despicable thought also crept in: if Eldest Senior Sister failed in her cultivation of the Heartless Formula, the Master would most likely have him take it up instead.
If that happened, his emotional threads would be extracted, meaning he would never again be able to revel with a delicate and alluring woman like Cheng Tao. That was absolutely out of the question.
Therefore, eliminating this romantic entanglements for Eldest Senior Sister was the optimal solution for both himself and Eldest Senior Sister.
"If there really is something ambiguous between that person and Eldest Senior Sister, then we must eliminate her without a second thought. The Master certainly won't interfere with Senior Sister's Love Tribulation, as doing so would incur too much karma. But we can't—we must share her burdens."