Chapter 18: Fairy Sister

Qi Refining Cultivators are already set apart from ordinary people and have become Immortals.

If one cultivates to the Foundation Establishment stage, they can be called an Immortal Lord, and at that time, they can also earn a title for themselves.

Should one reach the Golden Core stage, they become an Immortal Venerable. Most Immortal Venerable hide their real names and only leave behind their Dao Name.

Lian Yue, with her back facing Gu Ze, is just like Qingquan Immortal Venerable of Biluo Peak—she, too, is a Golden Core cultivator. However, her cultivation is slightly lower than Qingquan’s.

She has just reached the seventh level of the Golden Core stage, which counts as entering the late Golden Core phase.

Astonishing.

Even within the Golden Core realm, she is considered a powerful figure.

If he hadn’t read about it in the book, Gu Ze, relying only on the hearsay of this life, would certainly be very surprised by the Peak Master of Rouman Peak hiding in this black market—and might not even be able to see through her identity at all.

Only by having a bit of knowledge of the stories recorded in the book can one realize just how peculiar Lian Yue is.

Though she is the Peak Master of Rouman Peak, whose main cultivation is the Dual Cultivation Method, her body constitution is so special that she almost faints at the mere sight of a man, let alone making close contact with one.

When she first entered Yunhai Immortal Pavilion and heard that Rouman Peak only recruited female disciples, she thought she would never have to see a man again, so she joined without even bothering to understand the reason.

Afterward, Lian Yue regretted it deeply, but when she wanted to switch to another peak, she found that all the other peaks were dominated by male disciples.

Helpless, she could only cultivate a technique to absorb Etheric Qi to supplement her own high-level cultivation method, and never practiced the Dual Cultivation Method.

Fortunately, Etheric Qi could mimic all kinds of auras, allowing her to easily disguise herself as someone who had mastered the Dual Cultivation Method.

Being able to reach the seventh level of the Golden Core stage was purely due to Lian Yue’s exceptional talent.

But because she hailed from Rouman Peak, on the surface, she appeared to be cultivating the Dual Cultivation Method.

Other female cultivators all believed Lian Yue was especially good at pleasing her Dao companion, which was why she advanced so rapidly.

Moreover, she never talked about her Dao companion’s identity, so nobody knew just how many men she had conquered.

Female cultivators of Rouman Peak in the same realm all greatly admired and feared Lian Yue, wishing that one day they, too, could conquer men as effortlessly as she seemed to.

Being fawned upon by everyone, Lian Yue inexplicably became an elder, and in the end, was even directly promoted to Peak Master.

Then…she acquired an additional responsibility as Peak Master—to “give public lectures” to the disciples.

Just imagining giving public lectures on Rouman Peak’s Dual Cultivation Method was enough to make Lian Yue faint.

With no other choice, she handed all her powers over to the other elders of Rouman Peak, and kept only the empty title of Peak Master while hiding herself in the black market to avoid being found.

Countless cultivators wished to catch a glimpse of Rouman Peak’s Peak Master or came bearing treasures hoping to form a Dao partnership with her.

It wasn’t that Lian Yue disliked men; she, too, longed for a romantic encounter. But with her special constitution, she was truly powerless.

The place in Heiyun where the black market was located was itself a rare land of creation, able to block even Nascent Soul cultivators’ senses from the outside world.

Aside from a few of Lian Yue’s trusted confidantes, no one could find her.

But today, an acting Peak Master suddenly appeared before Lian Yue. There was no way she wouldn’t panic.

She didn’t even have the courage to look back at Gu Ze. Yet she still tried to maintain a strong front.

“So, you’re quite the unusual little guest…”

Hearing the slightly teasing tone, Gu Ze even started to doubt the accuracy of the book’s plot.

But he quickly realized that Lian Yue was surely putting on an act. Etheric Qi was inherently good at changing and disguising auras. What’s more, Lian Yue’s shoulders were faintly trembling.

Now that he knew her weakness, winning in this negotiation became much easier.

However, Gu Ze had no intention of pushing his luck, for fear of truly offending this Golden Core Peak Master.

Though Lian Yue’s constitution was problematic, her strength was not.

Not daring to look at men didn’t mean she couldn’t kill Gu Ze with her eyes closed.

No longer concealing his aura, Gu Ze removed the mask covering his face. Although Lian Yue still wouldn’t turn around to look at him.

“Pre…” He was about to call her “senior,” but since the other had already pointed out his acting Peak Master status, Gu Ze changed his address:

“Fairy Sister, since you already know who I am, you can probably guess why I’m here. I’d like to ask you for a small favor.”

Fairy Sister? Lian Yue’s body trembled slightly. This little fellow was really too bold—clearly just a disciple under Qingquan, and yet he dared to call her that! One might even think he was Qingquan’s old friend.

Was he trying to tease her? Lian Yue bit her lip lightly, but didn’t lose her temper.

The other party didn’t know her real identity; getting familiar by calling her Fairy Sister was understandable, so she let it go.

Lian Yue had heard a bit about the acting Peak Master of Biluo Peak. As for Gu Ze’s purpose in coming here today, she could more or less guess.

The “traitor” expelled from Biluo Peak had coincidentally joined Rouman Peak. Who knew if it was fate or just a cruel twist?

Lian Yue kept her tone steady and gently said, “You’re here for that female disciple who recently joined Rouman Peak, aren’t you?”

“But here, I do not deal in favors—only in business. As long as you can provide something satisfactory in return, I can give you all the information about her, and even let you monitor her every move in Biluo Peak.”

Not interested in personal feelings? That suited Gu Ze perfectly. What he feared most was Lian Yue insisting that Bai Yazhi, having joined Rouman Peak, was now her disciple or something similar.

Lian Yue’s lack of over-the-top kindness made it easier for Gu Ze to make things difficult for Bai Yazhi.

“I don’t just want information. I’d also like the cultivators of Rouman Peak to help suppress her—ideally, to the point where she can’t even gain a foothold there.”

Lian Yue hadn’t expected Gu Ze to be so decisive.

Matters like this were usually left entirely to the elders. She only knew that such a disciple had been taken in, but she didn’t know Bai Yazhi’s background, nor why Gu Ze had driven her out of Biluo Peak.

She decided she’d investigate later. If Bai Yazhi really had a bad character, she’d do Gu Ze a favor and drive her out, so as not to let a hastily accepted disciple ruin Rouman Peak’s reputation.

Lian Yue may not have lived up to all the duties of a Rouman Peak cultivator, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care about everything concerning Rouman Peak.

“Your request isn’t difficult, but helping an outsider suppress a disciple of my own peak would damage our unity.”

“True, you’re Qingquan’s chosen acting Peak Master, but I have no reason to harm Rouman Peak’s interests just for you.”

“Of course, if you can offer me a truly satisfactory price, I can help you in secret—just this once.”

She agreed. At least, in light of the acting Peak Master’s authority, she did not refuse.

Gu Ze knew that the first half of Lian Yue’s words were just for show, only to protect Rouman Peak’s image.

The second half was what mattered.

“I will not rest until one of us is dead. She stole my junior sister’s opportunity, ambushed and framed me, and nearly had me killed. If she is given a chance to come back, I won’t be able to find peace.”

Gu Ze’s expression was solemn, but then he smiled helplessly: “Senior Lian Yue, I’ve been pretending not to know your identity, yet you’re exposing yourself by speaking with such habitual authority as a Peak Master—isn’t this conversation a little too…obvious?”

Opening with “my Rouman Peak’s disciple” made it very hard not to guess her identity.

Lian Yue’s breathing halted for several seconds, and she almost wanted to slap herself. How could she let her identity slip?

No—! It wasn’t her who exposed it, but Gu Ze had already known from the start.

He had come prepared.

“You—already knew who I am?” A strange pressure spread out, instantly leaving Gu Ze unable to move, as if two mountains were pressing down on his shoulders.

“Fairy Sister, don’t get angry! Just because I know doesn’t mean I’ll spread it.” Gu Ze hurriedly explained, face full of sincerity.

Lian Yue was silent for a few seconds. Gu Ze felt the pressure on his shoulders lighten a bit.

“Speak honestly. What exactly do you know? Whether we continue this negotiation depends on how sincere you are.”

Gu Ze didn’t hide anything and revealed that he knew Lian Yue was the Peak Master of Rouman Peak, and also that she couldn’t look directly at men.

“Fairy Sister, the Biluo Peak Peak Master’s Token is on me. Before I entered, you already knew my identity. But if I hadn’t brought the token, you might have turned me away, so I never planned to hide who I was.”

“I just did a bit more research on you ahead of time, only so that our negotiation could proceed more smoothly.”

“All right. Since you know who I am, and still dare call me Fairy Sister, then I’ll accept it. So tell me, little brother, just what kind of offer have you prepared to win my favor?”

Gu Ze obviously understood her well, knew exactly where her taboos lay, and even took the initiative to promise he wouldn’t reveal her hiding place.

This business could be discussed. In fact, Lian Yue was beginning to grow curious about Gu Ze.

A youth who had suddenly risen to prominence on Biluo Peak. Though she’d heard her confidantes gathering information mention him before, Lian Yue hadn’t paid much attention.

The two of them were meant to be parallel lines, never intersecting in their lifetimes.

Yet today, Gu Ze suddenly appeared before her, and instead caught Lian Yue completely off guard.

His purpose was certainly not just to take revenge on Bai Yazhi! In Lian Yue’s mind, layers of calculation began, analyzing every word Gu Ze had spoken before.

Thinking back to how Gu Ze had called her Fairy Sister the moment he entered, Lian Yue wondered—could it be…his true target was actually her?!