Li Xunmiao woke up to find the sky collapsing.
How could Gu Ze break through in secret while she was sleeping?
No, this was really Lin Tianya’s fault! Why did he have to drop by with those pills when he was bored, making her and Gu Ze have even less time alone together?
The agreement was that Gu Ze would stay here until his cultivation broke through. Now that he had achieved it, Li Xunmiao had no reason to let Gu Ze stay any longer.
Sigh.
But… there had been no progress at all between the two of them! This was what worried Li Xunmiao the most.
Sensing Li Xunmiao’s gloomy mood, Gu Ze looked at her like he might eat her alive. He was afraid that if he didn’t leave now, he might never be able to.
Returning to his own familiar cave residence, Gu Ze used the Cleansing Technique to tidy up a bit, then sat back on his own bed. For a moment, he felt a strange emptiness.
The sound of breathing beside him was gone; Li Xunmiao’s presence had vanished, and he wasn’t used to it.
He had been staying at her place for almost a month.
Gu Ze’s brows furrowed sharply as something important gradually surfaced in his mind.
He’d been so obsessed with cultivation lately, and Li Xunmiao’s company had kept things from ever getting dull, so he’d shoved a lot of troublesome matters to the back of his mind.
After he’d succeeded in snatching the talent from Bai Yazhi, Gu Ze no longer concerned himself with Rouman Peak.
Yet the karmic entanglement between him and Rouman Peak—or rather, with Lian Yue Immortal Venerable—wasn’t over.
The two of them had agreed to remain “secret confidants” until Lianyue could interact with men normally.
During this period, Gu Ze was required to visit her at least once a month.
Gu Ze did a quick calculation and nearly broke into a cold sweat.
***
Fortunately, only twenty-eight days had passed—he hadn’t broken the agreement.
Immortals sometimes secluded themselves for years, even decades at a time. Wasn’t once a month a bit too frequent?
At the time, Gu Ze had been so focused on dealing with Bai Yazhi’s trouble that he’d agreed to Lianyue’s request without thinking much.
Now that he thought about it, the requirement was a bit unreasonable.
Suppressing his inner misgivings, Gu Ze changed into a set of black clothes and waited for nightfall.
The last two times, he’d gone to see Lianyue during the day and run into Li Xunmiao when he returned in the evening.
This time, he would wait until Li Xunmiao was asleep before leaving.
Staying in Li Xunmiao’s cave residence wasn’t without its benefits.
At the very least, he’d learned a few of her habits. Through observation, Gu Ze discovered that Li Xunmiao slept soundly, and even noises around her wouldn’t wake her.
In that case, she was even less likely to notice him quietly leaving Biluo Peak.
His plan was flawless.
As dusk shrouded the entire immortal mountain, Gu Ze remained still, simply extinguishing the lamp to make it look like he’d gone to rest.
When the crescent moon hung high and the world was utterly silent, he finally slipped away from Biluo Peak, riding the wind without a sound.
Now that he’d broken through to the late-stage Qi Refinement, Gu Ze felt his control over spiritual energy had reached a new level.
Even without a flying boat, traveling on the wind to Rouman Peak was no longer exhausting.
Smooth.
Xunmiao.
The gap between the sixth and seventh levels, he’d crossed it with ease.
He recalled Lianyue’s evaluation of him—protected by the Dao of Heaven in secret.
Maybe it was true, but the more fortunate one was, the more cautious one should be. Always dreaming of challenging those at higher levels wasn’t realistic.
Li Xunmiao had already figured out the trick of hiding one’s cultivation to pretend to be weaker than one was; Gu Ze also felt he should hold back more trump cards.
Like the System Reward’s Disposable Tool—the effects of those usually far surpassed Gu Ze’s own strength, perfect for solving problems with surprise.
Landing at the Yunhai Market, Gu Ze didn’t hurry straight to the black market.
The market wasn’t open only during the day; at night, it had a unique charm.
Here, the Night Market was sometimes even livelier than during the day.
Activating his Pixiu True Gold Eyes, Gu Ze swept his gaze around; beams of golden light appeared all over Yunhai.
This talent was well worth the effort he’d spent to obtain it.
However, what Gu Ze acquired was his alone, and even if he gave it to Li Xunmiao, it wouldn’t be counted as her own fate—unless the item was destined for her from the start.
After wandering twice around the market, Gu Ze suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Hoping to find a rare treasure among all the riffraff in Yunhai Market was too much—rarely would someone who didn’t know their wares set up a stall here.
But Gu Ze’s aim in wandering wasn’t for himself. Whether he gained something or not didn’t matter.
Last time he’d visited Lianyue empty-handed, and she’d even given him a token.
This time, Gu Ze didn’t feel right showing up without a gift. He wanted to find something suitable.
But what kind of present would catch the attention of a Peak Lord who lacked for nothing in terms of treasures and pills?
Troubled by this, he suddenly noticed a rather inconspicuous little stall.
Under his Golden Eyes, it gave off only a faint light. The wares were all kinds of crystal ores that were useless to cultivators.
Whether crystal or gemstone, none were as practical as a Low-grade Spiritual Stone.
But the stall displayed not only raw stones, but also finely carved jewelry, crafted with remarkable skill.
The stall owner, a kindly plump woman, noticed Gu Ze’s gaze and purposely pushed a few of her prized works under the lamp.
Gu Ze recalled that last time Lianyue went out, she’d covered her eyes with a strip of cloth. Even so, she couldn’t let her gaze linger on any man for long.
Gu Ze even thought the cloth was so conspicuous that it only drew more attention to her eyes.
“Senior Sister, can you carve this crystal ore according to my requirements?” Gu Ze picked up a piece of Black Crystal, his Golden Eyes flickering as he instantly saw through the ore’s interior—every impurity laid bare.
Its purity was high, almost flawless.
Gu Ze wasn’t sure of the stone’s true value, but a glance at the price tags on the finished jewelry showed that the most expensive was only one hundred Low-grade Spiritual Stones.
About the cost of two or three low-grade magic artifacts—not extravagant for him.
“What would you like it carved into?” she stood up and asked, sizing Gu Ze up and down.
This young man had an extraordinary bearing; surely he wanted it to make jewelry for a girl. Still… black was perhaps a bit too subdued. She wanted to recommend a few more fashionable colors to him.
“Cut it like this first, then…” He gestured, then took out paper and pen to sketch a draft.
After working for half an hour, Gu Ze accepted the Wooden Jewelry Box the stall owner handed over, his expression much more relaxed. At last, a thorny problem had been solved.
He hoped Lianyue would accept this gift.
Once Gu Ze left, the stall owner rested her chin on her hand, stroking the leftover ore materials as she clicked her tongue in amazement, “Such an interesting design. Pity I forgot to ask if I could make a few more to sell.”
Never mind, if that Junior Brother found out, he’d immediately know it spread from her stall.
***
Arriving again at the black market, Gu Ze saw that nighttime brought even more visitors than the day, most there to conduct shady dealings under cover of darkness.
With masks on, no one knew anyone else. Gu Ze hurried to the secret room where Lianyue hid, and gently knocked at the door.
But after a long wait, there was no response.
Lianyue was a Golden Core cultivator; not a single move of his in front of the door would escape her senses.
Clearly, Lianyue was deliberately ignoring him.
Gu Ze tried pushing the door lightly. It wasn’t locked.
Not locking him out meant that Lianyue didn’t really want to refuse to see him. She was either sulking or trying to make a point.
Gu Ze slipped inside, locked the door behind him, and hurried through the courtyard corridors straight to Lianyue’s room.
But as he approached her door, Gu Ze suddenly slowed down and deliberately said in a teasing tone, “Sigh, looks like Immortal Sister isn’t home. Seems I’ve made this trip for nothing; I’ll just come back next month.”
“You dare!” As expected, a playful scolding came from inside.
Gu Ze smiled in satisfaction and pushed the door open.
The room was still simple, utterly unlike the grand boudoir atop Rouman Peak.
Lianyue wore a loose pale-green robe, her hair braided in a complex style, with a gold-inlaid jade hairpin threading through it, making her appear both mature and charming, yet also a touch simple and lazy.
Her small feet were bare, lightly tapping a green-embroidered shoe. Gu Ze noticed this little detail.
Lianyue seemed to dislike shoes and socks; last time, she’d been barefoot as well.
Her eyes, like cat’s-eye gems, were as captivating as ever. Her gaze swept over Gu Ze, lingered for three seconds, then she turned her head away.
Gu Ze sat down by the table, and the two of them lapsed into silence.
In the end, it was Gu Ze who broke the silence: “You won’t let me leave, but you won’t say what you want to do today either. Are we just going to sit here?”
“Coming so late, and you think you’re in the right? Do you know there are only two days left before the one-month deadline?” Was she talking about how late it was in the day, or the date?
“If I came to see you every day, you’d get bored after a few visits. Besides, if we met all the time, there’d be nothing ‘secret’ about our confidant arrangement anymore.”
Lianyue retorted sourly, “I see you and your Junior Sister are practically glued together every day, long since tossing your confidant aside, right? By the time Qingquan finishes seclusion, the two of you will have kids old enough to enter Yunhai Immortal Pavilion to seek a master.”
Clearly, Lianyue had witnessed everything.
As expected! He’d been tailed by Lianyue again. Gu Ze was both annoyed and amused.
A dignified Golden Core expert, why was she so interested in peeking at his private life?
“My Junior Sister and I are as innocent as can be. I was just using her cave to break through.” Gu Ze revealed his Qi Refinement seventh-level cultivation, speaking righteously.
Lianyue rolled her eyes, “Dual cultivation is always faster.”
There was no talking sense tonight.
Seeing the more he explained, the worse it got, Gu Ze hurriedly produced the Wooden Jewelry Box he’d bought earlier and offered it to Lianyue.
The dark clouds covering the black market shielded perception, so Lianyue had no way of knowing what Gu Ze had bought at the Yunhai Market.
“For me?” Lianyue made a small fist in the air, clearly surprised and pleased.
“Mm, if I’d known you just wanted to tease me, I wouldn’t have given it to you.” Gu Ze said, pretending to reach for the box, but Lianyue swept her water sleeves, taking half the table with them.
Gu Ze was a bit stunned. Was she really this eager? It was just a small gift.
Seeing that Gu Ze was teasing her again, Lianyue gritted her teeth, “If you mess with me again, I’ll drag you off to Rouman Peak and lock you up for a month, let your dear Junior Sister stew!”
What did this have to do with Li Xunmiao? And what kind of address was ‘dear Junior Sister’?
Gu Ze spread his hands, gesturing for her to hurry and open the box.
Aihun as the lenses, platinum as the frame—Gu Ze had designed these sunglasses for Lianyue.
The stall owner had even specially carved some openwork on the arms to make them lighter without losing their beauty.
“Interesting.” Lianyue turned the sunglasses over in her hand for a while, instantly understanding their use, and gently put them on her high nose bridge.
The world became much darker, but glaring lights were easier to look at. The effect was similar to the cloth strip she used to cover her eyes.
They could somewhat obscure her vision, but not affect her senses.
She tucked aside a strand of hair caught by the frame, and after checking that the lenses didn’t crush her bangs, Lianyue turned to Gu Ze with a soft smile, “How do I look?”
She clearly liked them.
“Beautiful. No one could suit these Aihun better than Immortal Sister.” It was called “Aihun,” but in truth they were just sunglasses.
Lianyue adjusted the frames, a water mirror appearing in her hand without warning, clearly reflecting her appearance.
After admiring herself for a moment, Lianyue took off the sunglasses and beckoned to Gu Ze, “Come here. I’m very happy right now, so I want to reward you.”