Years passed by, and since Qian Yu attained Dao Enlightenment and became a Saint in the Deep Demon Abyss, dozens of winters and summers had gone by.
The blue sky of the Luoxia Immortal Sect was still as blue as ever, but the most significant change was the absence of a Sect Master titled Cloud-Weave Star Venerable.
Even though the counterpart in this real world had not yet had the chance to develop many malicious thoughts toward Qian Yu as she had in the dream, a certain vengeful fox had still taught her a harsh lesson.
After a desperate struggle that proved fruitless, the former Sect Master was terrified into severing her own cultivation and departing to reincarnate.
The sect returned to the self-governance of the elders, but a secluded valley called “Guiyu Valley” appeared in the back mountains.
No one knew who lived there, nor did anyone know how this valley had appeared out of thin air within the territory of the Luoxia Immortal Sect.
However, whenever anyone reached a certain level of cultivation, their eyes would fill with reverence or even fanaticism upon looking toward that valley.
Because… they knew that it was the Dao field of a living Saint.
At this moment within Guiyu Valley, the bamboo forest was lush green, and the morning dew was crystal clear.
Qian Yu stood amidst it, her small figure appearing ethereal and transcendent.
The passing of years had not caused her to change; instead, it made her appear several degrees more youthful.
Before her sat two cushions, upon which knelt two young women who were equally beautiful and flawless, each possessing her own unique merits.
They were Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan.
Ever since she slew the Five Demons dozens of years ago and paid a “visit” to the remaining Saints of both the Demon Race and the Human Race, Qian Yu, having secured her supreme status, had lived here in seclusion.
The two before her—one cold and peerless, the other bright and dazzling—had become her students, a gesture of care Qian Yu showed to her old acquaintances.
Gu Qinghan possessed a pure Dao heart and extraordinary talent, but she lacked an understanding of the world’s murkiness.
Nalan Yunyan was naturally gifted and her pride reached the clouds, but she needed to shed the paranoia bestowed upon her by family and fate to find the true Dao.
In her capacity as a Saint, Qian Yu refined their paths, cleared their doubts, and guided them to see the scenery at higher elevations.
Dozens of years passed like a single day.
One could call it dull, but it was actually innocent.
It was precisely the peaceful life that Qian Yu had dreamed of since she first gained awareness.
However, time is the most wonderful catalyst.
Through day after day of Dao Discussion, sparring, and exploring Secret Realms together, the former barriers, misunderstandings, and even their antagonistic nature were gradually filed away.
Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan would still occasionally find each other annoying and bicker over trivial matters, but they had developed a new, shared understanding…
Toward the little half-demon before them who had styled herself as “Master” during their long time together, a complex and subtle emotion had grown.
“Today we will not contemplate supernatural powers, nor will we discuss Daoist laws. We will only look at these dewdrops.”
A hundred thoughts turned in the hearts of the two young women, but Qian Yu was completely unaware.
She brushed her small hand, and the dewdrops condensed on the bamboo leaves simultaneously detached from the surface.
They suspended in the air, refracting thousands of glimmers in the morning light.
“The Great Dao is simple and can be seen in the smallest things.
Little Qinghan, you often observe the ‘reason’ when you practice the Dao.
Little Yunyan, you sense the ‘change’ more when you cultivate.
However, the reason dewdrops are dewdrops and follow such paths is not solely because of reason or change, but because it is the dew of ‘this moment’, ‘this place’, ‘this light’, and ‘this wind’.
Let go of deductions and evaluations.
Use your heart as a mirror to reflect, and you can feel the ‘instant of truth’ in the present.”
As she continued speaking, her ears twitched quietly.
If nothing unexpected happened, those two rivals, Nalan Yunyan and Gu Qinghan, were about to start arguing again.
Ever since Qian Yu put these two together for instruction, they frequently fought over who was superior due to their differing philosophies.
They had even gone so far as to stand on one side each, watching which foot Qian Yu stepped with first to determine who had “won.”
‘If this were a storybook, this would probably be two people vying for favor, but this is reality, and Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan wouldn’t do something like that.’
Consequently, Qian Yu had grown fond of this activity.
She often threw out controversial questions to make them argue their respective points while she sat to the side, innocently enjoying the show.
Today was no different.
However… just as Qian Yu had secretly prepared her snacks and fruits, the expected argument did not occur.
Neither Gu Qinghan nor Nalan Yunyan spoke.
The breeze blew gently through the bamboo forest, and the air was so quiet that only the rustling sound of the swaying bamboo remained.
‘Arguing? Why aren’t they arguing?’
Qian Yu blinked, her long eyelashes casting small shadows in the morning light.
She raised her small face with a hint of confusion, preparing to “admonish” the two disciples on the cushions.
The shadow before her suddenly grew larger as the previously silent Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan stood up together.
Taking advantage of their tall figures, they cast a strangely oppressive feeling in the sunlight.
“Hmm… today’s lesson isn’t over yet,” Qian Yu said in confusion.
“You haven’t argued—no, discussed the Dao yet.”
“Senior Yu, today we want to argue about something else first.”
Gu Qinghan spoke first.
She took a step forward, continuing toward Qian Yu.
Her voice was as clear as ever, but it was slightly deeper than usual, as if she were suppressed something.
“Huh?”
Qian Yu became even more confused.
On the other side, Nalan Yunyan also stepped forward, her voice similarly sounding as if she were holding something back.
“Regarding whether this world is real… we have thought of a better way to verify it.”
“Does this world still need verification? We practically ground down the Great Dao back then.”
“Indeed. A dream cannot construct things that the master of the dream has never experienced or seen in reality. Over these years, we have performed countless other verifications and confirmed that this is indeed reality. But… there is still one more.”
After a pause, Gu Qinghan spoke again, the subtle suppression in her voice growing heavier.
“There is still one thing we haven’t experienced yet.”
“What is it?”
The fox ears atop Qian Yu’s head twitched slightly in confusion.
Her small body, framed by their tall figures, showed an unconscious fragility.
A few bad premonitions instinctively arose in her heart, but she relaxed again when she thought of her own cultivation.
She had already walked very far into the Sage Realm; what was there to be afraid of?
Qian Yu would soon regret her carelessness.
“And that is a fight. A fight is something the three of us have never experienced, no matter which world we were in,” Gu Qinghan’s voice rang out.
“Therefore, as long as we fight once, we will know whether the world will shatter or not,” Nalan Yunyan said, lightly licking her lips.
In the next moment, as their words fell, two delicate pink elixirs appeared at their respective fingertips.
“Good Yunyan, good Qinghan… why are you using medicine for a fight?”
The color of the pills was excessively tender, like the juice squeezed from the most vibrant peach blossoms of spring.
Even with the cultivation of a Saint, Qian Yu felt as if she could sense the threads of suggestion and invitation.
Qian Yu realized what kind of “fight” they were talking about.
She wanted to flee, but it was already too late.
The pills were crushed by Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan.
A warm wind blew, and even the light refracted by the dewdrops on the bamboo leaves seemed to take on the pink glow of the medicine.
“As long as we experience this, we will know the truth or falsehood of the world.”
“We originally wanted to do this separately, but we couldn’t decide who would go first, so we can only do it together.”
Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan spoke again.
The emotions they had been suppressing for so long were finally no longer hidden.
Within the mist in their eyes, surging feelings tumbled.
They had prepared these pills for who knows how many years. Even if Qian Yu was a Saint, she was bound to fall for it today.
“…You, you can’t do this!”
Qian Yu’s head began to feel a bit dizzy, and the circulation of her spiritual energy was blocked by an indescribable, numbing weakness.
She retreated, but Gu Qinghan silently blocked her path.
The cold girl’s eyes had become hazy.
She tried to flee forward, but Nalan Yunyan forcefully sealed the way back, her lovely red lips curving into a thread of passion.
“This sort of thing… clearly isn’t allowed…”
Qian Yu’s mind went more and more blank.
However, what she did not expect was that these two wicked women suddenly held another whole bottle of the medicine from before.
“Yu, don’t run… If we want to verify the dream, we certainly can’t experience this sort of thing only once.”
Sunlight filtered through the bamboo leaves, and mottled shadows fell upon the three of them, freezing the scene in time.
On a bed seemingly made of clouds, Qian Yu’s toes curled tight and were then forced to relax.
She felt as if she were being stirred into a vast, bottomless whirlpool, where something was breaking apart inside.
This sort of thing… was really not allowed.