There was no smoke in the air, no drawn blades or open hostility. Yet the moment Lian Yue’s and Qingquan’s gazes met, Gu Ze felt sweat break out all over his back.
But clearly, neither of them was his Dao companion. So what exactly was he nervous about? It just felt like this place had turned into a battlefield of Asura.
Oh. He had kissed both of them before—and both times it had been forced. Well then. That explained it.
Gu Ze stared at the teacup on the table, watching the tea leaves rise and sink, and let out a soft sigh.
The sound was light, but in this moment, it could not escape the ears of the two women beside him.
Qingquan lifted her eyes slightly and glanced at him. One hand rested casually on the table as she pinched the teacup before her, speaking unhurriedly.
“Lian Yue, I came this time specifically to thank you. I could not find you within the Cloudsea immortal pavilion, and by chance I heard Gu Ze mention that he was about to come see you, so I asked him to guide me here. I did not expect that the two of you already knew each other. That truly surprised me.
“Thank you for laying a backup plan during my tribulation and setting a trap for Wang Xiao. That was how I was able to break through. And… thank you as well for taking care of Gu Ze during this time.”
She deliberately emphasized that last sentence.
Qingquan did not even want to imagine how the peak lord of Rouman Peak would ‘take care of’ Gu Ze.
A small cultivator who had only just entered the Immortal realm, running into a seasoned golden core veteran who had cultivated for over a hundred years—who knew how Lian Yue might have toyed with him?
Qingquan even felt that Gu Ze might already have been pinned down and forcibly kissed by Lian Yue.
As for going further… it was not impossible. No! It was best if it were impossible.
She took out a gold-inlaid jade box and placed it on the table. Gu Ze activated his golden eyes, and golden light burst forth from within the box. It was clearly no ordinary object.
Lian Yue looked at the gift Qingquan had taken out, but did not accept it right away. Her eyes shifted as she examined that unfathomable mass of Purple Qi.
Her thoughts raced.
Qingquan claimed she had come to give thanks, yet from the moment she entered, there had been a distinct smell of gunpowder in the air.
No matter how provocatively or seductively she dressed, she was not trying to steal Qingquan’s man. Gu Ze was merely a disciple of Biluo Peak. Was it really necessary for Qingquan to be this sensitive?
Lian Yue could not help feeling that Qingquan seemed a little too concerned about Gu Ze. The disciples of Biluo Peak were basically half her own students—was Qingquan really going after one of them?
And why Gu Ze, of all people? A newly ascended Immortal Emperor suddenly appearing to compete with her over a man—was that not absurd?
She only wanted to live a quiet, shameless little life with Gu Ze in private, without letting anyone know. Was that really so difficult?
A trace of resolve flashed through Lian Yue’s eyes. Today, she had to find a way to drive Qingquan away. As for whether she would give up Gu Ze afterward, that could be discussed later.
The corners of her lips lifted slightly into a fake smile. “It’s nothing. Taking care of little brother Gu Ze is simply what I should be doing.”
Beneath the Purple Qi, Qingquan rolled her eyes. ‘This old thing, acting young. When you reached golden core, Gu Ze was not even born yet, and you still have the nerve to call yourselves siblings?’
If they were counting that way, she, Qingquan, could also be Gu Ze’s fairy sister.
Qingquan straightened up, her tone turning serious. “I value Gu Ze very much. In the future, I intend to focus on cultivating him. I heard that the two of you seem to have some sort of agreement.”
“Gu Ze will likely be busy cultivating and may not have the time to honor it. How about giving me some face and canceling that agreement?”
She said it was about face, but it was really a threat.
Qingquan had once beaten every golden core peak master in the Cloudsea immortal pavilion. Anyone would have to give her some respect.
However, Lian Yue had never taken that beating. Fear of Qingquan had not yet been etched into her soul.
To protect the little lover beside her, she was determined to fight Qingquan to the end.
Still, doubts arose in Lian Yue’s heart.
Was Qingquan truly so desperate that she no longer cared about her reputation?
Or had becoming an Immortal Emperor truly allowed her to comprehend the dao, raising her thinking far beyond the golden core level?
Her precious disciple Li Xunmiao was so close with Gu Ze that they often stayed alone in a room together and even spent nights together.
Who knew how thoroughly Gu Ze had already ‘captured’ her behind the scenes?
Was Qingquan really completely unaware? Or did she know and still intend to steal her disciple’s man? Lian Yue even felt a bit of awe toward Qingquan.
As expected of a nascent soul cultivator—very close to a true immortal, and very far from being human.
Even so, she did not expose Qingquan’s feelings for Gu Ze.
That faint scent of jealousy and hostility permeating the air from Qingquan was something Lian Yue could clearly sense.
She smiled again, harmless and gentle. “No problem, no problem. I have quite a bit of fate with Daoist friend Qingquan.”
“Being able to help you break through this time was actually… all part of my calculations. It was for the sake of forming a good karmic bond with you.”
As she spoke, she pushed the gilded jade box on the table forward.
“I will not accept this gift. If you want to reward someone, reward Gu Ze instead. The reason I stepped in was because of him.”
“If he does not have time to come here, that is fine. When I have time, I can visit Biluo Peak myself, discuss the dao with Daoist friend Qingquan, and spend some time with little brother Gu Ze. It would probably only take… about one quarter of an hour.”
“Daoist friend Qingquan, you would not mind, would you?”
She made no attempt to hide the intimacy between herself and Gu Ze. Qingquan felt as if she had punched a wad of cotton, only for the force to rebound back at her twice as hard.
Agreeing was wrong. Not agreeing was also wrong. She was so stifled that she could not say a word for a long time.
Gu Ze sat to the side, sipping tea as he listened to the exchange, feeling somewhat surprised.
Lian Yue might not be great at dealing with men, but when it came to dealing with women, she really knew her stuff.
After all, she was the leader of Rouman Peak. Even if she had been forced into the position, without real ability, she could not have stayed there and coasted for so long.
Qingquan held it in for a long while, thinking about how Gu Ze had hidden his identity from her for so long, yet secretly developed such an intimate, inseparable relationship with Lian Yue.
She had finally broken through to nascent soul, finally seen through that ‘little thief’s’ identity. Fate threads wound around her body, tightly connected to Gu Ze, and she felt no displeasure or disgust at all.
If she had to choose a Dao companion, why could it not be him? Still, Qingquan was not in a hurry. She planned to let these feelings ferment a bit, to properly face what she truly felt in her heart.
But now, in this scene before her, that sense of anticipation that belonged solely to her cracked slightly.
Sensing that Qingquan’s aura had grown heavy, Lian Yue lifted her hand and crooked a finger at Gu Ze.
“Gu Ze, do not forget our agreement. Were you not supposed to accompany me to practice? Come over here, to your sister.”
Those words lashed at Qingquan’s heart once again.
Gu Ze shifted his chair, no longer sitting between them, and moved closer to Lian Yue.
One of Lian Yue’s hands still pressed against her chest, while the other lifted a lock of hair by her cheek. She slowly leaned over, closing her eyes.
Her entire body was wrapped in a delicate fragrance, and her lips tasted sweet.
Before Qingquan’s eyes, the two of them brushed lips lightly in a testing kiss, then burned together like blazing fire.
Qingquan stared at the pair in shock, then slammed the table and stood up.
The extremely sturdy redwood table shattered with a crash. Tea spilled everywhere, and the white porcelain cups shattered in response.
“No wonder… no wonder you are so skilled!” Qingquan covered her mouth, her whole body trembling slightly, before fleeing in disarray.
Joy surged through Lian Yue’s heart. She had won this confrontation!
She gently pushed Gu Ze away and took a couple of breaths.
Then she lifted a finger and tightly shut the door, activating the hidden shop’s special formation so that if Qingquan returned, she would not be caught unaware.
Gu Ze glanced in the direction Qingquan had disappeared, then sighed again.
“Hmph. She ran off and now you are unhappy? Little brother Gu Ze must have tasted Daoist friend Qingquan’s lips and cannot forget them, right?”
“What, do you want me to turn into Qingquan and let you have your fill?” Lian Yue huffed softly, poking Gu Ze with her finger as she teased him.
“Stop teasing me. My head was hot at the time and I just kissed her. I did not expect her to be completely unguarded. I really managed to do it.”
From the moment Gu Ze appeared, the success rate of a qi refinement cultivator forcibly kissing a nascent soul cultivator was no longer zero.
“Pfft. You actually managed to kiss Qingquan herself? Interesting, interesting. Tell me how you did it. And… could her successful tribulation have had something to do with you?” Lian Yue’s eyes were full of curiosity.
As expected of the man she had taken a liking to—truly capable beyond measure.
Gu Ze sat beside Lian Yue. She seized the opportunity, reaching out with her small hand to grab one of his and gently place it on her thigh.
“Talk while you touch. Do not be shy. Just consider it accompanying me as I practice adapting to yang qi. Now that Qingquan is gone, I am yours. Little brother Gu Ze, help yourself.” She blinked, speaking generously.
In truth, the slight tremble in her pupils betrayed her inner nervousness.
However, Gu Ze did not notice such details.
All his thoughts were focused on how to selectively explain what had happened in Qingquan’s tribulation space.
Having too many secrets was not a good thing.
“I was accidentally swept into that tribulation space. I did not really do anything, and almost became a burden instead. It was fairy sister who… whose methods were very gentle—no, whose legs were very brilliant—no, that is not right!”
He had barely spoken a few sentences when he felt the soft, warm sensation transmitted through the thin black gauze beneath his hand.
“I cannot take it anymore. Your yang qi is too strong. Let me rest for a bit before we practice again.” Lian Yue quickly surrendered, pressing her legs together and turning away.
It was not just because of the influence of her special constitution, nearly causing her to faint. She had also guessed that Gu Ze did not want to say too much, so she did not pursue the topic further.
Everyone should have secrets. Everyone should have privacy. A person with no secrets at all—could that still be called a person?
Seeing her fall silent, Gu Ze instinctively understood that Lian Yue was accommodating him.
Even if it involved the system, or even the fact that this world was a world within a book, it was not easy to speak of such things with her.
But Gu Ze was actually very willing to share his experiences with Lian Yue.
He sat behind her and began vividly recounting everything he and Qingquan had experienced within the tribulation space.
Including how he had become a soul fire state, refined pills for Qingquan using the spirit furnace, and finally escaped alive.
“It was thanks to your etheric qi transforming into world-burning heavenly fire and deceiving Wang Xiao. The grand formation he set up had a flaw, which allowed Qingquan to break the situation at the critical moment.”
By the time Gu Ze finished telling everything, Lian Yue had mostly recovered.
“It seems I unintentionally helped things along. I did not expect that the etheric qi I casually left behind would trap Wang Xiao so thoroughly and help Qingquan attain the dao.” She was secretly alarmed.
This involved a nascent soul level jiyuan. Although it was not her own opportunity, it was deeply entangled with her, representing a massive shift in destiny.
Logically speaking, with a golden core cultivator’s perception, such a major event about to happen should not have gone completely unnoticed.
Yet when she calculated with her fingers, Lian Yue could only see herself as having watered a peach tree, making it bloom a little more lushly.
Strange. It felt like she had secretly facilitated a marriage.
The mental strain was heavy. Behind her, Gu Ze’s gaze burned as he stared at her fair skin.
Suddenly, her head spun and she fell backward. Gu Ze hurriedly caught her.
As his fingers brushed across her jade-like body, Lian Yue shuddered.
“Do not touch me yet. I am really about to faint.” Lian Yue immediately mobilized her qi and rose into the air, landing to the side.
A flash of disappointment crossed her face as she said gloomily, “My etheric qi is powerful, but my special constitution holds me back too much. Otherwise… otherwise I would not have to wrong you by being so restrained. Sigh.”