The final match ended with Lou Yue in first place, Xiao Rangchen in second, and a certain Cangya disciple in third.
When that Cangya disciple—who was at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage—was beaten so thoroughly by Xiao Rangchen, who was only in the early Nascent Soul stage, that he could not fight back at all, Cangya clan lord Cangya Lan’s expression on the high platform turned cold. With a snort, he waved his sleeve and vanished.
“He was originally a disciple of the Cangya Summit, but was later expelled. No wonder Old Lan can’t bear to show his face.” The red-haired, red-browed old man stroked his beard with a chuckle.
The woman beside him arched her willow brows. “That old bastard Cangya Lan must’ve had lard clogging his brain. Serves him right!”
The woman was Liufeng clan lord Liufeng Herong. When they were young, she and Cangya Lan had once been a couple. Yet in the end, Cangya Lan married the daughter of another sword immortal, and the two of them became sworn enemies. Even now, despite their advanced years, she still took every opportunity to berate him.
The red-browed old man cast a glance at Lou Mo, who remained calm and composed. Lou Mo acted as though he had seen nothing.
That old bastard only knows how to sit on the sidelines and watch the fire burn, the red-browed old man cursed inwardly.
The more Liufeng Herong thought about it, the angrier she became. With a bang, she set her cup down on the stone table. “That boy isn’t anything special either. My Liufeng clan was willing to take him in as a live-in son-in-law, yet a mere commoner actually dared refuse us!”
“He hasn’t even reached the Mahayana stage. Isn’t it a little too hasty to win him over?” The red-browed old man took a sip of wine and spoke unhurriedly.
“Hmph. With Cangya as your backer, of course you’re in no rush.”
The red-browed old man’s expression turned cold as well. “Aren’t your Liufeng and Lou clans in cahoots? It’s a joyous occasion today, so show some restraint at your age.”
“Yue Qianzhong, what are you pretending—”
Lou Mo interrupted, “Enough. I summoned you here to discuss the exploration of the Savage Wasteland, not to trade insults. Since the matter is settled, my Lou clan will not be keeping you.”
With that, Lou Mo’s figure vanished from the high platform.
Liufeng Herong and Yue Qianzhong exchanged a glance, each snorted coldly, and then disappeared one after the other.
The quarrels on the high platform were clouds in the heavens, impossibly distant to those below. To Lou Yue, who had been led to Queyun Tower, they were completely irrelevant.
Queyun Tower stood in the heart of Xuantian City. The entire building was hidden amid rosy clouds and drifting mist, while the radiance of eighteen sealing arrays slowly revolved around it.
Lou Zhongyan raised a hand and pressed it against the door. One after another, the eighteen arrays unlocked, revealing the passage beyond.
He led the three of them inside.
“Everyone, you have only one hour. Each person may take out only one magical treasure.”
With that, he tossed out a jade water clock to keep time. He then walked over to a reclining chair in the hall, sat down, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
Lou Yue paid no attention to Xiao Rangchen’s frequent glances in her direction. She seized every moment and leapt onto the cloud corridor on the second floor.
The interior of Queyun Tower was far vaster than she had expected. Although she knew that the old grandpa in his ring was residing inside a damaged bamboo slip, she still had to search for him—and she also needed to leave enough time to deal with whatever trials awaited her.
Lou Yue swiftly passed all kinds of floating magical artifacts and spirit treasures. After searching for roughly fifteen minutes, she had covered only a quarter of the second floor, while Xiao Rangchen had already left the first floor and stepped onto the level where she was.
She grew anxious, wishing she could conjure a clone. As her eyes swept rapidly across the area, they suddenly fixed on a spot two meters behind Xiao Rangchen.
A damaged bamboo slip was quietly suspended there amid the clouds.
She had found it!
Lou Yue took off running. She no longer cared about maintaining her dignity. At this speed, she was certain she could snatch it before Xiao Rangchen. She could already feel the bamboo slip beckoning to her!
But just as she rounded the corner, a strange sensation shot through her. She instinctively glanced at the magical artifact beside her, and that single glance caused her to trip over nothing and fall flat on her face.
The moment she steadied herself, a pitch-black cube the size of a fist dropped from above and struck her squarely on the forehead.
It hurt a little. She had probably broken the skin. Lou Yue raised a hand, intending to put the cube that had landed in her arms back where it belonged, but the thing suddenly emitted a faint black radiance. At that very moment, a drop of blood slid from her forehead and fell into the cube.
Lou Yue’s pupils contracted.
No. Please, no!
The cube completely ignored her desperate prayer. After absorbing the bead of blood, it returned to its original pitch-black color. At the same time, a thread of unfamiliar consciousness appeared in her mind.
...Damn it.
The blasted thing had recognized her as its master.
Struck senseless by this sudden misfortune, Lou Yue could only watch helplessly as Xiao Rangchen picked up the bamboo slip in the distance.
“......”
She wanted to go home. This world was far too hostile toward her...
It had given her hope, only to dash it. She felt as though she had been starving for a long time, and a plate of roast chicken had suddenly appeared before her. Just as she was about to sink her teeth into it, the roast chicken had abruptly transformed into a toy squeaky chicken. She could practically hear its shrill cry mocking her.
This was too much!
Lou Yue stamped her foot furiously, her eyes reddening with rage.
Xiao Rangchen failed to notice the scene in the distance. He had just found the spirit insect Feng Que wanted, but when he turned around with it in hand, his gaze was drawn to the shabby bamboo slip in the corner. Without realizing it, he picked it up, and his divine sense was pulled into the bamboo slip in an instant.
“Boy, you’re quite lucky.”
A middle-aged man’s voice rang out in the void-like space.
“Sorry.” After saying this, Xiao Rangchen tried to withdraw his divine sense, only to find it restrained by some unseen force.
“Boy, do you know who I am?”
Xiao Rangchen’s voice remained indifferent. “I had no intention of disturbing you, Senior. Please release my divine sense and allow it to leave.”
“...Do you have any idea how powerful I am? Let me tell you—”
“Please let me leave, Senior.”
“......”
In the next instant, a scholar in Confucian robes, holding a paper fan, appeared beside Xiao Rangchen out of thin air. He raised the fan handle and repeatedly rapped it against Xiao Rangchen. “Get out, get out! I said let him leave!”
Xiao Rangchen’s divine sense was completely immobilized by the man’s restraints, leaving him no choice but to endure the blows.
“You can leave if you want,” the man said after venting his anger, once again resuming his refined demeanor. He slowly opened his paper fan. “You need only pass through my Seven Emotions Trials, and I’ll let you go.”
Xiao Rangchen frowned. He had no desire to waste time here.
“Don’t worry. These Seven Emotions Trials won’t be difficult for you. If you want to leave as soon as possible, just give them everything you’ve got and pass through them.”
Yu Youchun pushed forcefully, sending Xiao Rangchen straight into the first trial: Hatred.
The Seven Emotions Trials consisted of Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hatred, and Desire. Based on Yu Youchun’s probing of Xiao Rangchen’s divine sense, Hatred was the obstacle he would find most difficult to overcome, while Desire would be the easiest.
If he could pass Hatred with ease, the remaining six trials would pose no challenge at all.
Yu Youchun had waited a thousand years before finally finding someone who met all his requirements. He absolutely refused to let him go.
Just as he had expected, Xiao Rangchen possessed extraordinary talent and a will as unyielding as solid rock. In less than half an hour, he had cut through six trials in succession. Delighted, Yu Youchun immediately raised a hand and sent him into the final trial—Desire.
The Desire Trial used the entrant’s memories as its foundation to weave a dreamscape of desires so realistic that truth and illusion were impossible to distinguish.
Everything within the dream was exactly what the heart yearned for, within easy reach. Unlike the other six trials, this one required only that the entrant see through the illusion and voluntarily withdraw.
Time flowed slowly within the dreamscape. Yu Youchun estimated that Xiao Rangchen would emerge in at most a few breaths.
But he had never imagined that the Desire Trial—which he believed would be the easiest for Xiao Rangchen—would consume even more time than the other six trials combined.
Within the “Desire Gate,” Xiao Rangchen slowly opened his eyes.
Before him was the familiar Sleeping Cloud Courtyard—the room that belonged to Lou Yue.
“Xiao Rangchen...”
Lou Yue’s voice came from behind him. It was not her usual bold, carefree tone, but the soft, sweet murmur she used in her dreams.
His instincts told him not to turn around. Yet another quiet call reached his ears, this one carrying a hint of helplessness.
Before he could react, his body had already turned.
Lou Yue stood two paces away with her back to him. Her clothes were half undone, her moon-white undergarment hanging loosely from her right shoulder, barely holding on.
“Xiao Rangchen... My hairpin fell inside my clothes.”
Her voice held Lou Yue’s characteristic lilt, softened by a touch of sweetness that made it sound almost coquettish.
“Help me get it.”
Xiao Rangchen remained where he was, his gaze helplessly drawn to the slightly raised butterfly-shaped shoulder blade on her left side.
“Xiao Rangchen...”
The shoulder blade trembled lightly with each of her breaths, as though trying to break free from its cage.
“Xiao Rangchen...”
It trembled even more intensely now, radiating a fragile, shattered vulnerability that could ensnare the heart.
“Xiao Rangchen... Help me get it...”
Xiao Rangchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. It took all his willpower to tear his eyes away from that shoulder blade.
The jade hairpin she wanted was half tucked into the hem of her clothing, resting right against the hollow of her lower back. Its lustrous white surface, stained with emerald green, was dazzling.
Xiao Rangchen closed his eyes for a moment, suppressing the dark tide churning beneath them, then took a step forward and reached for it.
“Ah.” A hurried, delicate gasp escaped her. “It’s cold...”
Though she called it cold, her trembling body instinctively leaned toward him, and the back of his fingers brushed against her smooth, lustrous skin.
“Xiao Rangchen, you’re so slow...” she grumbled unhappily, drawing out the last syllable.
Xiao Rangchen pulled out the hairpin. Yet, as if possessed, he held it by the middle, letting its tip rest against one side of her back before slowly tracing upward—gliding over her spine, then over the butterfly poised to take flight.
“Xiao Rangchen... Xiao Rangchen...”
Her trembling voice called his name again and again.
And amid those repeated calls, Xiao Rangchen sank completely into the moment.
Everything around him blurred into indistinct shadows. The only thing left was the woman before him.
His lips replaced the hairpin, kissing the butterfly that, from the very first moment he had seen it, had been impossible to banish from his mind.
He lingered over it, leaving behind marks that belonged to him, turning that pearly white butterfly into a luxuriant, flushed red.
The woman in front of him seemed unable to hold herself upright any longer. Her body swayed, and he hooked one arm around her waist while his other hand clasped her left wrist, preventing the butterfly from escaping his territory and allowing it to beat its wings only within his embrace.
Lou Yue’s soft, trembling voice continued to pour into his ears.
Urgent, ragged breaths mingled with the frantic pounding of his heart against his ribs.
Xiao Rangchen knew this was an illusion.
He knew the Lou Yue before him was not real.
Yet he still could not restrain himself.
The moment he kissed her, realization dawned.
So this was how he felt about Lou Yue.
Everything that had happened before finally had an answer.
He wanted to kill that woman because he had been jealous—jealous of the intimacy she shared with Lou Yue, jealous that she could make Lou Yue smile.
Jealous of everything he could never possess, yet she had obtained with ease.
It turned out that, without realizing it, he had already fallen in love with Lou Yue.
It turned out...
He had been longing for her all along.
----------------------
My darlings, did you like it?