Chapter 23

After Xiao Rangchen returned to the void space inside the bamboo slip, he was stared at the entire time.

“I never would have guessed that you were actually so lustful.”

Yu Youchun gazed at his cold, sharp features, still unable to understand it. Xiao Rangchen clearly looked so passionless and aloof—how had he nearly failed the trial of desire?

Xiao Rangchen acted as though he had not heard him. He merely reminded him, “Senior has passed all seven trials. Please fulfill your promise.”

“Young man, are you truly not going to regret this? If you acknowledge me as your master, forget about becoming the strongest cultivator among the four great clans. Even if you wish to break through to a realm above the Deity Transformation stage, I’m confident I can help you achieve it.”

Xiao Rangchen fell silent.

Yu Youchun thought he had wavered, but then heard him say, “I cannot take Senior out of here. I promised someone that I would retrieve the spirit insect to repay his kindness.”

Yu Youchun naturally knew that he was holding the spirit insect, but how could the value of such an insect compare with his own?

“It’s merely a rare spirit insect. But if you miss the chance to have me as your master, what you’ll be losing is the opportunity to stand at the very peak of the world.”

“If he hadn’t saved me, I would not be where I am today.” Every word Xiao Rangchen spoke was firm. “Please let me leave, Senior.”

Yu Youchun waved his sleeve with great flair. “Fine. I won’t force you to do anything against your will. Go.”

Xiao Rangchen’s consciousness returned to his body, and he immediately placed the bamboo slip back where it had been.

Inside the bamboo slip, Yu Youchun stood with his hands behind his back, “watching” the outside world. His carefree expression turned crafty.

“Like hell I won’t!”

“I waited a thousand years for you to appear. To hell with this ‘I won’t force you’ nonsense. If I can’t get what I want through honest means, I’ll achieve it by any means necessary. Once you passed through the Seven Emotions Trial, our agreement was already complete. Hahahaha—”

His hearty laughter echoed through the void, and his figure gradually faded away amid the sound.

As Xiao Rangchen turned and left, the bamboo slip suddenly cracked apart, as though the force sustaining it had been completely drained away.

“Have you all chosen?” Lou Zhongyan glanced over the treasures in the three disciples’ hands. When his gaze reached Xiao Rangchen, it paused. “Are you certain you want that spirit insect?”

“Yes.”

Lou Yue had already been staring blankly at the spirit insect in his hand.

Why hadn’t he taken the bamboo slip?

The strongest cheat in the story’s plot, Yu Youchun, was inside that bamboo slip. Could it be that Xiao Rangchen had failed the Seven Emotions Trial?

Impossible. In the novel, he had passed it at lightning speed, and Yu Youchun had been delighted.

Could that spirit insect be an even more incredible magical treasure?

Lou Yue stared intently at the spirit insect in Xiao Rangchen’s hand, wishing she could instantly analyze all the countless abilities it possessed.

Her gaze was far too intense to escape notice.

However, Xiao Rangchen’s eyes lingered only briefly on the small wound on her forehead before shifting away.

Lou Zhongyan knew how Lou Yue had obtained her treasure, and he understood that she was feeling somewhat dejected. He spoke up, “It suits you very well. You can study its uses.”

The Cangya Sect disciple beside them hurriedly leaned forward. “What about mine?”

“Acceptable.” After giving his indifferent assessment, Lou Zhongyan rose to his feet. “The time is up. Let’s go.”

Once they emerged from Queyun Pavilion, Lou Yue left directly.

Only then did Xiao Rangchen’s gaze sink heavily toward that departing figure. He watched until she had completely disappeared, then slowly lowered his eyes.

The reason an illusion was an illusion was that it was separated from reality by a distance that could never be crossed.

He gave a cold, indifferent tug at the corner of his lips before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

**

The stone forest on the western outskirts of Xuantian City.

“The things you gave me are completely useless!” an agitated voice suddenly rang out.

Yue Qi sat on a low rock, frowning. “Are you certain you threw all the realm-locking beads into the wall?”

“Of course.” Cang Wu snorted coldly. He opened his palm, revealing more than a dozen fragments resembling black glass. “I threw them in while he was away. He did enter the room, just as expected, but he still participated in the competition as usual this morning. I just went to check, and all the realm-locking beads inside the wall had been shattered into scraps!”

Yue Qi picked up one of the fragments and held it close for a careful examination. After a long while, he lowered his hand, his expression grave.

“Two years ago, he was at the Nascent Soul stage. His spiritual meridians were damaged, causing his cultivation to fall to the Foundation Establishment stage. It was only a few days ago that his meridians recovered, and he returned to the Nascent Soul stage after comprehending the Dao through the ancient tree?”

“That’s right.”

Yue Qi exhaled heavily, his voice turning cold and grim. “I advise you to stay as far away from him as possible from now on.”

Cang Wu frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Anyone capable of destroying the realm-locking beads like that could kill you as easily as turning over a hand.”

“Impossible!” Cang Wu shouted. “During the competition this morning, I clearly only lost on the final move.”

“He deliberately held back.”

Cang Wu still refused to believe it. Yue Qi could not be bothered to explain further. “In any case, our cooperation ends here.”

He turned to leave, but Cang Wu called out from behind him, “Yue Qi! Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Lou Yue that she’s already been poisoned by your drug?”

Yue Qi stopped. His eyes filled with sinister malice, but he did not turn around. He merely tossed out three words:

“Go ahead and try.”

Cang Wu was furious. He punched a stone pillar, blasting it apart and sending shattered rock flying in all directions.

Yue Qi ignored Cang Wu’s fit of rage. He only wanted to get as far away from him as possible, lest Xiao Rangchen discover that the realm-locking beads had come from him.

Cang Wu did not understand, but Yue Qi was the one who had refined them. He knew their power better than anyone. No one below the Great Ascension stage could possibly destroy them. Even cultivators at the Great Ascension stage might not be able to break them if they were not skilled in offensive techniques.

Xiao Rangchen’s cultivation was definitely not as simple as the early Nascent Soul stage he displayed on the surface.

However, just as Yue Qi was about to leave the stone forest, the person he least wanted to see at that moment appeared ahead of him.

Yue Qi’s face changed drastically.

Xiao Rangchen approached step by step.

Yue Qi hurriedly backed away, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier. He had nowhere left to retreat.

“You drugged Lou Yue.”

His tone was utterly certain.

Yue Qi was terrified. Xiao Rangchen had heard his conversation with Cang Wu. How much had he heard? Did he know that the realm-locking beads had come from him?

“Ten breaths. Hand over the antidote.”

A pressure far beyond the Nascent Soul stage descended in an instant. Yue Qi’s knees slammed heavily into the ground, and cold sweat immediately soaked through his robes. He specialized in artifact refinement, and his cultivation was only at the Golden Core stage. He could not withstand such overwhelming pressure. Compared with Cang Wu, it would be far easier for Xiao Rangchen to kill him.

Under the crushing pressure, Yue Qi trembled as he reached into his robes and pulled out a bottle of pills.

Xiao Rangchen crooked a finger, and the bottle flew into his hand.

“Take one directly,” Yue Qi panted.

Xiao Rangchen opened the bottle, and a rich fragrance drifted out. There were two pills inside. He flicked one into Yue Qi’s mouth.

After waiting for a while, he bent down and pressed two fingers to Yue Qi’s neck, confirming that there was nothing abnormal before putting away the bottle. He warned him coldly, “If this is a fake—”

Yue Qi raised his left hand. “I, Yue Qi, swear upon my soul that this pill will definitely dispel the drug in Lou Yue’s body. If these words are false, may I be struck by heavenly lightning and have my soul annihilated.”

Only then did Xiao Rangchen leave, and the pressure weighing down on Yue Qi gradually dissipated.

Yue Qi gasped violently. Without even taking time to recover, he immediately climbed to his feet.

He had to leave Xuantian City at once and return to the Yue family in Qingzhou.

That pill truly was an antidote. He had not lied to Xiao Rangchen. But it was also a poison—a drug that combined poison and cure. It was called “Divine Bewitchment.”

The fragrance released by Divine Bewitchment was poisonous, while consuming the pill dispelled the poison.

From the moment Xiao Rangchen opened the bottle, he had already been poisoned by Divine Bewitchment.

Now, to verify whether the pill was genuine, he had made Yue Qi take one. The remaining pill was meant for Lou Yue, leaving Yue Qi without an antidote of his own.

Divine Bewitchment was an aphrodisiac. It was called Divine Bewitchment for two reasons. First, a person felt nothing immediately after being poisoned—not even a god could detect it. Second, when it took effect, it was said to strip even a god of his usual composure, leaving him enslaved to his body’s primal desires.

By chance, Yue Qi had obtained only three pills. He had already used one in the past to spend the night with someone, and he had no more.

If Divine Bewitchment took effect and Xiao Rangchen came looking for him, Yue Qi would certainly die.

He had no one to blame but himself for being suspicious and bringing this disaster upon himself.

Yue Qi’s heart turned cold. As for the Boundary-Locking Pearl in Lou Yue’s room, since Xiao Rangchen could destroy it, there was no need for him to retrieve it himself. Escaping with his life was what mattered now.

Xiao Rangchen had no idea that he had been afflicted by the Bewitchment.

He tucked the medicine bottle close to his body and pondered how to get Lou Yue to take the antidote. Given how firmly she kept him at arm’s length, she probably wouldn’t use anything he gave her.

By the time he returned to Baichuan Hall, dusk had fallen. More than a hundred spirit lamps floated upward from below, their warm light illuminating the dim sky.

Each spirit lamp bore the words “One lifetime, one devoted pair,” all written in the same elegant hand.

Xiao Rangchen indifferently looked away and headed toward the pavilion at the very back.

Along the way, quite a few people were watching the spirit lamps, and snatches of conversation drifted past his ears from time to time.

“That guy really is blessed with women.”

“Ugh, if I’d known, I would’ve gone up there too. What a loss.”

“She’s called Lou Yue, right? No wonder even the Liufeng clan’s saintess descended to the mortal world. If it were me, I’d say yes too.”

“I heard she’s from the Lou family’s direct line, no less.”

Xiao Rangchen’s footsteps slowly came to a halt.

“Her line about ‘Would you accompany me across a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, and see all the fireworks of the mortal world?’ was just too... I almost shouted out loud.”

“How come I never meet a man like that? Hmph!”

“Does this mean the Lou clan is going to marry into the Liufeng clan?”

“It’s not that simple. Do you think the Liufeng clan’s saintess is some ordinary daughter of a noble family?”

“I think it’ll happen sooner or later. The hundred spirit lamps Lou Yue lit for the saintess today, every single one bearing the words ‘One lifetime, one devoted pair,’ were enough to make her feelings clear. I’d even agree to let them get married right away—”

The speaker suddenly shivered and turned around in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I just suddenly felt cold. It’s kind of creepy. Come on, let’s go back.”

Xiao Rangchen walked past the two of them.

Though he had no desire to listen, words like “Lou Yue,” “saintess,” and “confession” continued to find their way into his ears in scattered fragments along the road.

One lifetime, one devoted pair...

Cross a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, and see all the fireworks of the mortal world...

Compared to her broad road and single-plank bridge, those words were even more searing and agonizing.

Suddenly, his gaze locked onto the path between the pavilions ahead.

Lou Yue had one hand resting against her forehead—Liufeng Xin’s hand. The two stood facing each other, their sleeves brushing together, their posture intimate.

Xiao Rangchen’s lips slowly pressed into a cold, rigid line.

Lou Yue hadn’t noticed him. She had set up a soundproof barrier and was chatting and laughing with Liufeng Xin.

“I think you look like some great shaman performing a ritual on television.”

Liufeng Xin erased the wound on Lou Yue’s forehead. As she withdrew her hand, she lightly flicked Lou Yue between the brows.

Lou Yue shot her an annoyed look. “Is this how you treat your benefactor?”

“Actually, I’m happy.” Liufeng Xin’s eyes blinked behind her veil. “I never expected your idea to be a confession.”

Lou Yue put on an exaggeratedly mournful expression. “Your saintess’s reputation is going to be ruined after this.”

“I’d be delighted if it were. I originally planned to run away. Hiding for as many days as I could would be fine—even dying out there would be better than returning to Langhua. But now, with you as a decoy, at least I don’t have to take the risk.”

“Hmm... If that really doesn’t work, we can elope. But we’ll have to wait a month.” That was the condition she had agreed to back when she obtained the Bu Yan Flower to save Xiao Rangchen.

“Let’s talk about it later. If we stay any longer, those two are going to burn holes through me.” Liufeng Xin gestured toward the two people standing in front of the pavilion, whose faces were nearly the same color as the grass.

“Will there be a problem?”

“Relax. They wouldn’t dare do anything to me. I’m still the saintess, after all. Though I’ll probably have to put on an affectionate family act with the clan head later.”

Lou Yue laughed at that. “Give me your message butterfly.”

She touched her message butterfly to Liufeng Xin’s. “Contact me right away if anything happens after you go back.”

“All right.”

Liufeng Xin lowered her hand and turned toward the pavilion where she was staying. Before entering, she glanced back at Lou Yue once more.

Lou Yue smiled and waved at her, her eyes carrying a reassuring calm.

Only after watching Liufeng Xin go inside did Lou Yue slowly make her way toward her own residence, planning her next steps.

She had just stepped onto the stairs leading to her floor when she stopped. Raising her head, she looked up—

Xiao Rangchen stood in the shadowed corner of the stairway, looking down at her.

Lou Yue laughed inwardly, not surprised in the least.

Last night, Xiao Rangchen had caught sight of the white moonlight he had fallen for at first sight “kissing” her, and had been so desperate to take her place that the tree reduced to dust was the best proof of it. During today’s contest, he had lost himself when he saw the split on her lips, surely assuming that the white moonlight had bitten her. And now he knew that she had confessed her feelings to his white moonlight—

He must be insanely jealous.

Jealousy was good. Jealousy meant she had the upper hand.

Neither of them had obtained their cheat abilities, so they were even.

He loved his white moonlight, but his white moonlight was intimately close with her, driving him mad with jealousy. Therefore, she had won.

Lou Yue folded her arms and lazily leaned against the white jade railing. Raising her brows, she glanced at him sidelong.

“You’re looking for me?”

Xiao Rangchen’s gaze was nailed to the corners of her lips, curved in a smile. His voice was cold and hard.

“You’re happy.”

Lou Yue nodded and admitted it openly. “I am.”

“...You really like her that much?”

“That much.”

Of course, this liking was not the same kind of liking he meant.

After a long silence, Xiao Rangchen spoke again.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“You’ve only met her a handful of times.”

Lou Yue brushed the loose strands of hair from her face. “Some people are destined to share an extraordinary bond with you, even if you meet them only once.” As the male lead with the fate of a Long Aotian, he should have understood that better than anyone. Otherwise, why would he be standing here now, “demanding an explanation” from her?

Xiao Rangchen’s dark lashes trembled in the night breeze.

“And how do you...” He swallowed the hoarseness in his throat and paused before continuing. “How do you know the two of you aren’t bound by ill fate?”

Lou Yue countered, “And how do you know we are?”

“Perhaps we are that devoted pair,” she said.

Xiao Rangchen gave a low, mocking laugh. She and Liufeng Xin were that pair, while he was merely an unwanted nuisance in the way.

He and she were the ones bound by ill fate. That was why she had forgotten him, because—

He was irrelevant.

----------------------

I’m kind of looking forward to the next chapter. I bet you are too!!

*rubs hands together excitedly.gif*