She stood on the mountain path and glanced back a few more times. In the end, she chose to return to the small building for now. She decided not to disturb him and let him calm down first.
On the way, her Messaging Mirror flickered. Li Yin received several Spirit Messages.
【Ji Lingyao】
Once she saw the sender’s name, the player paused to think. She recalled that this was a disciple from Azure Profound Sect whom she had added when she first joined the sect.
【Little Junior Sister Li, do you still remember me?】 After accepting the Spirit Message, a man’s voice came through, laced with a smile. His tone was clear and bright.
【Hidden Sword Mountain is opening soon. It’s a rare training opportunity. I wonder if Junior Sister has any plans. We could meet up there. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me. Azure Profound Sect and Myriad Beasts Sect have always been on good terms. I’ll answer any questions, so please don’t stand on ceremony…】
The man spoke evenly, neither rushed nor slow. His appearance floated into Li Yin’s mind along with his voice.
Especially those gray eyes—sharp and piercing. The man himself exuded a sharp, spirited air.
Li Yin listened for a moment before reacting.
Was this Ji Little Dao Lord inviting her to go out on an expedition together?
The player thought it over more carefully.
No, this guy might still suspect her. He could be trying to test her.
If not for his status, the player would actually be happy to give him a try. After all, a handsome and elegant young man had his own appeal.
Unfortunately, disciples from Azure Profound Sect were always especially sensitive to demonic cultivators. And he was Elder Shen’s disciple. No matter what, Li Yin wouldn’t lay a hand on him.
She had to be careful of food poisoning.
Sampling has risks; supplementation requires caution.
Li Yin silently recited this made-up proverb, and it had the effect of a heart-clearing incantation.
She wasn’t in a hurry to reply to the young man. Instead, she checked Senior Sister Xia’s messages first.
Xia Erruo was also talking about the opening of Hidden Sword Mountain. She asked if Li Yin wanted to join the fun and travel with fellow disciples for safety.
Li Yin agreed to Senior Sister Xia’s invitation. Considering the young man’s high cultivation, she politely explained the situation to him as well.
Xia Erruo asked: 【By the way, Little Junior Sister, did that demonic cultivator memorize your appearance? I’m worried there might be danger if you leave the sect.】
This question was simple enough.
【I can use a disguise, right?】
【There are so many disciples in Myriad Beasts Sect. That demonic cultivator can’t possibly recognize every single one or keep watch on who’s leaving the sect every day.】
【That’s true.】
With their plan settled, Jade Ecstasy Myriad Methods contained a disguise technique. But Li Yin ran into a problem again.
Her current cultivation was at the golden core stage. Spells required spiritual power to sustain them. Casting the disguise technique was easy, but maintaining it for long wouldn’t be. It was fine for emergencies.
The player turned and took stock of her assets.
If the disguise technique wouldn’t work, there were Disguise Treasures—but they cost money.
Fortunately, she had plenty of money in this save file. One Spirit Crystal was worth a hundred high-grade Spirit Stones. She had started with a thousand Spirit Crystals and had only spent a little so far.
Li Yin checked the departure time and calculated that she needed to visit the market before leaving to find a reliable Disguise Treasure.
With her plan set, she felt much more relaxed. She reviewed the game settings for Hidden Sword Mountain, and inevitably, her thoughts turned to its former owner—
Her childhood sweetheart, the Dragon Proud Heaven Junior Brother.
After her breakthrough and advancement, her past memories had become a bit clearer. She could recall more details now.
In the Hidden Sword Mountain save file, the player was a disciple of Hidden Sword Mountain with a master who taught her. The Little Junior Brother was the one her master had picked up.
Their first meeting, he was just a little beggar—dirty and disheveled. But his features were delicate, and his eyes were beautiful. The player had mistaken him for a Little Junior Sister and dragged him to the hot springs for a good scrubbing. Once he was clean, the situation turned awkward.
She couldn’t just throw away the Junior Brother she had mistaken for a girl. Boys change dramatically when they grow up.
The Little Junior Brother had exceptional talent in sword cultivation. As he grew older, his cultivation far outstripped hers, leaving her far behind.
“Childhood sweetheart Dragon Proud Heaven Junior Brother”—if the emphasis were on the front half, it might have been a sweet tale of two innocents growing up together for a happy ending.
But the emphasis was on the back half. What the player heard most from her bamboo horse Junior Brother weren’t sweet nothings, but Dragon Proud Heaven mockery.
Things like “If you’re trash, just practice more,” “No way, you can’t even do something this simple?” “Have you even been practicing your sword seriously all these years?” and so on.
Before the Bad End, the Dragon Proud Heaven Junior Brother went into secluded cultivation and said, “When I come out, my cultivation will be one step ahead of you again…”
In a daze, she recalled that the youth seemed to be smiling. When she glared at him, his eyes curved even more happily: “At that time, why don’t you just call me Senior Brother?”
His cultivation had long since surpassed the player’s. Not only did he refuse to call her Senior Sister, he even wanted to be her Senior Brother.
And to think, when he had first arrived at the sect, it was the player who had taken painstaking care of him.
Stimulated by the Dragon Proud Heaven and to defend her precarious Senior Sister dignity, the player boldly set out on an expedition. But in her haste for quick success, she ran into trouble along the way and was chased by demon beasts.
The game’s unfair mechanics piled on the misfortune for the already endangered player. The random escape success rate was too low. The player met with danger in the secret realm and died.
Li Yin mused that this time, it was her turn to go seek revenge.
And while she was at it, check on the status of her former capture target.
After all, the Little Junior Brother’s situation was different from Elder Shen’s.
The player remembered that during the Bad End, the Junior Brother’s favorability was still at 99.
So it made sense for him to consider himself her widower after her death.
Now he was the sect’s Sword Venerable with great accomplishment in cultivation. Since his feelings remained unchanged, he could tentatively be considered an old flame. She wondered if he would be willing to stoop to being her cauldron.
Li Yin thought some more.
She was now a demonic cultivator everyone wanted to beat on sight. She wasn’t sure if her former capture target could accept that.
As long as he didn’t draw his sword on her, anything was fine.
If the old flame truly had unwavering feelings and accepted her well, perhaps she could have a mighty cultivator as her cauldron—and protector.
Moreover, her Bad End save files boiled down to just two types of situations, and the capture targets fell into the same categories—
One batch where favorability dropped to 0 during the Bad End.
The other batch where favorability didn’t drop to 0.
The player sorted them into two control groups.
She had seen the performance of the first group. Now she decided to check the second group.
As she pondered, Li Yin returned to the small building. The moon had risen into the sky.
The moonlight was like silver, clear and cold as water. It flowed quietly among the eaves and rafters of the pavilion, casting a thin veil over everything, making it all incredibly soft.
At the very top, all the windows of the attic were open. A warm, glowing lamp hung from the eaves, waiting quietly for the night returner.
Li Yin merely glanced up, and she immediately froze in place.
Under the moonlight, an Azure Luan stood on the windowsill of the attic, its feathers shimmering with radiant light.
The jade-like man was there too.
His attire wasn’t his usual neat and proper style, nor was it the half-undressed look from their hot springs encounter. Now he wore a straight-collared cloak.
His ink-black hair was loose, draped behind him without restraint. A few strands were tugged by the evening breeze, swaying gently. Amid the casualness, he even exuded an inexplicable gentleness.
His eyes still didn’t seem able to see clearly. He placed food in his palm and let the Azure Luan lower its head to peck at it.
His slightly lowered brows and eyes seemed to sense her approach. He turned toward her direction following the sound.
For some reason, with her master lighting a lamp and waiting for her return, Li Yin inexplicably felt a bit guilty.
Immediately after, her master seemed to chuckle lightly at her. A small object appeared at his fingertips, and he handed it to the Azure Luan beside him.
At his command, the Azure Luan picked up the slender object in its beak, flew down to the girl, and gave it to her.
It felt like smooth jade in her hand. It turned out to be a Jade Orchid Hairpin.
But since it was a gift from her master, it was sure to have something special about it.
As Li Yin examined it carefully, her beautiful master walked over to her side with graceful steps, his robes swaying lightly. He spoke in a warm voice.
“It’s a treasure that can change your voice and appearance.” Yao Guanheng lowered his gaze, as if looking at the hairpin in her hand.
An Azure Luan delivering a gift, a hairpin as the token—it really wasn’t something that should happen between master and disciple.
Li Yin didn’t pick up on the implication. She noticed something else and asked, “Master, are your eyes better?”
Yao Guanheng’s ink-black eyes shifted. Then, he shook his head gently with a soft smile. “Not fully yet, but I can make out some shadows now.”
He suddenly asked, “Want to try putting it on now?”
Returning to the hairpin, Li Yin touched her hair.
Her attire was simple, with no accessories. She only used a satin ribbon to tie her braided hair in a neat style.
Seeing her hesitate, Yao Guanheng raised his hand. “Let me do it.”
And so Li Yin handed the hairpin to her master and let him handle it.
His vision was still unclear, so he inevitably drew a bit closer to his disciple.
Even though he had changed clothes, a faint tea fragrance still lingered between his lapels, subtly brushing onto her.
Li Yin quietly sniffed. The scent was very pleasant.
Her master moved carefully. His slender fingers combed through her hair for her, and finally, he gently twisted it up, slowly inserting the jade hairpin into her hair.
His actions were so gentle that Li Yin only felt the slightest tug.
Her master was different from others.
It was only natural for a master to take care of his disciple.
As he helped her arrange her hair, Yao Guanheng softly reminded her, “Although this treasure can change your voice and appearance, when you’re out of the sect with demonic cultivators causing trouble, using an alias is still a good choice.”
“Master, do you know divination?” Li Yin suddenly asked.
Yao Guanheng was puzzled. “Hm?”
“Otherwise, how did you know in advance that I was going out?”
Li Yin heard her master let out a soft laugh.
He explained patiently, unhurriedly, “Hidden Sword Mountain opening isn’t unusual, and it’s probably soon. I figured you’d need it.”
“Master is so good.”
As her words fell, Li Yin didn’t notice that her master behind her blanked out for a moment.
Personally tempting his disciple at the hot springs, personally giving her a hairpin, personally twisting her hair for her…
He had personally hinted to his disciple that this master could do even more.
This master could do even better.
Unfortunately, his little disciple—the Young Lord of Jade Ecstasy Palace—was too pure-minded and had no thoughts in that direction at all.
She happily thanked him. In the end, she returned to her quiet room to cultivate and rest, with no intention of dual cultivating with her master.
In the quiet room, the man spaced out for a moment. He gently pressed a hand to his lower abdomen. The Slave Brand in his dantian activated. His fingertips clenched, gripping the fabric over the slave mark tightly.
At this moment, he couldn’t tell if disappointment held the upper hand or regret was stronger.
Regret for reminding her that she could supplement demon cultivators. Even more regret for losing his mind and developing feelings for this little demonic cultivator of the Joyous Union Dao.
The affections of Joyous Union Dao female cultivators lingered endlessly—they were never content with just one person.
Beyond disappointment and regret, another emotion faintly churned in his heart without cease.
Why—
She had gone to supplement those two demon cultivators but wouldn’t supplement him.