"Have we t before... at the Yin Yang Sacred Land?"
Jiu tensed up unconsciously when she heard this. She swallowed hard, preparing to find an excuse to talk her way out of it.
But then a thought struck her. 'Wait... could this be an opportunity?'
She could just let Pei Yuhang expose her identity as a matter of course, and in doing so, complete the second step of the Holy Daughter's plan.
Jiu felt Pei Yuhang's scrutinizing gaze on her and could feel a single bead of sweat slowly form on her forehead.
'Am I about to be found out...?'
'I am Fan Xuan.'
At this mont, Jiu was filled with both apprehension and anticipation.
The apprehension stemd from the fact that once Pei Yuhang knew her identity, the Holy Daughter's plan would officially begin—and Jiu didn't want that day to co so soon...
The anticipation ca from her desperate desire to take off her mask and et Pei Yuhang with a smile.
'Pei Yuhang, the Fan Xuan you've been looking for all this ti is actually ~ I've been right here in front of you, you idiot!'
Torn by these conflicting emotions, she watched as Pei Yuhang's fingertips slowly reached for her mask. Like a bride waiting for her veil to be lifted, she gently closed her eyes.
"Never mind."
Pei Yuhang suddenly pulled back his hand. The breeze from his sleeve fluttered across Jiu's mask. "The past is but smoke and clouds."
"Even if we did et at the Yin Yang Sacred Land, it doesn't matter anymore. I shouldn't remain fixated on that chaotic past."
Jiu: "..."
'Pei Yuhang, you presumptuous bastard!!'
...
In the end, Pei Yuhang did not grant her unreasonable request to hold her in his arms for warmth.
He placed several Yang Fire Talismans on Jiu's body. Once most of the chilling toxin was dispelled, he coolly departed.
Inside the room, the candlelight flickered, making Jiu's shadow stretch and shrink.
She lay quietly on the bed for a long ti. Only after confirming that Pei Yuhang was truly gone did she slowly sit up.
Jiu reached out with slender fingers, tracing the chair where Pei Yuhang had just been sitting. The lingering warmth had already faded to cold, drawing a soft sigh from her lips.
'He's grown suspicious of .'
'After all, the flare-ups of this "chilling toxin" have been far too frequent. Even I think the excuse is laughably clumsy. It's only natural that Pei Yuhang would be suspicious.'
'It seems I can't use the chilling toxin as a pretext so often anymore. What other way can I get close to Pei Yuhang?'
Jiu couldn't help but feel troubled.
'The Holy Daughter ordered to seduce a man, but... I've never been trained for this.'
'The whole world would laugh if they heard. A great Female Cultivator from the esteed Yin Yang Sacred Land, and she doesn't even know how to flirt with a man.'
'Then again,' Jiu thought, 'even the Holy Daughter, a woman of natural, bone-deep allure who should be the best at seducing n, flirted for a lifeti and never managed to capture that White-clothed Sword Immortal. So my own inability to make a move is perhaps understandable.'
Jiu sighed. Wearing her Cloak of Nothingness, she quietly slipped out the door.
On the outskirts of the Cold Palace Sword Mansion, the night dew dampened the bluestone steps.
A mber of the Red Lotus Guard, codenad "Qi," had been waiting there for a long ti.
Upon seeing Jiu, she spoke, her voice filled with unconcealable delight.
"Jiu, the Holy Daughter was very pleased with the intelligence you provided last ti. Her Highness hasn't been this happy in a long ti."
Jiu nodded, having expected as much.
Before Lin Qianyan arrived at the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, the woman Pei Yuhang trusted most, aside from Ye Liyuan, was his senior sister, Lu Ruoxi.
But Lu Ruoxi was far from the prim and pure woman she appeared to be; that deeply scheming woman had been the Holy Daughter's arch-nesis back then.
So now, seeing her old rival forced to exit the stage in such a miserable and dejected state, the Holy Daughter would naturally be delighted.
"Jiu, because you provided such excellent intelligence, the Holy Daughter has decided to grant you more ti.
But you must still build a rapport with Pei Sword Immortal as quickly as possible. If necessary, you are even to 'accidentally' reveal your mask in front of Pei Yuhang...
Right now, you are the most crucial part of the Holy Daughter's plan. Her Highness even said that you are her last chance. You absolutely cannot fail this important mission!"
Qi's voice was stern and zealous. To her, being valued so highly by the Holy Daughter and entrusted with such a great responsibility was the ultimate honor!
But Jiu only nodded numbly.
"...Yes,"
she murmured, a complex emotion flickering in her eyes behind the mask.
For so reason, the honor she had always felt in serving the Holy Daughter had, in this mont, beco a noose tightening around her neck, leaving her breathless and suffocated.
Because the Holy Daughter's so-called plan was for her to completely beco Shang Miaoyan's shadow.
And Shang Miaoyan would assu her identity to stay by Pei Yuhang's side...
Jiu's heart was a ss of conflicting emotions.
Was she really willing to let herself beco a shadow, forever hidden from the light?
To watch the man she loved embrace and kiss the Holy Daughter who had stolen her identity?
...
...
「Ancestral God Pavilion, the seat of power of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.」
Several months later, Pei Yuhang had returned.
He rembered coming to the Ancestral God Pavilion a year ago. Back then, under the invisible, cultivation-suppressing field, he couldn't even manage Sword Flight.
Now, arriving with his Void Refining Cultivation, Pei Yuhang could still feel the powerful suppression, but he was now able to deploy his own Sword Dao Domain to resist the external pressure, allowing him to arrive before the Ancestral God Pavilion on his sword.
"Pei Yuhang, I knew I wasn't mistaken about you."
Before the Ancestral God Pavilion, Elder Xiao stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His salt-and-pepper goatee trembled slightly as he watched the handso White-clothed Sword Immortal descend from the sky, a flicker of pride in his deep eyes.
"After falling to the Nascent Soul realm, not only did you avoid despair, you instead tempered your Dao Heart and body, breaking through to Void Refining in one fell swoop. You are truly blessed by great fortune."
"It's just a sha you never took a liking to any of the won I introduced. Otherwise, you could've given a grandson just as outstanding as yourself by now."
"..."
Pei Yuhang chose to ignore the last sentence. Looking at Elder Xiao, he couldn't help but feel a swell of emotion himself.
In the past, when he ca to see Elder Xiao, he would be received by a maid, and the Elder himself would only send an incarnation to et with him.
But now that he had broken through to Void Refining, Elder Xiao was here in person to greet him!
However, Pei Yuhang didn't let Elder Xiao's affable attitude make him arrogant or complacent.
He bowed to Elder Xiao and said softly, "Thank you, Elder Xiao, for being willing to grant one of the spots for the Bone Marrow Cleansing Spring to my Dao Companion.
My breakthrough to Void Refining is also thanks in no small part to you, Elder."
Upon hearing this, Elder Xiao happily stroked his goatee, his gaze toward Pei Yuhang filled with even greater admiration.
Then, his expression grew serious.
"Pei Yuhang, I've called you here because the Sect has an important escort mission for you."
"Escort what?"
Pei Yuhang asked, curious. 'What kind of escort mission would make a Great Power of the Mahayana Stage like Elder Xiao look so grim?'
"A Dragon Corpse."
"The very one you subdued on Tree Sea Dragon Island."
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