【Main Story Extra】
Luo Luo and Li Zhaoye rushed to the Qingnv Hall with the Qingshan Inkstone (ink box) in hand.
"Hurry, hurry!" As they passed the training grounds, she waved to the others. "We’ve got offerings—let’s steal Qingnv Wushuang and summon the sword spirit!"
The others laughed knowingly. "Little Junior Sister just wants roasted chicken again."
Luo Luo: "...I’m serious!"
They humored her: "Sure, sure."
Who didn’t know these two were like foxes eyeing the henhouse? Every time offerings were made, the wings and drumsticks always ended up in their hands.
Amid the banter, the group prepared roasted chicken and fine wine. Xu Junlan sneaked into the secluded meditation area and furtively stole the sword.
"Your sister’s still asleep, right?" Zhao Yu asked.
Xu Junlan waved a hand. "She won’t wake for a while yet."
The group cheered and laid out a lavish spread of offerings (mostly delicious food).
Luo Luo: "Hey, wait—"
There was no space left for the inkstone!
Li Zhaoye chuckled, swiping a plate of peanuts to make room.
Luo Luo: "..."
The ancient divine artifact, the Qingshan Inkstone, was now squeezed pitifully between plates of food.
Li Zhaoye crunched on peanuts and grinned. "It’s just another dish!"
The group began the sword-offering ritual.
Zhao Yu: "Elder Master, how’s the flavor today? Not great? Don’t worry, I’ll taste-test for you so we can improve next time!"
Bai Yi: "Elder Master, you’d better wake up soon! My master’s forging some ‘Nine Nether Hammer’ to smash your sword—it’s terrifying, I tell you!"
Xu Junlan: "Master, my sister misses you."
Luo Luo: "..."
What kind of nonsense was this?
She clasped her hands solemnly. "Elder Master Lingxue, see this inkstone? It’s the one that harmed the old sect leader Qin Wuyi. Punish it!"
After the ritual, nothing happened.
Used to this outcome, the group waited until dusk when the incense burned out, then promptly moved the offerings off the altar and sat cross-legged in front of it, feasting.
Senior Sister Nangong said, "Today’s meat is from a flying luan. We raised the egg we ‘borrowed’ from the Heavenly Dao Sect last time."
The group rejoiced. "No wonder it’s so crispy and fragrant!"
Luo Luo reached out. "Wine! Give me some wine!"
Zhao Yu tossed a wine jar from the other side.
"Whoosh!"
Li Zhaoye caught it one-handed, about to pass it to Luo Luo, when his eyes suddenly narrowed.
The others also sensed it—why was the room getting colder?
Trembling, they turned and saw a figure materialized from spiritual energy standing by the altar.
Cold as ice, piercing as frost, her expression was stern.
The sword spirit’s gaze swept across the hall, landing on the group and the chicken clutched in their hands.
"Staying out late, drinking and carousing—what disgraceful behavior!"
The temperature dropped further, thin frost creeping over the wooden surfaces.
Eyes wide, mouths agape, the group froze.
Zhao Yu’s chicken butt fell to the floor with a plop.
"E-E-Elder Master?! It’s really her! Elder Master’s back!"
Xu Junlan instinctively hid her chicken in her sleeve. "Master..."
The oppressive chill intensified.
The sword spirit seethed. "Who gave you permission to disregard sect rules like this?"
The group shrank under her glare.
Luo Luo blurted out, "The sect leader! The current sect leader never said no—she even joined us!"
The others nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, yes!"
Better to sacrifice someone else than themselves!
The sword spirit’s icy eyes narrowed.
At that moment, Xu Junzhu stepped into the hall, fresh from her secluded cultivation—and came face-to-face with her master’s terrifying aura.
Xu Junzhu: "..."
For the first time, she learned it was possible to be both sweating bullets and overjoyed at the same time.
"Master? Master!"
To celebrate Lingxue’s return, Xu Junzhu braved her master’s wrath and threw a banquet. The group drank themselves silly.
Back in their loft, Li Zhaoye pinned Luo Luo to the bed, using drunkenness as an excuse to misbehave.
Teasing her heartbeat wasn’t enough—he bit her.
"Ah!"
She trembled under his teeth like a dewdrop clinging to a petal.
He pressed closer.
Reckless, unrestrained.
Luo Luo lay breathless against the pillows, her pulse erratic, until his teeth loosened and his lips brushed her ear.
Breath heavy, voice rough.
He began spouting nonsense: "Notice how when I bite you, you bite me back?"
Luo Luo: "..."
He chuckled. "If you don’t want me to bite, then tighten around me yourself."
Luo Luo: "..."
She tried to hit him but accidentally knocked down the bed curtains instead.
Now she was truly trapped.
Li Zhaoye learned fast.
His skills grew dangerously refined—much to Luo Luo’s suffering.
She felt like a fish stranded on shore, tossed between life and death, over and over.
The shameless rogue kept whispering filthy praise in her ear, demanding responses to every word.
Now that he had all the time in the world, he took his sweet time with her.
"Li Zhaoye... I really can’t..."
Eyes glazed, Luo Luo panted, her cheeks flushed crimson.
Li Zhaoye adored her like this.
Preening, he kissed her fiercely, nipped her ear, and murmured obscene compliments.
Gasping, Luo Luo’s petal-soft lips brushed his cheek, grazed the corner of his mouth, trailed along his sharp jawline—
Then, catching him off guard, she sank her teeth into his Adam’s apple.
"Ah!"
While he’d studied her, she’d quietly learned his weak spots too.
Her teeth teased him just enough.
Li Zhaoye tensed, gritting his teeth, trying to hold out—until she bit him again.
"Ah—!"
Laughing through clenched teeth, he crushed her against him, pouring out his frenzy as she unraveled him.
Luo Luo never left the bed.
Li Zhaoye recovered alarmingly fast. The moment she rehung the curtains, a large hand clamped around her ankle.
Luo Luo: "..."
This time, he kept her mouth occupied—either kissing her or biting her lips—
No more attacks on his throat.
Day and night blurred together.
Finally, Luo Luo couldn’t take it. Blushing, she whispered all the sweet nothings he loved until he was thoroughly appeased.
Li Zhaoye: "Really can’t go on?"
Luo Luo: "Really."
He finally released her.
Pulling her close, he asked, "Want me to bathe you?"
Luo Luo shook her head vehemently.
She knew this rogue too well—change locations, and he’d start all over again.
"Fine." Li Zhaoye stroked her hair, sighing. "Luo Luo, do you know how close you came to losing me?"
Luo Luo looked up. "Hmm?"
He narrowed his eyes. "The wormhole warped spacetime. That old sage’s world was millions of light-years from ours."
Luo Luo frowned. "How can distance be measured in years?"
Li Zhaoye patiently explained: "A light-year is how far light travels in one year."
"Oh—" Her eyes widened. "That’s really, really, really far!"
Even her teleportation couldn’t outpace light.
Li Zhaoye added, "If I’d drifted half an inch closer, it would’ve been tens of thousands of years."
Luo Luo’s heart skipped a beat. "That was close."
"Indeed," he said. "Imagine if we couldn’t see each other for tens of thousands of years..."
Luo Luo instinctively tightened her arms around him, burying her face against his chest.
Li Zhaoye’s lips curled into a pleased smile.
"Wait," Luo Luo suddenly remembered something. "The sage’s world is so far from ours. By the time he returns there, wouldn’t countless millennia have passed?"
"Correct."
Luo Luo sucked in a sharp breath. "I wonder what happened to that world?"
That world had once been under the sage’s protection.
But when the sage neared his end, he did one last thing for it—crossed through a wormhole to eradicate the source of chaos.
Yet in doing so, that world lost its Divine Sanctuary.
Those who had grown accustomed to his protection, those who had greedily hurled rotten vegetables and eggs at him, were suddenly left exposed to the claws of demons.
Li Zhaoye lowered his gaze to her. "Take a guess."
Luo Luo hesitated. "Did demons take over the world?"
Li Zhaoye nodded. "Right. And then?"
Then?
Luo Luo racked her brain. "The survivors hid... in caves and underground?"
"Clever!" Li Zhaoye praised. "And after that?"
After that?
Luo Luo couldn’t think further. She turned the question back on him. "How do you know? Did you contact the sage?"
Li Zhaoye clicked his tongue.
He looked displeased. "Luo Luo, why aren’t you being slow-witted when you should be?"
Realizing she’d guessed right, Luo Luo grinned. "Tell me!"
Li Zhaoye scowled. "The old sage attained enlightenment. He became that world’s Heavenly Dao."
Luo Luo gasped. "Wow!"
Li Zhaoye sighed. "I’m his blood kin. The Heavenly Dao’s bloodline transcends time and space. He let me ‘see’ his world."
Luo Luo felt a shiver run down her spine. "Across tens of millions of light-years... that’s incredible."
Wait.
She hadn’t even asked about that world yet. Instead, she blurted, "Wasn’t the Divine Lord the sage’s apocalyptic obsession? So he really is your relative?"
Li Zhaoye gave a half-hearted nod. "Before dying, that old fool expelled his obsession from his body and sealed it away, entrusting it to mortals."
Luo Luo knew this part. "Thus, the Divine Palace was born."
Li Zhaoye continued, "One generation of guardians coveted its power and stole it—only to fail in harnessing it and instead have their minds consumed by the obsession."
Luo Luo sighed. "...turning themselves into a cursed bloodline passed down through generations."
Greed had a way of making people foolish.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected.
"That world," Li Zhaoye’s gaze pierced through the void, as if staring into an unfathomable distance, "was ruled by demons for countless millennia, until—"
His lips curled into a cold smile. He splayed his fingers before her. "Boom!"
"An earth-shattering explosion wiped them out."
Luo Luo stared blankly. "Then... humanity perished too? The sage returned to a lifeless wasteland?"
"Not quite."
"Huh?"
"After tens of millions of years, humanity rose again. That world no longer had spiritual energy, but..." Li Zhaoye smirked, "people seemed to be doing just fine."
Luo Luo blinked in surprise. "Oh?"
Li Zhaoye explained, "Seeing humanity stand on its own, the old sage finally realized that excessive interference and protection were acts of indulgence. Without him, humanity endured hardships and still rose—relying on their own strength to stand tall in the world, becoming an indispensable link in the chain of life."
Luo Luo’s eyes shimmered. "The Heavenly Dao is impartial; it treats all beings as straw dogs."
"Exactly," Li Zhaoye chuckled. "He attained true enlightenment and became the Heavenly Dao."
A profound emotion stirred in Luo Luo’s heart.
"And the demons?"
"The demons," Li Zhaoye’s expression turned faintly amused, "their bones lay buried deep in the earth for eons, turning to fossils. The people there call them... dinosaurs?"
Luo Luo was awestruck.
She let out a soft, dazed laugh. "Humanity... is so resilient. Always capable of unleashing boundless potential."
"Well said!" Li Zhaoye clapped for her. "So..."
Luo Luo tilted her head. "So?"
"Come, see my potential too!"
"?!"
The bed curtains fell, enveloping them in warmth and fragrance.
[The End]
