This matter concerned a man’s most important dignity. Li Zhaoye turned it over in his mind, growing increasingly unsettled.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he hadn’t made things clear enough for her.
Pinning Luo Luo against the wooden wall, he braced a hand beside her ear and leaned in, fixing her with a stare. "Did you actually listen to what I just said?"
Luo Luo nodded obediently. "Mm."
"Repeat it back to me," he demanded.
Luo Luo complied dutifully. "You forced Senior Sister Xu out of the illusion to help her grasp the sensation of reaching the Divine Transformation stage—and it definitely wasn’t just to get rid of her so you could sleep with me."
Li Zhaoye narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Are you mocking me?"
Luo Luo looked utterly wronged. "Not at all!"
He studied her with a dark, suspicious gaze before explaining seriously, "Xu Junzhu has never experienced the unity of body and spirit at the Divine Transformation stage, so she couldn’t conjure that feeling in the illusion. Understand?"
Luo Luo nodded. "Understood."
He drove the point home again, sternly. "By the same logic, if you’ve never slept with someone, you wouldn’t have any frame of reference for it in an illusion either."
Luo Luo nodded once more. "Mm, I get it."
He kept his eyes locked on her.
She looked perfectly docile, but his instincts told him she wasn’t being entirely honest.
In a sudden move, he pressed a hand to her head and summoned Changtian, forcing the sword into her spiritual sea.
Caught off guard, Luo Luo couldn’t shield her thoughts in time.
A flood of unfiltered mental noise assaulted Li Zhaoye—
'Even if you’ve slept with someone, it doesn’t guarantee you’d know how it feels!'
'He has zero technique! Absolutely none!'
'I might not know either, but it definitely shouldn’t be like that!'
'All he knows how to do is thrust like a brute!'
Li Zhaoye stared at her as if seeing a ghost, his pupils shaking violently.
Luo Luo froze, realization dawning a beat too late. "…"
Oh no.
Her mind buzzed chaotically as she scrambled for damage control: But… but… it still felt pretty good, hahaha.
Li Zhaoye: "Hahaha?"
Luo Luo: "Hahaha."
He smirked. "Oh, just you wait."
Luo Luo: "…"
She swiftly formed a hand seal and ejected Changtian from her spiritual sea.
Li Zhaoye snorted coldly and shoved it right back in.
She ejected; he reinserted.
Clang—clang—clang—clang!
Pinning the sword firmly in her spiritual sea, he grinned. "So what if I have no technique? With a weapon this size, I’ll pound you senseless either way!"
Luo Luo: "…"
How can he be this shameless?
The crude words inevitably conjured vivid, inappropriate images in her mind.
That time in the hot springs, when he’d pinned her hands down…
The sheer size of him…
If he really went at her like he had under the pear blossom tree, she’d probably—
Her flustered thoughts skidded to a halt as a sudden realization struck.
Wait a minute.
Her eyes widened accusingly. "You…"
Li Zhaoye raised a brow. "Me what?"
Having overheard every one of her mental protests, he was barely suppressing a smirk.
"Go on," he urged, voice low and rough.
All Luo Luo could picture now were his dark, burning eyes—eyes that had looked anything but unaffected beneath the pear blossoms.
"You said if you’ve never done it, you wouldn’t know how it feels!" she accused. "So why did you seem to know exactly what you were doing?!"
Li Zhaoye: "…"
Wait, hold on—what is she even saying?
Luo Luo fumed. "Don’t even try to deny it! You looked like you were having the time of your life!"
Li Zhaoye laughed incredulously. "Well, of course I’d enjoy it with you—"
Luo Luo cut him off. "Then where did you get the experience?!"
Li Zhaoye: "What? You think I’ve been with someone else?"
Luo Luo: "Then how could you possibly know what to do?!"
Li Zhaoye: "…"
"Look," he said, flustered now, "it’s not like I felt that much either."
Sure, kissing her, touching her, had set him on fire.
That first thrust had been mind-numbingly satisfying.
Her face, her scent—he could never get enough.
But.
Once they got into the rhythm, something had felt… off.
At the time, he’d been too consumed by the need to claim her, too busy driving into her to stop and think.
Now, though, the discrepancy was impossible to ignore.
Her body was intoxicatingly sweet—just brushing against her left his hands fragrant, as if dipped in honey.
Yet inside, she’d felt… oddly rigid. Even a little rough in places.
That texture, that familiarity—
A bolt of clarity struck Li Zhaoye like lightning.
His lips twitched as he stared down at his own hand.
That "experience" had almost certainly come from… certain solitary sessions under the waterfall, where he’d taken matters into his own hands while thinking of her.
Boom!
A blast of frostfire erupted outside the window.
While the two of them were still tangled in their argument, Xu Junzhu had begun her breakthrough to the Divine Transformation stage.
Li Zhaoye patted Luo Luo’s head. "Duty calls. Let’s focus on guarding her for now—we’ll settle this later."
Luo Luo glared.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, her mental voice deafening: Stalling tactic! Stalling tactic! Stalling tactic!
Li Zhaoye: "…"
How could he possibly explain this?
Luo Luo turned her head away, steadied her mind, and focused on guarding Xu Junzhu as he cultivated.
A vast, surging wave of frost spiritual power churned violently, accompanied by the crisp, continuous sounds of tinkling and cracking.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Junzhu's body froze into ice.
Seated beneath the window, he became as transparent as glass.
Within his meridians, frostfire flickered like a hidden river flowing beneath the icy surface of winter.
The undercurrents circulated through his body, rushing toward his dantian over and over. Inside his dantian, his Nascent Soul gradually transformed into frost.
Suddenly, Luo Luo sensed something.
She handed over the task of guarding to Li Zhaoye, formed a hand seal, and with a thought, her fire Nascent Soul roared to life, bursting into flames—vaguely resonating with Xu Junzhu.
Sensing the explosive flames so close, the frost Nascent Soul refused to be outdone, unleashing a powerful surge of icy intent.
"Boom!"
No spiritual power left their bodies—only the clash of fire and frost erupted violently within the pavilion.
An invisible shockwave rippled outward in all directions.
Yet, not a single furnishing in the pavilion so much as trembled. Even the open pages of an old book didn’t flutter.
The air became densely filled with ice and fire.
The opposing forces slowly revolved around the two, making the pavilion appear from afar as if it were filled with dazzling fireflies—
Now red, now blue.
Luo Luo guided him all the way.
Then, in an instant—a distant, crystalline shattering sound rang out.
Frostfire surged into the dantian, shattering the Nascent Soul into countless fragments.
The Nascent Soul vanished—as if his cultivation had dispersed.
This was the most dangerous, most critical moment.
Luo Luo’s cultivation was far from ready to attempt the Divine Transformation stage. Unable to follow Xu Junzhu in dispersing her Nascent Soul, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
'Senior Sister, I have to pull back.'
Just as she prepared to withdraw, a hand suddenly pressed against her dantian.
Li Zhaoye’s steady voice sounded beside her ear: "Keep going. Push forward."
His tone was calm—almost cold.
Luo Luo’s heart skipped a beat.
How familiar this scene was—back in the Yu Fusheng illusion, this was exactly how she had dealt with Chen Xuanyi.
Outside the pavilion, Zhao Yu abruptly grabbed Bai Yi.
"Not-Yang Shixiong, wait!"
Bai Yi turned, his gaze full of resentment: "What did you call me?"
Zhao Yu: "..."
He scratched his head awkwardly, forcing an embarrassed laugh. "Uh, it’s all Luo Luo’s fault! She keeps calling you that, and now I’ve picked it up too! Of course you’re not Not-Yang, you’re..."
He suddenly blanked.
Staring wide-eyed at each other, Zhao Yu’s eyelid twitched: "Shixiong, what’s your surname again? I can’t remember either."
Bai Yi: "..."
Bai Yi sighed. "Alright, alright, we’ve got urgent matters—why did you grab me?"
Zhao Yu jerked his chin toward the pavilion. "Look at that spectacle of ice and fire. They must be breaking through right now. If we barge in and disrupt them, aren’t you afraid they’ll suffer qi deviation?"
Bai Yi took a closer look and couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
"Terrible timing!" Anxiety flickered across his face. "But Xu Junlan and the others..."
"Maybe we should wait a bit?" Zhao Yu was torn. "I’ve never heard of a soul-severing sickness being contagious. Maybe they’re just exhausted from training today? They might’ve woken up by now?"
Even he didn’t believe his own words.
Xu Junlan had collapsed without warning while walking, completely unresponsive. Worse, anyone who got close to her soon fell unconscious too.
Even Fuling Shishu, well-versed in medicine, had been affected—midway through taking her pulse, he’d thudded to the floor.
Realizing the severity, Zhao Yu and Bai Yi had rushed to seek help from the seniors.
Who knew they’d run into another critical moment?
As they hesitated, a streak of sword light shot toward them.
"Disaster!" A voice shouted from afar. "Disaster has struck—the Divine Palace is attacking!"
Zhao Yu and Bai Yi exchanged glances, both inhaling sharply.
This was what they called misfortunes never coming singly!
"Whoosh!"
The sword light halted nearby, and a flustered junior disciple leapt off. "Why are you standing around? Call for help!"
"Ugh—" Zhao Yu winced as if in physical pain. "Wait, just wait."
He grabbed the disciple’s sleeve—and caught a faint whiff of peach blossom fragrance.
The junior urged, "What’s there to wait for?"
Zhao Yu blinked hard, his head growing heavy. "They’re... cultivating... I feel... so... drowsy..."
Staggering a few steps, he collapsed with a thud.
Bai Yi’s pupils trembled.
"Shing!" His sword left its sheath, pointing at the newcomer.
His grip shook slightly—his mind was swimming.
"You—"
In his blurred, swaying vision, the suspicious junior disciple collapsed before he did.
"Bai Shixiong..." The junior struggled to keep his eyes open, his gaze rapidly dimming. "What kind of... hypnotic sword technique... is this...?"
Bai Yi’s expression twisted with alarm. Gritting his teeth, he bit his tongue hard, forcing a sliver of clarity.
Stumbling, he lunged toward the pavilion.
With a mouthful of the metallic tang of blood, he hurled his sword with a forceful thud as it embedded itself into the wooden door of the pavilion.
"Be... be careful..." Bai Yi rasped, his voice weak and muddled. "S-something's wrong!"
"Creak—"
The two black wooden doors swung open, revealing the tall, slender figure of Li Zhaoye standing in the doorway.
Under the glow of the lanterns, Bai Yi's dazed eyes caught sight of a swirling pink mist—like peach blossoms—rapidly spreading toward the pavilion.
He struggled to lift his hand. "Watch out! The Divine Palace, and... the Soul... Snatcher..."
"Thud!"
Bai Yi collapsed to the ground.
In his haze, Bai Yi heard a cacophony of chaotic voices.
Fragments of words like "Little Junior Sister" and "Eldest Senior Brother" drifted into his awareness.
Groggily, he opened his eyes and found himself standing on the mountain path of his sect. Not far away, Zhao Yu rubbed his forehead, blinking in confusion as he stared back at him.
Their eyes met, and an unsettling feeling crept over them—as if they had forgotten something important.
Zhao Yu shuffled closer. "Uh..."
Bai Yi instinctively replied, "My surname is Bai."
Zhao Yu frowned. "Since when do I not know Senior Brother Bai's name?"
Bai Yi: "Weren’t you just copying Little Junior Sister’s nonsense?"
Zhao Yu froze, scratching his head. "When did I ever call you names like Little Junior Sister?"
Their gazes locked, both lost in the same disorientation.
Around them, disciples hurried past, but Zhao Yu and Bai Yi stood motionless, feeling like outsiders in their own sect.
"What’s going on?"
"I heard someone say... Little Junior Sister drugged Eldest Senior Brother?"
"Why would Little Junior Sister drug him?"
"Beats me."
Time seemed to warp, leaving them adrift in a dreamlike stupor.
"Void Nightmare."
Li Zhaoye stood atop the steps, his lips curling into a frosty smile.
The moment the Divine Palace struck, Qing Xu made his move.
Turning back into the pavilion, he found Xu Junzhu just finishing her meditation, exhaling a wisp of icy breath.
"Phew—what happened?" Her instincts were razor-sharp.
"Someone is working for Qing Xu," Li Zhaoye said without wasting a word. "Find them. Kill them."
Xu Junzhu’s eyes sharpened. "Understood."
In a flash, her body and spirit merged, dissolving into frost as she vanished.
She had mastered the Divine Transformation realm.
Li Zhaoye’s gaze lowered to Luo Luo.
She hadn’t yet reached the Divine Transformation stage where body and soul unite. He had been guiding her breakthrough when her spirit was seized by the peach mist and dragged into the Void Nightmare.
Now she lay limp on the window seat, her brow slightly furrowed, trapped in some dark dream.
Clearly, she was Qing Xu’s primary target.
After a brief pause, Li Zhaoye summoned the Nether Maiden and forced it to take a bite of his own mind.
He then pressed a finger lightly to Luo Luo’s nose.
"If you trust this Sage, then I’ll trust you once too."
Crushing the Phantom Soul Jade, he fused it with a fragment of the Sage’s memories and pressed it into Luo Luo’s forehead—letting the remnants of the Sage’s soul clash with Qing Xu’s nightmare technique.
"I’ll deal with the Divine Palace first. Then I’ll come for you."
Luo Luo slept fitfully.
In her haze, she felt an icy gaze roaming over her, lingering like a shadow.
She tried to open her eyes, but her lids were unbearably heavy.
The air was thick with incense—overpowering, cloying—a mix of agarwood and white peach blossoms.
Before her consciousness slipped away, she faintly recalled a calm, steady voice speaking to her.
—Push forward. Keep going.
Wasn’t that what she had said to Chen Xuanyi?
Luo Luo’s mind sharpened, and the presence of that scrutinizing gaze grew even more oppressive.
Someone was laughing softly, the sound drifting in and out like a whisper.
Gritting her teeth, she gathered her strength—then, in one swift motion, forced her eyes open.
The world swayed slightly before her.
She saw the deep indigo canopy of a bed, the obsidian-dark ceiling above.
This was a place she would never forget, even in her nightmares—the Hall of Heart’s Trial.
A storm of emotions surged within her, complex and violent, but when she tried to grasp them, they dissolved like reflections on water.
Her gaze shifted, and she finally saw the figure standing at her bedside, grinning down at her.
Chen Xuanyi.
Wearing Li Zhaoye’s face.
From behind Chen Xuanyi, another figure stepped forward.
Luo Luo frowned. "..."
Qing Xu smiled warmly. "Laughing so much—did you have a pleasant dream?"
Luo Luo stared at him, dazed.
He stepped past Chen Xuanyi, approaching the bed, his wide sleeves parting as a pale, jade-like hand reached out.
Those cool fingers pressed against her forehead.
Instinctively, Luo Luo tried to turn away, but her body refused to move.
"Did you dream of Li Zhaoye?" Qing Xu’s voice was gentle. "Ah, you’ve suffered too much. You coughed up so much blood, your soul itself grew unstable. As your master, it pained me to see you like this, so I lit some incense to help you sleep—to give you sweet dreams."
Luo Luo pressed her lips together, watching him warily.
Her mind was foggy. Something felt wrong, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.
Her memories were tangled. She vividly recalled striking Chen Xuanyi down in the Yu Fusheng Illusion, then learning that her master was the true murderer behind Li Zhaoye’s death.
But after that... her thoughts unraveled into chaos.
She seemed to have dreamed a long, beautiful dream—one where she had been with Li Zhaoye the entire time.
"I…" She furrowed her brows, unable to recall anything.
"Don’t tell me," Qing Xu’s voice was laced with mockery, "you dreamed that Li Zhaoye came back to life, that you avenged him, that you exposed your master’s true nature?"
Behind him, Chen Xuanyi lowered his head and let out a soft, eerie chuckle. Every now and then, he lifted his gaze to look at her, his eyes venomous, sending chills down her spine.
Qing Xu asked, "Now, little pheasant, are you fully awake?"
Luo Luo finally turned her head away, shaking off Qing Xu’s hand from her forehead.
"Get away from me," she said hoarsely.
"Heh…" Qing Xu laughed in delight. "Me, get away? Are you sure? He’s been waiting for me to leave for a long time now."
Chen Xuanyi’s lips curled into a sinister smile, his gaze both icy and feverishly dark.
Luo Luo’s breath hitched.
She remembered—back at the foot of the Reflection Cliff, Chen Xuanyi had told her that her "good days" were far from over.
Now, the aura he gave off was even worse.
Being stared at by him felt like being watched by a malevolent ghost or a corpse.
"Little pheasant, no one can save you," Qing Xu said with a smile. "Except me. Beg me, and I won’t let him touch you. Otherwise…"
Luo Luo’s teeth chattered faintly.
Beneath the covers, her chest involuntarily spasmed.
She felt this wasn’t how things should be. But… how should they be?
"Let him touch me," she said, word by word. "He’s using Li Zhaoye’s body. What do I have to fear?"
"Oh!" Qing Xu laughed. "That’s true. With Li Zhaoye gone, his body must be some consolation for you, hm?"
Luo Luo forced herself to remain composed. "Yes."
Qing Xu’s eyes curved in amusement. "Fine, then. You two may… consummate your union!"
Luo Luo froze.
Qing Xu burst into laughter, doubling over as if he couldn’t stand straight.
He slapped his thigh, grinning. "Your little act is truly pathetic. You’ve gone pale with fear—how pitiful."
He stood up, pretending to leave.
After two steps, he turned his head slightly to smirk at her. "Still not going to beg me?"
Chen Xuanyi was like his puppet—the moment Qing Xu stepped back, Chen Xuanyi leaned in closer.
Luo Luo subtly formed a sword seal, causing her blade, Autumn Water, to hum with vibration.
Qing Xu suddenly smiled.
In an instant, Luo Luo’s spiritual energy vanished. She could no longer sense her bonded sword at all.
Her pupils trembled in disbelief.
The candlelight in the hall illuminated Qing Xu, casting his shadow over everything, as if the entire world lay within his grasp.
Chen Xuanyi drew even nearer.
He reached out and gripped her chin—his fingers icy and stiff, like those of a corpse.
Luo Luo felt trapped in a nightmare, her body pinned by an invisible force, suffocating her completely.
Chen Xuanyi sneered as he loomed closer. "Didn’t you call me a castrated rooster? Tonight, I’ll show you…"
Luo Luo’s gaze shifted past him, fixing solely on Qing Xu, who stood at the center of the hall.
He smiled at her. "Beg me. Beg me properly. If you don’t speak now, you’ll lose your chance."
He made no effort to hide the cold malice in his words.
"I’ve never wronged you," Luo Luo murmured dazedly. "You played me like a fool. I trusted you completely—believed you knew nothing, believed you’d help Li Zhaoye seek justice… Why do you hate me? What have I ever done to you?"
Qing Xu’s eyes darkened.
Slowly, very slowly, his lips curved into a smile—his handsome face now wearing a mask of false amusement.
"Of course you’ve never wronged me," Qing Xu repeated with a laugh. "Of course not, little pheasant. What power do you have to ever wrong me?"
Luo Luo shook her head hard.
Her mind felt clouded, as if wrapped in thick fog.
What had she ever done… to hurt him, to betray him?
Chen Xuanyi had already bent down, his cold, foul breath brushing her cheek, raising goosebumps.
"Ah!" Qing Xu laughed cheerfully. "Seems you won’t beg me after all. What a shame."
Chen Xuanyi blocked the light, leaving her only able to see the slight upward tilt of Qing Xu’s lips.
"What a shame," he murmured. "Why must you be so stubborn? If only you’d begged me…"
That faint smile faded. "If you’d begged me, I could have enjoyed watching hope turn to disappointment, then despair."
Even if she had pleaded, he wouldn’t have stopped Chen Xuanyi.
Only by watching her fall from hope to despair could his fury be slightly appeased.
"Enjoy your night."
With a flick of his sleeve, Qing Xu left the chamber, leaving everything that followed to the corpse-like Chen Xuanyi.
He would gift her an eternal nightmare.
The light vanished completely from Luo Luo’s vision.
Chen Xuanyi leaned in close, sniffing her like a beast, his hand closing around her throat.
"You—what are you doing?!"
At the critical moment, a startled scream suddenly exploded like a detonation.
A series of hurried footsteps approached, and a delicate woman’s hand grabbed Chen Xuanyi’s shoulder, yanking him backward with all her strength.
Light abruptly poured in, forcing Luo Luo to squint.
The intruder was Gu Meng.
“Brother Li?!” Gu Meng stared at Chen Xuanyi in disbelief, her eyes instantly reddening as crystalline tears welled up like pearls. “How could you—how could you do this?! How could you?!”
She clutched his collar, her fists pounding relentlessly against his chest.
Chen Xuanyi swayed under her assault.
He seemed dazed, his head slightly lowered, letting Gu Meng tear into him without resistance.
“She drugged you, didn’t she?!” Gu Meng sobbed accusingly. “You didn’t mean to, right?! Say something! Explain yourself! Why won’t you say anything?!”
Chen Xuanyi staggered back step by step under her pushes.
Panting heavily, Gu Meng finally shoved him away with force.
She then whirled around, her gaze dark with hatred as it locked onto Luo Luo. “You—you’re shameless! He clearly doesn’t like you, yet you keep clinging to him, stirring up drama! How could you do something like this?!”
Luo Luo asked, “Aren’t you going to hit me?”
Gu Meng froze, her eyes flickering uncertainly.
Luo Luo pressed, “Actions speak louder than words. Drag me up and hit me too.”
She genuinely lacked the strength to rise from the bed herself and could only rely on someone else.
When Gu Meng remained motionless, Luo Luo urged impatiently, “Hurry up. Why only hit him and not me? Do you look down on me?”
Gu Meng flared up in anger. “Do you think I’m stupid?! He won’t fight back, but you will!”
Luo Luo: “...”
