Aside from her father, Xie Jingci had never been held by a man like this in her life.
As a man, Pei Du's frame was considerably taller and broader than hers.
When Xie Jingci was firmly trapped within the circle of his arms, her entire body could feel the surging tide of spiritual energy and warmth, carrying a hint of coercive pressure that left her unable to move, much less break free.
—Though she was unwilling to admit it, the most important reason she felt "unable to break free" was actually because it was far too comfortable.
The young swordsman pressed tightly against her was tall and lean. From years of sword practice, he was neither as thin as a bamboo pole—which would have made his bones dig into her uncomfortably—nor had he developed bulky, rock-hard muscles.
The temperature was gentle, his scent fresh and clean. Through their clothing, she could faintly sense the rise and fall of his chest. Everything was perfectly, just-right comfortable.
It gave Xie Jingci a strange illusion, as if she were hugging a large, fluffy, warm teddy bear. In the bone-chilling cold of deep winter, no one could resist such a temptation.
Right, this was only human nature. It absolutely was not because she had no backbone and was yielding to Pei Du.
The wind outside the cave howled incessantly. Xie Jingci suddenly heard Pei Du's voice: "Miss Xie."
Whenever he spoke, the vibration in his chest would tickle her face.
Xie Jingci moved her head, shifting to a more comfortable position. When the top of her head brushed against his chest, she could feel the two hands resting on her back tighten abruptly.
Pei Du continued, "That you could wake up... is truly wonderful."
Of course it was wonderful.
This was the reward she had toiled for, working ten grueling jobs for the Heavenly Dao, going through "gnashing her teeth in fury," "flushing with humiliation and rage," and "wailing uncontrollably" in each world. The most fatal part was that working for the Heavenly Dao even involved overtime.
However, now that this topic had come up...
Xie Jingci subconsciously frowned.
The secret realm where she had met with danger and gotten injured was called "Langya."
Langya was located on the shores of the Eastern Sea, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Only those fated could enter. Driven by curiosity, she had staked out the Eastern Sea for a full half month before finally being fortunate enough to witness the ephemeral entrance bloom like a night-blooming cereus.
Yet this was the entirety of Xie Jingci's memory regarding that secret realm.
What happened after she entered Langya, and who or what monster had injured her, were all a chaotic blur she could not recall. If other cultivators hadn't passed by and happened to discover her, barely alive and unconscious, Xie Jingci would likely have lost her life long ago.
But as far as she knew, Langya mostly contained demonic creatures below the Golden Core stage. Moreover, in all the years the secret realm had manifested, she had never heard of anyone encountering a powerful great demon there.
—Just what kind of thing had injured her half to death?
Xie Jingci couldn't figure it out. She could only wait until she had more time to go wander around Langya again.
"My incident in the secret realm was merely a small slip-up—a slip-up, understand?"
Since Pei Du had brought this matter up so lightly, Xie Jingci, stubbornly clinging to her pride, could only stick her neck out and reply, "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Besides, maybe there really is some world-destroying, earth-shattering great ferocious beast hiding in Langya."
"Since it could harm Miss Xie, the other party's strength must be considerable. I entered Langya several times afterward but never detected anything unusual. I'm afraid it—"
He stopped here, suddenly realizing something, and fell silent in a daze.
Xie Jingci hadn't found it strange at first, wholly focused on pondering the secrets of the Langya secret realm. Hearing him abruptly stop, her train of thought also halted.
Pei Du said he had "entered Langya several times afterward."
"...'Afterward'?"
She seemed to understand a little why Pei Du had gone quiet mid-sentence.
The girl held tightly in his arms suddenly moved. When Xie Jingci lifted her head, her fluffy black hair brushed against his chin, provoking a lingering itch.
Xie Jingci narrowed her eyes. "Pei Du, why did you go to Langya so many times?"
She didn't state it outright, instead using a question. This way, it inexplicably carried a hint of playing hard to get.
The heartbeat in the chest pressed against hers grew heavier, as expected.
"I—"
Pei Du knew he had misspoken. Unable to think of an excuse for the moment, he could only utter hoarsely, "I heard about Miss Xie's matter, felt perplexed, and wanted to go investigate."
This statement was both right and not right.
He did enter Langya because of Xie Jingci, but it wasn't as breezy and untroubled as he made it sound.
Back when Miss Xie had her accident, without a second thought he went to Yunjing. Seeing her lying unconscious on the bed, his eyes had instantly reddened.
During that year, Pei Du had not had an easy time. Xie Jingci's injuries were extremely severe, with almost no possibility of her waking up. Even when they invited the most outstanding medical cultivators of the time, seeing her condition, they would only shake their heads with a sigh.
If anyone was still persevering, it was probably only Xie Shu, Yun Zhaoyan, and him.
He sought out doctors and medicines everywhere, often not returning home for days on end. Bai Wan sneered that he was neglecting his responsibilities, saying he vanished all day to who knows where to indulge himself. Pei Du had no way to explain; he could only brush off the gossip and continue his frantic attempts to save her.
Fortunately, Miss Xie finally woke up.
That day in the Ghost Tomb, locking eyes with her felt like a dream to Pei Du.
The Xie Jingci in his arms gave a low laugh. "I wouldn't have guessed Young Master Pei would pay attention to news related to me."
This time he did not deny it.
The shivering cold wind outside the cave did not last long and soon faded into silence.
Suppressing the reluctance in her heart, Xie Jingci got up and moved away from Pei Du's embrace. "The gale has stopped. Let's go—if we stay here any longer, surely no demons will fear two cave dwellers."
The fear points she and Pei Du had collected were probably both zero.
Thanks to the wind's cessation, when they stepped out of the cave, Xie Jingci could finally see the area clearly.
A blizzard raged, snowflakes swirling endlessly. As far as the eye could see were towering, snow-white mountain ridges, like several dragons poised to soar, reflecting a sacred, elegant, pure white hue under the snowy light that seemed untouchable.
This was likely a mountain range of snow-capped peaks. Looking around, aside from her and Pei Du, no trace of human activity could be seen.
"I've heard the map within the Dao-Seeking Conference is vast."
Though the gale had retreated, the surrounding air was still filled with knife-sharp cold, silently slicing into the skin bit by bit.
Pei Du stood impassively, facing the direction the wind came from, shielding her from the chill. "The snowy mountains we're in are likely just one corner of it. The vast majority of cultivators are not located here."
Thinking about it carefully, their luck was really quite poor.
This damned place was in the middle of nowhere. The moment they arrived, they encountered a life-sucking hurricane. If Pei Du hadn't pulled her into the cave, Xie Jingci's condition would probably be dire by now.
Within the illusionary realm, sword flight was impossible. Even with a hundred reluctances in her heart, Xie Jingci still had to obediently walk down the mountain.
The mountain wind blew incessantly, darting through the overlapping steep ridges like the mournful, melancholy wails of ghosts. She was idly chatting with Pei Du when suddenly she heard a deafening, furious roar.
Xie Jingci looked up toward the sound. Pei Du likewise drew the long sword in his hand.
The mountains were engulfed in swirling snow, and within the boundless expanse of white, a spherical, deep blue silhouette appeared.
The figure wasn't large, resembling a dyed basketball darting about chaotically. Xie Jingci quickly realized the earlier roar hadn't come from it.
― The sphere was desperately fleeing forward, and right behind it, loomed an enormous serpent of immense size.
Xie Jingci had never seen a python this large.
To call it a "python" was almost an understatement; it already possessed the bearing of a flood dragon. Its pair of vertical, jade-green pupils were like eerie flames suddenly igniting, flickering in mid-air. Its skin was a deep green, and, akin to a flood dragon, it bore uneven, sporadically distributed scales, lending the entire serpent an aura of sinister mystery.
The giant serpent seemed to grow impatient with the chase. With another roar of uncontrollable fury, a fierce wind arose in the valley. Vast spiritual energy coalesced into several sharp blades, all shooting towards the frantically fleeing sphere.
The latter was clearly of low cultivation level; how could it possibly escape such an onslaught? It was immediately struck by a blast of spiritual energy and collapsed listlessly to the ground.
Amidst the snowflakes that danced across the sky, the giant serpent's gaze silently shifted.
It landed squarely on two unexpected visitors it had never seen before.
Pei Du's sword moved swiftly.
The powerful spiritual energy nurtured within his divine consciousness allowed him to maintain peak Golden Core strength within this Profound Martial Realm.
Since this illusory realm was specifically built for Golden Core cultivators, the monsters arranged here were mostly around the early Golden Core stage. Against that pitifully weak sphere, the giant serpent might still be considered an "unstoppable behemoth," but once it clashed with Pei Du, it inevitably seemed somewhat inadequate.
It had originally charged forth with overwhelming momentum, intending to claim them both as its prey. Yet, the moment the sword light flashed, it immediately sensed the danger and its expression changed―
This was utter and complete domination.
Even the wind and snow scattering around them began to tremble uncontrollably in response.
Countless scattered, interweaving strands of spiritual energy obeyed his command. Sword energy, mingled with an invisible, fierce wind, condensed into a dazzling white radiance like a swimming dragon in the low air. With a single hum from the sword's tip, one thrust was all it took.
Where the sword light reached, even the snowflakes were commandeered by the sword energy, transforming into blade-sharp mist that pierced into the giant serpent's body alongside the attack. At the center of the white radiance, the long sword broke through all defenses, piercing straight through a point above its seven-inch vital spot.
This battle, which hadn't even properly begun, was already declared over by Pei Du.
He won cleanly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation. If Xie Jingci pondered more deeply, she might even discover that hidden within the youth's movements was a touch of deliberately performed flair.
Wanting to perform better in front of Miss Xie was his unspoken little thought. Under normal circumstances, Pei Du would never use such overly flashy sword techniques.
The giant serpent had no time to let out a hiss before it struggled once within the sword light and fell still. Xie Jingci was somewhat curious: "The monsters in the Dao-Seeking Assembly... they aren't all of this caliber, are they?"
"No."
Pei Du shook his head: "Although this place is primarily for Golden Core cultivators, in certain locations, monsters at the Nascent Soul or even Soul Transformation stage may be set―the Dao-Seeking Assembly wouldn't allow the grand competition to become too dull."
Right.
Between the cultivation-world version of a battle royale and the Monopoly-esque treasure hunt within the illusory realm, in Xie Jingci's view, the group behind the Dao-Seeking Assembly was a bit crazy.
"From slaying the giant serpent just now, I gained ten points."
Pei Du glanced at her: "And you, Miss Xie?"
"Thanks to your efforts, two points."
So, the hypothesis that one could obtain Fear Points by killing monsters in the illusory realm was valid.
Moreover, in addition to the slayer, teammates who observed from the sidelines or assisted could also receive a share of the spoils, getting a few scattered points as a reward.
This led to a question that needed verification:
Did killing any monster always grant the slayer ten points? Or did this so-called "Fear Point" value also relate to the method of killing, the time taken, and the monster's strength?
It was a pity the giant serpent was already dead, preventing any experiments on it. However...
Xie Jingci raised an eyebrow slightly, her gaze shifting leisurely to the other side. Where her eyes landed was a sphere trembling on the ground.
"This creature is likely the long-extinct 'Snow Soul.'"
Pei Du said softly: "The founders of the Dao-Seeking Assembly... have recreated it using the illusory realm."
"Snow Soul?"
Xie Jingci grew somewhat interested, looking down to examine it carefully.
While floating in the air, it was a round, rolling ball. Now on the ground, its soft body spread out like a liquid in all directions, somewhat resembling a slime.
Merely because of this glance, the Fear Points on her panel increased by three points―more than she got from watching Pei Du's massacre.
A vague notion suddenly surfaced in her mind, but before Xie Jingci could grasp it, it vanished without a trace.
[Yes, that's the look! Four parts aloofness, three parts disdain, two parts brutality, one part bloodlust, plus a dash of madness and supremacy!]
The system was unbearably excited: [In this moment, you are the monarch overlooking the realm, the tyrant who makes the world tremble! How can such a lowly subject be worthy of your noble gaze! Come, a new scene is unlocked, the lines are prepared for you, begin your performance!]
Xie Jingci: Your pie-chart eyes add up to over one hundred percent.
Xie Jingci: No! Why are you suddenly so excited?!
[Because only this kind of aura suits a tyrant!]
The system's enthusiasm grew even higher: [This is one of my favorite personas. In comparison, things like seductress or green tea btch are weak! If you could convert my words to text, you'd find every sentence ends with an exclamation mark!]
Xie Jingci didn't want to engage with it. Steeling herself, she glanced at the lines appearing in her mind.
"Miss Xie," Pei Du asked her gently, his tone polite yet distant, "how should we deal with it?"
The sphere on the ground trembled all over.
"...Heh."
As everyone knows, whether it's a tyrant or an overbearing CEO, while the titles may change through the ages, the core essence of captivating arrogance is never diminished. If one were to nominate the most frequently appearing characters, they would undoubtedly be the interrogative "Hm?" and the more disdainful, the more fitting "Heh."
Xie Jingci was willing to call them the most captivatingly arrogant characters, the eternally unshakable kings of the dictionary.
"A mere captive. Surely you don't expect me to dirty my own hands?"
Her tone was contemptuous, and she lifted her chin as she spoke: "You dared to oppose me, acting so haughty and imposing before, yet in the end you still have to obediently lie prostrate at my feet."
This statement didn't sound particularly strange in itself.
― But that was only on the condition that the target of her words wasn't a soft, whimpering slime ball!
To hell with captivating arrogance. Only four words surfaced in Xie Jingci's heart:
Abusing one's power.
If this happened a few more times, her image in Pei Du's mind would be utterly ruined.
Xie Jingci didn't dare look at his expression. Shifting her attention to the panel in her sea of consciousness, she couldn't help but pause slightly.
Wait.
The Fear Points... increased?
Xie Jingci was stunned.
Just because of that one line capable of making one's scalp tingle, the Fear Points instantly rose by another point?
While inwardly astonished, Xie Jingci continued to recite her lines with a blank mind: "As for that python, how dare it challenge me? Dealing with it was effortless for me. As for you—"
This time, there were actually three more ellipsis points.
...She was starting to get it.
The reason Snow Soul was so terrified of them had a lot to do with Pei Du slaying the giant python.
The python was several times more powerful than it, and since Pei Du could effortlessly cut it down, the threat he posed was naturally greater than the python's.
This was the power of contrast.
Within this illusion, a food chain of mutual predation and slaughter existed among the demons and monsters. If they could make good use of it—
"Hey."
Xie Jingci poked the faint blue orb with her finger: "Can you speak?"
No reaction, just incessant trembling.
It seemed it was either too timid to communicate or genuinely couldn't speak, making conversation difficult. Xie Jingci felt somewhat disappointed. Pondering, she stood up and glanced at Pei Du beside her: "Let's go."
"...We're not killing it?"
"No."
Her gaze swiftly swept over the still-trembling orb, a faint smile curling at the corner of her mouth: "It gave me an interesting idea... consider it a thank-you gift."
Pei Du's gaze was calm: "An idea?"
"Think about it. If we just kill them instantly, their fear becomes a one-time consumable—'one-time' means once it's used, we can't utilize it a second time."
Xie Jingci walked with light steps, moving forward as she explained to him: "That's such a waste, totally not cost-effective. Each monster is like a tree. If we want to collect more fruit, we can't just chop the tree down. We need to wait for it to grow slowly."
She paused, her gaze shifting to the giant python's corpse not far away: "When necessary, we need to apply fertilizer, nutrients to promote its growth."
Pei Du understood: "Miss Xie wants to save those little monsters being hunted?"
"...You might think my idea is a bit strange."
Xie Jingci rubbed the tip of her nose: "Rescuing them individually like this, while it would certainly harvest a certain amount of numerical value, with only one target, it's still too few."
One is too few.
He had an inkling, recalling Miss Xie's earlier attempt to communicate with Snow Soul, the darkness in his eyes deepening.
"Within the illusion, there must be many small demons living in groups."
She continued: "The fear a single demon can provide is admittedly small, but if we can eliminate their natural predators, not as saviors, but as new rulers, dominating the entire clan—wouldn't that give us a continuous, endless source of fear?"
A tyrant.
Facing an irresistible, yet willingly submitted-to authority, built upon a foundation of awe, admiration, fear, and many other emotions—
Who wouldn't fear a tyrant?
Fear would flow endlessly, growing more potent with each passing second. This is far more useful than simply wiping out the entire clan.
She was speaking enthusiastically, already mentally drafting plans, when halfway, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the distance.
And at that exact moment, the system delivered a new line.
Seeing the words clearly, Xie Jingci couldn't hold back: "Are you sick?"
[Sick?]
The system was innocent: [Don't you think this line fits the current context perfectly?]
Xie Jingci: ...
They had now reached the mountainside. Compared to the mountain peak where they were before, the wind was no longer so fierce.
But Xie Jingci still felt a bone-chilling cold.
"Miss Xie!"
Mo Xiaoyang had also been teleported into the snowy mountains. He was sitting in a sheltered spot amidst jagged rocks and, upon seeing the two of them, waved excitedly: "It's so cold here! Do you want to come rest here too?"
A brief moment of silence fell around them.
"Hah, men."
Looking at Mo Xiaoyang's face, she ultimately compromised with life, suppressing the urge to let her features contort, and instead curled her lips into a cold sneer: "You're playing with fire."
Mo Xiaoyang, who was currently burning a fire for warmth and adding firewood to the flames: ...?
"That's called playing with fire?"
She had expected Mo Xiaoyang to stand there dumbfounded, but instead, the fair-skinned, red-lipped youth grinned widely: "How did you know I love playing with fire the most, Miss Xie? Burning a fire is nothing. I can also jump through fire hoops, perform the fire dragon dance, take a sip of wine and breathe fire—look!"
And then Mo Xiaoyang really started raising a torch and stepping over a fire basin.
The facts proved that this guy was even more unhinged than the system. Truly, there's always a higher mountain; to counter outrageous antics, you need even more outrageous antics.
Xie Jingci stood there dumbstruck, watching him literally play with fire.
Even the system, which had been chattering nonstop in her head just moments ago, fell silent, stunned speechless.
Xie Jingci: You bunch of straight guys really ought to experience transmigration yourselves, go and cure those cliché early novels.
