After losing to Lu Wujiu for the hundredth time, Lian Qiao swore that one day she would trample him under her feet and humiliate him ruthlessly.
Thus, she decided to secretly infect Lu Wujiu with a Gu.
The plan was meticulous, but there was one small accident—
She seemed to have used the wrong Gu…
Currently, as Lian Qiao looked at the man whose collar was slightly ajar, unbidden tears of regret—or perhaps it was drool—leaked from the corners of her mouth.
Even though things had reached this point, she still maintained her air of a pampered young miss.
Her eyes were round as she glared fiercely at Lu Wujiu. “Don’t you dare come over here! I don’t want to touch you at all. If you dare lay a finger on me, I’ll hack you into eight pieces and throw you into the foulest sewer!”
“You’re right.”
Across from her, the man raised an eyebrow. “However… if you could take your hand out from inside my clothes before you speak, and then stop staring at me so intently, I imagine your words might be a bit more persuasive.”
Lian Qiao looked down, only to realize that at some point, her hand had slipped inside Lu Wujiu’s robes and was even stroking him with inexplicable self-taught skill.
She had nearly stripped the clothes off him…
She was the lecher!
Lian Qiao sprang back as if she had been burned, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
“It’s the fault of this wretched Gu poison; it has nothing to do with me!”
Lu Wujiu elegantly smoothed out his crumpled collar. “And here I thought you simply couldn’t help yourself.”
Lian Qiao’s delicate brows knit together. “Have I gone mad?”
“Oh, really?” Lu Wujiu, possessing an excellent memory, brought up the recent events. “But I recall that just today, you sent me a letter saying there was a demon in the back mountain, and then you released the Gu. If it wasn’t intentional, why did you call for me to go there?”
“I just wanted to humili—ptui, it was just an accident. How was I to know the Gu would turn out like this?” Lian Qiao said guiltily. “The book clearly didn’t say it would be like this…”
Lu Wujiu remained unmoved. “That’s what you said last time, and the time before that, and the time before that… Only four months of this year have passed, and this is already the fifth time you’ve admitted fault to me. I remember not long ago, I caught you putting a handful of croton seeds into my teacup. What was your excuse then? Oh, you said you were constipated and accidentally used the wrong cup. What is it this time? Feeling lonely and unbearable, so you used the wrong Gu too?”
“Shut up!” Lian Qiao barked in exasperation.
What sin had she committed to constantly lose face in front of Lu Wujiu?
It was a long story. Initially, Lian Qiao really only intended to give Lu Wujiu a small lesson.
After all, though she had tried to give him croton seeds, he had seen through her at a glance. Instead, with a half-smile, he had increased the dosage right in front of her and threatened to tell her father if she didn’t drink it.
Lian Qiao, harborning resentment she dared not speak, was forced to drink it.
And then… her legs had gone soft and weak, leaving her frail until yesterday. Gnashing her teeth, she finally conceived the idea of getting revenge on Lu Wujiu.
However, she didn’t know why the “Itching Gu”—which she had spent so much effort finding and was said to be the “Number One Itch in the World”—had turned into this strange and sinister Gu…
As for the history of their grievances, it would truly take three days and nights to tell it all; it even traced back to their ancestors.
At the beginning of time, when the world was first created, the God race were the lords of the Three Realms. Later, some gods and humans intermingled, giving birth to a small number of descendants who possessed one more internal “vein” than ordinary humans.
This extra vein was called a “Spirit Root,” representing the aptitude for cultivation, as these descendants could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate just like gods.
Though they were not as powerful as gods, nor did they live as long, they were still much stronger than ordinary people. It was said they could eventually shed their mortal nature through continuous cultivation, transforming themselves to ascend as gods.
Thus, these descendants were called “God-Servants.”
Later, as the God race gradually withered away, the God-Servants grew increasingly powerful. These people privately changed their name, calling themselves “Cultivators.”
After the Divine Palace was destroyed a hundred years ago, there were no more gods in the world, and Cultivators became the new lords. The four great God-Servant families that originally served the Divine Palace each took control of a portion of the palace’s former territory, gradually evolving into the current Four Great Families of the Cultivation World.
Lian Qiao was born into the Qishan Lian clan, one of the Four Great Families. Her sect, the Wuxiang Sect, was the world’s number one sect, established by the Four Great Families to slay demons and evil.
The Sect Leader of the Wuxiang Sect was held by the heads of the Four Great Families in rotation. As for the Peak Lords of the thirty-six peaks, most were also members of the major families.
Her family was one of the Four Great Families, her father was the current Sect Leader of the Wuxiang Sect, and she possessed outstanding talent. Before Lu Wujiu joined the sect, Lian Qiao was the undisputed star of the immortal sects.
Everyone said she had a blessed life, but ever since Lu Wujiu appeared, Lian Qiao finally understood what it meant for there to always be someone better.
Speaking of Lu Wujiu, he was a singular individual.
He also came from one of the Four Great Families, specifically the Tianyu Lu clan which had inherited most of the Divine Palace’s territory—the current imperial family.
The Emperor governed the mortal realm and would not spend most of his daily time on cultivation. Therefore, when it was the imperial family’s turn to lead the sect, they traditionally sent the Grand National Master to the Wuxiang Sect to take charge.
Consequently, Lu Wujiu, who had been established as the Crown Prince since birth, should have reasonably stayed to be a proper heir and eventually succeed as the Human Emperor, later selecting the person with the highest cultivation in the clan to serve as the Grand National Master.
But he refused.
It was said he could recite poetry at age three, was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics by age five, and had read all the books in the palace library by age eight. Likely feeling that being an Emperor offered no challenge, he had a sudden whim to try the Wuxiang Sect’s entry trial. As a result, his Spirit Testing that time was so powerful it shattered the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Stone that had stood since the sect’s founding!
It turned out this person had even greater talent for cultivation; even the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Stone couldn’t measure how profound his Spirit Veins were.
Lian Qiao would never forget that scene of purple energy soaring to the sky, accompanied by the roars of tigers and dragons.
The Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Stone had markings on it. When an ordinary person placed their hand on it, the spiritual energy from their palm would climb up those markings. Where it eventually stopped indicated how high the person’s talent was.
The vast majority of people in this world have no Spirit Root. Among the less than one percent who can be found to have Spirit Veins, very few are above the seventh segment.
As for those at the ninth segment, there had been only a handful since the founding of the Wuxiang Sect, and every one of them became a grand master of the age.
The reason Lian Qiao had high hopes placed upon her was precisely because she was one of those at the ninth segment. But before she could enjoy her pride for even a year, that myth was shattered by Lu Wujiu—shattered so thoroughly that not even dust remained.
Because Lu Wujiu was not only at the ninth segment, he had vibrated the spirit stone until it broke.
In other words, Lian Qiao measured at the ninth segment because her talent was indeed at the ninth segment. But Lu Wujiu was different; he was designated as a ninth segment only because the stone could only measure up to nine.
However, Lian Qiao felt that the reason this damn spirit stone broke was purely because this fellow’s tongue was too poisonous.
This was a lesson Lian Qiao had learned through blood and tears over the following ten years. Back then, although her talent was a tiny bit inferior to Lu Wujiu’s, they were still fellow disciples. Lian Qiao was quite polite to Lu Wujiu at first, but Lu Wujiu was not polite to her at all.
Lian Qiao still remembered the first day she met Lu Wujiu.
It was an afternoon when the sun came out after a snowfall. Unwilling to accept her defeat, she had secretly sneaked into her father’s hall to investigate what this legendary little prince actually looked like.
At close range, she saw that the delicate little prince was wearing a white fox fur cloak. His skin was exceptionally pale, and his eyelashes were very long; he looked like a jade carving.
So, Lian Qiao cautiously offered him half of a Ginseng Fruit she had won in her first martial competition.
However, this Crown Prince, with his red lips and white teeth but a sour face, not only showed no gratitude but was exceptionally cold. “Food? I drink nothing but Rootless Water and eat nothing but Earth-Essence Fruit. I touch nothing made from ingredients produced elsewhere.”
Lian Qiao’s jaw nearly dropped.
But who could blame him? He was the son of the Human Emperor, naturally raised like gold and jade.
Fine, Lian Qiao endured it.
Then she pulled out a bead and offered it generously. “Then take this. This is a Tongbi Bead. You’ve just entered the sect and have no foundation. Wearing this bead can help you gather the spiritual energy of the mountains during cultivation, allowing you to draw qi into your body and achieve Foundation Establishment sooner.”
Lu Wujiu remained cold, his coldness tinged with a bit of confusion. “Does Foundation Establishment require cultivation? Isn’t it achieved just by taking a nap?”
Lian Qiao was shocked. She grabbed his wrist and realized that this fellow had actually already succeeded in Foundation Establishment; she could even faintly sense an Inner Core.
Wait, it was only his first day in the sect. What kind of terrifying person was he?
Lian Qiao nearly shredded her handkerchief, but she tried her best to look unbothered, so as not to seem like someone who lacked worldly experience.
“Oh, that does happen. Back then… back then I also just took a nap. No, two naps. Junior Brother truly has great talent. However, I entered the sect several years before you and have more experience after all. If there’s anything you don’t understand or if you run into trouble, feel free to speak to me, your Senior Sister.”
Her words were so graceful, so thoughtful; Lian Qiao swore she had never spoken so nicely even to her father.
Yet Lu Wujiu looked at her as if she were a fool. “What should I call you… Senior Sister?”
Lian Qiao stood on her tiptoes as much as possible, trying not to look too much shorter than him. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Lu Wujiu: “I forgot to mention, this morning the Sword Saint already accepted me as his final disciple. In terms of seniority, it seems you should instead call me ‘Little Martial Uncle’.”
“…”
Ahhh, listen to that! Are those words a human would say?
The Sword Saint hadn’t emerged from seclusion for how many years? Thinking back to when Lian Qiao first started her studies, she had also wanted to become the Sword Saint’s disciple, but she couldn’t even touch the gates of Ethereal Peak, so she settled for second best and joined Penglai Peak. As luck would have it, just as Lu Wujiu arrived, the Sword Saint emerged and even took him as his first disciple!
Lian Qiao could no longer remember how she had responded to Lu Wujiu back then. She only remembered that her young heart had suffered a massive blow, and she had cried for the first time, throwing herself into her father’s arms.
But later, she discovered that was nothing.
In the years that followed, she belatedly realized that the first day of his entry was actually when Lu Wujiu had his best temper.
However, this man was born with a beautiful face, exceptionally handsome, added to the dignified royal aura he carried. When Lian Qiao jumped onto a stone table and gesticulated wildly to her peers, angrily denouncing his crimes, those young girls were all immersed in Lu Wujiu’s glorious face and didn’t believe her grievances at all.
It wasn’t until a long time passed and everyone gradually dealt with the man that they realized Lian Qiao’s words were not false; in fact, she had been holding back.
As it turned out, Lu Wujiu didn’t just target Lian Qiao; he looked down on everyone equally…
Lian Qiao could no longer count how many girls, enchanted by his beauty, had been driven away in anger by Lu Wujiu over the years.
Yet the colder his face was, the more love letters he received.
To the point that one day, even a junior brother who had once sent Lian Qiao a love letter bashfully switched to Lu Wujiu’s army…
Lian Qiao was both surprised and pained, clutching her forehead. The world was truly going to the dogs, and people’s hearts were not what they used to be.
The more she thought, the angrier she got, and she couldn’t help but glare at Lu Wujiu.
Right at that moment, the Gu poison flared up. As she looked at Lu Wujiu—though she really didn’t want to admit it—she took one look, then another, and actually found him… good-looking?
Although Lu Wujiu was extremely arrogant and cold-blooded, he did have one merit—his face.
Not a single flaw could be found on this face: a nose like a gall-bladder, eyes like stars under sword-like brows. What was more hateful was that every feature hit Lian Qiao’s aesthetic preferences perfectly…
Unknowingly, as the Gu poison took effect, her whole body began to heat up again. Her palms were itching to move, and the restlessness drove her to pick up a cup of water and bring it to her lips to suppress the feeling.
To her surprise, just as she took a drink, Lu Wujiu’s hand, which had been tapping rhythmically on the edge of the table, suddenly stopped. He said faintly, “That cup of water is the one I just drank from.”
Suddenly, a mouthful of water got stuck in Lian Qiao’s throat.
Character dynamic is rivals who can’t stand each other but are forced to be physically close. Two tsunderes in love, back and forth. It’s not suggested to get bogged down in who is stronger than whom; just enjoy the light reading~