Li Xuan’er stood at the end of the line.
At this moment, she felt like a complete outsider.
She looked at Ye Xuan, worshipped and revered by the crowd.
At his face—pale from overusing secret techniques, yet filled with madness and obsession.
Not a trace of joy rose in her heart. Instead, a bone-deep chill surged through her.
This… was the man she had chosen over Lin Yuan, even at the cost of betrayal?
After the match ended.
In the lounge, Ye Xuan didn’t speak to a single teammate.
He sat alone, silently wiping the blood from his hands. There was no joy in his eyes, only the fierce glint of a beast ready to devour.
All his attention seemed to be focused on one distant direction—The direction of the Lin Family Estate.
Li Xuan’er gathered her courage, stepped forward, and softly said, “Ye Xuan, congratulations. At this pace, we’ll take the championship soon!”
Ye Xuan didn’t even lift his head. He merely let out a cold snort from his nose.
“Championship? A childish game like this deserves to be called a championship? This is only the beginning.”
With that, he got up and pushed open the door.
He left all the cheers and congratulations of his teammates behind.
Li Xuan’er stood frozen in place, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her.
A childish game?
So this was the glory he had risked his life to obtain?
And in his eyes, it wasn’t worth a thing?
At that moment, she couldn’t stop the image of Lin Yuan’s lazy face from surfacing in her mind.
Though he always seemed uninterested in everything, toward her, he had always been gentle and tolerant.
He would remember a dessert she casually mentioned liking and have the family’s top chef prepare it for her the next day.
When she struggled with cultivation, he would clumsily tell cold jokes to cheer her up.
Back then, she took it all for granted, even found him annoying—like a clingy tail she couldn’t shake off.
But now?
Ye Xuan had won over the whole world, yet couldn’t spare her even a smile.
Lin Yuan had lost her, yet once gave her the whole world.
So it turned out…
She was the biggest fool of all.
She had treated a venomous snake, cloaked in dragon scales but cold and selfish inside, like a treasure.
And had personally pushed away the true divine dragon—one who could summon wind and rain and would’ve shielded her from every storm.
Regret!
An overwhelming regret slashed her heart like the sharpest blade, cutting deeper and deeper.
…
After leaving the lounge.
Li Xuan’er wandered aimlessly through the streets like a walking corpse.
Unknowingly, she hailed a cab.
And for reasons she couldn’t explain, she blurted out a name she once knew intimately—now impossibly distant.
The Lin Family Estate.
When that grand estate—like a mythical dwelling of the gods—appeared before her again, her breath caught in her throat.
Towering walls, heavily guarded sentry posts.
And that thick, golden gate that seemed to divide two entire worlds.
Everything silently reminded her of what she had lost.
Once…
She could casually swipe open this gate and walk into a place even socialites would trample each other to enter.
But now, she could only stand on the other side of the street, gazing up in humble despair.
Any one of those ingredients was a hundred times more valuable than the spirit herbs she traded for at school with points.
She saw uniformed servants going in and out of the estate.
Each one wore a look of genuine pride.
As the cold wind blew, she instinctively tightened her coat.
But the chill felt like it came from deep within her soul—completely inescapable.
She stood in that shadow for a long, long time.
Like a stone statue of a waiting wife, hoping to see that familiar figure again, even if it was just his back.
…
Inside the estate, in the master bedroom.
Lin Yuan was soaking in a temperature-controlled spiritual liquid massage tub that cost a fortune, so relaxed he was nearly drifting off to sleep.
In his mind, the system prompt had just ended.
[System prompt! Detected that host has not stepped outside for ten consecutive days, perfectly embodying the ‘reclusive lying flat’ philosophy. Reward: A trace of the ancient divine beast Xuanwu’s bloodline!]
Another top-tier bloodline reward!
Lin Yuan felt the power in his body deepen once more.
Just then.
Butler Zhong appeared respectfully at the bathroom door.
“Young Master, Miss Li from the Li family has been wandering outside the estate for nearly an hour.”
Lin Yuan kept his eyes closed, not even bothering to lift his eyebrows.
“Oh?”
Butler Zhong hesitated, then continued, “Judging by her appearance, she seems to want to see you. The temperature outside has dropped below freezing, and she’s not dressed warmly. If she keeps standing out there, I’m afraid…”
Lin Yuan finally opened his eyes. He sat up in the tub, wiped the water from his body, and spoke as casually as if commenting on the weather.
“It’s cold. Don’t let her freeze to death at our gate. It’s bad luck.”
Butler Zhong froze, thinking the young master had softened.
But Lin Yuan’s next words sent a chill down even his spine.
“Send the security team out. Remind her that loitering and littering are forbidden at our gate. If she still won’t leave, label her as suspicious and release the dogs.”