Deep within the Sect, the dark mountain range was sealed by layers of restriction seals. Amidst the jagged mountain walls, a Bronze Giant Door stood tall and majestic, its ancient sigils writhing like living things, emitting heart-palpitating spatial fluctuations.
Yu Huan stood before the door, her plain purple long dress unable to hide her enchanting beauty. As her hands formed a seal, the Saintess Command Seal on her brow suddenly lit up, reflecting the calm light in her eyes.
Buzz—! The Bronze Giant Door let out a dull roar, cracking open a distorted, fluctuating gap.
Before she could step inside, a red figure arrived in a flash.
The newcomer’s face was as smooth as carved jade. The gold-stitched Huanhua on the corners of his red robes swayed with his movements. He snapped his folding fan open to cover his mouth and called out from a distance with a laugh:
“Oh, if it isn’t Brother Xie and Little Sister Yu? Seeing you two standing side-by-side again—what a profound fate!”
His laughter was wrapped in three parts flirtatiousness and seven parts teasing, yet an irrepressible gravity was hidden in his eyes—clearly, he had received news from Ye Shuyao and rushed over in haste.
Hearing those words, Yu Huan felt an inexplicable prick in her heart.
In terms of friendship, she and Gu Qianli had known each other for centuries and were childhood friends; Xie Wulei was his colleague in the Immortal Dynasty, and they had been in the Celestial ranks together for many years. But she had known Xie Wulei for barely half a month. Gu Qianli’s phrase “seeing you side-by-side again” deliberately tied them together, stabbing directly at the embarrassment of her being under surveillance.
Yu Huan suppressed that strange feeling, her tone cooling slightly: “Young Master Gu has come at the right time. The County Princess’s safety is paramount; we should find her first.”
Gu Qianli tapped his fan against his palm: “Little Sister Yu, how can you say that? Your brother here timed his arrival perfectly—any later, and I’m afraid I would have missed traveling with you two.”
“Young Master Gu,” Xie Wulei finally looked up. “Are the Monitoring Logs of Yingxian Pavilion still detailed?”
Gu Qianli’s fan paused, the smile on his face stiffening for a fraction of a second before he let out a forced laugh: “Look at what Brother Xie is saying. It’s my duty, how could I dare be negligent? The Yingxian Pavilion is bright and clear, the lotus flowers are blooming brilliantly. I, Gu, was simply inspired by the scenery to record more of the sights of Nanjiang… Brother Xie, rest assured, everything that needs to be recorded—not a single word will be missing!”
Yu Huan: “?”
Gu Qianli’s eyes flickered, not daring to meet hers, and he rushed into the light gate as if his feet were powered by the wind: “Let’s go! If we’re too late, Miss Ye will be anxious!”
The light gate closed silently behind the three of them.
…
The scene before them was one of dead silence.
Beneath their feet was a pool of black water as viscous as ink, its depths unfathomable. The surface was as flat as a mirror, yet it reflected no shadows at all.
Countless jagged rocks, like the fangs of ancient beasts, pierced the water’s surface to point toward the grey sky. In the distant, dark waters, massive, distorted black shadows swam silently, stirring up hair-raising undercurrents.
Yu Huan looked at the scene with a sense of alarm.
A faint, sweet, and cloying scent lingered at the tip of her nose. It wasn’t the fragrance of flowers or fruit, but rather an aura of desire that tempted one to sink into it. It wound its way into her Sea of Consciousness, plucking at the most hidden corners of her heart.
Her brow had just furrowed when Xie Wulei, beside her, gave his wide sleeve a slight flick. An invisible barrier was instantly woven around the three of them, and the uncomfortable fragrance immediately dissipated by more than half.
“This is the Senluo Wanxiang Sea?” Gu Qianli’s brows were locked tight. He had long since stowed his fan and was warily scanning the surroundings, but he couldn't see the green-clad figure he was longing for.
“Rumor has it this place encompasses everything, so why is there only this stagnant water? Where is Miss Ye?”
Yu Huan forced herself to endure the impact of the chaotic laws on her divine sense and said in a heavy voice: “The Senluo Wanxiang Sea is not a single space. It is composed of countless layered Mustard Seed Realms. The scenery seen by those who enter is entirely a reflection of their own thoughts.”
She paused, and meeting Xie Wulei’s gaze, she steeled herself to explain: “When multiple people enter together, the restricted area laws will capture the heartscape of the one with the most dangerous mental state and drag everyone into the corresponding peril… Seeing this stagnant black pool must be because someone triggered this realm.”
As the words fell, the air suddenly stagnated.
Gu Qianli’s flirtatious smile stiffened slightly. His peach-blossom eyes flickered as he subconsciously turned his head toward the deep black water.
Xie Wulei’s expression was calm, his long lashes drooping slightly, his emotions hidden in the shadows and impossible to discern.
This abnormal silence gave Yu Huan a bad feeling.
Could it be that her own fear of death had triggered this scene?
“County Princess Ye has a pure nature. Entering alone, it is absolutely impossible for her to be in such a sinister and eerie environment,” Yu Huan added after a moment.
Gu Qianli coughed once to break the silence, spinning his fan in his palm again: “Little Sister Yu is right. Miss Ye is dignified, elegant, and firm in her Dao heart. She is surely in some peaceful and auspicious place. It’s just that this ghostly place is layered upon layers—how are we to find her?”
Yu Huan turned to Xie Wulei: “Lord Xie, can your Tracking Guide still sense Miss Ye’s position?”
Xie Wulei: “I could sense it outside the restricted area. After entering, the induction is weak and intermittent. There are many spatial barriers, and the interference from the laws is extremely strong.”
Gu Qianli snapped his fan shut. “Let me try!”
The golden light in his eyes surged. The eerie phantoms of Huanhua spun in his pupils, and an ancient rhythm rippled outward: “Ye Shuyao, respond to me! Reveal your location!”
The power of the Word Spirit poured out abundantly, but it was like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly swallowed and distorted by the spatial laws.
Gu Qianli groaned as the golden light quickly dimmed. He said in frustration, “Damn it! The laws are distorted too heavily; even my Word Spirit has failed!”
Just then—
The black water suddenly surged, instantly washing over the shore and submerging their ankles. The ground beneath them turned into a viscous, black watery region.
Countless semi-transparent, seductive shadows, like light silk in the water, swarmed from all directions, surrounding the three of them in layers.
The shadows shifted ambiguously, emitting an aura that caused the soul to sway. Faint outlines of entangling limbs could be seen. Although they were not physical and their features were unclear, they carried a powerful force of spiritual corruption, silently seeping into the Sea of Consciousness and triggering the most primal restlessness.
The entire deep pool suddenly turned crimson, like a steaming quagmire of desire.
“What kind of play is this now?” Gu Qianli was startled, his cheeks flushing slightly. “Good heavens, this display…”
Yu Huan was also stunned for a moment. After quickly searching her memory, she whispered:
“We were deceived by the surface. What looked like a stagnant black pool is actually a manifestation of floating and sinking in the Sea of Passion.”
Gu Qianli: “The Sea of Passion?”
Yu Huan’s lips pursed slightly: “It seems the one whose heart is like stagnant water is also the person trapped in the Sea of Passion.”
She believed her Dao heart was clear; it was definitely not triggered by her.
As for Xie Wulei, this figure who shook the world with his Heartless Sword Path had long since carved the severance of emotions and desires into his very marrow. It was even more impossible for it to be him.
With a look of realization, she turned her gaze toward Gu Qianli, the Young Master of the Joy Union Sect.
Surely, what was being reflected here was his heartscape, which had wandered through countless flower bushes.
Gu Qianli was resisting the erosion of the shadows. When he met her gaze, his movements stalled, and he looked away: “Why are you looking at me…”
Xie Wulei’s features were rendered exquisite by the eerie, seductive colors in the distance. He suddenly spoke.
“The illusions here bear a striking resemblance to the internal scenery of your noble Sect.”
Doubt naturally fell lightly onto Gu Qianli’s shoulders.
A flash of embarrassment from being exposed crossed Gu Qianli’s face: “Hey! Brother Xie, you can't slander an innocent man! I, Gu, am quite well-behaved! There’s none of this messy business!”
Yu Huan remained silent, thinking to herself: You are a suave and dashing male lead of an adult novel; why be so stubborn?
“Oh?” Xie Wulei’s voice rose slightly at the end, his drooping lashes like frost. “Then where did these shadows come from?”
Yu Huan let out a dry cough and turned her head to look elsewhere.
Gu Qianli was left speechless by the question, but in his heart, he knew exactly what was going on.
Others rumored that Yu Huan had many romantic affairs, but having been childhood friends with her, how could he not know the truth?
This woman looked like a thorny rose, but she was actually a piece of black iron obsessed with cultivation. Her eyes only held room for the Great Dao.
Countless geniuses from immortal sects had come to woo her, only to be either rebuffed by her sharp tongue or driven back by her whip—no matter how famous her title as the First Beauty of the cultivation world was, it couldn't withstand her personally chopping down every peach blossom.
The rumors outside were just wild guesses from people who hadn’t seen how ruthless she was when she swung that whip.
Naturally, the heartscape couldn't be hers.
Looking at Xie Wulei again, Gu Qianli secretly curled his lip.
Writing him as a veteran of romance in the Monitoring Logs was just to tease this future brother-in-law. In truth, he practiced the Path of Heartlessness of the Shangqing Ninth Peak. Severing emotions and desires was his duty; how could he have any lingering, sentimental thoughts?
After ruling everyone out, wasn't he the only one left?
He simply threw up his hands, giving up and admitting it frankly:
“Fine! Even if it is my heartscape, so what? Who doesn’t have some desires? My Joy Union Sect seeks the mastery of passion and desire; entering the Dao through passion is also a perfectly legitimate Great Dao! It’s better than certain heartless rocks, or someone who cultivates all day and doesn't understand romance… at least this is real!”
His gaze swept over Xie Wulei and then glanced at Yu Huan, speaking with pointed intent: “That's right! This ghostly place reflects my heartscape! Don't laugh, everyone. Where passion leads, it’s only human nature! If you find it an eyesore, then just don’t look!”
This admission actually dissipated the previous awkwardness, showing a bit of his candid and open nature.
Yu Huan nodded: “Young Master Gu is quite frank.”
She knew the Joy Union Sect was ranked among the top three of the Ten Great Immortal Sects. They followed the principle of following nature and acting as one pleased. Although their actions often drew criticism, they were by no means demonic.
The Young Master before her seemed to have seen it all and acted flirtatiously, yet there was a bizarre tale about him: "Passing through ten thousand flowers without a single drop of primal yang being spilled." He was mostly pure-hearted, a gentleman to his core.
In the original book, when it finally came time for his first "battle," he was actually at a loss for what to do.
His father had a deep friendship with Yu Huan’s late master. He had lived at Jidaozong as a youth and was Yu Huan’s childhood friend.
In the original book, Yu Huan relied on her beauty and nursed a crush on him for years, only to receive a clearly defined "good friend" in return. Yet when he met Ye Shuyao, he became a completely different person.
“Of course!” Gu Qianli was feeling proud when he suddenly noticed the outlines of the shadows becoming clearer. His face changed instantly: “Wait! Why are these things getting more and more specific…”
His admiration for Ye Shuyao was known to all, but if Xie Wulei saw the features of those shadows and misunderstood that he intended to desecrate his junior sister… the consequences would be unimaginable!
He believed his love for Ye Shuyao far outweighed those lingering, erotic images deep in his heart.
Seeing the shadows’ postures becoming more and more intimate, he made an immediate decision to erase this misleading reflection!
The power of the Word Spirit surged around him again, gold light flickering: “Disperse for me!”
But right at that moment—
A bone-chillingly cold sword intent arrived first!
The frost-white sword energy poured down like a cold waterfall from the nine heavens. Wherever it reached, the lingering shadows instantly turned into cold light fragments, annihilated in the black water.
The remnants of the sword light brushed past Yu Huan’s cheek, making her skin prickle. Even Gu Qianli’s Word Spirit barrier fluctuated unsteadily.
The two of them subconsciously looked toward the source of the sword intent.
Xie Wulei’s phoenix eyes were half-narrowed. He held no sword; his slender knuckles glowed with a jade-like cold light. Then his wide sleeve fell, concealing the hand that had just condensed the sword energy.
Yu Huan: “?”
Gu Qianli: “?”
The sword momentum in the sky refused to fade. Amidst the fluttering remnants of light, only the jade-like beauty and the rainbow-like sword energy remained.
Xie Wulei’s face was hidden in the shadows, his voice soft: “The illusions soil the eyes. Your Highness’s status is noble; it is not suitable for you to view them closely.”
Gu Qianli was made quite embarrassed by this sudden "assistance," and he awkwardly withdrew his Word Spirit power.
He suddenly realized that Xie Wulei had already seen through the fact that the shadows were a manifestation of his feelings for Ye Shuyao. As her senior brother, he naturally couldn't stand it and would definitely act to erase them.
For a moment, he didn't know whether to feel ashamed or grateful.
The water around them surged more violently. Xie Wulei said, “Illusions deceive people; this is no place to linger. Young Master Gu, lead the way.”
Before his voice finished, frost-white air currents surged from around him, expanding like a polar cold wave.
Beneath the deep water, countless restless shadows fled in panic and screamed as if meeting their nemesis.
The bone-chilling sword intent forcefully split open a clear path.
However, deep beneath the water, those ambiguous voices were intermittent, appearing endless and impossible to sever, drilling straight into the depths of the soul.
Once one’s mind wavered and indulged in them, they would be completely swallowed by this black abyss of passion, becoming nourishment for the restricted area.
Even for those with high cultivation, they still needed to circulate their techniques and guard their hearts closely to resist this pervasive erosion.
Although Yu Huan’s Sea of Consciousness felt a stinging pain, her true heart was clear, and she felt no fear.
A low, clear voice suddenly came from beside her: “Decadent sounds. It is better if Your Highness does not listen.”
Immediately following that, a cold barrier instantly sealed her hearing and divine sense, completely isolating all sound into a dead silence.
Yu Huan: “?”
The other’s cultivation was far higher than hers; this restriction was not something she could break.
She said: “Thank you, My Lord. Actually… it’s fine.”
But her words dissipated into silence. She couldn't hear what she said, nor did she know if there was a response.
Knowing that Xie Wulei’s action was to preserve Gu Qianli’s dignity, she didn't resist—nor could she. She simply remained silent.
Xie Wulei was the first to step into the path.
With her hearing sealed, Yu Huan’s Sea of Consciousness felt as if a hole had been carved out. The surrounding dead silence was unsettling.
Beside her was Gu Qianli’s flamboyant red clothing, in the distance were the surging waves of black water, and in the sky was a faint red light…
Everything became like a silent film, weirdly suspended before her eyes.
Xie Wulei’s figure leading the way ahead became her only point of reference. His ink-black hair was like a waterfall, his white clothes fluttered, and his back was as pure and lofty as an ink-wash landscape painting. His unbound long hair brushed past his waist with each step, the tips of the hair swaying against the fabric, outlining his waist clearly.
Yu Huan inadvertently caught a glimpse of the curve of the taut fabric and felt a bit of irritation in her heart.
Why look like that? A man’s waist is actually thinner than a girl’s, and his hair is swaying all over the place, as if he’s afraid of not being eye-catching enough.
For the past half-month, his constant surveillance was like an invisible net, tightening so much that even her breathing had to be cautious.
She had to find some reasons to criticize him in her heart to breathe in the midst of this airtight pressure.
Just as she was grumbling internally, the figure ahead suddenly stopped.
Xie Wulei turned sideways and happened to look back.
Their eyes met directly, and Yu Huan stared back expressionlessly.
“…”
Xie Wulei turned back around and continued leading the way. The swaying of his long hair seemed to lighten slightly.
Yu Huan looked at his back, remembering the curve at the corner of his lips just now, and secretly cursed him as a smiling tiger again.
The three of them traveled for an unknown amount of time.
Finally, a gentle push landed on Yu Huan, pushing her away from that seductive, ink-colored watery region.
In an instant, the ground beneath her was no longer the heart-palpitating black water, but cold, hard rock on the shore.
Gu Qianli leaned in toward Yu Huan and lowered his voice: “This place is sinister and pries into people’s hearts. We shouldn't stay long, or else who knows what more ridiculous phenomena will be reflected! The priority now is to find a way to find Miss Ye. If this continues, our secrets will be stripped bare!”
Yu Huan couldn't hear a thing. Seeing his lips moving, she signaled for him to stop and raised her hand: “Lord Xie, could you first undo this ear seal of mine?”
She couldn't even hear her own words as they left her mouth. She unconsciously took a half-step forward, almost leaning into his side to ensure he would notice.
That naturally enchanting face suddenly magnified before his eyes, its seductive grace appearing of its own accord without her realizing it.
“Lord Xie?” Seeing him unmoved, Yu Huan frowned and called out again, her fingertips unconsciously hooking the cloud-patterned sleeve of his moon-white robe.
Xie Wulei lowered his eyes. His long lashes fell like crow feathers, and his gaze fixed on that hand.
The fingertips were tinged with a faint pink, like dew-covered flower petals lightly adorning his clothes. That negligible force actually caused tiny wrinkles in the satin.
She was tilting her head up to look at him, her eyes holding a bit of a plea. Her soft neck was as long as a snapped branch, yet its end vanished beneath her solemn collar.