Ning Ying and the Demon Lord exchanged a glance and quickly reached a consensus.
“Haha, Senior Brother, you’re out admiring the moon too.”
“Yeah, what a coincidence, haha.”
The two exchanged awkward laughter, the scene almost taking on a harmonious atmosphere. Only the Immortal Lord stood coolly and aloofly to one side, seeming somewhat out of place in the silly ambiance.
“I was just passing by Master’s cave dwelling,” Ning Ying quickly distanced herself from Yun Qingyuan, trying to clarify the situation to avoid any misunderstanding that she had sullied her master’s purity.
After all, her master was the number one figure in the current cultivation world, receiving attention from all sides. The number of female cultivators who adored him was countless. If they could defeat him, the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect would have long since kidnapped this restrained beauty for dual cultivation—they wouldn’t have let him maintain his pure yang body!
“Ahem, I just saw everything, and Junior Sister definitely wasn’t coming out of Master’s cave dwelling.” Since he’d been recognized anyway, Gu Qi simply pulled down the black mask, revealing a pale, handsome face. “I’m dressed like this because it’s cold at night. It definitely doesn’t mean I was trying to sneak out and cause trouble.”
Ning Ying: …
Master was right—Senior Brother Gu really didn’t seem very bright.
Having such a beautiful face yet such a bizarre thought process.
The Demon Lord must have unified the demon realm through overwhelming combat prowess, or else made the demon race submit through sheer charisma. Definitely not through strategy and intelligence!
After staring at the Demon Lord for a long moment, Ning Ying found an excuse to slip away: “Haha, well, I won’t disturb your moon appreciation, Senior Brother. Master should go back and rest too…”
With that, not waiting for her master to escort her, she fled on her sword.
Seeing the concern in the Immortal Lord’s eyes—clearly worried about Ning Ying running around so late—Gu Qi volunteered: “Master, rest assured. I’ll escort Junior Sister back right away.” He prepared to chase after her on his sword.
Yun Qingyuan: …
Wasn’t the Demon Lord himself the biggest danger here?
“Wait,” Yun Qingyuan slowly lifted his long lashes. “Why not make today the day? Let me assess your swordsmanship progress.”
Gu Qi: “???”
Master wants to hit him, right? Definitely!
The next morning.
【Ding — Check-in successful!】
【Host has checked in for 101 consecutive days. Reward: 101 spirit stones.】
Ning Ying lazily poked her head out from under the covers and complained: “System, you’re so stingy. You can’t even round up the spirit stones?”
【Reward: 100 spirit stones.】
To satisfy the host’s wish for a round number, the system quickly corrected itself.
Ning Ying: “???”
“Give me back my one spirit stone!”
“Junior Sister, Junior Sister,” came Senior Brother Gu’s voice from outside. “Master’s calling you to get up and practice swords.”
Ning Ying changed clothes and pushed open the door. Seeing Gu Qi’s arm hanging in a sling, she asked with concern: “Senior Brother Gu, what happened? You’re Master’s true disciple—who in the sect would dare hit you?”
Gu Qi wore a pained expression: “…It was Master.”
Damn it. If he weren’t hiding his strength, could he, the mighty Demon Lord, be defeated so easily?
The Demon Lord silently held a grudge. He’d already formulated his revenge plan!
The corner of Ning Ying’s eye twitched: …
Master did well.
“Come on,” Ning Ying patted her senior brother’s shoulder. “Master has probably already made breakfast and is waiting for us.”
“Not in the mood to eat,” Gu Qi shook his head. “Go by yourself.”
He needed to ponder his revenge plan. Perhaps he could start with Junior Sister Ning. She seemed to have that kind of relationship with the Immortal Lord. If… he could somehow make the Immortal Lord pregnant with her child, wouldn’t the whole world mock him? The elegant, aloof, restrained Immortal Lord would surely lose face completely. He might even become unstable in his Dao heart, affecting his future cultivation.
After all, male pregnancy was still somewhat shocking.
If an ordinary male cultivator got pregnant, it wouldn’t attract too much attention. But the Immortal Lord was the paragon of the righteous path and the leader of the Yaoyue Sect. He had many enemies—there would certainly be plenty of people eager to see him humiliated.
The more the Demon Lord thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed. He immediately rubbed his hands together eagerly.
— Junior Sister Ning, we’re counting on you!
Ning Ying was eating breakfast with her master.
She carefully took a sip of the porridge in her bowl, cautiously glancing at her master’s expression. Seeing his features as cool and indifferent as ever, she tentatively spoke: “Master…”
“If you have something to say, just say it,” Yun Qingyuan said calmly.
“Well, about yesterday… Did you perhaps go a bit too hard?” Ning Ying recalled her senior brother’s pale face that morning. “And Senior Brother was so upset he wouldn’t even eat…”
Yun Qingyuan didn’t even lift his lashes, his tone cool: “Aying, have you forgotten? Your senior brother has already achieved fasting.”
Ning Ying’s eyes flickered slightly. Her master had only three disciples total. Her senior sister was in seclusion, and her senior brother had achieved fasting. Did that mean… all those varied breakfasts he made every day were just for her?
Although it was to motivate her to wake up early and practice swords, Ning Ying was still somewhat moved. Her eyes grew a little moist.
She missed home, sob sob! Back when she was in school, her mother always got up early to cook for her… Touched by the warm steam rising from the bowl, the corners of her eyes reddened further.
Noticing the glimmer of tears in the girl’s eyes, Yun Qingyuan’s indifferent tone rarely showed a trace of emotion: “Feeling wronged on your senior brother’s behalf?”
Ning Ying sniffled and shook her head: “No, that’s not it…”
She couldn’t exactly say she missed her mom.
Just then, her master, sitting across from her, raised his hand. His cool, slender fingers, pure and jade-like, gently brushed the corner of her eye, lightly caressing to wipe away her tears.
“Don’t cry,” he said softly. “I’m here.”
“In sword practice sparring, injuries are inevitable. With your senior brother’s cultivation level, he’ll recover in a few days. Aying needn’t worry too much.”
Through the ethereal mist, Ning Ying gazed into her master’s ice-cold pupils.
The two of them seemed to be on completely different wavelengths!
Outside the window, the Demon Lord, observing secretly, grew increasingly convinced of his plan.
They’re touching faces—there must definitely be something between those two!
Although he felt the displeasure of having his junior sister snatched away by someone else, he was, after all, a Demon Lord with ambitions. Since his previous attempt to mobilize demonic cultivators to attack the righteous path had failed, the Demon Lord had personally infiltrated the number one righteous sect to bide his time. Now he’d finally found the Immortal Lord’s weakness!
He could have originally used the junior sister’s life to threaten the Immortal Lord, but given the Demon Lord’s character, he couldn’t bring himself to do something so despicable. The junior sister was so cute—he couldn’t bear to harm a single hair on her head.
Besides, if the Immortal Lord ended up carrying the junior sister’s child, she wouldn’t exactly lose out either.
Demon Lord: She’ll thank me later.jpg