Fu Tingyun had no intention of interfering—he never meddled in others' affairs.
Perhaps Dragon Ridge Peak was simply too high. From his vantage point, the vast expanse of Yunyu Sect's emerald waves was nothing more than a small puddle, and the Mystic Wing Sect and Fengyue Sect were, at most, two tiny creatures.
What did it matter to him if tiny creatures hopped about in a puddle?
Though he was currently within Yunyu Sect, his perspective remained unchanged.
Setting up the Formation had delayed them, and Su Xiaoyuan and Ruan Mianmian were about to miss their next class, leaving them no choice but to spend a fortune on boat fare.
A single ferry boat could only carry two people. Though the Puppet wasn't human, its size was considerable, so they had to pay double—renting two boats.
Ruan Mianmian was a rich beauty who had just come into a windfall, so she didn't care about two low-grade spirit stones.
Su Xiaoyuan was different—she had a Puppet to support.
She looked up at her Puppet. The shimmering light on the water's surface reflected off his fair, handsome face, the light carving out perfect contours and gilding his hair with a dreamlike luster. He was breathtakingly beautiful.
Too good-looking. Every time Su Xiaoyuan accidentally caught a glimpse of him, seventeen or eighteen outfit designs would pop into her head—she really wanted to try every single one on him!
"Kaishan, we get out early tomorrow. Let's go into the city," she said.
"Sure, sure," Ruan Mianmian nodded happily. "After paying for the wall Song Jinshu broke earlier, I still have over three hundred left. Tomorrow I'll treat you to a nice meal!"
Su Xiaoyuan sighed inwardly. She'd probably end up treating instead—Kaishan had to pay damages every few days, so she needed to keep some money on hand for emergencies.
"Oh right, Xiaoyuanzi, what are you going into the city to buy?" Ruan Mianmian only thought to ask now.
"Some clothes…"
"You're so pretty, you should buy yourself some nice clothes."
"They're not for me," Su Xiaoyuan pointed at the Puppet Human. "I'm buying him a couple of changes of clothes."
Ruan Mianmian let out a yelp: "Xiaoyuanzi, you treat him way too well! What does a Puppet Human need clothes for?"
The Song Jinshu Puppet suddenly crossed its arms and let out a soft "mmph."
Fu Tingyun lifted his eyelids. He didn't need extra clothes—the set he was wearing was tolerable.
There were still some faint patterns, but at least there were no garish colors.
Su Xiaoyuan didn't know how to explain her niche hobby to her best friend. Fortunately, the boat reached the shore just then.
This class was "History of the Three Realms and Sect Evolution," held at Elder Jiang's Amphibious Forest.
Elder Jiang was the oldest of Yunyu Sect's seven elders, though by appearance he was just a delicate, pretty youth of fifteen or sixteen.
This course relied mainly on rote memorization. Su Xiaoyuan, a liberal arts student, managed fairly well, but memorizing the alliances and feuds among so many sects was still quite a brain drain.
"What's the use of memorizing all this boring stuff…" a disciple scratched his head bald and couldn't help grumbling under his breath.
Elder Jiang tilted his head and smiled: "If you don't study, and you go out and provoke someone you shouldn't, it could cost you your life, you know.
"Besides, knowing which sects harbor grudges against each other lets you make good use of it—properly stirring up their jealousy and competitiveness."
He narrowed his eyes, looking somewhat dangerous: "You have no idea how easy a man consumed by jealousy is to manipulate."
Su Xiaoyuan recalled that the inner sect's advanced mind-manipulation course was apparently also taught by this Elder Jiang.
Compared to that, rote memorization suited her better.
Elder Jiang clapped his hands: "Let's first review the history of our sect. The following are all key points that might appear on the exam…
"Starting from when Immortal Venerable Bixiao founded the Hehuan Sect in Mount Wu, up to now, one thousand eight hundred and thirty years later, what is the most important event? Li Yiyue."
"The three-way split?"
"Correct. In the twelfth year of the Taiyan calendar, one thousand two hundred seventy-eight, that is, seven hundred fifteen years ago, internal divisions within the Hehuan Sect had reached an irreconcilable point, and so it split into three branches—the Yunyu Sect, the Fengyue Sect, and the Wushan Sect.
"The Wushan Sect is our main branch, but it has declined over the past century. Now it has no more than a few dozen disciples, hiding deep in Mount Wu and paying no heed to worldly affairs.
"The remaining two, ourselves and the Fengyue Sect, face off between north and south, evenly matched. There has long been a saying: Fengyue in the north, Yunyu in the south."
"Elder Jiang," a disciple asked, "I heard the Fengyue Sect has a grudge against our sect. Is that true?"
Elder Jiang rarely dropped his perpetual half-smile, and after a moment of thought said: "Rather than a grudge, it would be more accurate to call it a clash of ideals."
He paused: "I do not wish to speak ill behind the backs of fellow cultivators from the same origin, but the Fengyue Sect has always taken an aggressive approach—frankly, they stop at nothing, especially after the current sect master took over more than sixty years ago."
"I heard they want to annex us. Is that true?" the disciple asked again.
Elder Jiang's expression turned somewhat grave. He nodded: "The Fengyue Sect is fiercely ambitious. Over the years they have swallowed up many small Charm Cultivator sects. It is not surprising that they harbor such intentions."
This question was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves.
An atmosphere of unease rippled through the disciples.
Clearly everyone had heard no small number of rumors about the Fengyue Sect.
"I heard they can't choose their mission targets. Whoever the sect tells you to harvest, you have to go…"
"Being able to go on normal missions is already considered good. I heard from my grand-uncle that they even feed good-looking, low-cultivation disciples drugs to make them into cultivation furnaces and give them to powerful figures in the Immortal Sects…"
"I heard they don't care whether someone's taken or not—even if the target has a Dao companion, they don't care…"
Hearing this, Ruan Mianmian perked up, rolling up her sleeves: "Right, absolutely shameless!"
"Not only that—I heard they even practice evil arts, toying with their Dual Cultivation Harvesting targets in the palm of their hand, squeezing out every last bit of cultivation base and wealth, then discarding them. Many have taken their own lives…"
"If our sect gets annexed, what will we do? I don't want to be made into a cultivation furnace!"
"With your looks, you should be pretty safe."
"Bah!"
…
Elder Jiang reassured them: "Our sect has deep foundations, and we are also under the jurisdiction of the Immortal Alliance. There are rules for everything—they cannot act recklessly as they please."
But even Su Xiaoyuan, a clear-eyed university student like her, could tell that this comfort was somewhat feeble.
After a full day of classes, Su Xiaoyuan's mood was even heavier.
Though she had little appetite, she still went with Ruan Mianmian to the dining hall to eat something—taking Fasting Pills with every meal was just too inhuman.
By the time she returned to her little nest, the sun was almost setting.
She fetched water to wash her face and hands. She didn't even soak her feet, just rinsed them, then collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in the soft homemade pillow, completely unwilling to move.
Fu Tingyun stood to one side watching, unsure what she was doing.
Just when he began to suspect she might be dead, a weak, muffled voice suddenly emerged from the pillow: "Fu Tingyun, do you think there's even the slightest chance that I could use Dual Cultivation Harvesting on Immortal Venerable Lingyue?"
Fu Tingyun did not even lift an eyelid, answering categorically: "No.""
Su Xiaoyuan squirmed, flipped herself over, and looked at the Puppet Human: "Do you know Immortal Venerable Lingyue?"
"I know."
"Do you know other things? Fu Tingyun?"
"I know."
"Wow, then you're really amazing."
Su Xiaoyuan had heard that some high-end Puppet Humans come pre-installed with a knowledge base. It seemed that although this one was scrapped and its intelligence was faulty, the knowledge base was still intact.
No wonder it could make stir-fried pork.
"Then someone born with severed emotions and desires—is it possible for them to be reconnected? Fu Tingyun?"
"Impossible."
Su Xiaoyuan felt somewhat despairing, but on second thought, her task was to perform Dual Cultivation Harvesting on Immortal Venerable Lingyue; she did not need him to have worldly desires.
"That… someone born with severed emotions and desires…" Her gaze slowly drifted downward, landing somewhere, "That place… can it still get hard?"
If his physiological functions were normal, there was still a sliver of hope.
Fu Tingyun glanced at her and refused to answer.
Su Xiaoyuan inexplicably felt a chill, grabbed the blanket and covered herself, muttering softly: "Right, you definitely wouldn't know either. I'm so silly—how could such a private matter possibly be in a knowledge base…"
She sat up, crossed her legs on the bed, bunched up the blanket and hugged it to her chest, rested her chin on the blanket bundle, and blinked.
"Fu Tingyun, do you think there's a one-in-ten-thousand… no, a one-in-a-hundred-million chance that I could sleep with Immortal Venerable Lingyue?"
Fu Tingyun looked at the girl's eyes. In the slanting light of the setting sun, her eyes were clear and bright, like amber-colored glass.
He did not know why this strange girl was so fixated on him. He was certain they had never met.
She looked very sad, but impossible was impossible. He answered with certainty: "Impossible."
"Ah ah…" Su Xiaoyuan slumped her head dejectedly and bit into the blanket.
Puppet Humans really were not intelligent enough—they could not provide emotional value. If it were an AI, it would have comforted her along the lines of what she said.
"Forget it, I know it's impossible too…" She climbed off the bed and began to tidy the blanket.
"Why?" Fu Tingyun asked, as if possessed.
Su Xiaoyuan's hands paused, and she froze.
She turned her head, her eyes clear and round, looking at him in disbelief: "Fu Tingyun, were you just initiating conversation with me?"
"Yes." Fu Tingyun did not know what was so surprising about that. Many Puppet Humans could simply communicate with their masters; they just lacked spiritual intelligence and only responded according to set patterns.
But the girl was extraordinarily delighted, her entire face seeming to brighten.
"Fu Tingyun, what kind of clothes do you like?" Su Xiaoyuan asked.
"I don't like any." Fu Tingyun refused her without hesitation.
"You can't just keep wearing this outfit all the time."
Fu Tingyun did not understand why not. In his Taiji Palace, there were of course more than one set of clothes, but every set was identical.
"Wearing this all the time is so monotonous. You're so good-looking—you should try different styles. I'll definitely dress you up as the most handsome guy in this city." The girl's cheeks flushed red with excitement, her eyes sparkling.
She no longer consulted him. She ran to the table, dug out drawing paper, clipped it to a wooden board, and began sketching with a charcoal stick, as if no one else was present.
Fu Tingyun glanced over and saw they were all bizarre, unorthodox garments.
He finally understood—she was treating him like a puppet.
He would never tolerate anyone treating him as a plaything.
Su Xiaoyuan had designed three looks, and the sun had set.
She rubbed her eyes, finally remembering there was still real business to attend to—even if the odds of sleeping with Immortal Venerable Lingyue were zero, the homework Elder Qin had assigned still had to be done.
She tossed down her brush, tossed a low-grade spirit stone into the lamp, and gave up the small round stool she had just been sitting on. "Sit down, Fu Tingyun."
The puppet human glanced at her warily, but still sat down, the stool still retaining the warmth of the young woman's body heat.
Su Xiaoyuan stood before the puppet human, not much taller than him.
She cast the spell as Elder Qin had taught her, smoothly pulling up the Formation interface that had been newly installed today.
She opened the directory, found the "Eye-to-Eye Affection" option, closed the light screen, and took a deep breath. "Fu Tingyun, I'm now going to practice Eye-to-Eye Affection with you…"
Shutting herself in a room to do something like this with a puppet human was utterly embarrassing.
Especially since her puppet human looked so aloof and cold—no matter what she did, he showed no reaction at all.
"Fu Tingyun, please raise your head and look into my eyes…"
The puppet human complied, tilting up his chin, revealing a slender neck and a subtle Adam's apple. The light from the spirit stone cast in from the side, outlining his sculpted, artwork-like profile.
Every spirit stone gave off a slightly different light; today's stone leaned toward a cooler tone, making his eyes seem all the more clear, cold, and indifferent.
They were now one sitting, one standing—he in the lower position, slightly looking up—yet Su Xiaoyuan still felt as though she were the one being looked down upon.
Her throat tightened, and that inexplicable panic and breathlessness began again.
She instinctively averted her gaze from his.
"Fail." The puppet human's evaluation was terse.
"Huh?" Su Xiaoyuan was taken aback. "That's it?"
The result was within expectations—it would have been strange if she'd passed—but when Elder Qin had demonstrated today, the Formation had given a grade and comments. Why did it only give two words with him?
"Isn't there a grade?"
The Formation did have one, along with a long string of comments, but Fu Tingyun would never let the puppet human make that kind of sound.
"Fifth-grade, level one." He said succinctly.
"How could that be…" Su Xiaoyuan drooped her head in defeat. Fifth-grade was the lowest grade there was.
After a moment of mental preparation, she continued to challenge it, trying glaring, squinting, blinking—pulling out all the stops, even, in a desperate move, placing both hands on the puppet human's shoulders.
Of course, it was all useless. After dozens of attempts, she felt like her retinas were about to detach. Her best score was fourth-grade, level two, still a million miles from passing.
Su Xiaoyuan let out a sigh, rubbed her sore, reddened eyes, and gave up.
If it were that easy to pass, Elder Qin wouldn't have given a full seven-day deadline.
Seeing that one spirit stone had burned down to only a third of its size, Su Xiaoyuan decided to wash up and go to bed.
But just then, a gentle male voice suddenly sounded from outside: "Junior Sister Xiaoyuan, are you there?"
It was an unfamiliar voice, with a metallic quality to it, very magnetic. Su Xiaoyuan, being someone who was a sucker for voices, would definitely remember it after hearing it just once.
"I'm here. May I ask who this is?" Su Xiaoyuan said.
"I am Xiahou Che, under Elder Qin's command. I happened to pass by Junior Sister Xiaoyuan's residence and thought I'd stop by to say hello," the person said.
Su Xiaoyuan was startled. Xiahou Che was Elder Qin's prized disciple, one of the top performers among the inner disciples. Word had it his aptitude surpassed the Inner Sect F4, only he had joined the sect a few years later.
Although she had never met him in person, she had certainly heard of such a prominent figure. What kind of connection could they possibly have…
Then a sudden inspiration struck her. Elder Qin had said he would arrange for a senior brother to show her the ropes—it couldn't be him, could it?