By the time Xiao Qingxuan arrived at the Profound Firmament Upper Sect, it was already very late.
The Heavenly Sword Peak was bustling with activity, everyone busy preparing to welcome Feng Linyi out of seclusion. Even elders and Peak Lords from other peaks had come over.
But for some reason, with a grand wave of her hand, her Shizun had directly thrown her over to Azure Sky Peak, leaving her in an awkward position where going up the mountain wasn’t right, and not going up wasn’t right either.
But since she was already here, she still planned to go up first and check on A-Qing’s condition.
She wondered how A-Qing had been doing in the two days she was away.
She walked somewhat uneasily towards Azure Sky Peak. The night was as dark as ink, enveloping everything from the mountaintop down to the foot, as if it wanted to swallow her too.
A deep purple light bloomed in Xiao Qingxuan’s palm. Even being sealed by True Qi, a faint fragrance wafted to her nose.
She hadn’t yet figured out what kind of Ye Luqing she wanted to shape with the Dream-Building Lotus.
Or rather, she hadn’t yet resolved in her heart to make Ye Luqing re-experience those unbearable past events from when they first met.
Was there any way to not go through those painful memories, yet still allow Ye Luqing to return to being that original A-Qing…
As she pondered this, she soon arrived at Ye Luqing’s residence.
Taking a deep breath, the reassuring fragrance of Verdant Wood Flowers filled her nostrils, and her mood quickly calmed down.
The next moment, Xiao Qingxuan slightly frowned.
“Hm?”
“Why is there another woman’s scent?”
It was clearly Ye Luqing’s personal residence, yet there were two distinct auras.
And these two auras weren’t independent; they were intertwined and mixed together, intimately close.
She had only been gone for two days, and someone had already raided her home?
“A-Qing!”
No time to investigate with her Soul, Xiao Qingxuan’s body reacted a step faster. In a flash, she teleported into Ye Luqing’s room.
There, on that familiar little bed, lay an unfamiliar pink-haired young girl, sleeping groggily. A-Qing herself was not in the room.
Xiao Qingxuan’s heart lurched. Judging by the aura, it wasn’t hard to tell that this girl on the bed was the other person intertwined with Ye Luqing’s scent.
Who was she?
Where had A-Qing gone?
Xiao Qingxuan reached out her hand. Just as she was about to yank this cheating cat up from the bed to question her, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.
“…Senior Sister Xiao?”
Xiao Qingxuan subconsciously turned her head and saw Ye Luqing standing there in her sleeping robe.
The young girl was dressed in a plain sleeping robe that shimmered with a soft glow under the moonlight. The tips of her cyan hair swayed, dazzling like flowing jade.
The slightly wide cuffs revealed a section of tender, lotus-root-like forearm. The collar was slightly open, exposing delicate, refined collarbones and a patch of snow-white skin.
The girl’s expression was gentle, with a trace of childish innocence that hadn’t fully faded. A surprised yet slightly warm smile hung at the corner of her mouth. For a moment, Xiao Qingxuan thought the original Ye Luqing had returned.
Even someone as firm in her Dao Heart as her fell into a brief daze.
The questioning words that had been on the tip of her tongue turned into a soft inquiry:
“A-Qing, who is she?”
“Ah… she’s my junior sister, Ying Qianqian.” Ye Luqing rubbed her eyes as if she had just woken up, then lowered her voice and said, “Let’s talk outside, don’t disturb her rest.”
Xiao Qingxuan bit her lip lightly, feeling somewhat displeased that someone was sleeping in Ye Luqing’s bed.
She glanced at Ying Qianqian on the bed, a flicker of sword light flashing in her eyes.
If A-Qing had come a few seconds later, she would have already dragged this cheating cat up for questioning.
As if sensing Xiao Qingxuan’s mood, Ye Luqing stepped forward and took hold of Xiao Qingxuan’s icy jade hand.
“Come with me.”
Xiao Qingxuan stared blankly, following Ye Luqing. The moment she felt Ye Luqing’s body temperature, the displeasure in her heart seemed to vanish like smoke.
She subconsciously held Ye Luqing’s hand in return, feeling this small softness and warmth, sweeping away the confusion in her heart.
Feeling Xiao Qingxuan’s slight trembling—wanting to grip tightly but not daring to—a warmth rose in the bottom of Ye Luqing’s heart.
This was the first time she had felt a sense of “cuteness” from this Destined Female Lead.
But in the next moment, the System’s voice sounded in her mind.
[Ding, special plot detected. Issuing timed mission.]
[Timed Mission: For the rest of this night, reject all requests from the Destined Female Lead Xiao Qingxuan. Strive to increase her Blackening Value and Corruption Value.]
[Mission Reward: Method to condense the Primordial Spirit; Failure Penalty: Cultivation drops by one realm.]
Hearing this, Ye Luqing instantly stopped in her tracks.
Reject all of Xiao Qingxuan’s requests? What kind of mission was this?
She subconsciously wanted to cancel it, but found there was no way to close it.
It seemed that any mission related to the main plot of making Xiao Qingxuan blacken was a mission she couldn’t refuse.
“A-Qing, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Ye Luqing suddenly stop, Xiao Qingxuan asked with some confusion.
“Mm… it’s nothing.”
Ye Luqing forced out a smile, while in her mind, she replied to the System.
“Accept mission.”
[Accepted successfully. Wishing the host smooth completion of the mission.]
The Damn System had screwed her over more than once; she was used to it by now.
But she wasn’t going to take a loss silently. First, handle the mission at hand, then settle accounts with the Damn System later.
Ye Luqing led Xiao Qingxuan to the side room. Before the other could ask, she spoke up:
“Junior Sister Ying and I are representing the Direct Disciples of Azure Sky Peak in the Grand Tournament. Today, after training on the White Jade Platform within the peak, we were tired, so I brought her here to rest.”
“Of course, she sleeps in my room, I sleep in the side room.”
She explained proactively to prevent Xiao Qingxuan from requesting an explanation later, which would force her to reject it.
She touched the bedding that was still slightly warm, proving she was sleeping separately.
“You two Array Cultivators are participating in the Grand Tournament?” Xiao Qingxuan blinked in slight disbelief.
Ye Luqing scratched her face somewhat sheepishly. “I’ve lost my memories. Besides Little Ying, I don’t really know anyone else…”
Hearing this, a flash of apology flickered in Xiao Qingxuan’s eyes.
A-Qing had lost her memory because of her. She should be responsible for A-Qing. But now that she had broken through to Half-Step Spirit Transformation, she was unable to participate.
If not for exceeding the cultivation limit, how could she let Ye Luqing participate with someone else?
[Detected Destined Female Lead Xiao Qingxuan’s Blackening Value has risen to 99%]
After obtaining the Dream-Building Lotus, Xiao Qingxuan’s Blackening Value had dropped back to 97%, and now it was starting to climb again.
“A-Qing, better not use a Dual Formation Cultivator Team to participate. Tomorrow, I’ll have Xu Cheng’an come out of seclusion early. Cooperating with him to win the Duo Tournament championship shouldn’t be difficult.”
Xu Cheng’an was the Senior Brother of Heavenly Sword Peak, the Direct Disciple of the Great Elder. Three years ago, after being defeated by Xiao Qingxuan and Ye Luqing in the Duo Tournament, he had resolved to go into seclusion and charge toward the Spirit Transformation Stage, rarely showing his face.
Hearing this, Ye Luqing quickly waved her hands. “No need, Senior Sister Xiao. Shizun has already agreed to us participating, and even personally taught us two sets of spell arrays.”
Even without the System’s mission, for the sake of Little Ying’s long period of preparation, she wouldn’t accept Xiao Qingxuan’s suggestion.
“It’s already been approved by Shishu Bai…” Xiao Qingxuan was slightly taken aback.
Since the Dao Venerable of the Formation Arts Lineage had agreed, she couldn’t really say much more.
But thinking that she hadn’t been able to help A-Qing, Xiao Qingxuan felt somewhat dejected.
Looking at Xiao Qingxuan’s downcast expression, Ye Luqing decided to quickly change the topic.
