Chapter 67

"My mistake. What I meant to say was that this is not the main point. Talent and comprehension are secondary; the essence is that you are brilliant, and your cultivation speed is merely the result that naturally manifests from it."

"Alright, what else?"

"Oh, there's plenty!"

Xiao Yu enumerated them like counting family treasures: "Look at how versatile you are..."

"Huh?"

"Aren't you proficient in the zither, go, calligraphy, and painting?"

Su Zhen gave him an eye-roll. "...I truly don't know whether the Senior is mocking me or what. Being a clumsy jack-of-all-trades is more like it."

"That's just because the standards in your world are ridiculously high. Besides, your handwriting is exceptionally good—you surely can't deny that. Even your master made you reply to his letters purely because of it."

Xiao Yu said calmly, "Jiang Wang is not from an aristocratic lineage, and while Zhou Ziheng is, isn't his handwriting far inferior to yours?"

Given that the people he mentioned were all mediocre, Su Zhen didn't feel like being modest anymore. "Aside from the jade slips, have you ever seen my handwriting? Or did you just pick up that character setting from a book?"

"I originally intended to say that seeing it on the jade slips was enough, but..."

Xiao Yu directly pulled out a volume of scriptures. "Look!"

Su Zhen silently took it and discovered it was an introductory mental cultivation manual of the Tianyuan Sect. Inside the book were the handwritings of four or five different people, all containing marginal notes and interpretations of the original text.

Among them were annotations left by herself, dating back many, many years ago.

Su Zhen handed it back to him. "My brushwork was still rather crude back then. Where did you find this?"

"Shortly after you were reborn, while you were in seclusion, I was wandering around Stormcloud Peak and happened to run into a few youngsters who found it in the library. I gave each of them a top-grade spirit stone just to let me borrow it."

For ordinary cultivators, this must have felt like a windfall dropping from the heavens.

"Then I took it away. Although it sounds highly unethical, I placed an identical copy back into the library and copied every single marginal note from the original."

Su Zhen: "...You really had nothing better to do."

Xiao Yu, however, looked quite self-satisfied as he gazed at the manual in his hand. "And then I was utterly astounded by your handwriting. As the saying goes: *'Golden blossoms delicately fall, every inch exquisite; jade fragments shining apart, distant cliffs radiant.'* It is precisely like that."

Su Zhen looked up in surprise. "You claimed earlier that you weren't well-versed in poetry and couldn't even play drinking games!"

Xiao Yu waved a hand. "I certainly didn't make this up myself; it was written by the ancients of my world to evaluate certain master calligraphers of antiquity."

Su Zhen shook her head slightly. "While I'm not bad, I haven't reached the level of a grandmaster. Senior is simply looking through boyfriend-tinted glasses."

Xiao Yu couldn't help laughing out loud. "Ahem, my apologies. Hearing you use such terminology with a straight face is quite amusing. Well, I suppose I do feel a tinge of guilt after all."

"You definitely don't."

Su Zhen shot him a sideways glance. "I originally wanted to ask what other formidable traits I possess, but Senior would most likely resort to sophistry again. Never mind."

"Hmm? I thought you did it on purpose, hoping to hear me lavish more praise on you."

Su Zhen glanced at him. "Who wants to hear you praise me?"

Xiao Yu surrendered on the spot. "Fine, fine, you don't want to hear it, but I want to praise you from the bottom of my heart, because you deserve it—"

"Stop."

Su Zhen looked up at the sky. "Let's drop this subject. Since we are already a couple, you have every right to be jealous, and I won't be displeased by it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked Senior to be my boyfriend in the first place."

She actually had to explain something like this!

This guy was truly a complete fool.

Thinking this, Su Zhen couldn't help suspecting whether he had done it on purpose, simply wishing to hear her say such words a few more times.

At this thought, she couldn't help gritting her teeth.

She had heard him speak of certain so-called modern behaviors, where some people were extremely bold and uninhibited regarding matters between the sexes.

In truth, such individuals existed among cultivators as well, but she was not one of them, and most of those she knew were not either; they either treated such things as mere pastime or remained utterly indifferent to them.

Yet, after meeting this fellow, she had inexplicably uttered many things she would never have said otherwise.

"...I suppose that makes sense?"

Xiao Yu thought for a moment. "Actually, those were originally someone else's memories, so it's only normal that you were influenced by them."

As he said this, he seemed to recall something, pausing mid-sentence with a hesitant expression.

Su Zhen looked at him suspiciously, though she didn't pursue the matter immediately. "...Does Senior know how I woke up?"

It was precisely because she was fundamentally different from the original owner in this regard.

She was battle-hardened; let alone having her appearance ruined, she had had her head hacked to pieces countless times, suffering countless injuries to her face and skull.

Su Zhen shook her head. "It rather felt like dumb luck. Though I was angry at the time..."

After all, being injured by some trash at the Foundation Establishment stage would naturally be infuriating, no matter where one was wounded.

Yet the disfigurement process had been very brief—comparatively speaking, very short—not like the first time when she had been beaten for a long time, so her anger hadn't accumulated to that extent.

Instead, the owner of those memories had looked at her reflection in the water and instantly gone mad.

"Unlike the previous two times, this time it was completely reversed. The original owner was far angrier than I was; he completely lost control, while I did not. That is why I woke up."

It sounded almost comical when spoken aloud.

"Well, I personally feel that this shouldn't be considered dumb luck?"

Xiao Yu mused, "Because you have repeatedly survived life-and-death battles, and sustaining injuries or even having your physical body torn to shreds is a routine affair for you... This was inherently your advantage and your skill, and in the end, it helped you clear the trial."

Su Zhen cast a helpless glance at him, accepted the praise, and then pondered, "I have a faint feeling that if he had completely transformed into a Rakshasa before I woke up, the trial would probably have failed."

Yet the trial Liu Yunyao went through had begun directly in the Demon Realm, leaving one to wonder what served as the boundary for the deadline.

Xiao Yu nodded in agreement. "His power at the time certainly couldn't be classified as that of a Demon God, but even so..."

The vast majority of monsters or demons were vassals to some Demon God, and one could invariably find traits belonging to a particular Demon God upon them.

What if a brand-new demon suddenly emerged, unprecedented and devoid of any physical traits belonging to any Demon God?

Su Zhen snapped her fingers. "Ah, a Demon God-in-training."

Until now, she had experienced the memories of three Demon Gods, and all three had genuinely been good people down to their core. Before being persecuted, they didn't possess a single malicious bone in their bodies, not even stooping to return injury for injury.

Su Zhen suddenly felt a twinge of emotion. "If the Heavenly Dao were to use my memories to test others, I would truly be a rare specimen among this crowd. After all, I am not as kind as they are, nor have I suffered that kind of bullying."

Those individuals within her sect—from her master down to her junior sister and fellow disciples—how could they possibly compare to the monsters and demons in those memories?

Xiao Yu hesitated before speaking. "Setting aside other factors, wasn't the most suffocating ordeal you faced the Punishment Platform?"

Su Zhen choked on her breath. "Well, setting aside other factors, if we really used that memory..."

Fighting her way out of the Punishment Platform was no easy feat; in fact, it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens, countless times harder than any of the counter-kills in those memories.

Su Zhen silently shook her head. "Let's forget it. It's simply too harsh on a person, and besides, I died in that one."

Turning her thoughts to the various faces in her memories, she asked, "Among the attendants of the Illusion God, wasn't there one surnamed Wu? Do you have a portrait projection of her?"

Xiao Yu hadn't memorized the Illusion God's devotees inside and out, but upon hearing this, he thought for a moment. "It seems there was indeed such a person, but she rarely walked the Demon Realm? Are you suspecting she was that Second Senior Sister?"

"Mmm-hmm, same surname, and her age seems to fit as well..."

The Illusion-weaving Demon God was the youngest of the four deities. Based on the Chantwind Immortal Venerable from those memories, Su Zhen could roughly deduce that this event must have occurred nearly three thousand years ago.

"She was only at the Mystic Immortal realm back then; she must have been around two hundred years old, I suppose?"

Su Zhen speculated inwardly, though unfortunately, she had no friends in the Myriad Forms Sect, and she certainly couldn't go hunting down Liu Yunyao to ask about her ancestors' gossip.

Besides, that girl probably wouldn't know anyway.

However, Su Zhen's interest in the matter was extremely limited, and after pondering for a brief moment, she let it drop.

"There is still one final trial left. I wonder if there will be another opportunity to... leverage my advantages."

She said it with a hint of self-deprecation. "Senior must not forget what I said earlier."

Xiao Yu grabbed hold of her. "I haven't forgotten, but I'm rather disinclined to agree to your terms."

Su Zhen frowned. "You said you would listen to me in everything you possibly could. Don't pull that 'it's for your own good' nonsense. If you want what's best for me, you'll listen to me."

Xiao Yu sighed softly, his hand resting on her shoulder shifting to pull her directly into his embrace. "But you are also considering my welfare, refusing to let me pay the price for you..."

Su Zhen turned her head slightly, pillowing it against his broad chest, her fingers idly tugging at the lapel of his robe.

"That's not entirely true."

Su Zhen said slowly, "I care about Senior. The thought of the heavy price Senior might pay causes me unbearable distress, which is why I am unwilling for you to do it. When all is said and done, I am still considering my own feelings."

The arm wrapped around her back suddenly stiffened.

Su Zhen raised her chin.

She then saw Xiao Yu staring blankly ahead, looking as though his wits had completely deserted him for a moment before snapping back to reality, grinning from ear to ear like an absolute idiot.

Su Zhen: "..."

Su Zhen quietly withdrew from his embrace. "Very well, Senior can do as he pleases. There is only one condition: you are strictly forbidden from sacrificing your life for me."

The smile in Xiao Yu's eyes did not fade, and hearing this, his expression grew even softer as he solemnly promised, "Alright, since I've heard those words from you, I won't do it."

Su Zhen still felt something was amiss.

Yet before she could ponder it further, he brought up the subject of the third trial once more.

"Haven't you noticed that you've grown stronger?"

Xiao Yu looked down, appraising her. "It was entirely due to the restrictions of the rules that you were forcibly capped at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, but..."

"Mm."

Su Zhen nodded. "Indeed. Right now, I feel that even if a Quasi-Sage realm cultivator were to stand before me, I might not necessarily lose to them."

And this wasn't through taking shortcuts or relying on favorable timing and terrain.

She faintly sensed that she had already touched upon a brand-new, unique power. Though she had yet to fully master it, this power was now close at hand, within arm's reach—perhaps separated by merely a single step.

That so-called single step would likely be the final trial.

Su Zhen turned her gaze toward the lightning flashing across the sky. "It's just a pity that His Majesty the Dharma God is somewhat older; I might not necessarily encounter an old acquaintance in His memories."

Xiao Yu hesitated once more before realizing she was joking, and smiled in kind. "As long as it's not Qin Song, you can sleep with whoever else you like."

Su Zhen: "?"

Naturally, this was also a joke.

If one truly acted contrary to the memory owner's will and completely derailed the development of the memories, one would inevitably wake up. Therefore, it was unlikely to reach that stage unless the memory owner had already been involved with that person to begin with.

"However..."

Su Zhen asked curiously, "Why is Senior so concerned about her? Do you have bad blood with her?"

Xiao Yu shook his head. "I barely spoke a word to her. I just had the impression that you seemed rather fond of her?"

Su Zhen remained puzzled. "Did the books record us meeting? I merely respected her... well, her personality was quite interesting too. Alright, my feelings toward her were actually quite similar to those I hold for the Sect Master..."

Xiao Yu's expression instantly turned subtle.

Su Zhen narrowed her eyes. "Hmm? Don't tell me we all have shipping pairings together."

Xiao Yu gave a light cough. "More than just shipping."

Good grief.

Su Zhen had already been briefed by him on some of the more outrageous aspects of the fanfiction community. Hearing this, she instantly guessed that not only were there pairings, but there were probably all sorts of illustrations and stories as well.

Su Zhen's thoughts drifted. "Then... how do they depict the relationship between myself and Chantwind Immortal Venerable...?"

Xiao Yu: "???"

Xiao Yu looked at her with an indescribable expression. "What? The dynamic? Top or bottom?"

Su Zhen nearly choked on her own saliva. "Where is Senior's mind wandering? I was simply curious about what they write."

Xiao Yu offered another meaningful look. "All of it. Admiring flowers, viewing snow, composing poetry, playing the zither, and blowing the flute..."

Su Zhen nodded. "That sounds rather ordinary."

Xiao Yu continued, "...And then, there are the ones where you are expelled from the sect, taken in by her as a disciple, and she helps you slap Xu Ling in the face."

Su Zhen: "?"

Xiao Yu maintained a deadpan expression. "You are slipped an aphrodisiac, and she helps you..."

Su Zhen: "??"

Su Zhen quickly called a halt, looking thoroughly aggrieved. "This definitely wasn't written by my fans! And why on earth would you read such things?!"

Xiao Yu spread his hands. "For a period of time, I frantically searched for any content related to you. As long as it wasn't smears against you, I could read it. Though I usually just skimmed those kinds of stories, because—"

"You call that not a smear?!"

Su Zhen raged, "It would be one thing if I were a beast or a bird; at least their bodies can genuinely be affected by such things. I am a tree! What good is an aphrodisiac to me? Am I supposed to run over to my dad's territory, randomly find a fellow member of my species, and force them to give me pollen? Then what, angrily spray a field full of seeds?! Can you please stop applying mammalian thinking to our kind?!"

Xiao Yu completely lost it and burst out laughing. "Hahahaha—"

Su Zhen looked at him expressionlessly.

"Apologies, my apologies—"

Xiao Yu raised a hand to press against his lips. "I know, I know, I find it outrageous too. Your immunity to all poisons naturally applies to such things as well. Ahem, I just find the way you talk about it utterly fascinating."

Su Zhen rolled her eyes at him. "It's all Senior's fault for corrupting me. The way I speak is becoming more and more like the people from your world."

Xiao Yu looked at her with a beaming smile. "Isn't this rather nice?"

"?"

"No, no, my mistake. It's all my fault, entirely my fault."

His apology was delivered with a perfectly straight face and a sincere tone, before his tone shifted. "Actually, I don't care for those plots either; they excessively weaken you."

He then began to explain that these were common tropes present in many pairings, and that the authors didn't genuinely look down on her or believe she could be affected by something like an aphrodisiac.

"It's just..."

"For the sake of excitement?"

"Yes, and... to rapidly accelerate emotional development between characters."

"Why? Simply because of an intimate tryst? And haven't they all read the books? Even if one were truly susceptible to such an effect, discarding one's physical body aside, offering help could hardly be considered a profound favor, could it?"

"Ah."

Xiao Yu began to develop a headache as well. "How should I explain this to you... Theoretically they know, but when writing stories they tend to gloss over it. Or you can simply understand it as: that's just what they enjoy writing."

"Mm, does Senior enjoy reading them too?"

"Of course not!"

Xiao Yu repeatedly protested his innocence. "Absolutely not! I don't like them. At most, I'll look at short pieces involving tasting tea, playing chess, and profound philosophical conversations. Those generally don't stray too far out-of-character. What's the point of those cookie-cutter template stories? Change the character's name and you can't even tell who it's supposed to be about—whether it's written about you or any other character, they all taste the exact same. They're either exceptionally coy and sweet, or it's the 'domineering immortal lord fell in love with me' trope. Of course, I have no objections to these tropes themselves, but I feel that if someone wants to write that sort of thing, they should write original fiction instead. Writing fanfiction while twisting personalities to that degree just ruins the fun."

Su Zhen found it amusing to listen to. "What domineering immortal lord? Is it the same kind Senior mentioned last time?"

"No, no, no. The last time was just a catch-all term for romance stories involving Immortal Venerables. This time refers specifically to a particular personality type."

Su Zhen tilted her head, indicating she was all ears.

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before his expression abruptly shifted, his eyes filled with an arrogant, scrutinizing gaze as he looked down at her from on high.

He then reached out to pinch her chin, forcing her to look up.

His other arm lunged out suddenly, wrapping tightly around her waist to pull her firmly against him, his large hand gripping her slender waist.

Xiao Yu lowered his head slightly, his blue eyes appearing dark and deep, revealing an inexpressible gaze akin to that of a hunter.

He said in a deep voice, "Woman, you are playing with fire!"

"Pfft!"

Su Zhen couldn't hold it in either, collapsing into laughter within the crook of his arm. "Hahahahaha, Senior, you—you—you look like this—hahahaha..."

Xiao Yu sighed, the darkness in his eyes instantly vanishing as he helplessly pulled her close.

"Is it really that funny? Was my acting good or bad?"

He shook his head. "Sigh, never mind. Go ahead and laugh, even I feel greasy watching myself."

Hearing this, Su Zhen laughed even louder.

Though her mood had been somewhat heavy earlier due to worries about the upcoming trial, it had now grown much lighter.

Moreover, she could faintly perceive that the surrounding planes were in turmoil, with certain ferocious beasts acting under manipulation as they seemingly tracked her scent to find her.

Further away were other cultivators.

Her divine sense swept through one small world after another, wandering and exploring across countless mystic paths and spatial rifts, before quickly enveloping them entirely, keeping every single movement and shift completely under her control.

Su Zhen withdrew her divine sense. "...Is there anything else of interest?"

Xiao Yu raised a hand, abandoning his performance, and simply used words to brief her on other popular cliché tropes.

Su Zhen listened with great relish. Seeing him talk for so long, she remarked, "If it doesn't involve fanfiction, does Senior actually quite like these genres? Seeing how much you know about them?"

"For a period of time, web novels were dominated by this stuff. As long as you like reading books on your phone, it's practically unavoidable..."

Before he could finish, Su Zhen suddenly leaned in close again.

Xiao Yu was momentarily stunned as he watched the young woman before him stand on tiptoe, reach out to pinch his chin, with a half-smile on her face and eyes shimmering with mischievous amusement.

"Man, are you playing hard to get, saying no with your mouth—"

Xiao Yu: "!"

Xiao Yu slowly lowered his gaze to look at her, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly while blue eyes rippled with amusement, as if harboring turbulent depths beneath.

"...Care to come and test whether my body is saying no as well?"