Go Further

"Something on your mind?" Bai Qianshuang asked.

"No."

"If there is, you can tell me. No need to keep it bottled up." Bai Qianshuang spoke softly as she sat beside Ye Chuan. Her hair cascaded slightly before she tucked it behind her ear, her tranquil eyes lowered, breathtakingly beautiful.

"I don’t have any—" Ye Chuan instinctively denied it, but perhaps recalling Lilith’s words, he paused mid-sentence.

"Qianshuang, let me ask you something."

"What?"

"How would you feel if I lied to you about something?" Ye Chuan asked.

Bai Qianshuang’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before she seemed to consider the question.

"Well…"

"If it’s nothing unforgivable, I wouldn’t mind the lie."

Her answer caught Ye Chuan off guard. Staring into her earnest eyes, he knew she meant every word. She wouldn’t mind being lied to?

Why?

Ye Chuan was puzzled, as if the question was directed more at himself.

"But," Bai Qianshuang continued,

"whether good or bad, I hope you won’t keep lying to me."

"I want the real you." She placed her hand over Ye Chuan’s, and when he reflexively pulled back, her fingers tightened around his.

Her intoxicating fragrance filled the air. Seeing Bai Qianshuang so forward, Ye Chuan froze for a few seconds, about to say something—when a voice came from the doorway.

"Wah~ Time to eat~ I just called Ke Ning, but she seems busy."

Lan Xiaoke popped her head in, only to find Ye Chuan and Bai Qianshuang sitting together in silence, quietly eating.

"Is Luo Xi coming later?" Lan Xiaoke asked.

"…" Ye Chuan replied, "She’s having dinner with her parents tonight. She won’t be here. Just the three of us, then."

"Okay~"

The three ate dinner together. Ye Chuan seemed lost in thought, and even after showering and returning to his room, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, deep in contemplation—until the alarm rang at midnight.

"…"

His daily sunflower item had arrived. Ye Chuan picked up his phone to check the status of each tenant, but when he noticed Bai Qianshuang’s affection level, it had unexpectedly risen to a new high.

What’s going on?

Why was Bai Qianshuang’s affection even higher than before? Didn’t it hit rock bottom?

Recalling the evening’s events, Ye Chuan fell silent for a long time. "Because I told her one truth?"

"Is that really it?"

"Could it be?"

If emotions are built on lies, affection can’t rise beyond a certain point.

Exchanging sincerity for sincerity?

Ye Chuan stared at the ceiling, saying nothing.

Rubbing his temples, he got up to focus on business.

He harvested a batch of spiritual herbs from the medicine garden and took a glance at the Qingyun Sect’s plot, noticing several new sprouts. Without hesitation, he uprooted them all and replanted them in his own field.

Next, he checked the items provided by everyone.

"Hmm, nothing special, but Ke Ning is supplying crystal cores now?" Seeing the cores from Ke Ning, Ye Chuan used them to advance the tech tree, though breaking through to the next level would take much longer. For now, he only gained a 1% boost in spiritual energy.

But considering his already vast spiritual sense spanning hundreds of miles, even a 1% increase was significant.

The saying "Below the Nascent Soul realm, all are ants" held true—and his Nascent Soul wasn’t ordinary, either.

"Point Shop?" Ye Chuan checked it but found only minor rewards.

Seems like rarer items in the shop required deeper relationships with the tenants.

"Guess that’s it for now."

He then reviewed the progress of his adventure worlds.

[Aiser Continent – Save Point (Yisu Town): Activated]

Main Quest: Escort the princess to the royal capital, eliminate monsters

Side Quest: Acquire the Succubus Parlor

…

[Tianxuan Continent – Save Point (Shatuo City): Activated]

Main Quest: Destroy the Qingyun Sect

Side Quest: None

…

[New Era – Save Point (None): Activated]

[Eerie World – Save Point (None): Activated (Gray) – Requires one Eerie Key]

"Huh? New main quests?" After checking, Ye Chuan decided to enter the Tianxuan Continent first. After all, he still hadn’t collected Princess Amiya’s reward. There was no rush for Yisu Town—he could always return later to wreak havoc on the dragonkin when he felt like it.

"Whatever. Tianxuan Continent, activate—"

……

……

The clamor of voices surrounded him as Ye Chuan snapped back to reality, the faint scent of wind and dust filling his nose.

It was still night. Ye Chuan glanced around before heading off to find a place to rest.

"How much for a night’s stay?" he asked the innkeeper at what appeared to be a lodging house.

"Ah, honored guest! Third-class is fifty silver, second-class two hundred, and first-class one spirit stone," the innkeeper replied cheerfully. He wasn’t a local but bore a resemblance to Ye Chuan’s own people.

"Here, a spirit stone. Two nights." Ye Chuan tossed the stone to the innkeeper, who promptly ushered him in with great courtesy.

"Honored guest, this is your first-class room."

Ye Chuan scanned the interior—decent enough.

He pulled another spirit stone from his spatial backpack and tossed it to the innkeeper. "Got some questions for you."

"?" The innkeeper was visibly surprised by his generosity and quickly pocketed the stone. "Ask away."

"Any news about cultivators around here?"

"T-this…" The innkeeper looked troubled. "Honored guest, that’s a tough one. We common folk rarely get to see those immortal masters. Though some sects do come to Shatuo City every thirty years to recruit those who’ve reached the Innate Realm for trials."

"Oh?"

"Alright." Seems Shatuo City was just an ordinary mortal town with nothing noteworthy. Ye Chuan then inquired about the king’s location and learned the capital was a thousand miles away.

"Hmm…"

A thousand miles was nothing to Ye Chuan—just a few teleports away.

After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, distance was hardly an issue. The combination of the Holy Grail and spatial jumps was downright broken.

"Fine, forget the cultivators. Any interesting rumors?"

"Interesting ones…" The innkeeper thought for a moment. "I’ve heard a little something. They say Miss Chen of the Chen Family from the Great Qian Merchant Guild secretly murdered two of the guild’s elders and even harmed her own kin. Tomorrow, her family will hold a public trial."

"Oh?"

Harming her own kin?

Ye Chuan tilted his head. Does that sound right?

No, it doesn’t.

"Perfect. Just the entertainment I needed. I’ll drop by tomorrow for some fun."