Come Back to Me

Ye Xuan also received an invitation.

It was an exquisite invitation, personally delivered to his door by a managing disciple, crafted from gold-threaded cloud-patterned paper and emitting a faint sandalwood fragrance.

Looking at this invitation that was completely out of place in his current environment, Ye Xuan's face showed no surprise.

He knew that for this grand ceremony, he was the true guest of honor.

This play, after all, was being put on for him to see.

He did not refuse, nor did he show any emotion. He simply accepted the invitation calmly, changed into a clean handyman uniform that had been washed until it was somewhat faded, and appeared on time in the most inconspicuous corner of the main peak's plaza.

He was like a drop of dirty water mixed into a river, lowly, insignificant, and completely out of place amidst the surrounding radiant splendor.

When the auspicious hour arrived, under the gaze of the crowd, the Sect Master loudly announced the start of the ceremony.

Xia Lengyue made her appearance.

She was no longer wearing her usual aloof and cold black dress.

Today, she had changed into a flowing cloud dress woven from celestial silkworm silk, as bright and pure as moonlight. The hem of the skirt was embroidered with complex and gorgeous dark ice crystal patterns. As she walked, it seemed as if billions of stars were circulating within them.

She wore no makeup, yet her skin was three points fairer than snow, so delicate it seemed a breeze could break it.

Her waterfall-like black hair was casually pinned up with a simple white jade hairpin, further accentuating her stunning face, making her look like a goddess from the highest heavens, untainted by the mortal world.

The moment she stepped out from the depths of the grand hall and walked into the plaza step by step.

The entire world seemed to lose its voice.

Everyone's breathing stopped at this moment.

Countless gazes of awe, infatuation, adoration, and fanaticism focused on her, like moths drawn to a flame.

Heavens... Good heavens! Is this Fairy Xia? She is ten thousand times more beautiful than the rumors!

Such a woman should only exist in the heavens; how rarely is she seen in the mortal realm! If I could just speak one sentence to her, I would die without regrets!

With such immortal grace, coupled with peerless talent... our Qingyun Sect shall rise! It shall greatly prosper!

Gasps of admiration rose and fell in succession.

Xia Lengyue, however, turned a blind eye to all of this.

Her face bore a constant, formulaic indifference that kept people thousands of miles away.

Yet, her gaze immediately acted like the most precise sword, piercing through the layers of the crowd, bypassing countless nobles in fine clothes, and landing flawlessly on that inconspicuous gray figure huddled in the deepest corner.

Ye Xuan.

The moment she saw him, a trace of complex emotion quickly flashed through Xia Lengyue's usually placid eyes.

There was anticipation, a desire to show off, and a barely noticeable, condescending scrutiny.

She was waiting.

Waiting to see what kind of expression Ye Xuan would reveal when he saw her so radiant and revered by thousands.

Would he show infatuation and awe like the others?

Or would he feel ashamed of his own inferiority due to the insurmountable chasm between them, and lower that head of his that had only just learned to rebel?

Or perhaps, he would reveal a trace of unwillingness and possessiveness out of jealousy toward the young talents surrounding her?

No matter which one it was, to her, it would be a victory.

However, she was disappointed.

Thoroughly and utterly disappointed.

In the corner, Ye Xuan did not even look up at her.

He just sat there quietly, almost humbly, on a small folding stool.

His body leaned slightly forward, his eyes lowered, as if he had absolutely no interest in this grand ceremony being held in her honor.

His hands were hidden within his wide sleeves, his fingers pinching a complex and unfamiliar hand seal over and over again, in an extremely slow yet incredibly focused rhythm.

He was cultivating!

On such a highly anticipated, bustling occasion!

At the very moment when she, the main character, made her entrance to accept the worship of thousands!

He was actually acting as if no one else was around, seizing every minute and second to cultivate!

In his eyes, this grand spectacle that was enough to be recorded in the sect's history was not as important as the unformed, most basic five-element spell in his sleeves!

The indifference on Xia Lengyue's face instantly stiffened.

Her beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously.

A cold anger, enough to freeze a person's soul, surged madly from the bottom of her heart!

Good!

What a Ye Xuan!

Are you using this silent method to provoke me?

Are you telling me that no matter how high I stand or how bright I shine, I still cannot catch your eye?

Just as the anger churned in Xia Lengyue's heart and she was about to lash out on the spot.

A gentle, jade-like, and highly magnetic voice sounded beside her.

Junior Sister Xia, congratulations on successfully establishing your foundation. From now on, your immortal path will be smooth, and long life can be expected.

Hearing the voice, Xia Lengyue turned her head.

She saw a handsome man dressed in a moon-white brocade robe. With a face as flawless as jade, sword-like eyebrows, and starry eyes, he was holding a folding fan and looking at her with a smile.

This person was none other than the most prominent Eldest Senior Brother among the inner sect disciples of the Qingyun Sect, who hailed from the number one cultivation family in Qingzhou, the Murong family, Murong Feng.

Murong Feng possessed a Heavenly Lightning Spirit Root. At only twenty-five years old, he had already reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. He was hailed as the genius most likely to form a Golden Core within a century in the sect, and was also the perfect Dao companion in the eyes of countless female disciples.

Seeing him, Xia Lengyue forcibly suppressed the churning anger in her heart.

A vicious and familiar thought surfaced in her mind.

Ye Xuan, didn't you say you don't care?

Aren't you able to keep your heart as still as water?

Then I will let you see just how beautifully your former wife can smile in front of another man!

I really want to see if that heart of yours is actually made of stone!

So it is Senior Brother Murong.

On Xia Lengyue's frozen face, it was instantly like a spring thaw, blooming into a faint yet moving smile that was enough to make all flowers pale in comparison.

Senior Brother praises me too much. My meager cultivation is nothing but the light of a firefly in front of Senior Brother; how could I dare to compete with the bright moon.

Her voice was no longer that icy coldness that kept people thousands of miles away, but carried a trace of a young girl's unique, perfectly measured coquettishness and modesty.

A flash of astonishment crossed Murong Feng's eyes.

He had long heard that this Junior Sister Xia possessed peerless beauty, but had a personality as cold as frost.

Seeing her today, he finally knew the rumors were true, and also realized just how kingdom-toppling she was once this iceberg melted.

He elegantly opened his folding fan and smiled, Junior Sister is too modest. With your aptitude, surpassing me is only a matter of time. This is a congratulatory gift my father specifically ordered me to bring, a three-hundred-year-old Purple Blood Lingzhi. I hope Junior Sister will not disdain it.

Saying so, he handed over an exquisite jade box.

The surrounding crowd let out a collective gasp.

A three-hundred-year-old Purple Blood Lingzhi!

This was a supreme treasure for Foundation Establishment cultivators to stabilize their foundations and improve their cultivation!

The Murong family was truly generous!

Xia Lengyue did not even glance at the jade box; her peripheral vision remained deadlocked on that gray figure in the corner.

She smiled and reached out her jade-like hand to take the jade box. As she did so, her fingertips seemingly inadvertently brushed against Murong Feng's fingers.

"Then... I shall respectfully accept it. Thank you, Senior Brother, and please thank Uncle Murong on my behalf."

Her voice was so soft and tender that it seemed as if it could drip water.

Murong Feng only felt a warm, jade-like touch from his fingertips, accompanied by a faint, orchid-and-musk-like fragrance. His mind could not help but sway.

Looking at the bashful and stunningly beautiful face before him, his heart burned with passion. He was just about to say a few more words to draw them closer.

Xia Lengyue, however, had already completed her task.

Her gaze shot toward that corner once again.

She wanted to see Ye Xuan's reaction!

He should be jealous!

He should be furious! He should be rushing over!

Even if he just glared at her fiercely, it would prove that he cared about her!

However.

In the corner.

Ye Xuan still kept his head down.

He had not even shifted his posture.

Hidden within his sleeves, his fingers were still unhurriedly forming that obscure hand seal.

The intimate interaction between the handsome man and the beautiful woman just now—a scene enough to make any man burn with jealousy—was to him nothing more than a meaningless breeze blowing past his ears.

"Is this woman... having a relapse of her old habits?"

Noticing this scene, Ye Xuan felt no ripples in his heart; he even found it slightly amusing.

"Is she starting to seduce men again? Repeating her old tricks, how unoriginal."

"In the game, the first man she hooked up with was Zhao Wuji. Now, she's switched to this Murong Feng or whatever?"

"It doesn't matter."

"As long as she doesn't bother me, whoever she gets intimate with has nothing to do with me."

"Instead of wasting time on this, I might as well deduce the circulation routes of the Great Luo Limitless Sword Qi another time."

"Hurry up and cultivate, hurry up and get stronger—that's the real priority."

The smile on Xia Lengyue's face froze completely.

She felt like a clown who had exhausted all her tricks, posing and preening on stage.

Meanwhile, the only audience member offstage that she cared about couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids, solely focused on keeping his head down and studying the patterns on his shoes.

This kind of disregard was ten thousand times more hurtful than any angry accusation or venomous curse!

An unprecedented, icy sense of defeat, mixed with monstrous anger and boundless grievance, instantly drowned her!

The precious jade box in her hand, containing the Purple Blood Lingzhi, creaked under her grip, nearly shattering on the spot!

Beside her, Murong Feng acutely sensed the shift in the atmosphere.

Looking at Xia Lengyue's face, which had instantly turned icy, his heart skipped a beat. Unsure of what he had said wrong, he hastily shut his mouth, not daring to speak another word.

For the remainder of the ceremony, Xia Lengyue was like a delicate, soulless puppet.

She accepted congratulations from all sides, wearing the most standard, perfect smile on her face.

But only she knew that her heart had long since sunk into a bottomless abyss of ice.

The ceremony finally ended.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Ye Xuan also stood up, preparing to blend into the masses and leave silently.

"You, stop right there."

A voice, so cold it lacked a single trace of emotion, rang out behind him.

Ye Xuan's footsteps halted.

He slowly turned around and saw the face he least wanted to see right now.

Xia Lengyue had arrived before him at some unknown point.

She had dismissed all the maids and followers beside her, standing there quietly and all alone.

She looked at him, her eyes complex to the extreme.

There was anger, disappointment, confusion, and grievance, but more than anything, there was a desire so deep it pierced the bone:

"Come back to my side."

She wasted no words and cut straight to the chase.

Her tone was neither a request nor an order, but rather a matter-of-fact notification.

Ye Xuan looked at her.

He looked at her face, which appeared even more pale and beautiful from suppressing her anger.

He remained silent for a moment.

Then, he smiled.

"No problem, Senior Sister."

He replied in an incredibly brisk and matter-of-fact tone.

"I just ran out of spirit stones and hit a bottleneck in my cultivation. I really need Senior Sister's resource support right now."

Xia Lengyue was stunned.

She had envisioned countless reactions from Ye Xuan.

She thought he would reject her with cold words and sarcasm, just like last time.

She even considered that he might hurl abuses at her.

But she never expected that he would actually agree.

She was even prepared; if he dared to utter half a word of "no," she wouldn't mind releasing a sliver of coercion to let him understand just how fragile his pitiful pride was in the face of absolute power.

But she never in a million years imagined that the answer she awaited would be this.

These words were like a heavy punch landing fiercely on a carefully prepared ball of cotton.

All the coercion, anger, and tactics she had brewed to counter his resistance lost their outlet at this moment. They were stuck halfway in her chest, causing a sense of absurd suffocation that almost made her vomit blood.

Looking at the sincere smile on Ye Xuan's face, as if he had taken a massive advantage, her mind went blank for a second.

What... did he mean by this?

Was he... mocking her?

Or was his pitiful backbone ultimately crushed completely in the face of the word "resources," reverting him to his true colors?

"What... do you take me for?"

Xia Lengyue subconsciously asked this question. Her voice sounded somewhat dry due to extreme astonishment.

"As my Senior Sister, of course."

Ye Xuan's reply was almost blurted out.

The smile on his face became even gentler and more sincere.

He looked at her, his distinct black and white eyes filled with respect and reliance toward the identity of "Senior Sister."

"Senior Sister Xia, you are a once-in-a-millennium genius of our Azure Cloud Sect, the future of the sect, and the object of admiration for all disciples."

"This disciple's aptitude is dull. Without Senior Sister's guidance and help, I'm afraid I would only be able to roll in the mud for the rest of my life. To have the opportunity now to follow by Senior Sister's side once again and receive your pointers and resources is a blessing this disciple has cultivated over three lifetimes!"

"Rest assured, Senior Sister. From now on, this disciple will follow your every lead. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west! You are the sole guiding light on my path of cultivation!"

He spoke these words so fluently, with such genuine emotion, blending reverence with humility, and sincerity with flattery.

He vividly and profoundly portrayed the face of a desperate, bottom-tier cultivator eager to cling to an expert.

For a moment, Xia Lengyue even felt a trace of daze.

The person before her had reverted back to the original husband in her memory, the one who would be deeply grateful and ecstatic over a tiny bit of her charity.

But, no!

Xia Lengyue abruptly snapped back to her senses!

Her eyes instantly became icy and sharp!

If he really considered her as the Senior Sister he could endlessly rely on, then why did he ignore her so completely just now at the ceremony?

If he truly desired her resources, then why did he contradict her in such a resolute manner and flee Lengyue Peak before?

The only explanation was...

He was acting!

He was using this self-proclaimed clever attitude of wanting only her resources and not her to draw a clear line between them!

He wanted to turn her into a simple, emotionless resource bank that he could take from at will!

He wanted to get everything for nothing!

Boom!

The moment she figured this out, a fury even more violent and icy than the one at the ceremony erupted from the bottom of Xia Lengyue's heart like a volcano, rushing straight to her head!

All the color drained from her breathtakingly beautiful face, replaced by a terrifying, livid pallor like the calm before a storm!

Ye... Xuan...

She squeezed the name out through her gritted teeth, word by word. Every syllable carried an endless chill sufficient to freeze the very space around them.

A terrifying spiritual pressure, far surpassing the Foundation Establishment realm, suddenly seized Ye Xuan's throat like an invisible giant hand!

The smile on Ye Xuan's face instantly stiffened.

He felt as if the surrounding air had been instantly sucked away into a vacuum.

His entire body felt as though it were pinned to the spot by an invisible mountain. Even moving a single finger became an extravagant hope.

You are very good.

Xia Lengyue walked toward Ye Xuan, step by step.

Her pace was extremely slow. Every step she took felt like it was trampling on Ye Xuan's heart, causing him a suffocating burst of agonizing pain.

She stopped right in front of him. The distance between them was so close that Ye Xuan could clearly see his own terrified, oxygen-deprived, flushed face reflected in her beautiful phoenix eyes that burned with monstrous rage.

What do you take me for? A tool you can casually demand things from and throw away when you are done?

Her voice was very light, yet it pierced Ye Xuan's ears like ice needles coated in deadly poison.

Did you think that by saying a few sweet words, I would act like an idiot, give you all my resources, and then watch as your wings grew strong enough to fly out of my control?

Did you think your little schemes could be hidden from me?

Ye Xuan's brain was spinning frantically.

He knew he had played with fire and burned himself.

He had underestimated the extent of this woman's sensitivity and paranoia.

His act of wanting only the money and not the person did not pacify her at all; instead, it struck her deepest, most sensitive nerve!

Because this was exactly what she had done to her foolish husband in her previous life!

He was using the method she was most familiar with against her!

In her eyes, this was the vilest, most unforgivable provocation!

No... that is not it... Senior Sister...

Ye Xuan struggled to squeeze a few words from his throat, his face appropriately displaying utter terror and confusion.

I do not understand... what you are saying...

You do not understand?

Xia Lengyue suddenly smiled.

She reached out her hand, fair as jade yet bone-chillingly cold, and gently stroked Ye Xuan's cheek.

Her movements were so gentle, but Ye Xuan felt as if a deadly viper had coiled itself around his neck!

It does not matter.

She leaned close to Ye Xuan's ear and whispered in a tone like a lover's murmur, yet filled with endless eeriness and obsession:

Soon enough, you will understand.

What is mine is yours. Whether it is spirit stones, pills, or this entire Qingyun Sect, as long as you want it, I can give it to you.

But, Ye Xuan, you must remember...

Her voice abruptly turned cold, like the freezing wind from the Nine Netherworlds!

You are mine alone!

Your body, your hair, every drop of your blood, and even every breath of air you take can only belong to me!

From now on, without my permission, you are not allowed to smile at anyone, nor are you allowed to speak to anyone!

Otherwise...

She did not finish her sentence.

But Ye Xuan clearly felt a terrifying killing intent, condensed to the extreme and capable of instantly obliterating his soul, seep through her fingertips and into his skin!

I... obey...

Ye Xuan's body trembled violently and uncontrollably due to immense fear.

He used all the strength in his body just to squeeze those words out of his throat.

Seeing him completely terrified by her, looking like a frightened bird, the violent fury in Xia Lengyue's heart finally subsided a little.

This was exactly the effect she wanted.

She wanted him to be afraid!

She wanted him to develop an irresistible, soul-deep terror toward her right down to his bones!

Only then would he stop thinking about running away, and stop playing those self-righteous little tricks!

Very good.

Xia Lengyue withdrew her hand in satisfaction, also retracting that terrifying spiritual pressure.

She resumed her lofty, aloof, and arrogant posture, as if the crazed woman from a moment ago was merely Ye Xuan's hallucination.

Starting today, you will move back to Lengyue Peak.

You are no longer a handyman, nor are you my servant.

She looked down at Ye Xuan from above and declared in an unquestionable, condescending tone:

From now on, you are Xia Lengyue's personal Sword Attendant.