......
The sunlight beyond the window had shifted a little farther west. The light filtering through the latticework had taken on a richer golden hue, bathing everything in the hall in a soft radiance.
Agarwood smoke drifted slowly through the shafts of light, tracing countless invisible patterns.
When Gu Xiaoli returned from outside with the medicine for soothing the throat, she pushed open the hall doors and stepped lightly over the threshold, her skirt swaying gently around her ankles.
In her hands, she carried a small celadon medicine bottle. A seal from the Imperial Medical Bureau was affixed to its body, the cinnabar stamp bright as blood.
The scene inside the hall seemed no different from when she had left.
Gu Chengyin was seated to one side, with a desk between him and Luo Zhao.
His posture was relaxed, his back resting against the chair. One hand lay on the armrest, while the other rested on his knee.
His gaze was fixed on some point in the air, his expression calm and composed, with even the corners of his lips faintly curved upward.
He looked exactly like a cultivator who had lost himself in contemplation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
Luo Zhao, meanwhile, had her head lowered. She held a vermilion brush in her hand, with a memorial spread open before her on the desk.
Her back was perfectly straight, her bearing dignified and focused. The vermilion brush moved steadily across the page, leaving behind neat, elegant annotations.
Everything appeared perfectly normal.
And yet Gu Xiaoli still sensed that something was off. After all, she was no ordinary person.
Her gaze swept around the hall, moving from Gu Chengyin to Luo Zhao, then from Luo Zhao back to Gu Chengyin.
Her brows drew together slightly, and the tip of her nose twitched faintly, as though she were scenting the air.
Gu Xiaoli also noticed that Luo Zhao’s lips seemed rosier than when she had left.
It was not the kind of red produced by lip rouge, but the flush left behind by some sort of friction.
Her collar was perfectly neat as well, yet there was something about that neatness that suggested it had only just been put back in order.
The angle of the collar, the symmetry of the lapels, the tightness of the sash—everything was too perfect.
So perfect that her clothes no longer looked as though she had worn them all day. Rather, they looked as if someone had just carefully dressed her.
Gu Xiaoli set the medicine bottle on the desk. When the bottom of the celadon bottle touched the rosewood surface, it gave off a crisp click.
Then she looked left and right in confusion, her gaze passing between Gu Chengyin and Luo Zhao several times.
At last, she said, “Your Highness, the imperial physician said this medicine is good for your throat.”
Gu Xiaoli’s voice was soft and sweet, carrying both concern and a hint of probing.
As she spoke, her large eyes remained fixed on Luo Zhao without blinking.
Luo Zhao did not raise her head. She merely gave a muffled hum.
Afterward, she pressed her lips tightly together, as though afraid that saying even one more word would give something away.
At that moment, Gu Chengyin came back to himself. His gaze returned from the empty air and settled on the small celadon medicine bottle on the desk.
The Imperial Medical Bureau’s seal remained perfectly intact, its cinnabar stamp as bright as when it had first been applied.
He reached out, picked up the bottle, turned it once between his fingers, and then set it back where it had been.
At the same time, he rose and said, “I’m going to the Celestial Master’s Residence. Aunt should have everything arranged by now.”
“The appointment of the Chief Court Lady can wait a little. Zilu isn’t in the divine capital at the moment.”
“Xiaoli, help Her Highness for the time being.”
Gu Xiaoli nodded. Her gaze lingered on Gu Chengyin’s face for a moment.
Then it shifted to Luo Zhao, and back again. The trace of curiosity in her eyes had not yet faded completely.
But she asked no questions. She simply obediently agreed.
Just then, Gu Chengyin suddenly bent down.
Gu Xiaoli felt a warm touch land on her forehead.
Gu Chengyin’s lips brushed lightly against her brow.
Then he raised a hand and ruffled her hair until it was slightly tousled.
“This will be hard work for you, Xiaoli.”
Gu Xiaoli immediately brightened at his words.
She no longer cared whether something had happened between Gu Chengyin and Luo Zhao.
Her large eyes curved into crescents, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile so brilliant it seemed to light up the entire hall.
She even rose slightly onto her toes and rubbed the top of her head against Gu Chengyin’s palm, like a cat seeking affection from its owner after being petted.
Then she nodded emphatically, so hard that the ribbon at the back of her head swayed several times.
Gu Xiaoli said earnestly, “Don’t worry, Big Brother. As long as Xiaoli is here, nothing will happen to Her Highness.”
As she spoke, her bright eyes shone with pride and a sense of responsibility at having been entrusted with such an important task.
Gu Chengyin nodded and withdrew his hand from the top of Gu Xiaoli’s head.
His gaze moved away from Gu Xiaoli and turned toward Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao still had her head lowered. The vermilion brush was still in her hand, and the memorial was still spread out before her.
Her bearing was dignified and focused, as though nothing had happened just now—as though she had been diligently attending to official business all along.
Gu Chengyin looked at her, the curve of his lips deepening.
His gaze paused for a moment on Luo Zhao’s lips. They were indeed rosier than usual.
Then it lingered for another moment on her excessively neat collar. It really did look as though it had only just been put back in order.
“Your Highness, I’ll be leaving now.”
Gu Chengyin’s tone was perfectly proper. Every word was spoken with impeccable decorum, leaving no room for criticism.
Only then did Luo Zhao raise her head. Her face showed no particular emotion, and her brows and eyes still carried that same cold, aloof severity.
Her gaze met Gu Chengyin’s. After a brief exchange, she looked away.
Pretending that nothing had happened, she spoke in the reserved tone befitting a Crown Princess.
“Mm. Go.”
Her voice was dignified and cool, every word seeming to have been drawn from an icy spring, carrying all the restraint and distance expected of a Crown Princess.
Yet beneath that coolness hid a trace of huskiness, like silk lightly polished by sandpaper—soft, with a warmth only Gu Chengyin could detect.
Looking at Luo Zhao as she deliberately maintained her composure, Gu Chengyin’s smile grew a little wider.
Only he knew what kind of contrast lay beneath Luo Zhao’s cold, aloof exterior.
She was even more extreme in that regard than Lin Qingyan.
Gu Chengyin turned and walked toward the hall doors.
Although the situation had already become clear, the necessary steps still had to be taken.
After all, neither official positions nor cultivation would simply fall from the heavens. They had to be fought for.
Gu Xiaoli watched Gu Chengyin’s back disappear through the hall doors. Then she withdrew her gaze and looked toward Luo Zhao.
Luo Zhao had already lowered her head again. The vermilion brush glided across the official document, leaving behind neat, elegant annotations without the slightest tremor.
Gu Xiaoli tilted her head.
She looked at Luo Zhao’s excessively rosy lips, then at her excessively neat collar, and finally at the small celadon medicine bottle on the desk.
Although the imperial physician had said that the medicine was good for the throat, Gu Xiaoli suddenly felt that it was no longer necessary.
After all, Her Highness had already taken her medicine.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
+ Slow Paced + Main Character Thrives Together with His Disciples】 Transmigrated into a cultivation world, Chu Xingchen awakens a discipleship system that reveals the tags of his disciples! Starting from scratch, he builds the strongest sect. Disciple One: Li Yingling 【Gold Tag: Genius Cultivator】【Purple Tag: Extremely Lucky】【Blue Tag: Bewitchingly Beautiful】 Disciple Two: Li Hangtian 【Gold Tag: Reincarnated】【Purple Tag: Ruthless and Decisive】【Blue Tag: Loyal and Noble】 Disciple Three: ??? 【Orange Tag: Alluring Demoness】【???】【???】 Thus, in the cultivation world, an unremarkable little sect appears out of nowhere, but little do others know that each member of this sect is a powerhouse in their own right. The book is also known as: Cultivation? It's Exactly Like This!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
