Chapter 22: Zhang Xiaofan's Silly Smile

On the other side, beneath the moonlight, Qian Mo and Xueqi lingered together.

A moment later, their lips parted. Qian Mo’s hands held the breathless Lu Xueqi, whose cheeks were flushed like the rosy clouds of dawn. Leaning close to her crystalline, delicate ear, he spoke softly: “Xueqi, the meaning of a rose is…”

At his words, a fleeting tenderness flashed in Lu Xueqi’s beautiful eyes, but her snow-white face quickly assumed a more serious expression. She scolded, a hint of playful anger in her tone: “You’re really not as honest as you appear. Take your hands off me!”

Seeing her slight indignation, Qian Mo offered an awkward smile, hurriedly moving his hands from around her shoulders to rest gently at her slender waist. Although she hadn’t resisted his kiss, moving too fast would only make her feel uneasy.

“Xueqi, there are things that men seem to understand instinctively, so—”

Lu Xueqi couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him, her beauty almost ethereal. “Excuses. It’s late—I have to go back, or my senior sisters will become suspicious.”

“Xueqi—”

“Hmm? Mmm—”

Before she could finish, Qian Mo kissed her once more, not allowing her any chance to resist. Under his overbearing kiss, Lu Xueqi found herself helplessly falling into his embrace, unable to extricate herself.

“Now, will you let me go?” she asked, biting her soft lip, her heart pounding with embarrassment. This scoundrel—by day he appeared so noble and upright, greatly admired by the senior sisters, but by night he was so unruly.

Looking at her adorable, slightly angry face, Qian Mo, though reluctant to part, knew when to stop. He pressed a gentle kiss to her jade-like forehead and whispered, “Xueqi, you’re my woman.”

“Mm.”

Standing up, Lu Xueqi straightened her disheveled blue robe, gazed softly at Qian Mo, and said, “Do your best at the Seven Peaks Martial Assembly, and be careful of the disciples from Dragon Head Peak.”

With those words, she stepped onto the rainbow bridge, her graceful figure merging with the sea of clouds as her light footsteps faded. Qian Mo stared after her until her silhouette vanished, when suddenly, a voice from the system echoed in his ears.

“Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing an optional mission—winning over another woman. Due to your outstanding performance, the system rewards you with a lottery draw. Would you like to use it?”

“Wow! System, you’re the best. Of course I’ll draw—only a fool wouldn’t! Do it!”

“The system is drawing… Ding! Congratulations, host, you’ve obtained a mission card.”

Mission Card: Contains a corresponding mission. Complete it for generous rewards.

“Would the host like to use the mission card?”

“Yes, use it!”

“Ding! Congratulations, mission card activated successfully!”

Mission Card Task: The Dao of this world is in shambles, its rules broken, and it is known as a realm without the Heavenly Dao. The bearer of this task is to perfect the rules of this world. Reward: Plane Heavenly Dao, Heavenly Dao’s Blessing. Punishment: You will never be able to use mission cards again.

“What the—? Perfecting the Heavenly Dao? What kind of task is this? The reward is tempting—Plane Heavenly Dao, Heavenly Dao’s Blessing—but how am I supposed to accomplish this?” Qian Mo frowned at the task, then turned to the system for answers.

“Once the host completes this system’s mission, the answer shall be revealed!” The system’s cold voice replied.

“Why are you so cold, System? I never offended you. Looks like I’ll need to pick up the pace from now on. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next plane holds!” Qian Mo thought back on these three years, realizing his progress had indeed been slow. It had been three years—he wondered how Biyao was doing. After the Seven Peaks Martial Assembly, he’d need to go check on her.

“Ding! Host has triggered a hidden quest. Do you accept?”

“What? Another one? Of course I accept!”

Hidden Quest: Win the championship at the Seven Peaks Martial Assembly. Reward: One Ancient Soul Fusion Pill. Punishment: With your cultivation surpassing this world, if you can’t even win first place, you might as well die.

“Looks like there’s no choice but to win this time. The Ancient Soul Fusion Pill can save Biyao’s mother—my future mother-in-law!”

With that, Qian Mo rose and returned to his room to sleep.

The next morning, Qian Mo arrived at the gathering place for the disciples. Everyone was awake, and though the Martial Assembly was imminent, some disciples were still training rather than resting for the competition.

Last-minute practice is pointless—even with the best talent, you can’t make progress in just a few hours. It’s better to conserve your energy; that way, you have a better chance in the actual matches. Training now is undoubtedly unwise.

Opening the door to the guest rooms, Du Bi was already lacing up his boots, rubbing his waist and grumbling, “Why do the disciples of Tongtian Peak all get their own rooms, while we have to cram together? My back’s about to break—how am I supposed to compete like this?”

Fifth Brother Lu Daxin frowned and said, “Sixth Brother, stop shouting. I slept here too and my back’s fine. I almost suffocated, though.”

Song Daren, standing to the side, could only sigh. “He’s right, Sixth Brother, stop complaining. Tongtian Peak only has so many guest rooms, and with so many disciples, it’s not like our Bamboo Peak. We’re used to squeezing together.”

Hearing the slight reproach in their voices, Du Bi looked a bit embarrassed. When he saw Qian Mo, he quickly changed the subject, “And this is… Junior Brother Qian, when did you get up so early? I didn’t even see you come in.”

Qian Mo replied with a faint, ambiguous smile, “I didn’t sleep all night, but it doesn’t matter. Seeing my senior brothers in such good spirits puts me at ease. By the way, where’s Zhang Xiaofan?”

Du Bi rolled his eyes—how could he not realize Qian Mo was here specifically to find Zhang Xiaofan? “Xiaofan’s inside,” he said, pointing toward the inner room.

There, sitting on the bed with a silly grin, was Zhang Xiaofan. Qian Mo approached in confusion and asked in a low voice, “Xiaofan, what’s got you smiling like that?”

Startled, Zhang Xiaofan looked around in panic. When he saw it was Qian Mo, he finally relaxed. With the other senior brothers gone, he could no longer hide the smile in his eyes.

“Look at you, all nervous and sneaky. You haven’t done anything you shouldn’t have, have you?”

Still grinning foolishly, Zhang Xiaofan whispered, “Last night, I finally worked up the courage to go see Senior Sister.”

“Oh? You’ve got guts now?”

Qian Mo was genuinely surprised. It seemed he’d unwittingly changed the course of events. In the past, Zhang Xiaofan would have been far too shy to seek out Tian Linger on his own, but last night he’d disappeared early—he must have made up his mind.

Zhang Xiaofan said with a smile, “Senior Brother, Senior Sister agreed to give me a chance, but only if I can place in the top three at the Seven Peaks Martial Assembly.”

“She knows how strong you are?”

“No,” Zhang Xiaofan shook his head, his eyes dimming with disappointment. He knew exactly what Qian Mo meant. Tian Linger didn’t know about his cultivation, but still set the condition that he win a top-three spot—clearly a roundabout way of rejecting him. At that, Zhang Xiaofan could no longer smile.

…