Chapter Nine: This Is an Old Flame

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[What follows is a crucial plot point in this book, marking the sweet stage where the main couple deepens their feelings for each other. As you know, love is sweetest at the very beginning.]

“Stop, stop!” Ning Xianyu hurriedly cut off the system's ramblings, telling it to skip the romance and just explain what would happen next.

The system, though still eager to elaborate, had no choice but to comply.

[Next, everyone will be competing outside Huayin Isle for the ten coveted slots for the Hundred Flowers Festival. Strictly speaking, the festival hasn’t been held on Huayin Isle for three centuries, so there should be thirty slots, but this time, there are still only ten. Naturally, this makes the places highly sought-after.]

Ning Xianyu nodded, speaking with pride: [I know that training with the female disciples of Huayin Isle yields twice the result for half the effort. See, you all call me lazy, but honestly, if there’s a shortcut, who really wants to slog through the hard way?]

The system was defeated by her self-consoling logic, responding irritably: [Are you going to listen or not?]

[Yes, yes, go on.]

The two of them were chatting away in Ning Xianyu’s mind, completely oblivious to the fact that Xuan Yuan Tunhan was sitting on the couch, coldly watching every move.

He had caught every word. Now he was digesting it all.

[Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s suspicions were right. That woman, Longyue, isn’t dead at all. Her cultivation technique is strange—she can serve as a vessel and also absorb others’ cultivation for her own use.]

[Her own realm couldn’t advance, and she’s now at the end of her rope. To survive, she faked her death and used the Nine-Stemmed Ephemeral to lure Xuan Yuan Tunhan over, so she could seize the chance to absorb his power and make it through this crisis.]

Ning Xianyu wanted to launch into her own lazy-fish theory again, but before she could, the system shot her down.

[Don’t judge her for taking shortcuts—at least she invented her own technique.]

Ning Xianyu replied with proud envy: [To create a technique specifically for slacking off—truly a role model for people like me.]

System: [......]

It really wanted to smack her.

[Enough gloating. You’d better think about how to get the Nine-Stemmed Ephemeral. The male lead, Yi Tianling, has already arrived on the island and is flirting with the next Island Mistress—also the female lead, Su Yun’er.]

[Yi Tianling has protagonist’s luck—he’s bound to get the Nine-Stemmed Ephemeral. Xuan Yuan Tunhan is nothing but cannon fodder in the novel; he never gets the upper hand when he meets the male lead.]

That bad?

Crack!

Ning Xianyu shivered violently, then heard something shatter.

Frightened, she looked up in alarm. Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s face was frosted over, his expression as dark and twisted as any villain’s, even without smoky makeup, despite her own cute girlish features.

Crash!

The cold jade bed Xuan Yuan Tunhan had been lying on for days split open, then shattered into pieces with a series of cracks.

Wh-what was going on?

Ning Xianyu reflexively dropped to her knees, lowering her head like a quail, not daring to make a sound.

[System, system, what’s wrong with this master now?]

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[I-I don’t know! I just feel like he glanced at you a moment ago, but the look in his eyes seemed to see right through you and into me. I was almost scared into a system reset.]

The system couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just an illusion. When Xuan Yuan Tunhan looked over, it was as though he wanted to dig the system itself out, radiating furious malice.

What was going on?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan now stood amid the shattered jade, his robes billowing without wind, killing intent swirling around him like a storm.

He had heard the system’s words, and was now certain—he really was living inside a book. Worse, he was just a minor, irrelevant character.

Some Yi Tianling, a name he’d never even heard before, was apparently unbeatable for him, someone he couldn’t even hope to overcome or profit from?

If fate had always been predetermined, then what did his hundreds of thousands of years amount to? What about all his prior struggles?

What did he amount to?

“Outrageous!”

This furious shout made Ning Xianyu nearly flatten herself to the floor, crying, “Mercy, please!”

She now desperately hoped Xuan Yuan Tunhan would get the Nine-Stemmed Ephemeral soon, recover from his inner demon, and perhaps become less temperamental—maybe then, she wouldn’t have to keep dancing on the edge of life and death with him every day.

As she was muttering to herself, a chorus of surprised cries sounded at the door.

The chill radiating from Xuan Yuan Tunhan instantly surged toward the entrance.

Those at the door hurriedly backed away in fright.

Du Juezi and the others were all stunned, unable to make sense of what was happening.

Why was their ancestor kneeling before that woman again, and looking so afraid?

Why did this woman, still at the Qi Refining stage, radiate such overpowering bloodlust that even he, the sect leader, felt compelled to retreat?

What on earth was going on?

Du Juezi was baffled, and the other disciples were so shocked their jaws dropped.

What happened—had the world turned upside down?

Ning Xianyu glanced at them, then at Xuan Yuan Tunhan’s icy face, feeling utterly bereft.

Fine, she’d take the blame again—and the explanation, too.

Gritting her teeth, she rushed to the door, grabbed Du Juezi, and pulled Yu Yaozi along as well, slyly squeezing her hand.

Not bad—Yu Yaozi’s hand had a lovely feel: slender, strong, and powerful. Heh.

Such soft, delicate hands—how could she ever be the main wife? She should at least be a favored consort.

“Kneel. Bow to the Ancestor now.”

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This was the second time Du Juezi had been pulled down to kneel, so he did so without hesitation.

Yu Yaozi, the junior, was slower on the uptake. She knelt too, but asked blankly, “Whose ancestor?”

Ning Xianyu glared at the doorway. “Are you all waiting for me to invite you in person?”

As soon as she spoke, she mentally gave herself a thumbs up—her aura was ninety-nine percent there, with only a percent left for improvement.

The disciples, terrified, all dropped to their knees in unison, though none of them knew why.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan remained standing, coldly watching—waiting to see what Ning Xianyu would concoct next.

Ning Xianyu racked her brains and finally came up with a rather absurd explanation.

“This—is my master from years past.”

Who?

Du Juezi couldn’t help rubbing his ears. Who was this person?

“But, Ancestor, your master...”

Hadn’t you killed them yourself long ago?

Ning Xianyu shot him a look. “One of my former masters left a lingering wisp of consciousness attached to a magical artifact. Occasionally, this remnant manifests through this female disciple. You must show her respect and treat her as an honored guest.”

So that was it?

Du Juezi thought the excuse was preposterous—absolutely ridiculous.

The Ancestor was ruthless, had slaughtered his entire sect, founded a new one—how could any master leave behind a lingering spirit, and receive such respect?

And for the remnant to appear in a female disciple, no less.

Could it be—an old flame?

Thoughts whirled through Du Juezi’s mind, but he dared not pursue them. He simply bowed and greeted the ancestor, kowtowing to Xuan Yuan Tunhan.

The other disciples followed suit, bowing as well.

It was just a remnant, unlikely to last long—maybe only a few years, or perhaps it would fade away tomorrow. There was no need to worry.

Ning Xianyu wiped her brow, wanting to smile and claim credit with Xuan Yuan Tunhan.

But then his voice exploded in her head: Kneel properly, and don’t you dare smile!

Wuwuwu, so fierce!