Chapter 321: Do Not Think, Do Not Ask

Outside the Lady Luo Sister Xian Pavilion, a pillar of light descended from the heavens, lasting for an exceedingly long time.

Tempering the body and washing the marrow, shedding the mortal coil and transforming the bones.

Lu Ran first received the deity's blessing when he was at the third stage of the River Realm.

Back then, he lasted only about an hour.

His frail physique

was thoroughly despised by Lord Xiang Xianyang.

Yet this time, the pillar of light descending from the heavens actually lasted from dawn until dusk!

This objectively demonstrated that a body of the River Realm is far, far superior to a body of the Bi He Jing.

When the pillar of light dispersed, Jiangjiang Ruyi, Lu Ran, and Cheng Yi struggled to sit upright, trying their best to maintain the demeanor of experts.

But it was obvious they were barely managing.

Only Cheng Li was not struggling; he was genuinely strong!

Cheng Li was even able to rise immediately, cupping his fists to bow respectfully to Lu Ran.

Afterwards, Elder Cheng Li helped up his sworn brother and departed quickly, so as not to disturb the pair of Lu and Jiang.

The two lightbulbs were gone.

Yet Lu Ran still could not do anything.

After all, he still needed some time to recover.

It was not until night fell and the sky filled with stars that Lu Ran and Jiangjiang Ruyi finally managed to rise and return to the Lady Luo Sister Xian Residence.

After the two washed up, they returned to the antique-style bedroom and crawled into the bed curtains.

This kind of ancient canopy bed was square and surrounded by gauze drapes.

Its privacy was truly excellent.

However, the two behaved strictly properly, not even speaking, as they were both adapting to their "updated and iterated" bodies.

Until—

"Lu Ran," Jiangjiang Ruyi spoke softly.

"Mm?" Lu Ran reached out to embrace his fiancée.

Jiangjiang Ruyi rested her head on Lu Ran's arm, her gaze incredibly complex.

"What is wrong?" Lu Ran asked with concern.

Jiangjiang Ruyi hesitated; after a long while, she brought her thin lips close to Lu Ran's ear, her voice tiny and light:

"What exactly does Lord Xiang Xianyang want you to do?"

The education she had received since childhood had always influenced and constrained Jiangjiang Ruyi, instilling in her a heart full of awe for the deities.

But this time, having received such immense grace, Jiangjiang Ruyi truly could not hold back.

Human believers should not receive such treatment; they ought to be utterly devoid of dignity!

People ought to be worker ants who bear hardships without complaint, devoutly worshipping day and night, giving loyalty, giving faith, and constantly providing power of faith to the deities.

But with Lu Ran, everything had changed.

He had received favor he did not deserve.

Even if, as the world said, Lu Ran possessed extraordinary talent and Lord Xiang Xianyang had finally found a treasure, thus spoiling and indulging him—

this was still too excessive.

Lu Ran had enjoyed the deity's blessing twice.

He had even brought an external believer like her along to enjoy this grace.

The more Jiangjiang Ruyi felt her human body after being blessed, the more unreal it seemed.

The gains were simply too great.

Merely the clause "improve aptitude and raise the cultivation ceiling" constituted a grace of heavenly proportions.

Jiangjiang Ruyi truly did not know how to repay it.

Furthermore, Lu Ran had been bestowed with the title "Master of Lady Luo Sister Xian Mountain."

Those first-generation disciples who followed Lord Xiang Xianyang to fight for their domain, regardless of how high their status or how terrifying their strength and realm, were all utterly respectful toward Lu Ran.

They treated Lu Ran's entrustments as commands that must be executed.

When things deviate from the norm, there must be something sinister afoot!

Thinking of how, in three months, Lord Xiang Xianyang would specifically open a divine ruin for Lu Ran...

Jiangjiang Ruyi could not help but be filled with worry.

Was the so-called price hidden behind that divine ruin?

Or was her vision too narrow, and her understanding somewhat mistaken?

Was the true price still waiting for Lu Ran in the future?

"The deity probably wants me to lead the Xianyangyi Sect forward and cause the sect to flourish," Lu Ran said, encircling the delicate body beside him and gently patting her arm.

Jiangjiang Ruyi reached out, holding Lu Ran's cheeks, and turned his face toward her.

Their eyes met.

In her eyes, Lu Ran saw nothing but deep worry.

In his eyes, Jiangjiang Ruyi searched for traces of lying.

In the end, Lu Ran still lost the battle.

He said softly, "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I am still too weak; I am not yet worthy to know."

Jiangjiang Ruyi's brows knitted tightly together.

Inside the gauze bed curtains, a deep silence fell.

Lu Ran suddenly said, "Do I have a choice?"

Jiangjiang Ruyi's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Hmm?"

Lu Ran smiled. "On my Altar of Reverence, there are only the Rouge Paper Figure and Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang."

Jiangjiang Ruyi gently stroked Lu Ran's cheek with her thumb, gazing straight into his eyes.

Lu Ran's expression gradually turned serious. "Jiang Ruyi, Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang bestowed upon me the grace of rebirth!"

Without him, I would merely be an ordinary person living in constant fear.

I lack the ability to raise the butcher's knife against evil spirits, and I have no qualification to fulfill the long-cherished wish in my heart.

"Jiang Ruyi."

"Mm."

Lu Ran's voice was soft yet firm. "No matter what Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang wants me to do, no matter what awaits me in the future."

"I must repay Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang's kindness."

"With my entire life, with my utmost strength."

Jiangjiang Ruyi lowered her eyelids and let out a soft "Mm."

Lu Ran suddenly leaned forward. "Jiang Ruyi, promise me one thing."

Their four eyes met; their four brows touched.

"You... you speak."

"Continue your cultivation as usual. Regarding everything that has happened to me, do not seek answers from any Existence."

Any Existence?

In conventional phrasing, it should be "any person," right?

Jiangjiang Ruyi, sharp as ice and snow, immediately understood what the two characters "Existence" referred to.

"You worry too much." Jiangjiang Ruyi smiled instead. "Except for you, no one can communicate with the gods."

Yes,

the human race is but ants.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly and whispered, "After all, Master Yu Fu once transmitted a voice to you."

Jiangjiang Ruyi pursed her lips but spoke no disrespectful words.

Indeed, she had once been summoned to Yumen Pass to behold the sacred presence.

But that could only be counted as the Lord God having glanced at her once more.

It was likely because, back on the Altar of Reverence, she had abandoned the Second-Rank God, Tianluan, and resolutely bowed to become a disciple of the Third-Rank God, Master Yu Fu.

Therefore, Lord Yu Fu had cast that extra glance.

But that was all.

The reality was: Jiangjiang Ruyi was merely one of the thousand disciples summoned.

As a mere believer of the Stream Realm,

from the moment Jiangjiang Ruyi entered Yumen Pass until she left it, let alone communicating with a god, she had never even stepped inside the inner city.

Like Lord Bei Feng City, the magnificent city beneath Master Yu Fu's feet was also divided into an inner city and an outer city.

Believers of the River Realm and above occasionally had the chance to enter the inner city.

Jiangjiang Ruyi, however, had no such opportunity whatsoever.

She simply mingled among the crowd of disciples, spending her days prostrating in worship before the magnificent divine statue, occasionally venturing outside the city to train in specific demon lairs, day after day.

Until one day, the managing senior sister told them to depart, and Jiangjiang Ruyi returned to Rain Alley.

Of course, being allowed to cultivate at the feet of a god was itself a mercy granted by Lord Yu Fu.

Regardless of inner city or outer city, inner hall or outer hall, the density of divine power where the god resided stood as undeniable proof!

Therefore, Jiangjiang Ruyi felt full of gratitude for her pilgrimage.

But clearly, Lu Ran had misunderstood!

He probably thought that Lord Yu Fu had merely summoned a few favored disciples to keep by his side for special tutoring.

Hmm, that was understandable.

After all, everything Lu Ran had experienced within Lady Luo Sister Xian's Mountain was far more than just special tutoring!

The entire kitchen belonged to you!

Jiangjiang Ruyi pondered for a long while, then organized her words, lowered her voice as much as possible, and whispered into Lu Ran's ear.

Upon hearing his fiancée's account of her pilgrimage, Lu Ran was completely stunned!

Good heavens~

Your pilgrimage, my pilgrimage... they seem different?

Lu Ran pulled his fiancée into his embrace, toyed with a strand of her hair, and whispered:

"Don't think about those matters in Yumen Pass anymore."

"Here in Xianshan, you are the mistress of the house. If you have any needs, just mention them to Deng Deng Shijie Cheng."

Lu Ran knew Jiangjiang Ruyi's nature; he knew she was not the type to bully others by relying on power, so he offered no further admonitions.

Jiangjiang Ruyi rested quietly against Lu Ran's chest.

Listening to his strong, steady heartbeat, she slowly closed her eyes.

Her obedient demeanor resembled that of a small kitten.

Much more gentle than Little Li Hua~

Lu Ran continued, "Tomorrow morning, we'll rise early; don't keep Elder Cheng waiting."

"Mm," Jiangjiang Ruyi replied softly.

Since Lu Ran told her to practice sword arts, she would learn them.

Moreover, Senior Cheng Li was a great expert of the Sea Realm, holding a transcendent status within the mountains.

Taking such a person as a master and maintaining a good relationship with him would also benefit Lu Ran in his role as the master of Lady Luo Sister Xian Mountain.

Jiangjiang Ruyi understood clearly why Lu Ran, risking the wrath of the gods and shamelessly begging Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang, had insisted on bringing the two grandfathers of the Cheng family to share in the blessing.

"Do not think, do not ask."

These were the last two words Lu Ran spoke before falling asleep.

Jiangjiang Ruyi silently committed them to heart.

She had not received a definite answer.

Yet, in a certain sense, she had already obtained her answer.

Lu Ran had just said, "No matter what awaits me in the future."

That single sentence alone revealed a hint of the problem.

At this moment, Jiangjiang Ruyi wished for nothing else but to grow and strengthen herself with all her might.

The night passed without incident; dawn arrived.

Jiangjiang Ruyi quietly opened her eyes, gazing at the fellow sleeping beside her; she stared at him silently for a long while.

In his sleep, he frowned slightly, as if dreaming of something troubling.

Jiangjiang Ruyi restrained herself again and again, yet still reached out, using her fingertips to gently smooth away the furrow in his brow.

Having done this, she observed him with satisfaction for a moment before slipping out from beneath the bed curtains.

Her bare feet lightly touched the ground, yet Jiangjiang Ruyi froze in place.

This human body, tempered and its marrow washed, actually gave her a sense of strangeness.

Clearly, just yesterday, she had tried her best to feel it.

But early this morning, she still found it difficult to adapt.

The skin on the outside, the bones within.

Blood and flesh more readily absorbing the energy between heaven and earth, and within her spacious meridians surged the great rivers and mighty streams.

Skin like ice, bones like jade; a demeanor of immortal grace, a constitution of jade purity.

When she had advanced to the Jiang Jing realm, some people could no longer recognize her.

Even her parents felt that the daughter they had raised for eighteen years was so strange.

Now, after the blessing, it was Jiangjiang Ruyi who could no longer recognize herself.

Was this, then, the true blessing of the god?

No wonder the world rushed toward it like ducks to water, desperately completing tasks, kneeling in devout worship, begging for heavenly grace to descend.

Jiangjiang Ruyi knew herself to be devoid of virtue and ability, fearing she would never obtain the god's favor in her entire life.

But—

Lu Ran had begged for it from Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang on her behalf.

"There's no need to be up this early, is there?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

"Hmm?" Jiangjiang Ruyi had just turned her head.

When she saw a hand reach out from within the bed curtains, wrap around her slender waist, and pull her back onto the bed.

"The sky is barely bright," Lu Ran said, holding his fiancée in his arms and inhaling the fragrance of her hair.

Jiangjiang Ruyi's face flushed slightly; she whispered, "Grandfather Cheng Li is advanced in years; shouldn't he sleep very little?"

Lu Ran: "..."

Jiangjiang Ruyi gently slipped free from his embrace: "I'll go over and check first; you sleep a while longer."

Lu Ran wanted to say something more, but Jiangjiang Ruyi leaned down her face.

She lightly pressed a kiss upon his cheek, like a dragonfly skimming the water:

"Be good."

Lu Ran:???

By the time Lu Ran reacted, Jiangjiang Ruyi had already departed.

She crossed the hall and entered the washroom on the eastern side.

In this room where modern facilities mixed with ancient decor, Jiangjiang Ruyi went straight to the washbasin and looked at herself in the mirror.

As she looked, she found herself unable to help laughing yet crying.

How could she possibly show herself to others like this...

No, in a moment she must ask Grandfather Cheng Li for advice on how to restrain this radiance.

It's the last day of September; if you have monthly tickets, don't hide them!

Many thanks to Starry Sky's Emperor Yao, the great Alliance Leader, for the reward of one hundred thousand!

The boss is generous; thank you for your support!

I wish the boss immense wealth every year, freedom from worry every age, joy every day, and song and dance every night!

(`) Heart fingers.



(End of Chapter)