Chapter 144

Yuan Yao lifted her head and saw their eyes full of concern.

She had no choice but to confess fully how, in the secret realm, she had forced the other participating disciples to repent to her; besides that, she revealed nothing at all about the 250 System.

Even if she wanted to tell them, the system would forcibly stop her.

Just as she had originally intended to tell them: their tragic ending in the original book, urging them to stay away from Lu Xiangxiang…

But she could not utter these words.

Not even in the form of a letter would it work.

This 250 System would force her to keep silent.

After hearing this, Song Yan and the others all wore a strange expression.

"Yao Yao, you… just like it." Xiao Lingwei eased her tone and smiled.

Song Yan weighed his words, then spoke slowly: "Yao Yao, can you change this habit?"

Yuan Yao shook her head with a firm expression.

Song Yan: "……"

"Then do as you wish." Song Yan pressed his lips together.

"If you benefactors have sins, why not repent to Immortal Yuan?" Cang Li clasped his hands and sighed deeply.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yao pointed at Cang Li: "Then you repent to me first."

Cang Li gave a light snort, then shoved the pink‑white‑haired boy beside him toward Yuan Yao: "Let your Fourth Senior Brother repent to you first—after all, he's done all kinds of bad deeds!"

Xue Jin's delicate face flashed with a hint of displeasure; he turned and glared at Cang Li.

"The bad things you've done aren't few either—do you need me to list them out one by one?"

"No need, Benefactor Xue." Cang Li clasped his hands and said devoutly.

Xiao Lingwei spoke helplessly.

"All right, stop fooling around."

Qian Jing Shan spoke: "Let's go back first."

"Yes, Master!" they replied.

As they turned around, they saw Lu Xiangxiang.

Lu Xiangxiang forced a smile; her beautiful eyes could not hide her lost expression. She pressed her lips and called out, "Master."

Qian Jing Shan looked at her.

At that moment, Lu Xiangxiang's face was slightly pallid, revealing a sense of fragility; her eyes glimmered with tears, and her effort to smile evoked pity.

Seeing her like that, Qian Jing Shan momentarily mistook her for Yao Yao.

His heart softened a bit.

Song Yan inexplicably felt guilt and wanted to make amends to Lu Xiangxiang.

Xiao Lingwei frowned slightly; she seemed to dislike Lu Xiangxiang's demeanor greatly and actually wanted to scold her a few words.

Cang Li gave an embarrassed laugh.

Xue Jin's eyes, which held a cold glint, seemed to be moved.

Ying Wuji's expression was cold, revealing no emotion.

In Yuan Yao's sea of consciousness, she heard the broadcast of the 250 System.

It was the news that the master, second senior sister, and senior brothers' Awakening Values had dropped.

Yuan Yao stared at the female lead Lu Xiangxiang, then suddenly smiled; under the puzzled gazes of the others, she stepped forward and lifted both hands to cradle Lu Xiangxiang's cheeks.

Lu Xiangxiang was startled.

Song Yan and the others were startled as well.

"Seventh Junior Sister, you've got sand in your eye—I'll blow it out for you!"

Having said that, Yuan Yao drew a deep breath, preparing to blow the "sand" out of Lu Xiangxiang's eye.

Lu Xiangxiang showed displeasure, she reached out and shoved Yuan Yao away.

Yuan Yao was pushed back a step, but she didn't fall; however, several hands appeared behind her, steadying her.

Yuan Yao turned her head and saw that the master, second senior sister, and senior brothers' faces had changed; their eyes were sharp as they fixed on Lu Xiangxiang.

At that moment, the 250 System's broadcast sounded again.

This time, it was the news that their Awakening Values had risen.

When Lu Xiangxiang met their gazes, her heart sank sharply; for some reason, she also felt an indescribable sorrow.

In her previous life, no matter how she harmed them, Qian Jing Shan, Song Yan, Cang Li, and Xue Jin would never have looked at her like that.

Except for Xiao Lingwei and Ying Wuji.

In her previous life, Xiao Lingwei envied her, so she hated her deeply.

And Ying Wuji, that scoundrel, often chased her like a mad dog, trying to drive her to death; if she hadn't once caught Xiao Lingwei by chance and used her as leverage to threaten Ying Wuji, getting rid of that hateful Ying Wuji would hardly have been easy…

She didn't know whether Ying Wuji liked Xiao Lingwei; he would actually obey Xiao Lingwei's orders willingly, even tearing out his own heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Lu Xiangxiang's thoughts returned, and she quickly exclaimed, "I didn't mean to!"

"Sixth Senior Sister, I'm sorry. There's no sand in my eye…" Lu Xiangxiang stepped forward, took Yuan Yao's hand, and said sincerely.

Yuan Yao said: "Seventh Junior Sister, I never said you did it on purpose, so you don't need to apologize."

While speaking, Yuan Yao gradually pulled her hand apart.

At that moment, Sect Leader Zong Chao waved at them from not far away.

"Jing Shan, take them back to the Carefree Abode."

…

Night fell.

Inside the Heaven and Earth Domain, lights shone brightly and the streets bustled with activity.

Young disciples from various sects were strolling the night market.

At Wen Yuan Tavern, inside a private room.

Inside the private room, it was noisy—some were drinking games, some were making small bets for fun, and some were eating.

Meanwhile, the girl seated before a table full of dishes had her hair tied in butterfly‑bow twin tails, her ribbons still multicolored; she wore a green waist‑cinched dress, the sleeves slightly wide at the arms, with gold‑thread butterfly embroidery at the cuffs.

She was born with ice‑like skin and jade‑like bones, her eyebrows and eyes very beautiful, her lashes long and curled.

At this moment, she was intently peeling a large bird's egg.

She peeled carefully, and soon a smooth egg appeared.

She smiled, satisfied.

She had been about to take a big bite, but suddenly recalled what that idiot had said, so she could only nibble at it in small bites.

The pink‑white haired boy sitting beside her, seeing this, furrowed his brow and asked, puzzled: "Why are you eating so primly?"

Since childhood, she had always devoured bird's eggs wolf‑style.

She feared that if she ate slowly, there would be none left.

Yuan Yao tilted her head at the words, hehe‑laughing: "Really?"

Xue Jin: "…Yes."

Yuan Yao could only explain: "This isn't the sect; I need to mind my image."

After hearing that, Xue Jin lifted his eyes and glanced at her.

"Just be yourself; don't worry about others' opinions."

"I understand." Yuan Yao nodded seriously, then continued to nibble the egg in small bites, chewing slowly.

Watching her, Xue Jin's brow twitched in exasperation; he really wanted to slap the egg from her hand.

"Open! Big! Big! Big!" Not far away, Xiao Lingwei was betting big or small with Yao Linglong of the Heaven‑Question Peak, Ao Su, and others.

Meanwhile, Cang Li was having a drinking contest with Lin Xuechen of the Heaven‑Text Peak.

The only ones actually sitting down to eat were Yuan Yao, Xue Jin, Ying Wuji, Song Yan, and a few senior brothers and sisters from the other peaks.

Song Yan whispered: "Yao Yao, in the disciples' final match three days from now, you may not wear the myriad‑shroud robes, so you must be extremely careful. Although the competition rules state that killing is forbidden, that only means you may do anything in the match short of taking a life—such as crippling someone's cultivation, damaging their foundation, or inflicting serious injury…"