Chapter 252: Listening to Waves on a Snowy Night

The land of Tian Shuang is high and mountainous.

Lu Xingzhou felt its coldness was not necessarily entirely related to some earth vein; it should be related to both altitude and the many mountains.

The continuous mountain ranges outside Yingyue City are mostly occupied by the Yingyue Sect; the true swords emerging from the peaks possess a momentum far more magnificent than the current Tianxing Sword Sect.

To go to "an uninhabited mountain in the suburbs," one would have to go quite far in the opposite direction...

While flying along the road, Ye Tinglan felt Lu Xingzhou's brain must be burnt out, and she was burning with him.

On such a cold night, coming so far for no reason just to feel the wind.

But after reaching the mountain peak, Ye Tinglan's mood improved.

The night sky was clear, utterly silent. Pine trees and rocks on the summit were covered with a thin layer of frost, glowing with a clear radiance under the moonlight, very beautiful. Lu Xingzhou stood by the pine, looking up at the frost; the Young Master was tall and elegant, like a pine and like snow, adding even more color to the picture.

Standing on the peak gazing into the distance, the distant mountains were shrouded in night, like sleeping giants, while below, the lights of Yingyue City twinkled, intermingling with the stars and moon in the sky. Clearly, these ten thousand households of lights were all mundane, yet they held more meaning than when she had previously watched the stars alone at the Star-Gazing Platform.

The mountain wind brushed past, a coldness striking the face. Yet it made the soul clearer, as if all those troubles were momentarily blown away by the wind, leaving no trace.

The wind brought the gentle waves of the pine forest, a rustling soft sound, which made the quiet mountain peak at night even more pleasant.

This was the scene she herself had pursued, yet in the day-after-day silent sitting at the Star-Gazing Platform, she could never feel the beauty she once sought.

Perhaps her heart was full of worries, and even with such beautiful scenery before her, she had no heart to appreciate it.

Or perhaps gazing alone at the boundless night left only loneliness and melancholy.

Only at this moment, though quiet like a thousand other nights, the feeling was different from before... perhaps simply because there was another person beside her.

She stood by the cliff watching the scenery; he stood by the pine watching her.

Eyes holding a smile, eyebrows and features gentle.

Thus, the night color also became gentle.

Clearly speaking the harshest words, demanding a trial, demanding qualification, otherwise punishment... yet a full stick of incense passed, and both remained completely silent.

Ye Tinglan suddenly felt a bit panicked; she discovered she was enjoying the feeling of being quietly together with him, as if particularly at ease.

"You..." Ye Tinglan spoke with some difficulty, unwillingly breaking this gentle silence: "What are you looking at?"

Lu Xingzhou finally answered: "I am looking at a painting."

"What painting?"

"Snowy Night Listening to Waves."

Ye Tinglan suddenly turned her head to look at him.

Lu Xingzhou looked down at the distant Yingyue City as if nothing had happened: "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

One didn't know if he was speaking of the scenery or the person.

But at this moment, Ye Tinglan was very clear that the beauty he spoke of had nothing to do with Yuan Muyu.

It was not because she resembled Yuan Muyu, but because she was Ye Tinglan.

For some reason, an ease and joy that absolutely should not exist rose in her heart.

Ye Tinglan desperately suppressed this emotion that absolutely should not exist, trying hard to make her face cold again: "I said we came for a trial; what time are you wasting?"

"But... I have broken through, Mr."

Ye Tinglan's eyes widened, watching Lu Xingzhou's aura surge and grow, breaking through from the middle stage of fourth grade to the upper stage of fourth grade.

He did nothing, yet he broke through like this.

If it were someone else, they would likely be dumbfounded and at a loss, but who was Ye Tinglan? She knew very well this was because he had entered the Dao realm, receiving relaxation, cleansing, and enlightenment for his mind.

Lu Xingzhou was the same as her; usually, he had too many worries and thought too much, which was unfavorable for cultivation. The energy contained within his two immortal bones had not yet been fully digested, and due to the existence of the immortal bones, his efficiency in absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was also much higher than others. As long as he could properly and peacefully cultivate for a period, he might break through, but he barely even possessed such time.

Even if he were allowed to calm down and cultivate, his mind would likely be turning with many things; Ye Tinglan herself was like this and understood it deeply.

But just now, in that moment, he received complete relaxation and tranquility.

Wasn't he looking at her...

So it wasn't lust...

"Mr..." Lu Xingzhou stepped closer, looking into her eyes at close range: "Mr. said that if the trial is not completed, I will be punished. But I have exceeded the requirement; how should I be rewarded?"

Ye Tinglan instinctively wanted to step back.

Lu Xingzhou was quite tall; standing this close in front of her gave a sense of looking down from above, creating an unexplained feeling of pressure. Ye Tinglan, who never felt small even facing a hundred-zhang golden dragon, felt inexplicably a bit timid and short of breath at this moment, instinctively stepping back half a pace: "Completed is completed; why stand so close... When did I say there would be a reward for completion? No, we were talking about the alchemist trial; what does your cultivation breakthrough have to do with the alchemist trial..."

Seeing her incoherent state, Lu Xingzhou laughed, suddenly reaching out to grab her hand: "Don't retreat; behind you is a cliff."

"I won't die from falling; why do you care?" Saying this, Ye Tinglan still did not shake off his hand; she only slightly turned her head, pretending to look at the scenery below.

As if tacitly accepting this counted as a reward.

But the Holy Lord forgot that men always push their luck.

If the hand-holding has already become a habit, can it still count as a reward?

While Ye Tinglan was completely unprepared, a great force suddenly came through her hand; caught off guard, Ye Tinglan was pulled sideways and fell directly into the man's arms. "You!" Ye Tinglan quickly pushed him away, angrily saying: "Don't push your luck!"

Lu Xingzhou blinked, very honestly making an "Oh" sound to indicate he admitted his mistake.

In reality, he had gained some confidence.

What kind of cultivation did this Mr. have? Her reaction was in microseconds... Even if she was completely unprepared, even if caught off guard, as long as she was unwilling, a moment's reaction would be enough to keep her from moving an inch from his pull.

Yet she was actually pulled.

This meant she herself had no resistance in her heart; by the time she realized she should resist, it would truly be too late.

Ye Tinglan glared at him, her magnificent chest heaving with anger: "What exactly are you thinking in your head day after day!"

Lu Xingzhou once again revealed the aggrieved eyes of a little puppy: "Nothing at all... The disciple has broken through; many masters in other families would hug to encourage."

"You..." Ye Tinglan was speechless; indeed, masters in other families often showed encouragement with hugs when their disciples succeeded, and this happened between female masters and male disciples as well.

But those were mostly because they had raised the disciple from childhood, possessing a true family-like intimacy, involving no dirty thoughts.

Are you, Lu Xingzhou, like that?

Lu Xingzhou murmured pitifully: "I get tired too."

Four simple words made Ye Tinglan's heart soften suddenly.

In others' eyes, she was invincible and unrivaled, yet inside, she was deeply tired.

And what about him?

That little cultivation, how much worry. Just a few months ago, he was still sitting in a wheelchair, merely a disabled man.

Even so, he smiled cheerfully, saying he pitied Mr. and wanted to help share the burden.

The pull came again on his hand; this time Ye Tinglan broke free, not moved at all. Just as Lu Xingzhou thought it was over, she reached out and embraced him herself.

Her hand hovered lightly over his back for half a second, then finally wrapped around him and patted once, whispering: "Don't think too much… Mr. has lived this way for so many years, and he doesn't need you to strain yourself on his behalf. You should care more for yourself—rest more when you have time."

Then she pulled away, stepping back one pace: "Especially certain people who are clearly idle yet still obsessively turning over how to grope women—aren't you tired? I'd be glad if you dropped dead from exhaustion."

You understand, yet you still came forward to offer the tofu yourself?

Ye Tinglan seemed to sense what he was thinking, and finally turned her head: "In the Black Snake Secret Realm, if you wished to be forward, you could have had far more… This reward? It was for that time."

Saying this, she turned and walked down the mountain peak: "I've seen the summit—no medicinal herbs worth mentioning. If you truly harbor any hope of testing your pill-making skills, then find a herb of sufficient grade in the mountains. A Pill Master never enters the mountains empty-handed. I'm leaving now. As long as I'm here, you won't have the heart to do real work."

Lu Xingzhou watched her graceful back vanish into the mist, the scent of her still lingering at his nose, the soft touch still lingering on his chest.

Compared to the passive embrace in the Secret Realm due to snake venom, the upright, solemn Mr. offering an active embrace was far more moving.

What reward was that? If there was one, wouldn't there be a second?

Lu Xingzhou's spirits soared; he almost whistled a tune as he strolled calmly into the forest.

"A Pill Master never enters the mountains empty-handed"—that was indeed true. Not because of any rule, but because of professional habit—it came naturally.

In this unfamiliar mountain land, clearly there were plants and strange beasts unseen in the Great Qian. As a Pill Master, if you didn't feel a thrill at the prospect of collecting rare herbs, what kind of Pill Master were you?

Lu Xingzhou had no great love for the Pill Master profession, but he was a normal one who had studied for over a decade—and studied well. The professional habit was real.

With a full heart, he delved into the mountains and searched half the night, and truly found several high-grade medicinal herbs, even one Zhu Zi herb perfectly suited as an auxiliary ingredient for his custom third-grade breakthrough pill.

There was also a Yin Ying herb, suspected to enhance the Black Flame of the Soul Banner—uncertain, needed further study.

Lu Xingzhou's harvest was rich; he didn't care that he was covered in dirt from crawling through the forest, and happily retraced his steps.

But as he walked, his expression subtly changed.

The path back wasn't like this.

A confusion array?

Some areas naturally form confusion arrays; intruders easily get lost.

But Lu Xingzhou himself was an array expert—he saw at a glance this was not a natural confusion array, but man-made.

He took out his wheelchair and tried to fly upward, yet found he could not escape.

This was a dimensional illusion—neither he could get out, nor could outsiders easily enter to find him.

This was a array Ye Tinglan set outside after he entered the mountains… What was she trying to do? A sudden punishment?

No, this wasn't Ye Tinglan's nature.

This was more likely protection—preventing outsiders from easily discovering Lu Xingzhou, and keeping him from wandering off into danger.

Lu Xingzhou's thoughts sank, and he immediately recalled his earlier conversations with Ye Tinglan—aside from the Demon Emperor and Gu Zhanting, were there any other enemies who could threaten her? She said such encounters were rare.

But now it seemed his jinx had come true—she had truly encountered enemies!

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ps: Added... *cries softly*~

(End of Chapter)