I Would Like to Ask You to Stay the Night

Ordinary people naturally had no way to approach the grand elder; they would be stopped from a long way off. But Chen Ning was the sect leader, so he could go straight to her door and knock.

"Please come in, Sect Leader."

A woman dressed in close-fitting black clothes opened the door for Chen Ning, then withdrew.

She stood guard at the door.

"Grand Elder, I brought you some cake. Have a taste."

As soon as Chen Ning entered, he got straight to the point and took the cake out of its container.

Cang Yue had not paid it much mind at first, but her eyes lit up slightly when she saw the oddly shaped cake.

"Sect Leader, what is this?"

"Oh, a little specialty. It's a pastry I... learned to make while I was wandering alone. It's called cream cake."

Chen Ning made up a lie on the spot. Since his identity was that of an orphan the old sect leader had saved three years ago, he might as well build on that.

That unknown stretch of time was just right for explaining things that otherwise made no sense.

Smelling the aroma of the cake, Cang Yue couldn't help but feel her appetite stir. She rose from her seat and walked toward Chen Ning.

She wore a dark red gown today. Its off-the-shoulder design exposed her fair skin and alluring collarbones, drawing the eye irresistibly toward them.

Her curvaceous figure was extremely sexy. The hem of her dress was pleated, and the contours of her slender, straight legs were enough to steal a person's soul.

If Xiao Mei was the bewitchingly seductive type, then Cang Yue had more of a mature woman's charm.

Who could resist a mature beauty like her?

Chen Ning cut the cake into several pieces, put them on plates, and handed one to her.

As it happened, Cang Yue's mouth had grown bland again, and she was in urgent need of something sweet. She accepted the cake Chen Ning offered, parted her red lips, and extended her soft tongue to lick the cream on top.

A look of satisfaction immediately appeared on her face.

So sweet!

The cream was fragrant and sweet, melting on her tongue. It was a taste she had never experienced before.

It was novel and delicious. Cang Yue took another bite of cake and chewed it slowly.

The unprecedented satisfaction softened Cang Yue's breathtakingly beautiful features.

Chen Ning nodded inwardly. Judging by her reaction, it should have worked.

"Sect Leader, may I have another piece?"

Cang Yue asked, a little embarrassed.

"Of course. Help yourself."

"All right."

Cang Yue picked up another piece of cake from the table, grabbing it directly with her slender fingers this time. When some got on her fingers, she brought them to her mouth and sucked them clean without thinking.

The sight reminded Chen Ning of certain action movies from his previous life. He felt that if he stayed any longer, he might lose control of himself, so he thought he had better leave quickly.

"If there's nothing else, I won't disturb you. I'm off, I'm off."

Chen Ning turned to leave, but Cang Yue called out to stop him.

"Wait."

Chen Ning's heart jolted. What's going on?

Have I been exposed?

Chen Ning panicked a little. Everyone said the grand elder's wisdom was as deep as an abyss, and she was also a supreme powerhouse. It was quite possible she had discovered that he already knew she was a spy.

Otherwise, she might be about to drop all pretense and press him for answers about the secret treasure.

He didn't know whether the Immortal-Trapping Talisman could trap her, either.

If they tore off all pretense, what kind of lie could he make up to explain it away?

"Is there something else?"

Chen Ning wore a smile. At a time like this, he could only meet a thousand changes by remaining unchanged.

"Please sit, Sect Leader. You came all this way to bring me sweets. If I didn't invite you to sit for a while, wouldn't that be terribly discourteous? If outsiders heard of it, they would surely laugh at me."

Chen Ning merely smiled. "All right, I'll sit for a while. Five yuan's worth of chatting will do."

In truth, Chen Ning didn't believe her at all. How could Cang Yue be so warm to him? He had only brought her a piece of cake. Even if she was somewhat grateful, she couldn't possibly treat him like this.

As he watched her bring over a pot of tea and some pastries, Chen Ning felt that something was off.

She was too warm.

It might have made sense if she were the little loli Su Ling'er, who was innocent and naive. But who was Cang Yue? She was the grand elder of the Dragon-Seeking Sect, second only to the sect leader, and her true identity was a spy for the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty. How could she lose her composure over such a small thing?

When something unusual happened, there was bound to be a demon behind it.

Perhaps she only suspects I might have a secret treasure, but isn't sure, so she's probing me?

That was the only explanation he could think of.

However, the real reason Cang Yue was so astonished that she lost her composure was that the two pieces of cake she had eaten actually contained the mysteries of talismans.

Not only was the cake sweet and delicious, but it also contained boundless talisman mysteries. How could Cang Yue not be shocked?

She was a high-level talisman master, but Chen Ning was clearly a figure on the level of a grandmaster.

Their realms were more than a thousand miles apart.

She finally understood why Chen Ning had come all this way with cake. The cake was a pretext; his true purpose was to give her pointers on her cultivation of talismans.

Although Cang Yue's cultivation had reached the Heavenly Martial Realm First Stage, making her one of the foremost powerhouses in the entire Nine Provinces, she truly could not compare to Chen Ning in the slightest when it came to talismans.

Those seven incomparably powerful talismans were the best proof.

Even though Cang Yue was extraordinarily obsessed with inscribing talismans, the gap caused by talent was sometimes like a chasm.

She herself was a cultivator of unparalleled natural talent, so she knew all the better that such a gap was essentially impossible to bridge.

Yet today, Chen Ning had actually been willing to come here and give her guidance. She was overjoyed.

The talisman mysteries she had comprehended after eating the cake would vanish in an instant if she did not carefully grasp them. That was why she had immersed herself in concentration, inadvertently neglecting Chen Ning to the point that he had nearly left just now.

Fortunately, she had gotten him to stay.

Cang Yue rejoiced inwardly. As long as Chen Ning was here, that faint, elusive trace of talisman mysteries would remain.

It wasn't hard to deduce that Chen Ning must have encountered some kind of opportunity to acquire such skill at inscribing talismans.

However, Chen Ning himself had no idea what level of mastery over talismans he had attained by thoroughly mastering the [Heaven-Reaching Talisman].

And the cake he had made with his own hands naturally contained the mysteries of superior talismans.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the task [Make Dessert]"

"Basic reward obtained: three cultivation levels. Current cultivation: Human Martial Realm Ninth Heavenly Layer."

"Rare reward obtained: divine ability [Fire God Seal]"

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the task perfectly. Reward obtained: [Mysterious Spirit Beast Egg]. Hatching required."

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the task perfectly. Additional reward: the sect elder Cang Yue's talisman realm rises by one level."

As Chen Ning sat down to drink tea, the system notifications rang out one after another.

The result was a mixture of joy and worry. He was glad he had obtained the spirit beast egg, but worried that he had completed the task perfectly once again and nurtured another grave threat for himself.

For fuck's sake!

"Grand Elder, I really have to go. I won't stay any longer. Get some rest early."

Chen Ning was in a hurry to get back and hatch the spirit beast egg, and he didn't want to waste any more time. But Cang Yue raised a hand, and a gust of force swept past, slamming the doors and windows shut.

"Sect Leader, forgive my boldness, but I would like to ask you to stay the night."