Romantic Tension

Lu Yang brought Lin Ying inside, pushing open the door to reveal a spacious living room.

More than a dozen spirit wood chairs and matching tea tables were neatly arranged in the room. Their wood grain was fine, and they gave off a faint, delicate fragrance.

A side room lay to the left, while a wooden staircase led to the second floor on the right. Its handrail had been polished smooth and warm to the touch.

Lin Ying stood in the middle of the living room and looked around. "All the outer disciples' houses have much the same layout," she explained softly. "The living room on the first floor is for receiving guests, and there's a small kitchen over there. The bedroom and cultivation room are on the second floor."

She paused, then remembered something and added, looking at Lu Yang, "Oh, right. Once you become an outer disciple, you can hire servant disciples to take care of chores for you, like growing your private Spirit Plants or feeding your spirit beasts."

Lu Yang shook his head without hesitation. "I don't need any of that."

He wasn't an Alchemist, so he had no need to grow spirit medicine, and he had no spirit beasts to look after.

Besides, to be honest, unless it was someone he knew well, he wasn't very willing to live under the same roof as someone else.

As for cleaning, one Dust Removal Technique would leave every speck of dust gone. What did he need a person for?

A little curious, he took a look around the house, inside and out.

The furnishings weren't luxurious, but every piece of furniture was made of spirit wood, and each gave off a faint trace of Spiritual Qi.

What pleased him most was the Spirit Gathering Formation in the house. Compared with the one in his entry disciple's hut, this formation was more than a notch stronger.

With a brief moment of sensing, he could clearly tell that the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the house was more than twice that in the entry disciple's hut.

Cultivating here was almost like taking low-grade cultivation pills every moment of the day, and there was no pill poison either.

The two went upstairs together.

They opened the bedroom door to find a table, chairs, and a spirit wood bed inside.

The large spirit wood bed stood against the wall, bare of bedding.

Lin Ying glanced at the empty bed, her eyes flickering. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "Junior Brother Lu, have you prepared any bedding? If not, I have a spare set..."

As she spoke the last part, she stole a glance at Lu Yang, her cheeks growing slightly warm.

Lu Yang froze for a moment, then immediately smiled. "Then sorry to trouble you to prepare the bedding for me, Senior Sister."

Lin Ying waved her hands repeatedly, sounding a little embarrassed. "There's no need to be polite, Junior Brother. I didn't think of it before. I should have reminded you earlier."

As she spoke, she hurried over to the spirit wood bed and took a complete set of bedding from her Storage Bag.

The bedding was a plain, pale moon-white, its fabric soft, with extremely fine, subtle patterns embroidered along the edges.

She bent down and spread out each piece of bedding, working carefully and patiently. Her slender, pale fingers ran over the wrinkles in the fabric, smoothing them out bit by bit until every inch lay neat and flat.

Lu Yang stood behind her, watching her profile as she bent over the bed. The fading light of the setting sun streamed through the paper window, enveloping her in a soft halo.

A trace of tenderness rose in his eyes without his realizing it.

Senior Sister Lin really is a rare good girl.

She has a gentle temperament, speaks softly, is beautiful, and is kind and considerate.

Her mastery of the Dao of Alchemy is also considerable. There's a strong chance she'll break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and become an inner disciple one day.

A little over a month ago, I wouldn't have dared dream that a girl like her would be here, bending over to make my bed.

He glanced subconsciously at Lin Ying's favorability on the panel.

Still 80 points.

Hasn't budged an inch...

It seemed that once it reached this number, it was already very difficult to raise it through ordinary interactions.

But then again, with 80 favorability, if I took the initiative, shouldn't there be a good chance of making Senior Sister Lin my dao companion?

If Senior Sister Lin became my dao companion, wouldn't we be able to do all sorts of naughty things?

I haven't dual cultivated once in this lifetime.

I wonder what the difference is between dual cultivation and that kind of exercise in my previous life?

As his thoughts wandered, Lin Ying smoothed out the last layer of bedding and straightened up.

She looked from side to side and, only after making sure there wasn't a single wrinkle at the edges, nodded in satisfaction, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

She turned around and said cheerfully, "Junior Brother Lu, it's all ready. Now you can rest whenever you—"

Halfway through her sentence, her eyes met Lu Yang's.

His gaze was gentle, but it was also a little more heated than usual, like a thin layer of flame covering warm water.

Lin Ying's voice grew quieter without her realizing it.

She lowered her head slightly, a lovely pink spreading across her cheeks.

She knew very well that she had feelings for Junior Brother Lu.

At first, she had simply thought that this junior brother was exceptionally handsome, exactly to her taste.

Later, when they traded pills, they had gone to the dining hall together. As they talked, she discovered that Junior Brother Lu had a gentle disposition, was polite to others, and was easy for her to talk to. He had even generously treated her to a feast.

At the time, she had thought of him as a friend she could confide in.

Of course, that was all.

What truly changed her feelings was the moment Lu Yang pressed the Purple Cloud Pill-Nurturing Robe into her arms.

That was a Supreme-Grade Law Artifact!

And one that could improve her alchemy skills at that!

As an Alchemist, she knew all too well what that robe was worth.

At first, she had instinctively wanted to refuse, but Lu Yang had used the excuse of "lending" it to her and casually left the treasure countless Alchemists dreamed of in her hands.

From that moment on, she found herself thinking of this junior brother without even realizing it.

Nanyue often teased her about it. She never admitted it aloud, but in her heart she had long understood—she had fallen for this junior brother, who was almost unfairly handsome.

And this time, Lu Yang looked at her differently from before.

There was much more warmth in his gaze than before, along with a trace of an indescribable, aggressive edge, yet it had lost none of its original tenderness.

It seemed her heartbeat hadn't slowed down once since they met.

Now, with Lu Yang looking straight at her like this, Lin Ying felt both sweetness and annoyance in her heart.

This junior brother is playing too unfairly—who could withstand a look like that?

Does he even know how charming he is?

While her thoughts were in turmoil, she heard footsteps.

One step, then another, drawing closer and closer.

Lin Ying's body tensed slightly, her fingertips unconsciously pinching her sleeve.

Soon, a warm, crisp scent drew near.

It was a scent unique to Lu Yang, like a mountain breeze in the morning mixed with a hint of pine's bitter freshness.

With her head lowered, she could see the hem of Lu Yang's outer robe stop right in front of her, just inches away.

Her throat felt dry, and she couldn't help swallowing softly.

"Senior Sister Lin." Lu Yang's voice sounded above her.

Lin Ying's heart felt as though an invisible hand had clenched it tight, and she answered instinctively, "Here!"

Only after the word left her mouth did she realize she had answered too quickly, too urgently, just like a disciple whose name had been called.

Lu Yang's magnetic voice sounded again, with the faintest hint of amusement in his tone. "Why do you keep your head down, Senior Sister Lin? Why won't you look at me?"

Lin Ying couldn't shake the feeling that there was some teasing hidden in his voice—though she didn't know whether it was just her imagination.

She raised her head a little nervously. A face so handsome it was almost unreal was right in front of her, close enough for her to make out the curve of his eyelashes.

The corners of Lu Yang's mouth were raised slightly, clearly showing a hint of deliberate teasing, yet a burning flame flickered in his deep eyes, making her whole body grow hot.

Lin Ying's breath stopped for a moment.

"Lu... Junior Brother Lu, what is it?" Her tongue felt as though it had tied itself in a knot, and she stumbled even over those few words.

Lu Yang took another step forward.

It was a small step, but enough for his scent to envelop her completely.

His breath almost brushed her face, warm and gentle.

Lin Ying swallowed again, her eyes wide and round like a fawn suddenly approached by a hunter.

Lu Yang chuckled, a hint of mischief in his laughter. "Senior Sister Lin, you seem a little nervous?"

His laughter made the tips of Lin Ying's ears burn.

A trace of embarrassed annoyance suddenly rose in her heart—Junior Brother Lu was several years younger than her!

What am I afraid of?

It's not like he can eat me, is it?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she was the first to feel heat spread through her body.

She forced a smile, trying to make her voice sound steady and calm. "...No, not at all. Why would I be nervous? You really know how to joke, Junior Brother."

Lu Yang bent down slightly, bringing his eyes level with hers.

Less than a palm's width remained between their faces, close enough that they could count each other's eyelashes.

"Is that so?" he asked softly.

Lin Ying opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but as she looked into Lu Yang's deep eyes, every word caught in her throat.

His eyes were beautiful, as though a quiet night sky lay hidden in their depths.

And in that night sky, only her face was reflected now.

The room suddenly fell silent.

Outside, a distant mountain breeze passed through the pine forest with a faint rustle, making the silence feel deeper still.

An indescribable feeling hung in the air, as though something invisible were slowly drawing taut between them.

They gazed at each other.

Lu Yang's gaze slowly drifted down from her shimmering eyes to her lips—full and rosy, pressed slightly together with nervousness, like a flower still in bud.

In truth, Lu Yang's own heart was racing outrageously fast.

He looked as steady as an old dog on the surface, but a thin layer of sweat had already formed on his palms.

With favorability at 80, of course he knew what that meant, but now that it had come to this, he was still nervous.

He was afraid he had misjudged the boundaries, afraid of offending her, afraid of scaring her away.

But he knew that if he turned a blind eye to a girl who was gentle, pure-hearted, and this beautiful, he would surely regret it later.

Just think of it as doing it for that 100-favorability treasure chest!

He found himself an excuse in his heart, then swallowed a little nervously and slowly leaned closer.