"I did this out of consideration for the long term."
"The long term?" Yue'er was taken aback, her pretty face still filled with confusion.
"That's right. On the surface, not making my relationship with the two girls public would be best. But Yue'er, have you thought about it? With my help, it's practically certain their cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds, and neither of them has an especially outstanding Spirit Root. Under such circumstances, it would be strange if they didn't draw the attention of people with ulterior motives. Those people will follow the vine to find the melon, and sooner or later, they'll uncover my relationship with them."
Yue'er nodded. His words made a great deal of sense, but...
Before she could speak, however, Lin Xuan had already continued.
"Rather than that, I might as well state it myself first. In any case, what's being said to outsiders is merely that they are nominal disciples. For a Core Condensation Realm cultivator, that's also a very ordinary matter. No one will pay too much attention to it."
"That's true. Rather than covering things up and hiding them, it's better to be a little open about it. With truth and falsehood mixed together, it's actually easier to dispel the misgivings of those with ulterior motives." Yue'er reached up and smoothed her hair, counting it as agreement with Lin Xuan's view.
"Besides, there's also an element of testing in my doing this!"
"Testing?"
"Yes. Although Ying'er is clever and quite scheming, I haven't yet seen what her abilities truly amount to. Managing the Branch Altar is just the right tempering for her."
A thoughtful look appeared on Yue'er's face. Young Master truly did think things through carefully when he acted.
"All right, any more questions?"
"No."
After answering Yue'er's doubts, Lin