Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
Zhou Wanqing copied books while periodically looking up to keep an eye on the activity at the entrance.
As time passed, her copying grew slower and slower, and an inextricable sorrow appeared between her brows.
"He still hasn't returned. Could he have failed?"
Looking toward the entrance once more, Zhou Wanqing seemed somewhat disappointed. Her mind was no longer on her work at all.
Just as she was letting her imagination run wild, a commotion suddenly came from the entrance, and several figures walked in.
They were all old Menial Disciples who had taken part in the examination together with Lin Fan.
After recognizing them, Zhou Wanqing could no longer hold herself back. She hurriedly rose and went to a Tall Thin Man, asking cautiously, "Senior Brother Zheng, why didn't Lin Fan return with you?"
The Tall Thin Man was Zheng Tai. He had already been in a foul mood after failing the examination, but when he saw Zhou Wanqing approach him, his eyes suddenly lit up.
He sized up Zhou Wanqing's graceful figure and her long, straight legs, then let out a mocking laugh. "You mean Lin Fan? He passed the examination."
"However, he's a Formal Disciple now. I'm afraid he's already forgotten you."
"You're quite pretty, and I happen to be short of someone to share a room with. How about you think it over?"
Zheng Tai leered at Zhou Wanqing, his eyes filled with undisguised aggression.
Zhou Wanqing was both sorrowful and joyful, and for a moment, she stood rooted to the spot.
She was happy that Lin Fan had finally become a Formal Disciple. What saddened her was the thought that Lin Fan had truly abandoned her, just as the other man claimed.
"Brother Lin definitely won't forget me."
Zhou Wanqing pressed her lips together and spoke stubbornly.
"If you don't believe me, you can wait a little longer and see whether he comes back for you."
Zheng Tai smiled, clearly unconcerned.
Zhou Wanqing returned to her seat in a daze, and she became utterly despondent.
Looking at the empty seat across from her, she felt an intense sense of suffocation.
Nearly every quarter of an hour, she would look toward the entrance several times. Yet after waiting for a long while, she still did not see that familiar figure.
"Did he really... abandon me?"
Zhou Wanqing bit through her lip as tears welled in her eyes.
Quite a few Menial Disciples around her revealed mocking smiles, while several nearby male Menial Disciples gazed at Zhou Wanqing with burning eyes. If Lin Fan had abandoned her, they would not mind taking over.
After all, among the female Menial Disciples in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion, Zhou Wanqing's looks were considered quite good.
Soon, afternoon arrived, and Zhou Wanqing's heart went completely cold.
Her pretty face was as pale as paper. She rose and was about to walk toward the cliff outside the Hidden Scripture Pavilion.
The surrounding jeers and whispers never stopped. Many people looked at her with the same mocking disdain one would show a clown.
Suddenly, all the laughter on the first floor of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion came to an abrupt halt.
A bright-eyed young man walked in and called out to Zhou Wanqing, "Wanqing, it's time to go."
Zhou Wanqing froze and instinctively looked up. She saw Lin Fan, dressed in a Black Mystic Robe, gazing at her from not far away.
She stared at Lin Fan in disbelief. Her eyes instantly reddened, and she hurriedly replied, "I'm coming..."
Zheng Tai and the other male Menial Disciples who had coveted Zhou Wanqing's beauty all showed looks of lingering fear.
Under the gazes of the many Menial Disciples, Zhou Wanqing did not even have time to wipe away her tears. She linked her arm through Lin Fan's and walked out of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion in bliss.
"Why are you crying?"
Noticing Zhou Wanqing's reddened eyes, Lin Fan asked softly.
"I'm just too happy..."
Zhou Wanqing replied gently.
Lin Fan smiled knowingly, took Zhou Wanqing to change her status, then brought along the few belongings in their quarters and headed to their new cave dwelling.
Before long, Lin Fan brought Zhou Wanqing to the new cave dwelling.
The cave dwelling was spacious and bright, with a well-arranged interior. It had three rooms and a living room, and the tables and chairs were all in place. Compared with their former crude quarters for Menial Disciples, it was several grades better.
This was merely the living environment of an Outer Disciple at Blackwood Cliff. According to Zhao Wang, if one could cultivate to the Meridian Condensing Realm within five years, one would have a chance to enter the main peak and become an Inner Disciple. By then, the treatment and benefits would improve by quite a bit.
Lin Fan was not worried about whether he could become an Inner Disciple in the future. With the panel's assistance, as long as he did not die prematurely, he would sooner or later become an even stronger existence.
"The treatment for Formal Disciples is indeed good, but compared with Menial Disciples, Formal Disciples also attract more attention. I'll have to act more cautiously from now on."
Lin Fan thought to himself.
This was a demonic sect. One was born in worry and died in comfort. The higher he climbed, the more careful he had to be.
At that moment, Lin Fan suddenly recalled that Zhao Wang had mentioned a furnace cauldron had been arranged in his cave dwelling.
The cave dwelling had three rooms and a living room, and each bedroom had a hanging curtain.
Soon, Lin Fan discovered a pretty figure in the third bedroom.
She was a noble and beautiful married woman. Her hands and feet were bound, and she was curled up on the bed.
Her appearance was exceptionally beautiful. Her hair was black and silky, her features exquisite, and her long, straight legs showed faintly beneath her flesh-colored gauze skirt.
Lin Fan smelled a faint fragrance. If he had not guessed wrong, the woman had probably been bathed before being sent here.
The woman's beautiful eyes widened as she looked at Lin Fan with hatred.
She struggled violently, but not only did she fail to break free of the ropes, she instead clenched her gauze skirt into a ball, exposing large patches of snowy skin and her graceful curves.
Even with Lin Fan's firm will, he could not help swallowing when he caught sight of this scene.
He also noticed a bottle of "Infatuation Pill" sitting on the table not far away.
"What's your name?"
Lin Fan asked.
The woman remained silent, as though she already knew her fate. She closed her eyes, her face filled with disgust and loathing.
Seeing that she did not respond, Lin Fan summoned Zhou Wanqing.
"Do you recognize her?"
Lin Fan asked.
Following Lin Fan's gaze, Zhou Wanqing first froze, then cried out incredulously, "King of Linzi's royal sister, Princess Qingyang."
The woman suddenly opened her beautiful eyes and looked at Zhou Wanqing in shock. She could not understand how the other woman had recognized her identity.
"Brother Lin, she's King of Linzi's royal sister, Princess Anyang, Wang Yuyao..."
Zhou Wanqing's speech became somewhat halting.
Lin Fan froze as well and murmured, "King of Linzi's royal sister..."
No wonder her appearance and bearing were so outstanding.
"You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Wang Yuyao."
The woman hurriedly denied it.
She knew very well that the more noble her identity, the more it would stir the desire of the demonic sect disciple before her.
Lin Fan found it both amusing and exasperating. From Princess Anyang's reaction, he immediately saw through her thoughts.
Lin Fan did not dwell on it with her. Let alone King of Linzi's sister—even if King of Linzi himself came to the demonic sect, he would ultimately become a prisoner.
Seeing Princess Anyang staring at him with hatred, Lin Fan shook his head, then sighed softly. He poured out an Infatuation Pill and personally stuffed it into her mouth.
In merely a moment, Wang Yuyao, who had been glaring at Lin Fan with hatred, changed completely.
A blush surfaced on her exquisite, pretty face. Although she clearly remembered who she was, she developed an intense desire for the young man before her.
Wang Yuyao involuntarily rubbed her long, straight legs, her heart filled with uncontrollable lewd thoughts.
Seeing that the Infatuation Pill had taken effect, Lin Fan casually untied her ropes and said softly, "Princess, you can stay in this room from now on. Unless you're willing, I won't touch you."
She was even more beautiful than Zhou Wanqing, but Lin Fan had no intention of taking advantage of her plight. At the end of the day, they were all pitiful people. Why make things difficult for one another?
Upon hearing this, the last trace of resistance in Wang Yuyao's heart shattered, and her gaze toward Lin Fan filled with blazing heat.
She was an ordinary person without a foundation in cultivation and had no way to resist the medicine's effects. She could only submit and say, "From now on... call me Yuyao."
As she spoke, she involuntarily twisted her long, straight legs beneath the gauze skirt.
Under the Infatuation Pill's effects, she had completely resigned herself to her fate.
Lin Fan did not leave immediately. Instead, he took the opportunity to ask, "What happened to King of Linzi and the others?"
"I'm not entirely sure..."
"Some say Prince Wang and the others were defeated and have already retreated to the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect to request the aid of a Royal Ancestor who has been cultivating in seclusion there."
Wang Yuyao let out a soft sigh.
"The Flowing Cloud Sword Sect?"
Lin Fan was startled.
If that was the case, the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect was probably about to officially go to war with the Blood Demon Sect, right?
Once war broke out, wouldn't a Formal Disciple like him end up as cannon fodder?
Before you continue