Miss Bai, may I call you Rourou?

Perhaps she really had been hungry. Bai Rourou polished off the roast chicken in her hands in just a few bites, then gazed at the fire before her, ready to lose herself in thought again.

Sensing that the mood was about to turn somber again, Hao Shuai asked, "Miss Bai, what are you planning to do next?"

"Planning?" Bai Rourou blinked. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. After pondering for a while, she said, "I'm going back to my cultivation retreat to focus on my training."

"Back to your retreat?" Hao Shuai thought, This is bad. Has her idol's image really been shattered, and has he broken her heart so badly that she's decided to renounce the world and never return to it?

That wouldn't do! He'd gone to so much trouble. If he let her return to her retreat just like that, wouldn't all his efforts have been in vain?

Unwilling to give up, Hao Shuai rolled his eyes and quickly came up with a plan. "Why don't we go to Maoshan?"

"Go to Maoshan?"

"Right! Since you don't plan to take me as your disciple, I'm thinking of going to Maoshan to seek a master." Hao Shuai explained, "I also heard that Maoshan is holding some kind of ceremony soon to celebrate one of its disciples breaking through to... some kind of True Person."

"Do you mean a Golden Core True Person?" Bai Rourou exclaimed. "I can't believe anyone in this Age of Dharma's End could break through to the Core Formation stage. That person must be an extraordinary genius!"

"Golden Core True Person? Core Formation stage?" Hao Shuai feigned ignorance. "Is it really that difficult?"

"Very!" Remembering that Hao Shuai was still a complete beginner in cultivation, she explained, "Put it this way: