"Ahem."
Ye Changfeng choked.
When he saw the girl's aggrieved little look, his heart nearly melted.
Naiqi was so adorable~
Ye Changfeng reached out and pulled the girl into his arms, giving her a comforting hug.
"Hmph!"
Lu Xueqi gave a soft snort.
The more she nestled against Ye Changfeng, the more aggrieved she felt.
Ye Changfeng really was...
How could he be so mean?
He was always picking on her...
And, and making her use her hand to help him with that.
Lu Xueqi glared at Ye Changfeng, cheeks puffed.
Her pretty face was a little flushed. She was annoyed, but not all that opposed to it.
After all...
Ye Changfeng was her future husband.
She couldn't give herself to him just yet.
That was because they weren't officially promised to each other. Even though everyone in the world knew they were a couple,
they were still missing a betrothal.
At the very least, he had to formally ask for her hand first.
As the saying went—
A marriage was arranged by one's parents and matched by a go-between!
Only after all that could they be together openly and properly.
"Then..."
"I'll just hold it in from now on."
Ye Changfeng really was awful.
He knew perfectly well that his little bride, Xueqi, worried about him, yet he was deliberately saying things like this.
See?
As soon as Lu Xueqi heard him, she furrowed her brows and said, "W-would holding it in be bad for your cultivation?"
She'd seen what Ye Changfeng was like just now.
He couldn't focus at all.
If he held it in...
Who knew when he'd be able to calm down and cultivate properly?
"Maybe."
Ye Changfeng answered with a straight face.
At that, Lu Xueqi hurriedly shook her head. "Then you shouldn't hold it in."
"If I don't, what am I supposed to do?"
Ye Changfeng leaned down, bringing his face close to Lu Xueqi's ear.
The Cold and Aloof Girl's pretty face flushed. She thought that she'd been through this once already, and it might happen again someday. She might as well consider it a favor to Ye Changfeng's cultivation...
Her face red, she spoke so softly that she could barely be heard. "Y-you can come find me. I-I'll help you with that..."
"Really?!"
Ye Changfeng blinked.
"Mm..."
Lu Xueqi turned her face away.
Seeing this, Ye Changfeng didn't know what to say.
Where could he find another little bride who would rather suffer herself than not think of him?
He held the girl gently.
Then he whispered in her ear:
"Xueqi."
"Mm?"
Lu Xueqi raised her eyes slightly.
She saw the tenderness in Ye Changfeng's gaze and heard the warmth in his voice:
"Once I break through to the Supreme Purity Realm,"
"I'll go ask Martial Aunt Shuiyue for your hand."
"Huh?"
The girl stood there, stunned for a moment.
A proposal...
How far away that word had once seemed.
She couldn't believe it was already so close.
She was still an unmarried young woman, after all.
No...
Lu Xueqi fidgeted with her right hand. She seemed to have already lost her innocence...
Of course,
this wasn't the time to think about that.
Her pretty face flushed. When she heard Ye Changfeng's words, her heart began to pound, and she stood there in a daze like a puppet...
Clearly,
his words had hit her hard.
By now,
Ye Changfeng had reached the peak of the Shangqing realm.
It would take him no more than two or three years to break through to the Supreme Purity Realm.
In other words...
In two or three years, he'd go ask her master for her hand.
The Cold and Aloof Girl lowered her gaze.
A blush gradually spread across her pretty face. By the end, even her slender neck had turned red.
"D-do whatever you want..."
Her voice was soft and sweet, barely audible.
At that,
Ye Changfeng was delighted.
He didn't tease his little bride any further. He knew that if he kept at it, she'd be overwhelmed...
After all,
she was so inexperienced.
Hand in hand, Ye Changfeng and his little bride left the quiet chamber.
They headed toward another secret chamber, but on the way they came across a corpse.
Ye Changfeng glanced at it.
The dead man was probably the founder of the Blood Refining Hall and the one who had forged the Blood Devouring Pearl...
Black Heart Old Man.
Lu Xueqi lowered her gaze.
She looked at the corpse, then paid it no further attention.
Anyone who died here had to be a Demonic Sect fiend. They weren't worth her concern...
Ye Changfeng paid it no mind either.
He and Lu Xueqi continued deeper inside.
Before long,
they arrived at another secret chamber.
This must have been the Blood Refining Hall's true treasury.
All kinds of magical artifacts sat on the wooden shelves: blades, swords, spears, staffs, and more.
Unfortunately...
Eight hundred years had taken their toll on these artifacts.
They were all covered in rust, and their spiritual essence was gone.
They were nothing but scrap metal now.
Besides,
many jade bottles sat on the shelves.
Since they didn't know whether the contents were poison or something else,
Ye Changfeng didn't touch them himself.
He flicked his hand, sending out a wisp of Sword Intent that shattered the little jade bottles. There was no poison or precious medicine inside, only...
a little residue.
Clearly,
even if there had once been pills inside, eight hundred years had reduced them to nothing.
"Whoosh!"
Ye Changfeng's gaze swept over the shelves.
Soon, he spotted a small box.
"Hmm?"
Lu Xueqi noticed it too.
Ye Changfeng had a pretty good idea of what was inside. He flicked his hand, sending a streak of Sword Qi to knock the box from the shelf, then split it open in midair.
"Boom!"
The next moment,
a dense cloud of poison poured out.
Lu Xueqi furrowed her brows and hurriedly pulled Ye Changfeng back.
"Whoosh!"
Only after the poison had slowly dispersed
did the two of them cautiously approach.
"Jingle, jingle!"
A little golden bell lay on the ground. It gave off a faint spiritual glow, and a line of tiny characters was engraved on its inner wall, as if recounting the lonely life of someone consumed by love.
"The golden bell rings, blood is misled; a life spent voicing love's lament."
Ye Changfeng stepped forward.
He picked up the bell from the ground.
"This is..."
Lu Xueqi looked curious.
Ye Changfeng explained, "It must be the Joyous Union Sect's treasured relic—the Joyous Union Bell!"
"The Joyous Union Sect?"
Lu Xueqi furrowed her brows.
After hearing that name, she wasn't very interested in the little bell anymore.
But...
Lu Xueqi's eyes flickered.
Someone immediately came to mind: the person exposed in the Heavenly Curtain...
Jin Ping'er!
Ye Changfeng casually hung the Joyous Union Bell from his waist.
Just then,
Lu Xueqi gave him a suspicious look.
Judging from the information revealed in the Heavenly Curtain, Ye Changfeng and Jin Ping'er were definitely more than mere acquaintances, but they didn't know each other yet...
"What's wrong?"
Ye Changfeng acted as if he hadn't noticed the suspicion in his little bride's eyes.
"N-nothing."
Lu Xueqi shook her head gently.
She'd already decided she had to keep a close eye on Ye Changfeng.
She couldn't let him go around flirting with other women.
The girl pouted, looking a little aggrieved. She had gone so far as to debase herself to help Ye Changfeng. If he still went out flirting with other women, then...
Then she'd strike him with the Divine Sword Controlling Thunder True Art!
At the thought, Lu Xueqi glared angrily at Ye Changfeng.
"Whoosh!"
The Tianya Divine Sword trembled slightly.
Ye Changfeng suddenly shivered.
Why did he feel...
Like someone had it in for him!?
Before you continue