This Master and Disciple Are Fated with Me

Yun Yun had already changed into a casual outfit suitable for bathing. She turned slightly to the side, leaving only her snowy-white, fragrant shoulders exposed.

Yet in the dim, faint light, the impression she gave felt even more immediate.

"Greetings, Sect Leader."

Gu Han clasped his hands and bowed in greeting, lowering his head to avoid looking at Yun Yun again. His tone was neither servile nor overbearing.

"What is your name?" Yun Yun asked.

Hearing how Gu Han addressed her, she realized that he was a Misty Cloud Sect disciple.

He appeared to be about the same age as her disciple, Nalan Yanran, yet his cultivation was also at Three-Star Dou Practitioner. He was certainly no nobody within the sect.

"Outer Disciple Gu Han," Gu Han answered.

"So you are Gu Han." Yun Yun looked him over, surprise rising in her heart.

She had naturally heard of this most gifted cultivator among the Probationary Disciples.

If Gu Han's Dou Qi had been Wind Attribute rather than Ice Attribute, he would have had a better chance than Nalan Yanran of becoming her Personal Disciple.

"When did you break through to Dou Practitioner?" Yun Yun asked with interest, resting her cheek on one hand.

"Twenty days ago," Gu Han answered honestly.

There was no need to hide something Yun Yun could learn simply by asking around after returning to the sect.

"Twenty days?" The surprise in Yun Yun's lively eyes could no longer be concealed. "You stabilized your cultivation and broke through to Three Star in only twenty days?"

"This disciple was fortunate. I found the Mysterious Ice Force in the Transmission Hall, then discovered a seasonal Yin Wind atop Third Mountain half a month ago. After cultivating there for some time, I broke through to Three Star yesterday," Gu Han answered, withholding some details.

His tone was cool and carried an aloofness that seemed inborn, yet it also gave people the sense that he was exceptionally solemn and earnest.

Yun Yun did not question him. Everyone had their own secrets. As long as Gu Han did not harm the interests of the Misty Cloud Sect, the greater his talent, the better.

"What kind of Token do you hold? How are you treated in the sect? Have you encountered any unpleasant matters?" Yun Yun's appreciation for talent made her blurt out three questions in a row.

A youth of clean background, raised by the Misty Cloud Sect from an orphan and therefore more loyal than ordinary disciples, with such outstanding talent, was simply the ideal candidate to be nurtured as a future pillar of the sect.

Gu Han did not answer. Instead, he raised his head to meet Yun Yun's gaze and asked, "Sect Leader, am I supposed to answer your questions like this?"

He was wearing only a pair of underpants, with everything below his navel submerged in the hot spring.

He was less than two meters away from Yun Yun, and she was dressed rather lightly as well.

"Why not?" A trace of teasing amusement appeared in Yun Yun's eyes.

Under normal circumstances, if she did not silence Gu Han outright, it would only be because his talent made him worth nurturing.

But now, after everything that had happened, Gu Han's honest and even "cold" behavior made her feel a mischievous urge to tease the young man.

And indeed, although Gu Han was young, he had an exceptionally fine physique. It was obvious that he cultivated diligently and paid close attention to tempering his body.

"You are the Sect Leader." Gu Han clasped his hands and bowed again, lowered his head, and began answering obediently.

The implication was clear: you held a high position and great strength, so naturally, you had the final say.

Seeing his somewhat "humiliated" appearance, Yun Yun felt a hint of guilt, but even more than that, she felt the pleasure of breaking some sort of taboo.

After patiently listening to Gu Han's answers, she suddenly changed the subject. "How did you get here?"

Her voice carried an unprecedented cold pressure.

"Beneath this hot spring is a hidden passage leading to an open-air hot spring." Gu Han answered openly and calmly. "I was curious where the passage led, so I swam nearly fifteen zhang from outside. When I emerged, I found this place."

A hidden passage?

Yun Yun immediately released her Dou Qi to investigate.

At the bottom of the spring, she discovered the entrance to the hidden passage Gu Han had mentioned.

It seemed everything that had happened tonight had merely been a coincidence.

As the Sect Leader and a Dou Emperor expert, she could not possibly do anything to a genius disciple of the sect over such a trivial matter.

"You have not taken a master yet?" Yun Yun suddenly asked as she looked at Gu Han.

"There are no Elders in the sect skilled in Ice Attribute Dou Qi," Gu Han answered.

"You can still take a master. The treatment for Personal Disciples is better, and a Dou King Elder can personally guide your cultivation." Yun Yun analyzed the matter for Gu Han, clearly intending to bind him to the sect through a master-disciple lineage.

After a brief moment of thought, Gu Han answered, "I do not know the Elders of the sect well, nor do I know which one would suit me."

"If the Sect Leader wishes for me to take a certain Elder as my master, I am naturally willing."

"But I have one condition."

"What condition?" Yun Yun became interested.

She was afraid that Gu Han would have no requests at all.

"My master's seniority must be equal to that of the Great Elder," Gu Han replied.

Within the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Leng belonged to the same generation as Yun Shan and was considered Yun Yun's senior.

However, Yun Leng was not from the Sect Leader's lineage, so Yun Yun did not need to address him as Martial Uncle.

"Seniority?" Yun Yun had not expected Gu Han to care about such a thing.

Gu Han offered no explanation. He merely lowered his head, clasped his hands, and waited for Yun Yun's answer.

"When This Sect Master returns, I will consider it."

Yun Yun did not give him a definite answer.

"Yes." Gu Han had no objection and took the initiative to say, "Then I shall take my leave first."

Yun Yun nodded slightly in agreement.

Gu Han took a deep breath, dove into the hot spring, and swam toward the bottom.

Watching him vanish, leaving behind only rippling circles on the water, Yun Yun felt a strange sensation rise within her.

Besides that, there was also an indescribable sense of oddness.

Whoosh.

Yun Yun rose from the hot spring. Heaven and Earth Energy immediately transformed into a gentle breeze that dried her body, while a Brocade Robe appeared out of thin air and draped over her graceful figure, leaving only her fair swan-like neck exposed.

Dou Qi surged forth and formed a pair of azure wings. With a flash, she arrived outside the cave, then quickly flew up along the cliff. Before long, she reached an enormous rock in the middle of the forest.

Lowering her gaze, she immediately spotted the open-air hot spring pool Gu Han had mentioned.

Not long after, a figure emerged from the hot spring and slowly walked to the shore.

"So that Dou Emperor was Yun Yun."

Have I gained her favor?

Gu Han pondered in confusion as he took a towel from his Storage Ring and dried himself. Then he put his Outer Disciple robes back on and headed down the mountain.

Once Gu Han was out of sight, Yun Yun rose into the air and transformed into a streak of azure light that shot toward Misty Cloud Mountain.

Several dozen breaths later, she arrived at the private courtyard belonging to her, the Sect Leader, atop the mountain.

"It is too late today. I will see Yan Ran tomorrow."

After glancing up at the moon, Yun Yun entered the courtyard and returned to the bed in her room.

Yet after sitting down, she found it difficult to fall asleep. From time to time, Gu Han's youthful yet remarkably handsome face, seemingly carrying a touch of cuteness, surfaced in her mind.

What is wrong with me?

Elsewhere, Gu Han took out his Token and entered the mountain gate of the Misty Cloud Sect. He made his way back to his small courtyard in the outer sect, entered his secret chamber, and continued cultivating.

First, I'll set a small goal: surpass Yun Yun!

The feeling of having to lower his head before her was truly unpleasant!

But before that, he needed to inspect today's Opportunity.

"Hmm!?"

"This master and disciple are fated with me?"