Since Ancient Times, Love Has Left Only Regret

Su Li felt deeply envious of the otherworldly air surrounding Hua Yunxiao, Yun Wanchu, and Zhuge Qingchen.

If only he could have that kind of presence someday. With such an air, plus his peerless good looks, the fairies of this world would have nothing to do with other men.

"Alas, one must always have a dream. It doesn't take up any space, anyway."

Su Li grumbled to himself, then nodded slightly to Zhuge Qingchen in greeting. "Mystic Master Zhuge."

"M​​aster Su."

Zhuge Qingchen's gaze had also settled on Su Li.

Seeing Su Li greet him with a smile, he clasped his hands and returned the greeting with modest courtesy.

A smile played on his lips, and his movements were relaxed and natural, giving him the air of a refined gentleman, warm as jade.

Su Li instinctively locked onto him and tried to open his Life Archive. But when the pale-blue system interface appeared, a special prompt suddenly popped up: [Viewing this requires 500 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]

"Hm? What's going on? I'm not looking at this person's Life Archive for the next seven days. Why would it cost Heavenly Secrets Value?"

Su Li couldn't help feeling a stir in his heart. This was the first time this had happened.

At that very moment, Zhuge Qingchen's eyes shifted slightly as well. The ordinary scrutiny in his gaze turned serious.

"Master Su, are you deriving some heavenly secret concerning Qingchen? I wonder how it's going?"

As Zhuge Qingchen spoke, a warm smile appeared on his face, and he looked at Su Li with confidence.

Just then, Su Li saw another new prompt appear on the system interface: [Viewing this requires 3,000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]

Of course Su Li wouldn't confirm.

It was obvious that Zhuge Qingchen had used some special technique for Shielding Heavenly Secrets. It was powerful, but not truly without a solution.

Su Li simply didn't think the man was worth spending Heavenly Secrets Value on.

He'd already balked at 500 points. He certainly wasn't going to waste 3,000 on this pretty boy.

Wouldn't those 3,000 points be better spent refreshing the Heavenly Secrets Mall, buying something from the mall, or plucking a little more wool from Hua Ziyan? Wasn't that much more worthwhile?

"Mystic Master Zhuge truly lives up to his reputation. Impressive."

Su Li stopped trying to view Zhuge Qingchen's Life Archive and praised him with a smile.

"Master Su is the truly extraordinary one. You're not yet twenty, and you've already stepped through the threshold of Peeking into Profundity. Truly admirable. Unlike Qingchen, who's cultivated for nearly seventy years and has only reached Mystic Master Nine Stars. I can't even manage the basic Peeking into Spirit. Alas, what a failure. An utter failure."

Zhuge Qingchen shook his head and sighed, sounding rather rueful, as though he deeply resented his own lack of progress.

But what Su Li heard in Zhuge Qingchen's heart was nothing like that: This Master Su is only seventeen or eighteen, and his talent and constitution seem pretty mediocre. There's something unusual about his soul, though. That must have given him a special gift for deriving heavenly secrets. Still, he's only at the level of Peeking into Profundity, right?

He must have tried to derive something about me just now, only to run into immense resistance and fail completely.

He does have some talent for divination, but it's nowhere near as outstanding as mine. After all, even Heaven is jealous of my gifts.

Alas, I thought I'd finally found a prodigy whose talent could almost rival mine. I never expected the gap to be so great.

Life truly is as lonely as snow.

Why am I so exceptional, so successful?

In less than seventy years, with just a little casual cultivation, I'm already close to surpassing my master's three hundred years of cultivation.

And my master is hailed as a heavenly-secrets prodigy rarely seen in the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion in a million years...

Su Li suddenly heard all those thoughts from Zhuge Qingchen, and for a moment, it was as though ten thousand horses were stampeding through his heart.

What the hell? That was absurd!

He'd cultivated for seventy years and only reached Mystic Master Nine Stars. Who gave him the nerve to be so arrogant?

Su Li thought it over and decided to use Zhuge Qingchen as a test subject to see whether the system's Reasoning to Convince function worked.

In any case, the Washing Ancestral Bones matter had tied Hua Yunxiao to him. For the time being, Hua Yunxiao probably wouldn't let him get beaten to death just for saying something unpleasant.

And Yun Wanchu, a coward who feared death, would be even more cautious about keeping him safe. He wouldn't let Su Li die easily.

With two such powerful bodyguards at his side, Su Li figured he could try Reasoning to Convince Zhuge Qingchen.

Having made up his mind, Su Li grew even more enthusiastic. He looked at Zhuge Qingchen as if he were an ATM.

That warm gaze left Zhuge Qingchen a little puzzled. Could Master Su have begun to admire me?

Well, that makes sense. When someone as peerlessly talented as I am inspires admiration, affection, or even love, it's only natural—even men can't escape my incomparable charm.

Zhuge Qingchen couldn't help mulling it over.

"Mystic Master Zhuge really has fallen short in some ways. What's worse, he's always thought himself outstanding. That's rather awkward."

When Su Li said this, Zhuge Qingchen's breathing hitched.

Even Hua Yunxiao and Yun Wanchu looked at Zhuge Qingchen in surprise.

"Master Su?"

Su Li's words struck right at Zhuge Qingchen's pride, leaving him a little stunned.

Was there really someone in this world who could speak straight to his heart?

This man had some skill!

Could this peerless genius have misjudged him?

While Zhuge Qingchen was still doubting himself, Su Li continued to Reason to Convince him. "It's not that I can't divine Mystic Master Zhuge's heavenly secrets. I simply don't think it's necessary. After all, Mystic Master Zhuge has a full and smooth forehead and a broad, rounded jaw. Heavenly secrets gather between his brows, while green grows atop his head. He's surrounded by the signs of spring returning to all things, brimming with life. This shows that Mystic Master Zhuge has been enjoying smooth sailing recently, free of worries. There's nothing worth divining.

"But that doesn't stop me from spending a little energy to make a divination for Mystic Master Zhuge."

As he spoke, Su Li activated Pale Blue again, locked onto Zhuge Qingchen's Life Archive, and tried to view it.

This time, Pale Blue prompted him to spend 500 Heavenly Secrets Value, not 3,000.

It was obvious that Zhuge Qingchen's Shielding Heavenly Secrets technique wasn't active at all times. He'd probably wanted to show off, so he'd swollen his face to look plump and used his ultimate technique to shield the heavenly secrets for a few seconds.

That made sense. A pretty boy like him, all silver spear and waxed tip, probably couldn't keep it up for more than three to five seconds!

Thinking this, Su Li used his Heavenly Secrets Value to view the archive before the price could rise.

After 500 Heavenly Secrets Value were deducted, Zhuge Qingchen's Life Archive appeared in full.

[Zhuge Qingchen: Male, 79 years old.

Realm: Nascent Soul Realm, mid-stage, first level.

Nascent Soul: Spiritual Infant, 5 stars.

Talents: Profound Mechanism Deriving the Way, Severing Karma, Sudden Intuition (passive), Overwhelming Good Fortune (passive).

Constitution: Nine Paths Pure Yang Spiritual Body.

Fate: Fixed (Heaven-Sent Opportunity, Destined to Return, God Descends to the Mortal Realm, Unrivaled in the World, Heavenly Pivot's Limitless Way); fluctuating (Deep Love, Shallow Fate, The Great Dao Lacks Love, Since Ancient Times, Love Has Left Only Regret, Fallen Flowers Have Intentions, While Flowing Water Has None, Split Personality, Depression Awakens into a Single-minded Search for Death, Yet He Cannot Die).

At three years old, he decided he would marry his senior sister one day. His senior sister died.

At five years old, he decided his newly initiated junior sister would be his bride. His junior sister died.

...

At 67 years old, he saw five-year-old Hua Ziyan and fell in love at first sight. Hua Ziyan was locked onto by an Extreme Dao Fate Calamity, and the calamity descended...]

After reading Zhuge Qingchen's Life Archive, Su Li was completely stunned.

He wanted to recite some lofty poetry to express his shock, but he wasn't very cultured. All he could do was draw a deep breath and silently say, "Holy shit!"

This was the strangest, most heaven-defying, and most shocking Life Archive template he had ever seen!

This was a bona fide protagonist template! Heaven's most favored little bastard!

Could a person like this really exist? It made no sense! Why didn't someone drag him out and shoot him for ten minutes?

Lemons on the lemon tree, you and me beneath the lemon tree!

Su Li was so sour he could practically pucker. That fate, the first half of it, it...

All those complicated feelings condensed into one bitter, plaintive "Holy shit."

"Oh? Then, Master Su, please divine something for Qingchen."

Zhuge Qingchen didn't take it seriously. Divine something about me, Zhuge Qingchen? He must be dreaming!

Master Su really likes to joke. Am I someone anyone can just divine?

Even my master can't divine the details of my karma. Master Su really won't give up until he sees the coffin.

Still, outwardly, he had to show some respect. After all, he was someone Imperial Lord Hua valued.

And Imperial Lord Hua would one day be his father-in-law. He had to make a good impression in front of him.

Zhuge Qingchen's words and thoughts were once again caught by Su Li's Reasoning to Convince ability.

Combined with the Life Archive, Su Li now understood the man completely.

"Zhuge Qingchen, 79 years old, mid-stage first level of the Nascent Soul Realm, Spiritual Infant, five stars. His talents are Profound Mechanism Deriving the Way and Severing Karma. He occasionally gets a Sudden Intuition when danger approaches. His constitution is the Nine Paths Pure Yang Spiritual Body.

"At three years old, he decided he would marry his senior sister one day. His senior sister died.

"At five years old, he decided his newly initiated junior sister would be his bride. His junior sister died.

"...

"Three days ago, you divined for Hua Yunxiao and decided that today was the best time to go to the Blazing Wasteland. I stopped you. The Heaven-Sent Opportunity there was a Town Soul Stele, and it nearly crushed Hua Yunxiao to death on the spot!

"This morning, you divined for Hua Yunxiao and told him to undergo his Nascent Soul transformation in six days. If he did, he'd fail on the spot and be reduced to ashes...

"At dawn, you argued with your master over the karma on the Mystic Tortoise Back Diagram. You thought your master was wrong; your master thought you were arrogant and stubborn. You stormed out and decided to find the 'fated partner' you had in mind—Hua Ziyan—and pour out your heart to her for comfort..."

Su Li gave a rough account of Zhuge Qingchen's circumstances.

Zhuge Qingchen was completely stunned, his mouth hanging open in an O.

Thanks to reader "Danxin Qianyun" for the 10,000 Qidian Coins reward, and thanks to reader "Ben Wenmang Ye Kanshu" for the 1,000 Qidian Coins reward. Thank you all so, so much! Also, please vote for the book. Many thanks!