[Locking onto Hua Ziyan and opening Hua Ziyan's Life Archive.]
Hua Ziyan: The number-one Saintess of Wanli Holy Land, known as Fairy Li. Her real name is Hua Ziyan. Innate phenomenon: Purple Qi Three Thousand. At the age of five, she suffered a calamity of fate and was on the brink of death when she happened upon Zhuge Wuwei, Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. He offered her guidance, telling her that one day she would meet the destined Son of Heaven—the one who possessed the Nine Radiance Glazed Heart—and overcome her tribulation...
A colorless, shapeless screen of light abruptly appeared before Su Li.
Rows of text flowed across the screen, suffused with an ethereal aura like that of the Great Dao, streaming continuously into Su Li's eyes.
Su Li had grown used to such strange occurrences and no longer found them surprising.
He skimmed the key information, then searched the list of records with a thought.
[Time: August 29, 3030, Yunhuang Calendar, 10:37 a.m. (current).]
[Location: Silent Ancient Temple in the Luoxia Barren Mountains outside Lihe Village, Wuli Town.]
[Event: Hua Ziyan intends to expose Su Li, whom she has already judged to be a fraud and a charlatan, by revealing the secret of her true origins. She also wants to protect Mu Yuxi, who possesses the Mysterious Yin Sacred Body, and hopes Mu Yuxi will come to her senses, stop being bewitched by Su Li, and avoid having her essence harvested through some despicable means.
So, Hua Ziyan has decided that if Su Li's judgment proves wrong, she will immediately call him out in front of everyone and expose him as a fraud.
Furthermore, if she confirms that Su Li truly has ulterior motives and harbors ill intentions toward Yuxi, she will show him no mercy!
For now, Hua Ziyan has prepared a fatal strike. Everything is ready.
Of course, she still holds a sliver of hope. If the other party really does possess the ability he claims, she will sincerely apologize and treat him with due respect afterward...]
After reading Hua Ziyan's current Life Archive, Su Li immediately felt a little ill at ease.
So this was what was going through the mind of the peerless fairy before him, who seemed to have no trace of worldly desires?
All smiles on the outside, but inside... she'd even prepared a fatal strike?
If I really were a fraud, shouldn't I be singing a requiem for myself by now?
Sure enough, even fairies in the world of cultivators liked to put on one face in public and another behind closed doors!
Su Li felt a little nervous, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. With the other party's strength, let alone beating a thousand of him—she could cut through a hundred thousand of him as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.
How could he not be nervous?
After all, cultivators in this world generally didn't attack ordinary people, but he wasn't pretending to be an ordinary person right now.
Sigh, why was it so hard to earn a living these days?
Where was the basic trust between people?
"As a master of Heavenly Secrets Divine Calculation, how did you end up sweating like an ordinary person?"
Hua Ziyan was waiting for Su Li's answer. It had only been a dozen or so breaths, yet beads of crystal-clear sweat had already appeared on his forehead, so she couldn't help making a pointed remark.
Seeing this, she felt there was already a ninety-percent chance that Su Li was a fraud.
If she confirmed that he was concealing his strength with some special method, or was plotting against little sister Yuxi, then—hmph!
Today, this place would become a true sacrificial altar!
Su Li didn't answer Hua Ziyan right away. Instead, he looked over her Life Archive again.
This time, he saw Hua Ziyan's inner thoughts.
For a moment, Su Li felt a headache coming on.
Did she really have to be this fierce?
I admit, I do have some rather special thoughts about that Mu Yuxi, and I know she has a rare, top-grade Dual Cultivation constitution. But that's only on the premise of true love, of letting affection deepen over time!
Besides, I only met Mu Yuxi yesterday, then performed a divination for her, didn't I?
I still have more than ten methods... more than ten divination methods that I haven't even started using yet!
"Master has been repeatedly using secret arts of Heavenly Secrets to divine the future, so it's only natural that it would take a great deal of energy and make him sweat. Besides, Sister Li's status is extraordinary. Isn't it only natural that divining for her would take more out of him?"
At that moment, Mu Yuxi felt that it was only right.
Hua Ziyan was speechless. This silly girl really is muddleheaded. Could it be because the boy is so handsome?
This world wasn't one where looks were everything!
Hua Ziyan had only just thought that when Su Li suddenly spoke.
"This world may indeed not be one where looks are everything, but if you don't have a good face, you won't even catch my eye. And if you don't catch my eye, I can't divine the secrets connected to you. Take me, for example. I could clearly live off my looks, yet I insist on relying on my talent."
Su Li sounded as though he were making a casual remark, but it landed squarely on Hua Ziyan's thoughts.
He had put particular emphasis on the words "looks are everything."
Mu Yuxi heard this and a faint blush bloomed across her pretty face. She quietly raised her head and stole a glance at Su Li, only to find him looking right at her.
Caught red-handed, Mu Yuxi immediately lowered her head, her lovely face full of bashfulness.
Hua Ziyan's heart gave a slight jolt at his words, and a flicker of astonishment crossed her beautiful eyes. Had he simply noticed the shift in her mood and guessed what she was thinking... or did he truly have the ability to divine the secrets of fate?
While Hua Ziyan was still wondering, Su Li spoke again.
"Mu Yuxi's constitution is indeed very special. Many cultivators would develop designs on her if they knew about it. But for that constitution to truly be of use, it requires either a primordial bloodline or an extreme pure-yang constitution. I possess neither.
I believe you know that perfectly well.
Besides, if I, Su Li, really had ulterior motives, why wouldn't I make Fairy Ziyan my target? At the very least, if I did, I could save myself a thousand years of struggle! Isn't that right, Fairy?"
As he spoke, Su Li looked at Hua Ziyan with a half-smile.
Hua Ziyan's pupils contracted slightly, and a trace of alarm flickered through her eyes before vanishing.
At the same time, her expression grew noticeably more solemn.
She hadn't expected him to expose her thoughts with a single remark!
After all, even though she knew Mu Yuxi's constitution inside and out, she had never mentioned it to Mu Yuxi.
This was a true secret! Her father had once told her that only a handful of people could see through Mu Yuxi's special constitution!
And her real name was an even greater secret. Even Mu Yuxi, who was as close as a sister to her, knew her only as "Fairy Li" and had no idea what her actual name was!
The Holy Lord knew the truth, but her identity was tied to the Hua Clan's very survival. He would never go around blabbing about it!
Perhaps he learned some of it by chance?
Hua Ziyan was very rational. But even though she knew the odds of that were low, she still believed he'd simply gotten lucky.
What's more, she was still looking for reasons to convince herself that it was all just a coincidence!
"What Fairy Ziyan? What are you talking about? Are you trying to pursue that Fairy Ziyan? Or are you just putting on an act to sound mysterious?"
Hua Ziyan instinctively denied all three things at once.
"Seems I haven't been detailed enough."
Su Li remained unconcerned.
He had been keeping a close eye on Hua Ziyan's Life Archive, which the system had locked onto. That meant all her changes, including her thoughts and feelings, were under his control.
"Hua Ziyan, the number-one Saintess of Wanli Holy Land, known as Fairy Li. Her real name is Hua Ziyan. Her innate phenomenon is Purple Qi Three Thousand. At the age of five, she suffered a calamity of fate and was on the brink of death when Zhuge Wuwei, Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, happened upon her and offered guidance. One day, she will meet the destined Son of Heaven—the one who possesses the Nine Radiance Glazed Heart—and overcome her tribulation..."
Su Li revealed a crucial secret.
Hua Ziyan felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She stood rooted to the spot, her thoughts thrown into utter chaos.
"Who... who are you? You two—did you secretly investigate my background?"
Hua Ziyan's calm was shattered.
Her emotions surged violently.
The deepest secret in her heart had just been exposed before Mu Yuxi and this handsome stranger. For an instant, she didn't know what to do.
She even began to suspect that Mu Yuxi had learned her secret and conspired with this young man to scheme against her.
After all, in the world of cultivators, duplicity, intrigue, and even betrayal were commonplace!
The moment Hua Ziyan said that, Mu Yuxi's face turned deathly pale.
She stood frozen in place, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
But soon, the light in her eyes dimmed.
"Sister Li—I, I didn't! I didn't investigate anything about you, and I never teamed up with Master Su!"
Mu Yuxi's expression was utterly desolate, and her voice sounded deeply dejected.
She even suddenly felt that her once-beloved big sister had grown distant from her in that very moment—blurred, misty, and far away.
Perhaps... a Saintess would always be a Saintess. No matter how close they were, she was only a True Disciple, a presence by her side no different from a maid.
The other was the Saintess whom thousands revered, the true foremost figure at Wanli Holy Land beneath the Holy Lord and the elders.
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