You Two Should Hurry Up and Get Married

At the summit of the Kunlun Sky Pillar stood Yuxu Palace.

"A Jing." Qiu Changtian called inwardly. "Can you locate the Sky Mending Stone fragments?"

"Unable to locate them." The Kunlun Mirror replied. "They appear to be concealed by a technique."

"Recommend investigating with caution."

"How am I supposed to investigate?" Qiu Changtian said helplessly. "I'm only at the lowest Qi Refining Stage right now. Anyone randomly picked from this Yuxu Palace would have a realm far higher than mine."

"Recommend maintaining your persona for now and raising your cultivation realm."

"That's easy. I have no problem acting. But do you have any shortcut techniques that could let me form my Golden Core in one day and achieve Nascent Soul in two?"

"No."

"Don't be so cold." Qiu Changtian continued smiling. "The sooner I raise my realm, the sooner I can help you gather the Sky Mending Stone fragments. Right?"

Kunlun Mirror: ...

Seeing that the mirror had stopped answering, Qiu Changtian stopped teasing it as well and began calculating silently.

The path of cultivation in this world had an exceedingly simple hierarchy.

Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul were the three major realms.

Each major realm could be divided into three minor realms.

For example, Foundation Establishment ranged from low to high as Qi Refining, Marrow Cleansing, and Palace Transformation.

He was still at the lowest Qi Refining Stage. How much would he have to hate living to risk exposing himself by actively investigating news about the Sky Mending Stone?

He would lie low patiently for now.

As Qiu Changtian pondered this, he saw his junior sister, Xu Yinglian, walk past him. She did not even greet him, heading straight toward the Scripture Hall where the Ziwei Sect Master was lecturing.

That girl was still angry with him!

Inside the Scripture Hall, the Ziwei Sect Master sat upright upon a Nine-Colored Lotus platform, his eyes closed and his lips sealed.

Below him were fourteen neatly arranged meditation cushions, set in two columns of seven rows.

The disciples entered one after another and took their seats in order.

The Golden Core True Persons were on the left, while the Foundation Establishment Cultivators were on the right. They were arranged from front to back according to their strength or potential.

The rules of the Kunlun Taiqing Sect stated that it would only open its gates and accept a new batch of disciples once every half a jiazi—thirty years.

Since Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian had entered through an exemption before the gates opened, they were still only Registered Disciples in name. Thus, there were temporarily no meditation cushions for them in the Scripture Hall, and they could only stand at the very back.

The two found a spot and stood there. Before Qiu Changtian could say anything, Xu Yinglian turned her head away, refusing even to show him her profile.

Hmph, this tsundere junior sister.

Qiu Changtian stood silently with bated breath and began listening to the Ziwei Sect Master's lecture.

Those who cultivated the Dao needed to breathe in and refine qi in order to raise their cultivation realms.

From this arose all kinds of Qi Refining Techniques.

Among the three orthodox sects, the Kunlun Taiqing Sect excelled at Qi Refining Techniques. Thus, whether in the number of high-level cultivators at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms or in the types and quantity of Qi Refining Techniques, it far surpassed the other two sects.

The strongest Qi Refining Technique in the world was the Nine Heavens Pure Micro Entrance True Words, known as an "Immortal Family Secret Method." It could only be taught by the current Kunlun Sect Master to his personal disciples and was forbidden from being passed on outside the sect.

Whether it was truly an Immortal Family Secret Method aside, it was genuinely extremely abstruse and difficult to understand. Everyone therefore listened with exceptional seriousness, terrified of missing even the slightest detail spoken by their Sect Master.

When the lecture ended, everyone was still reluctant to leave, but the Ziwei Sect Master had already flicked his Fly Whisk. The disciples could only rise and depart one after another.

"Qiu Changtian, Xu Yinglian, stay behind." The Ziwei Sect Master spoke indifferently.

As soon as he said this, the senior brothers and sisters who were about to leave could not help casting a glance at the two of them.

Only after all the senior brothers and sisters had left did the Ziwei Sect Master point the handle of his Fly Whisk ahead and say:

"Sit."

Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian each chose a meditation cushion and sat down on either side.

"The Xu Family of Tiannan delivered a Geng Tie this morning." The Ziwei Sect Master spoke leisurely with his eyes closed. "They hope that I will decide for you two and have you become Dao Companions."

Xu Yinglian: ...

Qiu Changtian: ...

The two were left stunned and speechless.

After a long while, Xu Yinglian finally spoke.

"Master, this disciple is unwilling..."

"Reporting to Master." Qiu Changtian spoke first. "This disciple has devoted his heart to the Dao and is temporarily uninterested in matters of love. I imagine Junior Sister Yinglian feels the same."

Xu Yinglian was cut off by him and immediately found herself at a loss for words.

However, his words had indeed struck a chord with her. She gave a slight nod and said nothing.

With both disciples refusing at the same time, the Ziwei Sect Master opened one eye and swept his indifferent gaze over their faces. He then closed his eye again and said:

"Xu Yinglian."

"Your Dao Heart is unstable."

"The crux of the matter lies with your senior brother."

"As the saying goes, to untie the bell, one must find the person who tied it. If you wish to overcome this Heart Tribulation, you must begin with your senior brother."

Qiu Changtian immediately fell silent upon hearing this.

A Heart Tribulation arose when one's Dao Heart had a flaw. It was the greatest enemy of a Dao cultivator.

If things went badly, one's mind and spirit would lose control, leading to Qi Deviation.

In mild cases, all one's cultivation would be ruined in a single stroke. In severe cases, an Outer Heavenly Demon would possess the body, causing one's essence, qi, and spirit to pour wildly outward, swept away by the Outer Heavenly Demon until nothing remained but an empty shell.

His junior sister possessed the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart, a cultivation constitution with powerful resistance to invasion by Outer Heavenly Demons.

If even someone with such aptitude could have an unstable Dao Heart, then how terrifyingly deep must the obsession that led her into demonic deviation be...

Wait, obsession?

Qiu Changtian turned his head in astonishment and saw Xu Yinglian looking over at him expressionlessly.

Uh.

Could it be... me?

"Reporting to Master." Xu Yinglian withdrew her gaze and lowered her head. "I only seek to surpass my senior brother. How can that be considered an unstable Dao Heart?"

"Seeking victory." The Ziwei Sect Master spoke placidly. "That is precisely an obsession."

"If you seek something and cannot obtain it, what will you do?"

"Master." Xu Yinglian's voice began to tremble. "Do you also think that I will never be able to surpass Senior Brother?"

The Ziwei Sect Master ignored her and merely asked Qiu Changtian:

"Changtian, your talent, 'Clear Dao Heart,' is one of the world's foremost cultivation aptitudes."

"If one day I accept another disciple whose talent surpasses yours, what will you do?"

"This disciple respectfully answers, Master." Qiu Changtian replied with utmost respect. "Whether his aptitude is excellent or not, what does it have to do with me?"

He silently grumbled inwardly: Besides, what cultivation talent could possibly surpass my 'Clear Dao Heart'?

Clear Dao Heart accelerated the speed of cultivation, greatly increased one's chances of comprehending the Dao, and permanently granted immunity to negative states such as illusions, mental barriers, and Qi Deviation. It was therefore the world's foremost cultivation aptitude.

Its sole shortcoming was that his Clear Dao Heart talent was not innate. He had obtained it through the Kunlun Mirror's Mirror Flower Water Moon.

To maintain the state of Mirror Flower Water Moon, he had to constantly play the persona of an invincible genius. Only then could he remain highly synchronized with Clear Dao Heart and make it display its full effect...

"Good." The Ziwei Sect Master nodded approvingly, then turned toward Xu Yinglian. "'When walking your path, heed not the words of others; attend only to the steps beneath your feet.' What does your senior brother's cultivation realm have to do with you?"

"What will it matter if you surpass him? What will it matter if you fail to?"

"Only when you can let all of this go will your Dao Heart be truly stable."

"Master." Xu Yinglian gave a miserable smile. "Senior Brother can remain indifferent because there is no cultivation talent superior to Clear Dao Heart."

"No one can compete with him, so naturally he does not compete. It is like having no one ahead of you—whom could you chase?"

"This disciple..." Her voice carried a sob. "This disciple was born into the Xu Family of Tiannan and was entrusted with the hopes of my entire family from childhood. I also possessed the rare aptitude of the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart. I thought I was peerless, only to discover that I had merely been a frog in a well, gazing at the sky."

"Senior Brother has never treated me badly. It's just that... ever since entering the sect, I have always lived in Senior Brother's shadow."

"It took me seven days to open my qi sea, while Senior Brother needed only half a day. I struggled to grasp the essentials from the lectures, while Senior Brother understood their true meaning after only a few words. Even with the Kunlun Sword Control Art, I painstakingly cultivated for half a month and thought I had achieved a little success, yet I could not withstand even one move or half a technique from Senior Brother..."

She once again bowed gracefully to the ground, tears streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth and said:

"Defeating Senior Brother is my obsession. I cannot extinguish it, nor can I let it go..."

"I'm truly... sorry, Master..."

Qiu Changtian stood beside her, listening in a daze. A heavy sense of guilt inevitably rose within him, when he heard the Kunlun Mirror speak again:

[Invincible Persona, synchronization value +1.]

The Ziwei Sect Master opened his eyes and remained coldly silent.

After a long while, he shifted his gaze and raised his eyelids slightly toward Qiu Changtian. The meaning was unmistakable:

Look at what you've done!

Hurry up and take this foolish junior sister of yours away!

[☆Important Notice☆] This book is neither a "clone-chasing-girls" story, where the clone NTRs the original, nor a "girl-falls-for-the-mask" story, where the self NTRs the self. Of course, I understand that many readers may be descended from Minotaurs and have some rather special tastes. But the three thousand loyal old readers who followed me over from my previous book are all passionate sword-wielding Spanish warriors who must kill anything with horns the moment they see it... In short, please do not post NTR-loving comments such as "This is a clone story," "This is a mask story," or "It feels like NTR is coming," lest something too terrible to describe occur.