"Brother, you really aren't going?"
In the mountains at dawn, a faint mist hung in the air.
Li Muyang stood on the ridge between the fields, holding a huge water ladle as he cast the Lesser Cloud and Rain Art. Vapor shimmered above the spiritual fields, and a patter of raindrops fell.
Behind Li Muyang, a girl in a light-green dress held a food box and blinked at him. "Elder Sister Ning agreed to go down the mountain with me today~~"
"She knew I might ask you to come along, and she still agreed. I'm sure someone as clever as you can guess what that means, right?"
Li Yuechan spoke in a teasing, suggestive tone.
Holding the water ladle and casting the Lesser Cloud and Rain Art, Li Muyang glanced at her.
He could barely remember when the two of them had started talking again, but these days, whenever his sister brought him food, they managed to exchange a few words.
Usually, Li Yuechan came by at dusk with the food box, chatted with Li Muyang for a bit, then left.
But today, she had arrived first thing in the morning.
Li Muyang had only just gotten up and washed when he started watering the spiritual fields. Then the girl, dressed in a pretty little skirt, came bouncing up the mountain path.
She said she was going to Cloud City for the day and might return late that evening, so she had brought his meals early. He could heat them up himself that night.
The girl had also mentioned in passing that one of her companions today was Miss Ning from Jiuyuan City.
The goddess the original owner had loved but never won.
If the original owner had heard that Miss Ning was coming along, he would have been unable to hold back and would have rushed off at once.
But Li Muyang remained composed. "I told you, I'm no longer interested in women."
"It was the old Li Muyang who admired Miss Ning. The Li Muyang of today only wants to cultivate."
"You two go and enjoy yourselves. Don't worry about me."
Li Muyang looked calm and spoke with easy composure, like a venerable monk who had seen through worldly affairs.
Hearing his answer, Li Yuechan blinked as she held the food box. "What a shame. I thought you hadn't gone to see Elder Sister Ning all these days because you were playing hard to get."
"I didn't realize you really didn't like her anymore... I heard Elder Sister Ning has excellent aptitude and a good chance of going straight into the inner sect."
"It'd be such a pity for you to give up on her now. It's rare for Elder Sister Ning to take the initiative to accommodate you..."
The girl sighed regretfully, still trying to persuade Li Muyang.
Her news surprised Li Muyang a little.
Every year, there were indeed a few exceptionally talented people who earned the sect's favor and were promoted directly to the inner sect.
But Miss Ning had that kind of talent...
Li Muyang shook his head. "Then I definitely can't go."
"She's an extraordinary person with a chance of entering the inner sect. Sooner or later, she'll soar from a branch and become a phoenix."
"And I'm just a menial outer-sect disciple, insignificant, weak, and shallow."
"The gap between us is enormous. Even if a nobody like me won Miss Ning's heart, it would only bring endless trouble."
"So it's better to keep our distance and let each of us live in peace."
In the original owner's memories, the young lady of the Ning Estate was beautiful and refined, considerate, and gentle as water—a peerless woman, one in a million.
But once Li Muyang looked back through those memories without the original owner's lovestruck filter, she was plainly a cunning green tea with exceptional people skills. She had toyed with that poor lovesick fool like a cat with a mouse and drained him of every last coin.
Li Muyang had wanted to warn his nominal sister not to get too close to someone like Miss Ning, lest she get taken for a ride.
But their relationship wasn't close enough yet for him to lecture or advise her.
So Li Muyang kept his mouth shut, continued casting the Cloud and Rain Art to bring rain to the spiritual fields, and chose silence.
Seeing that Li Muyang wouldn't be swayed, the girl sighed. "All right, then. I thought we could go stroll around Cloud City together."
"I'm off, Brother. I left your food by the door..."
After setting down the food box, she waved from a distance. Li Muyang nodded from the ridge to show he understood.
But after she had gone a short way, the girl suddenly turned back.
"Oh, right, Brother. You suddenly stopped liking Elder Sister Ning... You haven't met another girl you like more, have you?"
The girl suddenly asked this beneath the morning sun.
Li Muyang was caught off guard by the question and hadn't worked out how to answer before she seemed to reach her own conclusion and scampered away.
"I knew it! Brother, you're such a womanizer! You've got a new love and forgotten the old one!"
"I'm going to tell Elder Sister Ning from the Ning family that you've fallen for someone else!"
The girl ran off in high spirits and disappeared up the mountain path.
Li Muyang watched her go and shook his head.
That little girl... She was perceptive and even-tempered, but she could still be a bit childish.
As for whether Miss Ning would be angry when she heard the embellished version of events... What did the anger of the Li Muyang from Jiuyuan City have to do with me, a transmigrator named Li Muyang?
Li Muyang turned back and continued casting the Cloud and Rain Art, watering the spiritual fields.
Only by watering them with spiritual rain at least twice a day could he keep the spirit grain growing well.
Once he had finished watering, Li Muyang could go back to playing games.
Things in the real world weren't necessarily real, but the rewards in games were definitely real.
Playing games was still the way to go...
On the ridge, Li Muyang stood with the water ladle in hand, casting the Cloud and Rain Art.
Meanwhile, at the Demon Refining Sect's outer-sect airship dock, Li Yuechan, dressed in her prettiest skirt, had already met Elder Sister Ning, who was waiting there.
Amid the crowds and din of the dock, Ning Wan'er of the Ning Estate in Jiuyuan City saw Li Yuechan arrive alone and looked surprised.
"Yuechan, you... came alone?"
Ning Wan'er looked puzzled.
She had thought that young master from the Li Estate would be coming too.
Li Yuechan ran through the crowd to Ning Wan'er's side and led her aboard the airship, which was about to depart.
The two lovely young women stood on deck, feeling the mountain breeze. Li Yuechan sighed.
"Don't ask. My brother refused to come."
"I don't know what kind of spell the sect has put on him, but these days, all he thinks about is cultivation. He used to love joining in on the fun. He'd never have passed up a chance to visit Cloud City."
"Especially with Elder Sister Ning coming too."
As she spoke, Li Yuechan winked at Ning Wan'er and grinned. "Elder Sister Ning, do you think my brother's fallen for someone else at the sect?"
Li Yuechan's last question came out of nowhere, and was even rather impolite.
Who asked something like that so bluntly?
And so suddenly...
Ning Wan'er paused, then smiled.
"The Demon Refining Sect is a major demonic sect, with no shortage of outstanding people. It wouldn't be strange if Young Master Li had met someone he liked."
Faced with Li Yuechan's pointed teasing, Ning Wan'er took it in stride, her voice betraying no emotion.
She couldn't say she disliked the young master of the Li Estate, but she couldn't say she liked him either.
Still, he was generous, and as long as she didn't anger him, Ning Wan'er had accepted plenty of his kindness.
But marry him?
Ning Wan'er had never entertained the thought.
The Li Estate wielded some influence in Jiuyuan City. In the eyes of outsiders, it couldn't compare to the Ning clan, an old gentry family with generations of history.
But the Ning family now had little more than a grand old mansion to its name. Most of its ancestral property had been mortgaged by her father and lost to others.
The Ning Estate looked imposing, but could barely cover its monthly expenses.
The Li family had only risen to prominence in Li Damu's generation, but Li Damu was highly trusted by the city lord. He had real authority, military strength, and a bright future ahead of him.
Her mother had urged her to marry Li Muyang, saying she could take advantage of that simple-minded boy from the Li family.
But Ning Wan'er had no interest.
She had never thought of marrying. Her parents had long been scheming to marry her off to a good family and rake in a handsome bride price.
But in Ning Wan'er's eyes, selling herself in marriage for a generous dowry was the most laughable, short-sighted investment imaginable.
Ning Wan'er's worth wasn't measured by becoming a man's wife.
In this great age of cultivation, human potential and hope were limitless.
Her parents were shortsighted, but she couldn't be foolish enough to follow in their footsteps.
The young master of the Li Estate, Li Muyang, was nothing more than a stepping stone for her to climb higher.
Thanks to his generosity, she had quietly accumulated some spiritual resources that would aid her cultivation. Once she began cultivating, she would surely progress faster than ordinary people.
And now that she seemed to have a chance of entering the inner sect directly, she had even less reason to care about some young master from the distant city of Jiuyuan.
But then there was this young lady from the Li Estate...
Ning Wan'er looked at Li Yuechan's innocent smile and returned it with a gentle one.
"Next time you get the chance, Yuechan, you could ask your brother whether he really has met someone he likes."
Li Yuechan of the Li Estate seemed innocent, lively, and adorable, but Ning Wan'er sensed that she could be troublesome.
Compared with her simple-minded older brother, this sixteen-year-old girl was far more difficult to handle.
Ning Wan'er smiled. "If he really has met someone he likes, perhaps we could help him."
She said it in such a warm tone that she seemed like the perfect confidante of an older sister.
With that, she smoothly excluded herself from the matter—even though everyone in Jiuyuan City knew Li Muyang used to like her.
Li Yuechan blinked at her, then smiled brightly. "If Elder Sister Ning is willing to help, that'd be wonderful. You're so clever, Elder Sister Ning. With your help, my brother would surely be delighted."
The girl's smile was as pure as a little flower swaying in the breeze.
Ning Wan'er smiled back. "We're from the same hometown. We should look out for one another."
As the mountain wind swept over the deck and the airship set off, the two girls met each other's eyes and exchanged faint smiles.
For a moment, their smiles looked strangely alike.
The awkward, unsettling topic ended with that brief exchange of probing words.
Smiling, the two girls began chatting about the legends and amusing tales of Cloud City, as though Li Muyang had never come up at all...
Before you continue