I Like You! What a Coincidence, Me Too!

"Brother Xia, what cultivation level are you at now?"

While they were eating, Xun'er could no longer suppress her curiosity. Looking at Gu Xia, who was pretending to be a gentleman and eating dinner elegantly, she finally voiced the question in her heart...

"Hm? Me? I'm a Dou Di."

Gu Xia, who was clearly still a straight-laced guy, had actually gotten distracted while eating with his girlfriend. Hearing Xun'er's question, he froze for a moment before revealing his true strength.

There was really nothing to hide. He was already invincible, so there was nothing for him to be wary of. The only reason he had not mentioned it before was because no one had asked. Besides, if a little brat barely in their teens claimed to have the cultivation of a Dou Di, how many people would believe them?

Moreover, Gu Xia was not the sort of person who flaunted his strength everywhere just because he had a little power. He followed the principle of I can kill you, but I just can't be bothered with you, so almost no one knew that Gu Xia was a Dou Di!

"Brother, stop joking around. Xun'er is serious..."

Sure enough, Xun'er did not believe Gu Xia. She even thought he was teasing her...

"Then what level does Xun'er think I am?"

Gu Xia was helpless. Since Xun'er would not believe him when he told the truth, he could not be bothered proving anything. If she did not believe him, then so be it. At least she would still think she had hope of catching up to him.

"Hmm, I think Brother Xia must have reached the Dou Ling level! I really don't know how a blockhead like you cultivates. You're only a few days older than me, yet I'm still just a Dou Zhe while you've already become a Dou Ling! You're such a monster... I wonder if Xun'er will ever have the chance to catch up to you, Brother Xia..."

Xun'er ignored Gu Xia and continued talking to herself. Gu Xia, sitting beside her, could clearly feel her mood gradually sinking. That was not a good sign!

Gu Xia had to restore Xun'er's confidence as soon as possible. Otherwise, if this continued, Xun'er might never break through to the Dou Di realm in her life. If that happened, then even if she reached the Dou Sheng realm, one day in the future, Gu Xia could only watch helplessly as Xun'er died before his eyes while he was powerless to do anything...

He absolutely would not allow that!

Gu Xia would not allow such a thing to happen, so he needed to give Xun'er some confidence...

"Xun'er..."

Gu Xia called her name, but Xun'er did not respond. She remained immersed in the unease and inferiority within her heart...

"Brother Xia, am I really useless? Maybe Xun'er will never be able to..."

For some reason, Xun'er had sunk so deeply into it that Gu Xia could already sense an inner demon beginning to form within her!

"Xun'er!"

Without time to think further, Gu Xia immediately came to her side. He had to wake Xun'er up quickly, or it would be too late once the inner demon grew...

"Xun'er, calm down and listen to me first, okay?"

It was useless. Xun'er had already fallen under the control of her inner demon. She did not react to Gu Xia's words at all...

"Xun'er! Whether you can hear me or not, you have to believe in yourself!..."

It was useless. Xun'er still did not react. The Dou Qi within her body had begun to leak out uncontrollably...

Watching Xun'er draw closer and closer to demonic deviation, Gu Xia called to her and comforted her again and again... yet Xun'er never responded. The rate at which her Dou Qi was leaking had gradually slowed, which meant that there was not much Dou Qi left in her body. Once all her Dou Qi had completely dispersed, she would be utterly lost within her inner demon.

If that happened, Xun'er would enter a state of self-imposed isolation, rejecting everything until she died...

Watching this foolish girl gradually lose herself, Gu Xia sighed softly...

"Xun'er..."

He slowly pulled her petite body into his arms.

He did not understand why. Just yesterday, she had been a young girl full of happiness and joy. Yet because of a single question, she had somehow nurtured an inner demon! She had become what she was now, a mere empty shell... "Silly girl, I told you I was a Dou Di. Let's see if you believe Brother Xia now..."

With a casual wave, Gu Xia set up a sealed restriction to prevent his Dou Di aura from leaking out. He was not afraid, but fewer troubles were always better...

Boom...

Gu Xia's aura at the peak of the nine-star Dou Di realm burst forth completely. This was the first time he had used his true strength. This utterly overwhelming, invincible power...

In truth, Xun'er's current condition did not require Gu Xia to unleash all of his strength. But he still did so, because he wanted to find out the reason... the reason Xun'er had become like this...

"Silly girl, wait a little longer. Brother Xia is coming to get you..."

Gu Xia's Emperor-tier soul power surged out without reservation. He first used his soul power to envelop Xun'er, then carefully sent it into the space between her brows...

At the same time, within Xun'er's soul space...

"Kehehe... Admit it. You're nothing but a useless vase. He's already a Dou Ling, while you're only a tiny Dou Zhe. What right do you have to be with him?..."

"No, that's not true! I'm not a useless piece of trash... I..."

"No... you are. You've already admitted it. My existence is the best proof. Do you think a Dou Ling will keep loving you forever? He's merely playing around with a little Dou Zhe like you. Once he gets you, he'll abandon you. Because the strong do not need a useless young lady like you..."

"No, no... that's impossible... Brother Xia won't abandon me... I believe him!"

"Kehehe, do you believe what you just said yourself? Has he ever personally told you that he loves you? The sincerity you imagine is nothing more than an act he put on..."

"I... I... he really..."

"Yes, he's acting. It's merely a method for deceiving an ignorant fool like you. Come, give up resisting. Everyone in this world is fake... They're all deceiving you. As long as you're willing, you can leave this hypocritical world forever..."

"I..."

"Come, stop resisting. They are the ones in the wrong. You are the one who was deceived. As long as you let me take control of you, no one will ever disturb you again..."

Just as Xun'er's true soul was about to be bewitched by the inner demon in her heart and sink into despair, an incomparably powerful golden light directly cleaved apart the darkness surrounding her soul...

"Hmph. Is my woman someone you can touch?..."

As the darkness around them was shattered into pieces, Xun'er's soul was protected by an incomparably powerful soul that was gentle and warm. At the same time, a voice filled with endless majesty rang out beside her ear...

"Ah!!! Impossible! How can there still be such an expert in this world!!!!"

In merely an instant, golden soul power filled Xun'er's entire soul space. The black mist-like soul power within it slowly dissipated under the slaughter of the golden soul power, like spring snow beneath the sun...

"I'll give you one last chance. Speak! Who planted you within Xun'er's body!"

The black mist-like soul barely survived under the restrained attacks of two five-clawed golden dragons. However, it was already on the verge of collapse...

"Hahaha, so what if you're Emperor-tier? As long as I remain in this girl's soul, I can never truly die! One day, she will be under my control. No one can take her away!"

Unexpectedly, the black mist showed no fear of being destroyed. Instead, it became hysterical, laughing madly as if mocking Gu Xia for being Emperor-tier yet unable to do anything to it...

"Ignorant fool! Do you truly think I have no way to deal with you?"

"What can you do? I've already fused into this girl's soul. Unless you erase both her and me together, I'll return one day. What can you do? Can you bring yourself to do it, Lord Dou Di? Hahaha..."

"Still refusing to repent. In that case, there is no need for you to exist..."

After saying that, Gu Xia extended a finger toward the black mist. Having received their master's order, one golden dragon faced Xun'er while the other faced the black mist. They each breathed out white and golden dragon flames...

Within the white dragon flame, strands of black Qi gradually flew out from Xun'er's soul body before being completely burned away by the white dragon flame...

"Ah!!! Impossible! How do you possess Soul Emperor Flame!... You're a nine-star Dou Di?!!!!!"

The black mist could not believe that Gu Xia had truly separated its soul origin from Xun'er's soul. This time, it was truly afraid...

"No! My lord, Your Majesty! I'm willing to tell you who planted me in her soul! Please spare—"

Before the black mist could finish speaking, it turned into a small black bead. The soul origin it had within Xun'er had already been completely purified by the white dragon flame...

Only its pure soul power remained within that black bead...

"You no longer have the chance..."

After Gu Xia spoke, the golden dragon breathed golden flames once more, purifying all consciousness from within the black bead until it turned transparent...

"...You'd better hope I never find out who you are. Otherwise..."

Gu Xia caught the transparent bead drifting toward him. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his golden pupils were filled with cold, almost tangible killing intent. Then he crushed the bead, allowing the pure soul power within to drift through Xun'er's soul space for her soul to absorb...

"All right, silly girl. When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be fine... Sleep peacefully..."

Gu Xia withdrew his golden soul power and returned Xun'er's soul space to her. At this moment, Gu Xia appeared as he did after growing up. With a face so handsome it was outrageous, an aura of imperial majesty, and a tenderness reserved only for Xun'er, if she had been awake right now, she would probably have been stunned unconscious by how handsome Gu Xia was...

"Hmm... Just in case, I should still leave you something to protect yourself..."

Gu Xia looked at Xun'er's soul, which had already entered sleeping beauty mode, and waved his hand again. A golden light merged into Xun'er's soul. After finishing, Gu Xia nodded in satisfaction and withdrew from Xun'er's soul space...

Back in reality, Gu Xia withdrew his soul power. The Dou Di aura receded once more, and the majesty belonging to an Emperor vanished. He returned to being that refined young master who was somewhat goofy, somewhat amusing, and somewhat too straightforward.

"Hmph, you're lucky you were smart..."

After returning, Gu Xia removed the restriction. In his right hand was a strand of hair that had turned white. With a casual spark, he burned that strand of hair to ashes... Gu Xia picked up the sleeping Xun'er. As a straight-laced guy, he could not resist gently kissing the fair jade-like forehead of this exquisitely beautiful girl...

Perhaps because she sensed Gu Xia's kiss, Xun'er's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. She shifted her slender willow-like waist in his arms, finding a comfortable position before entering a sweet dream...

Gu Xia placed her on the bed. Tonight, he had no mood to look for experimental guinea pigs. He wanted to sleep quietly beside Xun'er for the night. After what had happened tonight, he knew that he could no longer delay improving Xun'er's strength.

To avoid unexpected complications, Gu Xia decided that after testing the Heavenly Fragrance Pill, he would take Xun'er and set out for Canaan Academy!

"Hmph, you'd better not let me find you. Otherwise, I'll make you feel the pain of this world..."

Gu Xia lay on the bed and looked at the clear, bright night sky beyond the skylight. Thinking of the owner of that strand of hair, a cruel glint appeared in his eyes, and gold flashed through them...

Although the owner of that hair had severely injured himself to sever the origin connection between himself and the strand, causing Gu Xia, who returned a moment too late, to miss the chance to follow the soul connection and beat him into an idiot, Gu Xia had still remembered a trace of that person's aura. As long as he dared appear before Gu Xia, Gu Xia would recognize him immediately.

As long as he dared show himself, Gu Xia swore that he would let the person who dared set his sights on his precious Xun'er understand what the hell a... goddamn surprise was!...

Gu Xia did not think about it for long. He held Xun'er, who had unconsciously curled up beside him, and gradually fell asleep as well...

The night passed without incident. The next morning.

Xun'er opened her large, bright, watery eyes in confusion. The first thing she saw was Gu Xia's handsome face, beautiful enough to be called divine.

This was also the first time she had observed Gu Xia's sleeping face from such close range. Compared to wondering why she had curled up in Gu Xia's arms to sleep, she liked Gu Xia's rare peaceful sleeping face even more...

"Hmm... He probably won't wake up if I only kiss him once, right?" Xun'er murmured hesitantly, but in the end, she could not suppress the anticipation in her heart. She quietly moved her face closer to Gu Xia's pillow...

With a soft smack, Xun'er successfully left a fragrant kiss on Gu Xia's forehead. This was the first time she had been so proactive. After kissing him, a faint blush appeared on her pretty face. Yet she could not help feeling delighted inside, like a child who had secretly eaten candy.

"Hehe... mm!"

Just as Xun'er was happily savoring her little secret act, her cherry-red lips were suddenly blocked by another pair of lips!

"Mmph..."

The two, naturally understanding what to do without being taught, began to kiss passionately on the bed. Since it was not their first time, Xun'er's movements were much more familiar. She looked at the handsome face close at hand and could not help letting out a soft moan. Then she slowly closed her eyes and began to feel the affection of the one she loved. Their arms held each other, and both could feel the other's heartbeat and warmth...

This passionate morning kiss lasted for more than forty seconds. Feeling Xun'er's breathing grow rapid, Gu Xia finally released this delicate, ravishing girl.

"Mmm... You're bad..."

After being released, Xun'er looked at Gu Xia's handsome face, which carried a slight smile. Blushing shyly, she pouted coquettishly before burying her head in Gu Xia's chest and rubbing against the not particularly broad but perfectly suitable chest in a spoiled manner...

"Xun'er..."

"Hmm?"

"I like you..."

"Mm, me too..."

Gu Xia's belated confession did not disappoint Xun'er. On the contrary, she responded to his confession with complete joy...

There was no moment more wonderful in this world than saying, I like you, and finding that you happened to like me too...

The two smiled at each other. Neither had any intention of getting up. Instead, they held each other a little tighter, feeling one another's presence amid the scent of happiness...