,/.

It was not until noon the next day.

That Su Fan finally saw Ling Rushuang.

She still wore a snow-white dress, peerlessly cold and peerlessly beautiful, untouched by the dust of the mortal world.

Every time Su Fan saw Ling Rushuang, he was struck by her beauty.

Her coldness, her beauty, that ethereal air untouched by worldly dust—all of it was a feast for the eyes.

Moreover, this time Ling Rushuang's arrival

made Su Fan vaguely sense that her aura had undergone some changes.

"Has her strength improved?"

Ling Rushuang's strength seemed to have broken through.

Had she spent the past half month in seclusion, raising her cultivation?

Su Fan could not tell what realm Ling Rushuang was in.

But he could be certain that she was absolutely stronger than him.

Void Sword Realm perfection?

Moreover, Su Fan felt that Ling Rushuang seemed to be concealing part of her cultivation.

If he had not cultivated enough forbidden arts—especially the Silent Breath Technique, which made him exceptionally sensitive to such concealment methods—he likely would not have noticed it at all.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Ling Rushuang spoke softly.

She set down the food box in her hand and opened it.

Inside were not pastries, but a jug of wine and several small dishes.

One plate seemed to contain the meat of some spirit beast.

A great tonic!

Su Fan sat down and began eating straight away.

He was no longer afraid of poison.

Just two days ago, he had cultivated a poison-neutralizing forbidden art. Its peculiarity was that it used lifespan to dissolve poison.

In theory, so long as one had enough lifespan, no poison could harm them; all poison could be neutralized.

For ordinary cultivators,

the more virulent the poison, the more lifespan it would inevitably consume.

By the time they spent their lifespan neutralizing the poison, their own life would nearly have reached its end.

It was a rather useless forbidden art.

But for Su Fan, it could not have been more fitting.

His lifespan was boundless and inexhaustible, which meant that no poison could poison him.

As Su Fan ate, he said, "Senior Sister, there's actually something I've always wanted to ask you..."

Ling Rushuang seemed to know what he wanted to ask.

"I know what you wish to ask. Let me tell you a story."

Su Fan looked up at her.

Ling Rushuang gazed into the distance. Her expression seemed three parts colder than usual.

There was a trace of chill in her eyes.

The story was very simple.

The story Ling Rushuang told was of an emperor from some dynasty who fell in love with a woman. Because of the woman's status, he ultimately drove her away.

The daughter they had borne was still a princess of that dynasty in her childhood, but she too was eventually driven out, becoming an abandoned princess and nearly being killed.

Su Fan listened in silence. The abandoned princess in Ling Rushuang's story had some similarities with him, an abandoned young master.

Could it be that Ling Rushuang had taken an interest in him because they shared the same illness and cherished each other in misfortune?

Out of pity for him?

That abandoned princess was, without question, Ling Rushuang herself.

Yet Su Fan was puzzled.

There had never been a princess driven out of the Chu Kingdom.

There was no abandoned princess.

After all, he had been a youth of the Gan Royal Estate, one of the three great estates of non-imperial kings in the Chu Kingdom. Though his talent had been somewhat lacking,

he still knew certain things about the Chu Kingdom's Imperial Family.

Especially an event as major as banishing a princess—there was no way he would not have heard of it.

Ling Rushuang rose to her feet and said, "The Eastern Region does not contain only the Chu Kingdom."

Su Fan nodded silently. The Eastern Region was vast, and the Chu Kingdom was one of its great nations.

Although Ling Rushuang had explained why she looked after him, Su Fan was still somewhat puzzled.

She looked after him because they shared the same illness and cherished each other in misfortune?

In truth, could that even be considered sharing the same illness and cherishing each other in misfortune?

Su Fan muttered inwardly, "We were both driven out, but one is supremely talented and powerful, while the other is trash. How does that count as sharing the same illness and cherishing each other in misfortune?"

Outwardly, Su Fan was a trash cultivator of the Mortal Realm.

Could it be precisely because of that that Ling Rushuang pitied him?

Su Fan did not continue dwelling on the question. It was enough that he knew the reason.

As for whether there were other hidden circumstances involved, Su Fan no longer cared.

After finishing his meal, he clapped his hands and stood up.

Su Fan looked at Ling Rushuang and said solemnly, "Senior Sister, if you ever run into any trouble in the future, you can tell me. I'll definitely help you solve it!"

Ling Rushuang was taken aback.

Then she suddenly laughed.

Her beauty was beyond compare.

"Then I'll thank you in advance!"

This was the first time Su Fan had seen Ling Rushuang smile.

Of course, she was not laughing at him.

Her smile was beautiful.

It left even Su Fan momentarily dazed.

Ling Rushuang picked up the food box and said, "I hope that day never comes."

Watching Ling Rushuang's departing back, Su Fan suddenly said, "Senior Sister, you actually don't need to bring me food so often. I don't lack food."

Ling Rushuang paused. After a long while, she nodded. "Then I'll bring some once every half month."

After Ling Rushuang left, Su Fan frowned lightly.

"An abandoned princess? She pities me because our circumstances are similar?"

For some reason, Su Fan always felt that there had to be another hidden truth behind this.

However, he had no intention of pressing the matter.

When the time came for him to know, he would naturally know.

"Strength is the foundation of all things."

Su Fan sighed.

"Everything will come to light."

Whether it was the broken engagement or whoever was trying to kill him from the shadows,

all of it would be answered as his strength increased.

Outside the Cliff of Reflection.

Ling Rushuang turned back to look at the Cliff of Reflection. Mist rising from the abyss obscured it.

She watched it quietly, not knowing what she was thinking.

" Aunt Qing, I will take good care of him and let him live out this life safely."

Ling Rushuang spoke softly.

Su Fan continued cultivating forbidden arts in the Forbidden Art Graveyard, increasing the speed and limit of his lifespan-burning.

Outside Sword God Mountain, in an inn within the small town.

The black-robed man's eyes were filled with fury!

The first person he had hired, Tang Duan, had taken the reward he gave him and then vanished without a word!

The second, Zhou Feng, had taken the deposit he gave him and likewise disappeared without a trace!

They truly were not greedy!

They were satisfied after taking only the deposit.

The black-robed man gritted his teeth.

Were everyone from Sword God Mountain so untrustworthy?

No wonder it had declined!

How could a sword cultivator who broke his word and resorted to petty tricks ever accomplish anything?

The black-robed man was so furious he was about to explode.

This was going too far!

He had never considered that Tang Duan and Zhou Feng had failed to kill Su Fan, which was why there had been no news from them.

In his eyes,

Su Fan was merely a trash cultivator of the Mortal Realm.

How could they possibly fail?

Besides, would Sword God Mountain value a piece of trash enough to protect him?

Absolutely impossible!

Thus, whether it was Tang Duan or Zhou Feng, going to the Cliff of Reflection to kill someone should have been effortless.

There was absolutely no possibility of failure.

There was only one explanation: those two bastards had taken the treasures he gave them and directly vanished!

They had broken their word!

"Just keep hiding in Sword God Mountain and never come out. Otherwise, I'll definitely kill you both!"

The black-robed man thought furiously.

Suddenly, he looked toward the street outside the inn.

At that moment, a young man with a face full of helplessness and dejection walked along the street outside the inn.

The black-robed man's eyes lit up.

Bai Shaokong?

Sword God Mountain's current Senior Brother, a swordsmanship prodigy.

He possessed cultivation at Spirit Sword Realm perfection.

Was he dejected because he had failed to break through to the Void Sword Realm?

Perhaps he could be used?