Undercover

"We're here!"

The innocent-looking girl stopped before an enormous Black Sky Lotus.

An aloof, mature-looking woman emerged from the light. Long black hair fell over her shoulders, and her frosty gaze settled on Fang Yan, appraising him.

Fang Yan met her eyes. His heart pounded, but his face remained calm.

The aloof woman studied him for three breaths.

"Welcome."

Her voice was cool, though a hint of warmth softened her tone.

"This will be your home from now on."

Fang Yan dipped his head slightly, the sleeves of his black robe falling around him.

"Thank you."

Beside them, Hei Miaomiao jumped for joy.

"This is wonderful! I have another little sister! Sisi, you're the best!"

The aloof woman reached out and rubbed the girl's head. The corners of her mouth lifted in the faintest smile.

Fang Yan watched them, his feelings tangled.

These Black Sky Lotuses...

They really did seem like a family.

Little Fox Fairy's voice suddenly sounded in his mind, lowered to a whisper.

"Master, how do you feel right now?"

"Don't bother me. I'm undercover."

"I just wanted to ask: how does it feel to be a cool, mature beauty?"

"Little Fox Fairy, I'm formatting you as soon as I get back."

"Heehee. You couldn't bear to."

Fang Yan ignored her and followed the girl deeper into the sea of flowers.

His black robe fluttered in the void, and long black hair cascaded down his back.

His current identity was Hei Loulan, a Black Sky Lotus who had recently become an Immortal—a mature beauty in a black robe!

His objective was to infiltrate the Black Sky Lotus Race and find an opportunity to break through in his ultimate secret technique.

And while he was at it...

Heh heh heh. ٩(๑^o^๑)۶

Don't give yourself away!

Fang Yan took a deep breath and swept his gaze over the Black Sky Lotuses in human form around him.

They gathered in twos and threes. Some chatted, some cultivated, and some simply stood motionless in the void with their eyes closed, as though sensing something.

The atmosphere was warm and peaceful.

A thought suddenly struck Fang Yan.

If the Human Race's fleet entered the Black Heaven Secret Realm one day and wiped out every one of these Black Sky Lotuses...

What would become of these tender scenes, these smiles, these cries of "big sister" and "little sister"?

Fang Yan shook his head, casting aside the sentimental thought.

He had seen more than enough of the universe's cruelty over a hundred thousand years of war.

To sympathize with the enemy was to betray his own race.

His eyes grew calm and cool again. Like a true Black Sky Lotus in human form, he blended into the sea of flowers.

After teasing Hei Miaomiao for a while, the aloof woman named Hei Sisi asked Fang Yan to stay behind alone.

Hei Sisi stood in the void, her long black hair gleaming faintly in the dim yellow light. Her cool eyes rested on Fang Yan, as if she were appraising him—or hesitating.

Fang Yan's heart skipped a beat.

Don't tell me she's found me out.

His expression gave nothing away. He maintained the bearing of an aloof, mature woman, his black robe drifting gently in the void.

"You only broke through recently. Your foundation is still unstable."

Hei Sisi finally spoke, her voice clear as spring water.

"Take this Law Leaf and study it."

She raised a hand. A black petal as thin as a cicada's wing appeared above her palm.

But the moment the leaf fully took shape, Hei Sisi shuddered violently.

All color drained from her face in an instant, leaving her almost translucent.

A metallic taste rose in her throat. She bit down hard on her lip to keep it back, but a hair-thin line of black blood still seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Hei Sisi's fingertips trembled.

A fine crack appeared on Hei Sisi's chest. Delicate lines spread upward from it, climbing her neck and disappearing beneath her chin like the fractures in porcelain just before it shattered.

Hei Sisi closed her eyes.

Her lashes trembled, and beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

After several breaths, she opened her eyes again. A barely perceptible weariness lay in their cool depths, but stronger still was her resolve.

"This... is a Law Leaf I plucked from my true form. It contains everything I've comprehended of the Time Law."

"Your foundation is unstable after your breakthrough. Cultivate diligently from now on."

Fang Yan's pupils contracted.

"Sisi, this..."

Fang Yan faltered. He had almost forgotten he was "Hei Loulan" now.

"Take it. Every sister before you received the same help. If younger sisters are born in the future, look after them too."

Hei Sisi's tone left no room for refusal as she placed the leaf in Fang Yan's hand.

The petal weighed almost nothing, yet Fang Yan could have sworn it burned against his palm.

"In three years, the Sovereign will hold the Black Sky Ceremony in the Dawn Zone. Every member of our race who can take human form must attend."

Fang Yan accepted the leaf. When his fingertips touched the cool petal, complicated emotions surged through him.

He and Hei Sisi were strangers. More precisely, he was a human who had come to infiltrate her people.

Yet Hei Sisi's kindness toward him was utterly genuine.

"Thank you, Sisi."

Fang Yan bowed his head. The sleeves of his black robe fell forward, hiding his slightly reddened eyes.

Hei Sisi nodded without another word, then turned into an enormous Black Sky Lotus. Its petals slowly closed as she entered cultivation.

Fang Yan stood where he was for a long time, holding the Law Leaf.

"Master..."

Little Fox Fairy's voice sounded in his mind. For once, she did not tease him; there was a hint of hesitation in her tone.

"Yes?"

"That leaf... isn't actually of much use to you, is it? Your comprehension of the Time Law is already at the King-level."

"That's right. It isn't."

Fang Yan looked down at the black petal in his palm. His lips curved into a faint, bitter smile.

He carefully placed the Law Leaf in his World Ring. Rather than study it, he kept it as a treasure.

On the scale of the universe, three years passed in an instant.

But for Fang Yan, cultivating in seclusion in the Dusk Zone, those three years brought a rare stretch of peace in his hundred thousand years of war.

In his spare time, he took on the appearance of "Hei Loulan" and wandered among the Black Sky Lotuses, observing how they lived and occasionally chatting with nearby members of the race.

Whenever inspiration struck, he sat cross-legged atop the remains of the withered Black Sky Lotus and worked on Late Wind.

Hei Miaomiao came to see him almost every day.

"Little sister Loulan! Little sister Loulan!"

The girl bounded over, cupping a glowing mass of nectar in her hands.

"Today I found a World Lord-level sister in the east who had just withered. Her nectar hadn't dissipated yet, so I collected some. Half of it's yours!"

Fang Yan looked at the nectar, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Black Sky Lotus nectar was, in plain terms, the Origin Force essence left behind after one of them died. To a Black Sky Lotus, it was highly nourishing.

But Fang Yan was human. He just couldn't bring himself to eat that dark, murky stuff...

"Little sister Loulan, why aren't you eating it? Is there not enough?"

Hei Miaomiao tilted her head, her big round eyes full of concern.