Shamefully Tempted

"...It also helped that all the offerings Sect Master Lu gave Qingli over the years were candied hawthorn skewers. She got tired of eating them, so she agreed to help me keep the news quiet in exchange for this meal."

Since Lu Yuanyi already knew he had a Single Spiritual Root, there was no point going to the trouble of hiding it from him anymore.

Shen Leyan spoke frankly, then quietly waited for Lu Yuanyi to respond.

The youth looked composed. The steam rising from the table veiled his peach-blossom eyes, dark as fine ink dissolving in water, and made his complexion look even paler and cooler. The contours of his face softened, making him resemble a figure in an ink painting.

With one hand braced on the table and the other resting on his knee, he showed little sign of nervousness.

Except...

[Don't panic. Deep breaths. In...out...in...]

[Why is Lu Yuanyi just looking at me without saying anything?]

[He isn't going to suddenly say, "You've successfully caught my attention," like the male lead in some melodramatic domineering-CEO novel, is he?]

Lu Yuanyi's slender fingertips shifted slightly, and cups of clear tea appeared before them. He lifted his cup and took a sip, his voice calm.

"When Zi Heng brought the Spirit-Testing Stone back to the Spirit Perch Pavilion this evening, he helped conceal it for you as well. How did you persuade him?"

"Senior Brother Zheng has always been a good person."

Honestly, he had no idea why Senior Brother Zheng was willing to help him. He could only put it down to the man's nature.

"Senior Brother Zheng told me...the Cloud Radiance Sect doesn't require its disciples to study magical arts. He also said Sect Master Lu wasn't like those pedantic, hidebound cultivators and would definitely agree."

Shen Leyan felt he had delivered a very subtle bit of flattery.

Inside, he smugly raised his tail.

*[(ฅ＞ω＜*ฅ)]*

Lu Yuanyi looked up. "In studying the Dao, one should follow one's heart. There are many paths in this world; cultivation is naturally not the only one.

"Since you have no wish to cultivate, remain in the Cloud Radiance Sect Outer Gate. Everything will stay as it was."

Delighted, Shen Leyan could barely keep the corners of his mouth from lifting. Even after taking a moment to compose himself, he couldn't keep the smile out of his voice, and his tone grew much more relaxed.

"Then why did Sect Master Lu make a special trip here?"

[Surely he didn't come just to freeload a meal?]

He took a sip of the tea Lu Yuanyi had conjured. It was crisp and refreshing, without a trace of bitterness, and left a faint sweetness after he swallowed.

He coughed. "This tea...can I get a refill?"

A faint smile flickered through Lu Yuanyi's long phoenix eyes before they returned to their snow-covered-mountain stillness. Shen Leyan almost wondered whether he had imagined it.

But the cup in his hand filled with tea again.

"I was returning to the Cicada Song Pavilion when I passed this place and smelled the food. When I saw that a disciple with a Wind Spiritual Root had cooked it, I came to try some."

Shen Leyan: "..."

[(ー_ー)!!]

Apparently, making food smell too good was a crime too.

"While I was here, I also needed to see whether this disciple had strayed onto the wrong path."

He said it so casually, but Shen Leyan quickly understood.

Lu Yuanyi had initially suspected that his unwillingness to cultivate was because he had gone astray and wanted to practice the arts of the Demon race instead. That was why he had come here to see him.

Humans who practiced demonic arts advanced far faster than those who practiced orthodox techniques. Many cultivators failed to resist that temptation and became evil cultivators.

But every shortcut came at a price. Though demonic arts allowed faster advancement, demonic energy gradually damaged the practitioner's mind. Many eventually lost their reason entirely and became cruel, bloodthirsty madmen.

"Rest assured, Sect Master Lu. I'm not interested in joining the Cloud Radiance Sect's inner sect to cultivate, and I'm even less interested in practicing demonic arts."

Whether they were orthodox cultivators, evil cultivators, or demons, they would all be swept up in the Immortal-Demon War.

He had always planned to save enough money to settle somewhere far from the strife and enjoy a leisurely life of "picking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence." Naturally, becoming an evil cultivator had never crossed his mind.

Taking advantage of a pause to drink his tea, Shen Leyan stole a glance at Lu Yuanyi, his feelings complicated.

When the other person mentioned evil cultivators, he instinctively thought of Lu Yuanyi's ultimate fate in the original novel.

[Framed by an evil cultivator hiding among the orthodox sects, his cultivation was forcibly interrupted at a crucial moment during seclusion. He fell from immortality into madness. In the end, karmic flames burned him to death, destroying both his soul and spirit. All his past achievements were erased. Ever afterward, disciples of the immortal sects spoke of him with nothing but contempt and curses.]

He studied the tea in his hand for a while before offering a tactful warning.

"Sect Master Lu should be careful of evil cultivators in the future too. Some of them look all righteous and respectable, always talking about benevolence and morality, but they're rotten inside."

"You must be careful."

Another cup of tea emptied.

Shen Leyan had filled his stomach with tea. Thinking they had probably discussed everything they needed to, he ventured,

"Shall I see Sect Master Lu out?"

Lu Yuanyi nodded and slowly rose.

For some reason, Shen Leyan felt that Lu Yuanyi's gaze had grown dark and fathomless, as though he could see what was on his mind.

He patted his head and shook off that absurd thought.

There was a spell in the cultivation world called Soul Interrogation, which could summon a person's soul directly for questioning and thus reveal their inner thoughts. But that spell was generally used to interrogate cultivators who had committed evil deeds, and the process was excruciating.

Nothing suggested that Lu Yuanyi had used Soul Interrogation on him.

When they reached the courtyard gate, Shen Leyan stopped, and Lu Yuanyi turned to look at him.

"Today's meal must have cost you quite a bit of silver."

"...Treating friends to food doesn't count as an expense."

A book dropped into his arms. He instinctively caught it and glanced at the cover.

"Azure Shadow Profound Art."

It seemed to be a cultivation manual.

As though holding a hot potato, Shen Leyan flung the book back in a flash. "I really don't want to cultivate!"

Lu Yuanyi said, "Read the first page before deciding whether you want this manual."

"...I can still return it after reading the first page, right?"

Lu Yuanyi's phoenix eyes lifted slightly. "Yes."

He cautiously opened the manual to its first page.

There were only a few short lines on it.

"One: this art may only be practiced by disciples with a Wind Spiritual Root.

"Two: this art may only be used to flee for one's life. It has no offensive power whatsoever.

"Three: once you master this art, you may not be able to beat them, but you will definitely be able to outrun them."

Shen Leyan: "..."

Shen Leyan was shamefully tempted.

"Sect Master Lu, once I fully master this art...even you won't be able to catch me?"

Lu Yuanyi nodded.

Shen Leyan was even more tempted.

He reluctantly stroked the manual a few times, but still tossed it back to Lu Yuanyi.

"I can't accept a reward I haven't earned. This manual is obviously very valuable. I can't take it."

"The Cloud Radiance Sect hasn't had a disciple with a Wind Spiritual Root in a thousand years. This manual is only gathering dust in the Scripture Pavilion."

"...I used to be an orphan. After the Cloud Radiance Sect took me in, it gave me food and a place to live. I can still find ways to repay that kindness, but if I take this manual, I'll never be able to repay it all."

If he couldn't repay it, he would probably spend the rest of his life feeling guilty after leaving the Cloud Radiance Sect before the Immortal-Demon War.

So it was better not to take the manual.