Luo Xingcai truly felt more and more moved.
She had never expected this brat to have fallen for her when he first met her.
The "wild fantasy" he spoke of was perhaps the admiration a minor Foundation Establishment cultivator had felt for a Nascent Soul Cultivator back then.
Jiang Yantian continued, "Master, haven't you all been wondering why I cultivate so quickly?"
"Actually, it has a great deal to do with her."
"Really?" Luo Xingcai's heart gave a violent thump.
"Yes!" Jiang Yantian nodded firmly. "Actually, I came across a fortuitous opportunity-a book left behind by an ancient powerhouse."
"It said that cultivating according to the cultivation method he left behind would allow one to break through in the shortest possible time."
"There's actually a book like that?" Luo Xingcai was utterly astonished!
Jiang Yantian nodded. "I was surprised too, but it really exists. The drawback, though, is... a one-percent success rate."
"Succeed and you succeed. Fail and you die!"
Jiang Yantian spun one outrageous tale after another, leaving Luo Xingcai completely taken in.
What fucking secret manual? No such thing existed. His soaring cultivation realm had all come from his system buddy.
But Luo Xingcai didn't know that. With the facts right before her eyes, she had no choice but to believe him. Otherwise, how could she explain Jiang Yantian's explosive rise in cultivation?
Luo Xingcai could no longer sit still. She slapped the table, stood up, and scolded him, "Are you insane? One percent! Do you understand those odds?"
"Don't you know what would happen if you failed? Why would you do that?"
"At worst, I'd die!" Jiang Yantian immediately replied. "If I succeeded, I'd have a chance. If I failed, it would end in death."
"So I wanted to take that gamble. I didn't want to be the one looking up at her. I wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with her. I wanted to stand by her side!"
"Even if I failed, my death wouldn't affect anyone. Even her. Perhaps she wouldn't notice someone like me at all. Perhaps, to her, my death would be nothing more than an accident."
Luo Xingcai suddenly felt a sting in her nose and actually had the urge to cry.
But she still kept herself well under control.
Jiang Yantian let out another long sigh. "For that goal, I toiled beneath the stars and moon, heedless of my own safety, though the result wasn't quite what I'd hoped!"
"Even though I can now stand by her side, I can't express my feelings to her."
"Still, I haven't lost everything. At the very least, I still have my cultivation!"
At this point, Jiang Yantian thought to himself that it was time to stop.
He couldn't say too much. He had to leave Luo Xingcai enough room to imagine.
"All right, Master, I... I might have said a little too much just now. Sorry about that. I only wanted to find someone un... unrelated to pour out the feelings I've kept bottled up for so long."
Someone unrelated... Luo Xingcai still felt a pang of sorrow.
She wasn't unrelated. Jiang Yantian merely thought she didn't know.
But she still had to hide it.
Jiang Yantian rose and cupped his hands to Luo Xingcai. "Master, this disciple will take his leave. As for speaking disrespectfully to you yesterday, I lost my head for a moment."
"I hope you'll forgive me, Master!"
With that, Jiang Yantian walked straight out of the house without even looking back.
In an instant, Jiang Yantian's figure had vanished from this stretch of sky.
Luo Xingcai was left sitting alone in the room in a daze.
Only today had she learned how deeply Jiang Yantian felt for her.
As for yesterday's remark about "lemme see your titties," perhaps he... he had been jealous.
He had felt that she defended Ye Feng at every turn, so, overcome by humiliation and anger, he had blurted out something like that.
Only after confirming that Jiang Yantian had truly left did Luo Xingcai carefully take that silk cloth out of her storage ring.
The silk cloth was still intact, and not a single red bean inside was missing.
There were a hundred and ninety-nine red beans here. If, as Jiang Yantian had said, he would confess his feelings to her at two hundred red beans, wouldn't that mean... any day now?
Yet the silk cloth had been lost because of yesterday's battle.
That had led Jiang Yantian to believe it was all heaven's will.
Luo Xingcai was terribly conflicted. She didn't know whether she should return it.
If she returned it, perhaps that would mean tacitly agreeing to let Jiang Yantian confess his feelings to her.
If she didn't return it, Jiang Yantian would simply take everything as heaven's will and seal away these feelings completely.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yantian, who had reached his elder's peak in an instant, was holding a basin of rice and happily feeding the chickens.
"Little chickens, eat more. Once your bellies are nice and full, you'll smell even better when I roast you!"
Jiang Yantian was in a very good mood.
He generally laid some groundwork before doing things.
This time, he had achieved his objective. The plan to conquer his master had officially begun.
He knew the silk cloth was with Luo Xingcai.
If Luo Xingcai secretly returned it, that would mean she hoped he would add the final red bean.
That would amount to tacit acceptance, and he could then proceed openly.
If she kept hiding it, that was fine too.
In any case, he had already said everything he wanted to tell her, approaching it from other angles.
Unless Luo Xingcai had a heart of stone, it would be a miracle if she wasn't moved.
The path to conquering his master still required gradual progress. Getting a look at her titties was only a matter of time.
That day, Jiang Yantian went nowhere, nor did he go humiliate Ye Feng.
Instead, he enjoyed a wonderful time on the mountaintop.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed, and it was time to head to the Spirit-Imprisoning Forbidden Land.
Before daybreak, Jiang Yantian was already sitting on the mountaintop, gazing into the distance.
He was an Attendant Elder of the Law Enforcement Lineage, and he also bore the responsibility of serving as a Dao protector on this trip!
For this trip to the Spirit-Imprisoning Forbidden Land, each lineage would send ten people. With twelve lineages in total, that made a hundred and twenty people.
He and Luo Xingcai were the Dao protectors. Unless a critical moment arose, they would not readily intervene.
Thus, each lineage had an executive elder leading its team.
Excluding him and Luo Xingcai, there were a hundred and thirty-two people in all.
The executive elder for the Law Enforcement Lineage was Nuandong.
The law enforcement disciples were also led by Nuandong.
Whoosh!
Just as Jiang Yantian gazed into the distance, a graceful figure appeared behind him.
"Young Master, everyone has assembled!"
"Mm!" Jiang Yantian answered indifferently. "Take them to the sect square first. Everyone will gather there. They'll still have to listen to that old turtle bastard of a sect master talk."
"I have something else to do. I'll head over afterward!"
"Yes, Young Master!" Nuandong was very obedient. She only ever carried out orders and never asked unnecessary questions.
Naturally, Jiang Yantian had his own business to attend to.
Waking Ye Feng up!
During these two days, he had gone over once and slapped Ye Feng again.
So satisfying!
He had to slap her again today!
Over those two days, however, he hadn't gone to see Luo Xingcai.
Playing hard to get required proper planning, after all.
As Jiang Yantian thought this, he had already stepped off the mountaintop platform.
A few more light steps, and his figure had vanished from this stretch of sky.
When he appeared again, he wasn't outside Azure Mist Peak, but directly inside Ye Feng's room.
Ye Feng was actually already up.
She was sorting out the things she needed for this trip.
Pills, spirit stones, medicine for treating injuries-she stuffed them all into her storage bag.
She hadn't noticed Jiang Yantian appearing behind her at all.