Chapter 3

Deep down, I knew this forbidden romance was going nowhere.

Yet every time I saw Buying’s peerlessly beautiful face,

I still felt miserable because I couldn’t kiss it.

After being struck by lightning twice more, Buying stopped appearing in person. Instead, he sent his eldest disciple, Jiguang, to teach me cultivation.

Jiguang was stiff and stern.

Though his face was handsome and possessed an otherworldly air,

that mouth of his was terrifying.

Every time he opened it, out came sitting meditation, training, contemplation, breathing exercises.

As a result, whenever I thought of Jiguang, all that came to mind were painful memories of cultivation.

Sometimes, simply seeing him

was enough to make the suffering begin.

Every romantic thought vanished.

Fortunately, my cultivation advanced rapidly under this regime. That was some small comfort.

I heard that Hengzhou, lord of Flowing Water Peak, possessed supreme cultivation and was preparing to enter seclusion to attempt ascension.

How inspiring.

Perhaps I should enter seclusion and try breaking through too.

Buying was astonished. He contacted me through a voice-transmitting jade slip.

“You need to enter seclusion just to reach the Golden Core stage? Have a drink of water and take a breath, and you’re there!”

…What?

But a few days later, he suddenly changed his tune.

“Reaching Golden Core is such a momentous occasion. How about I have Jiguang take you down the mountain for some experience?”

“I’ll just enter seclusion,” I refused.

Going out to gain experience sounded dangerous. I wasn’t going.

Buying hemmed and hawed for a while. “Actually, here’s the situation. An unnamed great cultivator in our sect is about to enter seclusion, and your destinies clash. As long as you remain in the sect, he feels unsettled and can’t focus. So it would be best if you went away for a while.”

I gave a cold laugh. “You expect me to get out of his way?!”

It took Buying a long time to reply with three words.

“What else, then?”

Oh. Right.

I gave it some careful thought.

Buying’s explanation was full of holes.

Apart from him, which of the sect’s great cultivators knew anything about my destiny?

And at his level of cultivation, why would he fear any ill luck I brought him?

Was I even powerful enough to affect him?

After thinking it over from every angle, I concluded that he must have feelings for me too. But, constrained by worldly prejudice, he could only hide his love. My presence unsettled him, so he had to send me down the mountain with Jiguang, hoping time would slowly put those feelings to rest.

Ha. I’d wondered why divine punishment would strike him.

Turns out he was the one deeply in love.

Alas, we were destined to meet, but never to be together.

I sent Buying a voice transmission.

“I understand your feelings. You don’t have to explain. I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Buying replied, “…What feelings? What exactly do you understand?! Don’t leave yet. We really need to talk!”

He was panicking!

I’d hit the nail on the head, hadn’t I?!