Yu Xiao arrived very quickly. Though his face was icy-cold, there was a hint of concern in his eyes. He bypa.s.sed Lin Yiyi and sat down next to Shi Sheng. “Xiaoshu, you’re awake... If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, tell Master.”
His voice was like the scattering of jade beads; Extremely pleasant to listen to. His tone was a bit stiff though, as if he wasn’t sure what tone to use when speaking to her. Yu Xiao looked very young and handsome. His eyes were like those in a painting and he radiated an icy-cold aura that kept others at bay. A typical ‘forbidden temptation’-type Master.
‘Was Shan Shu an idiot?! The f.u.c.k, she actually ignored such a good-looking master for that what’s-his-name Chu Ye?! Isn’t this trying to find imperfections in perfection?!’
Shi Sheng shifted her gaze and shook her head slightly. “I don’t feel uncomfortable.”
“That’s good.” Yu Xiao maintained his expressionless face. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson this time and don’t go bothering that Ye Qingqiu anymore.”
‘Do you think that as a villain, I’ll be able to do that?’
“Your disciple understands.” After all, even if she was going to find trouble for Ye Qingqiu, she couldn’t tell Yu Xiao. A hint of surprise flashed in Yu Xiao’s eyes at this sudden obedience from his normally rebellious disciple. He just dismissed it as her having learnt a lesson though.
“Grandmaster, are we just letting it go like this?” Lin Yiyi couldn’t help but speak out the injustice she was feeling. “I saw with my own eyes that it was Ye Qingqiu’s doing...”
“Yiyi!” The man who had been standing beside Lin Yiyi all this while stopped her from continuing.
This man was Shan Shu’s Senior Martial Brother, Bai Lang
“Master...” ‘Why won’t you let me say it? It was clearly Ye Qingqiu who harmed Martial Aunt!’
As the Master of Heaven’s Edge Peak, Yu Xiao was allowed to have two direct disciples. Before Shan Shu, he had only Bai Lang as his direct disciple. It was only later, when he picked Shan Shu up, that he took her in as a second disciple.
Yes, you heard that right, Shan Shu was picked up by Yu Xiao.
Lin Yiyi was Bai Lang’s disciple so she belonged to Shan Shu’s junior generation.
“Don’t bother Xiaoshu anymore. You two may leave.” Yu Xiao waved his hand with an indifferent expression on his face. “As for what happened at the test, remember not to say anything.”
“Yes, Grandmaster.” Lin Yiyi looked sadly at her master before turning back to look at Shi Sheng. “Martial Aunt, rest well.”
Yu Xiao spoke a few more token sentences with Shi Sheng before leaving after Lin Yiyi and her Master had left. Shi Sheng let out a turbid breath. In the last two worlds, she had the ident.i.ty of a random cannon fodder but in this one, she already levelled up to a true villain- who liked to court death.
‘So, it’ll get harder the more worlds I go through? The one broken this time is clearly the female lead.’
Ye Qingqiu was a Yuanying expert who died due to someone’s betrayal, making it hard for her to trust again. But as the author wrote, it was clear that the female lead was the type of person who would cause the deaths of innocents if it would allow her to reach her goals.
It wasn’t obvious early in the book but the trend already existed by the time Shan Shu had kicked the bucket. When Ye Qingqiu ascended to the Celestial World, the novel had already gotten to the point where all the three views[1] were destroyed. This type of cold and calculating main character was definitely much harder to deal with than white lotuses or green tea b.i.t.c.hes.
‘Shan Shu wanted to accompany Yu Xiao... And for a lifetime too...
f.u.c.k, this is a cultivation world! Lifespans are looong...
‘What if he accidentally breaks through and ascends? Wouldn’t that mean I’ll have to work hard to ascend too? I’m scared just thinking about it!’
Just like in the original plotline, Yu Xiao brought back a pill to help Shi Sheng recover. Shi Sheng didn’t want to eat it at first but upon remembering that Ye Qingqiu had such a thick and long golden finger[2], she decided to eat it so that she wouldn’t embarra.s.s herself when they fought again.
And so, Shi Sheng went into closed door cultivation to recuperate after eating the pill. This period of closed door cultivation lasted a year. By the time Shi Sheng came out, she had not only recovered her cultivation, she had even managed to successfully build her Foundation.
Shan Shu had Ice Spirit Veins. Shi Sheng flicked out a few icicles to test out her new cultivation but hadn’t expected the door to open. The icicles flew outside.
“Aahaah!!!” Lin Yiyi’s scream came from outside.
Shi Sheng was speechless. ‘Wasn’t Lin Yiyi at the 7th level of Qi Refining? And she has Fire Spirit veins too! What are you yelling for?!’
After a few strange crashing sounds, Lin Yiyi entered with a crestfallen face. There were water marks on her body, causing her to look slightly dishevelled.
“Martial Aunt...” ‘Why did you fling icicles at me the moment I opened the door?!’
“Ahem... I was just testing it out to see if it was any good.”
Lin Yiyi blinked before asking with pleasant surprise, “Martial Aunt, you’ve built your Foundation? That’s great! I knew Martial Aunt was the best!!!”
‘Hey, hey, why are you answering your own question, huh? Also, you’re still at the 7th level of the Qi Refining stage! How can you tell if I’ve built my Foundation or not?!’
Only when Lin Yiyi had calmed down did Shi Sheng find out she guessed it. ‘I think you’re the only person who can get so excited from your own guess...’
“Oh right, Grandmaster said you’d be leaving seclusion today. He said to go find him when you come out.” Only now did Lin Yiyi recall what she was there for.
She had only met Yu Xiao twice since she had taken over. The first was when she woke up. The second was when Yu Xiao delivered the pill to her. After that, she had gone into closed door cultivation so this would only be the third time she was seeing Yu Xiao.
Yu Xiao still looked like a forbidden male G.o.d; His eyes were cold, as if the concern she had seen there had been an illusion.
“Xiaoshu... You’ve built your Foundation?” Yu Xiao noticed Shi Sheng’s current cultivation at a glance.
In Shan Shu’s memories, this Master of hers had always been this cold. Though he wasn’t strict, he definitely wasn’t doting either. Hence, Shan Shu had always been a bit afraid of this Master of hers.
“I wasn’t paying attention and somehow broke through...” It really had been an accident. All she had done was to cultivate according to Shan Shu’s memories but perhaps it was because this body was very talented, for she managed to successfully enter Foundation Building.
“It seems like the things I’ve prepared won’t be able to be of any use.” Yu Xiao nodded slightly before keeping the things on the table. “In a few days, the sect is going to the Mortal World to look for new disciples. Your Senior Martial Brother will be the one in charge so if you want to go, just tell Bai Lang.”
Shi Sheng took in Yu Xiao’s actions. She couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly, ‘This Master with face-paralysis is actually a warm-hearted one ah!’
“This disciple understands.”
‘Wasn’t Ye Qingqiu going on this trip to the Mortal World too? And she’ll meet her male lead there too...’
That’s right, the two leads would meet early on. It was just that the male lead was in such a sorry state that had Shi Sheng not known the whole story, she wouldn’t have felt that fellow was the male lead.
‘*clicks tongue* Not going would be a disgrace to my(bbb) status as a villain! I(bbb) should at least go to shake things up a bit!’
Yu Xiao suspiciously glanced at Shi Sheng. ‘Why do I feel like this disciple of mine had a bit of... wickedness coming off her just now?’
But when he took a closer look, that feeling vanished.
‘Am I just too tired from these few days of pill-refining?’
“You may leave.”
Shi Sheng left Yu Xiao’s cave residence and looked back at it.
Although Yu Xiao had gone to a great extent for Shan Shu’s sake, according to the novel, he hadn’t had any romantic feelings for her. Hence, there were two possibilities. One, was that he hid any romantic feelings very well. The second, was that he was raising her as his daughter.
‘Shan Shu only said she wanted to accompany Yu Xiao for a lifetime but she didn’t specify in what capacity. There’s plenty of room for manoeuvring...’
[1] The three values refer to one’s world view, value system as well as opinions on life. These help determine a person’s personality and you can usually get a pretty good estimate of a person’s personality from their three views. Usually, when the author refers to the three views being destroyed, they mean that these people have deviated severely from the norm.
[2] Get those filthy thoughts out of your mind! This means she has OP cheats and/or plot armour.