The next morning, Xue Huai woke up completely and kicked Yun Cuo out of bed.
Yun Cuo knew he was wrong and obediently went to cook for him. He made himself soft and sweet congee, and ate it with yesterday’s leftovers. Then he cut the noodles for Xue Huai, and made a bowl of bone wonton noodle soup, which was fresh and fragrant.
For the sake of this bowl of noodle, Xue Huai reluctantly forgave Yun Cuo’s reckless behavior last night. Before eating, he originally wanted to criticize Yun Cuo and flip through the old accounts of what he did. However, after thinking about it, he felt that he was not without indulgence, so he remained silent and took a sip of noodle soup in silence.
He couldn’t stop after taking a sip, and then he finished the whole bowl of noodle like a whirlwind. Because Yun Cuo was afraid that he would be hungry, he had cooked a big bowl for him, which made Xue Huai have a little hard time walking.
Yun Cuo then cooked him another bowl of edible hawthorn soup, sour and sweet.
Xue Huai used a spoon to scoop the soup and suddenly remembered to ask, “So you know how to cook? I think your cooking is quite tasty.”
After all, his previous impression of Yun Cuo was that he wasn’t good at anything and was close to a state where he couldn’t take care of himself. He didn’t pay attention to everything and just made do with it. But in the past few days, he has taken a lot of time and effort for all the dishes he has cooked.
Yun Cuo said, “Originally, I didn’t know how to do it. I learned it slowly after coming here. Because you are always not eating well, Xue Huai.”
Xue Huai was stunned for a moment and then said in a casual tone, “Oh.”
He remembered that this person had also learned needlework for him. His fingers were pricked with fine needle holes, and in the end, the other half of the purse was embroidered crookedly. Although it may not look very good, the stitching is so fine and tight that it feels a little hard to the touch, which shows how much effort Yun Cuo has put into it.
He lowered his head to drink the soup again.
Yun Cuo sat across from him, as if he hadn’t noticed his little thoughts in his mind, and suddenly smiled.
Xue Huai glanced at him and asked, “What are you smiling about?”
Yun Cuo put his cheek in his hand and looked at him gently, “I was thinking, you’re so kind. Yesterday, you were still angry with me. I only cooked you a meal, and you are not angry anymore.”
Xue Huai thought that was a strange thing for him to say—is he really that easy to coax? It’s not like he’s a cat or a little fool like the gluttonous ghost.
He decided to give himself a positive image and said, “Don’t use any ulterior motives. I hold grudges, especially when it comes to serious matters.”
Yun Cuo nodded. “I know.”
After finishing speaking, he let out a soft sigh and said, “I have always known.”
After dinner, Xue Huai still went to work with several masters, and after finishing his work, he went to the academy for classes.
A few days later, the news of the whole sect’s extreme realm trial had come, and pretty much everyone has a consensual partner expectation.
For the extreme realm trial, the one who could stand until the end would win, and the prize was a Wujin spiritual stone.
Xue Huai had one of these things himself, but he didn’t mind taking another one or helping Yun Cuo take one, so he was also preparing carefully.
In the past few days, many people, one after another, asked Xue Huai to be their partner, but they were rejected because Yun Cuo had taken the shortcut.
On this day, he politely declined one of his junior sisters, as usual. The junior sister crossed over one by one on her own pre-selection list and suddenly remembered to ask him, “Xue Shixiong, you said you have found a partner. What about Yun Shidi?”
Xue Huai felt a little embarrassed, “It’s just…he’s with me.”
“Oh! So that was it.” The little junior sister understood and pouted, “I knew I didn’t even need to guess. You two must have been together… but in this way, the hot and powerful people are all together. When will it be our turn? As soon as we enter, I’m afraid we’ll be hung up and beaten by you.”
Xue Huai smiled and said, “Didn’t Shizun say so? We will use an array to balance and disperse everyone’s cultivation. Everyone is equal, it’s just to sharpen our character, not to look at our martial arts.”
He was very interested in the paper with the words “Murong Mountain Sect Trial Partner Ranking List” written on it by the junior sisters. He came over to take a look: These disciples in the mountain sect have nothing to do all day long, and they are very enthusiastic about summarizing the ranking list and popularity. The last time, the master ranking list with the “Disciple Happiness Index” was also created by this group of people.
Now there are twenty names written on this list, Xue Huai glanced at them. The first one is a gentle and generous senior brother who is one level higher than them, and the second one is him.
After his name, there is also a note that says, “Not recommended for new disciples to choose. Choosing Young Master Xue Huai as a partner means experiencing the gaze of the Sect Master from the abyss with him! It will be very tragic, and those with poor psychological resilience should be careful.”
Xue Huai: “……”
He looked again and found Yun Cuo’s name listed last.
Yun Cuo’s cultivation had so far been a secret that hadn’t been disclosed to the public. Although he has no intention of competing for the position of Immortal Lord again in his lifetime, Murong Jinchuan, for the sake of protecting him, strictly prohibits anyone from disclosing this matter. At the same time, he also reminds Yun Cuo to remember to conceal his abilities; otherwise, the tree will catch the wind and disaster will come.
The reason why he was put up was because of the Young Immortal Lord’s title, and everyone unanimously believes that following him will never be wrong.
But his personality is really too solitary, and he looks so scary. Therefore, in the very low ranking, there is also a note similar to Xue Huai: “Not recommended for new disciples to choose. He’s the Sect Master’s personal disciple, and choosing Young Immortal Lord Yun means going through the third-tier terrifying-level trial with him—the master’s abyss gaze! There is also the Young Immortal Lord Yun’s own abyss gaze! It will be very, very, very brutal, so please be careful if you don’t have the mental capacity.”
Xue Huai: “……”
He looked up and asked his little junior sister, “So……?”
The little junior sister smiled and said, “Aiya, I’m just here to try my luck! To be honest, Xue Shixiong, You’re already miserable, Yun Shidi is also miserable, if you two are grouped together, it’s misery on top of misery, good luck to you guys!”
As she spoke, she quickly slipped away, leaving Xue Huai, who doesn’t know whether to cry or to laugh alone, in place.
However, this incident also reminded Xue Huai. Now that his grandfather is closely watching him and Yun Cuo, he’s sure that they will find a chance to beat them to death in this trial. They need to prepare in advance.
He sought out Yun Cuo again and told him about it.
Yun Cuo asked, “That means the trial scene will definitely be very difficult, right?”
Xue Huai said, “It’s like this. When the time comes, everyone’s cultivation will be equal, and the test will actually be about character, such as severe cold and heat, life and death, and so on.”
Both of them fell silent for a moment. Yun Cuo raised his eyes and asked him, “So… should we go and adapt to the venue in advance?”
He couldn’t tell if Xue Huai really wanted that first place. He himself doesn’t matter, but Xue Huai has always been competitive and takes everything seriously. The prize, the Wujin Spiritual Stone, is a good item that fits his spiritual roots and is very beneficial to him. If Xue Huai wants it, he will do anything to get it.
He is someone who doesn’t care about suffering, but he knows that Xue Huai may not be able to hold on—but even if he can’t hold on, he will definitely hold on.
He has to be by his side.
Xue Huai was not sure if Yun Cuo wanted to get a good ranking or not—though this person claimed to have no desire to succeed the throne and only wanted to live in peace and take a test to become a Heavenly Official. But that bone-deep desire for war and conquest is indelible.
If he changes his mind in the future and suddenly wants to let go of his love and become an Immortal Lord, then becoming famous in the Murong Mountain sect in advance can also be a way to help him develop his power under his command. After all, Murong Jinchuan has produced many talented individuals from generation to generation. Those who can become masters are all pure-minded and have a promising future, so there may not be anything that cannot be used by him.
They are just the same kind of people, eager to compete. As long as they want something, they will do everything they can to win it.
Xue Huai could never go to war with him again in his lifetime, but he thought to himself that maybe in the future, Yun Cuo would regret it, and someone else might blame him, saying that the Young Immortal Lord Yun Cuo was addicted to love and failed in his studies when he was young. Thus, he decided to kick this pot early and guide Yun Cuo towards becoming an excellent Immortal Lord reservist.
“Then, let’s find some time in the next few days to try it out in advance.” Yun Cuo said.
Xue Huai heard him say this and whispered, “Okay.”
One is Xue Huai, and another is Yun Cuo, both are Murong Jinchuan’s special “care” targets. Regarding the selection of the trial site, Xue Huai didn’t even think about it. He directly selected several possible scenes with the highest difficulty level and went through all the illusions of Sword Mountain, Fire Sea, and Eternal Night Purgatory.
Actually, these are not difficult for Xue Huai.
In his past life, during the early stages of Yun Cuo’s military rules, there was this method of training soldiers. Set up dozens of thousands of people illusions to create levels and dangerous situations inside in order to enhance the emergency response ability and cultivation literacy of soldiers. Xue Huai himself is not an illusionist and cannot create illusions, but he has actually visited every scene and submitted evaluation reports to Yun Cuo.
Even though he may not have the physical fitness and skills he had when he was on the battlefield in this lifetime, but his experiences and skills are still here. Most of the time, he can completely win in these illusions by relying on tricks.
In this way, a problem arose: when he accompanied Yun Cuo to adapt to the environment in advance, he couldn’t help but feel that these low-level trial illusions were still too simple. In order to take care of Yun Cuo, who has neither experience nor skill in this life, he must slow down and even pretend that he is having a very hard time.
A few days ago, they completed several other high-difficulty-level trial illusions. Today is the last remaining trail, which is the Sword Mountain trail.
This so-called “Sword Mountain” is not the kind of thing that torments ghosts in the underworld, it is just a similar mechanism. The entire illusion is composed of a thousand-foot-high broken hanging ladder, constantly changing, with countless mechanism traps in the middle. If one take a wrong step, one will fall into a vast abyss.
This level is known as the most difficult for cultivators and has nothing to do with cultivation. It requires people to always maintain vigilance, sharp observation, and cold and decisive execution, which is both troublesome and tedious. The trial scenario is random, and there are five levels that must be cleared. In previous years, there were also a number of disciples who simply withdrew from the trial because they drew this level and were relegated to zero and recorded in the cultivator’s file.
Of course, the abyss is fake, but the feeling of rapid fall approaching the zenith is real, and all the pain and fright brought by the pain, fear, and mechanisms in the illusion are also real.
In this illusion, Yun Cuo stepped on the air several times and had to start over. He had been standing behind Xue Huai all along, hoping to quickly catch him before he fell, but he didn’t expect to fall several times himself.
In order to express understanding and comfort for this situation and to take care of Yun Cuo’s feelings—after balancing his cultivation, Yun Cuo could only be a scum in front of the set, and Xue Huai is quite pleased with this. He deliberately stepped on the air one after another and said, “This is really difficult. It’s okay, we should try a few more times.”
Yun Cuo smiled gently, nodded, and said, “Yes, Xue Huai ge, it’s okay, let’s work together.”
Then they repeated it several times. Xue Huai felt that the timing was ripe, and after a few repetitions, he stopped acting and just said, “I think I have mastered the skills to pass the level! There shouldn’t be any problem this time.”
Yun Cuo still smiled gently and encouraged him, just like a few times before: “You go first, I’ll watch you from behind.”
Xue Huai played normally and passed the level smoothly without any obstacles.
Because he walked too fast, Yun Cuo was thrown down several steps by him, hiding behind the clouds and unable to see anyone. After a while, he was seen walking leisurely out of the fog and coming to him.
……It seems to be quite fast.
Xue Huai tried hard to gather a hypocritical and weak smile and said, “It’s really not easy! Finally, I’ve come over!”
Yun Cuo also stopped at the right time and rested on an ancient pine tree by the cliff.
He said, “Xue Huai ge, you are already very powerful. I heard that other senior brothers find it difficult to walk over, and when they come over, they are all limp and stiff, unable to move. Xue Huai ge, were you deliberately giving me more opportunities to exercise just now?”
Xue Huai hesitated for a moment, then immediately denied, “I didn’t, your Xue Shixiong is also all limp and stiff, actually unable to move…”
He looked around and couldn’t find a suitable place to sit on that gravelly, dusty ground for a long time. So he confidently supported the stone behind him to show his weakness.
Yun Cuo looked at him, finding it both amusing and slightly sweet.
He knew that Xue Huai was deliberately giving him more opportunities to exercise. His acting skills are immature and clumsy, and due to his lack of attention, he shows many flaws.
The answer was already firmly hanging before his eyes.
But he doesn’t recognize it. Just like he knew that the road ahead was wrong, but he still had to stubbornly move forward.
In his previous life, he failed to persuade Xue Huai and protect him well. In his previous life, he was a tyrant with only expansion and occupation in his eyes, disregarding his subordinates and causing Xue Huai and his confidants to fall into deep water and fire. When others betrayed or left him, he paid no attention, but Xue Huai couldn’t.
When he heard Xue Huai mention that the prince from the Phoenix twice came to scoop people, he was almost going crazy. Day after day, he made various bizarre demands to Xue Huai in order to seek a sense of security. He always wants to confirm that this person is still by his side.
Later, when Xue Huai died in the battlefield, he had a sudden idea to launch.
What qualification does he have to stand in front of him again in this lifetime?
Xue Huai didn’t know that he had also crawled out of Senluo Hell. In his previous life, this kind of illusion had gone countless times. Back then, it was always with Xue Huai. In his previous life, Xue Huai was also the same as now, because he had the foundation to participate in trials with soldiers from the Shenhua Terrace. Initially, he always takes him along and slowly teaches him about his experiences and techniques.
Yun Cuo whispered, “Like this?”
He straightened his collar and walked towards Xue Huai, saying without a doubt, “Let me take a look, Xue Huai ge. I still have the strength, let me carry you out.”
Xue Huai: “???”
He half-knelt down, supported Xue Huai’s shoulder, picked him up horizontally, and firmly placed him in his arms.
Xue Huai struggled but also thought that it wasn’t good to let his secret slip, so he could only continue to pretend to be angry. He widened his eyes and asked him, “Didn’t you say on the back?”
Yun Cuo said again, “I want to hold you, Xue Huai.”
Xue Huai: “……”
Yun Cuo looked at him and smiled. His cunning scheme once again succeeded, causing his little teenage boy to become angry and embarrassed, and he had no choice but to retreat.
He asked him again. “Can I kiss you, Xue Huai?”
Xue Huai tried his best to cover his face. “No! I’ve said it many times: no! Can you come up with some fresh ideas?… Forget it, you better not change. Don’t say anything. If you want to leave, just leave quickly. Go out ba.”
Yun Cuo said. “Okay.”
He lifted him upward to make him lean in tighter. Yun Cuo has such a tall and muscular figure that he could actually clasp his waist and back and the bend of his knees with one hand and crush him in his arms. The other hand freed itself from behind his shoulder and lightly touched Xue Huai’s slightly moist lips with his fingertips.
The bottom of Yun Cuo’s eyes were filled with a deep color, displaying clear possessiveness and persistent infatuation. Before, he used to hide this kind of emotion cautiously, but today he doesn’t.
The force on his hands was also greater than usual, and Xue Huai’s lips turned pale due to the cold wind. He rubbed them over, causing him a bit of pain, with a slowly emerging peach-reddish color.
At that moment, it seemed as if a fire had been ignited, as if his fingertips had replaced his lips and tongue, as if the kiss had already been completed, making Xue Huai blush all over his face and making him choked and drowsy.
The author has something to say: The peak of the acting skills between the two giants,
Three-year-old Yun is temporarily leading
