Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 173

Li Jin’an stepped out of the Reversal Array with proud, sparkling small steps, returning to Qingxiao Peak. The curve of her lips was so wide it could hang an oil bottle.
“Just some small beasts. With this Venerable taking action, they were easily captured.”
Not only that, the Heavenly Tome, which had always been so prominent in her sea of consciousness, no longer constantly flashed with golden light. Its radiance had dimmed considerably.
Seeing Li Jin’an look over, the Heavenly Tome still flapped a few times unwillingly, trying to attract Li Jin’an’s attention and change her mind.
Li Jin’an scornfully curled her lips, no longer looking at the ugly thing.
She closed her eyes, clapped her hands elegantly, then spread them open, ready to receive everyone’s exclamations of awe and admiration.
Cheer for her, she could handle it.
Actually, Li Jin’an hadn’t intended to leave so quickly. She still wanted to continue teasing people, and coax Xie Huaixue from over a hundred years ago into saying some flirtatious words. Who knew that Xie Huaixue wasn’t unwilling, but the damned crack in time and space squeezed her out first.
Is it unable to tolerate people being affectionate?!
Li Jin’an, who was waiting for everyone’s adoration, heard no sound for a long time. She secretly opened her eyes just a crack, and saw Xie Huaixue, as aloof and serene as she was a hundred years ago, looking at her with a gentle smile.
“Welcome home.”
Besides that, there wasn’t a single living soul.
Where were the people?
Didn’t they know to come welcome the Jijin Sword Sovereign, who had been toiling outside?
Never mind, if they didn’t come, they didn’t come. She didn’t particularly want to see them anyway.
Li Jin’an stealthily looked around, confirming the elders were not on Qingxiao Peak. Immediately, she feebly collapsed onto Xie Huaixue, whining and acting spoiled.
“You don’t know how outrageous the Heavenly Dao and that damned time-space rift are! At first, they insisted on squeezing me in, not letting me watch the show. I finally managed to kill Ming Xuan and Lanci, and before I could even say a few more words to you, who arrived so late, they immediately pushed me out!”
“Killing the donkey after it’s done its work… no, their achievements overshadow their superiors, putting away the bow when the birds are gone, boiling the hounds when the hares are caught – their true face is truly vile!”
The Heavenly Dao is the donkey.
“My head hurts, my stomach hurts, my legs hurt… in short, my whole body aches. Heal me, please.” Li Jin’an said, extremely feebly.
Xie Huaixue lowered her gaze, looking at the pitiful little face resting on her shoulder. Feigning ignorance of Li Jin’an’s intentions, she nodded earnestly and agreed, “It does seem very serious.”
Li Jin’an felt that her Dao companion was very understanding. She smiled brightly, then weakly put a hand to her forehead, “Mhm.”
“Should I invite an elder from Spring Rejuvenation Valley for you? Our Venerable One is so brave and fearless; you mustn’t conceal your illness for fear of treatment.”
“…”
The Venerable One remained silent, feeling herself being fooled like a little idiot, and was greatly embarrassed and enraged.
Li Jin’an immediately sprang up from Xie Huaixue, crossed her arms, and glared at her sideways.
Xie Huaixue allowed her to stare, the smile in her eyes unchanging, even deepening slightly.
Jijin Sword Sovereign was greatly displeased with Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s feigning ignorance when fully aware. She didn’t hesitate to use her past self as an example, pointing fingers in exasperation, “Xie Huaixue, what’s wrong with you? Back then, I was like an iron tree that wouldn’t bloom, ignorant of love, and one could barely say it was excusable. What do you have to explain now?”
They had been Dao companions for several years now. Privately, they had shared countless kisses and whispered endless sweet nothings. This little hint was so obvious that even if Xie Huaixue’s flirting skills reverted to hundreds of years ago, she would still understand it clearly.
To clearly know her intentions and still deliberately tease her was even more detestable!
“Wait!”
“No!”
Li Jin’an recalled what she had just complained to Xie Huaixue about. Her entire body stiffened for a moment. She let out a breath and softly asked, “Are you jealous of your past self again?”
She had been busy with serious matters these past few days, making her a little slow-witted. She almost forgot how much Xie Huaixue loved being jealous of her past self!
Without Xie Huaixue needing to answer, she could already guess the reason—she had delayed her return because of Xie Huaixue from over a hundred years ago, even being squeezed out by the time-space rift. Otherwise, she would definitely still be enthusiastically teasing people, looking quite reluctant to part with Xie Huaixue from over a hundred years ago…
As expected, Xie Huaixue’s eyebrow twitched slightly, and she admitted it straightforwardly, “I hope I am the reason you move forward, not someone who hinders your steps.”
As expected of Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, the most revered in the cultivation world; her words are always so pleasant to hear!
Li Jin’an laughed out of exasperation, not feeling even a shred of warmth. She instantly jumped in front of Xie Huaixue, cupped her face with her hands, pinched hard, and said fiercely, “Cut it out! You just want my eyes to only see you, even if I see Xie Huaixue from another time, you want me to be single-minded and rush to see you at the first opportunity.”
All that talk about being a reason to move forward and not wanting to hinder Li Jin’an’s steps were just excuses.
“Mhm,” Xie Huaixue mumbled, her face still being pinched by Li Jin’an.
“You really are…” Li Jin’an found Xie Huaixue like this truly adorable. She couldn’t care less about being angry; she only wanted to kiss her. She placed a kiss on the corner of Xie Huaixue’s lips, then said with sparkling phoenix eyes, “Fortunately, I have the exact same thoughts as you.”
Despite Li Jin’an’s claims that Xie Huaixue was jealous, she actually enjoyed it greatly.
On this matter, Li Jin’an could very much empathize. After all, Big Li and Little Li constantly fighting over each other couldn’t possibly be just because they couldn’t stay idle and loved fighting over their own body… though that was true, she simply couldn’t stand seeing another version of herself smug. But ninety-nine percent of the reason was that they wanted to snatch Xie Huaixue.
The Lancang Continent had only one timeline. It wouldn’t create parallel timelines just because someone went back to the past; instead, it would only split into countless parallel time-spaces. Once a person was squeezed out of a past time-space, all changes would be corrected, and no new timelines or entirely new developments would be created.
Just like the method to save Yinyue Monarch, Xie Wushen, and Liu Xinshu wasn’t to save them before their deaths, but to guide their souls to the present world after they had died. Even this was a heaven-defying act that could only be completed with the Heavenly Dao opening a massive loophole.
There was no “if”; only the present could be changed.
This meant there was only one Li Jin’an and one Xie Huaixue in this world. But that didn’t stop them from being jealous of each other. Who said one couldn’t be jealous of their past self?!
Xie Huaixue imitated Li Jin’an, lightly kissing the corner of Li Jin’an’s lips like a dragonfly skimming the water. Her eyes curved into crescents as she said, “Heal your illness.”
Li Jin’an had a different opinion. She said profoundly, “The medicine is right for the symptoms, but the dosage isn’t enough. My illness is a bit serious; I need a strong dose to recover.”
Treating illness and saving lives was a very serious matter. The two engaged in deep understanding and discussion.
Before, they were either busy with proper matters or disturbed by Xie Wushen and Liu Xinshu. Their actual time spent together was pitiably little.
As soon as she got the chance, how could Li Jin’an still care about the elders collectively disappearing? She wished she could be intimately entangled with Xie Huaixue forever.
Only after satisfying her craving did Li Jin’an realize what the elders had gone to do—they had specifically gone hunting for Cloud-born Geese to prepare for the Dao Companion Ceremony. Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Ling Qiu had also gone with them.
In folklore, wild geese symbolized punctuality, fidelity, and loyalty. Coincidentally, there were two pairs on Qingxiao Peak about to become Dao companions, perfectly suiting this beautiful symbolism.
Chixin Sword Lord and Xie Wushen, Liu Xinshu, ceased hostilities and hit it off immediately, pulling Yinyue Monarch along as they set off.
As for whether folk wild geese and the demon race’s Cloud-born Geese weren’t the same species? And the cultivation world didn’t even have this custom? It’s fine. It will exist from them onwards.
As for the three little ones, they had skipped class and run to the Dao Sect. They immediately encountered Yinyue Monarch, Xie Wushen, and Liu Xinshu, three elders who were extremely generous. They were instantly awestruck.
They rigorously calculated their finances and found that by following these elders, within a few days, they wouldn’t necessarily disdain their own masters in terms of wealth, but they would definitely look down on their meager monthly allowance. This meant they wouldn’t have to torment themselves, their teachers, and their classmates at the academy just for their allowance!
So they immediately made a decision: to fulfill filial piety to all the elders on behalf of their masters!
No need to be polite, feel free to order them around!
Li Jin’an sighed in exasperation, finding it hard to describe. “I can understand everything else, but why did Dao Lord also go? Has that old lady still not given up on joining my master and the Monarch?”
Jingting Dao Lord’s previous argument was that Chixin Sword Lord and Yinyue Monarch were just living together to raise disciples, without having established the title of Dao companions, so what was wrong with adding her? She wasn’t here to break up the family… what an enlightening piece of rhetoric.
Now Chixin Sword Lord and Yinyue Monarch were resolving old regrets and holding a Dao Companion Ceremony. So it seemed Jingting Dao Lord hadn’t given up yet.
“Dao Lord said she’s helping watch the three juniors, lest they get kidnapped by thieves again, or give hallucinogenic flowers to birds and beasts, causing demon beasts to collectively go into heat and riot, impacting human cities,” Xie Huaixue said with a smile.
Under heaven, was there any protector of the Dao safer than a Mahayana stage cultivator?! That was true, but it just made Jingting Dao Lord seem a bit unscrupulous in her attempts to keep up with them.
“Did Dao Lord not laugh when she said that herself?” Li Jin’an listened, dumbfounded, then burst into uncontrollable laughter. When she had laughed enough, her mouth twitched. “But that certainly sounds like something my three extraordinary disciples would do.”
One junior sister believes whatever is said, one harms others without benefiting herself, and one is witty and mischievous. When their cultivation was low, at most they would rig matches to fool Li Jin’an. Now that their cultivation has risen and they carry extra fortune, the destructive power when they act up… the dead scoundrels and the disciples who participated in the competition back then would have a lot of foul language to say.
“Forget it. If Dao Lord loves taking care of children, let her take care of more.”
Li Jin’an thought of Jiang Fengmian, Sword Lord Xiaoxiang, and Sword Lord Junxing’s weathered and numb expressions from raising children, and felt that Jingting Dao Lord was not far from joining them.
With comparison came happiness. She imagined Jingting Dao Lord would later understand how well-behaved and rare a successor Yun Liuguang was. This could also be considered an insignificant contribution made by those three annoying little rascals to the cultivation world.
Li Jin’an was like a female ghost from storybooks who absorbed male essence. After drawing enough ‘yang energy’ from her Dao companion, she became radiant and full of spirit, no longer complaining about hardship or tiredness, and actively started working.
Of course, before jumping into the formation, she didn’t forget to give Xie Huaixue a loud kiss.
A necessary step could not be omitted.
A deep blue light skillfully gathered around Li Jin’an. When the light dispersed, she had vanished from the spot.
…
Zhong Fei, like Lan Ci, was picked up by Xie Huaixue from outside.
Unlike Lan Ci, who had Futu Valley scheming behind her, Zhong Fei was only smart once in her life as a creature neither human nor demon: she staged an accident to gain Xie Huaixue’s sympathy.
Inside Zhong Fei was a cunning and sly remnant soul of a great demon. Though from different generations, it could recognize the renowned figures of the cultivation world at a glance and thus pointed out a grand path to Zhong Fei.
Li Jin’an squatted on her tiptoes in the time-space rift, letting out malicious and rampant laughter.
“She’s going to cut off Zhong Fei’s path to success!”