Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 47

Since things had come to this, there was no need to dwell on it. She should just sleep soundly first.
Li Jin’an felt that her brain was currently filled with a sticky mess that couldn’t be stirred evenly or separated. She couldn’t think at all at a time like this. She might as well embrace the cool Xie Huaixue beside her and sleep, to let her tangled brain rest for a bit.
Otherwise, her brain, which acted up from time to time, really would stop functioning.
So she decided to give herself a break first. She would repeatedly agonize over such difficult problems after she woke up.
Li Jin’an wrapped her arm around Xie Huaixue’s waist, held her tightly in her embrace, their heads resting against each other, faces pressed together, and peacefully entered dreamland.
When she woke again, the sky was brilliantly lit outside the window; the sun had silently risen from the east side of Qingxiao Peak.
Li Jin’an pulled out her arm, comfortably stretched, and sighed contentedly. It had been a long time since she had slept purely without dreams like this.
Fortunately, she was already a great cultivator at the Integration stage. If it were in her youth, sleeping like this for a night would have numbed her arm.
Xie Huaixue hadn’t woken up yet, but her condition looked much better than before: her features peaceful, her cheeks flushed, and her sleeping posture proper. Unlike the frail, floating state she was in when Li Jin’an first carried her out of the back mountain, she no longer had to worry about her floating away from Li Jin’an’s embrace at any moment.
After staring at Xie Huaixue for a while, Li Jin’an nodded in satisfaction. It hadn’t been in vain that she had worked so diligently yesterday; the effect was very obvious.
She had, after all, saved the life of the Immortal Venerable next door. The Dao Sect should all bow to her.
As she watched, Li Jin’an couldn’t help but recall Xie Huaixue’s soft whisper of “Jin’an,” and then remembered Master Xie’s boundless indulgence towards Great Hero Li in the illusion. It was as if Great Hero Li had endless death-exemption tokens with Master Xie, and anything she did was allowed.
There was one more thing Li Jin’an couldn’t figure out but dared not ponder deeply: Since Xie Huaixue said she had been conscious earlier than her in the illusion, then the question was, what kind of mindset did Xie Huaixue have to indulge her in kissing her?
Could Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, who cultivated the emotionless Dao, be a weakling after all this time? Then why would she unconsciously cling to Jijin Sword Sovereign, her arch-enemy, while unconscious?
As a Sword Sovereign who only knew how to practice swordplay and pick fights, faced with so many perplexing questions, Li Jin’an propped her chin in her hands and let out a deep sigh.
Stumped.
Ever since encountering the Heavenly Tome, Li Jin’an had found more and more things she couldn’t understand or figure out, especially concerning her sworn enemy, Xie Huaixue, who was clearly sleeping right beside her, yet brought her so much trouble.
The protagonist coveted by the three scoundrels in the Heavenly Tome, outside the story, not only showed no reaction to the scoundrel disciples, but also seemed to treat the Sword Sovereign next door with special regard…
No, that’s not right.
Li Jin’an frowned in thought. The phrase ‘special regard’ wasn’t accurate enough; it failed to convey the full meaning.
She recalled Xie Huaixue as she was now, Master Xie from the illusion, and Qingxiao Immortal Venerable from the past. Memories intertwined constantly, and more and more moments of their time together flooded her mind. When her gaze met Xie Huaixue’s newly opened, clear eyes, her heart stirred.
“Oh, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable is finally awake?”
Li Jin’an asked with a snort of laughter, her eyelids lowered to conceal the emotions in her eyes. What she was thinking, however, was that times had changed, countless ships had sailed, and twelve hundred years had passed, and her arch-enemy seemed to have developed romantic affection for her?
She said ‘seemed’ because she wasn’t sure.
The animosity between Jijin Sword Sovereign and Qingxiao Immortal Venerable was known throughout the world. Even if they weren’t truly at odds privately, she had always been the one stirring up trouble and finding fault, insisting on fighting Xie Huaixue, and Xie Huaixue could only deal with her. Could romantic affection arise from such circumstances?
Is this right?!
This isn’t right!
This was too incredible. Even a flying bird falling in love with a swimming fish would be more plausible than Qingxiao Immortal Venerable liking Jijin Sword Sovereign, right?
It wasn’t as if Li Jin’an didn’t know how troublesome and annoying she herself was. She was confident, even arrogant, in every aspect of herself, but on this one matter, she felt doubt.
Did Xie Huaixue have poor taste?
Putting herself in Xie Huaixue’s shoes, Li Jin’an would never like someone who had been noisy, bossy, and unreasonable since childhood, chattering endlessly and constantly looking for fights with her.
This made it hard for Li Jin’an not to suspect if Xie Huaixue had some strange habits—perhaps being lonely at the top for too long had distorted her aesthetics, and she now liked it when others treated her terribly…
Or was it that the entire Lancang Continent knew that Jijin Sword Sovereign disliked Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, but Qingxiao Immortal Venerable herself didn’t know?
“Awake,” Xie Huaixue replied, raising her eyes to look at her. Sitting cross-legged facing Li Jin’an, her previously wrinkled white robes instantly regained their pristine cleanliness, and she reverted to being the cool and composed Immortal Venerable.
“Oh.”
Li Jin’an replied half-heartedly, her thoughts wandering aimlessly. She was just so excellent, it was inevitable that people would love her. It was understandable that Xie Huaixue couldn’t escape falling for her.
But no matter how she thought about it, it felt bizarre!
To prevent Xie Huaixue from noticing her unnaturalness, Li Jin’an crossed her arms and glanced sideways at her, casually asking, “How do you plan to thank me?”
Forget it, she should give Xie Huaixue a chance to express her gratitude first.
Xie Huaixue seemed to have seen through her thoughts. A faint smile appeared in her eyes, and she said seriously, “Your kindness is profound and etched into my heart; I wish to repay your benevolence.”
So formal. Was she deliberately trying to make her not understand?
Li Jin’an looked at her suspiciously, pouting her lips, and said awkwardly, “What ‘profound kindness,’ so sticky and gooey. I’m just afraid you’ll get into trouble and blame me. Don’t flatter yourself.”
“I know. ‘It’s not for clothes and food; I am grateful for your kind heart’ is a line of poetry,” Xie Huaixue said, not refuting her. She nodded as she explained, then spread her hand and suddenly grabbed a book from a nearby bookshelf, extending it towards Li Jin’an. “It’s from this book.”
Li Jin’an narrowed her eyes unhappily at the person. Had she worked so hard yesterday to clear the cold energy just so this person could use her spiritual energy for something like this?
So she’s trying to annoy me after waking up, huh!
Alright, with that said, the presumptuous person instantly shifted from Xie Huaixue to Li Jin’an.
It also made Li Jin’an seem particularly uncultured and unlearned.
It was hard for her not to suspect that Xie Huaixue was doing it on purpose.
Li Jin’an instantly overturned her previous thoughts. She felt that Xie Huaixue definitely didn’t like her; otherwise, being liked by Xie Huaixue in such a grudge-like way would be quite unlucky.
She snorted coldly.
The next instant, the book in Xie Huaixue’s hand spontaneously combusted without any wind, burning to ashes in an instant without harming Xie Huaixue in the slightest. Her spiritual energy control was perfect.
She even deigned to lean forward, puffed her cheeks, and blew into Xie Huaixue’s palm, blowing the ashes away in one breath. She wasn’t even willing to use a cleansing spell.
Li Jin’an tilted her head and thought for a moment, then pulled out a miscellaneous book of strange tales from her storage ring and placed it back into Xie Huaixue’s palm, as if to make up for the previous loss.
Xie Huaixue shook her head, a smile of amusement on her face. With a flick of her wrist, she put the miscellaneous book away and continued the previous topic. “Qingxiao possesses nothing of value. My cultivation is also restricted by the cold poison, preventing me from acting freely. Only my title as Immortal Venerable and I myself are still somewhat useful. I wonder if Sword Sovereign finds them acceptable?”
‘Possesses nothing of value’ means Qingxiao Peak, that massive mountain, and its private treasury full of heavenly materials and earthly treasures don’t exist, is that right? And ‘cultivation’ refers to Integration stage perfection, where everyone would kneel in throngs the moment her pressure is released, right? How is the title of Immortal Venerable so worthless in this person’s mouth? Can’t she see the world’s fervent admiration for Qingxiao Immortal Venerable?
And Xie Huaixue herself is only ‘somewhat useful’? If these words weren’t spoken by Xie Huaixue herself, they would provoke a storm of curses outside!
This person’s words were becoming increasingly unpleasant to hear. Anyone unaware would think she was being sarcastic.
Li Jin’an raised an eyebrow. Following her old habits, she instinctively wanted to say she didn’t find them acceptable, but suddenly thinking of something, she forced herself to swallow the words. Planning to save Xie Huaixue some face, she said reluctantly, “Use Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s name to widely invite all immortal sects and aristocratic families in the world. You can invite some domain masters, a few rogue cultivator grand masters, and a few Monster Kings from the yao race. Forget about the demonic path cultivators, though. Invite the Heavenly Dao to bear witness, under the statue of the Dao Sect’s founding ancestor, and then lose a fight to me!”
Romantic affections and such could be put aside for now. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to defeat Xie Huaixue was not to be missed; it wouldn’t come again, and she couldn’t afford to let it slip!
Li Jin’an almost slapped her forehead again. When did she say she wanted to talk about love with Xie Huaixue? Don’t think about it, don’t think about it!
Xie Huaixue’s eyes still held a faint smile, but her gaze was somewhat deep, and her expression showed a momentary helplessness. She sighed softly, “Such a grand spectacle, I thought you were going to…”
Li Jin’an blinked in confusion. “What did you think I was going to do?”
“Nothing,” Xie Huaixue cut herself off, and smiled at Li Jin’an. “This matter is not feasible. Choose something else.”
Li Jin’an was furious. “If you won’t agree, then what’s there to say!”
Hope had risen only to fall flat.
Is it fun to toy with her?
“Ungrateful, fickle, you’re going too far!” Li Jin’an displayed her rich vocabulary, vowing to make Xie Huaixue recognize her mistakes.
As she spoke, she sat on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes, intending to flee far away from Qingxiao Peak and not look at Xie Huaixue’s infuriating face.
Xie Huaixue tugged at Li Jin’an’s sleeve, leaned close to her sensitive ear, and whispered, “Such a grand spectacle is generally used for a Dao companion’s binding ceremony. Ordinary matters cannot casually invite the Heavenly Dao and ancestors to bear witness.”
Li Jin’an choked out of nowhere, and her shoe dropped from her hand in shock. She stared with clear, black-and-white eyes, her ears flushed crimson. “Really?”
It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t understand this kind of knowledge. Before this, the concept of a Dao companion hadn’t even existed in her mind, and she certainly wouldn’t have specifically observed how other cultivators performed their binding ceremonies.
As for why other cultivators didn’t invite her to observe their binding ceremonies? What a joke! Who would willingly invite trouble on such a joyous day!
After all, Jijin Sword Sovereign wouldn’t give anyone advance notice when she decided to flip a table. Not inviting her was also a way to let each other off the hook.
Xie Huaixue’s expression was sincere. “Truly.”
Her credibility with Li Jin’an was quite high, so Li Jin’an immediately believed her.
Actually, it made sense. The Heavenly Dao and ancestors held extremely revered positions in cultivators’ eyes and could not be invoked lightly. Aside from major events like initiating wars or forging immortal sect alliances, ordinary cultivators could only invite the Heavenly Dao and ancestors to bear witness when holding a binding ceremony.
If she were to form a bond with Xie Huaixue in the future, she wouldn’t need to invite the Heavenly Dao or the ancestors of both the Sword Sect and Dao Sect to bear witness, because Li Jin’an had long ago offended all three.
No need to mention the Heavenly Dao. As long as the Heavenly Tome didn’t stop squatting in her Sea of Consciousness, she wouldn’t stop calling the Heavenly Dao a big idiot!
Because when she was in a bad mood, she always liked to say, ‘Ancestors above!’, which offended her own founding ancestor. As for the Dao Sect’s founding ancestor, when she couldn’t defeat Xie Huaixue no matter what she tried, she secretly cursed the Dao Sect’s ancestor, asking why they had to establish the Dao Sect when they had nothing better to do. They could have used their free time to help mortals carry night soil and fertilize fields…
After Li Jin’an came back to her senses, her first instinct was to slap herself on the forehead, so she wouldn’t keep having thoughts that annoyed her, full of words that made her unhappy!
Her expression serious, she rubbed her burning ears and began to ponder the profound question of whether sword cultivators could still practice swordplay without a brain.
Before she could come up with a conclusion, she remembered something else. Uncomfortably, she licked her lips and looked up at Xie Huaixue.
Xie Huaixue still possessed her icy skin and jade bones, with an ethereal immortal grace. Seeming to notice her gaze, she looked back in confusion. “What is it?”
Li Jin’an instantly averted her gaze, unwilling to meet Xie Huaixue’s eyes, but after a few seconds, she couldn’t help but look back.
“…Um, you didn’t just think I asked you to offer yourself in marriage, did you?”
Xie Huaixue smiled faintly and directly admitted, “Yes, I did think so.”
Li Jin’an choked on her own words, coughing several times, her face flushed crimson from coughing. She had to cover the lower half of her face with her hand, revealing a pair of eyes that shone like stars.
“Don’t be ungrateful, what beautiful dreams are you having!”