Back in the phoenix-orchid glade at the empress’ flower-viewing party, Yun Ruoyan had been drugged with an aphrodisiac, and her mind was all muddled up. As she ran away from her assailant, she found that she had lost almost all impression of the man who was about to take advantage of her. All she remembered was that Qiuqiu had helped her out in the nick of time.

But now that Li Mo brought the matter up, she suddenly seemed to be able to recognize her assailant clearly—it was Li Mo himself!

“No wonder! At the time, I was just an ugly girl, shunned by the scions of the other noble families. There was nothing exceptional about me, so why would the Slaughtering King himself pay me so much attention?” Yun Ruoyan exclaimed. Whenever she had needed any assistance, Li Mo had always been there for her.

At the time, she had been very concerned about Li Mo’s unusual interest in her, but now she understood everything. The reason Li Mo had saved her and treated her so well was because her cultivation was of use to him.

It was this line of reasoning that caused her facade to crumble. Howl laughable she was! Given her looks, how could she have believed that Li Mo was interested in her for herself? 

When Li Mo saw Yun Ruoyan’s bitterness and self-derision, he became anxious. “Yan’er, wait, hear me out! Do you remember that time when you were snatched away by a centipede demon during your grandmother’s birthday celebration?”

Of course she did. Li Mo had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to save her, and the two of them spent a long night in the forest of dead souls. That was when Yun Ruoyan had first seen Li Mo’s true body.

“I remember. What of it?”

“I was hurt and fell into the depths of the lake. Although I was powerless, my consciousness didn’t leave me, and I had full awareness of what was going on,” Li Mo replied rapidly. “I wasn’t surprised when you pushed me away; at that time, I was still trying to take advantage of you. But while I lay on the lakebed waiting to recover, I saw you reappear in my vision.”

Yun Ruoyan’s head was buried between her knees, and Li Mo reached out to direct her vision upwards. From his eyes, Yun Ruoyan could sense his deep-seated affection for her, something that couldn’t be made up.

“Yan’er, do you still remember the story of the little boy that I once told you?” Li Mo said. “I was that boy. From a young age, I learned not to trust others, because they would always discard me when I most needed help. Contrary to my expectations, however, you risked your life to come back for me. From then on, I swore I would take care of you if you stayed by my side.”

Li Mo breathed out. He didn’t think he had ever said so much in one go, even as a naive, innocent child. By the time he was finished, he felt more tired than he would have been if he had slaughtered ten magical beasts in a row, but his heart was lighter than ever.

Li Mo was an excellent liar, one who could lie to anyone on the continent. Even the Empress Xue Tong couldn’t fully detect his inner feelings. But when he was faced against Yun Ruoyan, the woman that he cherished with his life, it suddenly became far harder to lie to her, but also far harder to tell her the truth.

Li Mo looked at Yun Ruoyan, as though awaiting her final judgment. Yun Ruoyan looked back at her husband, the man to whom she had given her body, whom she loved and was facing nude. He looked at her with the eyes of an innocent child, baring his deepest thoughts to her as his inhibitions wrought of age and maturity fell away. 

Yun Ruoyan’s heart softened. In her past life, she had learned what she cherished most. In comparison to events of the past, she would rather focus on the present and future.

“Li Mo,” she finally said.

“Yes?” Li Mo drew closer to her, his icy-blue eyes staring unblinkingly at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Once, I told you that if you were to betray me, I would leave you and never be with you again, in this or any future life. Do you remember that?” 

“Yes, I do.” Li Mo’s heart sank, and panic overwhelmed him.

“In that case, let me revise my words. Li Mo, from now on, if you ever dare betray me, I’ll leave you and never be with you again, in this or any future life!” Yun Ruoyan enunciated each and every word carefully.

Li Mo gaped. It took him some time to react, and he finally placed his palms gently on Yun Ruoyan’s shoulders. “Yan’er, do you mean that you don’t blame me for hiding your constitution from you?”

Yun Ruoyan nodded her head, then shook it. Eventually, she sighed. “When I learned of the deception, I was really very angry. No girl wants to be treated like a tool, but if I were in your shoes, I would probably have done the same thing. I don’t think I can blame your desire to become strong. As for the fact that you didn’t reveal it to me beforehand, well, it’s lucky you only did it after I developed deep feelings for you, or I really might have left you behind in a fit of impulse. But what can I do now? I like you so much that I can’t even bear to get mad at you.”

Yun Ruoyan had to admit that it was far more difficult than she had anticipated to get mad at Li Mo, especially when she was looking at his inhuman beauty.

She sighed exasperatedly. “Li Mo, if you don’t betray me, I suspect I’ll stick to you forever.”

“Yan’er, those are my thoughts exactly.” Li Mo finally relaxed, once again leaning in for an embrace. It was only then that they had truly bared their hearts to each other, for once and for all.

Deep in her heart, Yun Ruoyan felt rather lucky that she had such a unique constitution, or Li Mo wouldn’t have paid any attention to her. And if she didn’t possess such a constitution, then she could have done nothing for Li Mo despite his grievous injuries.

What if the reason the heavens had seen fit to impart her with this constitution was so she could meet Li Mo? Why had the heavens chosen to revive her, and not anyone else?

The first elder had judged that Li Mo’s injury would keep him at death’s door, so it was extremely shocking to see him hale and hearty after just two days of secluded cultivation. But when he recalled that Yun Ruoyan was a human furnace, he quickly understood what had happened.

“It’s good that you’re healed.” The first elder patted Li Mo’s shoulders. He had been worrying about how to reveal the news to the empress, but now that problem had resolved itself without his doing anything.

Yun Ruoyan was initially worried that the first elder would question his sudden recovery, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in the subject. Yun Ruoyan let out a breath, thinking that she had dodged a bullet.

“Ah, Ruoyan,” the first elder suddenly began. “Will you leave us for a moment? I’d like to have a few words with Li Mo.”

Yun Ruoyan nodded, glanced at Li Mo, then walked out.

“What’s the matter, Master?” Li Mo asked. If the first elder was going as far as to send Ruoyan away, then he surely had something important to tell him that needed to remain secret.

“I have something that I need to discuss with you.” The first elder’s tone suddenly turned mysterious. “You don’t have to hide it from Ruoyan, but it’s more appropriate for you to be talking to her about it personally.”

After about ten minutes, Li Mo finally left the first elder’s meditation chambers.

“Let’s go!” Li Mo brought Yun Ruoyan out of the southern tower.

“Where to?”

“To your cottage by the cliffside.” A green light flashed by Li Mo’s feet, and he soared there with Yun Ruoyan in tow.

Yun Ruoyan saw quite a few students below her, realizing that her vacation had passed in the blink of an eye. Before her, there were about a dozen sword auras hovering above Kongming Academy’s main plaza—the senior students of Kongming Academy were transporting the junior students, who didn’t yet have access to swordflight, up the mountain.

Yun Ruoyan noted quite a few familiar faces, Zhuo Yifeng, Lin Qingxue, and Lin Qingchen among them. Lin Qingchen was being brought up the mountain by a senior student, whereas Lin Qingxue rode with Zhuo Yifeng.

She wouldn’t have had a problem with Zhuo Yifeng and Lin Qingxue being together beforehand, but ever since Zhuo Yifeng revealed that he didn’t actually like Lin Qingxue, Yun Ruoyan became very upset at seeing them together.

She thought that, if they really didn’t have feelings for each other, that it would be better for them to stay farther apart. If they continued behaving in such an ambiguous manner, it was almost certain that one of them would be hurt, and that person would surely be Lin Qingxue.

I need to talk to Lin Qingxue one of these days… no, it might be better to approach Zhuo Yifeng instead.

Although Lin Qingxue seemed carefree and easygoing, she knew quite well how stubborn she could be. Trying to convince her of something wouldn’t be an easy task, and she would have to approach the problem by appealing to Zhuo Yifeng.

She was very distracted during the rest of the flight back to her cottage. Once Li Mo landed, he pulled her into the cottage and sat her down.

“What’s the matter, Li Mo?” Yun Ruoyan glanced curiously at him. “What did the first elder tell you?”

Li Mo sat down opposite her. “Yan’er, the first elder just imparted me with a spiritual technique.”

“Oh!” Yun Ruoyan seemed to have a revelation. “No wonder the first elder asked me to step aside. It was a secret technique, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Li Mo affirmed. “It’s indeed a secret technique. More specifically, it’s 

half

 a secret technique; the other half is thought to have been lost. Master just realized that he had seen the missing half within his vaults, and then he handed that missing half to me.”

“What technique is it? You make it sound so mysterious.”

Li Mo retrieved a jade slip from his robes, which he handed to Yun Ruoyan. “That technique is contained within this jade slip. Take it in your hands, then infuse spiritual energy into it to see its contents.”

Yun Ruoyan hesitated. “The first elder handed this to you?”

“To both of us. It’s not a technique that I can learn on my own, but rather something we’ll have to do together.” His lips curled up in a lazy smile.

Yun Ruoyan frowned. “A technique that requires two cultivators? What sort of strange technique is this?” She finally followed Li Mo’s directives to infuse spiritual energy into the slip and review its contents for herself. Four words appeared, along with some graphic images that turned her face bright red, then dark red: Yin Yang Dual Cultivation…

[1]

1. Imagine something like the Kama Sutra.

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