Chapter 9 Xiao Bumian really loves you to death...you shameless...

Mingjian: "..."

Congratulations, fellow Daoist, you are right.

Xiao Bumian's smile faded, and he stared intently at the cultivator who had spoken, his words ambiguous: "I do indeed have some connection with that Immortal Venerable."

It's natural that we're destined to be together. Mingjian silently rolled his eyes.

"Heh, what kind of trash dares to be compared to Immortal Venerable Hanwei?" Gu Zhi, who had finally calmed down, put on his smug expression again. He smiled sarcastically and said coldly, "He's just an outer disciple. There are countless people in this world with the same name. Does Immortal Venerable Hanwei have to be singled out and talked about?"

"Furthermore, Immortal Venerable Hanwei had already reached the Golden Core stage at your age, unlike you who are so talkative."

The tone and words sounded so familiar. Mingjian inexplicably felt that Guzhi's state was as if he had been possessed by his system.

System: [He's a toxic stan! I'm not!]

Mingjian still ignored it.

Xiao Bumian nodded in agreement with Gu Zhi, "You're right."

Guzhi: "..."

Once again, Gu Zhi remained unmoved by reason. Fortunately, just as Gu Zhi was about to explode with anger, the elder in charge of opening the teleportation array on the Sword Bright Platform, accompanied by the imposing voice of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, reached the ears of every disciple: "The Yunlai Immortal Mansion has opened ten years ahead of schedule. The elders of the Yanling Sect observed the stars at night and deduced the celestial horoscope. They saw that the Purple Star was dim and the Greedy Wolf was devouring the moon, indicating a very ominous sign. However, there is good fortune hidden within the misfortune. They glimpsed chaotic energy deep within, which is a sign that a Heavenly Treasure has appeared in the world."

The Yanling Sect, mentioned by the elder, is one of the major sects of Peking University, specializing in the art of divination. They can use a fraction of the power of the Heavenly Dao, at the cost of their lifespan, to make prophecies and glimpse glimpses of heavenly secrets. Their divination pronouncements have never failed. Therefore, the cultivation world currently holds them in a state of both reverence and awe.

In addition, the fact that the Yanling Sect has few disciples makes even those who have only recently established their foundation highly sought after by various sects.

These words immediately caused a stir among the crowd.

"A Heavenly Treasure?!" someone exclaimed in shock. "If we could obtain this, we could probably even reach the Nascent Soul or Great Ascension stages, let alone the Deity Transformation stage!"

"That's natural. A high-grade weapon is enough to support a medium-sized sect and provide for three to five Nascent Soul cultivators. If it's a Heavenly Grade Treasure..."

"..."

Discussions rose and fell.

"Mute".

In an instant, an invisible pressure descended upon the entire area as if the sky were collapsing. The once boisterous crowd fell silent, even their breathing faltered, and the only sound was the rustling of the mountain wind through the treetops, making the deathly silence all the more terrifying.

This is the true strength of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The elder lowered his hand from the hand seal and continued in a deep voice, "This time, the Immortal Abode will be extremely dangerous. The Demon Clan is eyeing it covetously, and the other sects are probably also there for the treasure. If we are not careful, we will be doomed."

With that, he waved his sleeve, and hundreds of beams of spiritual light flew into his disciples' hands, transforming into jade tablets.

"Remember, if you encounter danger, immediately crush the jade token to escape. Do not be reckless. Opportunities are precious, but life is more valuable. The sect has not raised you with great difficulty, so do not lose your lives because of momentary greed." The elder spoke earnestly, "Fellow disciples should help and watch out for each other, and never harm your fellow disciples. If you can obtain the treasure, it will be the good fortune of our Sword Bright Immortal Mountain; if you cannot, it will be the will of Heaven."

As soon as the words fell, a clear and melodious sword cry resounded through the sky. Several sword lights flew out from the elder's sleeve, intertwining in the air to form a teleportation array. Before the disciples of Sword Bright Platform could react, they felt the sharp sword energy enveloping their entire bodies, and in an instant, they were standing before the ten-thousand-foot jade steps of the Cloud Lai Immortal Mansion.

Outside the Yunlai Immortal Abode, the area in front of the mountain gate was already packed with people. Cultivators from all sides clearly occupied their respective territories. There were independent cultivators standing with their swords at their sides, as well as groups of three or five disciples from various sects dressed in uniform attire, some talking in hushed tones, others closing their eyes to rest, with their sect tokens hanging from their waists, gleaming faintly.

"There's still one day before the Immortal Abode opens, so let's rest in the city for the night," Song Heyu said after a while.

He is currently at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, and he was able to recover quickly even under the pressure of a late-stage Nascent Soul expert. The other disciples were all pale-faced and covered in cold sweat.

Mingjian subconsciously glanced sideways at Xiao Bumian. He saw that Xiao remained composed, his long hair swaying gently in the wind. A faint smile played on his lips, his eyes were dark and unfathomable, and it vanished in an instant.

As if sensing Mingjian looking at him, Xiao Bumian turned around, his voice cold, "What's wrong?"

Mingjian: "..."

What can I do? I just wanted to remind you to at least pretend. The inner disciples haven't even recovered yet, and you're acting like nothing happened—isn't that a bit too obvious?

Xiao Bumian clearly didn't understand Mingjian's meaning. He saw Mingjian's pale face and just clicked his tongue in slight disdain.

How can you be so useless?

It couldn't even withstand the pressure from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

A murderous intent inexplicably rose in Xiao Bumian's heart again.

Let's just kill him; keeping him around is only for finding those people anyway. But we don't necessarily need this useless little brat; at worst, we'll just waste more time.

As long as those people are still alive, they will definitely come back to find him.

The bone chains, hidden in the air, stirred restlessly. How to kill him? If the bone chains were to wrap around Mingjian's nape, he would be a cold corpse in less than a quarter of an hour. Or perhaps a soul search? Yes, the little good-for-nothing was still a pawn of those people; killing him directly would likely alert them.

But if it were soul searching, it wouldn't matter even if the little good-for-nothing became stupid.

Thinking about it this way, Xiao Bumian immediately became excited.

Mingjian also heard Xiao Bumian's light click of the tongue, but it sounded like mockery.

Does this person truly love him? Of all the stories he's read, why isn't there a single one with this kind of personality?

Oh wait, there are some too. It seems like there are a lot of protagonists who say one thing but mean another. Every time the main characters in a story have a misunderstanding, they never resolve it. They just like to torture themselves, and it takes years for them to finally clear things up.

Being too proud to admit defeat is a common trait, especially among aloof and arrogant male leads. They have mouths but don't use them, preferring to suffer internal injuries to maintain a cold exterior, while secretly feeling heartbroken to the point of vomiting blood.

The system largely agrees: [Green River Standard Configuration]

Ming shook his head, but something still felt off, especially when he looked into Xiao Bumian's deep eyes, the strange feeling in his heart intensified.

He always felt that Xiao Bumian wanted to eat him.

Never mind, maybe he's overthinking it.

Before Mingjian could look away, his consciousness suddenly ached, but it soon returned to normal.

The system screamed: [Host! Xiao Bumian is absolutely in love with you! This Nascent Soul cultivator just couldn't control his divine sense and wanted to get closer to you!]

Mingjian: ? ? ?

What the heck?

After a moment, Mingjian turned around and saw Xiao Bumian looking at him with a gloomy face.

In the cultivation world, everyone knows that the sea of ​​consciousness is a cultivator's lifeline. Even among couples practicing dual cultivation, few dare to completely open their divine consciousnesses and merge. Who would have thought that Xiao Bumian, this lecherous scoundrel, would now want to have a spiritual communion with him?

This is truly... truly outrageous!

They haven't reached the point of spiritual communion yet, have they? This is truly outrageous! It's one thing for an old ox to want to eat young grass, but to try and get close to him when things aren't even that close yet. If his cultivation level weren't lower than Xiao Bumian's, he would definitely tear Xiao Bumian to pieces.

Mingjian's face flushed instantly, turning red from his ears to his neck, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He was furious and almost gritted his teeth as he said, "You...you shameless!"

He didn't want to talk to Xiao Bumian anymore, so angry he was seeing stars, and he started walking away. But he didn't see the dark glint that flashed in Xiao Bumian's eyes.

Xiao Bumian casually rubbed his cold fingertips together, a playful smile curving his lips as he calmly pondered why he couldn't search Mingjian's soul.

What exactly is the origin of Mingjian?

The bone chains behind him trembled slightly in resentment. Xiao Bumian stood there for a while until the bone chains fell silent before catching up with the group.

-

Mingjian was so angry that his heart was burning, but he couldn't scold Xiao Bumian. Xiao Bumian had just agreed to be friends with him. What if he realized that his feelings for Mingjian were not friendship but love, and forced Mingjian to fall in love with him?

The system also said that Xiao Bumian couldn't control herself and couldn't help but use her divine sense to get close to him. Xiao Bumian's cultivation is so high, yet she couldn't even control her divine sense; she must be deeply in love with him. Although it's clear he doesn't like Xiao Bumian, wouldn't saying it directly be too hurtful?

But this couldn't go on forever, so Mingjian decided that once Xiao Bumian realized that his feelings for her were romantic love rather than friendship, Mingjian would stop caring about whether it would hurt him, since he still needed to cut his losses in time.

The thought of Xiao Bumian's unrequited love expression just now made Mingjian feel uneasy.

It turns out that Xiao Bumian really wanted to "eat" him, but not in the same way.

"Junior brother, what... what is your relationship with Xie Hanwei?" Song Yao finally couldn't help but walk up to Ming Jian and ask tentatively.

Mingjian snapped out of his daze, then glared at Zhang Xiao and said, "It's alright!"

As he spoke, he glared at Xiao Bumian from behind, then turned around and met Xiao Bumian's smiling gaze.

What are you laughing at?!

Mingjian couldn't help but grind his teeth and turned back, feeling that Xiao Bumian was truly shameless, always stealing glances at him.

She immediately puffed up her cheeks in anger, her already round almond-shaped eyes widened even more, and the corners of her eyes were flushed with a faint red from anger.

Having known Mingjian for so many years, Song Yao had never seen him so angry. He figured it must be that cultivator with the same name as Hanwei Immortal Venerable who had angered Mingjian. Song Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

My junior brother is such a good person, he deserves better.

After a moment of annoyance, Mingjian remembered what he had originally wanted to ask. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xiao Bumian lagging far behind and lowered his voice, "Senior Brother Song, what do you think of Xie Hanwei's appearance?"

Song Yao paused slightly, recalling the scene when he first met Xie Hanwei this morning. He was dressed in white, with long hair hanging down his back. The red lotus pattern on his forehead made his skin look exceptionally white. The morning mist clung to the hem of his clothes, making him seem to blend into the vast sky.

Subconsciously, he felt that someone with such an appearance shouldn't be unknown on Jianming Immortal Mountain, yet he also felt that it was only right.

But he glanced at Mingjian, fearing that his junior brother had only fallen for his face, and didn't dare look into Mingjian's eyes, saying, "It's acceptable."

Mingjian: "How does it compare to Immortal Venerable Hanwei?"

Song Yao replied without hesitation, "Of course, Immortal Venerable Hanwei is even better."

"really?"

Mingjian finally realized what was strange. Xiao Bumian was a renowned figure on the beauty list of the cultivation world, and he shouldn't be using any disguise on his face right now, so why didn't these people find him familiar?

Unless he uses magic, only Mingjian can see his true appearance.

Or perhaps Mingjian's face had already been disguised from the very first day he met Xiao Bumian. And Xiao Bumian seemed to know that Mingjian knew his identity.

In other words, Mingjian recognized Xiao Bumian even before seeing Xiao Bumian's true appearance.

Mingjian suddenly remembered why Xiao Bumian had that reaction on the night Lu Heng died.

In the blink of an eye, Mingjian seemed to hear Xiao Bumian's words from that night again.

"You know who I am."

"How about I kill you?"