Chapter 4

When Xie Wen opened his eyes again, he was met with a pair of gloomy eyes. He was so frightened that he immediately jumped up, and with a thud, the two of them bumped heads.

Chu Xianyue's face grew even colder, his brows and eyes seemed to be covered in snow, exuding a deep chill. He sat by Xie Wen's bedside all night, staring at her all night, but he still couldn't understand why it had to be her.

Why did I have to make her fall in love with me?

In the Immortal Capital, every powerful being who reaches a certain level and breaks through the Yin-Yang boundary is only one step away from ascension. What is that final step?

It is a test of the Heavenly Dao. On the eve of ascension, you will receive a divine artifact dropped by the Heavenly Dao. The artifact and the test are random.

No one has ascended to immortality in the last hundred years, but according to ancient records, Yan Yu, the founder of swordsmanship, was given a trial by Heaven before his ascension: to kill one person. And that person was his wife.

It is unknown whether Yan Yu, the founder of the sect, actually killed his wife, but he eventually ascended to the ranks of immortals and is still rumored to be among the Twelve Golden Immortals.

Another powerful creator was once tested by Heaven to stay with his elderly mother until her death. Unable to bear the loneliness, he couldn't wait even a decade or so and killed her. What happened after that is not recorded. Who knows whether that matricide went to the deepest hell or ascended to the highest heaven?

After all, those cases happened thousands of years ago, and the veracity of some records remains to be verified. Chu Xianyue had long anticipated this day, but he had never worried about the test of Heaven.

But now that things have truly come to this, with the divine artifact fallen and the test descending, Chu Xianyue still can't understand it. For countless millennia, he has never heard of anyone's test requiring them to fall in love with another.

Many people love him, but he doesn't know how to make someone fall in love with him.

But since so many people love him, wouldn't it be easy for someone to fall in love with him?

Chu Xianyue sneered inwardly. Once this woman fell in love with him, he would simply discard her; he wasn't afraid of her clinging on. She wouldn't dare. Chu Xianyue didn't understand why the divine artifact had chosen Xie Wen. However, Chu Xianyue didn't care to know; she was merely a stepping stone for his ascension.

When Xie Wen woke up, he found something on his neck that was cold and uncomfortable. He pulled it out and found a blood-red bead in his hand, its crimson light swirling like a blood moon.

"What is this? Why can't I take it off?" An invisible thread strung together the blood beads and placed them around her neck, which Xie Wen couldn't remove no matter what she tried.

She glanced at Chu Xianyue instinctively, her eyes wary as if asking: What did you do to me? What are you up to?

Could this be yet another method used to torture her?

Chu Xianyue was speechless at Xie Wen's gaze, which looked at him like he was a great demon. "You think I want it to be worn by you?"

Xie Wen: "Then what is this? Wait, I'm not dead yet? I was under some kind of Lover's Curse. I thought I had already ascended to heaven, so how come I'm perfectly fine now?" Xie Wen checked his body and found that he was perfectly healthy, with no itching or pain anywhere.

A blurry memory flashed through her mind before she fell into a coma. As she closed her eyes, a voice said, "Only by making her fall in love with you can you ascend to godhood and achieve the Great Dao."

Could it be? This is her system?

Great, it's the system.

But what does the system mean by that? Who will fall in love with whom? Who will be able to ascend and achieve the Great Dao?

Xie Wen looked at Chu Xianyue in disbelief. Could it really be what she thought? The system was telling Chu Xianyue to win her over?

Xie Wen squinted at Chu Xianyue a few times. His expression was as cold as ever, and he glanced back at Xie Wen indifferently. Xie Wen's heart trembled. Hmm, she really couldn't imagine what this person would do to win her over; just thinking about it was terrifying enough. Xie Wen thought, it was already good enough that he didn't hold a sword to her neck and coldly order her to like him.

After all, this is the kind of thing that Chu Xianyue would do.

If that's the case, then it explains why Chu Xianyue spared her life.

He's still keeping her around; he wants to win her over. Otherwise, he'll never achieve his supreme Dao, no matter how many lifetimes he takes.

Xie Wen curled the corners of his mouth into a wicked smile.

Chu Xianyue: "What are you laughing at?"

Xie Wen said, "You concern yourself with everything, but why are you bothering with what I'm laughing about?"

The next second, meeting his dark eyes, Xie Wen awkwardly shut her mouth. She had seen him ruthless yesterday, even though she now had enough leverage to prevent Chu Xianyue from killing her.

But this demon is unpredictable. Who knew that one day he would suddenly go mad, abandoning the Great Dao and ascension, and decide to fight Xie Wen to the death?

The dust hadn't settled yet, so Xie Wen decided it was best to keep a low profile. Angering this person wouldn't do her any good, so she smiled apologetically, "I was just joking."

Chu Xianyue's gaze grew even colder. This woman's smile was so fake and insincere; it would have been better if she hadn't smiled at all. She was truly an eyesore.

Xie Wen didn't know what she had done to displease him again, so she simply shut her mouth and remained silent. She touched the blood bead on her neck and pressed for details, asking, "What exactly is this?"

The Blood Bead is, after all, an ancient artifact with profound spiritual power, but no one has yet been able to unleash its full potential; it's probably not yet awakened. Yet yesterday, it instinctively suppressed Xie Wen's Lover's Curse backlash. Chu Xianyue was speechless, and really wanted to ask the Blood Bead who its master was. Why was it so eager to protect an unrelated woman?

Chu Xianyue composed himself and said, "Its power is evenly matched with the backlash from the Lover's Curse on you. It has temporarily saved your life."

Xie Wen blinked. Sure enough, it was a good treasure, having saved her twice. Xie Wen was in a good mood at the moment. She lowered her head and quickly kissed the blood droplet, the empty attic echoing with a "smack".

Chu Xianyue's expression was subtle, hesitant to speak, but couldn't utter a word for a long time. Xie Wen scoffed and watched him storm off. Xie Wen felt extremely pleased to have disgusted Chu Xianyue. She loved seeing him look at her with such annoyance yet unable to do anything about it.

In the afternoon, Xie Wen strolled around the sect for a while. She hadn't visited many places in this vast sect yet. As she walked, she passed a group of disciples who, judging from their appearance, had just finished practicing their swordsmanship and were heading to the dining hall together from Biluo Peak.

They were having a heated discussion and didn't even glance at Xie Wen as they passed by. Whether he was pretending not to see them or genuinely didn't, Xie Wen did hear their conversation.

"It's true! I saw it yesterday too. It was a strange phenomenon that flew out from the back mountain. It looked like it was from the Tongtian Terrace!"

"It's the Tongtian Platform on the back mountain! Last night when I was practicing my sword, I saw the pillar of light on the Tongtian Platform suddenly light up, and then a blood-red object fell down. It must be a divine artifact!"

"A divine artifact has fallen, and someone has ascended to godhood! All that's needed is to pass the test of Heaven to become a god. Just who has such great power?"

"Who else do you think could it be? Who is the most powerful person in our entire immortal sect? Besides Immortal Venerable Qingheng, who else is there?"

The discussion's conclusion immediately caused a stir among the crowd. In the past hundred years, no one with such talent had appeared in the immortal sects. Given Chu Xianyue's current momentum, he was already capable of triggering a divine artifact and undergoing the test of the Heavenly Dao. Everyone felt that the test was nothing to Chu Xianyue; he could complete it with just a flick of his finger.

Xie Wen raised an eyebrow dismissively after hearing this, put his hands behind his back, and swaggered away.

*

"Sister."

As Xie Yichun was cooking by the stove, someone called her. Looking up, she saw Xie Wen sitting casually on the courtyard wall, one leg propped up, hand on his knee, smiling warmly. At that time, most of the snow in Xiandu had melted, but the plum tree in the courtyard was still covered in white blossoms. Against Xie Wen's smiling face, everything seemed bright and radiant.

Xie Yichun put down what she was holding. "Awen, what brings you here?"

"Why aren't you welcoming me?" Xie Wen said, leaping up and landing steadily on the ground. "Sister, what delicious food are you making?"

Xie Yichun said, "What do I make that you don't like to eat?"

Xie Wen immediately took Xie Yichun's arm, bent her knees and nestled against Xie Yichun. In her past life, her elder sister had said the same words to her. She felt as if she had lived through another world.

She can eat her older sister's cooking again.

Xie Wen peered in curiously, "So, what is my sister doing?"

Xie Yichun was an outer disciple and didn't have a fixed courtyard assigned to him. However, the advantage was that the outer sect had vast land and abundant resources, so he could cultivate some land and grow whatever he wanted, or there were plenty of wild vegetables in the mountains and fields. Xie Yichun's small courtyard was in a relatively remote location, but the advantage was that the courtyard was large enough.

In comparison, Xie Wen's residence was rather shabby.

A moment later, the steaming hot food was placed on the stone table in the courtyard. Xie Wen propped himself up on his hands and looked at Xie Yichun. Xie Yichun suddenly felt a little embarrassed by Xie Wen's gaze. "What's wrong?"

Xie Wen said, "Sister, you're so beautiful. Do you have someone you like?"

Xie Yichun is a soft-hearted person, and at the same time, she lacks assertiveness. She's kind to everyone and doesn't harbor any suspicion towards anyone. She's a naive girl like a little white rabbit. Many men have their eyes on Xie Yichun.

In her previous life, Xie Yichun was unlucky in love, being deceived and left with nothing by a man from a humble background. This man, though from a wealthy family, feigned deep affection and relentlessly pursued Xie Yichun, who, unable to resist, believed he genuinely loved her. Later, his wife confronted her, causing a scene at Xie Yichun's company. Xie Yichun lost everything – her heart, her reputation, and her job. She couldn't bear the blow and never recovered. She eventually fell ill, and the man never even visited her once.

Xie Wen now feels like stabbing that man to pieces.

Therefore, in this life, Xie Wen had to personally keep an eye on every man around Xie Yichun. Xie Wen said, "Sister, promise me one thing."

Xie Yichun served Xie Wen a bowl of steaming rice and handed it to him, saying with a smile, "Awen, why have you been acting a bit strange lately? What's wrong?"

Xie Wen said seriously, "Sister, remember this: men are all bad people. You must remember this!"

Xie Yichun chuckled. "Has our Awen been wronged by some man lately? Which man is so unlucky? Tell your older sister who it is, and I'll give you some advice."

Xie Wen clicked his tongue and shook Xie Yichun's hand, saying, "I'm telling the truth, sister, did you remember that?"

Xie Yichun really couldn't do anything with her younger sister, and said pleadingly, "Okay, okay, I'll remember."

Xie Wen raised his head and looked at Xie Yichun's face. Against the backdrop of the pale blue sky, there was an indescribable brightness. His elder sister's smile was like that of an approaching spring day. Xie Wen said, "Then repeat it again."

Xie Yichun did as she was told, "Alright, all men are no good."

Xie Wen: "That's right! Sister, you must remember that."

Xie Wen, holding Xie Yichun's arm, slowly slumped down, leaning against Xie Yichun's chest. A plum blossom petal drifted down from a branch and landed on Xie Wen's hair. Xie Wen covered his face with his hand and silently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Seriously, sister, I don't want to lose you again this time.

A moment later, the cloud-shaped bell in Xie Wen's arms moved, emitting a clear, ringing sound. Xie Wen picked it up, and a cold rebuke immediately came from the other side: "Xie Wen, all disciples are supposed to participate in the Little Mirror Lake trial every month. Where are you?"

That bastard Chu Xianyue is as fierce as ever! Has he forgotten his current mission? How dare he speak to Xie Wen like that?

Xie Wen thought to himself, but the next second, he still pretended to be humble and said, "Where is Little Mirror Lake? I'm going there now."

"Where are you?"

“It’s with my older sister,” Xie Wen said.

Not long after, a fleeting shadow swept across the plum blossom branches, brushing off a shower of plum blossom snow. Chu Xianyue stood with his hands behind his back, appearing out of thin air in front of Xie Wen, one hand on Xie Wen's arm, "Stop dawdling, let's go."

The next instant, the person and their shadow vanished from the spot in a flash.

Xie Yichun: ...

Xie Wen flew out of the afterimage, carried by Chu Xianyue, heading towards Little Mirror Lake.

Xie Wen pondered the upcoming trial. The crucial issue was that she had absolutely no idea how to circulate her spiritual energy. She couldn't even summon her sword. How could she possibly participate in the trial?