Chapter 42

After leaving the dining hall, Su Yinyue chased after Ling Zhongyu, but he was too fast. In just the blink of an eye, he was gone.
She searched room by room until, finally, she heard a familiar voice in a corridor. Delighted, Su Yinyue called out, “Cousin!”
Ling Zhongyu stood with his back to her, not responding, as if he hadn’t heard her at all. Su Yinyue found it strange and hurried toward him, reaching out—only to feel a sudden pang of unease.
It was instinctual. A dragon’s innate warning of danger.
Before she could fully grasp what was wrong, Ling Zhongyu turned around. His expression was calm, and he even smiled at her. “Why are you here?”
Su Yinyue met his gaze and felt a vague sense of unease. She studied him carefully—his face was as gentle as ever, his eyes as deep as usual. Nothing seemed out of place.
How strange. Why had she thought she saw demonic energy just now?
Su Yinyue laughed at herself for overthinking things. How could she suspect her own cousin? Putting on a sweet, affectionate expression, she pouted and said, “Cousin, why did you run off so fast just now? I almost tripped trying to catch up with you.”
Both of them knew that was impossible. Su Yinyue was a Yinglong—no matter how rushed she was, she wouldn’t trip on flat ground. But in certain situations, little lies like these were just playful banter. Ling Zhongyu didn’t expose her, simply playing along with a chuckle. “Be careful. If you fall, I’d be heartbroken.”
Ever since boarding the flying vessel, Ling Zhongyu’s attitude toward Su Yinyue had become increasingly direct, his words laced with subtle flirtation. In the past, he would never have spoken like this.
Su Yinyue had an idea of what was happening, but she pretended not to understand. Keeping up her coy demeanor, she continued to act spoiled. “It’s all your fault for leaving me behind. If you do that again, I won’t chase after you anymore.”
Just as Ling Zhongyu was about to reply, a sudden crashing sound echoed from the corridor outside. His expression changed instantly as he rushed toward the source, catching a glimpse of a figure darting away.
Judging by her silhouette, it looked like Yun Menghan.
Ling Zhongyu froze.
The flying vessel was a military transport of the Celestial Palace. For security reasons, restrictive formations were placed throughout, limiting the use of divine sense. Here, they had to rely on their eyes and ears rather than their usual method of scanning their surroundings.
Which meant Ling Zhongyu had no idea Yun Menghan had been here.
He didn’t even know how much she had overheard.
As he stood there in a daze, Su Yinyue caught up and, to her surprise, spotted Yun Menghan’s retreating figure. Turning back, she saw Ling Zhongyu staring blankly in the direction Yun Menghan had fled.
Su Yinyue’s gaze turned ice-cold.
They were in a semi-open hall, connected by corridors on all sides. In the silence, a voice suddenly called out from across the way.
“Yun Menghan? What’s wrong? Why are you running?”
Yun Menghan hadn’t expected to bump into Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao here.
She had been too restless to focus on training today, so she had slipped away while no one was around to return to her quarters. She never imagined she’d overhear Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue’s conversation in the corridor.
Heartbroken, she had lost control and fled—only to not only startle Ling Zhongyu but also run headfirst into Ling Qingxiao.
Her face turned deathly pale.
She wasn’t sure what pained her more—Ling Zhongyu’s betrayal, or the fact that Ling Qingxiao had seen her like this.
Yun Menghan suddenly covered her face and ran away without looking back.
Luo Han watched her retreating figure in surprise and asked Ling Qingxiao beside her, "What's wrong with her?"
"No idea," Ling Qingxiao replied, indifferent as ever. If something had nothing to do with him, he never bothered to care.
Luo Han was puzzled. She took a few more steps and, upon entering the hall, immediately understood.
No wonder Yun Menghan looked so devastated—she had just walked in on the male lead and his cousin in a compromising moment.
As expected of a heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching angst novel. These clichéd tropes—even though I married someone else, my heart belongs only to you or though I'm physically with her, it's you I'm thinking of—still found a way to happen.
Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue also noticed Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao, and the hall instantly fell into silence. The two groups stared at each other from across the room, the air thick with awkward tension.
Luo Han felt like something was off. Wasn’t this the kind of scene where the male lead was supposed to chase after the female lead, explaining himself while forcefully kissing her? Had she and Ling Qingxiao arrived at the wrong moment and interrupted the drama?
Luo Han cleared her throat and said, "You guys go on, we were just passing through."
She hesitated slightly as she looked at the path ahead. Ling Qingxiao, however, was far more direct. He turned to Ling Zhongyu and said, "Move. You're blocking the way."
Whether they were too stunned to react or simply caught off guard, Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue actually stepped aside. Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao walked past them as if they weren’t even there.
Ling Qingxiao spoke in a low voice, "I’ll be training in spatial formations with Gu Xing this afternoon, so I won’t have time to come back. We didn’t finish today’s training—get some rest first, and we’ll continue tonight."
Luo Han nodded. "Okay."
Ling Qingxiao was someone who planned everything meticulously, and Luo Han, being a fragile fledgling, had to get at least four hours of sleep each day. In his schedule, things like late nights and overtime simply did not exist. Relying on sheer time investment to succeed was, in his eyes, the ultimate inefficiency.
They had trained late into the night yesterday because Ling Qingxiao had to study spatial formations today, leaving no time for training in the afternoon. To stay on schedule, they had split today’s workload—some last night, some tonight. This way, everything balanced out.
Luo Han said, "There's no need to rush. Even if we don’t finish everything tonight, we can just push it to tomorrow. You don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself."
"That won’t do," Ling Qingxiao immediately rejected. "I won’t hold the team back because of my own schedule."
Luo Han hesitated. Actually...your teammates wouldn’t mind being held back a little.
But Ling Qingxiao was too strict, too meticulous. Once he set a plan, he had to follow through without a single deviation. Because of that, Luo Han and Zou Jibai had no choice but to keep up with him, whether they liked it or not.
Meanwhile, Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue stood there, listening as Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao casually chatted and walked away, treating them as if they didn’t exist.
Ling Qingxiao walked Luo Han to her room. When she opened the door, he stood an arm’s length away and couldn't help but remind her, "You’ve been overusing your spiritual sense. Get some proper sleep—don’t stay up playing around."
Luo Han had to control the battlefield during training, which was extremely taxing on her spiritual energy. The best way to recover it had always been, and still was, sleep.
"Mm-hmm." Luo Han nodded obediently. Ling Qingxiao, however, had no faith in her at all.
Expecting Luo Han to be self-disciplined was basically impossible. At first, Ling Qingxiao had insisted, always saying "just this once." But now, after making too many exceptions, even he had gotten used to it.
…Forget it.
Just as he was about to leave, Luo Han suddenly called out, "When you get back, let’s discuss strategy with Zou Jibai. I heard there’ll be a public team battle in a few days."
The journey to Western Sea would take about a month, and nearly half of that had already passed. No matter how well they performed individually, it was time to start preparing for team battles. The early-formed teams would participate in this exhibition match both to prove themselves and to serve as an example for the others.
After this battle, everyone would have to form teams. Team composition, resource allocation, positioning—all of these would be demonstrated in this match.
Luo Han’s team was also participating. Gu Xing had designed the event to reflect Western Sea’s unpredictable nature—random opponents, random maps, random objectives. They might draw a seven- or eight-man team to fight against, or they might end up facing off against a monster, forcing them to ally with their opponents.
It wasn’t an official competition, but since it was a public battle, they had to prepare properly.
Ling Qingxiao paused for the briefest moment before responding, his voice calm and indifferent: "You seem quite focused on Zou Jibai."
No matter the situation, she always mentioned Zou Jibai first. Even in training, she thought of him before anyone else.
Luo Han felt like something was off about his comment but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She said, "There are only three of us in the team. I see you all the time, so there's no need to specifically mention you. That just leaves him—who else would I bring up?"
Since they were a team, they had to move forward together. Even if Zou Jibai contributed nothing in terms of strategy, they couldn’t just ignore him and let Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao make all the decisions alone.
Ling Qingxiao remained still, his expression unreadable. After a moment, he simply nodded. "Alright."
He was so composed, so quiet, that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Looking at him like this reminded Luo Han of the Ling Qingxiao from the war between the Immortals and Demons—calm, expressionless, making the most ruthless decisions with chilling clarity.
Luo Han suddenly felt uneasy. Ever since she met Ling Qingxiao, she had completely lost confidence in her ability to judge people. She wasn’t even sure if he had truly blackened or not, nor why, nor to what extent.
Just to be safe, she cautiously reminded him, "Don't push yourself too hard. A lot of these things aren’t actually your responsibility—you don’t have to be so hard on yourself."
Ling Qingxiao’s brow twitched slightly. “Why did you suddenly bring this up? Did you hear something?”
“No.” Luo Han denied it, but in truth, she hadn’t heard anything—she had seen it with her own eyes.
She knew that she shouldn’t hold Ling Qingxiao accountable for things that hadn’t happened yet. Right now, he hadn’t done anything at all. So she could only subtly and tactfully instill in him the value of human emotions, trying to steer him toward focusing on his ambitions and avoiding romance.
Especially avoiding entanglements in the tragic love story of the male and female leads.
“Don’t worry, there’s no gossip going around. I just suddenly wanted to check on you.” Luo Han braced herself and began her speech on values. “We’ve been focused on team coordination lately, and I haven’t had much time to talk to you. Missions are important, but people are even more so. You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, and I’m worried you’ll push yourself into a dead end. If you take a step back and look around, you’ll see that there are people who care about you—like me. Of course, I hope our whole team does well, but since you and I are closer, if I had to choose one person to be well, I’d choose you.”
Ling Qingxiao’s eyes opened slightly. He had always assumed that Luo Han preferred spending time with Zou Jibai.
He hadn’t expected her to say something like this. For the first time, he was the one being chosen.
Role reversals, divine tribulations, Yun Menghan’s accusations—every single time, he had been the one abandoned.
A trace of confusion surfaced in Ling Qingxiao’s mind. So he could also be someone’s preference?
After finishing her speech, Luo Han felt a bit awkward. She had probably pushed her personal agenda a little too obviously. She had been subtly trying to instill her ideals in Ling Qingxiao, hoping that her great friendship would move him to suddenly realize that love and warmth were more abundant in the world, leading him to abandon any plans of world destruction and instead devote himself to building a better celestial realm.
But it seemed like she had overdone it.
Luo Han froze in place. She had thought Ling Qingxiao would just brush her off, but when she looked up, his eyes were shining, and he actually seemed to be in a good mood.
In a good mood? Luo Han was baffled, even a little unsettled. What just happened?
Ling Qingxiao was too reserved—or perhaps just too repressed. He never showed his emotions, whether joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. Luo Han could only guess his mood through small details: lowering his eyelashes meant he was emotionally affected, rubbing his fingers meant his obsessive tendencies were acting up, and falling silent meant he was in a bad mood.
The past couple of days, his mood had been low. But now, it was as if the sky had suddenly cleared.
Luo Han stared at him in astonishment. Ling Qingxiao really did seem to be in a good mood. Before leaving, he even reached out and ruffled her fluffy hair. “Get some proper rest. Don’t stay up playing. If someone unfamiliar knocks on the door, don’t open it. If anything happens, send me a transmission talisman immediately.”
“…” Luo Han nodded. “Alright.”
Ling Qingxiao still wasn’t reassured. He gave a few more reminders, only leaving after seeing her lock the door with his own eyes.
As he walked out into the corridor, he saw Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue still standing in the hall. Without Luo Han by his side, Ling Qingxiao didn’t even spare them a glance as he passed by indifferently.
Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue remained in place, watching Ling Qingxiao’s departing figure. Once he was gone, they exchanged looks, seeing shock and wariness in each other’s eyes.
They had only caught fragments of Ling Qingxiao’s conversation with Luo Han across the long hallway and couldn’t make out most of it. But his actions before leaving—that wasn’t something that could be faked.
If they weren’t already very familiar with Ling Qingxiao, they would have thought he had been possessed. Repeated reminders, ruffling her hair before leaving, and even waiting for her to close the door before he walked away...Was this really Ling Qingxiao?
And yet, when he passed them, his cold and distant demeanor was still the same old Ling Qingxiao.
Ling Zhongyu and Su Yinyue stared at each other in speechless disbelief.
After closing the door, Luo Han leaned against it, just as stunned.
His mind was impossible to understand. Why had he been in a bad mood? And why was he suddenly feeling better?
“So weird,” Luo Han muttered as she changed out of her disciple robes and lay down on her bed.
She had said she wouldn’t play on her tablet and would go straight to sleep. But the moment she got into bed, her hand instinctively pulled up the screen.
She wasn’t playing. She was just taking a look.
Luo Han skimmed through the Six Realms data, checked national-level sacrificial rites to ensure she hadn’t missed any major events, and then switched to her daily tasks.
Seeing the flood of petitions for wealth, children, and marriage popping up like a virus, she tiredly covered her eyes.
She silently selected “Mark all as read.”
Even the Heavenly Dao was struggling with side jobs, barely scraping by on Celestial Palace subsidies. It couldn’t grant blessings or wealth anymore.
Heaven itself was barely staying afloat—how could it protect anyone else?
Just like a weightlifter couldn’t lift themselves, Luo Han could grant blessings, but she couldn’t grant them to herself. A healer couldn’t heal themselves. She could bestow good fortune upon others—like when she had cast a luck aura on Zou Jibai—but she couldn’t influence her own fate.
The Heavenly Dao was impartial, and true impartiality required detachment from personal feelings. Only by remaining emotionless could she judge each matter fairly. Everything had its rules, and even gods had to abide by their own laws. That meant she couldn’t manipulate things for herself.
For example, she couldn’t open her door and conveniently find a massive pile of spirit stones outside. She also couldn’t gain unrivaled cultivation power without training.
Ugh, working in the Celestial Realm was tough.
After completing her daily tasks, Luo Han was about to turn off her tablet when she suddenly remembered something.
Just now, she had faintly sensed a trace of demonic energy.
But this was the Celestial Palace’s flying vessel. Every person on board had undergone strict screening before being selected as elite disciples. How could there be demonic energy here?
·
The day of the public tournament arrived quickly. On the day of the competition, all the disciples sat in the spectator area, while the central open space held a broad, level formation platform.
Match order was randomized, as were the opponents. Whether by luck or misfortune, Luo Han’s team was matched against a six-person squad—one of the acknowledged strongest teams, with double their numbers. Fortunately, they didn’t draw a direct battle mode but instead got the beast-hunting mode.
Luo Han let out a small sigh of relief. At least they wouldn’t have to fight each other but would instead be working together to defeat the beast. However, this arrangement had both advantages and disadvantages—the good part was that they could collaborate for mutual benefit, but the bad part was that the beast they’d face would be abnormally powerful.
Once the match results were announced, the opposing team’s captain took the initiative to approach them, stopping two steps away and cupping his hands in greeting. “I’ll be relying on you three. May our cooperation be smooth.”
Luo Han nodded. “Let’s work well together.”
The pace of the competition was tight, leaving them little time for pleasantries. Almost as soon as they had exchanged greetings—without even having time for introductions—the beast appeared.
Luo Han looked up and was genuinely surprised.
It wasn’t any of the beasts they had trained against—it was a demonic beast.
The realms of immortals, demons, and monsters were distinctly separate, and they viewed each other with hostility. In general, beasts could be classified into three types: celestial beasts, monstrous beasts, and demonic beasts. This categorization was less about species and more about political allegiance.
Beasts tamed by the heavens were called celestial beasts and served the immortal clans. Conversely, those that submitted to the demonic clans were called demonic beasts.
As for the untamed, highly aggressive creatures—before they gained sentience, they were considered monstrous beasts; once they developed intelligence, they became monstrous clansmen.
However, members of the monstrous clans did not see monstrous beasts as their kin. Their society was still primitive—powerful monsters ruled as kings, and every beast or being within their territory, even other members of the monstrous race, were considered their food.
If high-ranking monsters treated their own kind as prey, then lesser monstrous beasts stood even less of a chance.
Immortals hunted monstrous beasts, while the monstrous clans had no mercy for lone immortals. No one could point fingers at the other. But if immortals encountered demonic beasts...that was true enmity, a grudge carved deep into their bones.
The crowd erupted the moment they saw the demonic beast enter the arena.
Sitting among the spectators, Ling Zhongyu’s eyes flashed sharply.
The instant Ling Qingxiao sensed the demonic energy, he unsheathed his sword and whispered to Luo Han, “Stay in the back and be careful. Demonic beasts devour celestial energy and favor those with abundant spiritual power.”
Luo Han nodded. “I understand. You be careful too.”
Zou Jibai had already taken a combat stance, but hearing Luo Han and Ling Qingxiao exchange “Be careful” and “You too,” he suddenly felt irritated.
“Hey, I have spiritual energy too! Why aren’t you two warning me?”
His words were completely ignored. By then, the other team had already rushed forward, forcing Zou Jibai to shift his focus and fight the beast with all his strength.
As Zou Jibai charged, a sword light streaked past him and struck the demonic beast’s eye. A layer of frost coated its vision, rendering it momentarily blind. Seizing the opportunity, Luo Han raised her hands, slowly drawing spiritual energy from the earth.
The energies of the five elements swirled around her fingers, forming brilliant beams of light. Then, she suddenly shifted her hand position, clasping them together and pointing toward the demonic beast.
“Bind.”
Five colors—red, gold, blue, green, and yellow—shot forward, wrapping tightly around the beast’s limbs.
When it tried to lift a foot, the yellow earth energy locked it firmly to the ground. When it raised a claw to swipe away the ice on its eyes, the green wood energy forcefully restrained it.
The six-man team immediately noticed the difference—the battle suddenly felt a lot easier. With the demonic beast’s movements restricted, its ability to dodge was severely impaired, and every attack they launched hit its mark.
It tried to spew flames, but before the heat could reach them, the fire was redirected, looping around the beast and dissipating harmlessly.
…This was way easier than they expected.
The six teammates were stunned.
They had a support member in their squad too, but support roles were usually just for moving rocks or clearing debris. Why was their support capable of controlling the entire battlefield and carrying the team?
Their shock barely had time to settle before the demonic beast collapsed.
Ling Qingxiao wielded ice-based sword energy—sharp and righteous—a perfect counter to both fire and demonic energy. The beast barely lasted a single incense stick’s time under his blade before shattering into fragments of light and vanishing completely.
The six teammates stood there in disbelief.
They hadn’t even used their ultimate moves, and it was already over?
It turned out it wasn’t just their imagination—fighting monsters was indeed ridiculously easy for Ling Qingxiao’s team.
Even the supervising Immortal Lord Gu Xing hadn’t expected the battle to end so quickly. The audience had barely gotten excited before it was already over—the pacing felt completely off. Seeing the disappointed faces in the crowd, the Immortal Lord secretly adjusted the formation, releasing more demonic beasts.
They can’t be finishing this so fast—it’s making my formation look weak.
In the end, they cleared five demonic beasts in a row before the match was finally declared over.
As soon as the results were announced, the other team’s captain practically sprinted over to Luo Han. Making sure Ling Qingxiao and Zou Jibai were still occupied at the front, he lowered his voice and asked, “Would you consider switching teams? Our squad could really—”
Before he could finish, a chilling presence swept over him from behind.
It wasn’t his imagination—actual cold air.
The captain immediately swallowed the rest of his sentence, pretended nothing had happened, straightened his back, and walked away like an innocent bystander.
Ling Qingxiao stepped up beside Luo Han, giving the retreating figure a slow, indifferent glance.
As the two teams exited the stage one by one, the audience broke into hushed murmurs, their applause thunderous.
Among the spectators, a female cultivator clapped while sighing to Yun Menghan, “They were incredible. No wonder they were the first ones picked. Even Hellfire Beasts looked easy against them.”
Yun Menghan lowered her gaze slightly, responding in a soft voice, “Yeah.”
“Ling Qingxiao’s swordsmanship is amazing—his footwork too...Actually, he’s just strong and good-looking. And that other girl—I’ve never seen a support cultivator that powerful. In the past, whenever I teamed up to fight monsters, only the weakest female disciples stayed behind as support. The rest would go to the frontlines. Honestly, I used to look down on support roles. I thought they were weak and useless...but now, I realize that a truly powerful support cultivator isn’t weak at all. On the contrary, they command the entire battlefield.”
Her eyes sparkled with admiration as she declared, “I have both water and wood spiritual roots. From now on, I’m going to train as a support cultivator too. She was incredible. The way she stood in the center—calm, composed, and radiant...like a god.”
Yun Menghan remained silent. She lifted her gaze just in time to see Ling Qingxiao and Luo Han walking side by side down from the formation platform. After exchanging brief greetings with the next group stepping up, they returned to their seats.
They had set out together, boarded the flying vessel together, and trained together. Yet, after half a month, Yun Menghan remained as weak as when she had first arrived, while Ling Qingxiao and Luo Han were now strong enough to stand on their own.
They stood at the center of attention, basking in the cheers and applause of the crowd, while Yun Menghan sat below, clapping along.
She lowered her eyes, feeling an indescribable sense of inferiority...and jealousy.
After the open tournament, everyone was assigned to teams. At first, the selections were made personally by Star Lord Gu Xing and Star Lord Tianyu, who handpicked the members. But later, as the ordinary disciples formed their own teams, the two star lords no longer interfered, allowing them to choose freely.
Before long, more than ten days had passed. The air grew increasingly humid with the scent of water—Western Sea was near.
The night before, Luo Han had already been informed that they would be landing the next day. She let out a long sigh of relief, even dreaming of disembarking in her sleep. Humans were meant to live on land; no matter how steady the flying vessel was, floating in the air could never compare to standing on solid ground.
Early the next morning, they assembled on the deck. This time, the formation was slightly different—on the journey here, they had lined up according to their rankings in Zhongshan, but now, they stood beside their respective teammates.
The clouds around them grew thinner, revealing a vast expanse of blue waters below. Western Sea was close to the Milky Way, and the word "sea" in its name was no exaggeration—this entire region was covered in water. As far as the eye could see, lakes and marshes dotted the landscape like stars in the sky. In the distance, a boundless, azure ocean stretched across the horizon.
This was Western Sea.
The mist outside the flying vessel swirled violently as they began their descent. The figures of people on the ground gradually became visible. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the bottom of the ship—the vessel had landed.
Excitement flashed in everyone's eyes. Gu Xing, too lazy to waste energy, merely reminded them not to wander too far before letting them disembark.
The disciples filed off the ship in order. Luo Han was among the first group. As soon as she stepped onto solid ground, she finally felt anchored once more.
Standing outside the cabin, she took a deep breath of the long-missed air of the land—only to hear someone calling her name from behind.
"Luo Han?"