Chapter 45: Du Xian Sect 3 Part 2

Seeking immortality and the Dao meant defying the heavens. Opportunities abounded, but life was singular—one had to stake it all. Was it worth it? No one pondered that question. Countless cultivators plunged into the rift like stars into the sea, swallowed up.

Lu Yun Ting’s expression turned solemn as he saluted the crowd. “Junior brothers and sisters, fellow cultivators, take care.” With that, he mounted his sword and rose.

Mounted his sword… and rose?

A crack appeared in Lu Yun Ting’s solemn demeanor as he stared darkly at the pair of slender jade hands around his waist.

“Junior Sister Su, what is this…”

Xun Ji stood on his flying sword, arms wrapped around his waist, urging, “Hurry up! The entrance is about to close.”

Lu Yun Ting took a deep breath, channeled his spiritual power, and flew toward the rift.

First his master, now Junior Sister Su—one after another refused to fly on their own and insisted on riding his sword. Lu Yun Ting inwardly grew alarmed. Had something happened within the sect? He resolved to investigate thoroughly upon return.

【It’s all the Host’s fault for indulging in play and rashly entering the secret realm without even checking his own body’s condition. Now he’s suffering for it.】 The System half-complained, half-ached.

Inside the Fan Tian Secret Realm, in a dilapidated thatched hut, Xun Ji sat cross-legged. He opened his eyes from meditation. After downing a pile of Great Tonic Pills and circulating his energy for a full cycle, he finally felt somewhat better.

This body’s cultivation had stagnated at Late Soul Transformation for over a hundred years, unable to break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. The original owner had been ruthless and decisive, making ample preparations to stake it all against the heavens. The result, naturally, was failure—not just failure, but a severe backlash that plummeted his realm to Nascent Soul Late-Stage, leaving him with only one year of lifespan remaining.

Though he still had Nascent Soul cultivation, his spiritual veins were badly damaged. They felt nothing during normal times or when using low-tier spells. But once he expended large amounts of spiritual power, they burned like fire, causing agony and accelerating lifespan consumption.

The Fan Tian Secret Realm only allowed entry to those below Golden Core. Lu Yun Ting was at Mid-Stage Golden Core, Su Yanran at Early-stage Foundation Establishment—both fine. But as a fake, suppressing to Early-stage Foundation Establishment strained his body somewhat.

“I’m already here.” Xun Ji sighed, lifted his pink skirt hem, and stood. “Better finish the plot quickly and get out.”

The Fan Tian Secret Realm brimmed with pure spiritual energy. For low-tier disciples, simply meditating inside yielded great benefits, let alone the rumored rare treasures within.

But none of that concerned Xun Ji. He neither wanted to cultivate nor hunt treasures. His sole goal was to quickly find Lu Yun Ting, play the role of Su Yanran, flirt with him, and help unseal his Emotion Vein.

He shook his wrist, and the invisible Mirror Heart Bell chimed crisply. The Mirror Heart Bell was a telepathic magic artifact that transmitted thoughts and sounds across thousands of miles—smarter than a mobile phone. Xun Ji had found it in the Storage Pouch and immediately thought it a practical treasure, never expecting to use it so soon.

Yet after shaking for a while, the bell on Lu Yun Ting’s wrist gave no response. Was Lu Yun Ting ignoring his “call”?

Unlikely. Xun Ji stroked his chin thoughtfully. With Lu Yun Ting’s personality, he would surely rush to aid a junior sister from the sect calling for help. If not subjective intent, then…

Xun Ji narrowed his eyes and surveyed the dilapidated hut. Oddly, despite its rundown exterior, the spiritual energy inside was exceptionally abundant—otherwise, his earlier meditation wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

The original text mentioned that Su Yanran and Lu Yun Ting entered an illusion together, recreating a period of the secret realm owner Fan Tian’s mortal life. Could this be the hut where Fan Tian had lived? And Lu Yun Ting’s lack of response likely meant he had already entered the illusion.

Xun Ji’s gaze swept the room, pausing at the bed. A detail from the original text flashed in his mind: Su Yanran had sat on a bed to rest when she was pulled into the illusion.

He hesitated toward the bed, then lay down.

Dead horse as live horse medicine.

The wind whistled rustlingly as pure spiritual power surged into the hut, swirling on the ground with the breeze. The vortex grew taller, shaking the hut until it teetered on collapse. Withered vine flowers on the outer walls seemed awakened by the wind, growing wildly and spreading, reaching through the window into the room, climbing onto the bed, and entwining the pink-clad woman’s limbs. Azure-green snake vines bloomed with pops beside her cheek, filling the room with thick fragrance.

Xun Ji’s vision blurred, his consciousness plunging into deep darkness.

Noise, clamor. His ears vaguely caught sounds of clinking cups, music, singing, and boisterous cheers. Xun Ji’s brows furrowed deeply as he shoved at the heavy, solid mass pressing on him.

“Don’t bother me while I’m sleeping.” He grumbled discontentedly.

The person atop chuckled lowly. “Wife, today is our wedding day. You can’t sleep.”

Wife? Had he successfully entered the illusion? As expected, he hadn’t guessed wrong. In the original text, Su Yanran and Lu Yun Ting transformed into Fan Tian and his wife Qingming in the illusion, sharing a bed, their intimacy greatly increasing.

This person beside him must be Lu Yun Ting playing Fan Tian.

Xun Ji struggled to open his heavy eyelids and came face-to-chest with solid pectoral muscles.

Xun Ji: “…”

He yanked the big red wedding quilt over and threw it onto the man.

“Why aren’t you wearing clothes?!”

Fan Tian paused, then seemed amused by her. He wrapped her entirely in the quilt through the fabric and kissed her temple.

“On our wedding night, why would I wear clothes?”

Fan Tian’s features were upright and handsome, his body muscled and powerful from years of heavy labor.

As he spoke, one hand slipped under the quilt, leisurely beginning to undress the person beneath him.