Chapter 423: Into the Painting

WHOOSH!

A dazzling ray of moonlight suddenly pierced the starry canopy, shining down upon Fang Rui.

This place was already enveloped by Yu Yunlan’s Lifebound Spiritual Treasure, the All Heavens Star Map. Her sudden move, unleashing the moonlight, caught Fang Rui completely off guard.

As the moonlight struck him, a three-foot-wide aura of clear radiance materialized behind his head, shimmering with a pure glow.

At that moment, Fang Rui realized what was happening. It was some sort of Identification Skill, used to determine if his Divine Soul had been corrupted by the pollution of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi during his breakthrough to the Profound Domain Realm.

“Oh? Fellow Daoist Fang, your body is pure, from the inside out.”

Yu Yunlan appeared, her cool, clear eyes filled with astonishment.

Fang Rui was clearly walking the path of an Ancient Spirit Master, yet the Spiritual Qi pollution his body had sustained seemed even less than her own. How could that not be astonishing?

“Fellow Daoist Yu,”

Fang Rui frowned deeply, his focus on another matter entirely. “An act like this… isn’t it a bit…?”

To be hit with an Identification Skill without so much as a word of warning made him feel a subconscious resentment. It was the psychological discomfort of being disrespected.

But before he could finish, he understood her reasoning. There was a reason Yu Yunlan hadn’t warned him—if she had, and if Fang Rui’s Divine Soul truly had been corrupted, he would have instinctively hidden it, or even launched a preemptive attack against her.

Indeed, just as Fang Rui had surmised, Yu Yunlan had kept her promise not to pry into the secret of how he broke through to the Profound Domain Realm without absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

However, whether or not his Divine Soul had been corrupted after his breakthrough to the Profound Domain Realm was a question she absolutely had to have an answer to.

Thus, upon sensing that Fang Rui’s breakthrough was complete, Yu Yunlan had struck without warning, using the Identification Skill.

Her earlier offer to help set up the Heaven-Sealing Earth-Locking Spirit-Banning Array was, in large part, so she could be there to personally verify whether any problems arose after Fang Rui’s breakthrough.

Fang Rui didn’t press the matter of the surprise Identification Skill. Instead, he asked a different question. “If my Divine Soul had truly been corrupted, would you have killed me, Fellow Daoist Yu?”

“Yes.”

“And if you couldn’t kill me?”

“My main body would have taken action.”

“So, you’re following me to guard against me doing something detrimental to the world, Fellow Daoist Yu?”

“Yes.”

Just as she had been from the start, Yu Yunlan answered every question with utter frankness.

But Fang Rui fell silent.

‘So, it’s just as I suspected.’

In Yu Yunlan’s eyes, he was an anomaly—a variable existing outside of cause and effect, outside of Reincarnation. The very trajectory of fate seemed to curve around him.

But an anomaly wasn’t guaranteed to improve the Hongyu Realm’s situation. It could also make things… worse.

How could Yu Yunlan possibly not be on guard against such an unstable factor?

Her Upper Qing Body followed Fang Rui not only for the sake of her Cultivation Technique and Refining the Heart in the Red Dust, but also, he feared, for surveillance.

—Therefore, whether Fang Rui agreed or not, this Upper Qing Body would have followed him regardless. It was only a question of whether she did so openly or from the shadows.

‘Taking a darker view, if it weren’t for the Great Black Heaven and the Hongyu Realm’s desperate situation, she probably would have tried to eliminate an anomaly like me on the spot, wouldn’t she?’

‘Even so, if I, this anomaly, were to do something that harmed the world beyond a certain point, this woman would turn on me in a heartbeat.’

Don’t be fooled by Yu Yunlan’s cool, simple demeanor. If anyone were to truly touch her ‘sore spot’—the safety of the Hongyu Realm—she would show absolutely no mercy.

Of course, Fang Rui was in no position to judge Yu Yunlan; his own motives were hardly pure.

Helping Yu Yunlan perfect her Upper Qing Body and sense the Celestial Path was also for his own path; he hoped for the Celestial Path to reawaken, so that the way of the Spirit Master might have a future;

Keeping Yu Yunlan by his side was choosing the lesser of two evils, which was better than being watched from the shadows; furthermore, he had ideas of getting intelligence on the Great Yu from her for free;

Beyond that, Fang Rui was also laying the groundwork: should he one day overthrow the Great Yu and remake the world, Yu Yunlan’s status and identity could reduce a great deal of trouble;

To put it bluntly, their relationship was one of mutual use.

‘In this world, how much ‘love at first sight’ really exists? Tear away the beautiful facade of most things, and all you’ll find underneath is naked self-interest!’

Fang Rui sighed to himself, yet he felt unexpectedly calm.

With no expectations, there could be no disappointment. After all, they weren’t even friends. How could he demand anything of her?

“Fellow Daoist Fang, that method you have for avoiding Spiritual Qi pollution… can it be universally applied?” Yu Yunlan brought the matter up again.

“It only works for me.”

Fang Rui shook his head.

His so-called method for avoiding Spiritual Qi pollution was nothing more than a purification that accompanied the one-time rejuvenation from activating his Divine Technique, Immortality. How could anyone else possibly use it?

“A pity, then.”

With the senses of her Celestial Spirit Body, Yu Yunlan naturally knew that Fang Rui was telling the truth.

If it really were universally applicable, it would be a method to save the world, and she…

Such empty hypotheticals were meaningless.

After that, they both fell silent, as if they had suddenly run out of things to say to each other.

They dispersed the Heaven-Sealing Earth-Locking Spirit-Banning Array, summoned the Phoenix and the Purple Feathered Crane, and each took to the sky.

Under the bright moonlight, Yu Yunlan was a vision in her cool white robes. The slightly chilly night wind stirred strands of her dark hair as her dress fluttered, swaying with a graceful air.

Her expression was as calm as still water, but the light in her eyes flickered slightly, as if something weighed on her mind.

‘Why… do I suddenly feel so sad?’

Yu Yunlan sensed Fang Rui’s emotional distance but didn’t know what she had done wrong.

If she had to do it all over again, she would probably do the same thing. If Fang Rui were to ask her again, she would probably give the same answers.

She had her principles. She didn’t want to lie, and so, she wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Yu Yunlan said suddenly, her lips barely parting.

It was an apology for the earlier Identification Skill.

“It’s nothing.”

Fang Rui waved his hand dismissively.

Yu Yunlan had her own standpoint, and he had his own principles. Neither was in the wrong. She didn’t need to apologize, and he had no right to blame her.

“SCREECH!”

“CAW!”

The two flew off on the Phoenix and the Purple Feathered Crane, just as they had arrived. But after breaking through that unspoken barrier, things between them had irrevocably changed.

「One month later.」

In a restaurant in Muping Prefecture City, Rao State.

In a private room on the second floor, the sunlight was perfect and the breeze was gentle.

“Please, enjoy,” the waiter said, setting down a plate of pastries and a pot of tea before carefully backing out of the room.

“Care for one, Fellow Daoist Yu?”

Fang Rui first handed a pastry to Xin Xue’er, then turned to Yu Yunlan and asked politely.

Over the past month, his relationship with Yu Yunlan had remained just so. They each went about their own business, sometimes not exchanging more than a couple of sentences in an entire day.

But they weren’t children; they didn’t play games or give each other the silent treatment. His attitude toward the young woman remained the same as always.

“Thank you.”

Yu Yunlan hesitated for a moment before taking it.

This surprised Fang Rui slightly. From their time together, he knew she was something of a clean freak and had never eaten food prepared outside.

“MUNCH MUNCH!”

Xin Xue’er nibbled on her pastry, her bright, clever eyes darting back and forth.

The little girl was very perceptive; after so many days, she had already sensed the rift between the two adults.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up, leaned toward Fang Rui, and whispered, “Uncle, did you and Big Sister get into a fight? You should sleep together. You’ll feel better after you sleep together. That’s what my mommy and daddy do.”

Even though Xin Xue’er had deliberately lowered her voice, how could someone of Yu Yunlan’s Realm not hear her? In that instant, her wrist, as pale as snow and frost, trembled.

‘You little genius!’

Fang Rui tapped the little girl on the head and stuffed another pastry into her mouth. “Don’t meddle in grown-up business.”

“Kids say the darndest things. Don’t take offense, Fellow Daoist Yu.”

He gave Yu Yunlan an apologetic smile. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he turned his attention to the chatter outside.

“Did you hear? The Rebel King, Yuwen An, was destroyed!”

“How could I not have heard? They say he was performing some evil ritual in Divine Wood Prefecture City, locked down the whole city, and ended up attracting two Divine Beings who descended from the heavens…”

“As one tide ebbs, another is sure to rise. Take Liu Yun, for example. He was just a Small Banner Officer in Changxing Prefecture City. He raised the banner of rebellion after being delayed while escorting prisoners… In a flash, he’s swept through an entire Prefecture, with talented men and fierce generals flocking to his side…”

“Speaking of Liu Yun, I’ve been using my Divine Technique, Emperor’s Gaze, to select talented individuals. I’ve planted quite a few of my own people around him, this Celestial Determined Flood Dragon of Rao State.”

“Coupled with the favor I did him by teaching him techniques and gifting him medicine, my work here in Rao State is more or less complete.”

“With this, my pieces are set in the Three States: Yuan, Liang, and Rao!”

A glimmer shone in Fang Rui’s eyes. “Next up is fine-tuning, and then I wait for the situation to evolve.”

Laying out these pieces was like playing a game of Go. They seemed scattered and random, but the brilliant part would be the moment the dragon-slaying trap was sprung—when all the pieces linked together to form an inescapable net. In that instant, the heavens would fall and the earth would crack.

“At that time, even against the Great Yu’s millennia of accumulated power, I will have a fighting chance on this chessboard of the Three States of the Southwest.”

“Especially since I’ve now shored up the weak link in my own strength.”

Fang Rui raised his teacup and drained it in one gulp. “Great Yu, are you ready for the surprise I have in store for you?”

Just then, a breeze drifted through the window, sending ripples across the surface of the fine tea, harmonizing with the little girl’s hamster-like CRUNCHING.

Yu Yunlan caught a glimpse of his determined expression from the corner of her eye, and for a moment, a lost look appeared in her own cool, crystalline gaze.

Outside, the long street was bustling, filled with the ceaseless cries of vendors. On a street corner, an old man with a white beard sketched the entire scene into his painting.