Jiang Ye: “...”
He took a blind guess that it was Eldest Senior Brother.
Sure enough, Ye Jinghong’s magnetic, raspy voice sounded from outside:
“Junior Sister, it is Senior Brother Ye. I have something to ask of you.”
Gu Changqing’s smile froze instantly.
He hastily looked around and, without a word, dived straight under the bed.
At the same time, he sent a voice transmission to Jiang Ye:
“Don’t tell Senior Brother Ye I’m here!”
Jiang Ye: “...”
The moment Gu Changqing squeezed under the bed...
...in the darkness, a small hand accurately and firmly clamped over his mouth!
Gu Changqing shuddered in fright, nearly drawing his sword on the spot, but all that escaped him was a muffled whimpering sound.
Once he clearly saw the figure in the darkness, he was utterly stunned and couldn't help asking via voice transmission:
“Junior Sister Qi? Why are you here too?”
Qi Linger retorted testily, “Senior Brother Gu, why are you here then?”
The two fell instantly silent.
The atmosphere under the bed became extremely awkward.
Just then, the room door opened once more.
Ye Jinghong walked in with his hands clasped behind his back.
He spoke in his signature raspy voice as usual: “Junior Sister Bai, this seat has something to consult you about.”
Jiang Ye skillfully waved his hand to slam the door shut and said speechlessly:
“Say it.”
Ye Jinghong pondered for a moment and said with absolute deadpan seriousness:
“I do not know why either.”
“Sometimes, when I hear inspiring immortal music, my body uncontrollably yearns to dance with a sword.”
“When I see rain falling outside, my body cannot help but want to charge into the downpour and sprint with wild abandon.”
“I feel... my second personality is about to awaken as well!”
“I simply do not know the knack to it, so I came specifically to consult with you, Junior Sister.”
Jiang Ye: “...”
Do you fucking call that a second personality?
Your purebred Jiahao bloodline is fucking awakening! You just purely want to flex and act cool, okay?!
Just as Jiang Ye was about to roast him...
Knock, knock, knock.
The room door was knocked on yet again.
From outside the door came Gu Qingxue’s cool voice:
“Junior Sister Bai, are you asleep?”
Jiang Ye was completely rendered speechless.
Holy crap, did you guys agree to hold a party in my room tonight or what?
Ye Jinghong was clearly taken aback as well.
He glanced around, and in the end, he still chose under the bed.
He swiftly dived right under.
At the same time, he sent a voice transmission to Jiang Ye:
“Don’t tell Junior Sister Gu I’m here.”
Jiang Ye: “...”
Under the bed, Qi Linger and Gu Changqing were completely numb.
Eldest Senior Brother was at the Golden Core realm! With their frail little arms and legs, they couldn't possibly cover his mouth!
Sure enough.
The moment Ye Jinghong squeezed under the bed, he was frightened out of his wits as well.
After all, out of politeness, cultivators would never use divine sense to randomly scan someone else's room, let alone a young maiden's bedroom.
So even someone as strong as Ye Jinghong hadn't noticed beforehand that under this tiny bed, there were actually two living people fucking hiding!
That jolt was all it took.
The terrifying pressure of his Golden Core realm instinctively leaked out a sliver!
Although he instantly reined in his aura after seeing who they were, Gu Qingxue outside—who was also in the Golden Core realm—caught the whiff of that aura with extreme sharpness.
Her eyes chilled.
She instantly thought Junior Sister Bai had encountered danger inside the room!
Boom—!
The poor room door flew off its hinges completely this time...
Gu Qingxue rushed in with a longsword in hand, brimming with killing intent.
And the result...
She saw Jiang Ye sitting on a chair with a speechlessly exasperated look on his face.
He was even holding a piece of spirit melon pulled out of nowhere, munching on it with relish.
Gu Qingxue locked her gaze tightly onto the bed, as the strange aura from earlier had originated right from there.
She lowered her voice and asked warily, “Junior Sister Bai, are you alright?”
Jiang Ye spat out a melon seed and answered with a smile, “I'm fine.”
But he knew... someone was about to be far from fine.
Sure enough, the very next second, the entire bed was lifted straight up.
And then...
Gu Qingxue saw three familiar faces tightly curled up beneath the bed.
Ye Jinghong, Gu Changqing, and Qi Linger.
The three raised their heads in unison, their expressions stiff as they laughed awkwardly:
“Hi... What a coincidence...”
Gu Qingxue: “...”
...
An incense stick's time later.
The three True Disciples who usually walked tall and unchecked in the Azure Mystic Sect were now standing meekly in a row with their heads bowed, looking like three quail that had done something wrong.
Although Gu Qingxue was ranked second, her personality was cold and strict, giving her the highest authority among the Sword Peak disciples. Many matters on Sword Peak were decided by her.
Jiang Ye sat comfortably on the bed, eating his spirit melon while enjoying the juicy drama right in front of him.
Gu Qingxue stood before the three of them, her voice filled with suppressed anger:
“How does Master usually teach you? Cultivation begins with cultivating the mind!”
“The three of you sneaked into Junior Sister Bai's room in the dead of night!”
“And it was actually just to learn how to form some 'second personality' to help yourselves slack off?!”
Ye Jinghong raised his head and refuted in a calm voice:
“I am not.”
“I merely came to inquire about the specific changes in Junior Sister Bai before and after her second personality emerged.”
“Because I feel that my second personality is about to come out as well.”
Everyone: “...”
...
After their "under-the-bed gathering" dispersed...
Jiang Ye casually put the kicked-off door back into place. Then, he took out the formation plate Qi Linger had just given him and cast several hand seals.
Buzz.
A faint blue light barrier instantly enveloped the room.
Tier Two defensive formation: 【Black Turtle Spirit-Locking Formation】.
With everything set up, Jiang Ye sat cross-legged on the bed with delight and began taking inventory of today's loot.
“That 'Holy Son's original-scent ring' plus that service package earned seventy thousand in total.”
“The first-place tournament reward of one hundred medium-grade spirit stones equals ten thousand low-grade ones.”
“This daddy is now a rich man holding a massive fortune of eighty thousand!”
Jiang Ye rubbed his hands together excitedly.
Besides spirit stones, the first-place tournament prize also included an extremely precious 【Tier Three Medium-Grade Sword Talisman】. Its power was equivalent to a full-force strike from a mid Golden Core realm sword cultivator—a definitive trump card for saving his life.
There was also the opportunity to pick any 【Profound-grade technique】 from the middle level of the Scripture Pavilion.
And most importantly, two 【Tier Three Eight-Patterned Foundation Establishment Pills】 and a chance to enter the secret realm to pick out a weapon.
However, the Foundation Establishment Pills were something he would have to pick up at the Medicine Pavilion tomorrow himself.
“The rewards are pretty decent.”
Jiang Ye muttered to himself.
Finally, he pulled out the "original-scent treasure robe" given to him by Nangong Yue from his spatial ring and nodded in satisfaction:
“The material is pretty good. It can take a lot of damage, which significantly raises my margin for error.”
With a wave of his hand, he stowed all the items back into his spatial ring.
Immediately after, he pulled out 《Great Wasteland Sky-Imprisoning Kick》 and 《Mystic Gang Sword Body Manual》 that he had obtained in the morning.
He clicked 'Learn' on both of them. In an instant, Bai Zhirou inside his mind felt as if memories of two techniques had popped into her head out of thin air.
Jiang Ye nodded with satisfaction:
“Game rewards are reliable after all. One Earth-grade low-rank, one Earth-grade peak—completely sufficient for the current stage.”
He then said with mischievous delight:
“Xiao Bai, ready to cultivate the new body tempering technique?”
Bai Zhirou had clearly not snapped out of her daze yet as she answered:
“Okay.”
Jiang Ye feigned placing his hand on her collar. Bai Zhirou seemed to suddenly realize something and hurriedly said:
“Th-That... I'd better do it myself.”
“OJBK.”
Bai Zhirou's body shuddered slightly as Jiang Ye let out a sly, triumphant smile inside her mind:
“AFK and sleep...”
Meanwhile, atop the peak of Sword Peak...
...inside Nangong Yue's residence at the peak of the mountain that resembled an upside-down colossal sword...
Nangong Yue sat cross-legged, her hands rapidly forming hand seals before her as she calculated something.
After a long while...
Her hand movements slowly came to a halt. Brows knitting slightly, she murmured to herself:
“As expected, the heavenly secrets are a blur of chaos; nothing can be deduced.”
“That sharp, sword-like presence inside her... what on earth is it?”
“Could her second personality... really be a self-seal of an Ancient Race? ...How interesting...”