Chapter 21: If Only Life Were as Beautiful as First Meeting

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Ji Yao had no idea whether she had followed the right script or not.

Yet Dongfang Shun’s next words chilled her to the bone.

“Do you know? Even if Dongfang Yu managed to snatch the pouch, it would be useless. That treasure recognized my soul as its master months ago. Otherwise, how else would I know I possess a spiritual root and can cultivate?”

Brother, do you even realize what you’re saying? I fear you know much more than just the fact that you have a spiritual root and the ability to cultivate, don’t you? Perhaps you’re aware your root is exceptionally good as well?

It’s not so easy for a treasure to recognize a soul as its master, is it? Just look at Situ Jing as an example. Such treasures, even if not divine artifacts, are not far from it. At the very least, they must have a sentient spirit inside!

And you’re telling all this to a stranger you’ve only met once? Is that really wise? Ji Yao could feel her heart trembling—was it fear or anxiety?

Yet when she glanced at Dongfang Shun, she caught sight of his dazzling white teeth and the fleeting glint in his eyes.

The human heart is both the most fragile and the most resilient thing of all. Ji Yao felt this twelve-year-old boy was brazenly luring her into temptation.

Greed is the fountainhead of all human desire! At that moment, Ji Yao truly felt a sharp pain in her heart.

She was just a minor cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, far from reaching a state of perfect detachment and tranquility.

This mortal boy, with no cultivation at all, dared to test her with a temptation that would move even the greatest figures of the cultivation world. Did he not fear others aboard the flying boat overhearing?

There were Nascent Soul elders among the retinue, after all!

As if reading her thoughts, Dongfang Shun blinked innocently and explained, “This treasure can block all detection. Even a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage wouldn’t notice anything.”

“And it can induce illusions in others. For instance, right now, as we speak, everyone else sees nothing but a pair of young disciples gazing at the stars together.”

Gaze at the stars, my foot! I barely know you! Please, keep your distance! Get lost!

Ji Yao wanted to shout, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t forget the look in the boy’s eyes just now—even if it was only for a moment, it had filled her with dread.

He was no naive youth, and she was no ignorant girl. Some things were better left unspoken, understood without words.

Ji Yao’s face was expressionless; she truly didn’t know what kind of expression she ought to wear.

“Fellow Daoist, that joke of yours is rather lacking in humor.”

Honestly, are children nowadays all this precocious? This was no child—he was a sly little fox!

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Thinking back to what she was doing at twelve, Ji Yao nearly wept at the memory. All her self-assured caution, her experience of two or three decades, had been outwitted by a twelve-year-old. It was a crushing blow to her pride. She wanted to cover her face in shame.

Time slipped by like a white colt in a flash—the half-month journey by flying boat came to an end.

Ji Yao thought that once they reached the sect, her dealings with Dongfang Shun would be over.

Yet the script always unfolded regardless of one’s will. The familiarity of it all, the well-worn patterns, left her more certain and more exasperated than ever.

Must every story of a male lead’s rise from adversity begin with endless trials, just to showcase his resilience and rapid growth?

From what she’d seen, Dongfang Shun—who was likely the male protagonist of some narrative—was about to face his very first ordeal upon entering the sect.

On the second day after arriving at Lingyun Sect, Ji Yao was surprised to see Dongfang Shun again at the entrance of the Outer Sect Administration Hall.

The moment Dongfang Shun caught sight of Ji Yao, his previously gloomy expression lit up. He beamed at her, his eyes bright as stars, his teeth almost blindingly white.

Standing at the foot of the hall steps, Ji Yao looked up to see this version of Dongfang Shun.

Were it not for her knowledge of his true nature, she might have praised him as a peerless gentleman, elegant and unmatched.

Though still small, Dongfang Shun’s bearing and features already hinted at the man he would become. Dressed in sky-blue disciple robes, he moved with an air of nobility.

It seemed that, even if his father, King Qi, neglected him, he had at least been given a proper education.

“We meet again—fate surely brings us together!” Dongfang Shun acted as if they were old friends.

“What’s this? No one wanted you?”

Ji Yao hardly wanted to speak to him but was curious nonetheless. His attire as an outer disciple meant he hadn’t been accepted directly into the inner sect or chosen by any elder as a personal disciple.

“After we disembarked, the disciples in charge were supposed to take me and the others with dual or greater spiritual roots to the main peak. But halfway there, we ran into one of the elders from the flying boat. He said my temperament wasn’t suitable yet, and that it wasn’t the right time for me to enter the main hall.”

Dongfang Shun’s tone was self-deprecating, but not downcast. He seemed to have accepted his fate.

“So here I am!”

“There are still clear-sighted people in the world, it seems. They saw through your true nature at a glance,” Ji Yao couldn’t help but mock.

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Dongfang Shun seemed unfazed, striding down the steps to stand in front of Ji Yao.

“My dear senior sister, since we’re both outer disciples and seem to be so fated, couldn’t you at least tell me your name? After all, you already know mine, but I still don’t know yours.”

In the cultivation world, status is determined by cultivation level, though sect seniority also plays a part. With Ji Yao at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, even if she was two years younger than Dongfang Shun, he still had to address her as senior sister.

Perhaps because she liked the sound of it, Ji Yao didn’t mind. He would have to find out eventually anyway.

“Ji Yao. Ji as in discipline, Yao as in precious jade.”

“Ji Yao? ‘Why steer the boat, but for jade and beauty.’ Senior sister, your name is truly beautiful.”

Dongfang Shun pronounced her name with lingering emphasis, then added a meaningful interpretation.

Ji Yao felt she’d just been teased by a boy!

“We’re not that close, so don’t sound so familiar. Please call me Senior Sister Ji.”

“All right, as you wish, Senior Sister Ji!” He flashed another brilliant smile.

Ji Yao was speechless. “Ah, if only first meetings could last forever…”

“First meeting?” Dongfang Shun recalled the scene of their initial encounter.

“If Senior Sister Ji wanted to hit me, she could have done so. I couldn’t have resisted anyway.”

“So you do know? Since you’re aware of my abilities, why were you so forthcoming back then? Weren’t you afraid I’d kill you for your treasure?” Ji Yao didn’t voice the last question aloud; she sent it via spiritual transmission.

“Does Senior Sister Ji have such confidence? If you can’t utterly destroy me on the spot, even killing me won’t get you what you want.” Dongfang Shun’s reply was also silent, his lips merely shaping the words.

Before Ji Yao could respond, Dongfang Shun spoke again. “Besides, I trust you, Senior Sister. And I trust myself even more.”

Ji Yao had forgotten—this inexplicable confidence was, after all, the hallmark of every protagonist who rises against the odds.