Xi Yu’s mind went completely blank. He had no idea what was going on, and could only stare fixedly at the phantom.
Within the phantom, Zhi Li wore a moon-white brocade robe. His figure was tall and slender, and his appearance breathtakingly beautiful.
Xi Yu stared at Zhi Li almost obsessively, listening as he slowly spoke.
“Since you are able to open the Lanxing Hall, I presume the person recorded in the Book of Fate has already appeared. Although I cannot know who that person is, I hope that fellow immortal will protect Lu Zhixing.”
“A thousand years ago, High God Lanxing sacrificed his primordial spirit to slaughter the entire demon clan. Yet there was actually a traitor within the God Realm who used his own life as a catalyst to summon a new Demon Venerable, intending to occupy the Three Realms.”
“Lu Zhixing’s destiny is extraordinary. He has become the vessel of the Demon Venerable. I used all my divine power to suppress it, only managing to delay the Demon Venerable’s arrival into the world. However, to kill the Demon Venerable, the ancient divine artifact Zhuohua Arrow is still needed.”
“But the Zhuohua Arrow disappeared along with High God Lanxing’s fall. I am currently searching for the artifact’s whereabouts. I hope that before I find it, fellow immortal will protect Lu Zhixing.”
“In recent years, the demonic aura has grown increasingly powerful. Once Lu Zhixing dies, my divine power will return to its original body, and the Demon Venerable will completely descend into the world by taking over Lu Zhixing’s body.”
“This divine palace is the domain of High God Lanxing. It contains countless treasures and spiritual power. I hope it can lend you a hand.”
The instant his voice fell, the phantom vanished without a trace.
“Zhi Li…”
Xi Yu’s face turned pale as he shouted, “You rebellious disciple!”
He was so poor that he had barely anything to his name. Whatever money he had, he used to decorate his palace and provide for Zhi Li’s cultivation.
And now this little brat had actually given his palace away to someone else!
Xi Yu was so angry that he felt dizzy.
Lu Zhixing hurriedly supported him.
Xi Yu clutched his chest, his heart practically bleeding from the pain.
Even if this palace was now being given to him, what if it hadn’t been him?
Sure enough, the Zhi Li who had lost his memories had changed.
His mind was filled with nothing but exterminating demons.
Although there truly was no place in the entire Heavenly Realm with more rare treasures than his palace, and without his memories Zhi Li naturally had no attachment to it, using this place to suppress the demonic power was indeed the best choice.
But Xi Yu was angry!
Zhi Li was already gone, so Xi Yu had nowhere to vent his anger. He turned his head and saw Lu Zhixing supporting him beside him, and couldn’t help kicking him.
“You! Such an important thing, and you just casually threw it away at the banquet! Luckily, you gave it to someone of noble character like me! What if it had been someone else? How could you casually give something like this away!”
Lu Zhixing was kicked in the stomach and sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
“I didn’t give it away casually. I knew you could help me, so I gave it to you.”
Xi Yu pointed at his forehead.
“What, did I write ‘I will help you’ on my forehead?”
“No. It was the day you tried to kill me at the hospital. I sensed the aura on you.”
Xi Yu: “……”
“You knew?”
Lu Zhixing nodded.
“I knew. Although you wanted to kill me, you ended up saving me by accident.”
“The two powers inside me oppose each other, but there are always times when they become unstable. I went to the hospital because I had gone into shock the day before and had an excruciating headache. But as soon as you appeared, the aura inside me stabilized.”
Lu Zhixing looked at Xi Yu with utmost seriousness.
“Later, I went looking for you and confirmed that you really could suppress the strange powers inside me. The ring wasn’t something I intended to give you, either. From the moment you appeared, the ring kept acting up. It was the ring itself that wanted to find you.”
“Only today did I realize that this was something that was originally meant for you.”
Xi Yu pursed his lips and pulled Lu Zhixing out of the space.
When the two came out, the evil spirits outside the Luo residence had already left.
The smell of blood in the room had also mostly dissipated.
Xi Yu put on the ring and pointed toward the side of the bed.
“You sleep there tonight.”
Then he took out a set of pajamas and tossed them to Lu Zhixing.
“Wash up and put these on.”
Lu Zhixing obediently answered and turned into the bathroom.
Xi Yu lay on the bed, rubbing the ring. His expression gradually softened.
His disciple…
You’ve worked hard.
He hadn’t expected there to be a traitor in the God Realm.
It wasn’t strange for gods to have greed.
If their desires weren’t insatiable, where would the heavenly tribulations come from?
It was nothing more than a desire for power.
But whoever summoned the Demon Venerable had to be extremely powerful. Otherwise, even if they successfully summoned it, they wouldn’t be able to use it for themselves and might instead be devoured.
Anyone who dared to summon it had to possess enough strength to contend with the Demon Venerable.
But if that person truly had enough strength to contend with the Demon Venerable, what more could they possibly want?
Who exactly was it?
Xi Yu had been dead for a thousand years. He knew nothing about the current situation in the God Realm.
But there was one thing that hadn’t changed.
Zhi Li was his beloved disciple. Even after having that portion of his memories related to Xi Yu extracted, he remained kindhearted and resilient.
Look at him. He even knew to take out his master’s divine palace and put it to use for someone else.
How generous.
Xi Yu had extracted part of Zhi Li’s memories, making him forget their time together and remember only his identity as a god.
To hold a position is to fulfill its duty.
Zhi Li had done very well.
Cause and effect came full circle. The Book of Fate had indicated that a destined person would appear to help Lu Zhixing.
After going around in circles, it was still him.
What, was he the only one capable of handling this?
Xi Yu turned his hand over, and a faint amount of spiritual power surfaced.
The Zhuohua Arrow…
The Liuyun Whip…
Xi Yu thought of the bracelet in the variety show.
Both of his divine artifacts had disappeared along with his fall.
Now, he had found the Liuyun Whip.
But he hadn’t sensed the slightest trace of the Zhuohua Arrow all this time.
For now, the most important thing was to protect Lu Zhixing.
With Zhi Li’s divine power, ordinary nuisances couldn’t hurt Lu Zhixing.
But Xi Yu still didn’t dare let his guard down.
Fortunately, life was getting better now, so he wouldn’t be quite as helpless as before.
Xi Yu extended his hand. A spiritual fruit appeared in his palm, and he happily munched on it.
Spiritual power continuously entered his body.
For the first time, Xi Yu felt extremely satisfied with his own divine palace.
At first, his divine palace hadn’t been luxurious at all. It was only after he raised Zhi Li that the little brat—who had been tiny when Xi Yu found him—revealed how much he loved glittering and extravagant things after growing up in poverty.
To coax his child, Xi Yu had used all his spirit stones to decorate the palace.
He had never taken in a disciple before and didn’t know how to teach one, so he simply exchanged all the good things he had for treasures that could aid cultivation and placed them throughout the palace.
Now, by some twist of fate, they had ended up helping him.
Xi Yu finished a spiritual fruit, and sleepiness came over him. He fell straight asleep.
By the time Lu Zhixing came out, Xi Yu was already fast asleep, his breathing even.
Lu Zhixing quietly walked to the bed and lay down on the mattress Luo Cheng’an had brought over.
It’s mine now…
This is how it should be.
The person who should be lying beside his master should have been him.
No one was more qualified than him to accompany his master.
Xi Yu wasn’t well-behaved when he slept. One hand rested over the edge of the bed, his slender fingers jade-white, the pads of his fingers carrying a faint pink hue.
Lu Zhixing’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His expression was dark and unreadable. He lowered his head, his lips and teeth drawing close to that fingertip, but at the very last moment, he abruptly stopped himself.
After a while, Lu Zhixing let out a soft sigh and lay down.
The room was completely silent, with only two breaths—one shallow, one deep.
The moon hung high in the sky.
After a long while, Lu Zhixing suddenly opened his eyes. He quickly leaned over and placed an extremely light kiss on Xi Yu’s fingertip before finally closing his eyes again, content.
…………………………
The next day.
Xi Yu was awakened by a pounding on the door.
Still bleary-eyed, he sat up and looked at the door that was almost being pounded apart. A surge of anger shot straight through his heart.
Before he could even get out of bed to curse at whoever it was, he heard a low, hoarse voice beside him ask in confusion:
“Where did that clucking sound come from?”
Xi Yu followed the voice and looked over.
Lu Zhixing, who was on the floor, had also woken up. His black hair was messily draped over his head.
He was wearing the dark-green pajamas Xi Yu had tossed to him yesterday.
Lu Zhixing apparently slept rather restlessly as well. All the buttons on his shirt had come undone, revealing his firm abdominal muscles.
He looked rather nice to touch.
Of course, that wasn’t the point.
The point was that Lu Zhixing looked extremely indecent right now.
????
Damn it, he had forgotten about Lu Zhixing.
Luo Cheng’an was still pounding on the door.
“Bro, bro, bro! Open the door! If you don’t open it, I’m getting the key!”
Xi Yu was already about to cast a barrier and go back to sleep, but the moment he heard Luo Cheng’an mention having a key, he sprang up at lightning speed, dragged Lu Zhixing over, and stuffed him into the only place where he could hide: the wardrobe.
Xi Yu was grateful that the wardrobe was large enough. Even someone as tall as Lu Zhixing, who was 1.89 meters, could fit inside.
Xi Yu held the wardrobe door.
“Don’t make a sound.”
A man waking up in his room early in the morning…
That wouldn’t be a big deal in the God Realm, but in the mortal world, it was rather difficult to explain.
Especially with someone as big-mouthed as Luo Cheng’an.
Xi Yu closed the wardrobe door and made sure there was nothing suspicious before turning around to open the door.
He had barely reached the door when it was opened.
“Whoa!”
Luo Cheng’an jumped when he opened the door and saw Xi Yu’s expressionless face.
Xi Yu looked coldly at him.
“You were clucking outside my door first thing in the morning. This better be something incredibly important.”
Xi Yu didn’t have many faults. He simply had a bit of a temper when he first woke up.
That was why he normally slept until he wasn’t irritated anymore before getting up.
It was only eight o’clock now. Even when he slept beneath an overpass, he couldn’t get up this early.
Luo Cheng’an felt his scalp go numb under Xi Yu’s stare and cautiously said:
“I forgot to tell you yesterday. We scheduled the contract signing for today.”
“What contract signing?”
“The contract for Unparalleled Secret Realm.”
Afraid Xi Yu would change his mind, Luo Cheng’an had deliberately scheduled the contract signing for this morning.
Now he somewhat regretted it. He should have scheduled it for the afternoon.
His brother’s expression was terrifying.
Xi Yu took a deep breath. Thinking of his divine artifact, he finally suppressed his morning grumpiness.
“What time?”
“Ten-thirty.”
Xi Yu glanced at the eight-o’clock alarm clock on the wall and finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“It’s ten-thirty, and you’re waking me up now!?