Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Tian Yan stood in place, stunned for several seconds. Then she clenched her fists. “Xu Changtian, aren’t you afraid of dying?”

Xu Yuan shrugged, spread his hands, stared at her, and asked back, “If I said I wasn’t, would you believe me?”

Tian Yan thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No.”

Xu Yuan laughed when he heard that. His smile was bright and brilliant. “I am very afraid of dying. Terribly afraid.”

Tian Yan clenched her fists and stood up. Rising onto her tiptoes, she lifted her hand to indicate a very high distance. “My cultivation is this much higher than yours. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

Xu Yuan glanced at her pale bare feet standing on tiptoe, then looked up, shook his head, and smiled. “I already said I’m afraid.”

“Then why do I feel like you have nothing to fear? Is it because of that remnant soul inside you?”

Xu Yuan thought for a moment. “No. It’s probably more just my personality. Besides, didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill me for now? See? I trust you so much.”

Tian Yan huffed several breaths, though sadly there was not much rise and fall in her chest. She stared down at Xu Yuan from above. “I want to change my mind.”

The warm breeze stirred three thousand strands of black hair. With the light behind her, those golden eyes looked especially bright.

Xu Yuan answered with great seriousness. “You won’t.”

Tian Yan burst out laughing with a soft pfft. Her once-bright golden eyes turned strange and shadowy. “You’re that sure? Maybe...”

“No maybes.” Xu Yuan slowly stood and reached out, preparing to place his hand on the young woman Tian Yan’s little head. “We’ve spent several days together. I’m completely sure.”

Tian Yan dodged away without leaving a trace.

Xu Yuan smiled faintly. “So cold. I know why you came looking for me.”

Tian Yan stared at him and smiled as well, neither confirming nor denying it. “And why is that?”

Xu Yuan calmly said one sentence. “You can no longer see the future clearly, can you?”

ᯓ➤

This secret realm truly deserved to be called a place of birdsong and fragrant flowers. At the turn between spring and summer, the warm yet cool breeze carried the faint scent of earth, brushing over people in a way that was almost too comfortable.

From far away, on the boundless grassland, two figures walked slowly, one in white, the other in a pale red palace dress. One ahead, one behind. They did not look like people exploring a secret realm. They looked more like a pair of siblings out for a picnic.

Ever since Xu Yuan said those words, the young woman Tian Yan had been struck silent, as if she had returned to the shut-in state of little Tian Yan.

She followed him, but she did not say a single word.

After walking for a long while, Xu Yuan suddenly stopped and waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Still there?”

Tian Yan glared at him fiercely. Fierce, but in an oddly adorable way.

Considering her cultivation, Xu Yuan felt he should probably be afraid. He held back his laughter for several seconds, then gave a light cough and pointed at the soul ring on his right index finger. “Don’t look at me like that. You should know there’s a Sage’s remnant soul living inside this, right?”

Tian Yan’s expression did not change. She simply waited for him to continue.

Xu Yuan said casually, “When we were outside in that broken hut, you heard our earlier conversation, didn’t you? Don’t tell me that just because you got bigger, your memories from back then are gone too.”

Tian Yan continued glaring at Xu Yuan without saying a word.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan went on. “This Sage’s remnant soul knows about the Heaven Deriving Art, and he knows about the Heavenwatch Pavilion too. From the way he spoke, you should be able to guess that he understands quite a lot about the Heaven Deriving Art.”

“What are you trying to say?” Tian Yan finally asked.

“It’s simple. He told me your purpose.”

“Childish.” Tian Yan sighed, her eyes carrying a trace of pity.

Xu Yuan shook his head and said quietly, “Tian Yan, blind confidence is what’s childish. The Heaven Deriving Art is powerful, yes. But the world is vast. And besides, we’re talking about the methods of a Sage who lived for 10,000 years.”

This time, Tian Yan said nothing.

Xu Yuan sighed and continued in a low voice, “Earlier, he used a Sage’s special method to tell me all of your goals.”

Luo Daofan, who was eavesdropping inside the soul ring, became speechless.

Tian Yan was equally dumbfounded.

The mental steel seal that Gui Qi had branded into him with his life made it impossible for the Sage’s remnant soul to do anything that would harm Xu Yuan’s interests.

Back when Luo Daofan had mentioned the heat-devil knot during their conversation, it had been a warning to Xu Yuan, but also to Tian Yan. With the heart-devil knot branded into him, if Xu Yuan was ever in danger, he would have to risk his life.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan said softly, “How about it, Old Luo? Why don’t you come out and say a few words?”

After a long silence, a voice finally sounded. “Xu boy, why are you telling her all this?”

See? He had been eavesdropping after all. And here he was claiming he was going off to study the heat-devil knot. What a two-faced old man. Hearing that deep bass voice echo in his heart, Xu Yuan smiled. The soul link had connected.

Without warning, he sent a soul transmission. Old Luo, take me into the border!

Ran Qingmo’s test of Tian Yan’s strength at the bottom of the lake had not been pointless. At the very least, it told Xu Yuan that this Tian Yan before him was neither a Sage nor first rank. Otherwise, even if Tian Yan had not gone all out, she would never have had any chance to resist.

Of course, there was an even more important piece of evidence. The Sage’s remnant soul was far too calm. Because of the mental steel seal, if anything happened to Xu Yuan, Luo Daofan had to die before he did.

The moment Xu Yuan finished speaking, Luo Daofan did not even ask why. A vast surge of soul power instantly poured out. With that power supporting him, Xu Yuan turned and ran.

This secret realm was called the Dome Palace, a standard two-stage map. The grassland on the outer edge was something players could enter while still beginners, a place to gain levels by slaughtering wolves and rats. But the Cloudtop Immortal Palace wrapped in mist at the very center was only accessible in the late game.

Of course, you could enter early too. As long as you were not afraid of dying. And the condition for entering was simple. Cross the border of the secret realm.

For ordinary secret realms, the space beyond the border was usually some kind of spatial turbulence, a death zone where pressing the wrong key and falling in would instantly empty your health bar. But the border of this secret realm would directly teleport you into the Cloudtop Immortal Palace from before.

It was random teleportation as well. A distance of 100 meters could be crossed in the blink of an eye.

“Stop.” The young woman’s voice came from behind him. In the next instant, a suffocating pressure surged in from every direction. Xu Yuan, whose body was being controlled as he fled, suddenly froze in midair.

At the same moment, Luo Daofan’s burst into furious curses. “Xu boy, meeting you is the worst damn luck I’ve had in eight lifetimes!”

As he cursed, the Sage’s remnant soul controlled Xu Yuan’s body and formed a hand seal. “Release!”

The word fell, and the pressure rolling in like a tide vanished in an instant.

When Xu Yuan saw this, his pupils suddenly shrank. This damn remnant soul. He actually knew the Heaven Deriving Art too? But just as that thought flashed through his mind, the Sage’s remnant soul had already controlled his body and carried him across the border of the secret realm.