Early morning.

Luo Qingchuan had just finished making breakfast when he saw Su Yingxue quietly stepping out of the bedroom, already dressed.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she walked over to him.

“Sorry… I fell asleep…”

Luo Qingchuan was setting the plates. “Why are you apologizing?”

Before Su Yingxue could respond, Luo Qingchuan smiled and said, “Come, have a seat.”

Su Yingxue obediently sat down.

After a night’s sleep, she seemed a little different from last night.

She shifted her legs and asked softly, “Luo Qingchuan, did you… touch me while I was sleeping?”

Unusually, she looked a bit nervous.

Luo Qingchuan shook his head. “No. You were sleeping like a log.”

Su Yingxue bit her lip lightly. “Are you about to say I slept like a pig?!”

Luo Qingchuan paused, then answered honestly, “I just thought you looked beautiful.”

Her pupils widened slightly as she instinctively grabbed the ends of her hair draped over her shoulders. A blush crept up her cheeks.

“Then it’s fine.” She seemed relieved.

Luo Qingchuan sat down across from her and muttered, “Is that really so important? Also, I’m not the type to get excited for no reason, right? It was you who pushed me first last time…”

Su Yingxue’s eyes glinted with a faint smile. “But weren’t you super hard? Otherwise… you wouldn’t have been able to get in, right?”

Her eyes turned mischievous and seductive.

Luo Qingchuan was completely defeated and lowered his head in surrender.

Normally, Su Yingxue was a reserved and graceful fairy-like girl—cold, distant, like a chaste literary heroine. But once her emotions surged, she’d do some rather “unusual” things, especially in front of Luo Qingchuan. She liked showing a completely different side of herself.

Luo Qingchuan had every reason to suspect she was doing it on purpose.

When Su Yingxue flirted with him, it was with the sincerity of a girl seriously in love, someone who loved romance and purity.

But when she flirted seriously and pushed him down, she’d become a bold and uninhibited carnivorous type.

Well, he was pretty happy about it—but also couldn’t help feeling like he was being completely played.

Because after he lowered his head and admitted defeat, he saw Su Yingxue softly chuckle twice.

“Xiao Chuanchuan, thank you for not touching me.”

Luo Qingchuan was slightly curious. “Is that important to you?”

“Because… if I’m asleep, I can’t feel you,” Su Yingxue bit her lip, her cheeks turning red, voice getting smaller and smaller. “I’d… feel very disappointed.”

Her thighs pressed together, rubbing slightly. Her clear eyes shimmered with a charm that sparked all sorts of thoughts.

Luo Qingchuan was rendered speechless.

Su Yingxue’s heart pounded like a wild deer.

“Let’s eat properly. Don’t think about naughty stuff just yet. Also, I want you to rest a bit more. I heard for cultivators, um… your yang essence is really important. Losing it might slow down your cultivation.”

Luo Qingchuan decided he couldn’t let Su Yingxue keep running wild. He looked up with a teasing smile. “But I wasn’t thinking anything bad. Were you hoping I was?”

Su Yingxue looked as if she wanted to nod, but quickly shook her head, not daring to meet his gaze. She mumbled, “Was I… too demanding before?”

Luo Qingchuan wanted to laugh but held it in with effort. “That’s for virgin cultivation techniques, right? I’m not practicing that stuff.”

Su Yingxue paused for a second, then asked again, “So you were holding back the whole night?”

“…How do you know I was holding back?”

Su Yingxue turned her head and muttered, “When I was lying on you… it was already throbbing.”

Luo Qingchuan’s expression froze. He pretended nothing happened and focused on eating. “Not a big deal.”

“Xiao Chuanchuan, does that mean… we can’t play ‘sleep assault’ anymore?”

“Huh?!” Luo Qingchuan’s eyes went wide, nearly spitting out his food, coughing non-stop.

“What a shame,” Su Yingxue twirled a strand of her long hair around her slender fingers, lost in thought. Then her eyes lit up as she looked at Luo Qingchuan. “Then how about… when you’re asleep…”

“Absolutely not!”

Luo Qingchuan cut her off immediately.

Su Yingxue couldn’t hold back her laughter. Her rosy cheeks glowed as she smiled sweetly. “Just teasing.”

She always had this delicate, graceful demeanor, but would suddenly say things that completely caught Luo Qingchuan off guard.

“Luo Qingchuan,” Su Yingxue suddenly said softly, “if we get the chance, let’s try dual cultivation, okay?”

Luo Qingchuan looked as if he had been struck by lightning. “Huh?”

Her face was red, but her eyes were surprisingly serious. “Isn’t it said that dual cultivation can speed up cultivation? If you use me as a furnace vessel, you could raise your realm faster!”

Luo Qingchuan knew she was just worried about his cultivation talent again.

“It’s not that miraculous. Don’t worry so much. Who knows, maybe I’m a genius too—just waiting for my moment to shine.”

Su Yingxue studied him for a moment and smiled. “Alright.”

The young girl smiled with a quiet charm, her heart like an orchid in the shade.

This morning, Luo Qingchuan was utterly defeated again and again. He secretly made up his mind: when the time was right, he’d turn the tables on Su Yingxue and reclaim his pride.

Still, speaking of dual cultivation…

Luo Qingchuan thought of someone.

Zhang Jin, a laoshi in the Seeking Dao class who specialized in talisman arts.

That guy, in the future, hit a bottleneck in cultivation, couldn’t make progress, and was running out of lifespan. With a “go mad or die” mindset, he stepped onto an evil path.

During the first off-campus secret realm exam of the Seeking Dao class, Zhang Jin forcibly drained several of his female students and set up the “Soul Capturing Immortal Array” to extract their souls and refine pills.

Later, he defected to the demonic sect and died in a righteous-vs-evil battle under the sword of the Child of Destiny, Zuo Tian.

Luo Qingchuan pondered.

If he was going to make a move, the secret realm exam would be the perfect opportunity.

With the shadow of calamity and blue ghost mask, and wearing the ancient robes from the Sage System, he could make sure his identity stayed hidden.

His Fate Reversal Points or Sage Points would definitely increase.

……

The Seeking Dao class held an early morning session.

After arriving at the academy, Luo Qingchuan and Su Yingxue headed straight to the classroom to report in.

It was a newly prepared classroom, already with several students sitting inside. Seeing the two arrive together, many greeted them.

The classroom was spacious, but there weren’t many students. Everyone could sit wherever they liked.

Laoshi Lu Wu stood quietly at the podium with eyes closed, resting.

As soon as Luo Qingchuan and Su Yingxue entered, Lu Wu opened his kind eyes and smiled. “You two students, your classroom isn’t here.”

“Huh?” Luo Qingchuan looked surprised. “Aren’t we students of the Seeking Dao class?”

Lu Wu smiled gently. “Yes and no. You were chosen by Lu Chuning. She arranged a classroom for you.”

“Where is it?”

“Upstairs. I’ll take you.”

Lu Wu, dressed in a flowing daoist robe, took the lead and strode out the door.

Luo Qingchuan and Su Yingxue exchanged a glance and had no choice but to follow.

As they stepped out, Lu Wu suddenly asked a question.

“Su tongxue, you’ve built your foundation?”

“Yes.” Su Yingxue answered directly.

Lu Wu’s voice was full of satisfaction and delight. “Excellent. Joining Lu Chuning’s tutelage is clearly a great benefit. Lin Yu couldn’t have taught you. This is a path you earned yourself.”

“Lin Yu-laoshi… is a good person too.” Su Yingxue replied sweetly.

“Of course he is,” Lu Wu sighed. “But those with extraordinary talent are rare. We mustn’t misguide our students.”

Su Yingxue had nothing to say to that.

Soon, they arrived at a small, empty classroom on the top floor.

“This is the one. I’ll take my leave.”

Before leaving, Lu Wu glanced back at Luo Qingchuan with a smile in his eyes. “Luo tongxue, since you were also selected, perhaps there’s something extraordinary about you that I failed to see. There are many prodigies in the world. Perhaps my own vision is just too limited to see through the fog.”

That gaze seemed to pierce straight into Luo Qingchuan’s heart, but Lu Wu truly couldn’t find anything out of place. He could only assume Lu Chuning had seen something he couldn’t, and became even more curious about him.

“Luo tongxue, if fate allows, please enlighten me someday. I would be deeply grateful.”

Lu Wu bowed.

Luo Qingchuan could only offer a wry smile. “I wish I could enlighten you.”

The truth was, Lu Chuning had only locked onto him because of Chen Yanyu—not because she had seen through his Disaster Calamity Chaos Immortal Scripture.

Luo Qingchuan couldn’t explain anything convincingly.

“Perhaps the time just hasn’t come.” Lu Wu laughed heartily and left.

Su Yingxue listened quietly, recalling how Luo Qingchuan’s cultivation progress was indeed somewhat slow and steady.

Her eyes sparkled. She squeezed Luo Qingchuan’s hand, giggling softly as she whispered, “You really might be a once-in-a-lifetime genius, you know.”

“Really…”

“Every flower blooms in its own season, Luo Qingchuan. Be confident,” Su Yingxue said with a gentle frown. “Otherwise, it’ll seem like Laoshi Lu Chuning only picked you for your body…”