Chapter 197: The Perfect Disguise

Chapter 197: The Perfect Disguise

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The next morning, inside the secret room on Little Turtle Peak.

Zhou Qingxuan slowly regained consciousness, her body stiff and sore, and her sea of consciousness throbbing with excruciating pain.

"My mana... it's sealed."

Her pure, delicate face and yellow dress were stained with blood as she lay on the cold floor.

Instinctively, she reached for her waist, only to find that her storage pouch and pet pouch had disappeared.

Moments later, the door to the secret room opened.

A tall, jade-like man in white robes brushed past the girl in the yellow dress and sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion not far away.

Zhou Qingxuan lifted her head to gaze at the familiar face of the man, his black eyes deep and calm like a still well.

"Congratulations, Lord Gu Emperor, for getting what you wanted."

Zhou Qingxuan forced a smile, her jade hands supporting the ground as she strained to get up.

As a result, her injuries flared up.

Her knees buckled with a thump, leaving her in a half-kneeling position on the floor.

Lan Chang'an gazed at the once-proud and pristine Zhou Family's genius, who now looked pitiful and disheveled, her expression filled with awe and flattery.

Once upon a time, as a mere Qi-Refining cultivator, Lan Chang'an had sought an audience with the Foundation Establishment Zhou Qingxuan, treating her with utmost respect as a junior, never daring to defy her.

"Heh, so this was the relationship between Miss Zhou and the Hundred Abodes Soul Gu?"

Lan Chang'an chuckled lightly, a mocking smile on his face.

"You... you weren’t taken over...?"

Zhou Qingxuan's expression shifted in disbelief.

"You’ve misunderstood, Miss Zhou. I was not controlled by the Soul Gu. Thanks to a unique talent, I managed to maintain a stalemate with it, retaining partial control over my body."

Lan Chang'an explained in an unhurried manner.

"So, the one speaking to me now... is the real Fellow Daoist Lan?"

Zhou Qingxuan was still skeptical, her bright eyes fixed on him.

"Indeed."

After receiving confirmation, the yellow-dressed girl, still kneeling on the floor, flushed with embarrassment and shame.

Previously, she and the Soul Gu had coexisted in a symbiotic relationship, but the Soul Gu had dominated her body, keeping her fully subdued.

In theory, if one's attainments in the soul path were high enough, or if they possessed certain mystical abilities, they could suppress the Soul Gu and force it to serve them.

As a beast-taming genius, Zhou Qingxuan was well aware of this fact.

She had tried to regain partial control of her body, but had miserably failed.

Lan Chang'an, who was targeted by the Soul Gu for parasitism, was obviously no ordinary cultivator, and evidently far more valuable and promising than she had been.

For him to achieve what she couldn’t implied that he possessed extraordinary potential, beyond even the Soul Gu’s expectations.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, what do you plan to do with me?"

After a moment, Zhou Qingxuan calmed herself and knelt properly, smiling gracefully.

Lan Chang'an replied, "According to the Soul Gu's plan, after parasitizing me, it was going to activate the restriction in your sea of consciousness to eliminate any threats and keep its secrets safe."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingxuan's heart skipped a beat.

It made sense for the Soul Gu to discard her after finding a more valuable host. The host before her, Chen Fuhai, had also died in the chaos of the Green Underworld Mysterious Realm.

"Given our long-standing acquaintance, I negotiated with the Soul Gu to win you a chance to live."

Lan Chang'an explained his reasoning.

He had initially considered impersonating the Soul Gu and directly intimidating Zhou Qingxuan into submission.

However, lacking the various abilities of the Hundred Abodes Soul Gu, he knew it would be easy to expose his ruse.

If Zhou Qingxuan realized the truth, she would demonize him, lose all hope of survival, and potentially resort to desperate measures like a self-destructive, all-or-nothing approach.

By portraying himself as someone in opposition to the Soul Gu, Lan Chang'an offered her a sliver of hope for survival.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, I am eternally grateful for your life-saving grace. I will never forget this debt."

Zhou Qingxuan knelt and bowed in gratitude.

"Qingxuan is willing to serve as your concubine or maidservant if you would save me."

The restriction in her sea of consciousness terrified Zhou Qingxuan deeply.

Even if she managed to escape, the restriction would eventually activate and kill her.

"Miss Zhou, you're a once-in-a-century genius of the Zhou Family, with the potential to reach Core Formation. Your status is far too distinguished for me to dare offend."

Lan Chang'an smiled.

"To save Miss Zhou, I’ve had to pay a hidden price. We might as well strike a deal."

"Please, tell me what you have in mind."

Zhou Qingxuan relaxed slightly.

Falling into Lan Chang'an’s hands offered her a greater chance of survival than remaining under the control of the terrifying Soul Gu.

"If I ever reach the Core Formation Realm, I’ll return your freedom. But you must agree to two conditions."

"First, you must swear an oath on your inner demons to never reveal anything about the Soul Gu's parasitism of me."

Lan Chang'an suggested.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, since we’ll be working together for some time, why be so distant and cautious? Wouldn’t it be better to relax a bit?"

Zhou Qingxuan smiled mischievously.

Having just bathed, her long, waterfall-like hair was slightly damp, and her pale yellow dress was spotless.

"What are you suggesting?"

"How about I pretend to be Fellow Daoist Lan's lover?"

Zhou Qingxuan’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she leaned closer, her fragrance faint but captivating.

"An interesting idea."

Lan Chang'an pondered for a moment, not giving an immediate response.

"Aren’t you afraid the Zhou Family elders will object?"

"In the Zhou Family, Qingxuan is the future ruler under one person and above ten thousand. As long as I don’t marry anyone officially, they don’t care about my private affairs."

Zhou Qingxuan smiled charmingly, her eyes both pure and alluring as she wrapped her arm around Lan Chang'an’s and leaned into him.

"Miss Zhou, you mentioned ‘pretending’ earlier."

Lan Chang'an pointed out.

Zhou Qingxuan whispered softly, "Of course, I’d like it to seem more real, so there’s no risk of exposure."

"Qingxuan has been cultivating for over a hundred years. I've taken Youth Retaining Pills and remain youthful. I’m still untouched. If I were to pretend to be your lover, my inexperience might make it difficult. It would be a great honor to serve you."

"It wouldn’t be an imposition."

Lan Chang'an replied thoughtfully, his hand naturally sliding to her slender waist.

"Miss Zhou, you should think carefully. No matter how well you act, there won’t be any extra benefits for you."

"As long as Fellow Daoist Lan is satisfied with my performance, that’s enough."

Zhou Qingxuan's bright eyes shimmered with a misty allure, and her face flushed as she tiptoed closer.

The two embraced for a long moment. Zhou Qingxuan's hand lightly moved to her waist, and her dress began to slip off.

"Your injuries aren’t healed yet."

Lan Chang'an shook his head, stopping her.

His physical body was strong, and he didn’t want to engage in something that wouldn’t be fully enjoyable.

"Fellow Daoist Lan’s care is touching."

Zhou Qingxuan's gaze became more seductive, her half-undone dress draping as she knelt by his side, her graceful curves displayed submissively.

...

Half an hour later.

Lan Chang'an escorted the graceful, radiant girl in the yellow dress out of the cave.

"Miss Zhou, stay at Little Pill Peak for now to heal. Once you've recovered most of your strength, you can return to your family."

Lan Chang'an instructed.

"I’ll follow Fellow Daoist Lan’s arrangement."

Zhou Qingxuan smiled, covering her lips delicately with her hand.

...

A month later.

Having mostly recovered from her injuries, Zhou Qingxuan left Wuqi Mountain.

Those paying close attention noticed that her relationship with Lan Chang'an seemed closer than before.

During this time, the late-stage Foundation Establishment Elder from the Zhou Family paid several visits to Little Turtle Peak.

But considering their near-century-long acquaintance, no one found it particularly odd.

...

In the blink of an eye, two years passed.

Nothing major happened in the Liang Kingdom cultivation world, and the sects that had ventured into Feng Kingdom had all returned home.

The major sects began consolidating their power, issuing tasks to eliminate rogue and evil cultivators who had risen to prominence.

Some mid-tier and small sects, having colluded in rebellions, were purged by the dominant sects.

Business at Wuqi Mountain gradually improved.

During these two years, Zhou Qingxuan visited Wuqi Mountain several times, staying at Little Turtle Peak for a few days on each occasion, signaling an unusual relationship.

Each time she came, Lan Chang'an received some cultivation resources or materials, at the very least of superior second-rank quality.

The resources she brought often included pills that aided in Foundation Establishment cultivation, some of which were of superior quality.

Lan Chang'an understood that Zhou Qingxuan was growing impatient with his slow cultivation progress and was trying to help him speed things up.

In fact, Lan Chang'an, now 137 years old, was getting closer to reaching the late-stage Foundation Establishment.

His body refinement manual was progressing even faster.

Most of the third-rank spirit sand stones that Shen Bixin had helped collect had already been consumed.

On this day, Lan Chang'an's Cloud Sand Body Refinement Manual finally broke through its shackles, reaching its highest, seventh layer!

(End of chapter)