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Join the Server“Fairy Ning……”
Bai Xiaoyu seemed to have victory within her grasp, her arms crossed over her chest as her dangerous red eyes stared coldly at the icy, proud, and peerlessly beautiful fairy before her.
The corners of her mouth suddenly curved into a cold smile, “You don’t really think you are pure as ice, untainted by the dust of the world, and that no one knows the dirty deeds you’ve done, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing this, Ning Qingzhu actually calmed down.
Her pair of icy, beautiful eyes radiated a sharp gaze, her eyes scanning back and forth across the lolita fairy like a blade, wanting to peel away her outer shell layer by layer to uncover her backing.
“Bai Xiaoyu, what you say had better come with evidence.
Otherwise, no matter what kind of heavenly figure stands behind you, today I will definitely not let you leave this place intact!”
“Rumble—”
The lineage-protecting formation quietly opened, and a cluster of ice-cold white radiance slowly condensed in Ning Qingzhu’s hand.
She was a famous icy fairy across the world, holding a high and pure reputation that spread ten thousand miles.
Therefore, she cared about her reputation above all else, and would never allow anyone to slander her purity out of thin air!
One can eat carelessly, but one cannot speak recklessly.
And speaking recklessly could come at the cost of one’s life!
On the other side, facing the formidable strength, icy demeanor, and almost tangible killing intent of the terrifying fairy pressing forward step by step, Bai Xiaoyu was not flustered in the slightest.
She did not open her mouth to defend herself, nor did she hurriedly display evidence.
Instead, she turned her head sideways and looked tenderly at Lu Ke, who was worrying about her from the side, her lips moving slightly as she asked a seemingly irrelevant and baffling question:
“Xiao Ke, do you know why, despite your overflowing talent—taking only three years to charge all the way from Qi Refining to the peak of Foundation Establishment—your cultivation failed to advance even an inch over the following seven years, and why your attempts at Core Formation repeatedly ended in failure?”
“Ah?
Why?”
Lu Ke was somewhat dazed.
How did the confrontation between these two suddenly drag the topic onto him?
“Hmph, let me tell you why.”
Bai Xiaoyu turned her head back around to stare directly at the icy fairy emitting piercing coldness across from her.
Her crimson eyes were filled with the joy of victory firmly in hand, and a cruel smile suddenly hung from her elegant lips:
“That is because what you cultivate is the core art of the Bamboo Lineage.
And the core arts of the four main lineages and four branch lineages of the Hundred Flowers Sect are only suitable for women to cultivate.
If a man cultivates them, the feminine energy prospers while the masculine energy wanes, causing an imbalance between Yin and Yang.
His path of cultivation is naturally restricted by a very low ceiling, leaving him permanently unable to break through the shackles, his road ahead cut off right then and there.”
“And as for all of this, your dear Chief clearly knew everything, yet she kept it hidden and refused to tell you, cold-heartedly watching you slam into the southern wall again and again until you were bloodied and bruised…… What a truly pure, untainted, and lofty fairy!~”
“Boom—!”
The sky fell.
Lu Ke stared at the woman across from him in utter disbelief, feeling that she was both familiar and a complete stranger.
“Qingzhu, what Xiaoyu said, is it true?……”
He believed that Xiaoyu would never lie to him, nor would she ever talk nonsense.
Yet even with the bloody truth laid out right before his eyes, he was still willing to give Ning Qingzhu one final chance to explain……
As long as she said it wasn’t true, that there were other circumstances, or even if she refused to admit it and said she herself had been kept in the dark and had good intentions all along, Lu Ke was willing to believe it all, willing to find excuses to acquit her.
Qingzhu, I beg of you!
Even if you just say whatever pops into your mind to deceive me, please!
Yet Ning Qingzhu clearly did not need such an opportunity.
“Yes, it is indeed as you say.”
She admitted it generously.
Not only did she admit it, but she also put on an utterly indifferent and matter-of-fact expression, responding in a flat tone: “A man who cultivates the core arts of the Hundred Flowers Sect will inevitably face a limit on his cultivation path, beyond any cure…… But even if I told him, what use would it be?
Nothing more than bring troubles upon oneself!”
“This is the Hundred Flowers Sect, and Lu Ke is a disciple of my Bamboo Lineage.
If he doesn’t cultivate the core art of the Bamboo Lineage, what else could he cultivate?
Even if I told him in advance that the cultivation method had flaws and that practicing it would sever his future path, what significance would that carry?
Could he simply choose not to cultivate it?”
“The reason I didn’t tell him was also for his own good, to leave him a bit of hope.
Otherwise, if he were told at a young age that his future path was severed and the rest of his life could be seen at a single glance, what motivation would he have left to strive hard?
What belief would keep him in the Bamboo Lineage to serve me?”
“Whoosh—!”
The fairy’s ice-cold, bone-piercing words and completely indifferent expression were like sharp blades, piercing straight through Lu Ke’s chest.
They ripped a fiery, red, true heart right out, slamming it onto the ground where blood immediately splattered out.
“Crack—!”
Shattered, that was the sound of a heart shattering all over the ground.
Lu Ke stared blankly at this former lover before him—the person he had spent day and night with for ten years, walking through difficult years together—feeling his vision turn black and his mind spin out of control.
She knew, turns out she knew all along.
She clearly knew he couldn’t form a core, yet remained unmoved, coldly watching him hit walls everywhere like a clown, bruised and battered, never willing to open her mouth to warn him, even nearly causing his life and cultivation path to be snuffed out.
Dialogues from the past suddenly flashed across his mind, crashing down like a boomerang:
“My ideal partner…… is a Transformation Stage power……”
Then it was no wonder, no wonder at all.
He understood, Lu Ke completely understood.
No wonder Ning Qingzhu had never been moved by him.
Turns out she knew long ago that he could never become a Transformation Stage power, nor could he ever satisfy her expectations for an ideal partner.
Understood, Lu Ke understood completely.
Perhaps from the very beginning, she simply looked down on him.
She had only reluctantly entered into the marriage agreement due to her senior’s deathbed command.
As she advanced to the Nascent Soul stage and gradually secured her position as Chief of the Bamboo Lineage with an increasingly bright future, he—a Chief Disciple who could only remain forever at the peak of Foundation Establishment—appeared increasingly useless to her.
Only then did her attitude gradually cool down, allowing her to speak such truths without any reservation.
Only, why?
Lu Ke couldn’t understand.
Since she knew from the start that the two of them were impossible, why did the former Peak Master still leave a final decree for them to form a marriage contract, giving him a illusory hope?
Since she didn’t like him from the start, why did she keep a man by her side without any scruples, comfortably accepting his personal care, while remaining completely indifferent to his dedication?
In order to help the girl he loved, he could accept that his path was limited, coming to a standstill for the rest of his life.
In order to fulfill the past agreement, he could endure being treated as a free housekeeper, a tool called upon at a moment’s notice.
In order to bring about the happiness of his former lover, he could even accept that the woman he liked didn’t like him, running into someone else’s arms right before his eyes……
But why, why did she have to deceive and play him like a fool?
He was a human being, he had a heart too!
Although his heart was small and insignificant, he still cherished it dearly, holding it up high with extreme care and devoutly offering his sincere heart……
You can refuse it, but why toss it aside carelessly after taking it, and then trample on it fiercely a few times?
My sincere heart, if you truly don’t need it, please return it to me, alright?
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