Chapter 136: 93. Pure love between master and disciple at Lotus Cave Mansion! Meeting True Monarch Taiwu! (10k/10k)_2
Even though his Master's figure was perfect, he didn't harbor a single disrespectful thought.
This was definitely not self-deception.
He understood clearly that, from some point onwards, the filial devotion in his heart had undergone a subtle, fundamental shift.
However!
The affection he had for his Master differed entirely from his feelings for his three female fellow disciples, and even from Martial Uncle Su, about whom he had fantasized countless times in his dreams.
There were no more improper thoughts.
It was pure love—clearlove.
If he could, he wouldn't even mind if time stood still, allowing him to quietly gaze at her like this.
For a thousand years, for ten thousand years.
Fourteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. I've grown so handsome in this life, yet Master is still as stunning as when I first saw her.
A gentle smile touched Lin Xiao's lips as he gazed tenderly at his Master before him.
At this moment, the candlelight flickered within the cave.
It made her face appear even more indescribably beautiful.
Beneath her long eyelashes, her nose was finely sculpted, her crimson lips seemed to glow, and the lines of her cheeks were soft yet exquisitely delicate...
In this world, there's probably no woman more beautiful than my Master, right?
Smiling, Lin Xiao couldn't resist reaching out his finger and lightly touching the tip of her nose.
"Mmm..."
Stirred by his touch, the woman's eyelashes twitched slightly. Her phoenix eyes, full of affection, opened a sliver and slowly swept towards him...
"Xiao'er, Master... Master seems to have drunk... a little too much."
Her words were slurred as she remained half-asleep, still dreaming.
"Mm-hmm, I just fed you Ten Fragrance Soup to help you sober up. It will take effect in about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, and it will dispel all the alcohol from your system."
"So, Master, just be good, don't think about anything, and let sleepiness take over."
Lin Xiao's handsome eyes crinkled with a smile as he spoke gently.
"Oh."
Perhaps it was due to the heavy intoxication, but Xiao Hongling, like an endearingly innocent little girl, nodded obediently and then said weakly, "Then... then you mustn't leave. Stay right here and keep me company..."
"Alright, alright, I will keep you company."
Lin Xiao sat down beside her and boldly took her slender, tender hand.
"Ugh, Master... I'm feeling dizzy and want to close my eyes and sleep, but for some reason, I can't fall asleep. Why don't you... tell me that story from your hometown, 'Mortal's Journey to Immortality,' like you used to, to lull me to sleep?"
"No, no story about 'Mortal's Journey to Immortality' tonight."
Lin Xiao shook his head, gazing affectionately at her. "Master, let's chat instead. Let's talk about the past."
"Master, fourteen years ago, in the tavern in Peach Blossom Spring, how did you come to choose me?"
Lin Xiao couldn't help but voice the question that had been in his heart for so long.
"Oh... let me think..." Xiao Hongling mused for a long moment, then said softly, "At that time, your martial uncles were pressuring me greatly. If my Divine Phoenix Peak still had no direct disciple to uphold its name, it would have been merged into other branches according to the ancestral rules of the Qinglan Sect, losing its heritage.
"So, I descended the mountain for a casual stroll. I felt an affinity with you, young man, and decided to take you in...
"However, my original plan after accepting you was to entrust you to the peak's Elders and then go travelling for several decades before returning. But I didn't expect..."
Lin Xiao ventured to interject, "Then, Master, you discovered my Sword Dao aptitude was extraordinary, so you changed your mind? Decided to personally nurture my growth?"
"No, no, no. Although your Sword Dao aptitude was indeed monstrous, I had no intention of abandoning my dream of seeking the world's finest wines for your sake. What truly made me change my mind was..."
As she spoke, Xiao Hongling's phoenix eyes focused. "Hey, that little girl you single-handedly saved from those ruffians that day, what was her name again?"
She thought for a moment, then said to herself, "Ah, never mind. In any case, I was moved by your sheer, unaided courage, young man, and so I decided... to teach you personally!"
Damn it! So that's how it was! The question that had puzzled me for over a decade was finally answered! At this moment, Lin Xiao was profoundly shaken! So... all the changes in the plot began with that little girl! When he was eight, he defied the original plot and saved that little girl, which made the young him earn Xiao Hongling's admiration! After that, she didn't travel frequently as in the original story but stayed on Divine Phoenix Peak, accompanying him as he grew up! And it was precisely because of this. His Master in this real world, from the very beginning, held a special affection for him, Lin Xiao, an affection that didn't exist in the original work! That's why she performed the Sword Intent Baptism for him, gave him all sorts of special treatment, and helped him defeat Ye Chen!
"Master, I...."
Lin Xiao looked deeply moved and was about to say something.
But then, a series of soft, rhythmic breathing sounds reached his ears.
So it turns out the stunningly beautiful and noble Fairy Hongling also snores.
「The following day.」
The golden crow rose in the east.
Shafts of morning light streamed in.
Lin Xiao had sat cross-legged before his Master's bed, meditating throughout the night.
Just as he rose, refreshed and energetic, ready to prepare some heartwarming porridge for his Master.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
The Daoist bell in the Sect Leader's main hall chimed.
Immediately after, from the direction of Dragon Head Peak, a deep and resonant voice echoed:
"By order of the Sect Leader, Lin Xiao, the Martial Champion of this tournament and Chief Disciple of Divine Phoenix Peak, is to proceed immediately to Mount Taicang to pay respects to True Monarch Taiwu!"
Ah, this... Lin Xiao looked at the ancient and sacred Qinglan Sword in his storage space and was instantly lost in thought! It seems that before the Eight Great Demon Sects attack the mountain, the Sword Tomb trial is finally about to begin... Looks like today is going to be a huge fiasco!
「Tiandang Peak, Main Hall.」
A tall and a short figure, one stout and one lean, stood in the center of the hall.
"Master, did you hear? That despicable Lin Xiao... he's actually favored by True Monarch Taiwu!"
Ye Chen gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. The humiliation he had accumulated over this period surged back into his heart!
It should have been him! To stand before tens of thousands of disciples of the Qinglan Sect, to ascend Mount Taicang and receive True Monarch Taiwu's legacy... that should have been me, Ye Chen!
"My dear disciple, why let it bother you?"
Yuanyi narrowed his eyes, a mysterious smile playing on his lips. "Do you remember I said I would take you to meet a great personage?"
"True Monarch Taiwu summoning Lin Xiao now likely means his own time is short. It is also time for me, your Master, to take you to meet that supremely exalted 'Great One'."
"If you can gain his esteemed tutelage, that Lin Xiao... will be less than nothing! HAHAHAHA!"
Hearing this, Ye Chen's heart brightened. Seeing a chance to clear his name so close at hand, he gritted his teeth and immediately knelt.
"Thank you for the introduction, Master! If that 'Great One' is willing to accept me as a disciple..."
"I, Ye Chen, the Princely Heir of Beichuan, am willing to acknowledge you as my sworn father!"
He spoke each word with sincere and fierce earnestness, yet an almost imperceptible, sharp glint flashed in his eyes!
A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm! Today, I lower myself to serve this scoundrel; tomorrow, I shall repay this humiliation many times over!
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I've seen everyone's comments. That toad Ye Chen will die! Just be patient! When Ye Xuan'er and his stunningly beautiful mother, Princess Consort Beichuan, are introduced, he'll be done for! He'll suffer a complete mental collapse, a fate worse than death!