Gu Junshi could feign sincerity and reply "love," but it would be of no avail. If she were to enter the Dao of Love, she would have to genuinely feel for him, even a sliver, a speck, would be better than this cascade of flowery, insincere words.
After a moment of silence, she seemed to encounter a difficult problem, pondering it with concentration: "I... for you..." Meeting his luminous, clear eyes that reflected her image, she let out a sigh and finally admitted, "I have possessiveness."
Recalling the events at Laishan Stream, if everything had proceeded according to her original plan without any flaws, the best outcome would have been to let her young husband entangle with the third female lead, Ziying, and develop their relationship. She wouldn't have had to appear and relieve him of the Yin Chi Yang Poison.
After much deliberation, it was simply that in that moment, her selfish heart was at play, and deep down, she was unwilling to let others covet what belonged to her.
There's a saying that possessiveness may not be true love, but once one develops a desire to exclusively own something, it's at least... fondness.
Gu Junshi, both in her past life and present, was always proud and aloof, never having fallen for anyone, nor believing emotions to be a necessity.
But her young husband was indeed worthy of her affection. He was well-behaved and intelligent, loyal and sensible. Most importantly, his face and physique perfectly satisfied her worldly desires for a man.
At this moment, she felt a subtle loosening in her cultivation realm. Her beautiful, frosty white face remained as solid as plaster, betraying no emotion, but her lips gradually deepened to a rosy hue due to her genuine excitement. She offered him a smile.
Liu Jiangfusheng, upon hearing this, was stunned for a moment, his expression a complex mix of joy and sorrow. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Gu Junshi chuckle softly.
The hand she rested on his face was delicate and slender, entwining a lock of his raven hair, as if drawing a bright moon into her embrace.
"But my husband... you should still pray that I don't fall in love with you too quickly."
She understood her own nature: the more she loved, the more she would kill. She was not one to indulge in romance. Her ambition and the obsessive desires accumulated over countless lifetimes were so vast that they almost extinguished her humanity. Even if it brought pain in the end, she would never regret it.
He was destined to die by her hand.
Liu Jiangfusheng, however, did not understand the meaning of her words. He simply looked like a foolish child who had finally received a piece of candy as a reward, filled with joy and longing for the beautiful future she painted. His voice, gentle and lingering, said, "Ayi, no matter how long it takes, I will wait."
He would wait until that day arrived...
—
Liu Jiangfusheng's internal injuries had long been healed by "Jade Marrow," but that one arm was a bloody mess of exposed flesh. To mortals, it would surely be rendered useless, but in the cultivation world, it was merely a flesh wound, the easiest to heal. Elder Jiuli applied a high-grade spirit medicine to it, bandaged it, and within a few days, his flesh and bone would regenerate, and he would be fully recovered.
At noon, Elder Jiuli, along with a group of disciples, came to visit him. After exchanging pleasantries, he urged him to rest and recover quickly. The "Minor Competition" a month later was a wheel battle, and only those who stood till the end could advance to the "Grand Competition." This process would take at least ten days and as long as half a month spent in the "Minor Competition," which undoubtedly required a healthy physique to endure.
Elder Jiuli found himself increasingly pleased with Liu Jiangfusheng with each passing moment. It was no exaggeration to say that he had placed all his hopes for this "Newcomer Rankings" on this new disciple who had only been cultivating for three years.
Elder Jiuli couldn't even estimate Liu Jiangfusheng's current combat strength. In the cultivation world, besides spiritual power, combat strength was the true measure of a cultivator's overall ability.
For example, between two cultivators of the same level, one who had forcefully advanced their realm by consuming pills, and another who had steadily ascended by comprehending the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, their comprehension and talent would be vastly different, leading to a world of difference in their combat strength.
Cultivation was like the reservoir of power stored within the body, while combat strength was the amount one could mobilize and utilize to its fullest extent.
Elder Jiuli sighed, "The Minor Competition is in a month. Many geniuses have arrived this time, and even disciples from Xingyun Mountain, Wushuang Realm, Xianqi Cave, and Maha Chan Temple will be participating."
Honestly, compared to these behemoth sects, their small sect, which had ascended from the Eleventh Heaven, truly had little confidence in competing. However, everything that had happened at Dusheng Taoist Temple this time had given Liu Jiangfusheng sufficient confidence.
"Fusheng, you should be one of those geniuses!" he praised generously.
The other disciples also looked at Liu Jiangfusheng with admiring agreement.
Even the flying zombie, Uncle-Master Fusheng, who could tear apart a Nascent Soul cultivator like Chen Daoshan, had managed to drive it away. He had simply shattered their understanding of cultivation.
Only Danya, standing behind, curled her lips in mockery, her frosty gaze reflecting in her clear pupils, emitting a cold light.
Elder Jiuli turned again and said to the disciples behind him, "I don't have too high expectations for you. Forget the championship, but at least one of you should reach the top three."
An elite disciple exclaimed dramatically, "Elder, you say the top three? Isn't that asking a bit too much?"
"Elder, we didn't even have the qualifications to participate before. Now that we've had a taste of success, are we becoming too ambitious? Is this really good?" they all grumbled and laughed.
Elder Jiuli feigned anger, "You didn't, but Fusheng did. And Danya. It's not that I'm being overly optimistic; it's that they possess such strength!"
At this moment, Ziying glanced at Gu Yinger, who stood silently behind like a shadow, and smiled, "Junior Disciple Guiying isn't bad either."
Fang Rui glanced at her, feeling a slight disdain for Ziying's deliberate closeness to this gloomy disciple.
What was she trying to achieve?
She didn't believe that Ziying, who was bent on climbing higher, would genuinely fancy someone like that.
She withdrew her gaze and said gently, "Although it's not good to say discouraging words at this time, I saw on the 'Newcomer Rankings' iron tickets from the Void Sect that several of the disciples predicted to be at the top this time are very difficult to deal with."
"Who are they?" they asked curiously.
Fang Rui said, "Yu Hai from Xianqi Cave, Cheng Hong from Maha Chan Temple, Ru Lan from Wushuang Realm, and... the disciples from these major sects, each one is not to be underestimated. Without defeating any one of them, I fear one cannot even enter the top ten."
Upon hearing her words, they were indeed somewhat disheartened. They weren't ignorant rogue cultivators, and through word of mouth, each of those individuals was a legendary figure, astonishing in their reputation.
At this moment, Liu Jiangfusheng curiously asked, "Are we... inferior to them?"
They were stunned for a moment after hearing this.
Then they asked themselves.
Were they inferior?
If someone had asked this before, they would have likely thought the other person was foolish. Inferior to whom? Did they not know their own capabilities and where they came from?
But times had changed.
Upon closer thought.
Yes, were they inferior?
They had Junior Uncle-Master Fusheng, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator with Heavenly Spiritual Roots and an immortal sword combination, and Junior Uncle-Master Danya, a peak Golden Core cultivator with Earth Spiritual Roots and maxed-out skills. Could they truly be inferior?
A jolt like electricity coursed through their bodies, and their eyes suddenly shone with brilliance.
No, they were probably considered seed contestants by others now!
This year, it was time for their Daying Sect to hold their head high!