Chapter 222: Leng Yingxue’s Change in Mentality

Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Leng Yingxue’s Change in Mentality

In the end, Leng Yingxue decided not to seek out those four old men for trouble. After all, she couldn’t break through their Array Barrier.

After some time had passed, she had calmed down as well.

What those four old rascals had done was certainly absurd, but their intentions had been good.

So, once Leng Yingxue calmed down and thought about it, she realized that while they were infuriating, they didn’t truly deserve to die. Regardless, she had a long history with them; they would never intentionally harm her.

What she found difficult to accept was that she had inexplicably ended up in that sort of situation with this man.

She was internally conflicted about how to deal with this man, and this—this bond—between them.

And so, her heart was in turmoil.

Chu Fan was heading to the Celestial Dao Palace. From their current location, the Celestial Dao Palace and Piaoxue Palace were in completely different directions, yet she had insisted on traveling with him for a while.

Even she didn’t know why she had done it. Her own explanation was that she still hadn’t decided how to handle him.

But in her heart of hearts, she knew that wasn’t the real reason.

"You’re Chu Fan? A disciple of the Celestial Dao Palace?"

As the two walked along a rugged mountain path through the forest, Leng Yingxue asked coolly.

"No, I’m from the Eastern Domain. As for my Sect... you can just consider me an Independent Cultivator for now. Four years ago, due to certain events, I was expelled."

Chu Fan had no intention of hiding this. He was just a little surprised that this woman had taken the initiative to ask about his past.

"Why?"

He chuckled dryly. "It’s a long story."

"Then give me the short version." Leng Yingxue’s tone remained cool, devoid of any emotion.

However, Chu Fan could still tell that she seemed quite interested.

"My Sect was targeted by a rival force. My master took me and my senior brother to demand an explanation, but we were caught in a trap. In that battle, both my master and my senior brother were killed. My Golden Core was shattered and my meridians were completely severed, leaving me a cripple. Fearing retaliation, my Sect sought an alliance with another. The price was my fiancée—my childhood sweetheart—being betrothed to that Sect’s Saint Heir. I was a cripple at the time. When I went to reason with them, they not only ignored me but expelled me from the Sect."

As Leng Yingxue listened to Chu Fan’s story, a flash of killing intent appeared in her eyes once more.

Chu Fan knew, of course, that this killing intent was not directed at him.

"A Sect like that deserves to be destroyed!"

She herself was the master of a Sect. Piaoxue Palace had over ten thousand disciples, and while she didn’t have to handle everything personally, she knew what was most important for a Sect.

To be honest, while the Lingyun Sect’s actions were supposedly to preserve the Sect, they were truly contemptible.

"Destroyed? Perhaps. But they did end up paying a heavy price for it." Chu Fan gave a self-mocking smile.

"Then how did you recover your cultivation? To go from a cripple to the Divine Separation Realm in just four years..."

"My master left a contingency plan for me. That, along with an elder who sacrificed their life, is how my meridians were ultimately restored. They also passed a High-Tier Cultivation Technique on to me. On top of that, I’ve had a few fortuitous encounters over the past few years."

And so, the two of them and a fox walked along the mountain path. Chu Fan recounted the general events of the past few years, leaving out only the most secret details.

In truth, he had kept it all bottled up for years and was not without a desire to vent. Since someone was willing to listen, he let it all out.

’Besides, this was the woman he had been intimate with!’

’At her core, Leng Yingxue wasn’t a bad person.’

’If she were even a little more murderous, he wouldn’t still be alive.’

After hearing Chu Fan’s story, Leng Yingxue fell silent once more.

In truth, she was inwardly astonished. ’A young man of only twenty-seven could actually accomplish so much.’

’What was I doing when I was twenty-seven?’

’Although she had already begun to make a name for herself back then, it was all under the protection of her master and martial uncles. She had been a key disciple, groomed for success.’

’Later, when she became the Saintess, whose word in the Sect was not law, aside from her master’s?’

’After her master passed the position of Palace Master to her, he even assisted her for several years before departing.’

’So, in her nearly two hundred years of life, she had never really faced any true hardships. That was why, ten years ago, she had fallen for someone’s plot and nearly lost her life.’

’If her master hadn’t foreseen that she was fated to face that calamity and made arrangements before he left, if Shi Lun and those other three old men hadn’t arrived in time, she would have been nothing but a pile of withered bones by now.’

Perhaps even Leng Yingxue herself didn’t realize it, but after listening to Chu Fan’s story, her own heart was undergoing a subtle, imperceptible change.

"You and Miss Yun Xi are very close?"

"We grew up together. Everyone in the Eastern Domain knows we’re childhood sweethearts. We’ve long had a tacit understanding—we don’t need words, just a single look, and we know what the other is thinking. Although we never made a public announcement or held a grand wedding feast, we’ve already privately pledged our lives to one another, to never be parted. What’s more, we’ve faced life and death together."

Pride filled Chu Fan’s heart as he spoke of Yun Xi, so he answered with complete honesty.

He failed to notice that Leng Yingxue’s expression had once again turned ice-cold, and held a trace of... disappointment.

Chu Fan didn’t ask about Leng Yingxue’s own affairs.

’In his heart, he felt their time together could only be considered a beautiful misunderstanding. There were no real feelings between them.’

’Besides, Leng Yingxue was already number one on the Human List back when she was just a Half-Saint. Now, she had already stepped into the Saint Realm.’

’Their statuses were on completely different levels.’

’Chu Fan never doubted that he could one day reach the Saint Realm himself.’

’But she wasn’t just a Saint; she was also the undisputed number one beauty on the Central Domain’s Hundred Flowers List.’

’How could she ever be interested in him?’

’He was already thanking the heavens that she hadn’t killed him on the spot. As for anything more happening between them in the future... Chu Fan knew it was simply impossible.’

’Although the memory of those three days had given him a taste of something exquisite, something he deeply wished he could have again...’

’...he knew better than anyone that it was unrealistic.’

’Unless he truly had a death wish.’

’As for the age gap, Shi Lun was right. When one’s cultivation reaches the Saint Realm, their lifespan is many, even dozens of times longer than an ordinary person’s. What’s the difference between two hundred and twenty?’

’But the age gap was never the real issue.’

Thinking of all this, Chu Fan heaved a long sigh.

’In the end, he was just an ordinary man, susceptible to the allure of a beautiful woman. Even though, deep down, he wanted to give Yun Xi his whole heart...’

’...after what happened with Leng Yingxue, his heart and his feelings for Yun Xi were no longer so pure.’

"Why are you sighing? You’re so young."

Leng Yingxue said, her brow furrowed.

"Just thinking about some troubling matters," Chu Fan said, deliberately changing the subject. "I heard that you defeated Master Yunchen with a single sword strike twenty years ago?"

"It was merely a sparring match. Had it been a battle to the death, I might not have been the one to walk away alive," Leng Yingxue said lightly.

Hearing this, Chu Fan turned and gave her a curious glance.

’Chu Fan hadn’t expected this ice-cold woman to be so humble about her accomplishments.’

’That was a rare quality.’

’Never mind women; most men with such a brilliant achievement to their name would probably brag about it for the rest of their lives.’

’And who was Master Yunchen? He was the Sect Leader of one of the three top-tier Sects in the Central Domain!’

’And Piaoxue Palace was, at best, a First-class Sect, wasn’t it?’

"I am speaking the truth. In this world, the human heart is impossible to fathom, and one can never fully guard against devious schemes. If I had understood that ten years ago, would I have ended up in a coma for a decade?"

"What exactly happened ten years ago?" In the end, Chu Fan couldn’t restrain his curiosity and asked.

’Even Shi Lun and the other three had been unable to heal her, forced to resort to sealing her in ice to preserve her life and wait for a fated opportunity. One could only imagine how powerful her opponent must have been.’