Chapter 45: The Twins’ Secrets (2)

"Again? Where are you going this time?"

Gu Yuan asked almost immediately after hearing Ji Yue say that the official ceremony would have to wait.

It genuinely felt as though the two of them were constantly leaving the sect. They had just returned and took the sect into their hands, and now they were already talking about going away again.

Can they really handle the responsibilities of Sect Master like this?

Before he could wonder about it any further, Ji Yue answered his question.

"Actually, we’re not going outside the sect this time."

She remained seated beside the low table, calmly holding her teacup between her slender fingers. Her expression was as composed as ever, though there was a faint smile on her lips as she looked at Gu Yuan.

"Our trip will be inside the sect. We’re going to a secret realm."

She paused, humming lightly as though weighing how much to reveal. After a few seconds she continued, her voice even.

"We originally came to the Black Desolation Sect for one main reason: to find you, our fated Dao companion."

"But that isn’t the only reason we came here."

"There is a treasure sealed inside a secret realm belonging to this sect. Its existence is quite significant to us."

"Oh." Gu Yuan gave a small, acknowledging sound. "Then, I wish you good luck."

He was actually quite curious.

What kind of treasure could be important enough for these two? He wanted to ask, yet chose not to.

He had learned by now that the twins had secrets of their own, just as he had secrets he wasn’t ready to reveal. There was no reason to pry into everything they did.

Besides, he already had a convenient way of satisfying his curiosity.

Threads of Providence.

Gu Yuan silently activated his ability.

[Threads of Providence]

Name: Ji Yue

Age: 40 (9,999,940)

Cultivation: Spiritual Core Realm, Sixth Stage

Spiritual Root: Ice Spiritual Root (Immortal Grade)

Physique: Sacred Calculation Physique

Providence: Extremely High

Special Note: Ji Xingyue, the reincarnated Myriad Fate Empress, once stood at the pinnacle of the Great Dao of Fate. Before her reincarnation, she divined the existence of her destined Dao Companion and descended into the Cangchen Mortal World in search of him, while also seeking the Ascension Door hidden within this world. Now, she is about to enter the secret realm containing the Ascension Door, but her thoughts are all about consummating her marriage after she comes out.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

How ridiculous...

Gu Yuan could only think that as he read the information. The sheer scale of what she had once been, and what she still carried, left him momentarily speechless.

"Hmm?" Ji Yue suddenly raised her slender eyebrow.

Her purple eyes settled on Gu Yuan, and there was a hint of curiosity in them.

"Did you just use some ability on me?"

Gu Yuan’s expression remained calm, but his heart tightened slightly.

"No," he denied immediately.

He hadn’t expected Ji Yue to notice anything.

He had assumed that an ability granted by the Orb of Creation would be impossible for her to detect, but apparently, he had underestimated her perception.

Then again, considering the ridiculous information he had just seen, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Ji Yue studied him for a few moments. Then, instead of pressing the matter, she smiled.

"Is that so?"

There was amusement in her voice.

She had clearly noticed something, yet she didn’t seem particularly concerned about it.

If someone else had been able to use an unknown ability on her so discreetly that she had only barely sensed it, she might have taken it much more seriously.

But Gu Yuan was different. He was her fated Dao companion.

There were bound to be things about him she didn’t know, and she had never expected him to reveal every secret he possessed.

If anything, the fact that he had such abilities only made her more curious about him.

Before the silence could stretch, Ji Yan’s voice cut in from beside him, blunt and perfectly timed.

"I see you’ve stopped forging weapons. Why?"

Gu Yuan immediately turned his gaze away from Ji Yue and toward Ji Yan, almost as though he had found a convenient escape from the silver-haired woman’s attention.

"I was concentrating on my cultivation," he replied. "But I’ll resume my forging practice soon."

Ji Yan nodded once. Then, without any of her usual sharpness, she asked, "So, what do you plan to make for me?"

Pretty forward today, isn’t she?

Gu Yuan studied her for a moment before asking in return, "What kind of thing do you want me to forge?"

"That’s your choice. But..." Her golden eyes met his, a playful glint appearing in them. "How should I punish you if you fail to satisfy me?"

Gu Yuan stared at the red-haired woman whose waist he was still holding.

For some reason, the intimidation he had always felt when facing the twins seemed to have disappeared. Perhaps it was because they had become too familiar to him now, or perhaps he was simply getting bolder around them.

Either way, his voice took on a matching playful tone as he asked, "Considering our current position, do you really think you can make that threat convincing?"

Ji Yan opened her mouth, then closed it again. She tried to come up with some response, but she couldn’t fine any. A faint pink blush spread across her cheeks as she turned her gaze away from him.

At the other side of the table, Ji Yue chuckled at the sight.

She then stood up, and seeing that, Ji Yan finally slipped out of Gu Yuan’s embrace and moved over to her sister’s side.

Ji Yue looked back at Gu Yuan.

"We’ll probably take a long time to return this time, and the situation around the sect may become somewhat chaotic. It shouldn’t be dangerous, but take care while we’re gone."

With those cryptic, almost casually delivered words that seemed to promise a future of trouble, Ji Xingyue, the reincarnated Myriad Fate Empress, and her twin finally took their leave.

Gu Yuan remained seated for a moment after they disappeared.

He tried to stand up, only to find that his legs seemed to have lost all of their strength.

Teasing a ten-million-year-old woman...

Even if courage had somehow found its way into him, it seemed his body was considerably more honest.

Gu Yuan took a deep breath and leaned back slightly, his mind returning to everything that had happened during their meeting.

Wasn’t I supposed to keep myself emotionally detached from this relationship?

Then why had he acted so affectionately toward them earlier?

And why had he actually felt disappointed when Ji Yue told him that their official ceremony would be delayed?

Gu Yuan pondered over it for a while before eventually shaking his head.

There was no point trying to force an answer out of himself right now.

For the moment, there was something else that had caught his attention.

The information he had seen about Ji Yue.

She wasn’t merely some extraordinarily talented cultivator.

She was a reincarnated Empress who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Great Dao and was now cultivating her way back to that level.

Her spiritual root alone was enough to make Gu Yuan feel speechless.

He had been celebrating after obtaining a First Grade Spiritual Root, only to discover that Ji Yue possessed an Immortal Grade Ice Spiritual Root.

And that wasn’t even mentioning her Sacred Calculation Physique.

Almost everything revealed by Threads of Providence about her was ridiculous.

Then there was her age.

9,999,940.

What the fuck kind of number is that?

He couldn’t help but sigh.

There was an enormous gap between him and the twins, not only in cultivation but in almost every other aspect that mattered.

Still...

Eventually, I’ll be able to surpass them.

Right?

...Right?