Chapter 17: Having Someone You Like

The Sacred Beauty Physique had advanced from an awakening rate of 10% to 11%. Once fully awakened, it would trigger a celestial phenomenon unique to the Sacred Physique—only then could one truly soar to the heavens.

Those who bore the Sacred Physique were rare indeed.

Heaven and earth were shrouded in mystery; yin and yang intermingled in confusion.

To fully awaken the Sacred Physique was no simple feat. Some people spent their entire lives without ever achieving complete awakening.

Take Chu Feng, for instance. He possessed the Infinite Sacred Physique, yet had only managed to awaken 50% of it at most. Full awakening eluded him. Even so, it had allowed him to cultivate with ease all the way to the late Nascent Soul stage.

The system revealed that even a thousand years later, Lu Linglong had only awakened 30% of her Sevenfold Exquisite Sacred Physique.

It was clear just how arduous the path to awakening truly was.

“Sleepyhead, it’s time to get up,” Chu Feng said with a gentle smile, lightly brushing the tip of Shen Qianxue’s nose.

Shen Qianxue shook her head. “No, husband, let me sleep a bit longer. I’m exhausted after last night.”

She added softly, “Husband, what should I do? I find myself more and more unwilling to part with you.”

Chu Feng smiled. “If you can’t bear to be apart, then let’s not be. We’re cultivation partners now, husband and wife, two souls as one.”

“But…” Shen Qianxue’s expression darkened. “Your lifespan…”

Chu Feng had never concealed the fact that he had only a few months left to live.

Though he repeatedly assured her he had ways to extend his life, Shen Qianxue’s heart was still filled with worry.

At first, she had been coerced into their relationship. But Chu Feng’s kindness toward her, even marrying her as his cultivation partner, would have warmed even a stone’s heart—let alone hers. Deep down, Shen Qianxue had long since given her heart to Chu Feng.

Thus, in these recent days, she seemed to cling to him ceaselessly.

She asked for him again and again, day after day, as though trying to make up for the little time they had left.

Chu Feng understood her feelings well. He knew that words were useless now; only actions mattered.

He had only four months to live.

If he could break through to the next realm, all the better. If not, he would buy a Lesser Longevity Pill to extend his life by another year.

He said gently, “Don’t worry yourself. I promise to stay by your side for a long, long time.”

After comforting Shen Qianxue, Chu Feng planned to pay a visit to Linglong Peak.

Four months had passed without any news.

She might not be anxious, but he was.

After all, it was a rare stroke of fortune to encounter a Daughter of Destiny—one who not only represented immense luck and generous rewards, but also possessed Lu Linglong’s unparalleled beauty.

She was the number one beauty of the Supreme Profound Dao Sect, and that was no mere rumor.

Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, a status and position beyond Shen Qianxue’s reach.

Her beauty was noble and elegant, like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal world.

Arriving at Linglong Peak, Chu Feng made sure not to alert anyone.

He silently approached Lu Linglong’s residence.

Opening the door, he slipped inside and was immediately greeted by the sound of splashing water and whispered conversation.

“Where do you think you’re putting your hand?”

“You dare touch me there? Take this!”

“See if you can handle my special technique.”

“Linglong, what’s this? Are you longing for a man?”

“Nonsense, I’m not thinking about any man.”

“Oh, you’re flustered! Did I guess right? Come on, tell me—who is it that’s made our Celestial Lady Linglong consider dual cultivation?”

“Tell me, let me give you some advice.”

Hearing the sound of water, Chu Feng realized Lu Linglong was bathing and intended to leave.

But as the conversation continued, rather than leaving, he found himself listening even more intently, his curiosity piqued.

Through a thin screen, he caught a fleeting glimpse of snow-white skin.

His blood surged; his nose itched, and he nearly had a nosebleed.

“Damn, to think that in two lifetimes I’ve become a scoundrel,” he thought. “But when beauty is right before you, what harm is there in being a scoundrel once?”

But who was the other woman? He couldn’t make out her face, but considering Lu Linglong was one of the five Nascent Soul elders of the Supreme Profound Dao Sect, there were few female cultivators who could bathe with her.

Throughout Sword Province, among the three great Dao sects and countless factions, there were only three female Nascent Soul cultivators. One was the Grand Elder of the Nascent Soul from the Mystic Heart Dao Sect; another hailed from the Nangong family in Sword Province, a vassal of the Supreme Profound Dao Sect.

That woman was Nangong Yanran, known to be close to Lu Linglong.

As Chu Feng was deducing her identity, the system suddenly chimed in.

“Warning, host, run! There are two Heavenly Beings at the Grand Ascension stage bathing inside. If you’re discovered, you’ll incur their wrath and surely die. Your only chance is to escape.”

Two Grand Ascension Heavenly Beings.

Chu Feng had long since noticed a pattern: whenever the system panicked, it meant it was drawing upon information from a thousand years in the future.

To survive a thousand years hence, one had to be a person of immense fortune.

This meant that Nangong Yanran was most likely a Daughter of Destiny as well.

Sure enough, the system panel immediately appeared:

“Daughter of Destiny detected: Nangong Yanran.

Age: 1,562 years.

Cultivation: Early Grand Ascension Heavenly Being.

Aptitude: Supreme Ice Soul Divine Body (cultivates ice techniques with twice the result for half the effort).

Fortune Value: 350,000.”

She didn’t possess a Sacred Physique, but a Divine Body instead.

The Sacred Physique didn’t necessarily cultivate faster than a Divine Body, but in terms of combat prowess, the Sacred Physique was indeed superior.

As expected, she was a Daughter of Destiny.

“System, you were right this time. The Daughter of Destiny has come to me of her own accord.”

At that moment, Lu Linglong spoke: “Yanran, what do you think about me finding a dual cultivation partner?”

Nangong Yanran replied, “Come on, tell me—who is it? For over four hundred years, you haven’t taken an interest in any man, and now someone has managed to move your heart.”

Lu Linglong’s emotions were complicated. Did she like Chu Feng? She couldn’t say she did.

When she entered the sect, Chu Feng was already a Nascent Soul patriarch. She had even attended his lectures and benefited greatly. Over the years, as she rose to become a Nascent Soul elder, Chu Feng’s lifespan was already drawing to a close.

In her heart, there was more respect than affection.

And yet now, she was being asked to become his dual cultivation partner.

She could not bring herself to say it.

Faced with Nangong Yanran’s questioning, Lu Linglong gritted her teeth. “Actually, you know him as well. He is—”

“Who is it? Tell me!”

Chu Feng listened, heart racing. Though he had his suspicions, hearing Lu Linglong speak of her intended partner still made his heart pound, drawing him closer.

But as he did, Lu Linglong and Nangong Yanran inside the room suddenly noticed him.

After all, they were in the midst of their bath.

A surge of fury erupted from both women, directed straight at Chu Feng outside.

He dared not linger a moment longer.

He turned and fled.

Had he been at his peak, escaping would be easy.

But now, both women had completely sealed off his escape routes.