FIMA Ch157: Debonair

In the end, Xie Xueyi still did not finish that whole pot of spiritual tea.

The two of them had only been sitting there for a short while when another guest arrived at Linya Shui Ge.

A ball of white light flickered in midair, and from within it stepped a tall figure.

The newcomer wore a loose gray robe, his black hair hanging freely over his shoulders. His skin was ruddy and smooth, and he looked to be only around thirty, still quite young. But when one met those deep, endless eyes, it was not hard to imagine the hundreds of years hidden within them.

“Oh? Siyuan, so you already have a guest?”

Gu Siyuan immediately stood up and called respectfully, “Shifu.”

Xie Xueyi also rose to his feet. “Greetings, Mountain Lord.”

The man was naturally the current lord of Qingchen Shan.

He looked Gu Siyuan over and said warmly, “I only just came out of seclusion, and I already heard that my disciple’s spiritual power has advanced greatly. Not bad—not bad at all. You’ve brought glory to our Qingchen Shan.”

Thinking of this master’s personality from his memories, Gu Siyuan perfunctorily replied, “It is all thanks to Shifu’s blessings.”

The Mountain Lord did not modestly decline the credit. Instead, he grinned smugly and said, “Back at the Five Mountains ceremony, didn’t I already say it? Our Qingchen Shan and you, my disciple, had finally hit your lucky turn. There were omens for it all along. Otherwise, why would that brat Ji Jinghuan just so happen to be late? Why would the title of Da Shixiong just happen to fall into your hands? When fortune comes, heaven and earth lend their strength. Back then some people were still chirping complaints, but now look—everything’s perfectly rightful and proper.”

Tsk…

In novels, that kind of sly grin was standard villain-level smugness.

Xie Xueyi also widened his eyes curiously as he studied the Mountain Lord. So this was what a Nascent Soul old ancestor was like?

Meeting Xie Xueyi’s gaze, the Mountain Lord grinned, then looked back at Gu Siyuan and continued, “Siyuan, the future of Qingchen Shan rests with you. Keep working hard. The day we punch Ziji Shan and kick Baiqing Shan is just ahead of us, hahahaha…”

Gu Siyuan truly could not bear to look directly at that laugh. He felt even more embarrassed in front of Xie Xueyi, so he changed the subject. “Shifu, how did this seclusion go?”

The Mountain Lord sat down on his own, poured himself a pot of spiritual tea, then glared at Gu Siyuan. “You really know how to ask exactly the wrong question. My Jiutian Xingchen Jue has already reached the sixth layer. After that, every little breakthrough is harder than ascending to heaven. Do you think everyone has it as easy as you? Disciple, you must remain humble and cautious, guard against arrogance and impatience, and not let a little success make you conceited beyond measure.”

The corner of Gu Siyuan’s mouth twitched.

One really had to wonder who it was that had just been laughing so smugly.

Clearly the Mountain Lord did not want to dwell on that subject either. He turned toward Xie Xueyi and asked with interest, “Disciple, is this the furnace cauldron you found for yourself? And from the demonic path at that? Is it more passionate and fiery in bed that way?”

The instant the man saw through his origins at a glance, Xie Xueyi’s body tensed with fear.

Gu Siyuan’s expression did not change. He said evenly, “This is a newly admitted junior disciple. I noticed something unusual about him, so I simply had him stay close and serve me for easier surveillance. Shifu needn’t overthink it.”

The Mountain Lord gave him a look of complete disbelief and scoffed. “Disciple, after not seeing you for some time, you’ve really learned to put on airs. If you fancy the little furnace cauldron for his beauty, then just say so. If he were truly a demonic spy, you could just search his soul and kill him. Why bother with such roundabout trouble? You’re the grand Da Shixiong of the immortal sect—why lower yourself to play spy?”

Xie Xueyi’s lips trembled.

Please, could you not speak so casually about soul-searching and killing while he was standing right here?

From the corner of his eye, Gu Siyuan saw Xie Xueyi’s expression and frowned.

Lifting his eyes to his master, he said coldly, “Since Shifu specially came down the mountain today, I assume there must be some important matter. What exactly is it?”

The Mountain Lord’s attention was immediately diverted. “Business, yes, important business. Isn’t the Xianling Secret Realm about to open? This time our sect will definitely have you leading the team. You’re a treasure now. Shifu has to give you something life-saving. Otherwise, if you fall inside, Qingchen Shan will suffer a huge loss.”

“…” Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi.

This Mountain Lord really knew how to talk.

Gu Siyuan cupped his hands with an unreadable face. “Many thanks to Shifu for the treasure.”

The Mountain Lord waved a hand carelessly. “What’s the point of saying that formal nonsense between master and disciple? Just remember Shifu’s kindness, and then in the secret realm, find more treasures to show filial respect to me.”

“Yes,” Gu Siyuan answered coldly, clearly not at all surprised by this outcome.

“Then Shifu will be off. I won’t disturb you and your little furnace cauldron from your romantic pleasures…”

After drinking most of the spiritual tea, the Mountain Lord rose with a grin and left.

Only after his figure had fully disappeared did Xie Xueyi finally let out a breath of relief.

Tsk. That so-called treasure for concealing demonic aura was utterly useless.

Although the Mountain Lord had shown him no malice just now, Nascent Soul pressure was no trivial thing. That single glance had almost made it impossible for him to suppress the seal within his body.

Seeing the look on his face, Gu Siyuan immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Xueyi looked up at him, then rolled his eyes and began acting spoiled again. “Gege, your master saw through my identity at one glance. I was really so scared. Come touch me and see—can you feel how fast my heart is beating?”

As he spoke, he reached out to pull Gu Siyuan closer.

Gu Siyuan caught his slender pale wrist in return and rubbed it a few times, smiling faintly but not quite smiling. “When Shifu was here just now, you didn’t look all that nervous to me.”

Annoyed at how little romance the man understood, Xie Xueyi made a face at him.

Then he asked curiously, “Still, I really didn’t expect your master to be so jumpy in temperament. He really doesn’t mind that much that you brought someone from the demonic path into the sect?”

Gu Siyuan nodded and said lightly, “His heart is devoted only to cultivation. He’s naturally lax and dislikes dealing with affairs. Besides, he can’t control me anyway.”

“Mhm, mhm. Our gege is so imposing.” Xie Xueyi laughed a few proud little laughs as if sharing the glory himself. “Ah, if your master hates managing things so much, then how did he become Mountain Lord?”

Gu Siyuan glanced at him and deliberately lowered his voice. “Because in all of Qingchen Shan, he is the strongest. No one can defeat him. Even if the four great elders joined forces, they still wouldn’t withstand a single exchange with him. So naturally, he had to be Mountain Lord.”

“…” Xie Xueyi.

Why did that somehow make him feel even more afraid?

If that master of his ever got angry, would he not even have a chance to run?

Without thinking, he clutched Gu Siyuan’s sleeve tightly and stepped closer, practically wishing he could shrink into Gu Siyuan’s arms.

“Just stay here and be at ease. Don’t mind him.” Gu Siyuan’s brows lifted faintly, and the broad palm resting atop Xie Xueyi’s head rubbed gently a few times. “I’m here.”

His voice was low, but it carried a powerful sense of safety.

Xie Xueyi’s heart softened.

That broad, warm palm on his head filled him with an endless warmth from spine to heart, completely different from the cold, still impression Gu Siyuan normally gave people.

He could not help moving his neck and lightly rubbing against the hand as he called softly, “Gege…”

As he stroked the soft hair, the corner of Gu Siyuan’s lips lifted. “You really are like a little lion in the mountains. Not only do you like biting people, you also love rubbing against them.”

“But I only rub against gege, and I only bite gege.” Xie Xueyi looked up and smiled proudly. Then he stood on tiptoe and brought his lips close to Gu Siyuan’s ear to add in a low voice, “And of course, I’ll only kiss gege too…”

The unfinished note at the end rose slightly, like a feathered hook grazing across the heart.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes.

The hand resting atop Xie Xueyi’s head slowly slid down, passing his cheek and ear before suddenly seizing his chin. In a cold voice, he said, “You were pretending to be pitiful just a moment ago, and now you’re smug again.”

Xie Xueyi gave a soft laugh and stuck out his red little tongue to lick the base of Gu Siyuan’s thumb, charming and dangerous like a venomous snake. “Gege already said I could stay here without worry. So what do I still have to be afraid of? I know that no matter what happens, gege will protect me, won’t you?”

Lowering his eyes, Gu Siyuan said, “After all those years in the demonic path, your skill at teasing people is indeed quite good.”

“Then, my good gege, have I teased you into it?” Xie Xueyi breathed out softly, his slender white finger lightly pressing against the green sword robe over Gu Siyuan’s chest. “Did your heart move?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression did not change. The hand holding his chin tightened slightly. “And what if it did? Xie-shidi is putting in so much effort—are you truly planning to become my furnace cauldron?”

Xie Xueyi froze for a moment, clearly not having expected such words to come from someone as serious as Gu Siyuan.

Then he laughed softly. “Gege, did your master’s words just inspire you? I don’t think your master is as single-minded about cultivation as you claim. There’s plenty of romantic nonsense running through his head—furnace cauldrons, pleasure and passion, one line after another. Did he rub off on you too, making you so contrary in word and heart?”

Gu Siyuan cast him a glance. “You’re quite good at finding the key point. Pleasure and passion? You want that very much?”

Xie Xueyi rubbed his cheek against Gu Siyuan’s palm. “Gege, I do. So will you? Have you secretly bought little picture books to study in private?”

“How could I not?” The corner of Gu Siyuan’s lips curved upward. “We can begin our pleasure and passion right now.”

“Cough, cough…” Xie Xueyi coughed lightly, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You… you… you mean that?”

Could it be that all this man’s past coldness had only been an act, and he had really been eyeing him for a long time already?

Was he about to lose his innocence today?

Was he finally going to have a wife?

Gu Siyuan gave a cold laugh. “So you have the thief’s heart but not the thief’s courage?”

“Who said that? Who wouldn’t dare?” Even Xie Xueyi’s voice trembled. “I’m only afraid I don’t have enough experience and might make you uncomfortable. I’m actually very considerate.”

Gu Siyuan suddenly paused, then raised a brow. “Make who uncomfortable?”

Xie Xueyi blinked and answered firmly, “You, of course. After all, I’m quite big.”

As he said it, he lowered his head and glanced between his legs.

Gu Siyuan’s gaze darkened. “You’re very big?”

Xie Xueyi nodded, then added with some embarrassment, “If it hurts later, you’ll have to bear with it. Otherwise I’m afraid I’ll get too softhearted and won’t be able to keep going.”

Gu Siyuan felt that he needed some wine to calm his mind.

With a flick of his sleeve, several wine jars appeared on the low table.

Xie Xueyi blinked. “Why did you suddenly bring out so much wine?”

Gu Siyuan looked at him with a cold smile. “How can pleasure and passion be complete without wine to heighten the mood?”

“Ah…” Xie Xueyi frowned delicately, then immediately nodded. “That makes sense. You probably need the wine to steady your nerves. I… I’ll do my best not to hurt you. Come on!”

Gu Siyuan stared at him for a long moment, then nodded and abruptly flung the sword Xie Xueyi had just set down back at him. “Good. Come on, then.”

Xie Xueyi caught the sword.

After a long silence, he slowly ran his fingers over the pattern on the hilt and looked at Gu Siyuan in disbelief. “You… you’re even going to use a sword? You really play that wildly…”

Gu Siyuan could not be bothered to care what nonsense was going on in his head. He only said with a faintly mocking smile, “You practice the sword under the moon, and I raise a cup to song. Is that not one of the most romantic and pleasurable things under heaven? Why aren’t you starting yet?”

“…” Xie Xueyi.

As he practiced swordplay, Xie Xueyi thought miserably to himself: Had he misunderstood something?

Was that what pleasure and passion meant?

…

The Xianling Secret Realm was said to be opening, but that would still be two months from now.

Gu Siyuan borrowed a large stack of jade slips from the library, all concerning artifact refining.

Xie Xueyi asked curiously, “What are you doing with those?”

Gu Siyuan replied, “Preparing to make a few things to bring into the secret realm.”

From the original plot information he had received, this year’s Xianling Secret Realm had undergone some changes and would be more dangerous than in past years. Once inside, he had no way of knowing what dangers he might face, so naturally the more prepared he was, the better.

After spending two days reading through all the jade slips on artifact refining, he took Xie Xueyi with him to Artifact Peak.

Within Taixuan Xianzong, Artifact Peak and Pill Peak did not stand apart with the same special status as the Five Mountains, but they were still an indispensable and highly important part of the sect. Outsiders were normally never allowed in.

Of course, everything had its exceptions.

Gu Siyuan was the current Da Shixiong of the immortal sect. If nothing unexpected happened and he continued growing at this pace, then one day in the future, he would very likely become the lord of the entire immortal sect.

So his request for Artifact Peak to provide him with a refining chamber was not considered excessive, and it was naturally granted.

From then on, Gu Siyuan devoted himself wholly to artifact refining.

Seeing this, Xie Xueyi had originally thought he would finally get a chance to relax for a while and would no longer have to cultivate so bitterly—waking earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs.

But who could have imagined that this utterly deranged cultivation fanatic, while personally operating the furnace and refining artifacts, would still force Xie Xueyi to continue practicing nearby?

Xie Xueyi was shocked. “Don’t artifact refining and pill refining both require absolute quiet and concentration? If I practice swordplay beside you, won’t I really disturb you? Gege, what if your furnace explodes? What if you get hurt? Gege, I really don’t want to hold you back.”

At this rate, the next sentence would probably have been: Gege, I think we’re not suitable for each other…

Gu Siyuan listened to all this nonsense without so much as changing expression. Only after finishing the full sequence of tempering hand seals he was currently using, and once he was sure that the initial refinement within the furnace had been completed, did he finally raise his head and cast Xie Xueyi a cold glance.

“Relax. You can’t disturb me. Never mind one of you—even if a hundred of you were dragged here, it would still be the same. You practice yours. I refine mine.”

“…” Xie Xueyi.

How could a person like this even exist?

Right at that moment, a black blur flew through the air before him.

Xie Xueyi caught it by reflex. It was a spiritual sword that had just come out of the furnace. He casually weighed it in his hand and spun a few sword flowers with it.

When he came back to himself, his eyes widened. “Gege, you just refined this?”

Without pausing what he was adding into the furnace, Gu Siyuan nodded casually. “Mm. This one’s easier to use.”

As his pale fingers traced the sharp blade, Xie Xueyi truly had to submit.

The spiritual sword he had been using before was the standard-issue sword newly admitted disciples received upon entering the sect—mass-produced, suitable for late Qi Refining disciples, and already considered a peak-grade product for its level.

But now, compared to the spiritual sword Gu Siyuan had just refined, though they were of the same rank, this one was somehow even purer. Whether in sharpness or hardness, it surpassed the old one by a clear margin.

So this man had really been watching him, listening to his annoying chatter, and at the same time still refined such a good spiritual sword.

Xie Xueyi puffed out his cheeks and, for once, felt a little guilty.

Was he being too unambitious? Did that make him a little unworthy of this heartless, cold-blooded scoundrel?

And so—

for the next while, Xie Xueyi was unusually obedient and hardworking. He stopped complaining and acting spoiled, and honestly, diligently repeated the sword forms Gu Siyuan had instructed him in several times over.

Once Gu Siyuan finished refining what was in his hands, he discovered that the person beside him was unexpectedly quiet. Sitting cross-legged where he was, he watched Xie Xueyi practice swordplay without blinking.

Xie Xueyi immediately grew more pleased with himself and danced the sword with even greater enthusiasm.

After a while, he spun a beautiful sword flower, completed a full set of movements, and looked brightly at Gu Siyuan. “Gege, did I do well?”

Gu Siyuan frowned slightly.

Xie Xueyi puffed out his cheeks. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?”

Gu Siyuan lifted his eyes to look at him, his voice mild. “Why didn’t you talk while practicing?”

“Ah…” Xie Xueyi’s eyes widened.

Gu Siyuan raised a brow. “When you’re chirping nonstop, it’s lively. Now that you’re quiet, it feels strange.”

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