2: The Holy Maiden of Yaochi: Something's not right with this diary!

On Saintess Peak of the Yaochi Holy Land, wreathed in clouds and mist.

This was one of the places within the entire Holy Land where the Spiritual Qi was densest and the defenses were most stringent.

A woman clad in white silk robes was sitting cross-legged beneath a ten-thousand-year-old ancient pine, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Her face was stunningly beautiful, her skin fairer than snow, and her temperament was as cold and aloof as a Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, untainted by a speck of the mortal world.

She was precisely the contemporary Saintess of the Yaochi Holy Land, Ling Qingzhu.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she slowly opened her eyes.

What cold, clear eyes they were—as if they contained vast stars, indifferent and distant, reflecting all things in the world, yet seeming to hold nothing in their regard.

The moment she opened her eyes, an ancient, simple beast-skin notebook appeared before her without warning, quietly floating and emitting a faint aura of Karma.

"What is this?"

Ling Qingzhu slightly furrowed her delicate brows, a flash of extreme vigilance crossing her eyes.

Saintess Peak was her private Cultivation Forbidden Ground, enveloped by the Ninefold Profound Ice Great Array she had personally set up. Even the Grand Elders of the Holy Land couldn't silently deliver something to her without triggering any Restrictions.

Was it a Heart Demon illusion? Or some kind of supreme treasure she couldn't comprehend?

She stretched out a slender, jade-like finger and pointed across the air. A thread of Spiritual Qi containing the Ice Soul Divine Principle turned into a crystalline filament, carefully touching the beast-skin notebook.

The Spiritual Qi dissipated upon contact, sinking like a clay ox into the sea, failing to elicit any reaction.

There was no danger.

Only after confirming its safety did she lightly beckon with her jade hand, drawing the notebook into her grasp.

There were no words on the cover, and the material was extraordinary, feeling warm and smooth to the touch.

Puzzled, she opened the first page.

[Year X, Month X, Day X. Weather: Sunny. Mood: A little annoyed.]

Ling Qingzhu's expression remained unchanged when she saw the first line of text.

But as she continued reading, a subtle crack finally appeared on that stunning face, which had seemed frozen for ten thousand years.

[...This afternoon, that Seventh Elder from the Su Family came looking for me again, constantly urging me to go to the Yaochi Holy Land, saying it was time to meet my fiancée, the Yaochi Saintess.]

The Su Family? Fiancée? Yaochi Saintess?

Ling Qingzhu's breath hitched slightly.

In this world, only one person could be related to all three terms simultaneously—her nominal fiancé, the rumored good-for-nothing Divine Son of the Changsheng Su Family, Su Chen!

This is... Su Chen's diary?

An utterly absurd thought arose in her heart.

How could this be possible? Why would his diary cross hundreds of millions of miles through the Void Realm and appear inside her Forbidden Ground?

She suppressed the shock and absurdity in her heart and continued reading.

[I'm truly sick of this old matchmaker... If it weren't for the fact that he's my grandfather's peer, I'd really like to slap him onto the wall, the kind you can't scrape off.]

Seeing this, the cold, clear corner of Ling Qingzhu's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly.

The Su Family's Seventh Elder was a long-established expert at the Great Sage Peak. In the outside world, he was a major figure whose mere stomp could shake an entire region.

Could the Divine Son of the Su Family, who was rumored to have mediocre Cultivation and only knew how to indulge in pleasure, harbor such "treasonous" thoughts?

Slap him onto the wall? How dare he?

[Alas, in the end, I'm just too kind. I am so powerful, yet I have to pretend to be weak. Who can understand this kind of pain?]

Powerful? Pretend?

Ling Qingzhu's brows furrowed even tighter.

As far as she knew, Su Chen's Cultivation was still stuck in the Divine Ocean Realm, inferior even to some collateral descendants of the Su Family, and he had long become a laughingstock of the Cultivation world.

This is called powerful?

As expected, this diary was strange in every respect.

She patiently scanned the next paragraph.

[Speaking of which, those few cheap fiancées of mine are all troublesome characters, but their brains don't seem to work very well.]

Ling Qingzhu's eyes instantly turned cold, and the surrounding air temperature dropped abruptly!

Calling her brain dysfunctional?

Good, very good!

Su Chen!

This Palace Master shall see exactly how dysfunctional I am!

[Take the Yaochi Saintess, Ling Qingzhu, for example. She's truly top-tier in looks, radiating Immortal Qi, especially those legs—long and straight. It's a pity she doesn't ride a rickshaw.]

Boom!

Ling Qingzhu's cheeks inexplicably flushed, instantly covered by boundless shame and anger.

Ride... ride a rickshaw?!

This scoundrel! To evaluate her so frivolously in his diary! Shameless and vulgar!

[What a pity, she's just a "silly, white, sweet." In a few days, when she goes to the Tianyuan Secret Realm, she's going to be tricked by a hypocrite named Qin Feng. That guy talks about righteousness and morality, but his heart is full of filth. He'll manipulate her completely, not only stealing her Opportunity but also almost taking her purity. Truly a classic example of 'big chest, no brain.' What a waste of that aloof face.]

"Crack—"

Thick layers of ice instantly condensed on the ten-thousand-year-old ancient pine beside Ling Qingzhu, issuing sounds of unbearable cracking. An extreme, terrifying chill erupted completely from within her body. The clouds and mist at the peak of Saintess Peak instantly turned into ice crystals, rustling down, causing Heaven and Earth to change color!

Her cold, clear eyes were now filled with ice and towering fury!

A "silly, white, sweet"?

Big chest, no brain?!

And almost tricked into losing her purity?!

Ling Qingzhu trembled with rage, her knuckles turning white from clenching her hands.

She, the dignified Yaochi Saintess, had read the ten thousand volumes of the Holy Land's Daoist Canon since childhood. Her mental fortitude far surpassed her peers, and she was hailed as a genius rarely seen in the Yaochi Holy Land in ten thousand years, destined to take charge of the Holy Land and rule the world!

How could she possibly be deceived by some man who appeared out of nowhere?

This Su Chen is simply talking nonsense and wantonly slandering her! This is an insult to her character, her intelligence, and even the entire Yaochi Holy Land!

And that Qin Feng... who is he? She doesn't even know anyone by that name!

This diary must be a fake!

It must be some enemy trying to use such despicable means to shake her Dao Heart! Their intentions deserve execution!

Ling Qingzhu took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She circulated her Profound Technique to steady her surging Qi and blood.

But when her gaze, almost bearing the weight of judgment, fell upon the last paragraph of the diary, her pupils violently contracted.

[According to the script in my book, 'Dominating the Immortal Path,' tonight at midnight, an assassin organization called the Black Fiend Tower will come knocking to offer up their heads...]

[...The assassin they send is just a small fry in the Saint Realm.]

[Sigh, I really can't be bothered to move. If I kill him, I'll have to deal with the corpse, and what if I expose the strength I've hidden for many years...]

Black Fiend Tower!

These three words exploded like a thunderclap in Ling Qingzhu's mind, instantly shattering the calm she had just achieved.

If she could dismiss the previous content as ridiculous nonsense, the mention of "Black Fiend Tower" forced her to re-examine everything!

The Black Fiend Tower was a notorious, top-tier assassin organization in the Northern Region. They acted ruthlessly, specializing in all kinds of dirty work, and dared to assassinate even a Saint, provided the price was right.

Most critically, just yesterday, a spy from her Yaochi Holy Land stationed in the Northern Region risked his life to send a secret report: the Black Fiend Tower seemed to have accepted a shocking major contract, and the target... appeared to be an important figure from the Everlasting Su Family!

At the time, she hadn't paid much attention. The Su Family was such a colossal entity; how could a mere Black Fiend Tower possibly shake it?

But now, combining this with the diary's content... the target is Su Chen?!

The time is tonight?! The assassin is in the Saint Realm?!

Yet the Su Chen in the diary casually referred to him as just a "small fry"?

And "can't be bothered to move"?

Ling Qingzhu's heart was completely in turmoil.

Is this diary real or fake?

What if... what if everything the diary said was true?

Su Chen is fundamentally not the waste rumored by the outside world, but a peerless Prodigy who, for some purpose, must hide himself and pretend to be a weak profligate?

Did he write this because, in his eyes, an assassin in the Saint Realm truly was just an insignificant "small fry"?

Once this thought arose, it grew wildly like a vine, instantly wrapping around her entire mind.

She recalled the line in the diary: "I am so powerful, yet I have to pretend to be weak. Who can understand this kind of pain?"

In an instant, the image of a solitary, powerful expert—one who endured humiliation, held the big picture in mind, saw through worldly affairs, and seemed cynical but actually bore a huge secret—slowly surfaced in her mind and overlapped with Su Chen's rumored incomparably handsome face.

He must have some unspeakable difficulty that forced him to act this way! That's why the outside world holds such deep misunderstandings about him!

And she, his fiancée, was just like the secular people, never truly understanding him, and even harboring murderous intent toward him because of his "slander"... Thinking of this, an inexplicable feeling of guilt and complex emotion flooded Ling Qingzhu's heart.

This won't do!

Whether this diary is real or fake, she must go to the Su Family immediately!

Su Chen is her fiancé. This marriage concerns the reputation of the Yaochi Holy Land and the Everlasting Su Family. She absolutely cannot stand by and watch him fall into danger without reacting!

Even if it's fake, confirming it will bring peace of mind. And while she's at it... she might as well settle the score with him for the "rickshaw riding" and "big chest, no brain" comments!

If it is true... a chilling, bone-piercing murderous intent flashed in Ling Qingzhu's eyes.

A mere Black Fiend Tower dares to lay a hand on Ling Qingzhu's nominal man?

They court death!

She abruptly stood up, waved her delicate hand, and a Glittering Feather Robe draped over her body, concealing her aura completely.

She took a step, ripples spread through the Void Realm, and an Ice Crystal Phoenix Carriage appeared out of thin air.

"Set off immediately for the Everlasting Su Family!"

The cold, clear voice still echoed on Saintess Peak, but the Phoenix Carriage had already transformed into a streak of light tearing through the sky, vanishing instantly at the edge of the cloud sea.