67: Chapter 67 Weighing the Pros and Cons, A Reluctant Choice

The rain pattered softly inside the valley. Gu Yan heard the faint response, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

He knew that the iceberg before him had begun to melt.

However, just as he prepared to step forward to help up this "SSR from the heavens," Leng Yuechan raised her head once more.

Although there was still a hint of weakness in her cold Phoenix eyes, the resigned despair from before had vanished.

In its place was a sharp edge, one that had regained its reason and scrutiny.

"I have one more question."

Her voice remained cold, but it no longer held the aloofness that kept people at a distance; instead, it carried a sense of equality and the solemnity of a negotiation.

"Oh?" Gu Yan looked at her with interest. "Please speak, Miss."

[It's here, it's here! Host, pay attention! The pressure interview phase has officially begun!]

In his mind, the System's voice, now acting as an "interview commentator," rang out with great enthusiasm.

[Interviewer Leng Yuechan has launched the first round of background checks on you!]

Leng Yuechan's gaze remained fixed on Gu Yan's eyes as she slowly asked, "Your Cultivation Technique is scorching and overbearing, and your Spiritual Qi is pure to an unimaginable degree. It seems... this is not a Legacy that could have been nurtured in a place as barren of Spiritual Qi as the Kumu Region."

"May I ask, Your Excellency, who is your master?"

This question was extremely tricky. It was both a probe into his background and an assessment of whether a power strong enough to oppose the Black Fiend Sect stood behind him.

[Standard Answer A: I am the sole contemporary successor of a hidden Sect, having descended the mountain solely to temper myself in the Mortal World!]

[Standard Answer B: I am the Reincarnation of an ancient mighty figure; my memories have not yet fully recovered, and my Cultivation Technique is merely instinct!]

[Standard Answer C: Beneath a cliff, I chanced upon the remains of an Immortal, took them as my master, and inherited their supreme Legacy!]

[Host, pick one quickly! I personally recommend C; this version is the most popular in the newbie villages of the myriad worlds!]

Gu Yan directly ignored the "standard answers" provided by the System.

He looked at Leng Yuechan's scrutinizing gaze, smiled indifferently, and said casually in a half-truthful, half-false tone, "You flatter me, Miss."

"I have no master. It was just that in my early years, by a stroke of Opportunity, I chanced upon a page of an Incomplete Manual left behind by an unknown Senior in a mountain cave."

"I am merely lucky to have achieved a Minor Achievement."

This answer was watertight. It explained the special source of his Cultivation Technique while attributing everything to "Opportunity," maintaining enough mystery to prevent anyone from digging deeper.

Leng Yuechan listened quietly, a look of contemplation flashing through her cold Phoenix eyes.

An adventure... is it? Although this explanation was a bit too "story-like," it seemed to be the only reasonable one.

She nodded slowly, accepting this explanation.

Immediately after, she threw out a second, even sharper question.

"Since Your Excellency is the head of a Family, you still have hundreds of clansmen behind you who need protection."

"And you have seen my current situation. Not only am I seriously injured, but I have also been planted with a tracking mark by a powerful enemy like the Black Fiend Sect, who will not stop until I am dead."

"By taking such a huge trouble as me on the road, Your Excellency... are you not afraid of bringing a calamity upon the entire Family behind you?"

This question went straight to the core! She was testing Gu Yan's courage, and even more so, she was testing his... true confidence in daring to accept her!

[It's here! Round two, pressure test!]

[Interviewer Leng Yuechan is currently evaluating your risk-taking ability and team leadership!]

[Host, if you answer this well, her favorability will be maxed out! If you answer poorly, the cooked duck will fly away!]

[Quick! Tell her! For her, you are willing to make the world your enemy! Even if it means going to war with the Black Fiend Sect, you wouldn't hesitate!]

Gu Yan still did not use the System's "flirting template."

He looked at Leng Yuechan's oppressive eyes, his expression unchanging. He even chuckled. The laughter carried an arrogance that came from deep within his bones, treating the heroes of the world as nothing.

"The Gu Family acts only to ensure... a clear conscience."

"As for..." He changed the subject, and a terrifying brilliance erupted from his deep eyes!

"A mere few petty villains who hide their heads and show their tails, only capable of using despicable means like poisoning..."

"They are not worthy of becoming a... calamity for the Gu Family!"

Boom! These words were calm, yet overbearing to the extreme!

The powerful self-confidence that looked down upon strong enemies and treated so-called "calamities" as nothing, struck Leng Yuechan's heart like an invisible heavy hammer!

Her cold Phoenix eyes widened uncontrollably at this moment! Her beautiful eyes shimmered with brilliance!

She had seen countless Geniuses. She had seen powerful people as numerous as carp crossing a river. But she had never seen anyone like the man before her... so arrogant, yet somehow, it felt... only natural!

This confidence was not feigned. It stemmed from... absolute strength and... a powerful foundation!

At this moment, all the doubts, all the weighing of pros and cons, and all the defensiveness in her heart... vanished into thin air.

She knew she had won the gamble. This man before her might truly be the only harbor she could trust and the only one with the ability to protect her in her current desperate situation!

Her posture finally softened completely. The pride belonging to a Saintess of a major Sect was quietly put away at this moment.

She no longer performed the "Sect greeting" from before to Gu Yan, but instead performed a standard Dao greeting between peers.

"It was I who... overthought things."

Her voice remained cold, but it now carried a hint of heartfelt... conviction.

"The journey to Baifeng City is long and fraught with danger."

"I will have to... trouble Patriarch Gu."