303: Chapter 303 Xu Ruyu was becoming increasingly adept at ordering Xiao Nianyin around.

After the battle at Wangyue Peak, Xu Ruyu had thoroughly subdued the four of them: Leng Ningshuang, Zhao Yan, Ning Caihe, and Qingyan.

Watching them solemnly accept the Jade Slip containing the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art, their eyes burning with a desire for a brand new power and an unprecedented conviction in him as their Sect Master, a heavy stone finally fell from Xu Ruyu's heart.

The seed had been sown; whether it could grow into a towering tree would depend not only on careful guidance but also on time.

After sending the four away and instructing them to study the Jade Slip first and to come ask him if they had any questions, Xu Ruyu dragged his slightly weary body back through the twilight to his residence deep in Qixia Valley—a quiet, two-story bamboo building adjacent to a spirit spring waterfall called the "Tingquan Residence."

This was a place of quiet cultivation personally selected for him by the Clan Chief Yuehua, decorated simply and elegantly, far from the noise of the valley.

Having exhausted his efforts for days to create the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art, and just now having a "spar" (which was actually a one-sided crushing) with the four at the peak, his mental energy was significantly depleted.

Now that he had relaxed, the fatigue surged up like a tide, and Xu Ruyu felt his head throbbing and his muscles aching.

Pushing open the slightly ajar door of the bamboo building, the first floor was a hall for receiving guests and cultivation, currently empty.

Following the bamboo stairs up to the second floor, there was his bedroom and a small study.

The bedroom window was open, and the evening breeze carried the gurgling sound of the spirit spring waterfall and the fresh fragrance of grass and trees from the valley.

However, Xu Ruyu's attention was drawn to the slender figure standing quietly by the window.

Xiao Nianyin.

She wore a simple, elegant moon-white dress, and her ice-blue hair was unbound, cascading down her back like a waterfall until it reached her waist.

She stood there quietly by the window, looking at the deepening twilight outside and the distant, cloud-shrouded mountains, her back exuding an indescribable sense of loneliness and desolation, as if she were completely out of place in this vibrant valley.

The afterglow of the setting sun gilded her with a warm golden edge, yet it could not melt the innate coldness that surrounded her.

Since the Hehuan Sect had moved to Tianyin Mountain, Xiao Nianyin's situation had become somewhat delicate.

She had once been a high and mighty Saint Realm Sect Master, but now, with her cultivation completely lost, she relied entirely on Xu Ruyu using the Dual Cultivation method to maintain her Origin from dissipating and to slowly recover.

Within the sect, although she held the nominal title of "Elder," everyone knew of the complex and unspeakable relationship between her and Xu Ruyu, so most treated her with a mixture of awe and distance, curiosity and gossip.

She also seemed to isolate herself; apart from necessary appearances, she spent most of her time in Xu Ruyu's Tingquan Residence, either in a daze or meditating silently, trying to sense her sealed cultivation.

Looking at her back, Xu Ruyu felt no particular pity or tenderness.

As a corporate wage slave before his Transmigration, crushed by life until he couldn't catch his breath, he had never imagined that one day he would be able to "enslave" a once-mighty Saint Realm female cultivator.

Although the cause and process of this "enslavement" were full of accidents and indescribable events, since Old Ancestor Qingtian had left such an ambiguous "instruction" and the hope for Xiao Nianyin to recover her cultivation was tied to him, then… ordering this "former boss" around didn't seem to cause him any psychological burden.

In fact, there was even a faint, secret pleasure, like a liberated serf singing a song of triumph.

He deliberately made his footsteps heavier.

Hearing the sound, Xiao Nianyin's back stiffened slightly, but she did not turn around immediately.

Xu Ruyu did not mind; he walked straight to a bamboo couch in the room covered with soft animal fur, slumped down without any regard for his image, and let out a long sigh, as if trying to sigh away all his exhaustion.

"I'm exhausted…" he muttered, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet room. "Between researching the Cultivation Technique and dealing with those stubborn guys, my bones feel like they're falling apart."

Xiao Nianyin finally turned around slowly.

Her stunningly beautiful face still bore that eternal, icy expression, but upon closer inspection, a trace of complex ripples seemed to flash in the depths of her eyes.

She did not reply, only looking at Xu Ruyu quietly.

Xu Ruyu lifted his eyes, met her cold gaze, grinned, and ordered unceremoniously, "Don't just stand there watching."

"Go, prepare some bathwater for me, and make it hot."

"I sweated quite a bit today, I need a good soak to relieve the fatigue."

He ordered her as if it were only natural, as if Xiao Nianyin were his personal maid.

Xiao Nianyin's ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly, and her fingers inside her sleeves seemed to curl for a moment.

Once upon a time, she was the only one who ordered others; when had anyone ever dared to order her around like this?

Even when she still had her cultivation, Xu Ruyu had been nothing more than a potential "Cauldron" she could manipulate at will.

But now...

She took a deep breath, suppressing the surging humiliation and unwillingness in her heart, and finally turned around, walking silently toward the bathroom connected to the back of the bedroom, which was supplied with running water from the spirit spring.

There was a small white jade bathtub there.

Listening to the trickling sound of water running in the bathroom, a subtle curve appeared at the corner of Xu Ruyu's mouth.

This sense of control, bringing someone who was once high and mighty "off the pedestal" and making them serve him, gave him—someone who was just an ordinary corporate wage slave before his Transmigration—a unique sense of novelty and… satisfaction.

In the past, when passing by those high-end bath centers and seeing the advertisements for "Imperial Enjoyment" at the door, he could only touch his empty pockets and leave dejectedly.

But now, he had a "former Saint Realm" expert serving him personally; this level of treatment was probably something even an emperor couldn't match.