22: Chapter 22 Senior Sister Has Arrived!

Gu Yi lowered his head, gently pressed a kiss onto Fei Yuechan's smooth forehead, and held the beauty in his arms a little tighter.

The surface of the hot spring shimmered with fine golden ripples, and the mist shrouded their figures, making them appear dreamlike and illusory.

Fei Yuechan leaned against that broad chest, her eyelashes drooping slightly, enjoying a peace and relaxation she had not known for years.

"Hum—" A crisp sound of jade talismans colliding, accompanied by the humming of the defensive Formation being triggered, echoed over Guhan Cliff.

Immediately after, the Formation light screen sealing the entire outer perimeter of the valley floor rippled with layers of pale blue waves. A cold, clear voice, like an ice spring striking jade, traveled through the gaps in the Formation and clearly reached the side of the hot spring pool.

"Junior Brother Gu, are you inside the Formation? It is I, Senior Sister Mu Qingxue. Just now, I sensed a riot of Spiritual Qi at the bottom of the cliff from above. Has some accident occurred?"

This voice was not loud, nor did it carry the slightest worldly emotional fluctuation, yet it was like a sudden clap of thunder that struck directly into the hot spring pool.

Fei Yuechan's delicate body, which had still been immersed in the afterglow, instantly stiffened like a stone the moment she heard that name and that sentence.

Those beautiful eyes, which had just been brimming with spring water, instantly widened, and the tenderness and languor in them were completely replaced by an emotion called "panic."

She was like a rabbit lying in the grass basking in the sun, only to be targeted by a falcon; she broke free from Gu Yi's embrace with a "splash," sending up a large spray of water.

"Mu... Senior Sister Mu Qingxue, why is she here?!"

Fei Yuechan's voice was trembling. This supreme expert, who had just broken through to the Soul Transformation Stage and could walk sideways throughout the entire Xuantian Sect, was now so flustered that she had even forgotten to cast the most basic Water Avoidance Spell.

She clutched her soaked robes tightly to her chest with both hands, her eyes darting around the empty pool side, attempting to find an outer robe to cover herself. In this flustered state, there was not a trace of the dignity of the Peak Revered Master of Lanyue Peak left.

Gu Yi was pushed back half a step by her and nearly choked on a mouthful of water.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the bit of helplessness that welled up in his heart.

This good Senior Sister had arrived at quite the right time. She didn't come early or late, but happened to arrive at the critical moment just after they had finished Dual Cultivation and were preparing to enjoy a moment of intimacy.

However, upon second thought, Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's explanation was quite reasonable.

On the surface, he, Gu Yi, had been sent to Guhan Cliff to be punished, so it was only natural for a Senior Sister to visit her Junior Brother.

Just now, when Fei Yuechan was purging the cold poison and breaking through to the Soul Transformation Stage, she had triggered a Spiritual Qi vortex; even with the Formation concealing it, this disturbance was enough to attract the attention of those on the cliff.

"Revered Master, do not panic."

Gu Yi wiped the water droplets from his face, and looking at Fei Yuechan's expression as if she were about to cry from anxiety, a flash of mischievous amusement crossed his eyes.

He leaned forward and whispered in a low voice, "The white mist Formation in this inner circle can still block sight and Divine Sense for a while. Revered Master, please focus on stabilizing your Realm in the water, conceal your aura, and do not make a sound. Leave the matters outside to this Disciple to handle."

Fei Yuechan's mind was blank at this moment.

If Senior Sister Mu Qingxue, her eldest Disciple who had always been pure and regarded rules as iron laws, were to stumble upon her, the Revered Master, soaking in a hot spring pool with the Disciple who was nominally being punished, while in such a state of disarray...

Just thinking about such a scene made Fei Yuechan feel as if her Dao Heart was about to collapse on the spot.

"You... quickly go and send her away!"

Fei Yuechan blushed and glared fiercely at Gu Yi, lowering her voice.

While using her True Essence to forcibly suppress the massive aura that was still rampaging through her body after her recent Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Stage, she sank her body deep down like a frightened ostrich, until the warm pool water submerged her delicate collarbone, leaving only her head above the water surface.

Gu Yi forcibly suppressed his amusement and nodded.

He pressed his hands against the warm jade at the edge of the pool, and his whole body leapt out of the water like a vigorous white Dragon.

In mid-air, the Primordial Limitless Creation Immortal Body Origin within Gu Yi circulated rapidly. Steaming hot air radiated from his body surface, and in less than two breaths of time, it evaporated all the remaining water droplets on him.

He deftly pulled a brand-new white brocade robe from his storage ring and draped it over his body.

When tying his belt, Gu Yi's fingers paused slightly.

He did not arrange his robes to be perfectly sealed, but deliberately let the collar hang a bit loose, revealing a bit of his solid collarbone and a small patch of skin reddened by the heat of the Green Lotus Fire.

Even his long hair, which had just been dried, he deliberately ruffled with his hands, making it appear somewhat disheveled.

If one is going to act, one must do it thoroughly.

Since he had to deal with that straightforward, cold-faced Senior Sister, he had to prepare a "battle-damaged" appearance that could explain itself.

Gu Yi took a deep breath, adjusted his facial expression, reined in that look of satisfied languor, and put on an expression of slight fatigue and gravity before striding out of the dense mist surrounding the hot spring pool.

Outer perimeter of Guhan Cliff.

Beside a huge blue stone stood an immaculate figure.

The visitor wore a snow-white long dress, with no complicated patterns embroidered on the hem, plain to the point of being monotonous.

Her waterfall-like dark hair was simply tied up with a white jade hairpin, cascading down to her slender waist.

Her features were exquisitely beautiful, yet they appeared as if carved from ice and jade that had not melted for a thousand years.

In those clear, bright eyes, one could not see any worldly joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness; they were as pure as a blank sheet of paper, and yet so cold that no one dared to harbor any thoughts of profanity.

She stood there quietly, radiating a cold, chilling Sword Intent that warned others to keep their distance. Even the cold-resistant Spiritual Plants at the bottom of Guhan Cliff, which flourished all year round, bowed their heads slightly under the shroud of her aura.

Lanyue Peak's eldest Disciple, Senior Sister Mu Qingxue.

The universally recognized Sword Cultivator Genius of the entire Xuantian Sect, in her world, apart from practicing the sword and respecting her Revered Master and the Dao, there was no room for any extra twists and turns.

The moment Gu Yi's gaze pierced through the thin mist and fell upon Senior Sister Mu Qingxue.

Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, the long-absent System notification sounded crisply:

[Ding! Triggered Luck target scan!]

[Name: Senior Sister Mu Qingxue]

[Realm: Golden Core Stage Peak]

[Secret Intelligence: Possesses an extremely rare, hidden Physique — Extreme Yin Sword Body (This Physique has not yet fully awakened; it contains a massive Extreme Yin Origin inside).]

Gu Yi's footsteps paused imperceptibly for half a breath.

Extreme Yin Sword Body?

When she saw Gu Yi walking out of the mist, those two beautiful willow eyebrows knitted slightly.

"Junior Brother Gu."

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's voice was as cold as water, without any fluctuation, "You are being punished and facing the wall; you should be Cultivating with a calm heart. Why did such violent Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi fluctuations emanate from the bottom of this valley just now?"

Gu Yi stopped at a distance of three zhang from Senior Sister Mu Qingxue, just enough to block her line of sight toward the hot spring.

"Senior Sister has come from afar, and this Junior Brother has failed to welcome you properly."

Gu Yi raised his hand and rubbed his brow somewhat wearily, his voice filled with a just-right amount of hoarseness and weakness, "There was indeed a small accident just now. I was meditating on a Cultivation Technique at the bottom of the cliff, and in my eagerness for success, I rushed forward, triggering a backlash of Spiritual Qi, and nearly suffered Qi Deviation. It is this Junior Brother's fault for causing Senior Sister to worry."

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue did not respond.

Those clear and highly penetrating eyes watched Gu Yi quietly.

She was a pure Sword Cultivator, and her five senses were far keener than ordinary Cultivators of the same Realm. From the moment she stepped into the bottom of Guhan Cliff, she had sensed that something was wrong here.

In the surrounding air, there still remained a trace of a faint yet extremely violent, fire-attribute residual charm capable of incinerating all things.

Not only that.

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue slightly raised her delicate chin, her small nostrils twitching twice.

Beneath that pungent sulfur smell and the violent fire-attribute aura, there was also hidden a very peculiar and lingering scent.

That aura was full of vitality, as if two completely different forces, Yin and Yang, had undergone some kind of violent collision and fusion in the depths of the cliff, and the afterglow had not yet dissipated.

What made her even more puzzled was Gu Yi's appearance at this moment.

His clothes were disheveled, his hair messy, and his body was stained with a faint fragrance completely different from his usual scent. This fragrance was somewhat familiar, but because it was mixed with water vapor and another strange aura, she could not identify the source for a moment.

"Qi Deviation?"

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's gaze swept along Gu Yi's loose collar, finally resting on his slightly weary face, and a hint of obvious confusion was added to her cold voice.

"Junior Brother Gu is Cultivating the sect's orthodox Cultivation Technique, and his aura is upright and peaceful. But the fluctuations I sensed on the cliff just now clearly carried a domineering, heaven-burning, sea-boiling fire intent. And..."

She tightened her hand on the sword hilt slightly, her clear gaze passing over Gu Yi's shoulder, attempting to look toward the hot spring area obscured by the dense mist.

"The intersecting aura permeating the air is very strange. It is full of vitality, yet it is not ordinary Spiritual Plant Qi. Junior Brother Gu, what... exactly were you doing in there just now?"

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's question was asked with pure innocence, without any hint of questioning or catching him in the act; she was simply stating the facts she had perceived and raising a question. In her cognition, the concept of a lone man and woman bathing in a hot spring together simply did not exist.

But these straightforward words fell into Gu Yi's ears and made the corner of his eye twitch uncontrollably twice.

This kind of straightforward questioning, devoid of any embellishment, was more lethal than those cunning old monsters. If Fei Yuechan, who was hiding in the water, heard this, she would likely want to die.

Gu Yi coughed lightly, shifted his body slightly to the side, and completely sealed off the last blind spot for Senior Sister Mu Qingxue to look toward the hot spring.

"Senior Sister's perception is sharp; this Junior Brother admires it."

Meeting Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's eyes, which were devoid of any Impurities, Gu Yi began his deception without blushing or skipping a beat.

"To tell you the truth, this Junior Brother was not just meditating on the Cultivation Technique earlier. This cliff bottom is bitterly cold, and to resist the cold, I tried to set up a small Fire-Gathering Yang Formation. Who knew that the Formation's grade was too low to withstand the impact of the Earth Vein fire Qi, causing the Formation Plate to shatter and the fire poison to leak out."

As Gu Yi spoke, he deliberately raised his hand, and under the pretext of adjusting his collar, he pulled it down a bit, revealing a small patch of skin reddened by the heat of the Green Lotus Fire, disguising it as a burn from the Formation backlash.

"This fire poison is extremely domineering; I forcibly controlled the Formation and used all my might to suppress it. As for the strange vitality Senior Sister mentioned..."

Gu Yi continued to fabricate without changing his expression, "That was caused by the evaporation of medicinal power from several precious hundred-year-old Wood Spirit Mushrooms I crushed to heal my injuries. This disheveled appearance is also because of the exhaustion of Spiritual Power just now; please forgive this Junior Brother's unsightly state."

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue listened quietly.

She watched Gu Yi's fatigue, which did not seem feigned, and that patch of reddened skin, and the suspicion in her eyes dissipated slightly.

Although she was proficient in the Dao of the Sword, she did not have deep knowledge in Formation and pharmacology. Gu Yi's explanation, piled up with technical terms, was undoubtedly highly deceptive to someone in her blind spot of common sense.

"So that is how it is."

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue nodded slightly, and the hand gripping the sword hilt relaxed.

"Since it was a Formation backlash, you should be more careful. This Guhan Cliff is a place of punishment; do not force the setup of Formations for the sake of comfort and damage your Foundation."

As she spoke, she lifted her foot and was about to walk around Gu Yi toward the depths filled with mist.

"Since you are injured, I will go check that shattered Formation eye to confirm whether the fire poison has been completely cleared. If the Earth Vein fire Qi recurs, you may find it difficult to handle alone."

Seeing that this straightforward Senior Sister was about to step into the "crime scene," Gu Yi's heart jumped violently.

If he really let her walk in and see the messy clothes scattered all over the pool side, and his Revered Master hiding in the water with a flushed face and no clothes on, then the Formation excuse he just fabricated would become a huge joke. Even the reputation of the entire Lanyue Peak would be swept away.

"Senior Sister, wait!"

Gu Yi took a step forward almost reflexively, blocking Senior Sister Mu Qingxue's path completely, and the distance between them was instantly reduced to less than three chi.

Senior Sister Mu Qingxue was forced to stop, and a trace of confusion flashed in her cold eyes.

"Junior Brother Gu, what is the meaning of this?"

She raised her head and looked straight into Gu Yi's eyes; there was no anger in her voice, only pure confusion.

Gu Yi's brain spun rapidly at this moment.

Looking at that cold, peerless face close at hand, and smelling the cold fragrance like a snow lotus on her, a bold idea uncontrollably took root and sprouted in his heart.

Since the lie had already begun, he might as well go with the flow and make this performance even bigger.

He had originally been wondering how to find an excuse to drag this Senior Sister into the water, and now, wasn't the opportunity presenting itself?

Gu Yi's eyes instantly became extremely grave, and he even took a deep breath, as if he had made some great resolution, and lowered his voice.

"Senior Sister, I didn't tell the truth just now. The Formation inside... actually wasn't set up for me."