169: Heart Snow White Explores the Hidden Peak Residence

Zhao Wei's footsteps came to a sudden halt, and even her breathing instinctively froze.

She hurriedly pressed her ear back against the wall, holding her breath, for fear of missing even the slightest movement inside the room.

Inside the bedroom, Cao Bu took a scroll out of the System space and handed it to Lin Rou.

"Brother Bu, what is this?"

Lin Rou reached out curiously to touch it. When her fingertips brushed against the gold threads on the diagram, a faint ripple of Spiritual Qi flickered.

Cao Bu didn't hide it. With a touch of tenderness in his tone, he explained patiently, "This is the ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram."

"As long as you plant a wisp of your Primordial Spirit and Essence Blood into it, you will not only be able to enter the diagram to Cultivate in the future but also stay by my side at any time without being noticed by others."

"Really?" Lin Rou's eyes instantly lit up, her voice full of joy and anticipation. "In that case, I can stay by Brother Bu's side all the time in the future without worrying about being discovered by others?"

Seeing her jubilant expression, Cao Bu couldn't help but nod with a smile.

"Not only that, the Spiritual Qi within this ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram is far denser than in the outside world. It can also enhance your Cultivation speed, making it more than a hundred times faster than Cultivating outside."

"Then I'll plant it right now!"

Lin Rou was somewhat impatient. She immediately sat cross-legged, her hands quickly forming seals as she began to force out a drop of Essence Blood from her body.

A short while later.

A drop of Essence Blood glowing with a faint red light hovered in her palm.

At the same time, a faint light flickered between her eyebrows, and a wisp of transparent Primordial Spirit power was slowly peeled away, intertwining with the Essence Blood.

Lin Rou held her breath, her mind highly concentrated, as she carefully guided the intertwined Essence Blood and Primordial Spirit toward the ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram.

The moment that bit of red light touched the scroll, the gold threads on the diagram instantly lit up.

The originally dormant Phoenix patterns seemed to come to life. Light flowed, and an ancient and majestic aura quietly permeated the air, adding a sense of sacredness to the entire bedroom.

The Essence Blood and Primordial Spirit were silently absorbed by the scroll.

Lin Rou only felt her mind sway slightly, as if an invisible thread had gently tied her Soul to this scroll, creating a wonderful connection between them.

She closed her eyes and focused her mind to sense that connection.

Sure enough, a completely new world seemed to have opened up within the scroll.

The Spiritual Qi there was misty and so dense it almost became substantial, far beyond anything in the outside world.

She could even see a corner of the fairyland within the diagram: jade trees and crystalline flowers, gurgling spiritual springs, and a phantom image of a Phoenix soaring in the sky, scattering specks of golden radiance.

"Brother Bu, I succeeded!" Lin Rou opened her eyes and looked at Cao Bu with wild joy.

Cao Bu nodded with a smile, his eyes shining with encouragement as he said softly, "Try to sink your consciousness completely into the diagram and experience the world inside."

Lin Rou did as she was told. With a thought, she concentrated her mind and moved toward the scroll.

In the next moment, she felt her figure gradually fade, like ink blending into water, slowly becoming transparent until she completely vanished.

And on that ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram, amidst the thousands of flowers that were previously empty, a phantom of a young girl sitting cross-legged quietly appeared, her features identical to Lin Rou's.

She was surrounded by a faint Spiritual Qi, echoing the soaring Phoenix in the sky.

Inside the ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram, Lin Rou sat cross-legged by a spring where Spiritual Qi had liquefied, her aura surging.

In just a few short breaths.

Under this terrifying hundredfold Cultivation speed, the accumulation of spiritual power in her body reached a critical point.

"Boom!"

The sound of a barrier shattering, which only she could hear, echoed in her Sea of Consciousness. The surging spiritual power around her, like a flood finding an outlet, rushed into her broader Meridians.

Her aura suddenly climbed, successfully stepping from the first level of the World King Realm into the second level of the World King Realm.

After stabilizing her Realm, Lin Rou had a thought, and her figure slowly emerged from the diagram, changing from phantom to reality, reappearing in the bedroom.

Her face carried uncontrollable excitement and a blush, her beautiful eyes shimmering with light.

"Brother Bu! I succeeded! I've broken through to the second level of the World King Realm!"

Her voice was jubilant as she grabbed Cao Bu's sleeve and shook it gently. "This ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram is truly amazing; the Cultivation speed is even faster than I imagined!"

Cao Bu put away the ten thousand fragrances paying homage to the phoenix diagram, then raised his hand to gently stroke her cheek. "You've recovered."

Lin Rou froze for a moment, then her cheeks instantly flushed. She lowered her head shyly, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

Seeing her bashful appearance, a gentle smile curved at the corner of Cao Bu's mouth. "Since you've recovered, let's continue our previous Cultivation."

Lin Rou nodded shyly and snuggled into his arms, surrounded by a faint sense of bashfulness and dependence.

Outside the wall.

Hearing this familiar dialogue, Zhao Wei felt the world spinning. Her feet stumbled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

She hurriedly supported herself against the wall to barely remain standing, her fingertips turning white from the exertion.

"Rou'er! How could you be mixed up with Cao Bu?"

"Didn't you say that you would marry no one but Gu Yun?"

"But now, how could you..."

Zhao Wei's breath hitched, her chest feeling stifled and panicked. Her heart was sour and painful, making it almost impossible to breathe.

She hesitated, a battle raging in her mind.

Should she rush in and break them apart?

But on second thought, if things got out of hand and Rou'er was embarrassed in front of everyone, how would she deal with the aftermath later?

Just like that, Zhao Wei stood outside the wall for a long time.

Unknowingly, an hour had passed.

The sky gradually paled to a fish-belly white, and the faint light of dawn spilled through the clouds, illuminating a corner of the courtyard.

Listening to the faint sounds reaching her ears, she finally let out a long sigh, her eyes filled with complexity and helplessness.

"Rou'er, I hope you won't regret today's choice in the future."

She murmured softly, her voice carrying a hint of fatigue and regret.

In the end, she still couldn't bring herself to barge in.

With a few light leaps, she left Cangfeng Residence in the blink of an eye, disappearing into the morning light.

An hour later, the courtyard gate of Cangfeng Residence slowly opened.

Cao Bu, dressed in a red brocade robe and followed by Yan Ruyu, walked toward the mountain gate.

As for Lin Rou, she had left half an hour ago.

Since she was a contestant, it was currently unsuitable for her to be too close to him.

Shortly after Cao Bu left, a graceful figure quietly appeared on an old locust tree outside the wall of Cangfeng Residence.

She was dressed in light green martial attire with a jade belt around her waist. She nimbly flipped over the wall, landing so lightly that she didn't make a sound.

Looking closely, it was indeed Li Xinxue.

She scanned the courtyard alertly. After confirming no one was there, she cautiously approached the study door.

She glanced back at the silent courtyard. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she opened the door and entered.

A long time passed.

The door opened softly, and Li Xinxue quickly left the place.

Her expression was neither happy nor sad, so calm that no emotion could be seen.

In the early morning, the sunlight was just right, spilling through the window lattice onto the detailed explanation of the heavenly pride battle rules, forming mottled shadows...