494: Chapter 494 Who writes a diary if they're a decent person?

The stream gurgled, and the bamboo shadows swayed.

"So the water Senior gave me is the same as what you gave me before, Mother..."

An Ruosu was stunned. The "Five Spirits Divine Water" her mother had brought back a year ago was actually from the Moon Shadow Holy Land's Five Elements Chaos Spirit Pool. The pool water Ling Hao had given her today shared the same source as what her mother had retrieved.

Sect Master An Suxin nodded, then shook her head.

"To say it's the same isn't quite right. The quality of the pool water Moon Shadow Sect Master gave you is clearly a level higher."

She stood up and walked to the edge of the stream. The moonlight fell upon her voluptuous figure, her dark green dress gently fluttering in the night breeze.

"I previously thought of trading the zhen cauldron for the protection of the Golden Crow Holy Son, but with someone like him... I wasn't confident either."

"For the past year, I have also been wondering whether we should seek help from the Moon Shadow Holy Land."

An Ruosu looked at Sect Master An Suxin's back.

"Mother..."

She wanted to say something, but Sect Master An Suxin raised a hand to interrupt her.

"Arrange a meeting. I will discuss the matter of the zhen cauldron with him personally. But you must know, once we choose the Moon Shadow Holy Land, we will be completely breaking ties with the Golden Crow Holy Land. Have you thought this through?"

An Ruosu walked up to Sect Master An Suxin with a serious expression.

"I have thought it through. The Golden Crow Holy Land is definitely in league with the Niding Alliance. A fallout is only a matter of time."

Sect Master An Suxin smiled warmly, opening her arms to gently embrace her daughter.

"Alright."

Hopefully, Moon Shadow Sect Master really is a good choice.

...

On Yingxian Peak, the Golden Crow Saintess's spiritual boat lay quietly in the center of the peak's platform. Its crimson-gold hull had shed its daytime extravagance under the moonlight, leaving only a thin, dim glow.

Armored guards patrolled the edge of the peak, their footsteps orderly and silent. Security was tight; even if a bird flew close, it would be swept by sharp Divine Senses.

Warm yellow candlelight shone from the most luxurious chamber on the peak.

Ling Hao sneaked outside the chamber, holding a Recording Stone between his fingertips.

He tossed the stone gently in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.

"Who would have thought there'd be an unexpected pleasant surprise."

His gaze fell upon the chamber. He was about to enter directly but suddenly paused.

Inside the chamber, Saintess Yan Xueyuan was not cultivating. Instead, she was hunched over her desk, writing.

She was writing very, very seriously.

The grand Golden Crow Saintess, instead of practicing her Cultivation Technique or nurturing her Divine Soul in the dead of night, was actually hunched over a desk writing like a mortal maiden.

Ling Hao's interest was piqued. Hiding in the shadows outside the window, his Divine Sense quietly slipped inside.

The handwriting on the pages was elegant yet slightly childish, as if the writer's state of mind had been rushed into maturity before it was ready.

Ling Hao read line by line.

"'The Holy Son is urging me again. He wants us to set off together for Fusang Land in the Tanggu Kingdom. I don't want to go.'"

"'He said going to Fusang Land is to help me break through to the Body Integration Stage with all our strength. I know what that means. Fusang Land will probably be my final resting place. So I made up an excuse, saying I wanted to travel for two months along the way. He didn't care. It seems he also has urgent business in the Fire Turtle Kingdom. The root cause is probably that he isn't afraid of me running away.'"

"'Two months... is enough for me to take a good look at this world. And enough for me to be willful one last time.'"

"'I wonder if I will run into Moon Shadow Sect Master during these two months?'"

The handwriting paused here. A heavy blot of ink spread on the paper, as if the tip of the brush had lingered for a long time, hesitating before finally writing a line—

"'Never mind, what if I do meet him?'"

Looking at those words, Ling Hao's lips curled up involuntarily. He silently slipped into the chamber and stood behind Saintess Yan Xueyuan.

While Saintess Yan Xueyuan was in a daze, a voice suddenly drifted down from above her head—

"You will meet him."

Her entire body stiffened. The brush in her hand dropped onto the page with a clatter, spreading a large blot of ink.

She whipped around to see Ling Hao standing right behind her, so close that his chest was almost pressed against her back. He was looking down at her diary with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Y-y-you—how are you here!"

Saintess Yan Xueyuan's face instantly flushed all the way to her ears, and her usually cold and sharp features were dyed with an embarrassed blush. She reached out to snatch the open booklet on the desk.

Ling Hao scooped up the booklet a step ahead of her, took two steps back, and casually commented as he flipped through the pages.

""Cunxin Records"? A diary? Who in their right mind writes a diary?"

He dragged out his tone,

""Let me see... tsk tsk—"I wonder if I will run into Moon Shadow Sect Master?"—See, didn't you run into him?"

Both embarrassed and anxious, Saintess Yan Xueyuan lunged forward to grab it:

"Give it back to me! How can you be so shameless—"

Ling Hao raised his hand and pressed it against her forehead, easily keeping his distance like holding down a bristling kitten.

He continued to flip back a few pages, his expression gradually shifting from mischievous to one of serious inquiry.

"'I am not a member of the Yan Family, yet I am publicly declared as the direct daughter of the Yan Family. The entire Yan Family holds me in awe and respect. I know this is because the Old Ancestor stands behind me.'"

"'Today, the Old Ancestor asked me how I was doing again and if I could Cultivate. I said I was the same as before. I know that all she wants is the Dao Fruit inside me.'"

"'After the Old Ancestor met with the Holy Son, I became the Saintess. Was I sold?'"

Ling Hao turned another page and read aloud again:

"'That deadbeat Holy Son came again, along with his male favorite. I really hate the way that favorite looks at me. Fortunately, I managed to ask for Yiyi to be transferred to me. But... everything I have now was given to me by that deadbeat Holy Son. The Body Integration Stage. Once I reach the Body Integration Stage, all of this will be over.'"

The booklet was quite thick, but under the current circumstances, it was impossible to read the whole thing.

Cough, he should leave the girl some privacy. With her crybaby personality, if he read the whole thing, who knew how hard she would cry.

He flipped directly to the most recent pages, his gaze landing on the last few lines, causing his tone to pause slightly.

"'Today, I met a man at the Nine-Story Tower. He is Moon Shadow Sect Master. He found out—that I am flat-chested!!! Ahhh... the secret I have kept for so many years! When I cried, he handed me a handkerchief. He doesn't seem that bad. No, wait, he placed a Restriction on me. What was it called? If I reveal his existence, he'll make me ride the female levitation train—what kind of train is that?'"

Ling Hao closed the booklet and looked down at Saintess Yan Xueyuan.

Unable to grab the booklet, her eyes had already turned red. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she bit her lip hard to keep them from falling.

Ling Hao looked at her: "Is what you wrote... all true?"

From her appearance, she also seemed to know about her own uniqueness.

Saintess Yan Xueyuan turned her face away so he couldn't see her expression, her voice trembling:

"Are you done reading? Are you satisfied? The grand Moon Shadow Sect Master, peeping at someone else's secrets—"

Before she could finish, her tears fell anyway. She wiped them away vigorously and lifted her chin, trying hard to maintain her proud posture, but because the tip of her nose was bright red, it carried no intimidation whatsoever.

"What on earth do you want? Wasn't planting a Restriction in my body last time enough? What is there on me that is worth you pestering me over and over again?"

Ling Hao looked directly into her eyes:

"I said last time, what I'm interested in is you yourself."

Saintess Yan Xueyuan laughed miserably, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world:

"Me myself? What is there to me? A vase of a Saintess who is only at the Soul Transformation Stage, doesn't know any Cultivation Techniques, can't cast any Spells, and can't even beat someone at the Nascent Soul Stage."

She took a step back, shaking her head, her voice growing lower and lower,

"You're all the same. You are just like them—you want the Dao Fruit too. What 'interested in you yourself'? It's nothing but a nicer way of putting it!"

"I said, I don't need your Dao Fruit."

"Then why did you come to find me?!"

"I'm interested in you."

"I don't believe you."

"I really am interested in you."

"I don't believe you!"

Ling Hao gnashed his teeth. Forget it, he couldn't explain it clearly.

But the reason he came over this time, besides her strange "One Body, Two Hearts" Physique, was also because he wanted to see her crybaby look from that night at the Nine-Story Tower again?

In any case, it definitely wasn't because she was flat-chested. After all, he was a firm believer in the big-breasts faction—big is good, and good is big!

His hesitation was interpreted by Saintess Yan Xueyuan as a guilty conscience. Tears welled up in her eyes again, and her voice choked up:

"As expected. You can't answer. You are just like them!"

Ling Hao: ...

What the hell. I said it, but you didn't believe me. Now that I've stopped talking, you think I have a guilty conscience and am lying.

It seems you really need to be taught a lesson!

Suddenly, an aura far exceeding the Soul Transformation Stage erupted from all around Saintess Yan Xueyuan.

Spiritual energy, interwoven in fiery red and snowy white, swept through the entire chamber like a storm. The candlelight flickered violently, and the window frames rattled.

Overwhelmed by her emotions, Saintess Yan Xueyuan activated the power of the Mahayana Heart within her, and her cultivation instantly soared to the Void Tempering level.