# Chapter 123: Jealousy and Hatred
"The bond between you two men is truly enviable," Lan Xueruo said with a smile. Her tone was calm as she spoke the word "enviable," but the envy in her heart was many times heavier. Though they were family, it was only distant kinship, yet they shared such a deep connection. And when she thought of her own blood brothers, only coldness and sorrow filled her heart.
"Xueruo, seeing you safe puts my mind at ease," Murong Ye walked over, a faint hint of surprise on his face. "When I heard a month ago that you had fallen into the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, I was so worried I couldn't eat or sleep. I only regretted my lack of strength—otherwise, even if it cost me my life, I would have dived into the mountain range to save you."
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother," Lan Xueruo replied with a polite smile. She showed no surprise at Murong Ye's appearance here. Every year, the Cangfeng Mystic Palace selected three outstanding disciples from its branch palaces across the Cang Feng Empire to be recommended for admission. Murong Ye had been one of the New Moon Mystic Palace's designated candidates this year, and the timing of his arrival at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace coincided with this month. It seemed Murong Ye had come with Qin Wushang.
"Xueruo, will you be staying at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace from now on? If so, that would be wonderful—we can train and spend time together again," Murong Ye said with a smile.
Lan Xueruo didn't nod. She replied calmly, "In the future, I will indeed be staying at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace." With that brief statement, she ignored Murong Ye and turned to Qin Wushang: "Palace Master Qin... actually, I should call you Mentor Qin now. Yun Che has just arrived at Cangfeng Imperial City and has no place to go. I'd like to trouble you to arrange his entry into the Cangfeng Mystic Palace."
"Heh heh, of course, that's no problem," Qin Wushang nodded kindly. "And what about you? Would you like to come as well? Your name is still registered in the Middle Palace, after all."
Registered in the Middle Palace? Murong Ye's eyes went wide... How is that possible! In the Middle Palace, even the lowest-ranked disciples had at least level three True Xuan Realm profound force. He himself was at level eight of the Xuan Entry Realm, unmatched among his peers in the New Moon Mystic Palace, but here at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace, even in the lowest Outer Palace, he would only be mid-tier. Lan Xueruo's profound force was the same as his—how could she be in the Middle Palace?
The Cangfeng Mystic Palace was nothing like the New Moon Mystic Palace. The New Moon Mystic Palace might allow exceptions for personal connections, but the Cangfeng Mystic Palace would never permit such things! The boundaries between the Outer Palace, Middle Palace, and Inner Palace were extremely strict. The only way to go from Outer to Middle Palace was to defeat a Middle Palace disciple. The only way from Middle to Inner Palace was to defeat an Inner Palace disciple... There was no other path. Even if the Palace Master himself tried to play favorites and get an Outer Palace disciple into the Middle Palace, it would be absolutely impossible.
The only slight flexibility was in admitting a somewhat unqualified disciple into the Outer Palace. But even that required at least a Mentor-level figure with such authority, and it was limited to no more than three people per year.
"I'll come visit often. But I've been away for too long, and I'm worried about my father. I need to go home first. So, Junior Brother Yun, I'll leave you in Mentor Qin's care. Mentor Qin, Junior Brother Yun, please settle in at the palace first. I'll return home, and once I've taken care of things there, I'll come see you right away," Lan Xueruo said. When she mentioned "my father," a faint shadow of worry and melancholy flickered in her eyes.
The corner of Murong Ye's mouth twitched violently... Settle in Yun Che... Visit Yun Che... From Lan Xueruo's simple words, anyone who wasn't an idiot could hear the deep care and concern she had for Yun Che, without the slightest mention of him, Murong Ye.
"Don't worry. I'll arrange for Yun Che to enter the Outer Palace immediately, and I'll give him the maximum possible consideration in all related conditions," Qin Wushang nodded. He was the only one who knew the reason Lan Xueruo treated Yun Che so well... Though he personally wasn't optimistic about Yun Che and only admired him somewhat, since it was Lan Xueruo's choice, he could only comply.
"Senior Sister, are you going home alone? Why don't I escort you back first?" Yun Che asked tentatively. He was very curious about what kind of concept Lan Xueruo's "home" really was.
Lan Xueruo smiled gently and shook her head. Her movements were light, and she said nothing, her expression soft but resolute.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me here in Cangfeng Imperial City." With those words, she gave Yun Che a tender smile, turned her back to him, and walked away with slow, light steps.
But the moment she turned and moved forward alone, a wave of uncomfortable emptiness surged through Lan Xueruo's heart—as if something extremely important had suddenly been lost from her side... In just a single breath, she understood what that emptiness was...
Because at this moment, Yun Che was no longer by her side.
They had fled together, faced danger together, even nearly experienced life-and-death separation. Through so many days and nights together, without even realizing it, she had grown accustomed to Yun Che's presence. Back in the New Moon Mystic Palace, Murong Ye had clung to her every day for a very long time, but it had brought her two completely different feelings. Murong Ye's persistence, though she treated it with polite calm, inwardly annoyed and repulsed her. But having Yun Che always by her side had quietly fostered a growing dependence in her heart... and something even more dangerous: attachment.
Even sharing a bed with him, waking up in his arms in the morning, was quietly becoming a habit.
When she returned to Cangfeng Imperial City, she had been anxious to go home and see her father. But now that she had suddenly left Yun Che, with him no longer by her side, the feeling was so agonizing—as if part of her soul had been torn away. Her footsteps became unbearably slow.
"Senior Sister!"
Behind her, Yun Che's voice suddenly called out, making her feet stop dead, unwilling to take another step.
Yun Che hurried to Lan Xueruo's side, took two items from the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and placed them in her hands: "Senior Sister, you know the Heaven-Shaking Thunder, so you must recognize this poison fire gun from the Xiao Sect's Artifact Sect. When I'm not by your side, Senior Sister, you must learn to protect yourself. If you face an enemy you can't defeat who wants to harm you, don't show mercy—use this poison fire gun to take them out. And this incense stick, I got it from Hei Mo's space ring. It's a very special beast-repelling incense. The materials used don't belong to the Cang Feng Empire—probably something Hei Mo and his group looted from a foreign merchant. When lit, it can drive away profound beasts below the Heavenly Xuan Realm. That's how they entered the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. If you ever enter a dangerous area with dangerous beasts, light it immediately."
Lan Xueruo's lips curved into a breathtakingly beautiful smile: "I'm just going home for a visit. It's not like it's a permanent parting." She put away the poison fire gun and the beast-repelling incense, then said softly, "Junior Brother Yun, thank you."
"Hehe," Yun Che gave a cheeky grin. "We're people who've slept together every day; no need to say thank you. Why be so polite... Ow ow ow ow ow!"
Lan Xueruo's face flushed crimson all the way down to her snowy neck. She angrily pinched the back of Yun Che's hand, stomped her foot, and ran off as if fleeing.
And Yun Che's last words, whether intentional or not, weren't particularly soft. Qin Wushang, Xia Yuanba, and Murong Ye all heard them clearly, leaving them utterly stunned—mouths agape, jaws nearly hitting the floor.
"You... What did you just say!" Murong Ye's chest heaved violently. Then, like a mad, enraged dog, he charged forward, grabbed Yun Che by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, and roared, "Say that again!"
*Slap!* Yun Che smacked Murong Ye's hand off his collar, looking at him sideways with a cold expression: "Who do you think you are? You want me to say it again, and I will?"
Qin Wushang stammered, "Yun Che, d-d-d-d-did you really... sleep with Xueruo?"
Yun Che looked back at Qin Wushang with a puzzled expression: "Well, Senior Sister Lan and I were alone together, a man and woman, for over a month... And with this handsome man and beautiful woman, mutual affection, dry kindling meeting fire... isn't it perfectly normal to sleep together?"
"Th-th-th-th-this..." Qin Wushang's beard trembled, his eyes wide, his brain completely short-circuited. And when he recalled Lan Xueruo's reaction to Yun Che's words just now... not a fierce slap, but a playful pinch and then running off in bashful anger...
Qin Wushang almost felt like kneeling on the spot in front of Yun Che...
"Ahhh!" Xia Yuanba's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time. "Brother-in-law, you actually slept with Senior Sister Xueruo... I worship you so much!"
"Impossible! This can't be true! How could Xueruo possibly set her sights on you! And Xueruo is pure as ice and jade—how could she... how could she..." Murong Ye's breath was ragged, his eyes bloodshot, his mind nearly collapsing into madness. Suddenly, a long, thin sword appeared in his hand, and he lunged at Yun Che: "You bastard who defiled Xueruo—I'll kill you!!"
"Stop!" Neither Qin Wushang nor Xia Yuanba had expected Murong Ye's sudden move. With Murong Ye so close to Yun Che, all they could do was cry out in alarm, unable to block him in time.
Yun Che didn't dodge or evade. He casually reached out his right hand and grabbed straight for Murong Ye's thrusting sword. The action shocked Qin Wushang and Xia Yuanba... Grabbing a sword with his bare hand? Murong Ye was at level eight of the Xuan Entry Realm! Was Yun Che trying to lose his hand?!
*Clang!!*
The moment Yun Che's fingers touched Murong Ye's sword blade, Murong Ye's sneer hadn't even fully formed before it froze entirely. He felt his sword strike something as hard as unyielding rock, unable to advance another inch.
And holding the tip of the sword were only Yun Che's index and middle fingers of his right hand.
Murong Ye was stunned. Qin Wushang and Xia Yuanba were completely frozen. And at that moment, Qin Wushang finally registered Yun Che's profound force. An exclamation of utter disbelief escaped his lips: "Xuan Entry Realm... Level Ten!? Th-this... How is this possible!!"
The last time Qin Wushang saw Yun Che, he was only at Xuan Entry Realm Level One. And in just a month and a half, he was already at Xuan Entry Realm Level Ten!
Such speed could only be described as sheer fantasy.
"What? What did you say? Xuan Entry Realm Level Ten?" Xia Yuanba's eyes bulged, almost certain his ears were playing tricks on him.
Yun Che's right hand shot forward, gripping the entire sword blade. He gave a violent shake, and the formidable profound force surged through the blade into Murong Ye's clenched hand, splitting his tiger's mouth open and making him scream as he released his grip. Yun Che grabbed the blade, swung his arm, and slammed the sword's hilt brutally into Murong Ye's face, sending him crashing to the ground.
Murong Ye lay on the floor, the entire right side of his face swollen and bleeding profusely. Yun Che tossed the sword aside, looking down at him coldly: "Whatever happens between Senior Sister Lan and me is none of your damned business. Know your place as a toad who's always dreaming of eating swan meat, got it?"