Chapter 1622: Taking and Letting Go
Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi had experienced many joys, sorrows, and life-and-death moments together, developing deep feelings that went far beyond mere friendship long ago.
However, there had always been another person between them, so both exercised a certain restraint. Their relationship seemed close, yet also felt distant and unreachable.
Seeing Mu Lingxi's exquisitely beautiful body, how could Zhang Ruochen, as a normal man, have no reaction at all?
But Zhang Ruochen was no slave to lust. His self-control and willpower were strong, so he quickly suppressed the rising fire within him.
Mu Lingxi, still in the pool, met Zhang Ruochen's eyes, then quickly covered her chest with her jade-like arms. Her expression was extremely shy, and her snow-white face instantly flushed crimson, the redness spreading down to her neck.
The atmosphere in the entire underground space became unusually strange.
"Cough, cough."
Zhang Ruochen averted his gaze and cleared his throat twice. "Actually, I just arrived."
If any other man had barged in, even if he weren't killed, his eyes would likely have been gouged out.
But at this moment, Mu Lingxi couldn't muster any hatred in her heart. Instead, she felt flustered and at a loss. Her face grew even redder, as if it might drip with color.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen turn away, Mu Lingxi breathed a slight sigh of relief. She lightly patted the water's surface with her palm and rose into the air like a fairy emerging from her bath.
Reaching out a slender hand, she quickly grabbed the clothes on the bank and put them on, covering her smooth, tempting body.
Mu Lingxi stared at Zhang Ruochen's back, lightly biting her vermilion lips. Her beautiful eyes deliberately showed a hint of grievance. "Weren't there two female saints guarding outside? How did you manage to barge in without a sound?"
Although she sounded resentful, she wasn't truly angry.
Zhang Ruochen, on the other hand, felt somewhat awkward. After all, their relationship was still at a rather delicate stage—they were not yet Dao companions.
The two female saints guarding the stone door had followed Zhang Ruochen into the underground space one after another.
Now, standing at the edge of the passage, they stared at Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi in shock, as if turned to stone, not moving an inch.
"The ice-pure and jade-pure Divine Maiden... has been seen in her divine form by Young Master Ruochen?"
They realized they had discovered a terrible secret and deeply regretted following him inside.
Knowing something they shouldn't know meant death.
The two female saints, afraid that Zhang Ruochen might silence them, knelt on the ground again, lowered their heads, and said tremblingly, "We saw nothing... Spare us, Divine Envoy..."
Zhang Ruochen's headache grew worse. His gaze turned cold and heavy. "What happened just now—you are not to reveal it to a third person. Otherwise, don't blame me for making you vanish in both form and spirit."
"Understood."
The two female saints replied fearfully.
Mu Lingxi's current identity was extraordinary. Her reputation and honor were at stake, so Zhang Ruochen naturally had to handle this carefully.
"Get out."
Zhang Ruochen barked, using his spiritual power to intimidate their minds, leaving a deep brand of fear within them.
The two female saints, pale-faced, quickly retreated from the underground space, closing the stone door behind them.
This matter could be big or small. If mishandled, it could bring great trouble to Mu Lingxi.
However, the fault was ultimately his. If he had been more patient and let the two female saints announce his arrival first, this might not have happened.
Zhang Ruochen turned around, his gaze falling on Mu Lingxi. He was about to say something apologetic, but when he saw her eyes full of expectation, he swallowed the words back.
He knew that what Mu Lingxi was waiting for was not an apology.
Mu Lingxi stood opposite Zhang Ruochen. Her delicate, egg-shaped face was breathtakingly beautiful. She was drenched, wrapped only in a long white gauze, with droplets of water still rolling on her skin, emitting a crystalline luster.
Her bright, intelligent eyes stared at Zhang Ruochen, the look of expectation growing stronger.
She knew what Zhang Ruochen was hesitating about and understood his concerns. Her heart was filled with anxiety, torn between hope and fear.
After a long silence, Zhang Ruochen cleared all distracting thoughts from his mind. His gaze became firm and resolute. He walked straight up to Mu Lingxi, took her cold little hand, and pressed it against his heart. "Lingxi, would you be willing to be my Dao companion?"
In matters of the heart, ever since Mu Lingxi had known Zhang Ruochen, he had always restrained himself. At first, it was because he couldn't get past the hurdle of Empress Chi Yao; later, it was because of Huang Yanchen.
It could be said that Zhang Ruochen's romantic experiences had been quite bumpy.
After going through these two relationships, he had even begun to close off his emotions.
That was why Mu Lingxi never expected Zhang Ruochen to suddenly become so direct. Naturally, she was startled.
But when her hand pressed against his heart and her eyes met his unwavering gaze, she gradually calmed down. Mu Lingxi could feel Zhang Ruochen's sincerity, and her heart began to pound wildly.
Mu Lingxi had waited a long time for these words, but now that they had come, they felt unreal, as if she were in a dream.
Zhang Ruochen waited for a long time without receiving Mu Lingxi's response. He frowned slightly. "I made this decision after careful consideration. From now on, I will do my utmost to protect you and won't let anyone harm you. If..."
Mu Lingxi felt as if her throat had gone mute—she couldn't utter a single word. Frantic, she nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice, afraid that Zhang Ruochen might say something like, "If you're unwilling, pretend I never said anything."
After all, getting Zhang Ruochen to express his feelings so proactively was no easy feat. Who knew when the next time would be?
A smile appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face. He reached out his other hand, wrapped it around Mu Lingxi's slender waist, and held her tightly.
Hearing that Zhang Ruochen had emerged from seclusion, Ling Feiyu immediately rushed to the Extreme Joy Underground Palace, intending to discuss some matters with him.
But when she reached the stone door, Ling Feiyu stopped. Her eyes fixed on the cold stone door before her, and she stood there silently, not taking another step forward.
With her powerful cultivation and no formation blocking her, a mere stone door couldn't stop her eyes and ears. Naturally, she saw and heard everything inside.
The next moment, the stone door opened, and Zhang Ruochen walked out with Mu Lingxi on his arm.
Zhang Ruochen asked the two female saints kneeling on the ground, "I sensed Palace Master Ling's aura earlier. Did she come by?"
One of the female saints replied, "Yes, Palace Master Ling did come. But she stood outside the stone door for half an hour, then left."
Mu Lingxi didn't know about the seven lifetimes of entanglement between Zhang Ruochen and Ling Feiyu. She said, "The Palace Master must have come to see you. Recently, she's hit a bottleneck in her cultivation and wants to leave the Moon God Dojo to train and break through it. But it seems she had something else to discuss with you, so she was waiting for you to come out of seclusion."
Zhang Ruochen had already merged with his seventh life's memories. In that life, he and Ling Feiyu had deep entanglements. They had developed feelings for each other, become husband and wife, and even had descendants of their own.
Although it was only a life spent within the Scroll World, the memories and emotions were very real—there was no way to avoid them.
Ling Feiyu hadn't expressed herself because she didn't know Zhang Ruochen had merged with those memories.
Zhang Ruochen hadn't expressed himself because he hadn't found the right opportunity.
Zhang Ruochen immediately chased after her out of the Extreme Joy Underground Palace. But at the palace's exit, he ran into Xiao Hei, nearly knocking him over.
Xiao Hei quickly blocked Zhang Ruochen. "I just ran into Ling Feiyu. She asked me to give you a letter."
Zhang Ruochen took the letter and asked urgently, "Where is she?"
"Gone. She just entered the teleportation array, said she was going out to train. Tell me, why is this woman in such a hurry? You've clearly come out of seclusion—why couldn't she just talk to you face to face? Why write a letter? I really can't figure it out... Hey, where'd he go?"
While Xiao Hei was rambling, Zhang Ruochen had already vanished before his eyes.
Zhang Ruochen used the teleportation array to reach a primeval forest in the Truth Heaven Domain.
The teleportation array in this forest was fixedly connected to the one in the Moon God Dojo. If Ling Feiyu had left through the teleportation array, she would have come here first.
Zhang Ruochen's figure flickered, appearing on the peak of the nearest mountain. He scanned the surroundings, searching for traces of Ling Feiyu.
At the same time, he released his spiritual power to probe the nearby area.
Unfortunately, he found nothing.
Zhang Ruochen knew why Ling Feiyu had left so hastily. He was worried she might be heartbroken, so he wanted to talk things through with her now.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and released a ripple of sound waves: "I know you're hiding nearby and can hear me. I need to tell you—I've merged with my seventh life's memories. I hope we can have a proper talk. I have two bottles of sacred pills here that can help a Saint King break through bottlenecks. They should be able to help you. Show yourself and meet me, okay?"
The sound waves layered upon each other, spreading across a thousand miles, startling a large flock of birds from the forest.
A long time passed, but Ling Feiyu never appeared.
Instead, some cultivators hundreds of miles away, hearing Zhang Ruochen's voice, began heading in his direction.
"I hope you're only hiding from me for a while, not for a lifetime."
Zhang Ruochen let out a long sigh. Before those cultivators could arrive, he destroyed the teleportation array in the forest and had no choice but to leave.
"Strange—I clearly heard a cultivator's voice. Why did it suddenly disappear?"
"That voice was quite powerful. It should be a Saint King-level expert. Let's not stir up trouble. Let's get out of here."
After all the cultivators had left, Ling Feiyu's figure appeared in a valley. In her hand, she held the Glazed Heaven-Sealing Cover. It was this sacred artifact that had allowed her to evade Zhang Ruochen's Heavenly Eye and spiritual power.
Ling Feiyu gazed into the distance at the peak where Zhang Ruochen had stood. A bitter expression crossed her face, and she muttered to herself, "Since someone has already come to heal the wounds in your heart, I naturally have to leave. We are both pursuing the supreme Dao—we shouldn't be held back by a chance karmic bond born of fate. Better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes than to cling together in hardship. Zhang Ruochen, from now on, this battlefield of the Truth Heaven Domain will have to rely on you alone."
A look of determination appeared in Ling Feiyu's eyes. She walked out of the valley and headed into the distance.
The cultivation environment of the Truth Divine Temple was indeed unparalleled, and the Way of Truth was one of the nine eternal paths. But so what?
The universe was vast, and the Heavenly Dao was infinite.
There was more than one path to the peak.
Before the Heavenly Court Realm was established, there was no Truth Divine Temple, yet countless extraordinary figures of earth-shaking talent had still been born.
Thinking this, Ling Feiyu felt no more reluctance. Her steps grew firmer and firmer, and she eventually left the Truth Heaven Domain.
The moment she left the Truth Heaven Domain, her state of mind underwent a transformation. The bottleneck that had been troubling her suddenly broke through. The sacred rules within her body increased rapidly, and her cultivation surged forward by a significant margin.