Many people didn’t believe Su Xiaomo could keep a secret. In fact, he had done it, never speaking a single word of what he had heard.
It was hard on him.
He was utterly stifled.
The question returned to Lu Qianqian—what exactly had happened?
Summed up in one sentence—she had let go.
The so-called lack of screen time, secluded cultivation was just an excuse. The real reason was deliberately avoiding Jun Changxiao.
In fact, during this time Lu Qianqian had been very conflicted, very pained, even to the point where various matters on her mind had disrupted her mental state.
She wanted to change, so she went to find Taixuan Elder.
“Senior.”
“I want to comprehend a higher level of the Taixuan Ice Heart Formula.”
“…”
Taixuan Elder fell silent.
This ice-attribute mental cultivation method was created by him back in the Starfall Continent. Limited by his thinking and comprehension, he had long ago reached the limit. How could he give her any guidance?
Simply put—
The mental method’s creator was far less proficient than the later learner.
“Child.”
Taixuan Elder said, “Although the Taixuan Ice Heart Formula was created by me, in your hands it has already achieved higher accomplishments. To comprehend higher levels, I cannot help you. Everything depends on yourself.”
“…”
Lu Qianqian said, “Senior once left behind the realm of ‘heart like still water.’ This junior has pondered it for so many years but has never been able to glimpse its essence.”
“Because you’ve developed feelings.”
In this aspect, Taixuan Elder could still provide help. In fact, he had discovered it early on but never pointed it out.
“Senior means that only if I sever emotional attachments can I comprehend heart like still water?”
“…”
Taixuan Elder was speechless.
This girl’s way of thinking was somewhat special.
“Child.”
Taixuan Elder said, “In this world there is love between lovers, familial affection, friendship. How can we ordinary mortals sever these at will?”
Actually, the heart like still water he had left in the secret manual back then was just a vague concept he proposed. He himself had never achieved it.
This was equivalent to a teacher leaving behind a question even he didn’t understand, letting later generations solve it entirely on their own ability.
Just set the question.
Others are responsible for solving it.
Whether they solve it correctly or not, there’s no way to judge.
Frustrating.
“…”
Lu Qianqian didn’t get the answer she wanted, so she left the Formation Hall and went to the Medical Hall. She didn’t want to dwell too much on heart like still water, only cared about how to resolve this emotional attachment.
Elder Wei—
Should be able to provide an answer.
This led to the scene where Su Xiaomo later heard the two of them conversing outside.
“Elder Wei.”
“I find it difficult to forget someone.”
In the past, some words buried in her heart would never be spoken, but as she gradually integrated into the sect, Lu Qianqian had undergone the most fundamental change.
“The person you can’t forget in your heart is the Sect Master?”
Worthy of being an emotional expert, Elder Wei hit the nail on the head directly.
Others might not have noticed, but he had long paid attention to Lu Qianqian, especially after Hua Meigui came to the sect. She would deliberately avoid her, which was already very obvious.
“Mm.”
Lu Qianqian admitted it.
Since she came, she hoped to resolve the problem.
“You are the Sect Master’s first disciple, and your ages are similar. Developing feelings through years of contact is very normal.” Elder Wei said.
“I want to forget the Sect Master. Does Elder Wei have a method?” Lu Qianqian said.
Elder Wei said, “Loving someone might be easy, but forgetting someone is very difficult.”
“What should I do?”
Lu Qianqian lowered her head. She seemed to be asking Elder Wei, but actually was also asking herself—why, after so many years, had she still been unable to shake it off?
She had tried.
Nearly insane cultivation, doing her utmost to avoid him.
But—
Once the seed of emotion was buried in one’s heart, it would take root and sprout with time.
Couldn’t forget, became more irritated.
The more irritated, the more her heart was in chaos.
Lu Qianqian, who appeared cold and aloof on the outside, was actually like a little match girl, curled up alone in the ice and snow.
Everyone could also see that recent chapters had focused on writing about her, naturally hoping that before the main storyline arrived, they could give this disciple a perfect ending as much as possible.
“Learn to forget.”
Elder Wei taught her a method.
It sounded easy, but for the person involved it was difficult.
Actually, there wasn’t any good method. After all, nominally speaking, Lu Qianqian and Jun Changxiao had a disciple-master relationship, or more strictly, a master-disciple relationship.
Moreover, there was also Hua Meigui, who had long since married the Sect Master.
In the martial dao world, men having three wives and four concubines was very normal, but Elder Wei absolutely didn’t believe that the cold-natured Lu Qianqian could accept this, especially with the Sect Master’s donkey-kicked emotional quotient—he couldn’t possibly have thoughts in this direction.
Therefore—
The best method was to withdraw early.
Elder Wei said, “For emotional matters, if one cannot achieve a clean break, in the future it will certainly become endlessly tangled.”
“It’s already tangled…” Lu Qianqian said bitterly.
Not receiving substantial help, she left quite dejectedly. During this time, she specifically instructed the eavesdropping Su Xiaomo to definitely help her keep the secret.
Actually—
Whether to keep the secret or not wasn’t important.
Because any disciple with intelligence had sensed it more or less, just that afraid of being frozen, they never dared speak of it.
Eldest senior sister—
Still held quite deterrent power in the sect.
“Sigh.”
Watching that girl leave, Elder Wei shook his head, saying, “This thing called emotion really doesn’t distinguish by personality. Those who should fall victim still fall victim.”
“Elder Wei.”
Su Xiaomo came over, saying, “Can eldest senior sister let go?”
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know.”
…
After returning from the Medical Hall, Lu Qianqian shut herself in her room for several days. Liu Wanshi and Yao Mengying had come several times but couldn’t get her to come out.
“Senior Sister Liu.”
Yao Mengying said puzzled, “What’s wrong with eldest senior sister?”
“She should be in secluded cultivation.” Although Liu Wanshi explained it this way, actually in her heart she was muttering—could she be thinking about the Sect Master again?
Even the loose-lipped御膳堂 Hall Master could see it—who else in the entire sect couldn’t see it?
There was one.
Jun Changxiao.
…
Night fell.
Lu Qianqian sat by the window, arms hugging her legs, chin gently resting on her knees, bright eyes looking at the celestial moon with complex emotions.
The camera slowly moved down, focusing on the bracelet on her wrist.
This was the Cold Ice Bracelet Jun Changxiao had given her back when he took his disciples to train in the Valley of Life and Death. Now that her realm had improved, it had long lost its function, but she had never discarded it into her spatial ring.
“Elder Wei was right.”
Lu Qianqian murmured, “I must learn to forget.”
“Creak!”
The next day, the room door was pushed open.
Yao Mengying, who happened to be passing by, saw this and said joyfully, “Eldest senior sister, your secluded cultivation…”
Her words came to an abrupt halt, because the Lu Qianqian who walked out, although still cold, had an extremely subtle change.
Where the change was, she couldn’t say, until she placed her gaze on the empty wrist, then said in surprise, “Eldest senior sister, where’s the bracelet?”
“I accidentally broke it.” Lu Qianqian said.
“Ah?”
Yao Mengying’s eyes widened, “How could you be so careless?”
Lu Qianqian didn’t explain further. As usual, she went to the dining hall to eat, then entered the Ice Heavy Heaven of the Nine Heavens Secret Realm to begin cultivation.
Perhaps because of a night of contemplation, perhaps because she no longer had the bracelet, her mental state was rarely calm. After circulating the Taixuan Ice Heart Formula, she discovered mysteries never before perceived.
The cultivation process was very tedious.
Occasionally, matters she didn’t want to recall would flash through her mind.
Lu Qianqian could suppress them immediately each time, and that heart which originally still had warmth gradually cooled down. She slowly merged into another realm.
It was an ice and snow world.
There were many mirrors condensed from ice.
Lu Qianqian sat cross-legged in the center, countless reflections of herself appearing in the mirrors.
One day, two days, three days, four days…
Who knows how much time passed. When she gained some kind of comprehension here, when she opened her eyes, the mirrors standing around all shattered, and the entire world suddenly contained only herself.
“I understand.” Lu Qianqian said to herself. The mental state that had once been stirred by waves was now more solid than before. On her face, apart from coldness, no other expression could be found.
Later—
She left the Nine Heavens Secret Realm and went to the Heavenly Might Secret Realm, where she defeated two types of Heroic Souls and chose one SSS-rank Heroic Soul.
“Whoosh whoosh!”
The woman entirely wrapped in ice layers appeared, like a deity standing before Lu Qianqian, saying impatiently, “Girl, why have you come again?”
“You once said my mental state was unstable, making it difficult to comprehend ice-attribute mysteries.”
Lu Qianqian said, “Now I’ve come to tell you—the ice and snow in my heart will no longer melt.”
“Whoosh whoosh!”
“Whoosh whoosh!”
Overwhelming cold pervaded from within her body, as if freezing this entire region.
“Eh?”
The ice and snow woman said in surprise, “Not much time has passed, yet you’ve actually comprehended a certain ice-attribute mystery.”
“Very well.”
“A willing bet must be honored.”
“I, Snow God Teng Liu, make a contract with you.”
“Look!”
The system roared in anguish, “I fucking didn’t guess wrong!”
—