Lu Qingyun had a despondent heart after his talk with the Three-Destinies Old Man. After his return to his abode, he said to Lie Xingyuan. "I'm going to spend a few days meditating. I still find my strength to be sorely lacking."
Lie Xingyuan was surprised by his decision but she did not stop him.
She merely looked at him with a flustered smile, "Actually senior brother, I've changed the blanket and the bedding for you. I don't mind changing it every day for you."
Lu Qingyun: …
"Xingyuan, it is not what you think it is…"
"You don't have to explain. I totally understand." Lie Xingyuan shyly giggled.
Lu Qingyun was flustered. He could not tell her about the Three-Destinies Old Man because it would mean revealing the heavens' secrets.
"Actually…I…" he was stammering because he did not know how to explain it to her.
"It is good to burn away your internal fires in the practice chamber." She shyly said before she walked hastily away.
Lu Qingyun blinked his eyes as he muttered, "I am not doing anything else in the practice chamber. I am only meditating inside…do I look like a lecherous man to you?"
Shaking his head, he walked into the practice chamber and had entered into a self-imposed 'cultivation retreat'.
But instead of cultivating, he was actually thinking of what the Three-Destinies Old Man had told him.
"I will bring upon a calamity on Keqin…"
"If I truly love her then I must give her up for her own good…"
"Keqin…"
"Keqin…"
"Is it only lust that I have felt toward Keqin?"
"I may feel lust toward Yin Shisi but definitely not Keqin…"
After struggling with his inner demons for two days, Lu Qingyun had finally opened his eyes with an enlightened look.
"Why is that I will only bring a calamity on Keqin but not the others?"
"That Three-Destinies Old Man must be a fraudster…"
"I finally know why. He must be an old toad that is lusting after Keqin himself…"
"To think that I was almost tricked by him…"
"To think that I was almost manipulated by him into leaving Keqin…"
"I am really not a lustful man, definitely not…"
"…so that old man must be wrong."
"Actually I do feel a little lust towards her…well it is only just a little and it can't be considered to be lust? Am I right?"
Over the past two days, he had finally found many excuses and many reasons why he should not be leaving Qin Keqin.
"I shall not be defeated by this old man…"
"Even if what he had said is the truth, I am going to defy the heavens…"
He had finally defeated the inner demons of his heart, defeated the advice of the Three-Destinies Old Man and he had emerged as the ultimate winner.
With a triumphant look, he had walked out of the practice chamber.
"Senior brother, you have ended the retreated?" Lie Xingyuan smiled when she saw him entering the abode's hall.
"Xingyuan, I am hungry. May I have two bowl of rice?" Lu Qingyun smiled when he saw Lie Xingyuan. He was in high spirits and he had never felt as good as before.
Lie Xingyuan was giggling, "Alright. I will also make a few extra dishes for you. I think that you need more food to replenish your lost stamina."
"Lost stamina? What lost stamina?" Lu Qingyun had a perplexed look as he looked curiously at her.
"Senior brother, actually try not to do it so often. It is harmful to your body. You know, you can always look for Xingyuan…" she let it lingered before she dashed shyly out of the hall.
Lu Qingyun was stammering, "Xingyuan, it is really not what you think…"
All of a sudden he heard Lie Xingyuan making a greeting from beyond the hall, "Grand Elder Celestial Shi! Xingyuan pays my respect to you."
"Where is Senior Brother Qingyun? I am here specifically to look for him." Shi Guanyin was heard saying.
"He's in the hall now."
"Alright then. I will look for him myself. You can carry on with your tasks."
When Shi Guanyin had entered the hall, Lu Qingyun quickly greeted her respectfully. "Grand Elder Shi. May I wonder what brings you here?"
He was quite respectful toward Shi Guanyin because if it was not for her, he would never have the chance to enter the Red Heaven Sword Library and found the Flaming Crimson Sword Art. He felt that he really owed her for what he had become now.
"Grand Elder Celestial Shi is so kind to me. I don't know how I would ever repay her for her kindness to me…" He was thinking when he saw her.
This time round, she had come alone.
"Senior brother," Shi Guanyin was smiling. "Thank you for taking care of Qiuyue during the trip to the Red Death Valley."
"Not at all." Lu Qingyun said humbly.
"I just have some news for you so I thought of delivering it personally to you," Shi Guanyin smiled.
"Oh? I feel really bad that Grand Elder Shi is personally delivering the news to me." Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it. I am free anyway and I thought of seeing how you are. If senior brother is badly injured, the future of the Heavens Ridge Villa will be at risk." Shi Guanyin chuckled softly.
"Haha, I'm not someone that is important as to affect the future of the Heavens Ridge Villa." Lu Qingyun answered awkwardly.
"You are our senior brother, the core disciple to our acting sect leader! Moreover our acting sect leader is also the Fragrance Elder of our patriarch clan! So that makes you doubly important." Shi Guanyin winked at him.
Of course, she was not going to tell him that the grand elders had all know by now that their acting sect leader Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing.
Lu Qingyun was the core disciple of the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing. This status alone could shake the Nine Celestial Fraternity!
"As you know, our patriarch clan the Heavenly Fragrance Villa has recently announced that our clan will be hosting the regional cultivators' competition. Every celestial clan in the region will be allowed to field four candidates that are below the fifth realm. Therefore we have decided to field you as one of the candidates as you have the most outstanding results during the core protégés martial tournament. What do you think?"
Lu Qingyun was startled and he was immediately excited. This was a chance for him to prove himself!
So he quickly said, "I will gladly accept this honor! May I know who will be the other three candidates that will be fielded?"
Shi Guanyin said with pride, "Leng Qiuyue, Nangong Yu, Cheng Wuzi! They are the other three."
Leng Qiuyue, Cheng Wuzi and Nangong Yu were all fourth realm experts. Naturally they would be selected.
Shi Guanyin smiled before she said in a low voice, "Qiuyue has been singing your praises. I am really curious what is your cultivation realm at the moment? I'll promise to keep it a secret."
Lu Qingyun had no intentions of hiding his cultivation realm and was in fact eager to shake off his good-for-nothing cultivator moniker. He answered politely, "Upper fourth realm immortal celestial."
When Shi Guanyin heard him, her eyes were wide opened with disbelief. All along she had thought that Lu Qingyun was only a first realm lowly cultivator and he was now a fourth realm expert in just a matter of months?!
She was greatly astonished!
"How is it possible?" she was muttering.
Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly, "It is all thanks to my master. Without her aid, I will never have get this far."
Shi Guanyin had suddenly remembered that Qin Keqin was actually the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing and there was a story that Fan Yuqing used to be the high priestess of the Great Goddess Heaveness. Naturally this was entirely possible if it was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing…
She smiled weakly, "I should have put more faith in Qiuyue's words. You are really an outstanding genius and the chosen son of the heavens."
Lu Qingyun was thinking, "Maybe I should ask Grand Elder Shi to let me evaluate my cultivation strength again with the telling stone. In this way, I will no longer be the good-for-nothing but handsome cultivator…"
But he had suddenly had a change of his heart, "I've promised Keqin that I will cultivate the heart. Alas, why am I so stubborn on seeking renown? With such a mentality, my state of divinity will never be able to improve and I'll never be a saint in the future."
So he shook his head and said humbly, "My strength is still lacking and I'm not any chosen son of the heavens."
Shi Guanyin nodded as she thought, "He is a humble heart and is teachable. He will have a bright future. *Sigh* If he isn't with sect leader, I will surely give Qiuyue hand in marriage to him…"
Mindful that her thoughts were drifting away, she quickly said. "The second news is a little shocking. Young Master Ling Chong of the Flying Armament Sect is getting married to Qiuxiang Huan. It is also likely that Qiuxiang Huan will be one of the competing candidates on the side of the Flying Armament Sect."
Lu Qingyun was a little startled. "She is marrying my brother Ling Chong?"
Shi Guanyin nodded, "This may not be good news for us actually."
Lu Qingyun nodded lightly. Qiuxiang Huan had left quite a lasting impression on him with her stately demeanor and moreover, she was really a city toppling beauty as well.
He was feeling a little envious for his sworn brother Ling Chong but was glad for him anyway.
However most of his 'lasting impressions' on Qiuxiang Huan were quite negative…
When he thought of Qiuxiang Huan, he could not help but sighed softly as he sipped a drink.
"The third news isn't as shocking and may well be proved to be a fake news. But I should at least inform you. Your sister is here to visit you."
Lu Qingyun laughed as he took another sip of his tea, "When did I ever have a sister…"
"Well, she says that her name is Lu Rongren. Since she isn't your sister then I will ask the protégés to turn her away."
Lu Qingyun almost puke his drink out of his mouth and he was suddenly coughing, "Wait!"
He suddenly had a sheepish look on him as he found himself saying, "She is indeed my sister."
"Huh? She is really your sister?" Shi Guanyin asked curiously, "But I thought that you just said that you don't have a sister?"
Lu Qingyun laughed weakly, "She is my older sister. We have not seen each other for a long time. We erm…from different mothers."
Shi Guanyin seemed to be satisfied with the answer and she was smiling, "Alright then. I will allow her to come inside so that you can have your family reunion."
Lu Qingyun was not thinking straight when he had admitted that this Lu Rongren was his sister. He was suddenly thinking, "Why did I have to admit it?"
He was suddenly blinking his eyes when he had recalled this Yue Lingxi maiden and was thinking, "How did she find me? What does she want? More importantly, how do I explain this sister to Keqin?"
Then a scary thought crossed his mind, "What if she is here to kill me?!"
"There is another piece of news. This one is a good news for us and for you as well." Shi Guanyin said with grinning delight.
Lu Qingyun gathered his thoughts and asked, "Oh?"
"Lie Xingyuan has been chosen by Fragrance Herald Shen Yufeng to be her core protégé. After the regional cultivators' competition has ended, she will be going to the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa to be a protégé."
Shi Guanyin chuckled before adding, "This is really a pleasant surprise! To think that all the celestial clans will be fighting in the regional cultivators' competition for a chance to be accepted into the Patriarch Clan Heavenly Fragrance Villa but Xingyuan actually has such a chance ahead of all the other female cultivators. To tell you the truth….I'm so surprised by this as well…Shen Yufeng says that Xingyuan has a good potential and that's why she wants to make her a core protégé…"
Lu Qingyun was not listening anymore. He was stunned. "Xingyuan is leaving me soon…"