"Confession huh..."
Li Ran fell into contemplation as he thought deeply upon the first Quest in this new world.
Confessing his love to the opposite gender sounds simple at first glance for someone of his stature, but upon closer inspection, he was faced with two difficulties.
Firstly, the Hidden Gauze Sect was a top-tier Demonic Sect with numerous rules and regulations binding the disciple and elder of the Sect, including one particular prohibition: no romantic relationships allowed between disciples.
This rule was issued personally by the Sect's leader, Leng Wuyan, with the purpose of ensuring that disciples focused solely on cultivation. She led by example and had never been involved in any romantic affairs. There were even rumors that she was uninterested in love, and outsiders mockingly referred to her as the "Iron Lady."
Recalling his beautiful Sect leader's methods, Li Ran shuddered.
If this were to be exposed, his fate would be bleak.
But in order to complete the Quest, he had to set aside those concerns.
The second problem was whom to confess to.
Li Ran was the Holy Son of the Hidden Gauze Sect, characterized by his cold, ruthless demeanor. Taking the initiative to confess did not match his persona.
To avoid arousing suspicion, he had to choose accurately and ensure he could successfully win them over.
"Whom should I choose..."
After much deliberation, Li Ran decided to confess his feelings to his Junior Sister.
That girl was infatuated with him, and from the original body memory, she likes to follow him like how a duckling would, and should he choose to confess his love to her, the chance of her accepting his love would be quite high.
Moreover, she seemed to be rather naive, not possessing high intelligence nor emotional intelligence, so she probably wouldn't be suspicious about the rather sudden change of his temperament.
After thinking quite deeply regarding his choice, he had finally made up his mind.
Li Ran was no longer in the mood to stall for time, and he quickly headed to his living quarters.
With his current cultivation sealed and his perception dulled, confessing face-to-face might be risky, as there could be spies nearby.
So, he decided to use the "Photograph Stone" method, which would be relatively safer.
Inside a quiet room, Li Ran sat on a chair, holding a piece of blue stone in his hand.
This was a Photograph Stone, a low-level spiritual artifact that could hardly be considered a treasure. Because of its low quality, it didn't require spiritual energy to activate. By infusing one's thoughts into it, one could leave behind the desired image, which others could view by focusing their own consciousness.
In Li Ran's view, this was simply the artifact that is perfect for doing a love confession!
However, just as he was about to record the confession, he encountered a major problem.
He didn't know the girl's name.
To his previous self, his Junior Sister was nothing more than a passerby, and there was no need to remember her name.
And as someone who relies on the memory of the original body to obtain this world knowledge, Li Ran was even less likely to know it.
"Never mind, let's just omit the name. It's better than getting it wrong," Li Ran thought.
Closing his eyes, he focused his consciousness and began to portray the desired scene.
He started with some praise, followed by a heartfelt confession of love (fabricated), incorporating a bunch of cheesy pick-up lines.
Considering his Junior Sister's naivety, she was sure to blush and her heart would race upon seeing the confession, crying out that she wanted to give birth to monkeys for him.
It took only half an incense stick's worth of time to complete the recording.
Li Ran carefully reviewed it, making sure there were no issues, and then put the stone into a sandalwood box.
He then made his way to his Junior Sister's living quarters.
Coincidentally, her window was open.
After ensuring there was no one nearby, Li Ran tossed the sandalwood box through the window, and it landed perfectly on the table.
"Since there's a time limit of twenty-four hours, I have two whole days. If the Photograph Stone doesn't work, I can still resort to a face-to-face confession," Li Ran said, patting his hands, and then left confidently.
After a while, laughter and playful voices echoed as a group of young female disciples came together.
"Ah, Elder Sun took too long today, and by the time I arrived at the Immortal Platform, the Holy Son had already left," said a charmingly cute girl, clearly unhappy at not seeing Li Ran.
"Alright, Xinran, you're glued to the Holy Son every day. If he gets upset, he might turn you into his pet, you know?" someone teased her.
Lu Xinran clenched her little fist and said firmly, "So what if I become his pet? If it can make my Senior Brother happy, I'm more than fine with it!"
"Tsk tsk, you are truly the Holy Son's loyal follower."
"Naturally, I adore the Holy Son the most!"
The group of disciples then went to their respective rooms.
Lu Xinran entered her room and lazily slumped onto a chair.
"So tired~"
At this moment, a female disciple passed by outside the door and said, "The pills for the assessment should all be refined by now. I'm going to deliver them to the Sect Master. Do you need anything to be delivered as well?"
"Yes."
Lu Xinran noticed the sandalwood box on the table and picked it up, handing it to the disciple. "Senior Sister, please take this for me."
"No problem."
The female disciple took it and placed it into her storage ring alongside a bunch of identical boxes.
Although the Sect Master of the Hidden Gauze Sect, Leng Wuyan, was a ruthless female cultivator, she cared deeply for her disciples. She particularly monitored the progress of the direct disciples on the main peak, which included periodic checks on their cultivation progress. Alchemy was an important part of it.
The elders had advised her not to personally handle everything, given her status as an Emperor-level expert, but Leng Wuyan was passionate about this matter. Despite their counsel, she still continued to be hands-on with this rule in place.
— Rakshasa Peak —-
In the midst of the cold winter, heavy snowflakes were falling.
A peerless figure stood in the snow, her robes fluttering in the wind like white waves.
Leng Wuyan's eyes were deep as she gazed at the distant mountains, lost in thought.
A female disciple approached and presented a jade slip.
"Sect Master, this is the intelligence sent back from the Central Lands."
"Okay."
After taking the jade slip, Leng Wuyan nodded, and the female disciple respectfully went away.
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