Seeing Leng Ruoxue blocking his way, Xiao Fan maintained his composure and asked in a stern voice, "Why are you stopping me, little girl?"
"Big brother, you're so powerful. Are you a cultivator?" Leng Ruoxue's eyes sparkled with admiration as she gazed at Xiao Fan.
"What if I am? What if I'm not?" Xiao Fan replied, trying to make his voice sound as indifferent as possible.
"Big brother, please take me as your disciple!" Leng Ruoxue suddenly knelt down.
Xiao Fan fell silent. He hadn't expected Leng Ruoxue to ask to become his disciple again. Of course, he knew that she didn't recognize him and mistook him for another cultivator.
After a long pause, Xiao Fan said softly, "Why do you want to become my disciple?"
"I have an enemy. He's a cultivator. To avenge myself, I must become a stronger cultivator than he is," Leng Ruoxue said, her eyes filled with determination.
Under his mask, Xiao Fan's expression turned somber. Even though he knew about Leng Ruoxue's hatred for him, hearing her say it still hurt.
In truth, he had planned to find an opportunity to teach Leng Ruoxue cultivation techniques. Once she was strong enough, she could protect herself after he was gone. Additionally, when she was powerful enough to seek revenge, it would finally end the hatred between the Xiao and Leng families.
The opportunity was now perfect, but he didn't want Leng Ruoxue to be consumed by hatred, becoming a mere shell driven by revenge.
Maintaining his cold demeanor, Xiao Fan said, "Cultivators should seek to refine their bodies and minds, understand the Dao, and pursue immortality, not just think about revenge and fighting."
"Go away! I won't take you as my disciple."
After saying that, Xiao Fan started to walk away. He knew Leng Ruoxue wouldn't give up so easily.
As expected, Leng Ruoxue followed him everywhere, never giving up. Along the way, Xiao Fan visited various scenic spots, and Leng Ruoxue gradually regained some of her childhood innocence, no longer fixated on revenge.
Seeing this change, Xiao Fan smiled and asked, "Little girl, do you still want to cultivate?"
"Yes!" Leng Ruoxue nodded vigorously, her face showing a hint of embarrassment.
"Alright, I'll teach you cultivation techniques from now on," Xiao Fan said with a smile.
"Master, please accept my bow!" Leng Ruoxue exclaimed excitedly, ready to kneel and bow to Xiao Fan.
But just as she was about to kneel, Xiao Fan stopped her.
"I only agreed to teach you cultivation techniques. I didn't agree to take you as my disciple," Xiao Fan said seriously, though he was inwardly smiling bitterly.
He couldn't reveal his true identity, so he felt unqualified to become Leng Ruoxue's master.
"From now on, just call me brother," Xiao Fan said softly.
"Okay, brother," Leng Ruoxue responded with a sweet smile. She liked calling him brother more than master because thinking of a master first reminded her of Xiao Fan, her enemy.
And so, Leng Ruoxue followed Xiao Fan, cultivating while traveling and enjoying the scenery.
Outside the Haotian Mirror.
North Sea Empress Leng Ruoxue could no longer control her emotions, tears streaming down her face.
The brother she had loved, longed for, and sought for thousands of years was the same master she had hated for so long.
"Master! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Brother, you have no idea how much I missed you!"
"Why? Why did I have to learn all this now?"
North Sea Empress Leng Ruoxue, heartbroken, crawled towards the lifeless Xiao Fan, ignoring her own dignity.
"Master, answer me. Please answer me!"
She crawled to Xiao Fan's side, tears streaming down her face, filled with anticipation and longing, hoping for any sign of life, even a slight twitch of his finger.
But Xiao Fan, now a living corpse, remained unresponsive to everything around him.
"Master, please answer me! Answer me!" Leng Ruoxue's cries were heart-wrenching, but they were in vain.
Outside the original imperial city, the cultivators watching felt a pang of sympathy, unable to bear seeing the empress in such a state.
They finally realized that North Sea Empress's feelings for the Netherworld Demon Emperor were far more profound than mere teacher-student affection.
As the Haotian Mirror continued to reveal the moments between Leng Ruoxue and Xiao Fan over the following ten years, everyone was shocked to discover that the empress had fallen in love with Xiao Fan's disguised identity.
Leng Ruoxue, watching the scenes unfold, realized that all the resources Xiao Fan had gathered for her cultivation were obtained through great hardship. He returned wounded each time, but she had never known.
Despite the torment of the poison in his body, Xiao Fan never showed his pain in front of her. He had protected and cared for her for ten years, allowing her to live without worries.
Gradually, she fell in love with the brotherly figure he portrayed.
Watching these unknown scenes, Leng Ruoxue cried uncontrollably.
It was too late—everything was too late.
Her heart was now as cold as ashes.
Raising her eyes to Xiao Fan, her gaze filled with tenderness, she thought dying with her master might be her greatest fortune.
Outside the original imperial city, the cultivators could see that Leng Ruoxue was utterly broken and sought death.
Everyone sighed, lamenting the fall of an empress.
High in the sky, the Jade Pool Empress sneered, "Falling in love with someone you shouldn't have will always end this way."
The Taiyin Empress, however, felt a pang of sorrow watching Leng Ruoxue's tenderness. Though Leng Ruoxue had loved the wrong person, at least Xiao Fan had never wronged her.
Unlike her, who had loved someone who coveted her Taiyin Sacred Body, resulting in the death of her entire village.
The Taiyin Empress looked at the lifeless Xiao Fan with a complicated expression, muttering bitterly, "If you hadn't coveted my Taiyin Sacred Body, perhaps you wouldn't have ended up like this."