Chapter 87

Chapter 87: The Strange Yu Ruan Ruan

After a round of flattery, the two parted ways. Cheng Bu Fan returned to seclusion, while Rong Shu continued watching the matches.

Senior Brother Lin Dao had been right: even though she did not need to compete, the disciples who wanted to qualify were the elite of Heaven’s Evolution Sect, and their combat displays were worth studying. From their battles she could harvest techniques and methods suited to herself. From each mistake and each win or loss, she could distill experience. For errors one must never commit, she etched quiet warnings into her heart. For unexpected maneuvers, she recorded them in surprise, then considered whether she could use them herself and how she would respond if an opponent used them against her.

In the morning, Rong Shu watched the Qi Refining Stage matches at Spirit Gathering Peak. In the afternoon, she went to Spirit Nurturing Peak to watch the Foundation Establishment Stage bouts. Spirit Nurturing Peak also hosted Golden Core Stage matches, but she was just one person and could only watch one bracket at a time. Golden Core was too distant from her level, so she chose to watch mainly Foundation Establishment matches.

While Rong Shu watched in earnest here, over in the forbidden valley Lin Dao and the madman, having peeled off some of each other’s disguises, parted by tacit agreement. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Lin Dao delivered as usual. In his spare moments, he cultivated in meditation, but most of the time he pondered how he ought to conduct himself in Heaven’s Evolution Sect going forward.

Originally, having found the person he sought, Yu Ruan Ruan, Lin Dao had intended to take her away immediately. However…

During this period, he investigated Yu Ruan Ruan’s origins.

Yu Ruan Ruan had entered Heaven’s Evolution Sect five years ago. While traveling outside, Jun Xiu Ran had spotted her talent at a glance, brought her back to the sect against precedent, and accepted her as a personal disciple to nurture with care.

Before that, Yu Ruan Ruan had been a child from a remote, impoverished village in the mundane world. When Jun Xiu Ran encountered her, the entire village had been slaughtered by a Demonic Cultivator; only Yu Ruan Ruan escaped.

After arriving at Heaven’s Evolution Sect, the once ordinary Yu Ruan Ruan began to shine. Not only did her looks, bearing, and voice undergo dramatic change, but Lin Dao had also noticed that nearly every man who came into contact with her praised her unstintingly and took quite a liking to her.

This was especially true of gifted disciples from privileged families. By rights, people of that sort were often proud and would not lower themselves to curry favor with another. Yet those very men seemed bewitched, one after another madly infatuated with Yu Ruan Ruan.

The most typical example was Jun Xiu Ran’s other three male disciples. Their relationships had never been particularly friendly, but with Yu Ruan Ruan’s arrival, some mediator seemed to have appeared among them. As if reaching a tacit pact, they began to present, in front of Yu Ruan Ruan, the picture of a harmonious Limitless Peak family.

If Yu Ruan Ruan had the bright, kind, warmhearted temperament of a truly good person, perhaps she really could have “softened” three senior brothers who were nearly strangers for life. But from Lin Dao’s contact with her thus far, he felt there was no way the words “innocent and kind” applied. Only “blind men” like Jun Xiu Ran, dazzled by a single leaf, would instinctively ignore the flaws in Yu Ruan Ruan’s clumsy acting and choose to see only her supposed goodness.

At sunset, Lin Dao left the forbidden valley. Not long after emerging, he ran into a most unexpected person.

Frowning at the young woman in a white dress before him, he said: “Yu Ruan Ruan?”

She called out sweetly: “Senior Brother Lin Dao.”

Expression cold, Lin Dao asked: “What is it?” The unspoken meaning was clear: if there is nothing, get lost.

Yu Ruan Ruan bit her lip, then, looking conflicted, said: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, Junior Sister Rong isn’t here right now, so you don’t have to pretend or lie anymore, do you?”

Lin Dao: [Huh? I recognize every word, so why can’t I make sense of them together?]

“Say what you came to say. I’m in a hurry,” Lin Dao said, a flicker of impatience in his eyes.

Forced to proceed, Yu Ruan Ruan delivered the lines she had prepared: “Senior Brother Lin Dao, why are you approaching Junior Sister Rong? Don’t tell me it’s because you’re fellow disciples. I’ve looked into you.”

As she spoke, a watery sheen seemed to gather in her eyes, and her expression became tender and pained. “You’ve been in Heaven’s Evolution Sect for years, mostly by yourself, without any friends or companions. Your heart must be terribly lonely and empty.”

[Ha. I don’t know about that myself,] Lin Dao thought.

“So, back in Tranquil Harmony Town, after I exposed your thoughts, you grew inferior and flew into a shame-tinged rage, then went to find Junior Sister Rong as a substitute,” she concluded.

[Did this idiot leave their brain at home ?_?] Lin Dao thought.

At last Yu Ruan Ruan sighed softly: “Senior Brother Lin, you don’t have to be like this.”

She had thought it through. Though Lin Dao faced a life-and-death tribulation that sounded terrifying, he himself possessed abundant fortune. If she could brush against his luck before the tribulation struck, it would be a sure-profit venture. She would simply pull away in time.

There was another reason: Yu Ruan Ruan could not stand seeing someone shielding Rong Shu like that. Even if it was a man she did not want, watching Lin Dao care for Rong Shu stirred a stubborn unwillingness in her heart. This time, she was the protagonist, the daughter of fortune. Rong Shu was only fit to be her stepping stone.

In Yu Ruan Ruan’s mind, Rong Shu ought to fare worse and worse, liked by no one, growing ever more inferior and self-abandoning. In cultivation, Rong Shu would make no progress, spend a lifetime in mediocrity, and finally die miserably in some unnoticed corner, ending her pitiful life… that was how it should have been.