“Senior!”

Su Wan’er’s voice broke the tranquility within the ruined temple. Her body was still trembling slightly, though whether from her injuries or from fear, it was unknown.

“The Blood Lotus Sect… their methods are ruthless. If they catch up, this junior will undoubtedly die.” She bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, but still spoke, “This junior knows this request is highly presumptuous, but… could Senior allow this junior to stay here for one more night? Just one night. At dawn, this junior will leave and will absolutely not implicate Senior.”

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head, not daring to look into Lai Li’an’s eyes.

Lai Li’an looked at her expressionlessly.

The firelight danced on his face, illuminating no emotion.

Su Wan’er waited for a moment. Seeing that he didn’t speak, a trace of dejection flashed through her eyes. She quickly added, “This junior was out of line. Senior’s life-saving grace is already beyond repayment; I should not have made such an unreasonable request.”

She stood up, walked to a corner of the ruined temple, and sat down curled up, her back to Lai Li’an.

She spoke no more.

Lai Li’an looked at her back, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Is she asking me for help? Is this girl trying to emotionally blackmail me?

The Blood Lotus Sect sounded exactly like a demonic sect just from the name alone.

Asking me to go against a demonic sect, does she think I’ve lived too long? Good for her to just brush them off as “unscrupulous cultivators,” but they were out to kill her to silence her. No matter how you looked at it, this was a life-and-death feud between the orthodox and the demonic.

He couldn’t get involved in this mess.

Although Su Wan’er was a high-quality EXP pack, if he ended up getting himself killed while leeching off her, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Lai Li’an withdrew his gaze, looked at the campfire, stayed silent for a moment, and slowly spoke:

“The path of cultivation is inherently an act of defying the heavens; one must bear their own fortune and misfortune, and navigate their own life and death. The fact that this Venerable saved your life is already the workings of fate. If I shield you from everything, you will ultimately just be a child who never grows up in this life.”

His voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.

“The matter with the Blood Lotus Sect is your own karma. If you cannot even pass this trial, how can you speak of the Great Dao?”

After speaking, he closed his eyes and said no more.

Su Wan’er’s shoulders trembled slightly.

She did not turn around, only replying in a low voice, “This junior understands.”

There was a hint of loneliness in her voice.

Lai Li’an said no more and closed his eyes.

The campfire crackled.

The night deepened.

Lai Li’an did not fall asleep.

He kept his eyes closed, his mind racing.

Today he had harvested the Cultivation Base of the First Level of Foundation Establishment. Although it was just an empty shell, it was still enough to bluff people.

All his other cultivation methods were unusable; only the Indestructible Vajra Physique (Heaven-Grade) had reached perfection. This was the only path he could take.

Lai Li’an opened his eyes, quietly glanced at Su Wan’er in the corner, and then checked the physique.

With a thought, he opened the details of that cultivation method on the system panel.

Lai Li’an stared at the panel for a full ten seconds.

What kind of realm was the Immortal Realm?

He subconsciously clenched his fists, then released them.

It seemed… he didn’t feel anything.

He patted his arm. It was a bit harder, but only to the extent of someone who had practiced martial arts year-round. He then tried pinching himself hard.

“Hiss—”

It hurt.

Lai Li’an’s mouth twitched.

What “Immortal Realm”? What “invulnerable to all arts”? Wasn’t this just an ordinary external martial arts technique? In his past life, when he watched old men practicing Tai Chi in the park, they also claimed to be practicing the “Cosmic Origin Technique”.1

He knew it; this system wasn’t that kind.

What Heaven-Grade cultivation method, what automatic perfection, it sounded nice, but in reality, it probably just gave him a “physical strengthening” patch.

His skin was a bit thicker and his bones were a bit harder. He might be considered an expert among mortals, but the people standing opposite him were immortal cultivators!

What a scam!

And here he thought he had hit the jackpot.

Lai Li’an took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to curse.

Forget it, something was better than nothing. At least he’d be able to take a couple more hits the next time he got beaten up.

He closed his eyes and stopped thinking about these frustrating matters.

At the crack of dawn, Lai Li’an was awakened by a faint noise.

Su Wan’er stood at the entrance of the ruined temple. She had already tidied her dress, her hair was simply tied behind her head, and the long sword hung at her waist. Her complexion was much better than last night; she barely looked like she had been injured at all.

She turned around, and seeing that Lai Li’an had already opened his eyes, she bowed deeply.

“Senior, thank you for saving my life. Wan’er has no way to repay you, so I can only express my gratitude here.”

“I will keep Senior’s words in mind. I cannot stay here for long, lest I implicate Senior.”

She raised her head, her gaze firm.

“Senior, until we meet again.”

With that said, she turned and walked out of the ruined temple without looking back.

Lai Li’an watched her figure disappear into the morning mist, an indescribable feeling welling up in his heart.

There was a bit of regret. After all, she was a high-quality EXP pack; it was indeed a pity for her to just leave like this.

But mostly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He could quietly find a place to seek out his next “ignorant little Qi Refining cultivator” and scam a hefty sum.

Although he was an empty Foundation Establishment shell, his Cultivation Base was genuine. Those little Qi Refining cultivators couldn’t see through his background. As long as his acting skills were on point, he could scam them one by one.

Thinking of this, the corners of Lai Li’an’s mouth subconsciously curled up.

He stood up, patted the dust off his robes, and prepared to leave this ruined temple.

Right at that moment—

Boom!

An explosion rang out from outside the courtyard.

Holy crap! Did a fight just break out?

Lai Li’an was startled and instinctively took a step back.

Su Wan’er!

This explosion was most likely related to her.

Lai Li’an gritted his teeth.

No, I can’t go. Although Su Wan’er was indeed very beautiful, he, Lai Li’an, was not the type of man to let his lower head control his upper head. Moreover, he was completely powerless right now; one careless move and he’d end up dead along with her.

He had to escape quickly.

He vaulted over the back wall of the ruined temple, planning to take a detour and leave.

Right at this moment, the system panel suddenly popped up. Flashing bright red words stung his eyes.

Lai Li’an froze.

He stared at the panel, his mouth hanging open, unable to speak for a long time.

What the fuck!

Why didn’t you say so earlier?!

The words “completely reset to zero” were like a hammer viciously smashing into his forehead.

The Early Foundation Establishment Cultivation Base he had so painstakingly conned his way into, the airs of an expert Senior he had so carefully put on, if they were just gone like that, then what would he be? He would be worse off than a mortal.

“System, are you messing with me?” Lai Li’an gnashed his teeth, lowering his voice. “Why didn’t you say this earlier? What if I hadn’t looked back? What if I had just walked away?”

The system did not respond.

The line of red text on the panel flashed twice and disappeared.

Lai Li’an took a deep breath, and then another.

Fine, you win.