The battle broke out.

Xu Yuan didn’t stop it. He quietly activated the core Great Formation of the Inner Courtyard, cutting off inside from outside. As the final trump card to protect the key figures of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, this formation could withstand even a Saint’s frontal assault for several moments. There was no need to worry that the outside world would learn of this family scandal.

After doing all this, Xu Yuan plopped down beside the Big Ice Lump.

Ran Qingmo stared for a moment at the two dazzling golden streaks in the sky, then asked in puzzlement, "Xu Yuan, you’re not going to stop them?"

Xu Yuan shook his head helplessly and said:

"The more I try to stop them, the harder they’ll fight."

Ran Qingmo thought it over seriously and said:

"Tianyan should know she’s no match for Tian Ye."

Xu Yuan glanced at the Washboard Saintess who was currently being toyed with, and sighed:

"Yeah. The only reason she dared to make a move is because she thinks I’ll help her..."

At this point, he shrugged:

"...but the problem is, I can’t beat Tian Ye either."

"If not for the scheme Heavenly Will set up back then, making the Yantian Art unable to break past Saint, Tian Ye would probably already be the only Saint‑above in the world today."

Ran Qingmo was still confused:

"...Didn’t you use a Military Formation to suppress her before, and plant a restriction in her? Tianyan is probably hoping you’ll use that to help her."

After a brief speechless pause, Xu Yuan asked with earnest gravity:

"Tianyan probably is thinking that—but don’t you feel she’s like this every single time?"

As he spoke, Xu Yuan scooted a bit closer to the Big Ice Lump. Through her skirt he could feel the soft warmth of her thigh.

Ran Qingmo didn’t move away; instead, she felt a little secretly pleased. Blinking, she thought back and realized Tianyan seemed to have bad relations with all the girls around Xu Yuan—every time they met, she’d end up being bullied.

"...Seems like it, yeah."

Xu Yuan smiled and didn’t say more.

He looked up at the radiant golden flares blooming in the sky from their clash, and at the two young girls casting techniques within them, his gaze full of sighs.

Sometimes he wondered, if they had met in some other way, where his relationship with Tianyan would have gone.

But no matter how he extrapolated it, the result was never satisfactory. That instant when two strangers happen to meet largely decides what their future relationship will be. If the place where he and Tianyan first met hadn’t been that Enchantress Divine Illusion Realm, the odds of them even becoming friends would have been tiny.

Tianyan doesn’t like playboys, and would never accept a Dao partner who’s a philanderer.

And as for Xu Yuan himself—he couldn’t think of any reason he would fall in love with Tianyan in the outside world. Tianyan being so cute now is only because she loves him.

Back when they first met, there wasn’t a trace of coquettishness in her temperament, only the unique arrogance of Jiatiange.

You could say that even if the entire world only had one member of the opposite sex left—each other—he and she probably still wouldn’t fall in love. But the Illusionary Realm just had to give them that kind of world.

She watched him in that world from twenty thousand years ago, flirting everywhere, watched all those actions of his that she found despicable and disgusting, yet had no choice but to go through trials and tribulations with him again and again.

He watched the arrogance that came from her very bones, watched the disgust in her eyes and her meddling in his life, yet he too had to suppress the irritation in his heart and break through life and death passes with her time and again.

If it hadn’t been in that Illusionary Realm, in that environment where you could die at any moment, she could never have gotten used to someone like him.

So, Xu Yuan felt he ought to thank Yuchu.

Out in the real world, even if Tianyan eventually fell in love with him, with other women in his life, she would most likely bury those feelings deep in her heart—each going their separate ways, never contacting each other again until death.

"Heh..."

Xu Yuan chuckled softly, but as he laughed he couldn’t help letting out a weary sigh.

Tianyan had indeed changed a lot for him, but certain things at the bottom of her nature had never changed.

She had tacitly accepted the existence of Ran Qingmo and the other girls, but that didn’t mean she would ever truly accept it. To use a metaphor, it was like she’d gone from wanting to monopolize him to... wanting to be the official wife?

But the problem is, with her temperament, who can she outfight?

Li Qingyan, or that Enchantress Tian Ye?

Every time she’s the one to pick a fight, and every time she gets the short end of the stick, and every time she wants him to take her side.

Xu Yuan really could side with Tianyan. Like just now—he directly triggered the restriction inside Tian Ye’s body to help her.

But the result?

What Tianyan wants isn’t a momentary venting of anger, but absolute victory in status!

With the Washboard Saintess having that kind of mindset, aside from Xiao Bai and that disgrace‑of‑an Enchanting Demon who don’t dare say much because of the gap in status, just look at whether Li Qingyan and Tian Ye are going to mess you up or not.

He missed the Big Ice Lump...

Uh, she was right next to him.

Amid the rumbling in the sky, Xu Yuan shifted his body and lay on his back, resting his head on the Big Ice Lump’s lap.

The Big Ice Lump was the most obedient.

Ran Qingmo lowered her gaze to look at him, then looked at the two women above whose fight was growing fiercer and fiercer. Her dark eyes held a trace of worry:

"We really don’t need to stop them, Xu Yuan?"

Xu Yuan shook his head, turned on his side to wrap his arms around the girl’s boneless waist, and buried his head against her lower abdomen, breathing in her faint fragrance as he mumbled:

"It’s fine. Tian Ye has a sense of measure."

Tian Ye really did have a sense of measure. The gap in their cultivation was just too big—one was half a step from Saint‑above, the other was only at Mortal Transcendence. With the same cultivation technique and complete knowledge of each other’s foundations, the fact that they’d fought this long only meant Tian Ye was still teasing her.

Chances are this Enchantress had been pent up for a year.

She couldn’t get any advantage against Li Qingyan who was evenly matched with her; Ran Qingmo didn’t compete or fight, so she couldn’t break through her defenses; Xu Yuan never bothered arguing with her and only believed in the power of physical language. Now that Tianyan had finally come back, of course she had to bully her thoroughly.

His cheek rubbing against her lower abdomen tickled a bit, and Ran Qingmo’s posture shifted slightly. But he just held her even closer. The corners of her pursed lips lifted slightly as she raised a hand to play with his hair, and said softly:

"Xu Yuan, if you’re like this, Tianyan is definitely going to get even angrier if she sees."

"Ignore her."

"Oh..."

Ran Qingmo nodded, thought for a moment, then lowered her voice while she had the chance:

"Um... Xu Yuan, there’s something I want to ask you."

Xu Yuan froze for a moment at her words. Saying this at a time like this made him instinctively feel that the Big Ice Lump had gone bad and wanted to join the bloodbath, but before he could speak, her gentle voice reached his ears:

"...Back then in the Sword Sect, you said your lifespan is close to infinite, that you’ll keep on living."

"Hm?"

Xu Yuan was a bit surprised. The warmth in his heart was interrupted. He turned his face slightly, revealing one eye to look at her.

Ran Qingmo’s pair of clear, dark eyes blinked:

"Is that really true?"

Xu Yuan was silent for a bit, then sat up, hesitated slightly, and said:

"...You could put it that way. As long as there is still vitality in this world, the Life Dao Essence will keep flowing back into me."

"I see..."

Ran Qingmo pursed her lips, looking somewhat distressed for him.

Xu Yuan was just about to smile and comfort her when he saw the ink‑robed girl in front of him take a booklet from her sleeve and quietly hand it to him.

Xu Yuan instinctively took it and flipped it open. It was filled with her neat, elegant handwriting. He asked in some confusion:

"What’s this?"

"A Secret Technique."

"Secret Technique?"

"Mm. A Secret Technique I created myself."

"What are you giving it to me for? I can’t use your cultivation technique. Even if you give it to me, it’s not much use, is it?"

"It’s not an offensive type. It’s for you to use on me in the future."

"What?"

Xu Yuan was stunned.

Ran Qingmo thought about her wording for a moment, then said softly:

"After the war ends, I’ll use Dao Charm to seal myself in ice."

Crash—

Right then,

The golden radiance suddenly exploded in the sky, turning into a rain of light. Ran Qingmo gently curved those eyes of hers that shone like a galaxy and were filled with only him, and said, serious and stubborn:

"Xu Yuan, I can’t stay with you forever. But in the future, if you ever feel sad, just use this to wake me up. Then... then I can keep you company and talk with you again."