"Well done." Lo Jik praised sincerely as he ate with Shu Zhe and Qin Juan. The latter finally felt comfortable enough to share meal with the couple after Lo Jik's return to Hu Immortal Blessed Land.
Qin Juan learned to accept Shu Zhe's typical rigidity and stoicism as self-restraint instead of coldness directed at her. And Shu Zhe… well, the former sect leader never really held any malice towards Feng Jin Huang's junior sister.
Unlike her grandmother, Shu Zhe was fortunate enough to nurture a broader vision, one unobstructed by irrational hatred and an abyss of pettiness capable of rotting most gu masters in a spell of a single bad day.
"You can state the truth," Shu Zhe commented softly as Qin Juan's eyelids jumped before she could even feel proud by her achievements. The duo succeeded in completing the second round's conditions and qualified for the third round. Each successive round's difficulty increased exponentially, making this convention a cutthroat competition. Those who could survive this battlefield had to be extraordinarily skilled, talented, and fortunate.
Lo Jik only smiled at Shu Zhe's words and shook his head.
"Third round might stop you two." He added. "But I'd still goad Feng Jin Huang and rub in the fact that you two qualified for the third round while she was among the disqualified gu masters. Hey, she probably might be eavesdropping on us right now."
He snickered as Qin Juan found it tough to swallow her food.
"E-Eavesdropping?" Qin Juan squeaked. "You don't think that Senior Sister…"
"Watched us doing it?" Lo Jik finished her sentence before shrugging. "Probably. Let's put up better performance from now on and give your Senior Sister more pointers!" He grinned brightly but his words barely comforted Qin Juan, who somehow paled and blushed one after another.
"How far would you have gotten?" Shu Zhe interjected and inquired calmly, untroubled by the fact others might have peeked on their sex life, something she was prepared for from the moment she locked lips with Bai Shou's.
"Me?" Lo Jik sipped his wine before leaning back. He pondered for a moment before smiling. "I'd win."
Qin Juan's eyes widened in response.
"Even against gu immortals?" Shu Zhe continued curiously.
"Probably." He chuckled. "It's not like I can test my hypothesis in reality and participate in the convention. So, I'll remain a winner until proven otherwise"
"We could…" Qin Juan began softly as she shot Shu Zhe a nervous look before staring at Lo Jik intensely. "… try your refinement duel, Brother Lo Jik."
Lo Jik's grin widened.
"How about it, Shu Zhe? Want to join us?"
Shu Zhe fell silent before shaking her head.
"Not yet. I can't waste my time," she explained succinctly. If her words offended Qin Juan, she didn't let it show on her expression.
Still, her rejection caused the atmosphere around their dinner table to turn frigid momentarily.
"I plan on testing a killer move, Sister Qin." Shu Zhe's additional words directed at Qin Juan alone made the latter blink in surprise.
"Of course, S-Sister Shu!" The younger brunette replied in a start before lowering her head and eating quietly. Still, Lo Jik and Shu Zhe noticed Qin Juan relaxing visibly.
"It's not like we cannot see each other naked any time we wanted." Lo Jik licked the remnant of wine off his lips as his illicit gaze instantly pinned Qin Juan, making the latter's cheek burn hot red.
"Stop that, Brother Lo Jik!" She pouted.
"Oh, and what about Sister Feng and Sun?" He continued.
Flinching, Qin Juan's head whipped in Lo Jik's direction.
"What?!"
"It can't be much of a competition without more parties, right?" Lo Jik cupped his chin. "Who else should we try inviting? I hear Black Moon also qualified for the third round. Competing with her in refinement path might be interesting."
"And seeing her naked, you mean." Shu Zhe translated his words bluntly.
"Aren't you a bit curious what's under that mask?" Lo Jik smirked. "I'll meet with her tomorrow."
"Wait, Brother Lo Jik! Don't mention this to Senior Sister Feng at all—"
"Too late." Lo Jik stopped her from speaking. "They already accepted."
Qin Juan's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets.
"They did? Even Little Sun?!"
Lo Jik sighed deeply and shook his head.
"What can I do, Juan'er? Nobody would give up the chance of seeing me naked. I'm starting to believe that you guys are taking me for granted."
Qin Juan's lips opened briefly before she looked at Shu Zhe for some sisterly assistance, who blinked her distinct blue eyes. Swallowing the bite of rice in her mouth, the latter frowned at Lo Jik.
"I… we apologize for being distant these few days. Know this, dear. We will never take you for granted. Why don't you end the night by showing how much he means to you, Sister Qin? I'll pick things up tomorrow. You see, I'm also getting a bit up there with age and feel a little exhausted."
This was the most emotion Shu Zhe had shown for the day, and Qin Juan did not want this kind of sisterly affection at all!
"Is that true, Juan'er?" Lo Jik perked up and played along the game he started. "You're staying over?"
His sparkling gaze swept over all of Qin Juan's sudden frustrations, prompting her shoulders to deflate in turn. Her pout only grew fiercer, and her head bobbed up and down honestly despite her heart wanting to rebel against the bullying couple!
<<<>>>
Spending time with everyone was slightly new for Lo Jik. He hadn't really done any of this with his 'achievements' previously. His first marriage with Mo Yan might not have stopped him from seducing Shen Cui and even sharing her with his wife, but they never shared meals like this. A part of him hoped they did—a part he stopped trying to suppress and deny. Similarly, he wanted others to meet Bai Lin and girls like Shang Xin Ci…
Especially Shang Xin Ci.
'Someone like Xin Ci might have even helped me smooth things over with others.' Lo Jik recalled the beautiful mortal. Her smooth skin, elegant curves, impossibly attractive eyes, and rosy lips be damned, he would've wanted her just for infallible will.
'But maybe too many women aren't such a good idea. Harems are prevalent in the gu world, but should I spend all my time with girls? What about gu worms?' He thought vainly. 'Shu Zhe, Qin Juan... there's also Hu Mei Er. I cannot be sure of Xin Cheng right now. Bai La… also never gave me a proper vibe, but she's good for a hot lay and quick platinum achievements. That currently leaves Sun Yao and Feng Jin Huang.'
'Yeah, that's a manageable routine.' He nodded as he wore his clothes before pecking Qin Juan on her forehead and leaving the room.
'All of it will lead to a life of platinum achievements.' Lo Jik's lips twisted into a short smirk. 'I might even reach that unfathomable realm known only to the ten venerables in due time. Imagine platinum rewards for rank 6, 7, 8, and 9 gu immortals! The future holds untold wealth...'
He stepped out of the cottage as his bald head caught the blessed land's ever-present daylight.
'… and I'm going to risk it all.'
Lo Jik had to be very conscious of the consequences of his decisions.
He might lose everything today only if the risks led to the worst-case scenario. Still, it wouldn't be the first time he risked his life and future for growth because one thing was true in the gu world and his previous world alike.
Time waits for no one.
His future rewards were contingent on the fact that he pushed forth and became a gu immortal.
While confident and moving in a predetermined direction, Lo Jik's gait was slow as he recollected of his defeat in Ba Gui Blessed Land. Not even two peak stage rank 5 gu masters with extreme physiques could triumph over an erratic and mentally unwell gu immortal. Each step brought the Unchained Vagabond closer to a similar existence.
He hadn't felt like this against Bai La. No, that woman incited a different—an illicit—mood because she already had her eyes on Lo Jik and sank fangs into his flesh at the first opportunity. Meanwhile, Black Moon was an unknown element.
Lo Jik soon found himself standing within a secluded section of the grassland. Morning mist blanketed the carpet of grass as tall as trees, as Lo Jik faced the relatively small and simple wooden cabin in its center.
This grassland and the mist alike were not natural. They were a manifestation of a gu formation.
Of course, Lo Jik didn't break into the formation but was led inside due to a prior meeting scheduled with Black Moon.
He stood before the unfurnished door. One might confuse it for an abandoned residence.
'At least I removed the effects of Soul Oath Gu before coming here. Injuring me through Xin Cheng would have been very easy.' Lo Jik thought by the end of his recollection and regained his composure without any external shift in facial expression.
He waited calmly and didn't knock on the door.
It didn't take long for Lo Jik to hear a commanding voice through the door.
"Come in, Brother Gu Yue Lo Jik."
He entered Black Moon's cabin.
<<<>>>
And the weight of past failures nearly crushed him, forcing him to fall to his knees and kowtow despite his ability to peek into certain truths beyond the administrative curtain often found veiling many matters organized by the ten ancient sects.
It wasn't his fault.
Yet, he needed to apologize for their target's unexpected brilliance.
Their plan was nearly airtight save for accidents nobody could deduce or predict, not even the best of wisdom path gu immortals.
The legendary gu worms—wisdom and cognition—could not sway Love, so how could gu immortals exploring wisdom dao be any more capable in predicting its whims? Who could expect Lo Jik to rip their schemes apart with… love?
He tore through the blockade of four ancient sects and instantly entered in ever gu immortal's vision.
Meanwhile, Jiu Loong Long apologized faithfully. Once a rank 5 gu master, Wind Cloud Manor's elder, and more than capable of not only roaming throughout Central Continent but also scheme and plan a daring demonic sect's downfall, Wisdom Carriage Master was reduced to a weak mortal without an awakened aperture.
Yet, his experiences allowed him to meet with one of the sect's expert supreme elder without a single drop of primeval essence in his body.
"It's good that you're understanding, Elder Jiu." A placid voice filled the austere bamboo hut and allowed. "Raise your head."
Jiu Loong Long did that. The figure on the cultivation mattress was old, but his hair was far from white. It was long and green, like strands of silken grass tied into a knot.
He was none other than the rank 7 gu immortal, Heavenly Informant—Tian Zhenli.
"Oh, Elder Jiu," Zhenli sighed softly, his aged voice lacking warmth or comfort. "I allowed you to peruse through my inheritance because of your contributions. Later, you used the knowledge gained from me to set up and inheritance for your younger brother, who happened to be more suited to be my inheritor."
"I'm known as the Heavenly Informant Immortal, someone who seeks hints and clues from heaven itself. Do you know why?"
Jiu Loong Long didn't answer the blatantly obvious rhetorical question.
Heavenly Informant continued teaching.
"It is because nothing is hidden from Heaven's Will."
"But even I am helpless against the whims of fate. I sought your brother as one of my potential successors, someone who could learn under me and transform my teachings into something even better. Alas…"
Wisdom Carriage Master's breath hitched. He'd remained composed long enough. However, his younger brother was his flesh and blood, someone he'd traveled to Southern Border for and committed all sorts of acts just to reach Shang Liang Mountain safely. He only loved his younger brother, unlike the competition for wealth and influence commonly present among siblings in this world that would eventually sour into malice and hate, encouraging them to kill each other.
Heavenly Informant all but hinted at no longer being bothered to save Jiu Loong Jin. However, Wisdom Carriage Master's experiences weren't just a joke. He prevented his emotions from boiling into something uncontrollable and ugly and realized there was no need for Heavenly Informant to put up such a deliberate act, unless…
"Please!" Jiu Loong Long kowtowed again. "You are our, us brothers, only hope, Lord Supreme Elder. Heaven is whimsical, but it also leaves a path of survival for everyone. I'm willing to find this path under your guidance and traverse it no matter how harsh the tribulations and calamities ahead of me."
Heavenly Informant watched the wise mortal impassively, not a flicker of emotion in his observant gaze.
"You already know that I preserved your brother's soul so healing him is not a matter of breaking heavenly mandates by reviving the dead but merely recreating a body around his soul. However, you squandered your earlier chance."
Said chance being thwarted by Love Gu, which not only nullified the combined attack of several gu immortals but also created a pool of top-quality wine just to appease Lo Jik's senses while performing the former.
"I won't disappoint the sect again, Lord Supreme Elder. Just one more chance!" Jiu Loong Long held no distaste in begging his superiors. They held all the cards—they held his brother's soul hostage indirectly and the means of healing him.
"Raise your head." Heavenly Informant instructed again. He'd already vanished from Jiu Loong Long's view, leaving behind a storage gu worm, an information path gu worm, and a corpse.
"Inside the storage gu worm is a single set of materials necessary to refine an invention shared among the higher-ups of us ten ancient sects alone. We named it—Human Skin Gu Worm. You will only have one chance of refining it successfully. Refine the gu worm, take on the corpse's appearance, and enter Northern Plains. You won't receive any other assistance. Do not contact me until you become a Northern Plains' gu immortal. You are henceforth dismissed from Wind Cloud Manor for your earlier failures, Elder Jiu Loong Long… I hope you succeed."
Jiu Loong Long's lips trembled as he heard Heavenly Informant's serene voice passing a predetermined judgment. A wave of anger and hatred bubbled in the former's gut before all of it vanished without a trace.
He simply couldn't hold a grudge after realizing the true workings of the world.
Wasn't it the same reason why he admired Lo Jik and simultaneously tried killing him?
They were too alike.
Lo Jik ignored Jiu Loong Long after everything was said and done even if it involved the former's son.
Similarly, Jiu Loong Long stopped paying attention to Lo Jik now that Heavenly Informant changed the conditions necessary to refine his brother.
They simply focused on their goals and did everything in their power to forge ahead.
'Northern Plains… We will definitely meet in the future, Jin'er. I vowed to protect you. I will become a gu immortal!'
<<<>>>
'I will extort a gu immortal!'
Lo Jik resolved heart with the first step he took into Black Moon's surprisingly well-maintained abode. She wasn't the spartan woman he imagined her to be. Rugs and fur highlighted different portions of the floor and the two window ledges on the southern wall. Chairs lined with cushions surrounded a table in the middle of the room, upon which sat a teapot with piping hot tea and two empty teacups.
Lazy curls of steam rose from the teapot. His gaze followed it upwards, coincidentally taking in Black Moon's confident posture, her curves—and as he continued following the rising steam—her inviting black eyes. She wasn't waiting for him in a baggy cloak but her martial attire with plates of dull gold was not too different from the last time she challenged Feng Jin Huang. A beautifully carved black mask hid the lower half of her face, only leaving her eyes and short black hair with prominent bangs framing the sides of her face and reaching her neck.
She was a stunning woman, to say the least. But what nearly pulled and simultaneously alerted Lo Jik wasn't her charm but the attraction she oozed with a pair of eyes alone.
It felt like Black Moon wanted to befriend him.
'She might also have an eye for a talent like Bai La.' Lo Jik considered a few things as he met the woman's gaze with a nod.
"Will you keep standing, Brother Gu Yue?" Black Moon chuckled lightly, the sense of authority in her voice reminding Lo Jik once again that seated before him was no simple character. Everything about her was a mystery—well, everything except her rank.
"Forgive my manners." Lo Jik sat across her with a smile. "I couldn't help but admire Fairy Black Moon's demeanor. After all, my wife, Zhe'er, often criticizes my ideas given how bold and unorthodox they may seem at a glance. Hopefully, my invitation for a strip refinement duel did not offend you, Sister Black Moon."
Lo Jik noticed most of Black Moon's earlier presence stiffening alongside the air around them. Paying it no mind, he poured the wine from the gourd on his waist into one of the teacups before sipping it with a contended sigh. The fragrance of wine left by Love Gu instantly blanketed Black Moon's insides, leaving no space for her tea to shine.
"I knew you loved jests from that invitation." Black Moon reached for the teapot and poured herself some tea. But how she planned to drink it given the fact she had a mask around her mouth was anybody's guest.
*Tuc*
She placed the teapot back and didn't touch her tea at all.
"Jests?" Lo Jik's brow locked together. "I'm serious about strip refinement duel, Fairy Black Moon. Did you know, Sister Moon, I spent hours figuring out appropriate rules for it? I even required another senior's pointers and this type of competition would not have existed without their grace. Even the rank of gu worms we refine in this contest is limited to rank 2 to prevent any major injuries due to a backlash. This refinement competition was created to attune one's mind with heaven and the heart with earth."
Black Moon squinted as her presence nearly drowned the sweetness in the air from Lo Jik's top-quality sweet wine.
"I can see why being naked attunes the mind and heart with heaven and earth. And let's be honest, a little exposure like this thickens the face and prepares a gu master's heart for the enemy's cheap tactics in battles. I would like to participate in such a… unique refinement path competition. Unfortunately, I still need to keep focusing on the main convention."
"Of course." Lo Jik agreed instantly. "You bear the sect's pride when participating in the convention. How can I ever commit a sin of distracting you during your most crucial period, Fairy Black Moon—"
"Ah, I knew I was hearing something wrong, Brother Gu Yue." Black Moon interrupted. "We're all peers. Please call me Sister Moon, or even Little Moon. After all, you are one of the most talented disciples of the sect. Who am I compared to you?"
"Is that so?" Lo Jik chuckled in response. "Then you should stop being so formal, Little Moon. Call me Big Brother Lo Jik or just Big Brother is fine. You let me know if anyone tries to create trouble for you. I'm responsible for your comfort from now on… or so I wish I could promise, Fairy Black Moon. However, I don't have a thick enough skin to insult a gu immortal."
He emptied his teacup in one shot and smiled brightly, his sunny expression no different from an honest man filled to the brim with unending optimism.
"After all." He claimed playfully. "I don't have a death wish."
***
Alternate Title: Doctor report says he is suicidal; Lo Jik wouldn't be Lo Jik if not courting death; Sent invitations; Strip Refinement propaganda must spread and continue; Qin Juan's shock; An eating harem is a healthy harem; Eating together; Bonds; Best girl Xin Ci; Terrible couple; Lo Jik: Rejoice! Everyone gets to have me; Wisdom Carriage Master's plight; New Mission; Same same but different; Human Skin Gu; Knowing the ways of the world; Moved with determination and not hatred; Meeting Black Moon; Good tea *Drinks wine instead*; Alcoholic consort; Tweaking out; Exposing Black Moon; Fucking around with another gu immortal; He jests, she wrecks
***
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