Tianyan

Having exchanged greetings, Zhou Xiaohe picked up the two futons, turned around, and sat down with Li Erzhu in another corner of the ruined house. Without a word, Li Erzhu began to cultivate. Zhou Xiaohe pulled a bound novel from her travel bag and started reading. For a time, the wind and snow continued as before, but the only sound left in the world was the whimpering mountain gale. Truth be told, Xu Yuan did not enjoy listening to ghost stories, especially not in an environment like this. The weather was bitterly cold, and the brazier was warm, but Xu Yuan felt his heart turn cold—utterly freezing. After a breath of silence, Xu Yuan tentatively tilted his head to look behind him. There was nothing else— Only a pair of delicate, fair bare feet. They did not belong to Ran Qingmo, and they were far too small. Seeing them, Xu Yuan did not continue turning around. He quietly faced forward again. He was not afraid, but he felt an urge to curse. Shouldn't the difficulty of crossing over, killing monsters, and leveling up progress step by step? Why was every encounter an overwhelmingly powerful boss he had zero chance against at his current stage? First the Flame Spirit Python, then Ji Qingyue, followed by the plot's protagonist and an ancient master, and now this little girl. The stronger his background, the stronger the bosses, was that it? Could he not get a little sense of participation? Amidst the dead silence, wisps of savory aroma drifted from the black jar. The white blaze bird meat was thoroughly marinated. Xu Yuan drew a deep breath. Using a cloth wrap, he took the black jar off the campfire, let it cool for a moment, and pulled out a bundle of skewers made from purple gold bamboo. He set to work threading the marinated chunks of white blaze bird meat one by one. Three pieces of meat per skewer, ten skewers in all. He set up a grill, laid half the meat skewers across it to roast, and sprinkled cumin and pepper over them from time to time. Soon, the rich, mouth-watering aroma filled the entire dilapidated house. Xu Yuan picked up a freshly roasted skewer and, for the first time, turned his head around. Just as Zhou Xiaohe had said, There truly was an adorable little girl behind him. Dressed in pale red palace robes, she sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, burying her face between her legs, revealing only a pair of beautiful, pale golden eyes. And those beautiful eyes were quietly staring at him unblinkingly. After locking eyes for several seconds, Her golden gaze made Xu Yuan feel a prickle of discomfort. It was somewhat reminiscent of the time he had contemplated the sword intent on Tianmen Mountain, yet upon closer sensing, it was vastly different. It felt as though information were being forcibly crammed into his mind. After a brief pause, Xu Yuan extended the skewer toward her. Beneath the flickering firelight, the meat was charred yet tender, sizzling as its juices dripped onto the flames. The little girl glanced at Xu Yuan, then at the skewer in his hand. She did not move an inch, remaining crouched with her arms around her knees, showing no inclination to accept it. This gave Xu Yuan a bizarre sense of déjà vu, as though he were some shady old man trying to coax a little girl. Pausing for a moment, Xu Yuan spoke softly: "Eat first, then we can talk. "Tianyan." He deduced that she was the Tianyan whom Ran Qingmo had mentioned before, as the golden eyes were far too distinct a trait. "......" Hearing that, light rippled within her golden pupils, and she slowly lifted her face from between her knees. Her features were tender and childish, but the shimmering light in her golden eyes cast an aura of faint divinity across her small frame. Seeing this, Xu Yuan's heart sank slightly. It really was Tianyan. Looking at that faint glimmer of divinity emanating from her, Xu Yuan even wondered if this woman was the game master of this world. Of course, that was merely a passing quip. If she truly were a GM, why had she never appeared before Xu Changge? Was even the GM afraid of a cheater? At this thought, Xu Yuan gave a slight shake of his head. An old habit. Whenever he found himself in such tense situations, if circumstances allowed, he would always let his mind wander to random nonsense to alleviate the stress. "......" Tianyan gazed at Xu Yuan for several breaths, nodded slightly, and reached out her small hand to take the skewer without a word. Under Xu Yuan's watchful eyes, she began taking small bites. After staring at Tianyan for a couple of seconds, Xu Yuan slowly turned back around. Casting a sidelong glance, he saw Zhou Xiaohe staring eagerly in his direction. Or rather, staring at the skewers roasting on his grill. Xu Yuan found it somewhat amusing. Master Lu Xun truly never lied—the joys and sorrows of human beings were indeed not shared. Here he was, worrying about how to stay alive, while this woman only cared about eating roasted meat. If she knew the little girl behind him might be a second-rank Origin Realm or even a first-rank Transcendent Realm cultivator, who knew if she would still have an appetite for his skewers? Exhaling gently, Xu Yuan said, "Eat together," and used Source Qi to send two skewers over to Zhou Xiaohe and Li Erzhu. Li Erzhu withdrew his cultivation technique, murmured his thanks, but did not eat, handing his skewer straight to Zhou Xiaohe. With a skewer in each hand, Zhou Xiaohe munched away with relish, taking the opportunity to strike up a cheerful conversation with Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan was in no mood for it, offering only flat, noncommittal replies. Yet this did nothing to dampen the busty legal loli's enthusiasm; if anything, his aloof demeanor seemed to make her all the more eager. Xu Yuan had noticed the way Zhou Xiaohe looked at him from the very beginning. Unbending ice blocks like Ran Qingmo were always in the minority. Just as men had an eye for beauty, women were equally drawn to handsome men; if a woman showed no interest, it was usually because a man simply wasn't handsome enough. His thoughts were drifting off again... Suddenly, A middle-aged man's voice, carrying a natural subwoofer resonance, echoed in the depths of his mind: "Brat Xu, that girl behind you is no simple character." "......" Xu Yuan. *Old man, are you a sloth?* *She's been here this whole time, and you only just noticed?* Reining in his thoughts, Xu Yuan replied internally: "I know. You didn't sense her earlier?" The Saint Luo Daofan chuckled. "I wasn't paying attention. I was studying the heart demon knot that little brat planted on me. Tsk, tsk... Placing a restriction is one thing, but pulling a stunt like this... Did he never stop to think that if I unravel this heart demon knot, would you still be able to live?" Luo Daofan spoke crisp and clear, without the slightest hesitation. Being outmatched and having a golden hoop placed around his head was something he accepted. Yet if he ever broke this knot and the restriction, this brat called Xu Changtian naturally shouldn't dream of surviving. Xu Yuan did not care about the Saint's bluntness in the slightest, merely replying softly in his mind: "What rank of cultivation does she have? Can you sense it?" Luo Daofan chuckled. "I already told you she's bizarre. Maybe second rank, maybe first rank... Hm, maybe even a Saint, for all I can tell." Xu Yuan pondered for a moment. "Do you have confidence we can escape?" Tianyan's reason for seeking him out was painfully easy to guess. For someone capable of foreseeing the future, if an unexpected variable suddenly altered that future, Xu Yuan himself would personally investigate it. However, whether she would simply eliminate him as an anomaly was something Xu Yuan had no confidence in predicting. "You want to run?" Luo Daofan asked. "If we don't run, can you and Ran Qingmo take her down together?" "Maybe we can, maybe we can't." "Are you playing word games with me?" "Can't young people nowadays show a little respect? That Qin brat was one, and you're another..." "Fine, fine, senior. Can you help me escape or not?" "Well... maybe we can escape, maybe we can't." "......" Xu Yuan. Luo Daofan sighed. "She hasn't shown any intention of making a move against you. Why are you so nervous?" Xu Yuan took a deep breath and spoke internally: "Old Man Luo, have you heard of the Heaven-Deducing Art?" Luo Daofan's gaze seemed to narrow as he asked: "Brat, are you saying this little girl cultivates the Heaven-Deducing Art?" "Her name is Tianyan, and she can deduce the future. You tell me if she's cultivating the Heaven-Deducing Art or not," Xu Yuan replied. "......" The moment those words were spoken, Luo Daofan abruptly cut the connection. Only after a long while did he utter a wistful sigh: "So... the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion is actually still around." Xu Yuan immediately asked, "The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion? You mean it's related to the Heaven-Deducing Art?" Luo Daofan spoke with a peculiar chuckle: "Of course it is. Heh... the Heaven-Deducing Art isn't something just anyone could cultivate. Back in the day, only the Pavilion Master of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and the Saintess or Scion chosen to inherit the post were permitted to cultivate that divine scripture. Even the other Holy Venerables were forbidden from perusing it." "......" This single revelation carried a massive amount of information, instantly triggering a flood of thoughts in Xu Yuan's mind, though he forcefully suppressed them for the moment. After a brief silence, Luo Daofan asked again: "Hm... did you step outside the future she deduced?" Xu Yuan was taken aback, but soon answered quietly: "I'm not certain, but it's likely." "Is that so... Then no wonder she came looking for you." A note of gloating crept into Luo Daofan's voice. Xu Yuan frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that?" "It's very simple. Her coming to find you is naturally to—" Luo Daofan stopped halfway through his sentence, shifting into a teasing tone: "Hehe... what do I mean? Exactly what I said. Figure it out yourself. Brat Xu, we are enemies right now. Do you really expect your enemy to resolve your doubts? This old man is going back to studying that heart demon knot. Deal with it yourself." With that, the Saint's remnant soul gave Xu Yuan no chance to speak, unilaterally disconnecting from the conversation. "......" The corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitched. *Riddlemakers deserve a miserable death.* Yet even though the old man had turned into a riddlemaker at the crucial moment, his previous words had already provided Xu Yuan with a wealth of useful information. Even ten thousand years after its fall, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's name still echoed across the world. The mere fact that it had standardized the realm system for all cultivation under heaven was proof enough of its past glory. And the Heaven-Deducing Art was bound almost exclusively to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. A centipede dies but never falls down; if a bug-tier art like the Heaven-Deducing Art was connected to them, did Tianyan's appearance confirm that remnants of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion still walked the earth even after ten millennia? At this thought, Xu Yuan's mind paused. A notion that had once flashed through his thoughts resurfaced: Could this world have filled in the gaps by generating a massive faction lurking in the shadows? The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had never appeared in Cangyuan, yet based on current information, it had not been completely wiped out either. In that case... In Cangyuan's storyline, could those worldlines where his father died due to plot-mandated deaths have been the work of this mysterious Overseeing Heaven Pavilion? Reaching this point, Xu Yuan stopped pursuing the thought. Because it was pointless. If his old man were beside him right now, he could think about it all he wanted and then just dump the mess into his father's lap to resolve... "Oh, right, brat." Luo Daofan, having just disconnected, suddenly spoke again as if remembering something. "What?" Xu Yuan frowned. Luo Daofan chuckled and offered a reminder: "If it really is the Heaven-Deducing Art... everything we just said was probably overheard by that girl~"