The infamous Palace Lord who had once been described as cold enough to freeze a phoenix’s fla, sat quietly with a woman who looked as though she had no care in the world. A little mat was spread on the grass. A lacquered box full of sweet pastries had been opened, alongside a flask of fragrant tea.
Yun Shu picked up one of the golden dumplings with delicate chopsticks, took a huge bite, and made a blissful hum.
"Mmm~ this one’s even better than the ones I tried in the Capital. Palace Lord, are you sure you don’t want a bite? It’s so sweet and soft, just lting in the mouth..." She leaned forward, holding the half-eaten dumpling toward him.
Bai Yunxian gave her a side glance, cool and faintly exasperated. "Eat it yourself. You’ve already taken a bite."
"Ehh, so stingy." Yun Shu pouted, but her eyes glead with mischief. She quickly popped the rest into her mouth and licked her fingers in a show of exaggerated enjoynt.
Across the shore, countless cultivators nearly choked on their spiritual energy.
What in the heavens are we watching?!
The Palace Lord, rumored to have frozen the marriage proposals of three noble sects with one icy glare, was sitting here beside so chatterbox girl, letting her fuss, tease, and even wave desserts under his nose?
The whispers spread like wildfire.
"Who is she?"
"Don’t tell the Palace Lord actually brought a woman here?"
"She looks... rather ordinary. But how can he tolerate her like that?"
"...Is she a secret consort?"
Jealousy simred, especially among the proud young geniuses who had been hoping to impress Bai Yunxian or curry favor with his Palace. The beauties of several sects, who had long admired his lofty bearing, watched Yun Shu with thinly veiled venom in their gazes.
The system, of course, was delighted.
[Ding~ Host, success! Look at there faces getting green with envy! Their eyes about to fall out! You’re winning the picnic war, Host! Legendary move: ’Chatterbox Seduction Combo!’]
Yun Shu suppressed a laugh, lowering her gaze to her tea. Her disguise as an innocent, babbling girl was flawless. Yet even so, every ti Bai Yunxian’s cool eyes flickered toward her, sothing in her heart tugged.
No one will steal you away this ti. No one will dare to cage you.
She leaned back lazily, nibbling a sesa cake, as the rest of the cultivators shifted restlessly, too tense to sit while waiting for the divine artifact. The contrast was so sharp it felt like a deliberate provocation.
And perhaps... it was.
By the ti the moon climbed high, silver light spilling across the lake, frustration was at its peak. So cultivators had begun pacing, while the others sat cross-legged but with eyes narrowed in suspicion. The air was heavy with suppressed spiritual force.
Yun Shu stretched her arms as though she had rely been stargazing. "Well, if it doesn’t show up tonight, we can always co again tomorrow. Palace Lord, what do you think?"
"Patience," Bai Yunxian said simply, his gaze still fixed on the water.
His calmness, so steady it was almost oppressive, forced even Yun Shu to pause for a mont. That was Bai Yunxian, even though he was at his weakest right now, it was the man who could sit like a mountain while storms raged around him. She almost forgot herself, staring at his profile, lit by moonlight like carved jade.
The system whined in her head.
[Host, don’t just stare dreamily! Quick, pout, tease, do sothing! The audience will get bored!]
Yun Shu rolled her eyes inwardly, then deliberately plucked a honey cake and stuffed it into Bai Yunxian’s hand. "Here. If you won’t take it yourself, then I’ll feed you by force."
He gave her one long, expressionless look. For a heartbeat, she thought he might throw the cake back at her. But then... he ate it. Quiet and unhurriedly.
The cultivators who had been watching out of the corners of their eyes nearly fainted.
Just as the tension reached its breaking point, when even Yun Shu began to wonder if the artifact was mocking them all—
The lake shuddered.
It began with a single ripple, delicate as a brushstroke on jade. Then another, and another, until the entire surface swelled like sothing breathing beneath it. The air shifted violently, and spiritual energy condensed so thickly that it made lungs ache.
A faint glow appeared at the heart of the lake. At first, it was only a shimr, but in monts it expanded, stretching skyward. The glow sharpened into a halo, a column of divine light that pierced the heavens themselves.
Gasps broke out all around.
"It’s here!"
"The divine artifact!"
The halo intensified until night turned into day, bathing every face in golden radiance. The waters parted soundlessly, and from the depths erged a vast lotus pavent wrought of pure light. Its petals spread across the lake, each one larger than a pavilion, glimring with ancient runes.
At the very center of that celestial lotus, sothing descended.
A relic, not yet visible to mortal eyes, carried a presence so overwhelming that even seasoned elders fell to their knees. Pressure rolled across the shore like thunder, demanding and majestic, suffused with eternity.
Yun Shu’s breath caught despite herself. She had seen heavenly treasures before. She had faced calamities. But this... this was beyond ordinary asure.
The system, for once, was silent. Then, in a hushed, reverent chi:
[Ding... Host, detected divine-grade presence. Warning: even I can’t calculate this outco. Host, proceed with caution... or proceed with mischief. Your choice.]
Yun Shu’s eyes glinted, her playful mask montarily slipping as her gaze locked onto the lotus. Because she was about to pretend that she was also in awe of the artifact, since the pressure it radiated was nothing for a martial Emperor like her.
The brilliance reflected in Bai Yunxian’s eyes, deepening them into sothing fathomless. Because this was the artifact that he got tortured for countless tis in his rebirth.
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