Breaking through the barrier to the second stage was far easier than I had imagined, almost effortless.
With just a gentle push, carrying the surge of yin energy forward, I stepped into a whole new realm.
The Conduit Realm.
All the acupoints must be linked in one breath.
Feeling the soreness and swelling in my meridians, I decided to pause for now.
Too many breakthroughs at once might injure the fragile walls of my meridians.
Another reason is that I believe breaking through the Conduit Realm in one go would yield better results, so I didn’t want to rush it today.
Ever since I entered the third stage, the entire world looked brand new in my eyes, but I still couldn’t see the fine dust floating in the air. That kind of outrageous feat is not so easily achieved. My vision alone has improved by more than a notch, and beyond that, the use of divine sense brought me much delight. The energy coursing slowly through my meridians, using divine sense as a second pair of eyes—everything is so novel.
At that moment, I suddenly understood why, at the wedding, I had to wear a special artifact that could block divine sense.
The effect of divine sense is simply too heaven-defying; it’s almost like cheating. A thin layer of clothing is nothing at all before divine sense.
No wonder they say cultivators would never fancy ordinary people.
Once a cultivator’s divine sense sweeps out, no matter how fair or delicate a mortal is, any flaws on the face would be magnified infinitely in their eyes. Not to mention, with just a sweep of divine sense, they’d see countless primitive people, like apes, wandering the streets, all their clothing laid bare.
To put it simply, would you fall in love with an ant crawling on the ground?
It’s already two completely different levels of existence.
So-called love—
That’s just the wishful thinking of countless mortals in novels.
It wasn’t until I myself gained a sliver of extraordinary power that I finally understood what those words from others really meant.
Overpowered.
Far too overpowered.
I played with my divine sense for a while longer, like a child fiddling with a newly bought toy, finding it unexpectedly hard to put down. All the novelty and longing in my eyes was seen by Su Liumeng.
“Cultivation really is quite fun, isn’t it?” Su Liumeng said with a smile. “Baby, you’ll only get stronger in the future. This achievement is worth celebrating. From now on, let’s become an immortal couple together, living forever.”
Stunned, I looked at the girl’s gentle smile and couldn’t help but smile back, “Yeah, you definitely can do it. I believe in you…”
“My Xiao Mengmeng is of course the most talented in the world.”
“If you can’t take that final step, who else could?”
The Nine Sources Heavenly Ladder, each step an abyss.
Heaven and earth apart in a single stride.
No matter how talented a person is, even if they have the talent to support the final step, they will exhaust their lifespan in the endless struggle through the realms.
I calculated in my heart the specific stages involved.
How close Su Liumeng is to breaking through.
She’s already so gifted, but to reach the True Self Realm would take at least fifty years.
From True Self to First Source, at least another hundred.
And after that?
Even the Thirteenth Ancestor of the Su Clan, an awe-inspiring genius, stopped at the Three Sources Realm.
Su Liumeng is even more talented than he was, but even if she advances further, eventually she will be blocked, her years worn away.
At this thought, my resolve only strengthened.
Instead of both of us being lost to time, why not put all our hopes on one person? Maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance to break through.
After all, throughout history, no one has ever reached this stage.
One step forward, and it’s true transcendence—how hard it is.
Even someone as strong as Zhizhi, I don’t dare say she could break through to the legendary Emperor Realm after awakening.
Zhizhi’s earliest memories are from thousands of years ago.
She spent millennia, and only by chance of meeting me as the suitable mother could she regain a physical body, yet even that one step remains uncertain.
Let alone Su Liumeng, a human whose lifespan is far less than that of a ghost cultivator.
Therefore, I must take this step.
Besides, it’s not like I’d be completely sacrificing myself.
At most, it’ll just delay me for a few years. As for what the future holds, who can say?
Maybe I’ll surpass everyone in the end—anything is possible.
“Baby, what are you thinking about? Are you still basking in the afterglow of your breakthrough?” Su Liumeng waved her hand in front of my face.
Hearing her call me that, my expression turned a bit unnatural. Suddenly remembering something, I used my divine sense to scan my clothes, and only after confirming that it couldn’t see through did I let out a sigh of relief.
If, upon enlightenment, I discovered that I’d been going out as good as naked all this time, I’d really want to just cut my throat right there—that would be far too humiliating.
Noticing my little gesture, Su Liumeng replied, “All your clothes have undergone special treatment. Even the ones I buy from the store, I’ll treat them again. There’s no risk of someone’s divine sense peeking through.”
I swept my divine sense over her, only to find that it was also bounced back.
Su Liumeng’s lips curled into a smile, “Baby, don’t use your divine sense to sweep people casually. It’s considered extremely rude, and in severe cases, it could even provoke a fight. What I just mentioned is to prevent stronger cultivators from secretly scanning you with their divine sense without you noticing. If you use divine sense to scan someone more powerful, you’ll be detected immediately, and they can even follow your divine sense back and crush your sea of consciousness with ease. In short, it’s very dangerous—don’t try it lightly.”
I nodded obediently, then used my divine sense to touch the walls around us, only to be bounced back as well.
Unbeknownst to me, Su Liumeng had already made so many preparations behind the scenes.
I couldn’t help but clench my fist a little tighter.
I secretly swept my divine sense over myself. Even under what was essentially a magnifying glass, my own little face remained flawless and delicate, causing my gaze to lower slightly.
Just then—
Su Liumeng suddenly pressed close to me, all sticky and intimate. I instinctively reached out to push her away.
“Baby, don’t move. I just want to be close to you.”
I knew exactly what Su Liumeng wanted to say.
At this moment, I could only pretend not to understand.
“Don’t mess around. It’s time for bed. Our daughter is still here—don’t wake her up.”
Holding the girl in her arms, feeling her constant resistance, a trace of pain appeared in Su Liumeng’s eyes.
“Baby, you promised me, remember?”
I kissed her cheek. “Alright, I’ll give you a kiss. Now go to sleep.”
“You know, what I want…”
“Was never just that.”
Su Liumeng glanced at the petite figure already wrapped up in her own little quilt, head burrowed under the covers, her eyes brimming with heartache.
Is it because…she’s afraid I’ll be upset?
Or is it something else?
Xiao Yan…
The things you said to me, the promises you made—were any of them real?
Or was it all—
Half true, half false from the very beginning?
A person who never existed suddenly emerged in Su Liumeng’s mind—someone she’d never found the slightest trace of, and yet, this person was doing things with her wife that she herself never had.
All of this filled her eyes with a growing, fierce crimson, as if blood might drip at any moment.
Su Liumeng tried to console herself—no such person exists. It was only her overactive imagination.
If such a person existed, she’d have found some clue by now.
But—
A sudden headache struck Su Liumeng.
What if that person, like Zhizhi, was unfathomably powerful?
Their daughter is already so formidable, so it’s entirely possible that someone related by blood could be even stronger.
Maybe that’s why she couldn’t find any trace.
Staring blankly at the night outside the window, veins stood out on the back of Su Liumeng’s tightly clenched hand.
She lay quietly on the bed, and, slipping her hand through the crack between their quilts, gently held the soft, boneless little hand on the other side, as if only by grasping it could she steady her chaotic heart.
“Stop messing around.” I muttered, pushing Su Liumeng away, causing her heart to sink suddenly.
It shouldn’t be like this.
Su Liumeng’s eyes widened in disbelief, filled with unwillingness.
At the start of the month, they were still so close—how had just over half a month passed, and Zi Xinyan was already tired of her?
Su Liumeng suddenly thought, maybe it was because she’d given herself away twice so easily.
In this case, it’s entirely possible for Zi Xinyan to lose interest in her.
As for her—she hadn’t even touched Zi Xinyan, let alone anything beyond a kiss.
Thinking of this, Su Liumeng felt like slapping herself. Isn’t this just what people say—that something easily obtained is never cherished?
She secretly hated her own weakness, for thinking that just by marrying, everything would last forever.
And now, the payback had come.
So, has she been played out and tossed aside?
Gritting her teeth, Su Liumeng wanted to throw off the covers and confront the girl face-to-face, but in the end, she forced herself to accept this painful reality.
Under the covers, I watched as Su Liumeng silently withdrew her hand, my eyes full of surprise.
What’s with Su Liumeng today?
Usually, even if I push her away, she’ll shamelessly wedge herself back in and grab my hand.
But today, at just a gentle push, she pulled back entirely.
This look…
Why does she seem like a wronged little wife?
The reason I kept pretending not to understand earlier was because I didn’t want the sharp Su Liumeng to guess my plan, so I played dumb, hoping to muddle through.
Second, I haven’t reached my target realm yet, so I’ll have to put things on hold for now.
At least reach the fourth realm; with the help of yin energy, I can soar straight up.
If Su Liumeng knew my plan, she’d never agree.
Turning myself into a furnace for gathering yin and supplementing yang—even if I’m careful, it will inevitably have an impact on me.
My foundation won’t be damaged, and as for… the rest, I don’t care.
Losing all my progress in cultivation is just a small thing—just a year or two of work.
But Su Liumeng wouldn’t see it that way. She’d only worry about whether my body would be harmed and how long I’d need to recover, so she would never agree.
Physically, there will be some harm.
Of course, I won’t be laid up for years.
So, I’ll just go with the flow.
In the darkness, the air fell silent. Sensing the movements from the other side, I tentatively stretched my small hand, slipped it into Su Liumeng’s quilt, clasped her palm, then turned over and, separated only by a thin blanket, wrapped her tightly in my arms, even stretching my leg over her in a possessive hug.
Keeping it from Su Liumeng is one part of my plan.
But I don’t want her to be sad, either.
Who knows what she’s overthinking without even talking to me.
Silently grumbling in my heart, I hooked her pinky with mine.
They say I’m a bottle of secrets who never tells anyone anything.
But I say Su Liumeng is no better. She just insists on playing the silent protagonist from those novels, refusing to open her mouth no matter what.
Feeling the little movement under the quilt, Su Liumeng’s grievances began to melt away.
So—I haven’t been tossed aside?
Ah, wait, why am I instinctively casting myself as the discarded one?
Su Liumeng wept silently in her heart.
I, half-lying on top of her, poked my head out from under the covers, staring at her unblinkingly. “Xiao Mengmeng, are you mad at me?”
“No.” Su Liumeng avoided my gaze. “I don’t have the right to be jealous.”
“How could someone who came later compare to the first deep impression?”
“It’s my fault for being so cheap, believing that marriage would mean forever.”
“Huh?”
My eyes widened in shock.
What is she talking about…
All I have is a little plan, not wanting to do anything with Su Liumeng for now, and somehow she’s come up with all these wild ideas.
“What are you even talking about?”
Seeing the confusion in my eyes, Su Liumeng immediately cut off her venting.
No, this can’t go on.
Baby cares about me so much.
She’s just afraid I’ll get angry.
If I force things, how could she ever face me again?
She’s the one I love most.
And I am the one she loves most.
How could I let her be hurt because of me?
Forcing her emotions down, Su Liumeng smiled. “It’s nothing, I was just spouting nonsense.”
She hugged me tightly, listening to my slightly chaotic heartbeat, finally certain that I still loved her. “Baby, as long as I can hold you, as long as I know you like me, I’m satisfied.”
“It’s my fault, I just hoped for too much.”
“From the very start, when I spent money to add you as a friend, my biggest dream was that you’d talk with me a bit more online.”
I fell silent for a moment, patting Su Liumeng’s back gently, just as I comfort our daughter. “Don’t say things like that. I’ll always be with you.”
“You can not only hug me—anything else is fine, too.”
“Everything about me belongs to you.”
Listening to my incredibly direct words, Su Liumeng couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe she was just overthinking.
She was about to test the waters, letting her hand slide further down, planning to take another step, when she suddenly heard my steady, even breathing.
All of this.
Really… just a coincidence?
A question mark appeared in Su Liumeng’s heart.
No matter where or when she tried to take things further, something would always get in the way.
Thinking of how the girl always opened her heart and spoke without the slightest guard, Su Liumeng finally settled her mind.
It must just be coincidence.
Su Liumeng made up her mind. What Xiao Yan was worried about was just that she wasn’t a perfect jade.
The answer to what she would do was already clear in her heart.
It’s fine.
As long as they get through this, she believes there will be no more shadows between her and Xiao Yan.
As Su Liumeng pondered her plans, an image appeared in her mind—Xiao Yan completely letting go of her burdens, being truly close and open with her. A smile appeared at the corners of her lips, as if all today’s worries had, in this moment, vanished into thin air.