Chapter 322: Concubines
Ye Guan's decision to ignite his soul left the strongest Divine Sovereign shocked and furious.
“You've decided to ignite your soul? Are you crazy?! You—”
His sentence hung in the air as he decisively retreated. He wouldn't have retreated if Ye Guan hadn't ignited his soul. However, Ye Guan had chosen to go to such an extreme length, so he decided to retreat.
He really didn't want to risk his life, considering how he had just obtained a Tribulation Avoiding Stone. The other Xue Clan members retreated as well. How could they reap the profits that a Tribulation Avoiding Stone would bring them if they were dead?
It seemed everyone was still thinking about the Tribulation Avoiding Stone.
Xue Feng went pale at the sight. He was not afraid of competent enemies but incompetent allies. His allies had just told him that they were incompetent at being allies and would rather prioritize their vested interests rather than the clan's interest!
"All of you come here and deal with this puppet!" Xue Feng roared.
The group of Divine Sovereigns hesitated briefly before rushing toward the Ancient Divine Puppet.
Xue Feng immediately sped toward Ye Guan, but he quickly came to a halt when a powerful aura erupted in the distance. Xue Feng cast a shocked gaze upon Nangong Xue and saw that her aura had surged crazily toward the heavens and had swept across the starry sky up above.
The spacetime above Nangong Xue failed to withstand the power of her cultivation base and collapsed.
She had finally become a Great Sovereign!
Xue Feng's expression turned ugly. He wanted to make a move, but the woman in white glared at Xue Feng.
Xue Feng trembled beneath the woman in white's glare.
"Retreat!" he shouted.
Swoosh!
Ye Guan suddenly disappeared. A Divine Sovereign fighting the Ancient Divine Puppet trembled, and his expression changed drastically. He was about to turn around, but a sword pierced his glabella.
Blood dripped down from the wound on his glabella, and when he collapsed, the figure of a young man appeared behind him. It was Ye Guan!
Ye Guan opened his palm, and the Divine Sovereign’s storage ring flew into his hand.
The storage ring contained the Tribulation Avoiding Stone that Ye Guan had given up earlier.
Xue Feng and his group were furious, but they didn't dare to linger. They receded like a tide, and it only took them a few seconds to disappear from Ye Guan's sight.
Ye Guan didn't give chase. He was utterly exhausted. His fleshly body was gone, and his soul was weak.
Ye Guan slowly collapsed, feeling like he just needed to rest for a while. It had been a long time since he had fought like this. When he was about to hit the ground, a fragrant breeze swept across him, and Ye Guan found himself in the arms of a young woman.
Nangong Xue held Ye Guan gently in her arms. Her eyes were full of tenderness and concern as she stared at him.
"Rest well!" she muttered.
Ye Guan smiled and closed his eyes. The fight just now had been a real challenge to him, and he had to go all-out just to stand a chance against them. However, Ye Guan had also profited from the exhausting encounter; he could feel that he was about to make another breakthrough.
Nangong Xue looked down at Ye Guan in her arms with a light smile.
The woman in white let out a sigh as she stared at Nangong Xue. It seemed her disciple would get completely destroyed by Ye Guan. After all, once a woman started liking a man, their relationship could only go in either of the following two ways—either they would live happily ever after, or they would have to wallow in sorrow.
After a while, Ye Guan’s soul had recovered slightly. He woke up and got up before turning to look at Nangong Xue.
He grinned and asked, “You've become a Great Sovereign?”
Nangong Xue smiled and exclaimed, “Yup!”
Ye Guan sounded serious as he said, “That was really impressive.”
Nangong Xue winked mischievously and said, “You can’t beat me anymore!”
Ye Guan froze at the remark before erupting into laughter.
Nangong Xue was overjoyed as she stared at Ye Guan with eyes full of affection.
Seeing that, the woman in white decided to help her disciple. She stared intently at Ye Guan before asking, “Young Lord Ye, what do you think of my Xue’er?”
Ye Guan's expression stiffened before responding, “She's great!”
The woman in white smiled and said, “Young Lord Ye, I won't beat around the bush. You're a smart man, so I'm sure you've already noticed Xue’er’s affection for you. Am I right or not?”
Nangong Xue blushed furiously at the remark, seemingly overwhelmed by shyness.
Glancing at Nangong Xue, Ye Guan nodded. "Yes, I know."
He was neither dumb nor blind to not see Nangong Xue's affection for him.
Nangong Xue glanced surreptitiously at Ye Guan, and her flushed cheeks became even rosier, and her gaze toward him deepened with affection.
The woman in white smiled and suggested, “How about you get married today?”
Ye Guan froze and went silent.
It was such a curveball that Ye Guan had no idea how to react to it.
Nangong Xue looked down without saying anything. She looked like she would follow her master's arrangement.
However, Ye Guan remained silent.
The woman in white frowned slightly, feeling uneasy.
Nangong Xue's figure trembled ever so slightly.
Ye Guan walked in front of Nangong Xue. He stared deeply at her before saying, “Lady Xue, I've noticed your surreptitious gazes toward me while we were on our journey, and I've long realized that you like me.
"I'm flattered, but you deserve to know what I'm about to tell you. My name is Ye Guan, and I'm from the Guanxuan Universe. Most importantly, I'm already married.”
Nangong Xue turned as pale as a sheet of paper while the woman in white sighed.
"Sorry…" Ye Guan muttered before turning around to leave.
Nangong Xue called out, “Wait!”
Ye Guan stopped and turned to face Nangong Xue.
Nangong Xue approached him with measured steps and locked eyes with him as she said. "Since you're already married, why did you even give me those signals?"
"Signals?" Ye Guan shook his head and said, "I didn't give any signals…"
Nangong Xue stared intently at Ye Guan and explained, "I'm talking about why you even bothered to speak up for me! Why did you offend both the Xue Clan and the Nangong Clan for my sake? Why did you take me away? And why did you risk your life for me?"
Ye Guan was quiet.
Nangong Xue shouted, “Say something!”
Ye Guan said softly, "You warned me of the dangers in the Shangqing Secret Realm, and you told me to leave—that was our first meeting. I grew fond of you because you were kind. I decided to help you because I considered you a friend without overthinking it, but you ended up developing feelings for me."
Nangong Xue revealed a self-deprecating smile. "So it was my mistake."
Ye Guan shook his head and said, "Lady Xue, you're beautiful and gentle, and you genuinely cared about me. I was really happy—"
Nangong Xue grabbed Ye Guan's hand, interrupting him mid-sentence.
She trembled like an aspen tree as she muttered, "Then just stay here, okay?"
Ye Guan shook his head.
Nangong Xue was furious. She raised her hand to punch Ye Guan, but her fist came to a halt upon meeting his gaze. Ye Guan had yet to recover his fleshly body, and he was still in his fragile soul form.
Nangong Xue's gaze softened, and she couldn't bring herself to punch Ye Guan.
Tears welled up in Nangong Xue's eyes upon realizing that Ye Guan had just rejected her. She turned around, and her voice was trembling as she said, “Go away! I don’t want to see you ever again!”
Ye Guan sighed under his breath and said, “Lady Xue, please take care of yourself. If the opportunity presents itself, I'll come here to see you again…”
Nangong Xue spun around and glared at him. “Why? Are you going to turn me into one of your concubines?”
Ye Guan hurriedly said, “No, no, no. Master Pagoda wants me to have concubines, but I don't dare to even think of doing such a thing…”
Master Pagoda: ???
"Leave!" Nangong Xue glared at Ye Guan and roared, “I'm really going to hit you if you don't leave this instant!”
The fires of Nangong Xue's fury burned fiercely.
Ye Guan didn't dare to stay. He turned around and left, vanishing into the horizon.
Nangong Xue cackled upon witnessing Ye Guan's departure, but her crazed laughter soon became choked sobs as tears dripped down her cheeks.
The woman in white sighed as she walked up to Nangong Xue and said, “Brat, there is a saying about how it is lonely at the summit, and it is true because those who are truly invincible have abandoned many people to reach the summit of their path.
"That young man looks honest and kind, but he's a bastard pursuing the peak of cultivation. Even worse, he's indecisive when it comes to his relationship with women, and I'm sure he'll break many more hearts in the future."
Nangong Xue lowered her head slightly as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I want to hate him, but I can’t bring myself to hate him. My heart is crying out for him. He also didn't hide the fact that he's already married, so I think he's a good man…”
Nangong Xue then laughed at herself and said, “I've heard that liking someone is a humbling experience, and I never really believed it. However, I finally understand that they weren't lying."
The woman in white sighed. A woman falling in love was a tribulation in itself, but if a bastard were the subject of her affection, it would be a great tribulation!
"Master," Nangong Xue said, “I want to stay here and cultivate.”
The woman in white nodded and replied, “Sure, but I won't be here to be with you.”
Nangong Xue was confused. “Why not?”
The woman in white explained, “I'm just a mere fragment of a soul, so I can't stay for too long. It's already a miracle that I'm still here. I've completely exhausted myself after handing over my complete inheritance to you.
"In other words, this is goodbye—an eternal farewell."
Nangong Xue cried like a child as hot tears dripped down her cheeks and fell like rain to the cold, hard ground. In the blink of an eye, she lost two people whom she considered precious. She had become a supreme elite—a Great Sovereign, but she was still a young woman. She couldn't quite accept the consecutive hardships she had to face.
The woman in white wiped Nangong Xue's tears away and said softly, “It'd be great if you manage to revive the Starry Sea Sect, but it's fine even if you can't revive the sect. Sects would always rise and fall; it has always been like that since time immemorial."
Nangong Xue sobbed as she held the woman in white's hand.
The woman in white continued. “You're too kind and soft-hearted. You're also heartbroken, and it's not good to dwell in such a state for long. Feelings aren't guaranteed to be reciprocated, so I hope you won't hate him just because he rejected you today. Actually, I think that he does like—"
The woman in white vanished into a wisp of smoke before she could finish her sentence.
She was gone—gone forever. Nangong Xue froze and went silent. She looked around and saw nothing but the ruins of a once mighty sect. Realizing that there was no one else around her, Nangong Xue's heart was struck by an indescribable loneliness.
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