Fu Linglong?
Zhao Qingluo was unfamiliar with the name. She only heard about her today from Zhao Huamin.
Other than that, she also understood one thing—this woman, Fu Linglong, was stunning and elegant. She posed a definite threat.
"Wei Tu, do you think I'm cheap? Shameless?" Zhao Qingluo no longer embraced him. She gently stepped back from behind Wei Tu and leaned by the window.
She looked up at the moonlight outside and spoke in a low voice.
The moonlight tonight was beautiful. Though it lacked the strange charm of the moon resting atop Qiyue Mountain or the brightness of Zheng Kingdom's moon, it still cast a peaceful glow across the courtyard, making for a lovely scene.
But Zhao Qingluo felt something missing inside. An emptiness lingered in her heart.
She had followed her clan to the Xiao Kingdom. From there, she stepped over Zhao Zhujun to rise in rank, transforming from a country girl from a backwater land into a personal disciple at Shengya Mountain. She'd climbed to the peak of Great Cang's cultivation world… yet with Wei Tu's arrival, that illusion was shattered.
Though no cultivator had said it aloud, Wei Tu's achievements now clearly told her—her rank, gained by trading away her status, was nothing more than a bubble. It popped the moment it was touched.
The broken engagement had seemed like a good thing for both of them. But now, with their power gap so wide, in the eyes of the Zhao Clan, she had completely become nothing more than Wei Tu's appendage.
And in the process, she'd debased herself, just to win his favor.
Like what she did tonight.
Decades ago, before Wei Tu ever came to the Xiao Kingdom, Zhao Qingluo had written him a letter, asking him to make a choice.
—Whether he would come see her within 70 years.
Her plan was clear. Once the engagement was canceled and she gained tangible benefits, she'd become Wei Tu's Dao companion. Then, with Shengya Mountain's resources, she'd support him—a rogue cultivator—as they pursued the Nascent Soul realm together.
But everything changed after Wei Tu arrived.
What she thought was a perfect opportunity turned out to be a stain she would never wash off. A disgrace that would follow her forever.
Female cultivators in the Zhao Clan thought she wasn't worthy of Wei Tu.
Looking back, Zhao Qingluo realized she had probably taken the wrong path at a crossroads in her life.
She chose a shortcut.
In the end, was it really necessary for her to hold onto the title of Shengya Mountain's personal disciple?
"Did I make the wrong choice?"
Her face was full of confusion. Her voice cracked with the hint of tears, but there was still a trace of the prideful county princess in her—unwilling to submit.
She knew their last meeting had hurt Wei Tu. That's why she had been willing to lower herself in front of him tonight, trying to win him over…
But Fu Linglong's presence had crushed her last bit of psychological defense.
Even if Zhao Qingluo was sure that nothing had happened between Wei Tu and Fu Linglong, the mere fact that Wei Tu now had the ability to reach upward—to choose someone better—unsettled her deeply.
"Qingluo, you didn't do anything wrong."
Sitting on his cushion, Wei Tu saw all this and spoke gently, offering her comfort.
"We cultivators aren't just about romance. If we sacrifice too much for it, we aren't truly qualified cultivators."
"You don't need to wrong yourself for me."
His words came from the heart.
From the beginning, Wei Tu had never thought Zhao Qingluo had done anything wrong.
Before he entered the mountain, he could understand her agreeing to a symbolic engagement for practical benefits.
If he didn't, he wouldn't have taken the Ascending Cloud flying boat all the way to the Xiao Kingdom.
And after leaving the mountain, he also accepted that Zhao Qingluo, for the sake of her own path, chose not to cancel the engagement.
Now, there was no reason for Zhao Qingluo to debase herself for a "mistake" that wasn't actually a mistake just to please him.
"A qualified cultivator…"
Those words left Zhao Qingluo dazed for a moment.
Her talent was considered decent within the Qiyue Zhao Clan. But in the Shengya Zhao Clan, she wasn't exceptional. Her achievements were closely tied to her strong Dao heart.
As she became more accomplished, the term "Dao heart" gradually became something her father, Zhao Tinghai, and Ancestor Zhao Jiangwu often praised her for.
Thinking back over the past 100 years, if Wei Tu hadn't saved her several times, if they hadn't shared such intimacy, she might still be nothing more than a bitter cultivator striving alone.
"Thank you, Daoist Wei…"
Suddenly, Zhao Qingluo let go of some of the weight inside her. She straightened her robes and gave Wei Tu a respectful bow.
"It's nothing."
Wei Tu shook his head.
From her words, he could sense a subtle distance forming between them again—like the county princess he once met back in that little courtyard at Lark Residence.
Or perhaps, Zhao Qingluo had always been like him—determined and pure in her pursuit of the Dao.
It was just that, living in the mortal world, tangled in chance and fate, she ended up having a romantic entanglement with him.
After all, people have emotional needs.
"After tonight, I'll focus fully on the Dao."
Zhao Qingluo swept her jade sleeve. The tears vanished completely from her almond-shaped eyes. She turned and walked back to where Wei Tu sat cross-legged on the cushion, then wrapped her arms around him.
The last time they met, she had hoped to balance love and the Dao. But only now did she realize, compared to Wei Tu, she loved the Qingming Dao path more.
Romance was secondary.
Wei Tu didn't resist. He gently placed his hand around Zhao Qingluo's slender waist.
He saw the resolve in her eyes.
Still, a clean break was best.
It wasn't that they didn't care for each other.
Zhao Qingluo cared for the man who saved her life several times. Wei Tu also had feelings for the moonlit fairy who once gifted him a Minor Shift Talisman under the moonlight…
But now wasn't the right time.
They held each other for a long while.
Then, Zhao Qingluo stood up, fully clothed, after leaving a kiss mark on Wei Tu's forehead. She quietly left under the moonlight.
...
Fifteen minutes later.
Zhao Qingluo left Wei Tu's guest room, her expression cold. She once again stepped onto the moonlit path.
"Her clothes are neat, and she's still a virgin. So it wasn't a secret rendezvous like I thought... they probably had serious matters to discuss..."
In the next room, Fu Linglong stared through the window at Zhao Qingluo's departing figure, thoughtful.
Even though cultivators had fewer social constraints than mortals, a man and a woman meeting alone at night still raised suspicions.
"Right! It must be about the negotiation. After all, Zhao Qingluo is Jiao Zihua's fiancée."
Fu Linglong guessed silently.
She still didn't know that the Shengya Zhao Clan and the Tianyi Jiao Clan had already canceled the engagement years ago.
Because Liaozhou was remote, and both clans wanted to avoid making a fuss, the news had never spread widely.
The next morning.
Fu Linglong met Wei Tu again. This time, she offered an even better deal, begging him to persuade Zhao Huamin to go to the Tianyi Jiao Clan as a neutral mediator.
Wei Tu had already anticipated this.
He made excuses, saying the matter was tricky but promised to do his best and help make the cooperation happen.
Seeing Wei Tu's vague response, Fu Linglong began to doubt whether the "Mind Connection" result from years ago was real.
She had a nagging feeling that Wei Tu just wanted to scam her for money and didn't really plan to help.
But since she was on Shendu Island within Shengya Mountain, it wasn't convenient to use that divine power. So she suppressed her doubts and chose to believe in Wei Tu.
Meanwhile, Wei Tu told Zhao Huamin everything and promised to split the profits fifty-fifty once the job was done.
There were no existing ties between the Shengya Zhao Clan and the Six Desires Sect bandits, so Wei Tu wasn't worried about this secret causing him any trouble.
In fact, telling the Zhao Clan wasn't just about taking the Fu Clan's spirit stones. He also wanted to use the deal to start a business relationship with them—turning the Shengya Zhao Clan into his official backer.
Relationships could deepen over time.
But only if there were enough benefits to show his value and ensure returns.
Otherwise, no matter how close you were, the bond would fade until you were strangers.
Stealing the Fu Clan's spirit stones would normally be a negative mark in the eyes of the Zhao Clan—it wasn't exactly moral.
But given that the Fu siblings were members of the Six Desires Sect, and that they had once put a bounty on Wei Tu, this wasn't a black mark—it actually became a bonus.
"Wei Tu is sharp. He's got the cunning, ruthlessness, and decisiveness of a rogue cultivator. That's why he didn't expose himself to the Fu siblings. This matter... Huamin, you can agree to help him just this once..."
Soon after, Ancestor Zhao Yu'e summoned Zhao Huamin and told her this.
Zhao Yu'e thought to herself—if she were in Wei Tu's shoes, suddenly thrown into a dangerous place like Peach Immortal City, she might have been hunted down by the Fu siblings in a few days. Let alone tricking Fu Linglong into coming to Shengya Mountain.
"But when it comes to the reward, let it be thirty to him and seventy to us. Don't take advantage of him."
Zhao Yu'e thought for a moment and added this reminder.
The Fu Clan's wealth was a big score for Wei Tu. But for Shengya Mountain, it was nothing.
If they were going to help, they might as well go all in.
"Yes, Ancestor."
Zhao Huamin nodded.
After chatting for a bit longer, she took her leave and left the core area of Shendu Island.
From beginning to end, neither Zhao Yu'e nor Zhao Huamin mentioned the Six Desires Sect or talked about bringing justice to those cultivators who were robbed or killed.
There was a reason for that. Both of them had held positions of authority before and understood—within the righteous sects, the Six Desires Sect was at most a point of leverage against someone like Ji Zhang and others from powerful clans. It wasn't fatal.
Among the righteous forces, cultivators from powerful families treating lives carelessly was just normal. At most, it wasn't encouraged.
They couldn't actually expect people like Ji Zhang to be executed over a minor scandal.