After being discovered, Xiao Fan made no effort to continue hiding.
He stepped out from the shadows and revealed himself within the Saintess's palace.
Su Yiyun's elegant brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of concern flashing across her delicate face.
Her long black hair shimmered like lacquered silk, and her refined features were nothing short of ethereal. The pale blue gown she wore enhanced her air of purity, casting her as a celestial beauty untouched by dust—like a fairy painted into the mist of a scroll.
And yet, she was visibly tense. Beneath her long sleeves, her jade-like hands were clenched into fists, slick with nervous sweat. Her heartbeat quickened—thud, thud, thud—echoing loud within her chest.
Even her feet had stiffened involuntarily, as though rooted to the floor, exquisite and trembling.
Perhaps… she feared that her cultivation of demonic arts would be exposed, and that the holy land would expel her from its gates.
She was still too weak. For now, she needed the protection of the Taixuan Holy Land. She needed time to grow stronger—to dig out the truth of her clan's downfall and fulfill her revenge.
"You—who are you to trespass into my palace?" Su Yiyun was the first to speak, attempting to seize the initiative by hurling the question at him.
Xiao Fan smiled, utterly unbothered.
"Talking about me? I live right next door. The Holy Son of the Taixuan Holy Land—that's me."
Holy Son? So it was him.
Su Yiyun had certainly heard the name Xiao Fan before.
More accurately, there was likely no one in the entire Taixuan Holy Land who hadn't heard his name.
An air-dropped Holy Son, granted his position without so much as a test. His treatment rivaled that of the Holy Master himself. These facts alone had made him infamous across the sect.
"And being the Holy Son gives you the right to barge into my immortal peak?" Su Yiyun rebuked him with a sharp tone, showing no sign that she had just been caught cultivating demonic arts.
Xiao Fan didn't waste words.
With a wave of his hand, he activated the Recording Stone, replaying the scene he had just captured for her to see in full.
"Junior Sister Su," he said calmly, "you cultivated a demonic technique, and still managed to become Saintess. You are a disgrace to our Taixuan Holy Land."
He met her gaze, voice indifferent. "Now tell me—what do you think will happen if I report this?"
Su Yiyun's face turned ghostly pale.
He had not only seen it—but recorded it.
There was no arguing now. The evidence was irrefutable.
The Taixuan Holy Land was a sect of the righteous path. It abhorred the demonic way and forbade disciples from dabbling in forbidden arts.
Even as the Saintess, she would not escape punishment.
At best, she would be stripped of her title and cast out.
At worst, her cultivation would be crippled and she would be banished into the mortal world—a ruined woman with no path to revenge.
If Xiao Fan truly reported her, she wouldn't just lose her future—she might not even leave the holy land alive.
Su Yiyun's mind raced, frantically searching for a way out.
Then—an idea struck.
The indignation vanished from her face, replaced by a pitiful expression that shimmered with tears.
Her voice trembled as she looked up at him with misty peach blossom eyes. "Senior Brother Xiao… I—I didn't mean to cultivate a demonic technique…"
Her tone softened like cotton. "We are a righteous sect. I hate the demonic path. Every time I encounter a demonic cultivator, I snap their neck with my own hands," she added bitterly.
But—here came the turn.
"However, senior brother, surely you understand the old saying… Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you will emerge victorious in every battle. I only cultivated the technique so I could uncover the weaknesses of the demonic path. I did it… for the sake of the holy land."
She gazed at him with wounded innocence, as if he had misunderstood her noble intentions.
A sigh escaped her lips—one so aggrieved it could melt stone.
Internally, she rated her own performance: Flawless.
It wasn't perfect, no. But to deal with some naïve rich-clan heir like Xiao Fan? This should be more than enough.
Yet Xiao Fan remained unmoved.
As Zhang Wuji's mother once said—the more beautiful the woman, the more poisonous her lies.
And Su Yiyun? She was so beautiful he nearly exploded just from looking at her.
Whatever came out of her mouth, he didn't believe a single punctuation mark.
Meanwhile, he accessed her timeline through the system's future intelligence:
[Su Yiyun — In a systemless timeline, the host believed her story and grew close to her. The two became confidants. You provided resources and assistance to help her avenge her clan.
However, the Child of Destiny, enchanted by her beauty, intervened and orchestrated your downfall. He sabotaged your relationship and framed you.]
[You were labeled a villain, your cultivation crippled. Your clan elders came to apprehend him, but were slain. Your parents personally took action, only to fall into the Child of Destiny's trap.
Result: The Xiao Clan was annihilated.]
What the hell?! How would I ever get tangled up with this woman?
She's a walking disaster! Sure, she is pretty enough to flirt with, but take responsibility for her? No way.
Xiao Fan guessed that in the systemless timeline, when the Child of Destiny appeared, he had been hit with a severe IQ-debuff. His brain must've shriveled to the size of a peanut. That's the only way he would've gotten suckered into that mess.
But this life was different.
The system had shattered the debuff and rewritten his fate.
He turned to look at Su Yiyun's face—so innocent, so seductive. No wonder she caught the eye of a Heaven's Chosen.
But now that he was the villain… she would soon learn what that really meant.
Heheh. Heheheheh…
"Senior Brother Xiao," she said sweetly, wrapping an arm around his and breathing pink-sugar words into his ear. "You're not really going to report this, are you?"
Secret Sutra of the Enchantress — Art of Seduction.
A soft fragrance lingered on her skin as her delicate body pressed into his. Warm, supple, irresistible.
And yet—Xiao Fan's expression didn't change.
His Qi of Righteous Virtue activated on its own, dissolving the seductive mist like sunlight burning away morning dew.
"You're testing this Holy Son with such a trick?" he sneered. "What man in this world could resist you when you try like that?"
Then, without hesitation, he counterattacked.
He slipped an arm around her slim waist, pulled her into his chest, and lifted her chin with one teasing finger.
Their eyes met. He stared directly into hers—unflinching.
Su Yiyun's face flushed red in an instant, a delicate blush blooming across her cheeks.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
She was only eighteen—this move had taken every ounce of her courage. According to all the books, men were helpless against coquettish women, weren't they?
Especially this guy—wasn't he the righteous Holy Son of the sect?
Wasn't he supposed to push her away and say, "I'm sorry for misunderstanding you, junior sister. If you ever need help, you can come to me."
Instead—
Xiao Fan blinked, stunned. Damn. Her face is redder than a monkey's backside. And that heartbeat… is she panicking?
Even in his past life as a lifelong bachelor, he could tell what was going on.
She's a total novice! A clueless virgin trying to seduce him?
In Su Yiyun's mind, she was running some classic script.
But in Xiao Fan's eyes, it was textbook rookie moves—the kind that would be titled: Criminals Get Excited Too Fast.
That made him even more excited.
Without thinking, his hand slipped down and gave her perky backside a firm squeeze.
Hehehehehe…
For a moment, the room fell into complete silence.
Su Yiyun wrenched herself free, face flushed with anger and shame. "Y-You! You're supposed to be a righteous Holy Son! How could you take advantage of me?!"
In front of her, Xiao Fan slowly withdrew his hand… and gave it a dramatic sniff, as if savoring some rare fragrance.
Of course, it didn't smell like anything. But the performance mattered.
Predictably, Su Yiyun cracked.
All the grace and composure vanished. She slapped at his hand in a panic, blushing furiously.
But Xiao Fan dodged with ease.
He pulled out another Recording Stone—this one had captured her clinging to him, eyes misty, breath soft.
With righteous indignation, he declared:
"Su Yiyun, how shameless can you be? Caught red-handed cultivating demonic arts, and now you're trying to seduce me? Trying to turn me to the dark side?"
"Luckily, I stood firm in my Dao Heart. I didn't fall for your schemes. And now you try to flip the script and call me a pervert?"
"Fine! I'll go tell the Holy Master everything. Let's see what she has to say!"
Su Yiyun stood frozen. "…What?"
That's it? Other than waving around Recording Stones, do you have any other skills?
Also, you were the one touching me!
"Y-You… How can you twist things like that?" she shouted, nearly in tears. "You know what your hands did!"
"Just answer me," Xiao Fan said coldly. "Who made the first move?"
Su Yiyun couldn't speak. The Recording Stone showed it clearly—she was the one who leaned in. If this made it to the Holy Master… she wouldn't be able to explain anything.
She thought she'd manipulated a fool.
Turns out… she'd walked straight into the tiger's jaws.
Tears welled in her eyes. What now? What do I do?
If he really reported her, she was finished.
She panicked. Her fingers twitched helplessly.
The time was right.
Xiao Fan smiled.
"Who would've thought?" he said softly. "A righteous Saintess cultivating demonic arts. You wouldn't want this getting out, would you?"