After The Aloof Long Aotian Became Jealous Of Me - Chapter 3

When Bai Yi woke up, he discovered that he had already been returned to the Jia-Ding Quarters.

Originally, the room had contained only meditation cushions, tables, and chairs. Now, however, there was also a bed.

At that moment, he was lying on the soft mattress. For the first time in his life, his body felt astonishingly healthy. Even raising his hand took almost no effort, as though his limbs were weightless. His entire body brimmed with dense spiritual energy, without the slightest trace of fatigue.

When he lowered his awareness and looked inward, he found that the vortex in his dantian had formed three complete circles.

He was someone without spiritual roots, someone who should not have been capable of cultivating at all, yet so much spiritual energy had been poured into him that he had now reached the third level of Qi Refining.

Bai Yi could hardly believe it.

The novel had mentioned that a cultivation infusion could raise someone by one level at most. As expected of Long Aotian personally performing the procedure—the results were extraordinary.

Had Bai Yi possessed spiritual roots, he might have reached Foundation Establishment by now.

Thinking that all of this had come about indirectly because of Long Aotian’s jealousy, Bai Yi did not even have time to celebrate. He immediately checked whether he was missing an arm or a leg.

Then he carefully felt his eyes and nose before looking into a mirror to make sure his face had not been disfigured.

How strange.

Long Aotian had actually allowed him to return completely unharmed. He had not taken the opportunity to retaliate.

After confirming in the mirror that nothing was missing, Bai Yi noticed a neatly folded set of clothing beside his pillow.

He unfolded it with a puzzled expression.

The white immortal silk was embroidered with golden patterns. Layer upon layer of fabric wrapped tightly around the collar. The robe was quite beautiful and was not the generic uniform worn by every inner-sect disciple.

It was entirely white and sacred-looking, with an unmistakably ascetic air.

Why had Long Aotian suddenly been so kind as to give him new clothes?

Bai Yi carried the robe to the window and examined it beneath the sunlight. The entire garment was covered in embroidered runes and felt extremely expensive beneath his fingers.

What kind of runes were these?

Bai Yi’s heart tightened.

Perhaps they were meant to control his movements.

If Long Aotian had tampered with anything, it was probably hidden here.

He cautiously grabbed one sleeve and pulled it open for inspection. He had not injected any spiritual energy into the garment, yet the next instant, the clothing he had disarranged suddenly returned to its original state.

The lifted hem and twisted sleeves folded neatly back into place.

If someone wore this robe, it would remain perfectly orderly forever, never becoming wrinkled or disheveled.

Bai Yi was instantly speechless.

What kind of ridiculously pointless rune was this?

Who had enough free time to research something like that?

Even Long Aotian’s own clothes did not possess such a function, yet he had somehow thought to add it to Bai Yi’s.

After thinking about it, Bai Yi guessed that he must have slept restlessly on the jade bed and appeared undignified in the eyes of someone like Long Aotian, who cared deeply about etiquette.

Rong Zhenlü already disliked physical contact. He had probably simply found the sight irritating.

Bai Yi’s tense expression finally relaxed a little.

Fine.

Clothes that never became messy were actually quite convenient. It would save him the trouble of constantly arranging them.

As a modern person, he truly found it difficult to wear this kind of robe without messing it up.

He casually tossed the clothing aside, then lowered his head toward the disciple uniform he was currently wearing.

The uniform did not fit him properly and was already shorter than normal. Now the sleeves had rolled upward, turning them almost into short sleeves.

They seemed to have been like this ever since he woke up.

Earlier, Long Aotian had never awakened him. He had not made Bai Yi leave the Xianqing Jade room on his own.

Instead, he had directly brought him back to Zhaoye Peak.

The longer Bai Yi looked at his sleeves, the more a sudden thought arose in his mind.

Could it be…

He had not wanted Fairy Luo Xi to see Bai Yi with his clothing in disarray?

What?

Bai Yi felt as though he had solved the mystery.

Fine, then.

He changed into the almost sacred-looking robe and left in search of food, his emotions complicated.

Since Long Aotian already knew he was here, Bai Yi no longer needed to hide.

His most urgent priority was filling his stomach.

As he walked, he could not stop thinking that Long Aotian was truly an enormous vinegar jar.

On the surface, Rong Zhenlü was dignified, elegant, and refined, yet his heart was apparently so twisted and contradictory.

Fortunately, he had spent his entire life alone without a cultivation partner.

Otherwise, whoever became his partner would be absolutely miserable.

Bai Yi shook his head and looked toward the main hall of Zhaoye Palace in the distance.

Long Aotian had probably already left. Otherwise, the immortal crane would never dare hold a bowl and eat while sprawled outside the main hall’s entrance.

When the person at the very top was absent, the place naturally belonged to his underlings.

Bai Yi immediately relaxed.

He was preparing to ask the immortal crane where he could find food when he suddenly heard a chorus of astonished exclamations—old and young, male and female all at once.

“The Immortal Thread Robe! The Immortal Lord actually gave that to you!”

“Hm?”

Bai Yi turned around.

The Old Tree Spirit had already transformed several branches into a vaguely human shape. Its overall form resembled the character “大,” except all its leaves seemed to be gone.

One bare branch excitedly pointed at the hem of Bai Yi’s robe.

“That’s an excellent treasure! Back then, countless people fought until their heads were split open trying to obtain it. This one looks like it has been modified, so ordinary people probably wouldn’t recognize it. Hehe, but of course Old Tree here would.”

Bai Yi was astonished.

As someone who had read the original novel, he naturally knew what the Immortal Thread Robe was.

It possessed an almost unbeatable defense and could withstand a full-powered attack from a Soul Formation ancestor. Wearing it was practically equivalent to gaining an extra life.

Only one existed in the entire world, and Long Aotian had claimed it.

At that time, Rong Zhenlü had not yet become overwhelmingly powerful and had expended enormous effort to obtain it.

But this robe was that treasure?

Since when had Long Aotian become so generous?

The Old Tree Spirit explained, “Inject a little spiritual energy into the hem and you’ll understand. Only a tiny bit, though. Don’t put in too much.”

Bai Yi clumsily poured a trace of spiritual energy into the rune.

He had never learned any spells, so on his first attempt, he failed to control the amount and immediately injected too much.

Whoosh!

Bai Yi shot into the air like a rocket.

Fortunately, the moment he was launched, the rune flashed on its own. With a single thought, Bai Yi stabilized himself in midair.

Then, using only a tiny amount of spiritual energy, he quickly circled the entirety of Zhaoye Peak.

When he finally stopped, his entire face was flushed with excitement, and violet light swirled through his tea-colored eyes.

“It works pretty well.”

“Of course it does. Those are high-grade runes. Using them here is practically wasting their potential.” The Old Tree Spirit stroked its nonexistent leaves as though they were a beard.

“Zhaoye Peak is enormous. With your present cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, under ordinary circumstances, circling it once would completely exhaust your spiritual energy. Yet just now, you used only a tiny amount. It greatly reduces spiritual consumption.”

It pointed toward the other runes.

“Look, this one controls the temperature, preventing both extreme cold and extreme heat.”

“This one contains a storage space. Tsk, it’s enormous inside.”

“This one absorbs spiritual energy from heaven and earth, allowing Qi Refining cultivators to recover their spiritual power quickly. However, the rune’s only drawback is that it absorbs too much energy, so every day it spits out some trash.”

Trash?

Bai Yi instinctively reached into his pocket.

Sure enough, he found a piece of “trash” currently taking shape.

When he pried it loose and examined it, he discovered a crystal-clear blue spirit stone.

It was even a high-grade spirit stone.

Bai Yi held it in disbelief.

The original novel had never mentioned this detail.

Perhaps Zhaoye Peak was so wealthy that such a small amount of money was not worth mentioning. However, an ordinary inner-sect disciple of the Gongxian Sect received only one high-grade spirit stone every six months.

Bai Yi would receive one every day.

Did that mean he could simply wear clothes and lie around while money appeared automatically?

His face flushed bright red with excitement as he held the spirit stone, unable to put it down.

He gradually understood why Long Aotian had given him this robe.

It would be extremely useful inside the secret realm.

Its speed would prevent Bai Yi from slowing him down. Its strong defenses would stop Bai Yi from being suddenly killed.

After all, a two-person secret realm required both people to leave together.

Excellent.

As expected, being Long Aotian’s underling was wonderfully comfortable.

Even if Long Aotian disliked him, the tiniest thing slipping through his fingers was enough to keep an ordinary person well-fed for life.

Unfortunately, this robe was far too valuable.

Bai Yi was truly afraid that Long Aotian might demand it back someday.

He could only hope that Long Aotian would quickly reach Soul Formation while inside the secret realm. Once Rong Zhenlü entered that realm, perhaps he would no longer care about this treasure.

Bai Yi’s gaze gradually became determined.

He could not simply sit around waiting for disaster.

Over the next few days, he needed to take the initiative and change Long Aotian’s established impression of him, reducing as much hostility as possible.

Every extra day he wore this robe meant another spirit stone.

Even if he were eventually expelled, with third-level Qi Refining cultivation and several high-grade spirit stones, he would possess enough resources to secretly live a lazy life in the cultivation world.

In high spirits, Bai Yi placed the spirit stone inside the Immortal Thread Robe’s storage space.

He planned to purchase a cheap storage ring whenever the opportunity arose. That way, if Long Aotian reclaimed the robe, he would not also take all the spirit stones stored inside it.

The Old Tree Spirit had been watching curiously the entire time.

Suddenly, its gaze fell upon Bai Yi’s two sleeves.

“These runes are exceptionally complicated. Even I can’t understand them. What do they do? I don’t remember the robe having them before.”

The Old Tree Spirit circled Bai Yi in confusion, but still could not determine their purpose.

Bai Yi gave an awkward laugh and tightly grabbed one sleeve before twisting it around.

Under the Old Tree Spirit’s stunned gaze, the perfectly ordinary sleeve instantly returned to its original position the moment it was about to expose Bai Yi’s skin.

That evening on Bifu Peak, Immortal Lord Panyun, who had white hair but the youthful face of a child, was leisurely simmering a pot of Snow-Bone Stew in the mountains when an unusual guest suddenly arrived.

The moment he spotted that icy-blue spiritual energy in the distance, he rose and straightened his yellow immortal robes before going to welcome the visitor.

Along the way, he stroked his pure-white beard. His usually flippant expression became considerably more serious.

“How unusual. Junior Brother, you actually came to see me.”

Rong Zhenlü stood upon the surface of the water, immortal energy swirling around him.

“You already calculated that I would come.”

Panyun lowered his head and laughed.

He knew that this junior brother of his never ate food prepared by others, so he did not invite him to share the meal. Instead, he led him toward a clean stretch of water some distance away.

“I calculated that an honored guest would visit within these few days. But someone with a fate like yours is beyond my ability to predict. Tell me, what wind blew you here?”

“I want to know the highest level someone without spiritual roots can cultivate to.”

Panyun was surprised that he cared about such a matter.

He counted on his fingers, flipped through a book, and frowned.

“The third level of Qi Refining at most. Their lifespan would only exceed that of an ordinary mortal by a few years.”

Rong Zhenlü frowned for a long time.

He said nothing, merely nodded, and prepared to leave.

Panyun hurriedly called him back.

“It’s rare for us to meet, Junior Brother. Don’t leave so quickly. Why are you suddenly concerned about something so insignificant?”

When Rong Zhenlü ignored him, understanding dawned upon Panyun.

“I heard the little immortal crane brought a mortal onto your peak. It seems you allowed him to stay.”

“But don’t you usually refuse to keep people near you? What happened? Did this one happen to please your eye?”

Rong Zhenlü remained silent for a moment.

Then he finally nodded.

“Mm.”

Immortal Lord Panyun’s mouth fell open.

He had merely asked out of idle curiosity. Most likely, the mortal had been kept for use in the upcoming secret realm.

Yet his junior brother had actually nodded.

This junior brother of his had impossibly high standards and an arrogant temperament. He himself possessed a face so beautiful it could anger both gods and men.

What kind of person could possibly appeal to him?

Why had Panyun never heard of such an individual before?

Panyun raised an eyebrow, then seemed to remember something.

“Actually, the third level of Qi Refining isn’t the true limit. To progress any further, however, he would need to dual cultivate with a powerful expert to reconstruct his spiritual foundation. The higher that person’s cultivation, the better.”

“Ahem. If you want him to continue cultivating, why not find a powerful expert willing to try? If you personally asked, plenty of people would surely agree out of respect for you.”

Panyun finished speaking in a single breath but received no response.

He cautiously looked over.

A shadow had fallen across Rong Zhenlü’s eyes. His head was lowered, and anger showed on his face.

“Absurd.”

Panyun’s heart jumped.

Realizing that his normally dignified junior brother was angry, he quickly tried to placate him.

Yet he still could not resist running his mouth.

“All right, all right, I won’t interfere. If that won’t work, then why don’t you dual cultivate with him yourself? If Immortal Lord Zhenlü personally takes action, you could certainly reconstruct an exceptional spiritual foundation for him.”

After he spoke, Rong Zhenlü remained silent.

Immortal Lord Panyun shook his head helplessly.

He had known his junior brother would never consider it.

He was about to look away when his gaze suddenly froze.

The silent figure stood cold and luminous as moonlight, his black hair bound high with an azure jade crown.

Yet at some unknown moment, the tips of his ears and the back of his neck had turned deeply red.

Rong Zhenlü stood there with his lips pressed together, looking exactly like an innocent young man hearing indecent talk for the first time.

He was so flustered that he could not utter a single word.

The divination beads in Panyun’s hand fell to the ground.

He did not even bother picking them up before provoking Rong Zhenlü again.

“You might be unwilling, but other people certainly won’t be! That young man is so beautiful that plenty of people will volunteer to dual cultivate with him!”

“You’re thin-skinned now, but don’t regret it later!”

He shouted the words “dual cultivation” particularly loudly and clearly.

This time, his junior brother stepped away and flew into the distance, practically fleeing in embarrassment.

Panyun withdrew his astonished gaze and once again counted on his fingers.

He still calculated nothing.

Sighing, he turned around and discovered that the soup was ready. He served himself a bowl.

The first sip nearly made him spit it out.

“Pah! When did that brat put salt in this?”

Before Bai Yi could even begin enjoying his lazy life on Zhaoye Peak, he suffered a devastating setback.

The food prepared by the Old Tree Spirit and Steward Crane was absolutely terrible!

The naturally growing immortal fruits on the mountain were delicious. They tasted like extraordinarily sweet strawberries, and the Old Tree Spirit could casually pick an entire basket.

The immortal pool was filled with spiritual fish, and the immortal crane could catch them.

Although their ingredients were somewhat limited, Bai Yi was now a cultivator and did not truly require balanced nutrition.

If the only goal was filling his stomach, there should have been no problem at all.

Who could have imagined that the meal they ate was…

Strawberry-and-fish dumplings.

The novel had only mentioned that Long Aotian’s sense of taste had weakened because he had refined pills and sampled medicinal ingredients since childhood.

It had never said that the taste buds of Long Aotian’s underlings were equally abnormal.

Bai Yi nearly vomited after one bite.

It was fishy, sickeningly sweet, and greasy. Mushy fish flesh and skin mixed with scalding strawberry sauce melted across his tongue, producing the fatal texture of rotting meat.

Unable to endure it, he caught a fish and tried roasting it himself.

Unfortunately, he had never cooked before, and there was no phone nearby for him to search for a recipe.

This time, he truly vomited.

The meat smelled fishy and remained raw inside. He placed it back over the fire, only to burn it.

Bai Yi now possessed the enormous wealth of a high-grade spirit stone and considered descending the mountain to purchase food.

However, he had no idea when Long Aotian would return.

He was still planning to spend the next few days acting like an obedient underling and flattering him.

What if Rong Zhenlü needed him while he was away?

Thus, Bai Yi could only return to his room with an empty stomach and a dejected expression. Even the upward tilt of his eyes seemed to droop.

The immortal crane fluttered after him, utterly confused.

“Little Bai Yi, what’s wrong? Was lunch not delicious?”

Beside them, the Old Tree Spirit propped up its chin and fell into deep thought.

“That shouldn’t be possible. Bai Yi must simply have an enormous appetite and didn’t eat enough. I’ll go boil a few more dumplings.”

Bai Yi genuinely never wanted to taste them again for the rest of his life.

He waved his hand and was about to speak when, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a ripple in the nearby pool.

Ordinarily, movement in the water would not have been unusual. After all, they were outdoors.

However, the ripples appeared in a specific sequence.

First three.

Then five.

Finally one.

That precise arrangement reminded Bai Yi of something described in the original novel.

Long Aotian had been lonely as a child and often stayed by himself. One of the spells he researched out of boredom allowed him to observe others through water mirrors.

Naturally, those had merely been childish games.

After growing up, Long Aotian no longer used water mirrors for surveillance.

Instead, he treated them as communication tools.

They were essentially one-way video calls that activated by force and could ignore many barriers, allowing him to communicate with his underlings at any time.

Because they only worked in one direction, the underlings would never notice the water mirror unless Long Aotian spoke.

Unfortunately for him, Bai Yi had read the novel.

The moment the ripples formed the sequence three-five-one, he immediately became vigilant.

The water mirror had only just finished forming.

Long Aotian could already see what was happening on their side but had not yet had time to speak.

Bai Yi planned to praise him several times before he opened his mouth, hoping to improve their relationship.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, Bai Yi’s already dejected expression became even more sorrowful.

“It isn’t because of the dumplings. I was simply thinking about the Immortal Lord.”

The ripples on the water abruptly froze.

It was as though Long Aotian had paused just as he was about to speak.

Hehe.

Bai Yi had guessed correctly.

Seeing that the tactic worked, Bai Yi pressed his advantage.

He would create the image of someone who remembered kindness, repaid his debts, and would never betray Long Aotian—the kind of person Rong Zhenlü would appreciate.

A troubled expression appeared on his beautiful face.

Throughout the entire performance, Bai Yi never once glanced toward the water mirror, making it seem as though he had no idea the Immortal Lord was listening.

“The Immortal Lord showed me an enormous kindness by helping me cultivate. I want to repay him and handle more tasks on his behalf. Now that I have nothing to do, I don’t know how I should spend my time.”

“Is there any work I can do?”

The immortal crane and Old Tree Spirit were both stunned.

“Little Bai Yi, we underestimated you! We never expected you to be so ambitious.”

“How about this?” The white crane scratched its head, desperately trying to think of some task on the unusually peaceful Zhaoye Peak. “When the Immortal Lord returns, I’ll ask whether you can spend more time following him.”

Bai Yi raised his head with a carefully innocent expression.

“Would the Immortal Lord allow it?”

The motionless water mirror suddenly stirred.

A pleasant voice immediately sounded.

“Yes.”

All three of them jumped in fright.

Even the immortal crane and Old Tree Spirit had not noticed that the Immortal Lord was watching.

Bai Yi appeared completely unprepared as well. After his initial surprise, delight spread across his face, and he bowed toward the source of the voice.

“Thank you, Immortal Lord!”

“Mm.”

The water mirror rippled.

After a moment, Rong Zhenlü continued, “Come with me to a banquet now.”

Excellent.

Was he willing to bring Bai Yi along as a guard?

Did that mean he had officially acknowledged Bai Yi as one of his underlings?

More importantly, would Bai Yi be able to eat and drink freely at the banquet instead of suffering through strawberry-and-fish dumplings?

Bai Yi was ecstatic.