Mu Zhe almost ground his teeth to powder, struggling to stand, and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth: "Nothing."
All the way, Mu Zhe had been racking his brains, trying to figure out how to make Shen Gurong understand his feelings and stop thinking it was just affection for his master.
Given Shen Gurong's carefree nature, if he didn't speak up, he might never understand.
After thinking for a long time, Mu Zhe finally called out to Shen Gurong just before they reached the Chaos Realm and left the Gu Hong Secret Realm.
"Master." Shen Gurong turned around in confusion: "Hmm? What's wrong? Aren't you going out?"
Mu Zhe had already found an opportunity, and the Gu Hong Secret Realm, perhaps because of a grudge against Shen Feng Xue, offered no opportunities no matter how hard they fought. The two decided to return first.
Shen Gurong was just half a step away from leaving the Gu Hong Secret Realm when he was suddenly called back. He was quite puzzled, thinking Mu Zhe had something important left undone.
Mu Zhe stared at him intently and spoke again, but this time, he called Shen Gurong's name.
"Shen Gurong."
Shen Gurong was startled and stammered, "Huh?"
Mu Zhe said, "I admire you."
Shen Gurong paused, then frowned in confusion, "What? Say it again." He hadn't heard him clearly.
Mu Zhe took a few steps forward, standing a step away from Shen Gurong. He lowered his eyes, staring intently into Shen Gurong's eyes, and said, word by word, "I love you, and I want to be with you forever."
These unexpected words were even more shocking than his previous "Master, are you possessing someone?" Shen Gurong stood there dumbfounded for a long time before muttering, as if he hadn't heard him, "Did you just say something?"
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe hadn't expected that Shen Gurong would seem to have truly not heard his courageous words.
He took a deep breath and said, "I."
Shen Gurong said blankly, "What 'I'?"
Mu Zhe: "I love you."
Shen Gurong: "Who loves me?"
"..." Mu Zhe, "Me."
"Who do you love?"
Mu Zhe: "..."
Why was Master's reaction exactly the same as when he heard about the Daoist Pact?
It seems he was truly terrified.
Mu Zhe stepped forward and gently grasped Shen Gurong's hand, which was hanging limply at his side.
Shen Gurong's fingers were slender, and they curled up sharply at the touch, seemingly trying to instinctively escape, but Mu Zhe held them firmly in his palm.
Shen Gurong stared at him in astonishment, overwhelmed by Mu Zhe's intense dominance. He desperately wanted to escape, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch.
In just a short while, Shen Gurong had suffered two tremendous shocks.
First, his long-hidden secret was exposed; second, his disciple confessed his love to him.
If Shen Gurong were any more timid, he probably would have fainted.
But now, his state was almost as if he had fainted.
Seeing that Shen Gurong kept trying to escape, Mu Zhe reached out and wrapped his arms around his back to prevent him from retreating. Because of this semi-embracing position, Shen Gurong was trapped in his arms with nowhere to escape, only able to look up at Mu Zhe blankly, as if begging him to let him go.
Meeting that gaze, Mu Zhe's heart skipped a beat. He forced himself to remain calm and said, "Shen Gurong, I don't care whether you've possessed someone or not, nor do I care who you are. I love you, I want to live and die with you, to spend my whole life with you. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Shen Gurong was stunned and nodded stiffly.
His voice trembled as he said, "But we are master and disciple..."
Mu Zhe was taken aback, only then realizing that Shen Gurong's first reaction wasn't rejection, but rather concern about the issue of seniority.
He said happily, "I can betray Liren Peak, then we won't be master and disciple anymore."
They could no longer be master and disciple, but the bond could not be broken.
Shen Gurong, still seemingly lost in thought, instinctively answered, "But we're both men..."
Mu Zhe said, "Men can be together. Female cultivators are rare in the cultivation world, and many cultivators have same-sex relationships. It's not a problem."
He even gave an example: "Isn't Fourth Uncle also gay?"
Shen Gurong stared at him blankly, completely unsure how to react. His two biggest reasons had been refuted by Mu Zhe. He looked anxious, desperately trying to think of other reasons to reject Mu Zhe, but he couldn't think of any.
The biggest reason he could reject Mu Zhe now was that he didn't love him at all.
But Shen Gurong hadn't even considered this, completely ignoring it.
Mu Zhe's heart was in his throat; he used almost all his willpower to refrain from pressing Shen Gurong for an answer.
After a long, dazed state, Shen Gurong finally parted his pale lips and murmured, "To live and die together—that's just a false promise made by young people on a whim. When a real crisis comes, very few people are truly willing to live and die together." Shen Gurong was so shocked that he was unusually calm. He said in a mature tone, "You're still young."
Mu Zhe immediately said, "I'm not young anymore. I... I can give my life for you."
Shen Gurong replied, "What would I do with your life? Sell it?"
Mu Zhe: "..."
Even at a time like this, Shen Gurong still had the leisure to joke.
After Shen Gurong finished speaking, seeing Mu Zhe remain silent, he immediately felt he had convinced him, leaving him speechless.
Tsk, still so youthful.
But...
Mu Zhe's silence caused Shen Gurong a sharp, stabbing pain in his heart.
Shen Gurong thought with a touch of sadness, 'The love of youth is indeed like a fleeting pleasure.'
Mu Zhe was about to speak when he heard Shen Gurong coldly say, "Let me go."
Mu Zhe had never heard Shen Gurong's voice so cold before. Startled, he instinctively loosened his grip.
Shen Gurong broke free from his embrace, instinctively taking a half-step back. The chaotic realm that should have allowed him to enter suddenly triggered something, and a surge of spiritual energy erupted, rippling throughout the entire Gu Hong Secret Realm.
Shen Gurong suddenly felt a chill run down his spine; an ominous premonition surged into his heart.
The last time he felt this way was when Mu Zhe broke through to the Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, Mu Zhe suddenly said, "Master..."
Shen Gurong turned around and saw Mu Zhe desperately clutching the ball of opportunity in his hand, struggling to speak, "It... somehow, it just came out on its own." Mu Zhe didn't want to use the opportunity here at all, because he didn't know whether the people in the Gu Hong Secret Realm were friend or foe. Most importantly, half of the tribulation lightning would fall on Shen Gurong's head, and Mu Zhe couldn't bear to see his master suffer because of him.
But when Shen Gurong entered the Chaos Realm, the opportunity uncontrollably crawled out of his storage ring and plunged into his dantian, seemingly trying to merge and force Mu Zhe into the Mahayana stage.
Seeing this, Shen Gurong immediately came forward, wanting to help Mu Zhe take back the opportunity, but as soon as Shen Gurong approached, the opportunity suddenly became even more excited, directly breaking free from Mu Zhe's hand and plunging into his dantian.
Mu Zhe's face was ashen, and he stammered, "Master, I..."
Before he could finish, a vast cloud of tribulation lightning gathered in the sky, quickly reaching their heads, with thunder rumbling through the clouds.
It was the tribulation lightning of the Mahayana stage.
Shen Gurong's first reaction was joy for Mu Zhe: "You're about to enter the Mahayana stage?"
Mu Zhe, however, wasn't as optimistic.
His face was deathly pale. He wanted to urge Shen Gurong to leave quickly, but he didn't know where he could escape to. When he entered the Nascent Soul stage, even from a thousand miles away, the tribulation lightning could still bend around and strike Shen Gurong's secluded cave on Liren Peak. Now, with them so close, how much more so?
Growing up, Mu Zhe had never known what despair was, but now, he truly understood it. Despair was knowing the worst thing was going to happen, yet being powerless to stop it.
This feeling made his heart bleed with pain.
No matter how much he blamed himself, he couldn't change the will of Heaven. Mu Zhe took a deep breath and said, "Master, I have half of your yuandan within me. When the tribulation lightning strikes, you will inevitably be affected by me."
Shen Gurong was stunned, then suddenly gasped.
"You...you...how did you know?"
Mu Zhe stepped forward and grabbed his hand, solemnly saying, "We'll talk about this later. Master, are you willing to face the tribulation lightning with me?"
Shen Gurong stood there dumbfounded for a long time, staring blankly at the tribulation lightning that was almost fully brewing above his head. Suddenly, he felt like crying.
'Do I even have a choice? What's wrong with me today? Why do all the bad luck seem to befall me?'
Mu Zhe hesitated for a moment before leaning close to Shen Gurong's ear amidst a rumble of thunder and whispered, "There's one more thing..."
A deafening roar followed.
The first bolt of tribulation lightning struck down like a whirlwind, giving the two no chance to discuss it.
The thunder was deafening, yet Shen Gurong, with his sharp ears, heard Mu Zhe's words whispered in his ear.
"I now know that the bond I formed with my master is not a disciple's contract."
"It's a Daoist partner's contract."
With a thunderous boom, Shen Gurong's mind seemed to crackle with lightning.
Mu Zhe erected a spiritual energy barrier to protect the two, holding Shen Gurong tightly, biting his earlobe, and sending his low, hoarse voice into Shen Gurong's dazed mind.
"I will not agree to dissolve the contract."
"Unless my master says he doesn't like me."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong nearly fainted.
Just when he thought he had enough bad luck, something even worse would happen to prove him wrong.
This was the first time such a powerful tribulation had appeared in the Gu Hong Secret Realm. Everyone at the Nascent Soul stage recognized it as a Mahayana stage tribulation and immediately came to watch.
Too many people are stuck at the Nascent Soul stage for centuries without any progress. Witnessing the tribulation of a Mahayana cultivator might change their mindset.
For the first time, Jing Zhuchen didn't ride in a sedan chair. He abandoned his red-clad guards and flew towards the tribulation, his face ashen.
With a roar towards the heavens, a massive dragon flew in from a distance, landing beside Jing Zhuchen and transforming into human form. A black robe billowed out, covering his lean body.
He said coldly, "Has Shen Eleven gone mad? How dare he let Mu Zhe break through in the Gu Hong Secret Realm?!"
Jing Zhuchen stopped even waving his fan, his brows furrowed with chilling coldness. "Mu Zhe knows his place; he probably didn't use his fortuitous encounter to break through."
He looked up at the sky filled with thunderclouds and murmured, "This time, the Heavenly Dao is probably determined to kill Shen Eleven here."
Chao Jiuxiao was stunned, then asked in astonishment, "Some say he used the divine artifact without permission, which is why the Heavenly Dao holds a grudge. Is that true?"
Jing Zhuchen nodded, "Senior Brother… Li Genglan is probably telling the truth. Eleven did indeed take the divine artifact from him and used it on himself, which angered the Heavenly Dao, causing heavenly tribulations and lightning strikes to fall continuously over the years."
Chao Jiuxiao frowned deeply, "Other divine artifacts were used, but they didn't seem to attract tribulations. What exactly is that divine artifact?"
Jing Zhuchen glanced at him, his succubus pupils slowly dilating, eerily sinister.
He opened his mouth, his voice almost drowned out by the rumbling thunder.
Chao Jiuxiao heard him say.
"The Record of the Capital," Jing Zhuchen said, "a divine artifact that can connect the past and present, and defy fate."
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