Chapter 438 - 175: Another 30 Years Pass

"I will speak to Yuan Kong about this matter. You can rest assured. He won’t do anything to you. The Celestial Palace does not permit such things. Of course, you are also not allowed to clash with Jue Gen again. When you see him, soften your tone and don’t stir up any more conflict. I don’t want to be constantly dealing with this sort of thing."

"As for Jue Gen, I will also have Yuan Kong speak with him. It’s fine if he doesn’t forgive you, but he cannot resort to violence."

Hearing this, Xu Lei and Zhao Xin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, gratitude filling their eyes.

They then repeatedly expressed their thanks to Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

Bodhisattva Guan Yun just gave a simple wave, then turned around with Bai Ling, continued her inspection for a while longer, and left.

Qing Lian hadn’t come out with them. This was because she now had to, at least on the surface, gradually cut ties with Xu Lei and Zhao Xin.

「Another day passed.」

Yuan Kong appeared.

He brought Jue Gen to find Xu Lei and Zhao Xin, telling them he already knew about the matter.

He added that he had already disciplined Jue Gen and reassured Xu Lei and Zhao Xin that he would not do anything to them.

"You are so magnanimous, Senior Brother Yuan Kong!"

"Such a broad mind, Senior Brother!"

Xu Lei and Zhao Xin quickly offered a few words of flattery.

They then spoke a few placating words to Jue Gen, but he was still unwilling to forgive them. He just snorted twice and left with Yuan Kong.

Watching the backs of Yuan Kong and Jue Gen as they left, a thoughtful look flickered in Xu Lei’s eyes.

’He wasn’t sure if what Yuan Kong said was true.’

’It was possible that Yuan Kong was merely wary of Bodhisattva Guan Yun and was just putting on an act.’

’Deep down, he was probably still very displeased with them.’

Although Bodhisattva Guan Yun’s intervention had prevented the conflict between Xu Lei, Zhao Xin, and Jue Gen from completely erupting, after this incident, the other Cultivators of the Second Heaven began to avoid them.

Previously, while they hadn’t been overly close, people were still quite friendly when they ran into each other or chatted idly. But now, no one really made small talk with them anymore.

They were likely afraid of being labeled as accomplices, which would be bad if Yuan Kong decided to make things difficult for them. Qing Lian also began to avoid Xu Lei and Zhao Xin publicly.

Qing Lian was a little reluctant to do so. She argued that since she had already been traveling with Xu Lei and Zhao Xin for so long, suddenly separating would seem unnatural.

But Xu Lei insisted that she do her best to avoid them for now.

And so, one day, he had Qing Lian proactively approach Jue Gen to get on his good side. She was to express that she had been deceived by Zhao Xin before and never actually meant to oppose him.

After handling things this way, the whole situation temporarily stabilized.

No other changes occurred.

After that, Xu Lei, Zhao Xin, and Qing Lian continued their Cultivation in the Second Heaven.

Xu Lei and Zhao Xin became public Dao Companions, and every time Jue Gen saw them, he would wear a sour expression.

Qing Lian did not often travel openly with Xu Lei and Zhao Xin.

Of course, in private, she would still occasionally sneak over to seek ’Charitable Giving’ from Xu Lei.

After Jue Gen stopped fawning over Zhao Xin, he started pursuing some of the other Female Cultivators in the Second Heaven.

However, none of these Female Cultivators were interested in him.

Jue Gen wasn’t much to look at. After all, his father, Yuan Kong, wasn’t handsome either; his features were plain, and so his son’s were too.

Furthermore, although Yuan Kong held a special status and some managerial authority, he couldn’t actually distribute various Cultivation resources at will.

He used most of his Cultivation resources for himself, giving only a tiny fraction to Jue Gen. As a result, Jue Gen had no particular advantage when it came to wooing Female Cultivators.

There was, of course, another point. The other Female Cultivators had all watched Jue Gen simp over Zhao Xin for so long. Seeing him come after them only after he failed to win over Zhao Xin... well, they weren’t exactly thrilled about it.

’If another woman didn’t want him, I don’t want him either,’ they thought. So, naturally, they wouldn’t agree to be with Jue Gen. This is practically female nature; it’s not something that can be easily changed.

This is also a taboo in the world of public courtship. Many people are too naive and don’t realize this pitfall. They fall for someone, pursue them obsessively, and end up completely ruining their own public image. When they then try to pursue someone else in the same social circle, it’s a lost cause.

That’s why those who truly understand the art of courtship would never fawn over someone so publicly and obviously before the relationship is confirmed. At most, they might try their luck in private, and if it doesn’t work out, they retreat and move on to the next.

In reality, some of these Female Cultivators weren’t that great of a catch themselves. If Jue Gen hadn’t so obsessively and publicly pursued Zhao Xin, only to be spurned, he might have actually succeeded with some of them now.

But now, Jue Gen’s image was what it was, so things were very difficult for him.

Afterward, things took another, rather subtle turn.

「Ten years later.」

Unexpectedly, Jue Gen had actually come to believe that the sisterly bond between Qing Lian and Zhao Xin had shattered.

He believed that Qing Lian had been deceived by Zhao Xin back then and had only helped cover for her.

And so, seeing that his pursuit of other Female Cultivators was fruitless, he actually started pursuing Qing Lian.

Naturally, Qing Lian couldn’t possibly agree to be with him.

But this made things extremely awkward.

Because Qing Lian was also Xu Lei’s woman, and she often had clandestine trysts with him in private.

’It was like history was about to repeat itself.’

Sometimes, both Xu Lei and Qing Lian would feel their hearts pound with anxiety.

’If Jue Gen were to discover their relationship and suffer a second devastating blow, who knew if he would completely lose control and go insane.’

Because of this, in the time that followed, Xu Lei and Qing Lian had to be exceptionally careful every time they wanted to be intimate.

Thus, every time Qing Lian secretly came to the residence Xu Lei and Zhao Xin shared, Zhao Xin would completely hand Xu Lei over to her, allowing Qing Lian to receive a proper ’Charitable Giving’.