Chapter 1443: True Feelings

"Qing'er." Li Luo raised his head to look at the lithe figure who was standing in the corner of the stairs. From this point of view, he was able to make out Qing'er's slender legs covered in stockings and her exceptionally lustrous, snow-like skin.

He smiled as he walked forward, standing side by side with her. He glanced at the icy, blue eyes of this girl whom he had known for many years, but for some reason, he could sense that she had changed. Lu Qing'er used to have a slightly girlish charm, but now she both looked and felt colder than before. Her once beaming smile had also faded quite a bit.

"What are you looking at?" Lu Qing'er asked.

"How have you been? The last time we saw each other at the Spiritual Resonance Cave, you were still sealed in ice. Were you harmed in any way?" Li Luo asked with concern. He had wanted to ask this earlier, but there were simply too many outsiders then. He thus chose to wait for a more opportune time to speak.

Lu Qing'er gently shook her head. "I have yet to thank you for what happened there."

Li Luo grinned. "Is there a need to be so polite? You sent Lu Shuanglu and Zhang Cuicheng to travel such a long distance to assist me. I still have to thank you for that."

Her eyes flickered briefly. "That had nothing to do with me. They were on a mission and thus they went to the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent."

Li Luo was a little startled because Zhang Cuicheng had clearly explained the reason, yet Lu Qing'er wasn’t admitting to it. At the very least, she was still as proud as before. The two ascended the stairs together as tiny bits of light shining through the window illuminated the corridor.

Hearing the familiar voice next to her, the frostiness within Lu Qing'er's eyes seemed to have melted unconsciously and her steps gradually slowed down. This entire scene felt nostalgic to her.

"Li Luo, do you still remember what happened in Southwind Academy?" Lu Qing'er asked. "Do you remember the College Final Examinations and how we fought side by side?"

A look of reminiscence appeared in Li Luo's eyes. At that point, he had just resolved the issue of his blank palace. Together with Yu Lang and Zhao Kuo, they had earned the rights to enter the Astral Sage College. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. The youth from back then was now embarking on a path of his very own.

He had experienced too much in these few years.

Lu Qing'er's steps came to a halt, and her icy voice drifted through the corridor. "Li Luo, I had always thought that the engagement between you and Senior Jiang was not sincere and was just a way for you to repay her kindness."

Li Luo paused, not knowing what to say.

"Thus, I spoke to Senior Jiang and told her that her decision was irresponsible. I had hoped that she would break up the engagement and the two of you would be separated. In retrospect, I did seem like a clown at that point in time," Lu Qing'er said with a hint of self mockery.

Li Luo's expression turned complicated. He could vaguely sense that Lu Qing'er had held feelings for him back then, but because they were so close as friends, he had never taken it seriously. It was only after leaving the Xia Kingdom and experiencing the matters in the Spiritual Resonance Cave, as well as hearing Lu Shuanglu's words, that he finally understood. This girl whom he had been with for so many years deeply liked him. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to the current situation. In the past, Lu Qing'er had locked away her feelings in her heart and had never broached the topic. Perhaps because of some changes to her personality, she was planning to make this sensitive topic clear.

Thus, he dryly laughed in an attempt to lighten the situation. "You have been coveting my beauty for a long time, haven't you?"

Lu Qing'er glanced at him indifferently.

He then sighed helplessly. "Qing'er, the engagement between me and Sister Qing'e is not something that we are involuntarily bound to. We have experienced numerous life-and-death situations over the years and have long become one."

All they lacked now was an official marriage approved by his parents. The two had grown up together since young and their feelings for each other were beyond imagination. However, Lu Qing'er's intuition was also right. In the very beginning, Jiang Qing'e perhaps had only agreed with the engagement because she had wished to repay his parents. She had developed feelings for House Luolan and the people who raised her, which was why she had written the engagement contract.

Over the years, the two had mutually supported each other in experiences that skirted on the edge of death, and Li Luo could clearly feel that the feelings Jiang Qing'e held for him had far surpassed that of repayment or sibling love. It had transformed into a pure love between a man and a woman.

They two truly loved each other and had relied on each other to survive disaster after disaster.

When Lu Qing'er heard Li Luo's words, she said softly, "The two of you truly belong to one another."

Li Luo fell silent, not responding. There were many people with multiple wives and concubines, and it wasn't rare at all to see such a thing in the Heavenly Emperor bloodlines. Alas, the love between him and Jiang Qing'e did not have space for a third. Furthermore, she didn't have an ordinary background either—she was the young mistress of Golden Dragon Mountain's Lu family. Her background was no worse than the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li. How could he possibly be able to take advantage of all the good things in this world?

The light footsteps of the two reverberated throughout the corridor.

A while later, Lu Qing'er then continued, "Li Luo, you don't have to worry. I've hidden these feelings for so many years only to explain to you how I felt. I'm not looking for any kind of conclusion. I just want to cleanse my heart from this. In the future, I will inherit the Permafrost Sacred Seed from the Lu family. This Sacred Seed has the power to freeze one's heart, and once I succeed, my emotions will be sealed away. At that point, we will truly only be friends."

Li Luo's heart was shaken, and he turned to look at Lu Qing'er. A small smile hung on the corners of her red lips, but the emotions in her eyes seemed to be gradually fading away.

That sense of alienation between them strengthened.

"The reason why I came to the Celestial Mirror Pagoda was because I wished to help you one last time. Thus, if you have anything you need from me, I'll do my best to assist you. Treat it as..."

Lu Qing'er's beautiful face revealed a smile akin to a lotus blooming in winter. "Treat it as my thanks to you for personally teaching me that very first resonance art in Southwind Academy all those years ago."

At that point in time, numerous youths who had not awakened their resonances had sought Li Luo to have him teach them how to utilize resonance arts. After all, he had demonstrated talent so frightening that even the mentors there had asked him to give them a hand. Lu Qing'er was one of the people who had received his guidance. It was a time filled with simple feelings. A young, handsome man paired with his confident smile had patiently guided his peers. He was the first to enrapture this young girl's heart like a glimmering ray of light shining upon her, dazzling her and causing her to fall in love. Ever since then, he never left her heart.

Lu Qing'er stopped, pushed open the room to her door, and stepped in.

"This is my room." Lu Qing'er gave a wry smile and began to close the door gradually. As the gap shrunk, Li Luo's shining figure seemed to fade away. When the door closed behind her, it was as though her entire heart had become fully enveloped by frost. At the same time, Li Luo could hear her whispering.

"Li Luo, it's been a while since we last met, but..."

She paused.

"This is goodbye."