Chapter 30: In My Heart!

Wang Yuan’s expression stiffened.

The Wang Family was one of the two greatest families in the Upper Realm, and he was even the heir! Every woman he had chased had always accepted him.

And why? It was all because he had money, power, prestige, and strength!

The Lantern Festival was tonight, so he came out to look for targets and saw Nalan Jia. He smiled upon seeing her. It was an unexpected boon from the heavens that he had stumbled upon such a beautiful woman.

However, she actually rejected him.

Unfortunately for Nalan Jia, her rejection only stoked the fire of interest in Wang Yuan because Wang Yuan was one of those men who enjoyed chasing women who were playing hard to get.

Wang Yuan wasn’t angry at all. He chuckled and said, “Miss, I don’t have any other intentions, I just want to get to know you better, and I—”

“Pffft!” Ye Guan laughed and interrupted. “She doesn’t want to get to know you.”

Wang Yuan turned to look at Ye Guan.

“May I know your name? How should I address you?” he asked.

He was the heir of a big family, so he had to be careful about treating people with unknown origins. After all, if he ended up provoking someone powerful, he would implicate the Wang Family behind him as well.

The possibility was small, but Wang Yuan knew that he had to be careful. If he’s from a decent clan, I’ll befriend him. Otherwise, I’ll stab him in the back!

Ye Guan smiled and said, “Take a guess.”

Wang Yuan’s eyes narrowed, but his smile remained.

Ye Guan glared at him and said, “We do not wish to be disturbed.”

With that, he pulled Nalan Jia and walked away.

Left alone, Wang Yuan chuckled to himself. “Interesting, how interesting! He actually threatened me. I’ll give you half an hour to investigate everything about that man just now.”

An old man quietly departed his side.

A cold glint flashed in Wang Yuan’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Ye Guan and Nalan Jia continued walking with their hands intertwined. Nalan Jia didn’t let go of Ye Guan’s hand, so Ye Guan continued to hold her hand.

Nalan Jia giggled. “I felt your killing intent just now.”

Ye Guan nodded slightly. “He was really disrespectful. If I saw a man standing next to a woman, I wouldn’t bother striking up a conversation with her. He definitely saw that we’re together, but he still decided to talk to you.”

Nalan Jia looked at him and asked, “Are you going to approach random women and talk to them?”

Ye Guan pondered over it before saying confidently, “Nope, I don’t think so.”

Nalan Jia was curious, and she asked, “Why not?”

Ye Guan remained calm as he replied, “I’ll just work hard to become stronger by myself, and I’ll also strive to be a tycoon. By then, women will flock to me by themselves.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” remarked Nalan Jia.

The pair looked at each other and chuckled.

Ye Guan suddenly said, “I think he won’t let us go that easily.”

Nalan Jia nodded and said, “I think so, too.”

“Anyway, what do you think we should do next?”

“I want to go shopping outside the city, do you want to come with me?”

“Of course!”

The pair decided to go out of the city, and their hands were intertwined tightly as they walked over to the city gate. The way they walked down the streets made it seem as though they had long gotten used to holding each other’s hands.

Ye Guan suddenly came to a halt. He pulled Nalan Jia aside to a small stall. He handed over a purple spiritual crystal to the shopkeeper before taking away a butterfly hairpin.

The shopkeeper stared at the purple spiritual crystal in his hand and grinned. Jackpot!

Ye Guan turned to face Nalan Jia with a smile and said, “I’ll help you wear it.”

Nalan Jia blinked and asked him, “Aren’t you going to ask me if I like it?”

Ye Guan smiled sheepishly. “This is my first time giving a girl a present, so I’m not really sure what to do. Anyway… ahem, do you like it?”

Nalan Jia grinned. “Yup. Help me wear it!”

Ye Guan nodded and got even closer to her. The two of them got close enough to feel and smell each other’s breath. He inserted the hairpin into her hair, and it seemed fine. However, there was something off that Ye Guan couldn’t quite grasp.

Nalan Jia said, “That’s good enough.”

Ye Guan hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “Okay.”

With that, they held hands once more and continued on their journey out of the city.

The outskirts of the city were quite deserted and silent, but the silence was disturbed by panting noises from the nearby bushes. The panting noises belonged to a girl, and she sounded both anxious and excited at the same time.

“Yes! No! Yes! Yes! No, not there…”

No one could tell whether she was saying yes or no.

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia were silent.

The atmosphere had turned weird in the blink of an eye.

Ye Guan said, “Let’s walk on the other side…”

With that, he pulled Nalan Jia over to the right side, and they continued walking down the path. However, the noises they had heard just now rendered them too embarrassed to speak.

Ye Guan glanced at Nalan Jia and saw that she was incredibly beautiful, elegant, and seemingly ethereal beneath the moonlight.

“You’re really beautiful, Little Jia!” he muttered unknowingly.

Nalan Jia seemed startled as she blinked a few times before responding, “There are plenty of beautiful girls out there.”

Ye Guan chuckled. “There are indeed many beautiful girls out there, but you’re the only one who’s beautiful in my heart.”

“You’re only allowed to say such mushy things ten times. You’re not allowed to say something like that anymore afterward…” Nalan Jia said shyly.

Ye Guan’s corniness rendered even Little Pagoda speechless.

Ye Guan chuckled and held Nalan Jia’s hand tightly.

All of a sudden, footsteps echoed behind them. The uninvited guests were none other than Wang Yuan and an old man.

Wang Yuan smiled at them and said, “How interesting. It appears that the two of you were trying to lure me out of the city!”

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia turned to look at him.

Nalan Jia asked, “Do you think you’re clever?”

Wang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I’m just trying to get to know you better, I have no other intentions!” he said with a smile.

Nalan Jia shook her head. “Well, I don’t want to get to know you.”

“Well, I want to get to know you better, anyway!” Wang Yuan guffawed. He glanced at Ye Guan and said, “I thought you’re from a decent clan or family, but to think that you’re from Nanzhou. Tsk, tsk… I have to say that I admire you quite a bit, you’re courageous enough to threaten me!”

Ye Guan wordlessly stared at Wang Yuan. There was no need to talk to a dead man walking.

Wang Yuan’s smile turned sinister and cold. “Have you thought about how you want to die yet?” he asked.

However, the old man behind him warned. “Young Master, there’s something strange with these two.”

Wang Yuan frowned. He was about to say something when Nalan Jia stretched her hand out. The space in front of Wang Yuan was torn open, and a hand emerged from the rift in space and grabbed him by the throat.

Wang Yuan’s expression changed instantly.

Ye Guan was stunned. Spacetime Realm! I had no idea that Little Jia is already a Spacetime Realm cultivator. Her cultivation speed is outrageous!

Nalan Jia glared at the terrified Wang Yuan. There was clear disdain in her eyes as she said, “You’re too inferior to even be compared to my Little Guan.”

Nalan Jia squeezed Wang Yuan’s throat.

Crack!

Wang Yuan’s neck was shattered, causing blood to leak out of his orifices. The old man behind Wang Yuan turned around to run, but a rift in space abruptly opened in front of him.

A hand emerged from the rift and grabbed him by the throat.

Crack!

Nalan Jia squeezed, and the old man’s horrified expression stiffened. He went limp and collapsed to the ground.

Nalan Jia opened her palms, and the storage rings of the two corpses flew into her palms. She took out a thousand gold spiritual crystals from the storage rings and gave them to Ye Guan, saying, “Half for me; half for you.”

Ye Guan put away the storage ring and asked, “Little Jia, you’re already at the Spacetime Realm?”

Nalan Jia smiled. “Were you surprised?”

Ye Guan nodded. “That’s an understatement…”

“I have to thank you for it,” said Nalan Jia.

Ye Guan was visibly confused, so Nalan Jia explained, “It’s thanks to the Immoral-rank cultivation manual you gave me. If it hadn’t been for it, I wouldn’t have been able to reach this realm so quickly.”

An Immortal-rank cultivation manual! Ye Guan finally remembered what she was talking about. An Immortal-rank cultivation manual coupled with Nalan Jia’s special physique was basically a recipe for limitless growth.

Nalan Jia laughed and said, “We should go.”

Ye Guan nodded. “Let’s go.”

With that, the two of them left the scene.

Meanwhile, an old man appeared at the scene just a few minutes after Ye Guan and Nalan Jia’s departure. His expression turned solemn upon seeing the corpses of Wang Yuan and the old man.

A middle-aged man appeared at the scene, and he was the family head of the Wang Family—Wang Qi.

Wang Qi stared deeply at Wang Yuan’s corpse and said, “A Spacetime Realm cultivator!”

“Indeed, the killer is a Spacetime Realm cultivator,” said the old man with a nod. He went silent for a few moments before continuing. “I will investigate this matter at once.”

“Wait!” Wang Qi cried out.

The old man looked at Wang Qi, and the latter explained in a calm voice, “The martial contest is just around the corner. Things will be turbulent during the martial contest because talents from other states will flock here to participate. The murderer dared to kill someone from our Wang Family, so they’re definitely not afraid of us.”

“Clan Leader, what are you trying to say?”

Wang Qi said, “I want you to investigate, but don’t act rashly once you’ve discovered the perpetrator.”

“I understand!” replied the old man. However, he didn’t turn around to leave. He remained standing in front of Wang Qi. He hesitated for quite a while before glancing at Wang Yuan and saying, “What should I do about the two of them…”

Wang Qi remained calm as he said, “Bring them back to the Grand Elder! This is a harsh lesson for him because he hasn’t been teaching our descendants properly.”

“If the Grand Elder sees them, he might insist on avenging them at all costs…”

Wang Qi glanced at the old man and said, “Let him be!”

With that, Wang Qi turned around and left.

The old man was silent. Wang Qi was clearly thinking of avenging Wang Yuan with a borrowed knife.

…

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia returned to their own rooms in the Siao Residence.

Ye Guan sat cross-legged and retrieved the gold spiritual crystals he had received from Nalan Jia. He closed his eyes and circulated the Immortal-rank cultivation method he had learned from the Immortal-rank cultivation manual.

It was about time he sprinted toward the Divine Soul Realm!

He had already reached the peak of the Divine Path Realm while he was still in Nanzhou, but he decided not to make a breakthrough into the Divine Soul Realm just yet. It was all for the sake of reaching the absolute peak of the realm. Now, he had finally reached the absolute peak, so it was about time he made a breakthrough.

Cultivation was expensive!

It didn’t take him that long to consume a thousand gold spiritual crystals.

The Immortal-rank cultivation method was incredible. Ye Guan’s aura surged like crazy, and he could also feel his soul going through a qualitative change.

An hour and three thousand gold spiritual crystals later, Ye Guan’s aura finally reached its peak.

Thirty minutes and two thousand gold spiritual crystals later, Ye Guan’s eyes abruptly opened as he exhaled a puff of haze. He was sweating profusely, but he had never felt better.

He had finally reached the Divine Soul Realm!

His senses had sharpened to the extent that he could vividly sense the presence of every ant in the room. Ye Guan smiled. He was sure that his Royal Sword Art had become more powerful along with his breakthrough. After all, the Royal Sword Art’s strength somewhat depended on the power of his soul.

Ye Guan was confident that he could easily kill a Spacetime Realm cultivator by using his sword intent along with the Royal Sword Art.

Ye Guan looked down and examined his storage ring upon recalling something. He chuckled bitterly upon seeing that he only had less than two thousand gold spiritual crystals remaining.

He couldn’t help but admit that his breakthrough had been too expensive.

However, Ye Guan knew that cultivation would become more expensive the higher his realm. It was the universal truth, and most people couldn’t afford to cultivate to the Divine Soul Realm.

“Master Pagoda, are you there?” Ye Guan asked out of the blue.

“What is it?”

Ye Guan hesitated for quite a while before saying, “Well… I’d like to borrow some money from you!”

“I have no money…” replied Little Pagoda.

Ye Guan’s expression was solemn as he said, “I promise to pay you back.”

“I really have no money, and I’m still recovering from my injuries. Otherwise, I would have activated the world in here long ago!”

“Then, do you have any spiritual artifacts or spiritual treasures? I’ll sell them to fund my cultivation.”

“I don’t have any of those…”

Ye Guan was rendered speechless.

“How about you go ahead and steal treasures for yourself?” Little Pagoda suggested.

Ye Guan didn’t know what to say.

Little Pagoda added, “If it makes you feel guilty, then you should learn… you should learn how to steal from someone who has mastered the famous Entrapment Technique. You can use that technique to steal anything without feeling guilty!”