Senior Sister Hong Fu actually brought someone along and personally inspected Dong Xuan'er's jade arm right there in the back room. The virginity mark, which was supposed to signify her chastity, was completely intact. This left Han Li's master's wife utterly shocked!
Because judging by her alluring appearance, this Dong Xuan'er didn't look like an untouched woman at all! The reason they had agreed to the dual cultivation arrangement in the first place was partly a deliberate pretense of ignorance. But they never expected that the girl's reputation had already been so thoroughly ruined in public, which was why they had ultimately reconsidered the match to protect their own standing.
In the midst of her surprise, Hong Fu explained to her. Her disciple had chosen to cultivate a top-tier technique called the "Spring Transformation Art" from the manuals in her possession, precisely for its miraculous age-preserving effects. The allure in her eyes and brows was merely a superficial manifestation of this cultivation method. As a result, some cultivators skilled in virginity detection techniques would meet Dong Xuan'er a few times and naturally assume she had long lost her virginity, which gradually gave rise to many rumors detrimental to her disciple.
Of course, this disciple of hers was also somewhat lacking in self-respect, maintaining somewhat entangled relationships with several male disciples. But given the bewitching effects of the Spring Transformation Art, combined with her special status, if no male cultivators were hovering around her, that would actually be quite the oddity!
But as more and more male cultivators gathered around her, Dong Xuan'er gradually developed a strange habit: whenever she met a young man who somewhat met her standards, she would immediately feel the urge to make him submit at her feet. She would even sometimes provoke these men just for the amusement of watching them become jealous and compete for her favor!
Fortunately, the prerequisite for Hong Fu allowing this girl to cultivate the Spring Transformation Art was that she must not lose her virginity. If her virginity mark were ever found missing, Hong Fu as her master would immediately cripple her cultivation and return her to being an ordinary mortal. This was to prevent Dong Xuan'er, who had acquired bewitching abilities through the Spring Transformation Art, from bringing disgrace to the Dong family.
Therefore, under this strict condition, although Dong Xuan'er frequently exchanged glances and flirted with these men, she still dared not cross too far over the line!
But the trouble she did cause gradually reached Hong Fu's ears. This left the Nascent Soul stage female cultivator furious and astonished. She punished Dong Xuan'er severely and immediately confined her for a period of time.
But by then it was already too late. Dong Xuan'er's tarnished reputation had spread throughout the entire Yellow Maple Valley! And once such things spread, they were impossible to explain clearly. Even Hong Fu, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, was completely helpless!
At this point, even those cultivators who valued reputation, even if they truly knew Dong Xuan'er was still chaste, would not risk their own reputation to form a dual cultivation partnership with her.
Yet because of the Spring Transformation Art, Dong Xuan'er had reached the stage where she absolutely had to practice dual cultivation with someone. Otherwise her cultivation would stagnate and might even regress.
And those cultivators who were still pursuing Dong Xuan'er — Hong Fu could not find anyone satisfactory among them, nor could she trust their character or intentions. This led to Li Huayuan's visit to her cave dwelling and her eyes falling upon Han Li.
Thus, after hearing all of this, Han Li returned to Li Huayuan's side with a very awkward expression and related the whole story. The two of them sat in silence for quite a while.
Although they had indeed misunderstood Dong Xuan'er's purity, just as Hong Fu had said, even if she truly was still chaste, with such a ruined reputation, Li Huayuan still didn't want his disciple to form a dual cultivation partnership with her — it would damage his own reputation too severely. In the end, he could only feel apologetic toward Senior Sister Hong Fu!
But to compensate for his guilt toward Hong Fu, Li Huayuan naturally would not create any more obstacles when Han Li went to participate in the Treasure Competition. He did his best to facilitate the matter. This was how Han Li and Dong Xuan'er came to embark on this journey together.
As Li Huayuan saw it, given Han Li's extremely poor impression of Dong Xuan'er, even if the two of them made this trip together, nothing would come of it. However, his seventh disciple Wu Xuan, ever since meeting Dong Xuan'er that day, had become completely fixated on this woman. Just a few days ago, he had mustered up the courage to ask Li Huayuan to approach Hong Fu once more, to see if there was still a chance to arrange a match between him and Dong Xuan'er.
Li Huayuan already felt in the wrong toward Hong Fu, so he naturally would not agree to such an absurd request. He scolded this disciple harshly and sent him out of the sect on errands, to prevent him from causing any more trouble within the mountains.
Although Wu Xuan seemed to have calmed down considerably after the severe reprimand and obediently went out to handle affairs, Li Huayuan could still clearly sense that this disciple's heart was far from giving up the idea. How could this not give him a headache?
After seeing the two off, Fairy Hong Fu chatted with the couple for a few more moments before taking her leave. Li Huayuan and his wife then entered the Green Wave Cave and resumed their daily cultivation. The matter of Han Li and Dong Xuan'er was finally set aside for the time being.
...
The Yan family was the foremost clan in the Kingdom of Yue, yet its foundation was situated in one of the thirteen provinces of Yue — a rather unremarkable one. Not only was the province average in size, but its population was middling as well, making it a place of little distinction. Outside of the scenic Yanliang Mountain, there was nothing the locals could boast about in terms of notable features or products. And the Yan family's ancestral stronghold, Yanling Fortress, was nestled deep within these very mountains.
At this moment, Han Li was holding a slip of paper in his hand — it was the invitation to the Treasure Competition. The location of the event as written on it was none other than Yanling Fortress.
After reading the invitation once more and confirming it was correct, Han Li slowly put it away. From beside him came a woman's voice, dripping with sarcasm.
"Truly a blockhead! You've read that invitation five or six times already and you're still not satisfied. You really are quite something!"
This woman's voice was soft yet possessed a deep, magnetic quality that could easily stir a man's fantasies and set young men's minds wandering.
But Han Li's expression didn't change at all, as if he hadn't heard a word. Instead, he raised his hand and shot three fireballs the size of bowls high into the sky, where they burst apart in the air. Then he said flatly:
"If the Yan family's people don't come to receive us in a while, we'll leave and come back tomorrow. If Junior Sister still has the energy to argue rather than being tired, you might as well fly up high and look around to see if anyone else is nearby, just to be safe."
"Senior Brother Han, your courage really is remarkably small! We're right at the Yan family's doorstep — what danger could there possibly be? I think you're just looking for trouble and making things difficult for nothing!" Dong Xuan'er curled her red lips dismissively, speaking in a languid tone. She was leaning against an ancient pine tree, stretching lazily, showing no intention of complying.
At this moment, Han Li and the young woman were standing on a small mountain peak, waiting for something to happen.
This was supposed to be the designated pickup location as stated in the invitation, but they had been there for some time now and still no one from the Yan family had appeared. This made Han Li increasingly vigilant, fearing that something unexpected might occur.
But this young lady Dong couldn't care less about Han Li's cautiousness, dismissing it as nothing more than his mouse-like cowardice!
It had been seven or eight days since the two of them left the Green Wave Cave.
Throughout the journey, they seemed to be naturally incompatible, each finding the other thoroughly disagreeable. The kind of ambiguous attraction that should exist between a man and a woman simply did not materialize between them in the slightest. Han Li's considerable martial skill proved utterly useless. Rather, her spoiled and willful nature soon erupted out of frustration from her failure to control Han Li, and she threw a series of tantrums.
But Han Li wasn't having any of it from the girl. He completely ignored her unreasonable behavior, and a single remark — "I will report Junior Sister's behavior to Senior Aunt Hong Fu in full detail" — was enough to immediately deflate Dong Xuan'er.
Although the young woman had been pampered all her life, she knew that Hong Fu had been genuinely furious this time because of the damage to her reputation.
The warning given before their departure had been dead serious! If this detestable man actually spoke ill of her to her master, she would surely face severe punishment, and being confined once more was entirely possible.
Just thinking about the confinement sent a shiver down Dong Xuan'er's spine. Although her words still refused to yield, her actions became far more restrained and she no longer dared act recklessly.
When Han Li saw this, he didn't push her too hard. He even let the girl win small verbal victories without caring in the slightest. But whenever Dong Xuan'er crossed even slightly over the line, he would bluntly invoke Senior Aunt Hong Fu, immediately keeping Dong Xuan'er firmly in check with no room for her to fight back. After all, before their departure, Hong Fu had instructed Dong Xuan'er to obey Han Li, right in front of both of them.
And so, throughout the journey, one would chatter away endlessly with cutting remarks and mockery, while the other trudged along in silence as if hearing nothing. But whenever the chatty one went too far, the silent one would invoke Hong Fu's name, and the sharp-tongued party's expression would immediately change, not daring to push her luck any further.
Thus, the two bickered their way forward during the day, rested at night, and after several days finally arrived at Yanling Mountain and found this particular peak.
But to their surprise, the Yan family members who should have appeared long ago were nowhere to be seen. Han Li and Dong Xuan'er had been waiting for the better part of the day, and even they were beginning to grow impatient.