Chapter Thirty-One: Xuanyuan Linwen

Du Gu Ming had just dashed out from the street, then slipped into a clothing store. While no one was looking, he hurriedly changed into a new set of clothes, finally putting an end to his embarrassing state of running around naked. However, since he didn’t have a single penny on him, he had no choice but to make another quick escape from the store.

Running fast truly had its perks—even after “shopping,” there was no need to pay. Du Gu Ming glanced back at the store and thought to himself, “I really don’t have any money right now. I’ll pay you back next time if I get the chance.” Of course, that was just a polite excuse; chances were, there would never be a next time—ha ha ha.

He jogged all the way back to the parking lot. Now he faced a new problem: without a key, how was he supposed to unlock his car? But never underestimate our protagonist’s abilities. Du Gu Ming casually pulled a screw, as long as his pinky finger, from the wall of the parking lot. With a strong press of his hand, he flattened it into a thin metal strip.

Holding the makeshift strip, Du Gu Ming tapped and shaped it with his fingers until, incredibly, it resembled a “key.” He inserted it into his car’s lock, and the door opened. With this “key,” Du Gu Ming started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

Damn, is this for real? Isn’t this way too overpowered? Luckily, the parking lot was free; otherwise, things might have gotten awkward for him.

As he drove, Du Gu Ming tried to sort out his chaotic thoughts. He forced himself to calm down and reflect. Even though what happened between him and Lin Xiaowen was reckless, she clearly seemed to love him, and he was also quite fond of her. They had already confirmed their relationship, which should have been a good thing. But who could have expected that Lin Xiaowen’s body was inhabited by two souls?

Now things were complicated. Her other soul—her elder sister—did not like him one bit. From another perspective, he had defiled her sister’s purity. What a mess! Du Gu Ming suddenly felt that everything he’d experienced in the past few days was more eventful than his entire twenty years of life combined.

But then, a thought struck him—how could Lin Xiaowen’s sister be so powerful? He held up his hand, staring at it for a long time. Suddenly, he realized he had broken through again. In less than half a month, he had advanced from the early stage of Level Four to the middle stage.

How was this possible? Just yesterday he was still at the early stage, and after one night, he reached the middle stage? Could it be—was it because he slept with Lin Xiaowen? That seemed too ridiculous.

He could hardly believe it, but the truth was undeniable. Du Gu Ming couldn’t help but imagine: if he did this with Lin Xiaowen every day, would his cultivation soar like a rocket, shooting up unstoppably?

(Of course, that’s impossible.)

Thinking carefully, Du Gu Ming found it hard to believe that someone as young, beautiful, and formidable as Lin Xiaowen could be just a regular university student. At least, that didn’t seem to be the case now.

Suddenly, a name flashed in his mind—Xuan Yuan Lin Wen.

Who was Xuan Yuan Lin Wen? This required some explanation.

Xuan Yuan Lin Wen was the eldest daughter of the Xuan Yuan family.

Anyone in the world of cultivation, upon hearing her name, would know a bit about her. She was surrounded by legend. It was said that on the day she was born, multi-colored phoenixes circled the sky and swallows sang in chorus. The house where she was born emitted radiant light, illuminating most of Jiang City and Wuhan.

Then, from somewhere, a mysterious great bird appeared, carrying two volumes of heavenly scripture in its beak. It arrived at the Xuan Yuan clan and, with a single strike, defeated the then-patriarch, who was at the peak of Level Eight. After that, no one knew what happened—only the core members of the Xuan Yuan family might know. What is known is that the great bird left something behind and then vanished. No one knew where it went.

As for the eldest miss of the Xuan Yuan family, no one knew what cultivation method she used, but by a very young age, she had already reached the peak of Level Four and was rumored to be not far from Level Five. Even in the world of cultivation, she was recognized as a peerless figure—especially among the younger generation, she was the undisputed number one.

People said it was because she cultivated something left by that great bird that her progress was so astonishingly fast. Some even speculated that the Xuan Yuan patriarch’s breakthrough from Level Eight to Level Nine was due in part to these treasures. Thus, countless cultivators coveted them.

At this thought, Du Gu Ming was dumbfounded—a cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He fervently hoped that Lin Xiaowen was not that young lady from the Xuan Yuan family. If she was, hadn’t he just touched the tiger’s tail—practically inviting death?

He realized he had to confirm this matter; otherwise, his life would be in grave danger.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Lin Xiaowen was kneeling on the ground, clutching her head in agony. Her mind was a tangled mess.

“Sister, why did you hurt Brother Du Gu?” Ever since she and Du Gu Ming had confirmed their relationship, Lin Xiaowen’s way of addressing him had changed accordingly.

“Nonsense! Brother Du Gu? He’s nothing but a damned scoundrel—a villain who deceives innocent girls,” came another cold, icy voice from within her mind.

“That’s not true. Brother Du Gu isn’t like that. I can feel it—he’s the one I’ve been searching for.”

“Then why can’t I sense it? You once said we must find someone we both love, then give ourselves to him. But now, why are you breaking your promise?” the voice accused.

“How do you know you don’t love my Brother Du Gu?” Lin Xiaowen retorted.

“Love him? He defiled my body—I can’t wait to kill him,” the icy voice replied.

“If you don’t love him, then why didn’t you kill him with that final blow? You could have done it, but you held back,” Lin Xiaowen countered.

…

…

“That’s only because you interfered,” the cold voice argued, but with noticeably less conviction.

“If you truly wanted to kill my Brother Du Gu, you could have done so even if I tried to stop you,” Lin Xiaowen pressed.

…

…

Du Gu Ming drove back to his villa in the suburbs and hurried inside to his computer. While it wasn’t as powerful as the one he had personally built, it was still decent.

He had actually planned to look up Lin Xiaowen’s information earlier, but a League of Legends incident at the internet café had distracted him, and he’d forgotten all about it.

He turned on the computer, hacked into Yin Chuan University’s website, and pulled up Lin Xiaowen’s digital file, reading it carefully from top to bottom. There were no apparent flaws—her birth date, family address, background, everything was there.

But after scrutinizing the file, Du Gu Ming finally noticed something odd—it was too detailed, suspiciously so, as if it had been crafted to divert suspicion.

He sneered to himself, “Outsmarted by one’s own cleverness.”

(Author’s note: Finished this chapter and posting now. I wonder if everyone is satisfied with the recent update speed. If you are, please give your recommendations and add to your favorites. Thank you! If not, at least help me out with a few more clicks. Thank you, everyone.)