After some discussion, the group decided that standing around aimlessly was getting them nowhere, so they chose to explore their surroundings.
"I wonder how large this small world actually is," Nie Shiyun remarked.
If this place was like the various secret realms they had entered before, they wouldn't be able to find its boundaries anytime soon. They had lived in secret realms for years at a time in the past, and now that his Daoist companion was by his side, Nie Shiyun figured he wouldn't mind even if they were trapped here for ten or twenty years. However, once Xuan Yang came to his senses in a few days and returned to look for them, he would surely be anxious if he couldn't find them immediately. With that in mind, Nie Shiyun didn't plan to wander too far.
"We’ve walked quite a distance, and there are paths leading in every direction. It’s clear this place is not small," Zhai Bairong noted.
Nie Shiyun sighed with appreciation. "The scenery here is beautiful, and the spiritual veins are quite excellent. It’s a pity the Phoenix Clan only uses it to host banquets."
Aside from the Jinhua Pavilion where the banquet was held, there didn't seem to be any other buildings for habitation nearby, nor any signs of daily life. It was a complete wilderness.
The three of them passed the teleportation array they had used to arrive. Nie Shiyun and Shen Yan studied it for a while. Although they had learned a bit of the craft back when they were tricking Ao Fan, Zhai Bairong couldn't quite follow their technical discussion, so he stood to the side, keeping watch.
If there were any lingering members of the beast clans who could give them a lift, that would be ideal, but they feared encountering those allied with the Dragon Clan. With the Phoenix Emperor currently absent, it was better for the three of them to remain cautious.
"I really can't do anything with this. We’ll just have to wait for Xuan Yang," Nie Shiyun eventually sighed, straightening his back and giving up on his research. Beside him, Shen Yan also shook his head.
Zhai Bairong asked curiously, "How does this thing distinguish between races?"
"The simplest method would be blood recognition. But when they activated the array earlier, they didn't draw blood; they only injected spiritual energy. Perhaps the source of spiritual energy for humans and beasts is fundamentally different?"
Zhai Bairong was slightly surprised. "Even you can't figure out the principles behind it?"
Nie Shiyun laughed. "The Upper Realm has a long history, and there are countless masters and experts in every field. These ancient arrays were created by great predecessors. While I’m happy you trust me so much, you’re overestimating me."
Zhai Bairong thought about it and realized he was right. He smiled. "You have a point. It’s just that I feel like you can always find a solution to anything, so I subconsciously want to ask you about everything..."
Seeing the two of them starting to get affectionate again, Shen Yan cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, perhaps we should move to a different spot. It would be troublesome if we ran into a hostile beast cultivator by chance."
He was right. The three of them conferred and, since they were lost anyway, simply picked a direction and headed out. If they could find an empty house, they would stop to rest and wait for Xuan Yang there.
Unfortunately, they flew on their swords for a long distance—so far that they began to worry they might not find their way back to the teleportation array—and still saw no sign of a temporary residence. Nie Shiyun guessed the result would be the same regardless of the direction, so he stopped the search. Instead, the three of them entered the jade pendant space together.
"I was wondering before—you clearly have dual spiritual roots, so how did you manage to balance artifact forging, arrays, cultivation, and so many 'leisurely pursuits'? Now I finally understand the reason," Shen Yan remarked. Although he had stayed in the jade pendant for a while, he couldn't help but marvel at it again upon re-entering.
Nie Shiyun laughed when he heard Shen Yan emphasize "leisurely pursuits." His habits of going fishing or doing handicrafts at home back in the cultivation world were well-known to everyone.
"I obtained this space around the time I reached the Foundation Building stage. As for my dual spiritual roots, everyone in the cultivation world knew about it since I was a child, and unfortunately, that’s not a secret I could ever take back. Luckily, my father and uncle were sect elders, so outsiders just assumed they had showered me with resources since I was young."
This wasn't entirely false. After transmigrating, Nie Shiyun had worked hard at his own cultivation, but before that, the resources and money the Yunqing Pavilion had poured into the original owner were indeed fit for a crown prince. It was fortunate that his cousin, Nie Xing'an, was an honest man with no desire for power; otherwise, the internal sect conflicts would have been enough to give Nie Shiyun a massive headache.
"No wonder you deliberately hid your spiritual roots after coming to the Upper Realm," Shen Yan said, realization dawning on him.
Nie Shiyun nodded, indicating he was correct.
In the Upper Realm, children born into great families and sects have their spiritual roots tested as soon as they reach the appropriate age. Whether one is a genius or a mediocre talent, it cannot be hidden. However, to the Upper Realm, he was currently an "outsider," which made things much simpler. Nie Shiyun had never publicly stated he had a single spiritual root—people simply assumed so because of his efficiency in forging and cultivation.
Having known Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong for nearly two hundred years, Shen Yan felt no resentment that they had never told him this. He figured that if it weren't for his relationship with Xuan Yang, they probably wouldn't have told him even if they spent another few hundred years together. After all, this treasure was too miraculous. As far as Shen Yan knew, it was unique in the world. As the saying goes, "possessing a jade attracts trouble"; naturally, the fewer people who knew, the better.
"And it’s all thanks to Bairong. When he stands next to me, others tend to think more highly of me by association," Nie Shiyun said, turning his head to look at his partner's profile.
Zhai Bairong frowned slightly at being mentioned, clearly dissatisfied with this phrasing. He countered, "That is because your own words and actions are convincing. It has nothing to do with me."
"It does, it does. Originally it was a ninety, but with you standing there, it becomes a hundred and twenty," Nie Shiyun joked.
Shen Yan murmured to himself, "Senior Nie used time to make up for the disadvantage of dual spiritual roots. If Senior Zhai also soaked in here every day, wouldn't that be... just too unfair?"
"Right?" Nie Shiyun agreed, seemingly in high spirits.
"It’s not as exaggerated as you say. As you know, this space can only be opened by his divine sense. I don't spend every moment with Shiyun in—" Halfway through, Zhai Bairong uncharacteristically swallowed his words. Even he felt that statement was unreliable. Because the two of them truly were stuck together at all times.
Others aside, he himself barely noticed it. Being with Nie Shiyun was as natural as breathing or drinking water; it was easy, without any burden, and gradually the act itself had merged into his habits.
Shen Yan thought of something else and sighed heavily. "By contrast, it's hard to imagine that Xuan Yang is even more indolent than I thought..."
Xuan Yang was considered a "minor genius" in the cultivation world, but for one, people didn't know about his precious Phoenix lineage. Among the beast clans, the nobler the bloodline, the higher the cultivation efficiency. Secondly, he had been pampered by Nie Shiyun with good food and drink since birth, swallowing a mountain of resources. It would have been a miracle if his cultivation hadn't climbed.
Shen Yan pressed a hand to his forehead, remembering how Xuan Yang used to come find him every few days, chirping and buzzing around him without ever practicing. Occasionally, Xuan Yang would return to the Yunqing Pavilion for a few days, and when they met again, his cultivation would often have jumped a level. Now, Shen Yan finally understood why.
Nie Shiyun tried to save some face for Xuan Yang. "Xuan Yang’s aptitude is quite good, and he’s still young. Compared to someone like me, he has the capital to be lazy. Look, during these days in the Upper Realm without the help of my space, hasn't he still advanced rapidly?"
"If the Phoenix Emperor hadn't forced him, I don't think he would have gone into secluded meditation at all..."
Thinking of what had happened back then, Shen Yan had many thoughts and a complex mood. He closed his mouth and stopped talking.
"I’m sorry. Knowing you have a grudge against the Phoenix Clan, I still chose to do business with them," Nie Shiyun said with a hint of apology.
"No, you can't put it that way. Even without you, it’s impossible for Xuan Yang to never deal with his own kin for the rest of his life. They were bound to meet sooner or later." Shen Yan shook his head gently.
Nie Shiyun looked Shen Yan up and down and couldn't help but remark, "Ah, you’ve changed quite a bit too! I still remember when we first met, you were full of hostility. Now you’ve become much more tactful. Is this the power of love? That boy Xuan Yang must have caused you a lot of trouble, right? If you ask me, you should have let him suffer for a few more years to teach him a lesson..."
Shen Yan nearly choked on his own saliva and coughed for a long time. Facing Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong, he always felt an awkwardness—they weren't exactly peers, but calling them "fathers-in-law" felt strange since their ages were too close. Zhai Bairong perhaps sensed this as well, so he rarely mentioned the matter directly, acting like an ordinary fellow cultivator when they were alone. Nie Shiyun, however, was blunt and didn't hide anything.
"It’s... it’s fine. He’s always been like that; I’m just used to it," Shen Yan said, avoiding the topic and talking about something else. "I’m suddenly a bit thirsty. We passed a spiritual spring earlier; I’ll go fetch some water..."
Seeing his embarrassment, Zhai Bairong kindly said, "Then I’ll trouble you. I happen to have some excellent tea leaves here; let’s enjoy them together in a moment."
"Mhm."
Once Shen Yan had hurriedly left the space, Zhai Bairong gave Nie Shiyun a helpless look. "You’re usually quite good at reading people. Can't you see he doesn't like discussing his private affairs with Xuan Yang in front of us?"
Nie Shiyun uncharacteristically showed a childish expression. "He used to always keep a cold, 'do not approach' face toward us, looking lifeless all day. He’s much more vivid now; it’s quite fun."
"If Xuan Yang knew you were deliberately teasing his partner, he’d definitely be angry enough to curse."
With both "fathers" being so improper, Xuan Yang didn't have it easy either.
Nie Shiyun shrugged with an air of indifference. "As if that boy has ever had a filter on his mouth since he was little."
Shen Yan had run out specifically to interrupt the conversation focused on him, so he deliberately took his time. Additionally, since time flowed slower in the space, Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong had been chatting for quite a while, and he still hadn't returned.
"What is it...?"
Zhai Bairong saw that as they were talking, Nie Shiyun suddenly leaned in close, and he thought there was something wrong.
After asking, he saw that Nie Shiyun’s eyes were full of smiles. Without a word, Nie Shiyun stubbornly leaned in for a kiss.
"Mmm..." Zhai Bairong’s body instinctively welcomed the other before his mind could process it. Once he realized what was happening, he gave a wry smile. "Do you have to squeeze in a moment of intimacy right now? Shen Yan might come back at any moment."
Nie Shiyun didn't intend to do anything more in such a short time; just a little physical contact was enough to satisfy him. He said that without his permission, Shen Yan couldn't enter anyway, so there was no need to worry about being caught, and then he claimed another kiss.
"By the way, I haven't said it yet. The way you declared your sovereignty in front of all those beast clans earlier was incredibly handsome."
While they were waiting in the pavilion earlier, although they had talked a lot, Shen Yan could hear everything from within the space, so their conversation hadn't been too intimate. Now that it was truly just the two of them, Nie Shiyun could finally say whatever he wanted without restraint.
Zhai Bairong was stunned for a moment. "Declared sovereignty... I was just telling the truth. Thinking of what Ao Fan did back then, I naturally felt a bit of anger. Was my expression frightening?"
"Are you joking? If that’s called frightening, then you should frighten me every day." As Nie Shiyun remembered it, a smile couldn't help but overflow from his eyes.
Seeing him like this, Zhai Bairong stopped trying to recall what his expression might have been. Even if he seemed cold and unapproachable to others, it didn't matter; as long as Nie Shiyun liked it, that was enough.
"I rarely see you like that. It was a bit of a novelty."
"...It wasn't that exaggerated."
The two of them leaned against each other, being affectionate for a while. They didn't dare let their movements get too wild, fearing they would wrinkle their clothes and make things awkward when Shen Yan saw them later.
Zhai Bairong lowered his eyes and saw their hair mingling together on their touching shoulders, indistinguishable from one another. He thought of something and let out a low hum. Although it was just a short sound, Nie Shiyun heard it clearly and knew it was Zhai Bairong’s reaction when he wanted to say something but hadn't quite figured out how to express it. "What is it?"
"It’s something quite dull. Never mind."
Zhai Bairong thought about it and decided he didn't want to say it, which naturally made Nie Shiyun dissatisfied. "No, you can't just stop halfway. That’s a sin worthy of being struck by lightning."
Hearing him complain, Zhai Bairong thought to himself, *I didn't even get halfway; I didn't say a single word.* Then he thought, *Aren't we cultivators struck by lightning every now and then anyway?* In the end, he didn't voice any of those retorts and instead spoke his original thought. "...It’s nothing much. I just thought about what we said earlier—how I truly am with you at all times, almost never leaving your side."
"Didn't we separate for a long time when we first arrived in the Upper Realm?" Nie Shiyun recalled. At the time, it had felt unbearable, but after their reunion, all that past anxiety seemed to have vanished like smoke.
"Actually, a year is just a blink of an eye for a cultivator," Zhai Bairong paused. "Yet we found it intolerable. Isn't that precisely because we had spent every day and night together before that?"
"It was a year for you, but I was in the space the whole time. To me, it felt like much longer. As the saying goes, 'one day apart is like three autumns.' By my count, it felt like two or three thousand autumns..." Nie Shiyun began to define it with his own theory.
Looking at him, Zhai Bairong perhaps felt that what he was about to say was a bit foolish and felt a trace of regret. After hesitating for a moment, he still spoke under Nie Shiyun’s questioning gaze. "It’s really nothing. It’s just that, speaking of how we’ve been inseparable for so long... I wondered if you occasionally... occasionally found it a bit dull, or something of that sort."
Nie Shiyun was stunned, blinking as he looked at Zhai Bairong.
Zhai Bairong’s face grew hot, and he quickly added, "Saying it out loud makes it sound like I don't trust you. I didn't mean it that way. It was just a sudden thought. I told you there was no need to tell you..."
"Ha... Hahaha..." After a long moment, Nie Shiyun couldn't help but burst out laughing, suddenly pulling Zhai Bairong into a tight hug. "How can you be so incredibly handsome one moment and so adorable the next, all in the same day?"
"That word shouldn't be used to describe me."
Zhai Bairong looked at Nie Shiyun, whose grin was reaching his ears, and his face was indeed full of regret, feeling he shouldn't have shared those thoughts so honestly.
Seeing him make that evasive expression again after so long, turning his head slightly and deliberately avoiding eye contact, Nie Shiyun suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia.
He adopted a serious expression. "Then let me ask you: have you ever felt that being with me is dull, or have you ever grown tired of it?"
"How could I possibly?" Zhai Bairong answered immediately. Having said it, he understood Nie Shiyun’s point and added, "It’s because I think this way that I assumed you might feel the same. This question shouldn't have been asked in the first place. You insisted I speak, so I told you."
"What’s wrong with that? Although we understand each other’s hearts without speaking, occasionally it’s better to state our thoughts clearly like this." He didn't feel "untrusted" at all; he only felt that Zhai Bairong’s fleeting little worry was incredibly charming. Come to think of it, although this wasn't the first relationship for either of them, to be companions for a hundred years and to continue loving each other for a long future was a first for both. Facing the unknown, no one could say they were one hundred percent certain of what would happen.
In response to Nie Shiyun’s hug, Zhai Bairong reached out and hugged him back. The two of them pressed tightly together through their clothes, feeling each other’s warmth and heartbeat.
Perhaps everyone in love, without exception, would have groundless, stray thoughts. It was only because the other’s warmth, scent, and words were always within reach, tangibly confirming their feelings, that such occasional thoughts would vanish in an instant every time.
"You say it’s good to speak out, but when I do, you can't help but laugh..."
Nie Shiyun defended himself. "I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because I’m happy."
"Say whatever you like," Zhai Bairong said, giving up the argument.
If hearing those words made Nie Shiyun happy, then it seemed it wasn't so bad after all.
***
Enjoying the story? Rate this novel:
Transmigrated into a Total Shou Novel as a Cannon Fodder, but Ended Up 1v1-ing the Male Lead | Chapter 201 | Endless Company | Novela.app | Novela.app
