Known facts: Qiu Shuangshuang calls Seraphine “Master.”

Master’s wife = Seraphine’s cultivation partner .

Also equals = the mission target I’ve been obsessing over! This update is available on NovєlFіre.net

My optical sensors practically lit up with exclamation marks as I whipped my head around.

Where?

Where was Seraphine’s cultivation partner ?

Where?!

From the moment Qiu Shuangshuang opened her mouth, Seraphine had been watching Echo from the corner of her eye.

When she saw Echo’s reaction, something cold settled in her expression. She dropped Echo’s hand like it had burned her and strode forward with quick, angry steps.

Poor Qiu Shuangshuang, facing the full force of Seraphine’s icy glare, felt her heart sink. That freezing expression could literally chill someone to the bone!

She’d angered her master again—her path to discipleship was looking more impossible by the minute.

Tears immediately welled up in her eyes. She looked ready to burst into wails as she watched Seraphine approach.

When Seraphine brushed past her, she raised her hand and placed it on Qiu Shuangshuang’s shoulder.

Qiu Shuangshuang flinched.

Seraphine’s gaze dropped to the girl’s face, noting how she bit her lip nervously. Her voice was barely audible.

“You.”

Another tremor ran through Qiu Shuangshuang. Am I about to die?

“Very good.” Seraphine left behind the faintest trace of a smile and stepped off the bridge.

“Eh?” Qiu Shuangshuang spun around in shock, watching Seraphine’s retreating figure. The terror on her face slowly transformed into pure joy.

“EH!”

Left standing on the bridge after having my hand dropped, I finally turned my attention to Qiu Shuangshuang and pointed at her face.

Qiu Shuangshuang’s eyes sparkled like stars.

Master’s wife~

“Hahaha!” I was getting better at expressing laughter—I could even make my eyes crinkle now. “I’m Seraphine’s good friend.”

Wait, that’s not right.

I corrected myself: “Seraphine says we’re closer than good friends.”

Qiu Shuangshuang pondered this for a moment. Her usually slow brain managed a rare spark of insight, and understanding dawned.

She carefully considered her next move, then bowed respectfully to Echo. “May I ask for senior’s name?”

“I’m Xi Lingren from Lingshan.” I replied.

I could see Seraphine had stopped at a shop front and was looking back impatiently. I quickly asked Qiu Shuangshuang, “Do you want to come shopping with us?”

Having grown up with loving parents, Qiu Shuangshuang knew better than to play third wheel at a time like this!

She waved her hands frantically. “I only came looking for the Water Dragon’s Hymn. I need to hurry back now, but once I get settled, I’ll come pay my respects to Master and you!”

Master’s wife!

I nodded and waved goodbye. After watching her fly toward that large ship without looking back, I called out in surprise, “Qiu Shuangshuang! Sunset Glow City has a no-fly policy—”

Echo’s clear voice drifted across the long street.

Halfway through her flight, Qiu Shuangshuang was caught by Sunset Glow City disciples and looked ready to cry.

“Senior, I understand now!”

“Hahaha.” I laughed a couple more times and walked properly toward Seraphine, who had been waiting for me.

As I got closer, not only did my smile not fade—it grew even brighter.

“Seraphine! The second round of the Five Continents Competition—all three thousand talents will arrive here within three days!” I clapped my hands, placed them on my stomach, and laughed again.

“Please don’t worry, Seraphine. I always remember our agreement. I wonder if among these three thousand people, there will be someone who satisfies you!”

A strong cultivator!

Seraphine crossed her arms and stared at Echo. Suddenly, she raised her hand and began moving her thumb across her four fingers.

I recognized this as fortune-telling, though I didn’t know she had this skill. Curious, I watched her fingers intently.

They were standing next to a steamed bun shop. Fresh buns had just finished steaming, and when the bamboo steamers opened, hot white steam rushed upward, carrying an enticing aroma.

My eyes, which had been focused on Seraphine’s fingers, slowly drifted to those freshly steamed buns.

Wow, thin skin and generous filling!

“Tch.” Seraphine ground her teeth, gripping Echo’s chin firmly and speaking coldly: “Look at me.”

I immediately lowered my head, listening attentively.

“I just calculated with my fingers, and indeed, among the three thousand in this Eastern Continent Tournament, there is my destined person.” Seraphine spoke slowly. “My Romance Star is stirring.”

!

I was shocked and grabbed Seraphine’s wrist to study her fingers more closely. Her fingers were long and slender, with delicate, soft skin.

I squeezed her beautiful fingers this way and that, then sighed with what I assumed was “melancholy.”

“Seraphine, why didn’t you try fortune-telling before?”

Only now it’s stirring?

“Precisely because my Romance Star hadn’t stirred before, I dared not speak of it. Destiny is mysterious and unpredictable, extremely easy to change. Perhaps your appearance is what caused my Romance Star to stir……” Seraphine’s finger traced along Echo’s jawline, coming to rest on her chest with a gentle touch.

Her pale finger against Echo’s blue robes—Seraphine stared at her fingertip pressing into the fabric and said calmly, “How do you know you’re not my destined one?”

Echo paused, saying nothing.

Neither did Seraphine.

Both of them fell into silence.

Seraphine’s ears grew warm, lost in the dim glow of the lights. She cleared her throat and spoke first: “What are you thinking?”

I was thinking: Human language is remarkably fascinating. Different environments, different word orders—the same sentence can mean completely different things.

From a system’s perspective, plain, straightforward communication with humans would be ideal. But when humans start using subtle, indirect language techniques, I need to analyze carefully.

Sometimes I even need to reference relevant recorded scenarios from my database to generate appropriate responses.

I responded: “I understand.”

I snapped my fingers, replacing the “ding” sound of a lightbulb turning on, and said, “You mean that my appearance in this world as your system was destined, but my presence has also changed your fate.”

“This is wonderful, because my mission is exactly to change your destiny!”

Now Seraphine’s Romance Star was already stirring. I just needed to find the person causing it to stir, and my mission would be halfway complete! My task list also included exploring “Heart Flutter”—if I could find a way to make Seraphine’s heart flutter too…… My eyes sparkled with excitement.

Mission success!

Seraphine watched the woman celebrating by herself and said, “……True.”

“Exactly right.”

“Absolutely correct!”

She coldly pulled out a spirit stone, tossed it on the table, and said icily, “Two baskets of buns!”

I retrieved a purple flower from my storage ring, held it out with both hands, and asked with a smile, “Seraphine, are you hungry? Your voice sounds a bit…… hangry.”

Having used what I thought was clever human wordplay, I felt even happier and laughed heartily.

Seraphine also smiled, telling Echo to store the buns the shopkeeper brought over in her storage ring. She said gently, “I’m not hungry. You should eat more.”

After all, if the brain was empty, at least the stomach could be full—that was something beautiful too.

Hehe.

⁂

The five hundred disciples selected from Nanyang Continent arrived at Sunset Glow City that evening. The next day, ships from Westle Continent and Northern Border arrived in succession, while Central Continent’s ships arrived fashionably late.

With three thousand disciples housed in the same mountain forest, the more people gathered, the quieter everyone became. The tense atmosphere had already begun spreading before the second round even started.

Like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, Qiu Shuangshuang felt no tension whatsoever. Fresh from her arrest upon arrival, she’d had to pay ten spirit stones before being released.

Back at her lodging, Wei Yutong kept her under strict house arrest, making Qiu Shuangshuang feel powerless in her desire to build rapport with Echo and Seraphine.

Sure, she’d run away from home as a rebellious kid and charged into a tiger’s den with her Water Dragon’s Hymn to face late Golden Core spirit beasts, but that was when she was young and foolish! Now she was mature—she wasn’t sixteen anymore!

She was seventeen!

Besides Qiu Shuangshuang, two others felt no tension: Error, who wasn’t participating and simply followed her master wherever she went, and Echo, who followed Seraphine wherever she went.

Apart from eating, the two spent their time playing chess in the garden. With these two carefree companions—one system, one dragon—even Seraphine, who appeared calm but felt genuinely nervous inside, gradually relaxed and sat nearby drinking tea while watching their games.

With their serene Palace Lord maintaining composure, the other Luanyang Palace disciples found their anchor and prepared for the tournament with peace of mind.

Three days passed in a flash. On the fourth morning, bells rang at the mountain gate as five Insight Academy Palace supervisors landed outside. Lanzhi called out loudly, “Please, fellow daoists, proceed to the competition venue!”

As her words fell, countless beams of light flew from the mountain forest to the gate. Once past the threshold, flight was forbidden. Anxious cultivators simply ran, only to discover the long street was already packed with spectators who’d come to watch the second round.

The hurried cultivators immediately composed themselves, gripping their weapons and walking forward with heads held high.

Excited onlookers craned their necks to watch these chosen talents pass by, eyes full of admiration. Whenever they recognized certain sect emblems, discussions would break out.

“That’s the Ten Directions Sect symbol, right? I heard their Sister Qiu Jingyue is beautiful and kind-hearted, exceptionally gentle.”

“Speaking of beauty and gentleness, naturally that would be Fairy Yu Xuefei from Thousand Beauty Valley. A medical cultivator’s worth isn’t comparable to ordinary cultivators!”

“I heard even Mysterious Yin Sect is participating this time? But Mysterious Yin Sect is a demonic sect!”

“They’re just called a minor demonic sect—they’re not truly demonic. Speaking of which, Mysterious Yin Sect’s Meng Xiangfei is also a rare beauty……”

As people chatted, searching the crowd for these legendary beautiful female cultivators, someone turned and said, “You know, I heard Luanyang Palace’s Palace Lord won the Eastern Continent Tournament’s Golden Core championship at a young age. The righteous path champion’s own daughter—I wonder what she looks like now?”

The person he was talking to started to respond but suddenly froze, staring straight ahead. The first cultivator waved his hand in confusion, asking “what did you see?” before turning around and also freezing in place.

From the crowd emerged a flame—radiant and brilliant, outshining everyone around her.

She wore brocade and gold, radiating nobility, but the luxurious robes and ornate crown were merely decorations for her beauty. Her beauty needed no justification—it made everyone who saw her instinctively fall silent and stare as she passed.

And this magnificent woman held someone’s hand.

Someone who stood beside her without being overshadowed—a woman who appeared like sun and moon sharing the same sky, each enhancing the other’s brilliance.

This person had silver hair unlike any ordinary cultivator, and when she blinked, light seemed to flow along her lashes—traces of silver marking their edges.

Some wondered if she might be a demon cultivator, but her ice-cold, snow-like temperament made them hesitate to speculate further.

The world held countless beauties, like colorful, vibrant flowers—some enchanting, some alluring—dazzling to behold. But seeing these two flowers blooming together, one could never want to look at any other flower again. Yet they appeared so noble and distant that even an extra glance felt like sacrilege.

“This single glimpse makes the trip to Sunset Glow City worthwhile!” one cultivator couldn’t help but sigh. “Worth every one of the twenty spirit stones I paid for this spot!”

Fellow front-row ticket holders nodded enthusiastically.

The two-kilometer street took nearly half an hour to traverse. If these weren’t carefully selected cultivators with strong mental fortitude, they might have wondered if this was some pre-tournament trial. Fortunately, everyone understood—no doubt Sunset Glow City’s City Lord had earned quite a fortune during these half an hour.

A Central Continent cultivator glanced at the Sunset Glow City young master, who was fanning himself with a cheerful smile, then decided to keep quiet.

Don’t talk to him—he’ll trick you out of money.

Upon reaching the venue, everyone took their positions and looked around.

Sunset Glow City was wealthy. Though they possessed Pixiu bloodline, they understood that spending money was the key to making more money.

The second round’s venue was built with extreme luxury. Looking at the packed stands of cultivators around us, I stared in amazement. “A colosseum?”

Seraphine considered this and agreed with Echo’s assessment. Under the Heavenly Dao, they were indeed a pack of beasts fighting desperately for immortality.

Ambitious beasts!

She too had ambition—enormous ambition.

Though they didn’t yet know what the second round would entail, seeing the empty chairs on the high platform, all the cultivators flexed their hands eagerly.

Insight Academy Palace—they had to get in!

I also rubbed my palms together, looking at all those young faces, and smiled with my eyes crinkling.

Let me see—who would make the Romance Star stir?