Let me explain, it's not what you think.

"Brother Lu, I've noticed that you're a bit different from other people."

"What's different?"

Others either pity me or laugh at me. But you look at me like you're a normal person.

"Because I'm with you, I don't have to think about my troubles, it's very comfortable."

Lu Chen picked up his wine glass and clinked it against his.

The two drank and chatted about this and that.

Then Lu Chen took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and pushed it in front of Li Fei.

"I brought this for you."

Li Fei paused for a moment, then opened the cloth bag. Inside were several demon beast cores, of very good quality, which were quite rare for this city.

"I picked these up near the Monster Mountain Range. They're not worth much, I just thought they were pretty."

Upon hearing this, three black lines appeared on Li Fei's forehead.

"Brother Lu just likes to tease people. How could a third-tier crystal core be something you found? And how could it be worthless? Take it back right now, I can't accept it!"

"These are just some trinkets, I don't really need them. You might as well take them. Your family recently got a new alchemist, so he can use them!"

As Lu Chen spoke, he forcibly stuffed the things into Li Fei's arms.

Li Fei held those things and looked at them for a while, then suddenly smiled.

"Brother Lu, you're so kind to me."

"Get lost! I like women, I'm not into this!"

Upon hearing this, Li Fei's smile froze.

"Ahem, Brother Lu, what are you saying? I, Old Li, also like women. To tell you the truth, when I was still a genius teenager, I was already engaged. My fiancée is a genius girl from the Great Li Empire's national protection sect!"

Li Fei's face flushed red with anger. How could he possibly be attracted to men!

Lu Chen waved his hand, not replying.

He wanted to say that you and she might not end up together, but an old man would teach you martial arts, countless people would admire you, and you would become the protagonist Lin Tian's strongest opponent.

But he couldn't bring himself to say it. He simply poured Li Fei another glass of wine and clinked glasses with him.

"Just kidding, look how impatient you are!"

Li Fei: "..."

The two drank for a while longer, and then Li Fei suddenly spoke, with a hint of hesitation:

"Brother Lu, do you have any... low-grade spiritual herbs? The kind you use for practice, the kind that's cheap."

Because his family recently got into the business of elixirs, many of their channels have been blocked by various companies, leaving him with nothing to practice on.

"You want to refine pills?"

"No, it's that alchemist in our clan, he's my friend..."

"Is the friend you're talking about yourself?"

Li Fei: "..."

"It seems nothing can be hidden from Brother Lu. I just want to give it a try. Anyway, I can't find any other way, but alchemy... maybe it will work."

"no problem!"

Lu Chen didn't ask any further questions, and the next day he delivered a large batch of low-grade spiritual herbs to Li Fei's residence.

The spiritual medicine wasn't of a high grade, but it was plentiful enough for him to practice refining for several months.

Li Fei stared blankly at the large pile of spiritual herbs for a long time, and his gaze towards Lu Chen became clear.

Lu Chen patted him on the shoulder.

"Practice hard, refine good pills, and don't forget to save two for me."

Li Fei straightened up, his eyes red-rimmed, and nodded vigorously.

"I'm leaving!" Lu Chen said, and then left, giving Li Fei ample room to develop.

What he didn't know was that a weak spiritual consciousness was quietly watching all of this from the inconspicuous iron ring on his finger.

"This kid is being way too good to you."

His voice echoed in Li Fei's mind, serious and deep.

"Those who offer unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieves."

Li Fei was sorting through the medicinal herbs, not even looking up.

"Master, you're overthinking it. In my current state, with all my cultivation gone, and no one knowing it's because of you, what does he want from me?"

The man paused for a moment; he truly couldn't think of an answer.

"Maybe...maybe we just clicked. He treated me as a friend, nothing more."

The person in the precept still did not speak.

He had lived for thousands of years and seen too much wickedness in people's hearts, but in this situation, apart from Lu Chen taking a liking to Li Fei, he could not find any reason to refute it.

"Fine, let's take another look."

……

In the blink of an eye, half a year has passed.

All three women were already showing their pregnancies and were resting peacefully in the inner world, no longer going out. Only at night would Lu Chen enter the inner world to accompany them.

What surprised him was that his cultivation level was stuck, and he couldn't break through even though he had everything he needed.

This left him quite helpless, so he could only check Li Fei's development speed every day.

He discovered that since Li Fei started refining pills, his cultivation level had also begun to rise rapidly. In just half a year, he had recovered to the strength of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and returning to the Foundation Establishment stage was just around the corner.

However, things changed completely with the arrival of Li Fei's fiancée.

That day, Lu Chen went to Li Fei's courtyard to deliver medicinal herbs as usual. Before he even reached the gate, he saw a large group of Li family members gathered outside the courtyard, seemingly watching a show.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly squeezed in.

He had barely stepped inside when he witnessed the most classic scene.

"Li Fei, I have come today to convey a message from my master."

In the courtyard, Li Fei stood in front of the stone table, looking at the woman in white in front of him, his lips pressed into a thin line.

The woman was extremely tall, dressed in a snow-white gown, with a silver ribbon tied around her waist, making her waist appear slender. Her legs, long and graceful, were visible beneath the hem of her skirt.

Her features were exquisitely refined; her eyebrows resembled distant mountains, her eyes were like cold stars, her nose was high and straight, and her lips were thin. Her whole person was like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp and cold.

What's most eye-catching are her long legs; even though they're covered by a long skirt, their proportions are still amazing.

She stood there, a head taller than Li Fei, looking down at him with her eyes slightly lowered. There was no mockery or pity in her gaze, only a detached, condescending arrogance.

"My master means that you and I are no longer from the same world, so our engagement should be called off. That's what I think too."

Tantai Qingxue's voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of everyone present very clearly.

"Given your current situation, staying in Star City and living a normal life as an ordinary person might not be a bad thing."

The crowd watching outside the courtyard immediately erupted in commotion, though most were gloating, since not everyone's fiancée lacked Zhan Tai Qingxue's qualities.

Li Fei stood in the middle of the crowd, his lips trembling with anger, his jaw clenched so tightly, but he stubbornly remained silent.

The voice of the person within the ring echoed in his mind: "What I will teach you now is forbearance! You are no match for her now. It's not too late to avenge your humiliation when you rise to power!"

Li Fei bit his lip until it bled, opened his mouth and closed it again, and finally just nodded dejectedly.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chen frowned.