One of my fairy-like friends

Mingyan agreed with his senior sister. They should stop when it comes to sparring in terms of cultivation level. They should indeed distinguish between winners and losers in this aspect.

Of the four people, the final winner was Huang Ni Chang.

This is not surprising, after all, Huang Ni Chang's cultivation level is the highest among them, and physical fitness is directly proportional to cultivation level.

Next is Senior Sister Yue Qingying, who performed better than Huang Feiyan and Ning Feixuan. Feiyan was third, while Feixuan was last.

Mingyan had actually predicted this result beforehand. Huang Nishang's cultivation level was unparalleled, so she was likely to be the champion. His senior sister's combat power had always been very strong, so she was probably the runner-up. However, it was a bit difficult to judge Feiyan and Feixuan.

These two share a common weakness, so it all comes down to their performance on the day. However, judging from the results, Fei Xuan's performance was somewhat lacking. Of course, there are reasons for her poor performance, but as for what those reasons are...

After that, Mingyan did not rush to find Yue Qingyou, but went to find Gu Hanshuang first.

Having nothing to do during this time, Gu Hanshuang stayed in her room cultivating.

She was already quite a genius. Before meeting Ming Yan, her and Yu Mudan's cultivation levels were already among the best in the world. However, when she encountered Ming Yan, who did not cultivate in the traditional way and brought others with him to cultivate in the same way, she was truly helpless.

Unless she joins him because she can't beat him, the gap between her and Ming Yan will only widen if she relies on traditional cultivation. Even if she joins, the gap will only widen further, since Ming Yan can't take her with him every time he doesn't follow traditional cultivation. It's just that if she joins, the gap won't be as big as if she didn't.

After Mingyan arrived, Gu Hanshuang naturally stopped cultivating, and the two did not stay in the room.

Gu Hanshuang suggested going out for a walk and wanted to avoid Yu Mudan's gaze and not be disturbed by Yu Mudan, so Mingyan naturally did not refuse.

In addition, Gu Hanshuang hoped that Mingyan would avoid Yu Mudan's gaze whenever he came over in the future, otherwise Yu Mudan would definitely come to harass them, which annoyed Gu Hanshuang.

Mingyan couldn't really sneakily approach Gu Hanshuang directly, because if Gu Hanshuang found out, she might think he was feeling guilty. Gu Hanshuang is a straightforward person, and if she thought Mingyan was guilty, she might speculate that there was something going on between Mingyan and Yu Mudan.

However, now that Gu Hanshuang has spoken up, Mingyan no longer needs to worry about these issues.

The two avoided Yu Mudan's gaze and stayed far away from the courtyard where Gu Hanshuang and Yu Mudan lived before they relaxed.

The inner courtyard of the Phoenix family is exceptionally large, even larger than that of ordinary holy land families.

If you include the outer courtyard, it should be about the size of two ordinary holy sites.

The main reason is that the Huang family has far more members than other aristocratic families in the holy lands, so there is no worry about reproduction. They can reproduce simply by drinking water, so the number of Huang family members is naturally increasing. The Huang family has been expanding and renovating over the years.

Now that Wang Qingchu has intervened and introduced the blood of the Human King, the Phoenix Blood Pool has been revitalized and returned to normal. Therefore, the population of the Phoenix family will continue to grow, and the Phoenix family will continue to expand.

Gu Hanshuang walked side by side with Ming Yan. Just like before, she did not carry a sword, and her sharp sword intent was gone. She looked more like a girl next door.

Occasionally, they would encounter other women from the Huang family along the way. Upon seeing the two, they would all smile and greet Mingyan and Gu Hanshuang. Mingyan would naturally respond with a smile, and Gu Hanshuang would nod in return. After greeting them, many of the Huang family women would secretly stare at Mingyan and whisper to the people around them, causing the other women to blush and leave laughing and joking.

“You’re really popular in the Huang family.” Gu Hanshuang also noticed these places. Looking at the Huang family women who were leaving, it was not hard to see that many of them had a good impression of Ming Yan. Even those who did not have that kind of good impression seemed to be full of goodwill towards Ming Yan.

"Because, I guess you could say I helped the Huang family a bit. Actually, the Huang family has helped me a lot too, so they don't owe me anything. But now we're all family, so let's not dwell on that," Mingyan said with a smile. Back then, because of the Phoenix Blood Pool, Mingyan almost became the Huang family's only lineage for female offspring. Plus, Mingyan himself had a very good relationship with the Huang family, and there must have been a lot of positive publicity surrounding him within the family...

Mingyan remembered that Huang Nishang had told him before that some women in the Huang family still hoped that he would help them reproduce. In any case, it would not taint their bloodline and would make their offspring stronger. Besides, even if it did taint their bloodline, it wouldn't matter. After all, the phoenix itself had awakened. Even if it tainted their bloodline, it wouldn't matter. After all, what the phoenix itself wanted was a purebred phoenix, not people like them who had phoenix blood flowing through their veins.

Mingyan initially wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it for a long time, he felt there was no need to refuse. If even the Huang family members didn't mind, why should he mind?

"Can you tell me about your past experiences?" Gu Hanshuang paused for a moment after hearing this, and then asked, "I mean the things before you were born. You mentioned it once before, but only briefly. I'm a little curious."

"...Are you talking about what happened before I entered the Immortal Sect?" Ming Yan tilted his head to look at Gu Han Shuang.

"Okay." Gu Hanshuang nodded. "I'd like to know more... about you..."

"It's not exactly something interesting... but if you want to know..." Mingyan didn't refuse. He thought for a moment, condensed his past experiences, and gave a general account.

Gu Hanshuang listened silently without interrupting Ming Yan.

The two walked slowly like this, and Gu Hanshuang listened as Mingyan recounted the past...

Only after Ming Yan finished speaking did Gu Han Shuang begin to speak, "If it weren't for Ning Fei Xuan saving you..."

"If she hadn't saved me, I would have died long ago," Mingyan said with a smile. "Although when I entered the immortal sect, my only thought was to repay Feixuan one day..."

"Are you repaying her now?" Gu Hanshuang's lips curled up slightly.

"Hehe... To be honest, I originally wanted to marry her." Mingyan smiled a little embarrassedly, "But then some things happened... Sigh, those are all things of the past, let's not talk about them."

Gu Hanshuang smiled slightly, "Aren't you with Ning Feixuan now?"

“That’s how it is…” Mingyan nodded, but then the conversation took a turn. He changed the subject, “Why is everyone talking about me? What about you?”

Chapter 232 Gu Hanshuang's Change of Mindset

“I…” Gu Hanshuang was silent for a while before saying, “I’ve forgotten when I started to remember things. I remember that before I was sealed, all my time was related to swords. I practiced swordsmanship every day and had nothing else to do. After I was sealed and came to this era, there weren’t many interesting things to do. I spent most of my time cultivating and a small amount of time fighting with Yu Mudan.”

Mingyan chuckled somewhat helplessly, "Life is really simple, it's either cultivation or fighting..."

"Yes... I always feel that time flies by... After leaving the sacred mountain of the demon race, I always felt that life there was even more boring." Gu Hanshuang nodded. "There aren't any particularly interesting things to talk about... Is there something wrong with my personality?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Don't you think I'm rigid and inflexible?" Gu Hanshuang looked at Ming Yan and said softly.

"Do you want me to tell the truth?" Mingyan asked with a smile.

"I don't want to hear lies." Gu Hanshuang stared at Ming Yan, unmoving.

“No, you’re not rigid at all. In my opinion, you’re actually very smart and know how to be flexible,” Mingyan said with a smile.

It's just that some parts are a bit too straightforward. Calling her a blank sheet of paper isn't quite right. She's not the kind of blank sheet of paper that knows nothing and can only be painted on by others. However, she has indeed left a lot of blank spaces for Mingyan to use.

"...Are you praising me?" Gu Hanshuang tilted her head, feeling somewhat surprised by Ming Yan's answer.

"Is telling the truth a compliment?" Mingyan laughed. "Think about it, you were so resistant to the idea of ​​'destiny' back then, wouldn't the best thing to do have been to kill me? But you didn't actually cut me down with your sword, did you?"

"That's because..." Gu Hanshuang was about to explain when Ming Yan interrupted her, saying, "If you were really so stubborn and inflexible, how could you have let me off so easily?"

"...Say what you want..." Gu Hanshuang opened her mouth, but in the end only managed to utter these few words.

"Moreover, for so long, you've been playing against Yu Mudan and you've never been at a disadvantage..." Mingyan said. He had sensed many times that Gu Hanshuang was very intelligent, but she just wasn't as good at showing off as Yu Mudan.

"..." Gu Hanshuang turned her head to the side, "It's not as amazing as you make it out to be..."

Mingyan blinked. Was Gu Hanshuang a little shy?

After a while, Gu Hanshuang suddenly turned her head to look at Ming Yan. Seeing that Ming Yan was staring at her, Gu Hanshuang turned her head back, her pretty face turning even redder. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Do you know what my first impression of you was?" Mingyan answered the question by asking a different one.

“...How would I know...it’s domineering?” Gu Hanshuang said she didn’t know, but she still answered the question.

Their first meeting, needless to say, was at Li Jianfeng. What kind of impression could she leave on Mingyan? A woman exuding sword energy and radiating an aura that keeps strangers at bay... what kind of impression could Mingyan have?

“At the time, I felt that this woman was simply a living, breathing human sword.” Mingyan originally wanted to say sword-person, but felt that it was not a very friendly way to put it, so he changed his words. “So seeing such a woman with such a shy expression is quite impactful.”

"...Are you insulting me?" Gu Hanshuang pondered carefully, feeling that something about the words was off.

“No way…” Mingyan laughed. “However, I do hope to see you make more of these expressions, whether you’re laughing or shy, you’re both adorable.”

Gu Hanshuang pursed her lips, "..."

She seemed unsure of how she should react at this moment. Presumably, no one had ever dared to say such a thing to her before. The only ones who were qualified to do so were probably Yu Mudan and Bai Ze. However, not only were Bai Ze and Yu Mudan women, but Yu Mudan was also an enemy of Gu Hanshuang. Therefore, this was probably the first time she had received such affirmation from a man.

“I think I understand why you have so many women around you…” Gu Hanshuang turned her head and continued walking forward, shaking off Ming Yan. “I can’t stand hearing this.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Ming Yan quickly caught up with Gu Han Shuang and laughed, “No one dislikes hearing the truth.”

"You...do you want to...take me?" Gu Hanshuang suddenly turned to look at Ming Yan, the blush on her face gone, replaced by seriousness. "You...do you want to..."

"Win you over?" Ming Yan tilted his head and chuckled, "Do you mean whether I want to become your Daoist partner or something?"

"...More or less..." Gu Hanshuang nodded.

This woman is really straightforward, even in things like this...

“If it really comes to that, I don’t think I would refuse,” Mingyan said with a smile. “Are you still resisting? Didn’t you used to hate this feeling of ‘destiny’?”

"..." Gu Hanshuang was silent for a moment, then said, "I can't quite explain my own feelings. I do hate the feeling of being destined for someone, but... I'm a little different than before. At least I don't resist being close to you..."

"Then how about this?" Mingyan smiled and said, "Don't treat it as a kind of 'destiny'. If you resist 'destiny' in your heart, aren't you also accepting 'destiny'? Why not think of it this way: let nature take its course. There were originally two possibilities: we would end up together or we wouldn't. Just pretend that 'destiny' doesn't exist. It all depends on our own choices in the future, and has nothing to do with 'destiny'."

Mingyan had always thought this way, and upon hearing Mingyan's words, Gu Hanshuang fell silent once again...

After a long while, Gu Hanshuang finally looked up at Ming Yan, "If I really end up with you, wouldn't that prove..."

“This only shows that you haven’t stepped out of this mindset,” Mingyan said. “If we two really like each other, what’s wrong with confirming ‘destiny’? The key here isn’t whether it’s destined or not, but whether there are real feelings between us. If we both like each other, we’d probably be more than happy with destiny. Do you like the feeling of unrequited love?”

Gu Hanshuang looked at Ming Yan and understood what he meant. She suddenly realized that what she hated about “destiny” was the feeling of being unable to control her own destiny but having to be with someone she might not even understand.

But if you really fall in love with someone, wouldn't you actually enjoy that feeling of "destiny" instead...?

And now... she no longer feels the same resistance towards Mingyan as she did before...

Chapter 233 The Man Who Wants to Marry Aunt Yue

She probably hasn't fallen for Mingyan yet, but she's certain that she does have some feelings for him, and if they continue to get along like this... it's not impossible for her to fall for him.

Gu Hanshuang took a deep breath. "I'll think about this carefully... Mingyan... I... I'll go back now."

Mingyan smiled and nodded. "Well, if you really take my advice, that would be great. However, if you think I'm wrong, there's no need to worry about it. After all, everyone has their own ideas."

Gu Hanshuang nodded and turned to leave.

Mingyan stood there for a while, then scratched his head. This could be considered progress... but he wondered when he would finally win over Gu Hanshuang...

Mingyan lowered his hand and was about to go back when he turned around and found Yue Qingyou standing not far away, her arms crossed, looking in his direction. Mingyan blinked and then quickly walked over.

"Aunt Yue, what are you doing here?" Ming Yan asked curiously as he walked up to Yue Qingyou. Was it really such a coincidence? The Huang family was so big, and he just happened to run into Yue Qingyou.

"Because I've been following you." Yue Qingyou smiled as Ming Yan approached her. "I heard from your master that you're pursuing Gu Hanshuang?"

“I guess so.” Mingyan nodded. “I once promised Bai Ze that I would help her mediate the relationship between Yu Mudan and Gu Hanshuang. I think that if the two of them are family, they won’t be able to quarrel anymore.”

Yue Qingyou couldn't help but chuckle, "Your reasons for pursuing them are really unique...it feels just like mine?"

“It’s different from Aunt Yue,” Mingyan said. “For me, their promises were more important than feelings, but for me, Aunt Yue was more about feelings.”

"...What feelings could you possibly have for me..." Yue Qingyou couldn't help but turn her head away, her face flushed, and she spat lightly, "I've noticed that you're so quick to spout nonsense, just like when you were with Gu Hanshuang... Your mouth... Back when you joined Fengling Yueying, you didn't like to use sweet words to deceive people like this. You've changed, and you've become bad."

Mingyan said somewhat innocently, "Does this count as turning bad? I'm telling the truth."

"Perhaps you're telling the truth, but you certainly wouldn't have said something like this before..." Yue Qingyou had been observing Ming Yan all along. Since Yue Wuxia had taken Ming Yan as her disciple—such an extraordinary act—how could she not pay attention? Therefore, she naturally had some understanding of Ming Yan. Moreover, there was also her disciple, Liu Mengli. Whenever she was in front of her, she would incessantly talk about things related to Ming Yan, especially what happened at the Rain Terrace Blessed Land...

Children speak without thinking, and Liu Mengli had no need to deliberately embellish Ming Yan's words, even though she liked him very much.

How pure Ming Yan was in Liu Mengli's eyes! Now, this Ming Yan is almost a seasoned veteran...

Mingyan said somewhat helplessly, "How can I say it to satisfy Aunt Yue?"

“...Where did I say I was dissatisfied…” Yue Qingyou turned her head upon hearing this. She looked at Ming Yan and chuckled. “But you, I was waiting for you to come to me, but you disappeared for several days. I don’t know where you went to fool around. After you came out, you went to find Gu Hanshuang. I’m not necessarily more important to you than Gu Hanshuang.”