We said we would experience life, fairy, how did you become real?

But Xiao Mo hadn't walked far when, under the bright moonlight, he saw a corner of a woman's skirt peeking out from behind a tree.

A gust of wind blew by, and the woman's long, silvery-white hair fluttered in the air, shimmering with the moonlight.

"Ru Xue?" Xiao Mo called out.

Upon hearing Xiao Mo's voice, the girl behind the tree trembled and quickly ran forward.

Seeing Ru Xue's appearance, Xiao Mo knew what had happened without even thinking, and quickly caught up with her.

"I didn't expect to be discovered after all. It seems that Junior Brother is in for a tough night."

Standing at the entrance of the courtyard, Shang Jiuli watched the direction Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue left in, his eyes filled with a gossipy, spectator-like expression.

"Speaking of which, Senior Brother Luo, you've been spying on people from the shadows. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Shang Jiuli looked at a rock on his right.

As Shang Jiuli finished speaking, Luo Yang stepped out from behind the stone.

"Senior brother, it's late at night, and it's not gentlemanly for you to come to someone's courtyard," Shang Jiuli said with a smile.

Luo Yang ignored her and instead threw a letter at her.

Shang Jiuli reached out and took the envelope, which bore the seal of the Confucian Academy.

“I just returned from the Confucian Academy tonight. The academy master asked me to bring you a letter, but seeing my junior brother with you, I didn’t want to embarrass you. I stood there for an hour for nothing, and you still said it was ‘ungentlemanly behavior’.”

Luo Yang shook his head helplessly and continued.

"You should prepare yourself. In two months, the Confucian Academy will be conducting an assessment of you as the headmaster of the academy."

"So fast?"

Shang Jiuli was somewhat taken aback.

The scholars in Confucian academies had many different ranks.

From bottom to top, they are: Sage, Gentleman, Upright Gentleman, Headmaster of the Academy, Director of the Imperial Academy, Grand Master of the Imperial Academy, Accompanying Sage, Dean of the Academy, and Master of the Confucian Imperial Academy.

Shang Jiuli was already a "righteous gentleman".

She thought her next assessment would be in four years, but it came today.

Luo Yang shook his head: "With your talent, this is not fast at all, while Junior Brother Xiao's Gentleman's Assessment should be coming soon."

"It's all just empty fame." Shang Jiuli shook his head and casually accepted the envelope. "But thank you for delivering the letter, Senior Brother."

"You're welcome." Luo Yang looked at Shang Jiuli but did not leave immediately.

"Is there anything else, Senior Brother?" Shang Jiuli asked.

Luo Yang spoke calmly: "You seem to value Junior Brother Xiao highly?"

"Senior brother, what are you saying?" Shang Jiuli smiled. "This is our only junior brother."

Luo Yang, holding the Gentleman's Sword in his arms, tilted his head and said, "At first, you might have really just regarded Xiao Mo as your junior brother, but now, especially after you've been spending more than two months alone with Junior Brother Xiao at night, I don't know what's going on."

However, to be fair, Junior Brother Xiao is indeed very popular.

Whether it was his temperament or his talent, countless women at Bailu Academy secretly admired him.

Shang Jiuli smiled and said, "If you didn't always look so cold, there would be quite a few women who would like you."

"Women will only slow down my speed in turning pages and drawing my sword."

Luo Yang raised his head and looked intently at Shang Jiuli.

"Junior sister, the Lord of the North Sea's Achilles' heel has never been herself. Her Achilles' heel has always been Junior Brother Xiao. Although the human race and the demon race seem to be at peace now, there are actually undercurrents surging beneath the surface."

"If Beihai can maintain neutrality, or even side with the human race, it's mostly because Junior Brother Xiao is human."

"I know that."

Shang Jiuli leaned against the fence.

"It is said that this Lord of the North Sea is ruthless and mature, but in front of Junior Brother Xiao, he is like a little girl, as docile as a little rabbit."

To be honest, when I first saw this Lord of the North Sea, I thought I was seeing things.

Luo Yang shook his head: "Cultivators are not heartless. When some cultivators meet their beloved, they will eventually reveal the softest side of their hearts, regardless of their cultivation level."

But don't assume that this is the true nature of the Lord of the North Sea.

She only treats Junior Brother Xiao this way.

"Senior brother, you even understand these things about love and romance?" Shang Jiuli said with a smile.

Luo Yang: "."

"Alright, alright, junior sister, stop teasing your senior brother. With your personality, how could you possibly understand love between men and women?" Shang Jiuli covered his mouth and chuckled. "Speaking of which, the North Sea isn't a monolithic place. The feud between the human and dragon races runs deep. Can Bai Ruxue really suppress it?"

"That's not something you or I need to worry about." Luo Yang looked directly into Shang Jiuli's eyes. "Junior Sister, just treat Junior Brother Xiao as a fellow disciple and don't have any other thoughts."

Shang Jiuli's eyes curved into a smile: "Senior brother, that's not right. Do you think I could steal someone else's sweetheart?"

Luo Yang glanced at his junior sister, said nothing, and simply turned and left.

After a long while, Luo Yang's voice finally came from the dim woods: "Who knows?"

The man's voice drifted away on the wind.

The night breeze ruffled Shang Jiuli's skirt.

She looked up at the bright moonlight.

Her slender figure looked like a green bamboo in the moonlight.

After a long while, Shang Jiuli smiled gently:

"He's just a junior brother."

Chapter 110 Xiao Mo, please don't be angry.

In the woods, Bai Ruxue kept running forward.

But in the end, Xiao Mo still managed to grab Bai Ruxue's fair wrist.

"You...you let me go." Bai Ruxue struggled slightly, but Xiao Mo still wouldn't let go.

Looking at Ru Xue's trembling eyes and her "I don't want to talk to you anymore" expression, Xiao Mo couldn't help but smile to himself.

If Ru Xue really didn't want to talk to him, if Ru Xue really didn't want to be held back by him, with her Immortal Realm strength, how could he possibly catch up?

“I think Ru Xue, you might have misunderstood something,” Xiao Mo said.

"I didn't misunderstand. You came out of a woman's boudoir in the middle of the night," Bai Ruxue muttered softly, her head lowered.

"This..." Xiao Mo was momentarily speechless; it was indeed difficult to explain.

Bai Ruxue's face grew even angrier at Xiao Mo's speechless expression.

Xiao Mo raised his head and looked at the sky: "Ru Xue, why don't we take a walk? I'll tell you slowly. You can be angry after I've finished."

Bai Ruxue neither refused nor agreed, but lowered her head even further, as if she were burying it in her chest.

"Let's go."

Bai Ruxue was pulled by Xiao Mo, walking step by step towards the top of the mountain.

Xiao Mo organized his thoughts and slowly explained:

"Two months ago, I started going to Senior Sister Shang's courtyard every night."

As soon as Xiao Mo finished speaking, Bai Ruxue raised her small foot, adorned with embroidered shoes, and gently kicked Xiao Mo's heel.

"hiss"

Xiao Mo winced slightly, smiled, and continued speaking.

"At the time, I wanted to learn something, but my senior sister was busy during the day, so I could only go at night."

To prevent you from finding out, my senior sister even gave me a special pearl. As long as I activate this pearl and don't get within a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) of you, I can sneak out.

Everything was going smoothly until you found out.

"Hmph!" Bai Ruxue turned her head away.

“But my senior sister and I really didn’t do anything.” Xiao Mo glanced at the woman beside him. “These past few days, I’ve been learning to paint in my senior sister’s courtyard every day.”

"Learn to paint?" Bai Ruxue blinked. "Learn what kind of painting?"

“What else could it be but an ordinary ink painting?” Xiao Mo smiled. “Senior Sister has a profound understanding of ink painting. I’ve heard that there aren’t many people in the world who can surpass her.”

"But why do you want to learn to paint? And even if it's Xiao Mo who wants to learn to paint, why did you hide it from me?" Bai Ruxue pouted.

"Because of this, you can't know about it for the time being."

"Why!" Bai Ruxue puffed out her cheeks, all traces of the majesty of the Lord of the North Sea gone, replaced only by the anger and coquettishness of someone in love.

"Well?" Xiao Mo glanced at the sky and changed the subject. "It's almost dawn."

"It's already past 5:45 AM," Bai Ruxue said irritably.

"Then we need to hurry." Xiao Mo grabbed Bai Ruxue's wrist and quickened his pace.

"Eh?"

Bai Ruxue blinked, unsure of what Xiao Mo was planning to do.

The higher Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue climbed on the mountaintop, the whiter the sky became.

A pale gold hue gradually appeared on the horizon, then slowly ignited, as if a goddess had spilled red ink, staining the entire sky.

In the woods, the red glow of dawn descends, and the sunlight tiptoes tentatively through the gaps in the branches and leaves, carefully sliding down the tree trunks.

The bark was stained with a layer of porcelain white, revealing its texture clearly, as if it had been meticulously sculpted. The cool light followed the uneven texture, winding its way down, and countless pale red rays slanted through the gaps in the forest, penetrating the thin, floating morning mist.

As Xiao Mo pulled Bai Ruxue to the mountaintop, the rising sun revealed half of its outline in the east.

"Dong Dong. Dong."

Half past the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the sound of bells echoed throughout the entire academy.

Just as the bell tolled, Xiao Mo took out a scroll from his sleeve and gently tossed it forward.

The scroll floated in the air and unfurled on its own, revealing a blank canvas.

"Xiao Mo, what are you doing?" Bai Ruxue asked, puzzled.

"You'll know once you touch it," Xiao Mo said with a smile.

Despite her doubts, Bai Ruxue stepped forward and extended her slender fingers toward the painting.

The instant her snow-white fingers touched the painting, ripples spread out across the scroll, and golden sunlight, like fine threads, slowly outlined its surface.

Finally, when Bai Ruxue withdrew her hand, her eyes trembled.

In the painting, a woman in a white dress stands on a mountaintop, gazing into the distance.

Every stroke of the brush depicting the woman is so meticulous, capturing both her figure and expression with remarkable realism.

Although it was a black and white ink painting, Bai Ruxue felt that the woman in the painting seemed to have come to life.

The woman in the painting was not someone else, but herself.

"Xiao Mo, this painting is..." Bai Ruxue's eyes flickered.

"Ru Xue, have you forgotten? Today is your birthday, and this painting is my birthday gift to you."

Seeing Ru Xue's infatuated expression, Xiao Mo smiled and explained.

Two months ago, I was already thinking about what kind of birthday gift to give Ruxue.

But Ruxue, you lack nothing; you have all the rarest and most precious treasures.

Later, I thought of giving you a painting, and since my senior sister is an expert in ink painting, I went to find her.

This painting took me two and a half months to complete. I used the finest willow green paper and moon silk ink, which can be preserved for thousands of years.

As for Ruxue, you said that you were born in the middle of the Mao hour (5-7 AM).

So my original plan was to go back tonight and secretly give you this painting around 5:30 AM to surprise you.

Unexpectedly, something went wrong, and it even made you angry.

Looking at the painting and listening to Xiao Mo's words, Bai Ruxue recalled how she had misunderstood Xiao Mo earlier, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks.

"Xiao Mo, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have disbelieved you, I shouldn't have misunderstood you and Senior Sister Shang."