Fairy, don't go! I have a mod.

"You won." Mu Tianmiao's voice came from the other side.

Ye Jianling was taken aback and looked up.

Mu Tianmiao had already put the Flowing Shadow Sword back into her storage bag. She shook her still trembling right hand and wore a frank and open smile of admitting defeat on her face.

"I can't beat you. If we keep fighting, I'll damage my foundation if I want to win... You're truly something else, Sword Maniac..."

The competition concluded amidst cheers from the audience.

Ye Jianling sheathed his sword, returned both swords to their places, and solemnly clasped his hands in a salute to Mu Tianmiao.

Then he turned and walked off the stage. His back, clad in black and white, was still cold and aloof, but his steps were a little lighter than when he came.

Although the disciples of the Immortal Shadow Sect were a little unhappy that their senior brother had lost, they still generously cheered for Ye Jianling.

However, before the cheers had even subsided, a group of people rushed to the edge of the arena and surrounded Mu Tianmiao, who had just come down from the stage.

A chorus of concerned voices rose and fell.

"Is Senior Brother injured?"

"Senior Brother's sword strike just now was so cool!"

"Senior Brother, aren't you cold with your clothes torn? I have a cloak here!"

Then, someone boldly mingled in the crowd and shouted something.

"Senior Brother, do you need someone to warm your bed tonight?"

A burst of laughter erupted, and several female disciples blushed and shoved each other, but none of them actually denied it.

Surrounded by them, Mu Tianmiao waved her hands to refuse, both amused and exasperated. Her bare upper body was still dazzling under the lamplight.

Yun Qingyao stood not far from the crowd. When she heard the words "warm the bed," her usually cold expression changed slightly.

She didn't say anything, she just pursed her lips...

If only we were in the wild...we could be more unrestrained...

Ye Jianling stood at the edge of the cheers, watching Mu Tianmiao being surrounded by the disciples of the Immortal Shadow Sect.

He was frantically dealing with the cloaks, medicines, and the constant requests for warm beds that were handed to him.

He was shirtless, with a bright smile, surrounded by the crowd like a victorious general returning home.

But she clearly won...

Ye Jianling lowered his eyes and hung the two swords back at his waist.

The junior disciples from Wanren Qianshan stood far away on the viewing platform and did not gather around.

She didn't expect them to surround her. In the midst of towering mountains, victory was victory, and defeat was defeat; no one cared how you felt after winning. She was already used to it.

I'm used to it.

But for some reason, she wasn't the one surrounded by cheers tonight; the person who lost was more popular than her.

This fact filled her chest with an indescribable feeling, a bittersweet and somewhat unfamiliar sensation.

As the night deepened, the crowd around the ring gradually thinned out.

Ye Jianling stopped watching and turned to walk towards the accommodation area that the Immortal Shadow Sect had arranged for Wan Renqianshan.

The night breeze swept through the bluestone path within the sect, rustling the spirit bamboo groves along the way.

She walked alone for a while, and when she turned through a moon gate, she suddenly stopped.

In a pavilion not far away, the moonlight slanted in, and a shirtless person stood in the pavilion, gesturing wildly.

The woman opposite him was dressed in a dark red outfit, arms crossed, her profile strikingly handsome in the moonlight. She was the one wielding a spear on the arena, the Third Prince of the Dihao Royal Court.

Ye Jianling subconsciously stopped in the shadow of the moon gate.

Nangong Yue crossed her arms, the moonlight shining on her profile, making her striking eyes appear exceptionally bright.

She looked at Mu Tianmiao and suddenly spoke, her tone direct and without any preamble.

"Hey, do you like me or not?"

Mu Tianmiao was taken aback by her direct attack.

He had seen roundabout probing, he had seen hesitant hints, and he had seen confessions made only when emboldened by alcohol.

But this is the first time I've seen someone ask a question like Nangong Yue without even blinking.

"Oh? I like it!"

He answered instinctively, then quickly added a long string of modifiers.

"You're so beautiful, so dashing, and such a skilled marksman, you must be the dream girl of countless male cultivators in the Eight Desolations!"

Nangong Yue's cheeks flushed slightly, clearly visible in the moonlight.

But she didn't lower her head or hesitate; instead, she took a step forward and spoke with even more seriousness.

“Then you sever ties with Yun Qingyao, and I will ask my father to make an exception and allow me to marry you.”

Mu Tianmiao covered her face.

"How can this be allowed!"

Mu Tianmiao lowered her hand from her face, looked at Nangong Yue, and her expression suddenly became serious.

The moonlight shone on his broad shoulders and back, outlining the smooth lines of his muscles, but his tone was not as aggressive as his appearance suggested.

Instead, it carried a rare sincerity.

"Your Highness."

He said.

"Do you want me to be a heartless man who deceives people's feelings?"

Nangong Yue was taken aback by his question, and her tone softened involuntarily: "No..."

"That's right."

Mu Tianmiao nodded, then straightened her chest and said confidently.

"I am actually a very loyal person."

Nangong Yue's eyes widened; her earlier shyness and seriousness vanished instantly upon hearing those words.

She looked Mu Tianmiao up and down, her eyes saying, "Are you kidding me?"

"Huh? You're faithful? You... have you ever counted how many women you've had around you?"

Mu Tianmiao remained unfazed by her questioning, and even became more self-righteous.

“I give my complete love to each of my Daoist partners. Isn’t that being devoted?”

Nangong Yue opened her mouth, then closed it again, her expression like someone had stuffed a whole lemon into her mouth—sour and stifling, yet she couldn't spit it out.

In all her years, she had never heard of anyone explaining the word "affectionate" in such a fresh and refined way.

But the other party remained completely calm, showing no sign of feeling guilty whatsoever!

"How can that be!" she stamped her foot defiantly, raising her voice by half a beat.

You must only love me!

Chapter Ninety-Two: This is what you call universal love!

Mu Tianmiao's expression suddenly changed. A deep regret appeared on his usually carefree face, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

His eyes held a deep sorrow.

He took a half step back and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting to Nangong Yue.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I can't betray the one I love. I appreciate your feelings, but... I have no choice but to part with her."

Nangong Yue froze on the spot.

She originally came to force a change of heart, so how did she suddenly end up being rejected?

Moreover, judging from Mu Tianmiao's expression, it seems that she really made this decision after a painful struggle.

She suddenly panicked, her lips moved, and the force in her voice instantly deflated.

"I...I didn't say anything either..."

Before she could finish speaking, Mu Tianmiao suddenly turned her head, looked past Nangong Yue's shoulder, and called out in the direction of the Moon Gate.

"Hey you over there, stop hiding, come out."

Nangong Yue suddenly turned around.

Behind the moon gate, Ye Jianling stood frozen in place, one foot still in a forward-stepping posture, as if he had been frozen in place by a spell.

Her expression remained as cold and aloof as ever, but a faint blush at the base of her ears betrayed her.

Oh no... I wanted to hear more clearly... and I accidentally walked out...

Ye Jianling stood in the shadow of the moon gate, his mind still replaying the words he had just heard.

She had never heard such a thing before.

In the towering mountains, everyone only talks about swordsmanship, cultivation, and victory or defeat. Matters between men and women have always been regarded as distractions that affect the swordsman's heart, let alone such a righteous declaration of affection.

An instinct she had never experienced before awakened within her.

It compelled her body to lean forward involuntarily, getting closer inch by inch.

He completely forgot that he was a sword cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core stage, and forgot that he should have concealed his aura.

Then she was discovered...

"hateful……"

She stood three steps away from the pavilion, her hands hanging stiffly at her sides.

In the end, all he could do was stare intently at the carvings on the pavilion pillars.

Even though she was caught red-handed being eavesdropped on, she felt as embarrassed as if she had forgotten her sword before going into a fight...

Seeing Ye Jianling's awkward expression, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet, Mu Tianmiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He took two steps forward, cleared his throat, and began to speak in a serious tone.

"Sword fanatic, I have a question for you."

Ye Jianling looked up, her eyes still showing the embarrassment of being discovered.

“You said you have two swords, the two on your waist.”

Mu Tianmiao pointed to the two swords, one black and one green, at her waist, her tone as serious as if she were discussing some profound philosophy of swordsmanship.

"If both swords have sword spirits, they will be jealous of each other, feeling that you like the other one better, and they will cause a huge fight."

"Would you abandon one of them, or continue to love both of them?"

Ye Jianling was taken aback.

She glanced down at the black and green swords at her waist, her brows furrowing slightly. Clearly, she wasn't just giving a perfunctory answer; she was genuinely considering the problem.

A moment later, she raised her head, her tone as solemn as if she were announcing the result of a competition.

"I will love them both."

"See, that settles it!"

Mu Tianmiao clapped her hands, then turned around to face Nangong Yue, her expression seamlessly switching from regret and sorrow to deep affection.

"Your Highness, I love you, but I will not neglect you because of other people."

"Just as you may meet other people in the future, I will not neglect those who come after you because of you."

"This isn't being fickle, it's being fair."

Nangong Yue opened her mouth, as if something in her mind had been turned into a jumbled mess by those few words.

This line of reasoning seems a bit off at first glance, but Ye Jianling's answer just now seems to have stamped Mu Tianmiao's logic.

For a moment, she couldn't find a way to refute it.

She stood in the pavilion, the moonlight shining on her face, her expression shifting back and forth.