novelno Chapter 1147 1147 Ling Yuan's Complex Thoughts
Chapter 1147 1147 Ling Yuan's Complex Thoughts
Jun Xiaoyao entering Ling Yuan's cave dwelling had undoubtedly drawn a great deal of attention.
After all, the identities of these two people were far too sensitive.
One was the divine son of the Jun family, the other was the young empress of the Immortal Court.
By now, everyone knew about the power struggle between the Jun family and the Immortal Court.
Especially after the hidden vein rejoined the main vein, the Jun family's strength was fully restored.
The Immortal Court had come to regard the Jun family as its most threatening hypothetical enemy.
The Jun family had the potential to shake the Immortal Court's dominant position.
And at such a critical moment, the leaders of the younger generation from these two great forces shared an ambiguous relationship.
This undoubtedly set the gossip fires blazing in many people's hearts.
Inside Ling Yuan's cave dwelling, a subtle fragrance drifted through the air.
Apart from the handmaid Ru Ying, almost no one had ever entered Ling Yuan's cave dwelling.
As for members of the opposite sex, there had been even fewer.
Even the Ancient Emperor's son had never set foot inside.
Jun Xiaoyao was the only one.
Soon, Jun Xiaoyao arrived at the depths of the cave dwelling.
He saw that graceful figure, seated cross-legged on a crystal dao platform.
A beauty that could overturn the world, noble and coldly radiant.
Her skin was as delicate as mutton-fat jade, shimmering with immortal light.
Her features were exquisitely flawless, like a perfect creation carved by the skilled hands of heaven itself.
A swan-like snow-white neck, crystal-clear arms like lotus roots, a slender waist, and legs as fair and flawless as ivory.
All of this combined into a breathtaking portrait of a peerless beauty.
That innate noble coldness was more than enough to exert a fatal, poison-like attraction on any man.
No wonder even someone as supremely gifted as the Ancient Emperor's son pined desperately for Ling Yuan, yet could never win her heart.
If Jiang Shengyi was a luminous pearl glowing beneath the moonlight,
then Ling Yuan was an incomparably precious gemstone radiating brilliant light.
"Ling Yuan, it's been a long time."
Facing this young empress of the Immortal Court, whose looks and bearing could only be described as stunning, Jun Xiaoyao smiled faintly, his expression calm and composed.
It was as if he were greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in ages.
Ling Yuan's delicate frame trembled slightly, and those phoenix eyes, like glazed gemstones, fixed intently on Jun Xiaoyao.
"Back in the Borderlands, it really was you — yet you refused to admit it."
Ling Yuan parted her lips, her voice as clear and melodious as a flowing spring, yet carrying a faint tremor.
During the training in the Borderlands, she had sensed something, but hadn't dared to be certain, afraid of ending up disappointed.
"What good would telling you have done? It would have only brought you unnecessary trouble." Jun Xiaoyao said.
"So you think whether you live or die has absolutely nothing to do with me — is that it!"
Ling Yuan suddenly grew emotionally unstable and questioned him directly.
Jun Xiaoyao was silent for a moment, then said.
"Doesn't it?"
Ling Yuan's slender jade hands clenched tightly — she really wanted to bite this person in front of her!
She and Jun Xiaoyao had originally been on opposing sides.
Even at the beginning, sending the celestial maiden Yuan had been nothing more than a way to monitor Jun Xiaoyao and gather information.
Later, in the Black Abyss, she and Jun Xiaoyao had lived through a hundred lifetimes of love, and Jun Xiaoyao had even carved a mark on her thigh.
At the time, she had been furious and humiliated, swearing to take revenge on Jun Xiaoyao.
Then, in the Divine Ruins world, she and Jun Xiaoyao were assigned to the same team.
Facing that terrifying divine consciousness, Jun Xiaoyao had stood in front of her.
That was the first time Ling Yuan felt the warmth of having someone to rely on.
Then, in that valley, the lover's flowers bloomed.
One day among the flowers, a thousand years of longing.
It was only then that she realized her feelings toward Jun Xiaoyao had, without her knowing when, quietly and imperceptibly changed.
She had even felt jealousy stir within her.
Jealousy over the relationship between the celestial maiden Yuan and Jun Xiaoyao.
Then, the celestial maiden Yuan sacrificed herself, her soul merging with Ling Yuan's.
She no longer knew who she truly was.
Only that when she witnessed Jun Xiaoyao fall, her heart felt as though a large piece had been carved out of it, hollow and empty.
And later, during the great war between the two realms, when she saw Jun Xiaoyao appear once more,
what surged in her heart was genuine, heartfelt joy.
This was an emotion she should never have felt.
As the young empress of the Immortal Court, Jun Xiaoyao's existence posed an invisible threat to the entire Immortal Court.
And so, Ling Yuan was lost.
When Jun Xiaoyao came to the Nine Heavens Immortal Academy, she hadn't shown herself either, because she didn't know how to face him.
When she heard Ru Ying say that Jun Xiaoyao had been with Jiang Luoli the whole time,
a complicated, bittersweet feeling rose in her heart — too tangled to put into words.
"So, you only came to see me?"
Ling Yuan took a deep breath, calming the emotions in her heart.
"Of course not. I came with a purpose." Jun Xiaoyao said frankly.
Ling Yuan fell silent, yet a faint trace of disappointment flickered in the depths of her eyes.
"What am I thinking? In his eyes, I am an enemy and a rival." Ling Yuan mocked herself inwardly.
"I'd like to borrow your Immortal Court's Immortal Tribulation Sword Art to study." Jun Xiaoyao said lightly.
"The Immortal Tribulation Sword Art?" Ling Yuan was slightly taken aback.
Although the Immortal Tribulation Sword Art was not some supreme, top-tier divine ability, it was still one of the five great sword dao divine arts.
Jun Xiaoyao, as a member of the Jun family, was actually asking Ling Yuan, the young empress of the Immortal Court, so bluntly for the Immortal Tribulation Sword Art.
If anyone else found out, they would absolutely think Jun Xiaoyao was wasting his time.
It was simply absurd.
The Immortal Court and the Jun family were rivals.
How could Ling Yuan, as the young empress of the Immortal Court, possibly do something that would aid the enemy?
"You should understand what you're saying, shouldn't you?" Ling Yuan said.
"Of course I do."
"If you were in my position, would you hand over your divine abilities to someone from an opposing faction?"
"No." Jun Xiaoyao said, then shifted his tone and continued.
"But this is useful to me."
"You should know your own identity, and you should know my position." Ling Yuan said.
"That's true, but..."
Jun Xiaoyao suddenly walked toward Ling Yuan.
He stopped three feet in front of her.
A flush of red immediately bloomed across Ling Yuan's exquisite, snow-white cheeks.
"I just want to know — who exactly are you?" Jun Xiaoyao gazed earnestly into Ling Yuan's bright eyes.
"What do you mean by that? Am I not just myself?" Ling Yuan's lashes trembled lightly, and she lowered her gaze, avoiding Jun Xiaoyao's eyes.
In truth, she should have pushed Jun Xiaoyao away at this moment.
But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Jun Xiaoyao's gaze deepened as he said, "Do you still remember the girl who danced for me beneath the starry sky?"
Before their parting, the celestial maiden Yuan had once danced for Jun Xiaoyao beneath the stars.
A single performance of the Goddess of Luo's Startling Swan Dance, enough to captivate all who witnessed it.
It had also left a deep impression on Jun Xiaoyao.
He simply wanted to know now how deeply Ling Yuan had been influenced by the celestial maiden Yuan.
Perhaps the souls of the two of them had already perfectly merged into one.
Hearing Jun Xiaoyao's words, Ling Yuan's heart gave a sudden tremor.
She finally summoned her courage and looked toward Jun Xiaoyao.
In those bright, glistening eyes, something that looked like a firm resolve seemed to flash past.
"Jun Xiaoyao, have you ever considered that perhaps the Immortal Court and the Jun family don't necessarily have to be on opposing sides?"
"I am the young empress of the Immortal Court, and you are the divine son of the Jun family. If we join forces, perhaps we can change the will of both great powers."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Jun Xiaoyao looked at Ling Yuan.
Ling Yuan took a deep breath, her full chest rising and falling, and finally gathered the courage to say it.
"If the Jun family and the Immortal Court make peace, or even form an alliance, with your talent, you might one day become the lord of the Immortal Court, and I would be the Heavenly Empress."
"The two of us could rule over the entire immortal domain!"