Huan Changming's words were sincere, and his deep affection for Lu Pianpian was evident in every line.
“Even I was moved by Changming’s sincerity. The Divine Child has compassion for all living beings. I do not believe that the Divine Child is not moved in the slightest.”
Langxu landed in front of Lu Pianpian from the air. Huan Changming put the young dragon on the ground and stood in front of Lu Pianpian, asking, "What do you want to do?"
“The Divine Child possesses boundless power, what can I do to him? But you—” Langxu sighed, “I went to great lengths to get you to prove your sincerity to the Divine Child!”
Langxu took out the heart of the Lovebird Demon from his bosom, split it in two, and handed one piece to Huan Changming. "This is the heart of the Lovebird Demon. The Lovebird is devoted and has only one mate in its life. After death, the heart transforms into a stone called the Heart Test Stone. If the person holding the Heart Test Stone has their beloved in front of them, then the stone will glow."
“Changming, since the Divine Child does not believe in your sincerity, you shall use this Heart-Testing Stone to prove your sincerity towards the Divine Child.”
Huan Changming looked at the heart-testing stone handed over by Langxu, but did not take it immediately.
Langxu teased, "Could it be that you really aren't sincere towards the Divine Child? Are you afraid to undergo the test of the Heart-Testing Stone?"
Huan Changming took the half of the Heart-Testing Stone in his hand and looked directly at Lu Pianpian. "I'm just worried that this broken stone is useless and not enough to show my true feelings for you. Instead, it might make you misunderstand that I'm being insincere."
He opened his palm, and Lu Pianpian looked down at the stone in his palm, which was originally black but was now emitting a black and red light, like a human heart that had been hollowed out and could only use the dazzling light of blood to show his love to his beloved.
Langxu clapped his hands and cheered, "Excellent! It seems that Changming is indeed deeply in love with the Divine Child, even the Heart-Testing Stone can sense it!"
Lu Pianpian remained indifferent, her emotions seemingly unaffected.
Huan Changming took in his expression, silently closed his fingers, and concealed the light of the heart-testing stone in his palm.
"Then this remaining half of the Heart-Testing Stone will be given to the Divine Child."
Langxu handed the Heart-Testing Stone to Lu Pianpian, but Lu Pianpian did not take it immediately. Instead, she calmly observed Huan Changming's expression.
Huan Changming's lips were tightly pressed together, his eyes fixed on him, his breathing becoming somewhat heavy with tension, as if he both wanted him to take the Heart-Testing Stone and was afraid of him taking it.
Lu Pianpian reached out and grasped the Heart-Testing Stone. After lying in his palm for a moment, the Heart-Testing Stone did not emit a red light like it did when Huan Changming held it; instead, it remained as black as a hard stone.
The Heart-Testing Stone remained unchanged; Lu Pianpian had absolutely no feelings for Huan Changming.
Langxu patted Huan Changming on the shoulder and comforted him, "Changming, matters of love cannot be forced..."
Huan Changming crushed the heart-testing stone in his palm to pieces, the stone dust pouring from between his fingers onto the ground. He maintained a forced smile on his face. "Pianpian, these things are meaningless. I can feel whether you have feelings for me or not. I don't need these useless things to prove it."
Upon hearing this, Lu Pianpian finally looked at him properly, and he continued smiling, "You think so too, right?"
Huan Changming desperately wanted Lu Pianpian's approval. He would believe her as long as she agreed, even if it was just a nod.
But Lu Pianpian said, "Huan Changming, why deceive yourself?"
Huan Changming's smile froze completely, and his blue eyes, which were fixed on Lu Pianpian, seemed to have all their emotions sucked away in an instant, becoming empty.
Why deceive yourself?
The reaction of the heart-testing stone is enough to explain everything.
Even though Huan Changming was deeply in love with Lu Pianpian, Lu Pianpian remained indifferent to him.
He didn't love him, and Lu Pianpian didn't love Huan Changming.
Lu Pianpian turned around and summoned Yun with a blank expression, leaving the Demon Realm.
"Mother, don't go!" the young dragon cried out, but his mother flew further and further away. He had no choice but to ask his father for help, "Father, Mother is leaving, please go after her!"
Huan Changming stood frozen in place, completely unresponsive.
Seeing that the desired outcome had been achieved, Langxu seized the opportunity and said, "Changming, do you see clearly? Lu Pianpian has no feelings for you whatsoever. Even though he rescued you before, it was only to fulfill the Heavenly Lord's request. Now he clearly knows that he cannot convert you, so he has withdrawn from the situation."
"He is heartless and ungrateful, why should you still be so devoted to him?"
"If we join forces, we can storm the Heavenly Realm as soon as possible, take the Heavenly Emperor's head, and abduct Lu Pianpian back to the Demon Realm to be your Demon Queen. This is the only feasible course of action!"
Huan Changming's Adam's apple bobbed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Langxu frowned and said, "Lu Pianpian is so heartless, so why are you still so stubborn and waste your energy on him?"
Huan Changming's injuries flared up, and he was in excruciating pain in all his internal organs, but none of the pain was as bad as the pain in his heart.
His heart felt as if it had been stabbed a thousand times with a knife, bleeding profusely. His face was deathly pale with pain. He clutched his chest and stammered, "It's enough that I love him..."
If Lu Pianpian doesn't love Huan Changming, then it's fine for Huan Changming to love Lu Pianpian.
With great effort, Youlong helped Huan Changming leave. Langxu watched Huan Changming's back closely from behind, thinking to himself that Huan Changming was not someone he could cooperate with.
At the juncture between the celestial realm and the mortal realm, Su Rou had been waiting for three days, but the person she longed to see had not yet arrived.
The patrolling soldiers, seeing her standing there, couldn't help but ask, "Fairy Su Rou, who are you waiting for?"
Su Rou said, "We'll wait for the newly ascended immortals."
After she ascended from the mortal realm and returned to the celestial realm, only her master Qu Fuyi remained in the mortal realm.
She had not yet regained her memories at that time, and Huan San had already died. Her master was the only person close to her in the world. She was unwilling to leave her master, so she refused to ascend to immortality no matter what.
It was her master who persuaded her from the side and assured her that he would ascend to find her as soon as possible, which made her agree and ascend smoothly.
These past few days have passed, and the day that Qu Fuyi promised her to ascend to immortality has arrived. She believes in her master; as long as her master says he can ascend on this day, he will definitely not break his promise.
“Fairy Su Rou, you’re a step too late. The latest batch of ascensioners were taken away and assigned divine positions ten days ago.”
Qu Fuyi had indeed ascended to heaven ten days ago, and the first thing he did upon arriving at the Heavenly Palace was to inquire about Qu Surou.
The fairy who was assigning them positions glared at him the moment he heard him asking, "Who are you? Do you think you're qualified to inquire about Fairy Su Rou's name?"
"I originally thought you were the most promising immortal among this batch of ascendants, but I didn't expect you to be so restless. The little immortal guarding the Buddha-slaying pestle inside the Floating Pagoda has just been promoted and transferred. You can go and take over this position and calm your restlessness inside the Floating Pagoda!"
Qu Fuyi failed to find out anything and was instead misunderstood as having malicious intentions and inquiring about the fairy's private affairs. As a result, she was assigned a low-ranking divine position and sent to the Floating Pagoda.
The Buddha-slaying pestle inside the pagoda is a sacred Buddhist object used to punish Buddhas who have committed offenses. The pestle is precious and requires constant, round-the-clock guarding. However, in this peaceful world, with gods and Buddhas living in harmony, there are hardly any Buddhas to punish. Guarding the pestle is ultimately a lowly, idle, and unimportant position, and no one cares.
Qu Fuyi held a broom, sweeping the fallen leaves around the pagoda while sighing.
This position isn't particularly important, but one can't leave it unattended. If someone with ill intentions were to sneak in and steal the Buddha-Slaying Pestle while he's away, his punishment would be minor; the real problem would be the villain using the Pestle to cause trouble.
But if he didn't leave, he wouldn't have a chance to find his apprentice.
Qu Fuyi sighed heavily, "I painstakingly ascended to this heaven, only to reunite with my disciple! Heaven, how dare you mock me like this!"
"Master!"
Qu Fuyi turned around abruptly and saw a fairy in flowing robes descending from the clouds and rushing towards him, "Master!"
Qu Fuyi rubbed his eyes. The fairy was none other than his disciple, whom he had been thinking about day and night. He threw the broom aside and immediately ran over, calling out, "Rou'er!"
The two ran together, and Su Rou picked Qu Fuyi up from the ground and spun her around, exclaiming, "Master, you really ascended!"
Qu Fuyi was dizzy from being spun around, but she was overjoyed. "I promised you I would ascend to heaven, so of course I can't go back on my word... Alright, alright, stop spinning me, or I'll faint!"
Su Rou put Qu Fuyi on the ground and carefully examined her master's face. She found that her master's appearance had changed a lot. Although he still had a childlike face, he had the outline of a young man. "Master, you have lost weight."
Qu Fuyi felt a pang of sadness at her words. With his three disciples leaving him one after another, how could he ever live as carefree and happy as before?
"Rou'er hasn't changed. She's still as beautiful as before." Qu Fuyi lovingly touched her face. "No, she's even more beautiful than before."
Su Rou was stunned for a moment, then quickly pulled Qu Fuyi's hand off her face and stepped back.
Her reaction, in Qu Fuyi's eyes, meant that the master-disciple relationship had become distant and cold. He suppressed the bitterness in his heart and asked, "How did Rou'er find me?"
"I went to inquire, and they said you were here, Master, so I came." The Master she had longed for day and night was right before her, but Su Rou somehow avoided her gaze and instead looked at the Floating Pagoda. "By the way, Master, why did you take such a leisurely position?"
Given Master's cultivation level, he should not have been assigned to this place when he ascended to the upper realm.
Qu Fuyi didn't want to talk about that unpleasant matter. "Sigh, I guess I'll just have to accept my fate. It was arranged by them. I'm a newcomer here. If I don't obey their arrangements, they'll kick me off the Heavenly Realm right away. How am I supposed to meet you then?"
Su Rou touched her face, but after a few touches, she felt it was a little hot and put it down. "Don't worry, Master. In a couple of days, I will plead with the Heavenly Emperor and I will definitely transfer you away from this godforsaken place!"
Qu Fuyi was very pleased. "Disciple, you ascended to heaven before me. It seems you are doing very well in the Heavenly Realm. I will have to rely on you in the future."
"Master, what are you saying!" Su Rou felt uncomfortable. "Oh, right, there's something else I need to tell you!"
"What's up?"
"Pianpian and Huan San are both still alive!"
A note from the author:
Qu Fuyi: The tears I shed for you three siblings are worthless;
Qu Surou: QAQ;
Lu Pianpian: QAQ;
Huan Juntian: =. =
Chapter 62
The moon sets, frost is cold, and the Milky Way stretches across the sky.
Juntian was bathed in the light of stars and moon. With a flick of his wrist, the stars shifted and the wind stirred, causing the entire celestial sphere to change as if it were a game of chess, allowing him to place his pieces at will.
The Heavenly Book watched as he arranged the stars and moon, his eyes dazzled. The Heavenly Lord Juntian was in charge of the stars and moon, and had been in charge of the celestial chart for many years. The scale of his spellcasting was truly awe-inspiring.
A star emitted an incongruous red light in the bright white Milky Way. The Heavenly Book was astonished and pointed at the star, asking, "My Lord, what star is this?"
Jun Tian looked at the star that the Heavenly Book pointed to, sensing why it was shining. He frowned, flew down from the stars and moon, walked towards the Heavenly Book, and asked, "Senior Brother is back?"
He had been asking the Heavenly Book to tell him Lu Pianpian's whereabouts. If Lu Pianpian returned to the Heavenly Realm, the Heavenly Book would definitely come to inform him immediately.
“Yes, Divine Lord.” The Heavenly Book bowed to him. “The Divine Child has returned from the Demon Realm.”
"Did you come back alone?"
"yes."
"Okay, I'll go check on him."
“The divine child has gone to the pagoda and is not in his own abode.”
What was he doing at the pagoda?
Even the Heavenly Book didn't know, "It was Fairy Su Rou who sent a message, I don't know why either."
Jun Tian paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, you can go back now."
After dismissing the celestial book, Jun Tian looked up at the celestial phenomena again. The red-glowing star was still twinkling, seemingly intertwined with someone's destiny.
He lowered his head in thought and went to the pagoda.
The movement of the Red Phoenix Star is definitely not a good thing for the gods.
In front of the pagoda, Qu Fuyi embraced Lu Pianpian, weeping uncontrollably.