"No need." Xie Lu refused decisively, "I'll figure it out myself."

Shen Yimian glanced at him strangely, then tapped his head with his finger, "Master is teaching you, but you're still not happy. Do you really want to learn?"

Xie Lu grabbed the slender wrist and pulled it away, whispering, "There's a Heavenly Rank mission tomorrow, I plan to go."

Hearing this, Shen Yimian's mood immediately became heavy. He stammered, "Go, I'll go too."

"The reward for this mission is a top-grade Transformation Pill," Xie Lu stared at him, "It can help cleanse your spiritual roots. You must take it this time."

Shen Yimian said without thinking, "Of course, otherwise how could I give such a good thing to others?"

Xie Lu looked at him meaningfully, obviously not believing what he said.

"Being too naive is not a good thing. You can be a little more selfish. This is my advice to you as an AI, not as the male protagonist."

He gave a warning and was about to leave. Before leaving, he turned around and looked at Shen Yimian who was sitting there blankly, and stretched out his hand with a little helplessness.

"Go back."

Shen Yimian held his hand and stood up, muttering, "When did I become serious..."

Just talking nonsense.

*

The next day.

The Qinghong Palace's task list is filled with disciples of the Heavenly and Earthly Ranks.

Xie Lu brought Shen Yimian into the crowd and reached out to take off one of the photos, but before he could do so, he was held down by another hand.

"I want this mission." The girl's cold voice suddenly sounded, leaving no room for doubt, "Take another one."

As soon as the words fell, all the disciples' eyes fell on them, and most of them were watching the show.

Shen Yimian's eyelids twitched, and he had a bad feeling. He looked up and saw that it was Su Yuning.

The heroine must still be angry after being rejected last night. Isn't this a great opportunity to advance their relationship?

Shen Yimian covered Xie Lu's mouth as he was about to speak, and said first, "Since we are both interested in this task, why not do it together?"

Hearing this, Su Yuning looked directly at Shen Yimian for the first time. She raised her chin slightly, looked at Shen Yimian's earth-level Taoist robe, and narrowed her eyes, "If you quit, this kind of mission is not for earth-level disciples to do. It's too dangerous."

She was also worried that he would be in danger. The heroine is such a considerate and kind person!

Shen Yimian was eager to withdraw, and just as he was about to agree, Xie Lu grabbed his wrist and took his hand away.

"No, my brother must come with me."

"Are you..." Shen Yimian almost cursed, "Why do you have to take me there?"

Xie Lu tightly grasped his wrist, preventing him from escaping, and said in a deep voice, "You can only level up by participating in missions. Do you want to be looked down upon for the rest of your life?"

The more important reason is that in the original book, Shen Yimian forcibly tied himself to the male protagonist and forced him to help him complete the task to reach the heavenly level.

Shen Yimian wilted. In fact, he really hated the contemptuous looks from others. In this world of cultivation where strength is respected, being weak is the original sin.

Seeing that Shen Yimian was unwilling to withdraw, Su Yuning's eyes became even colder, with a hint of anger, "You must go against me and bring a useless person who can't do anything with you. How can you complete the mission?"

These words were obviously directed at Xie Lu.

Xie Lu frowned and said coldly, "Please speak with respect. My brother is not useless. If you don't want to, you can find another task."

Su Yuning snorted softly, her eyes scanning the two of them, and suddenly said, "Since you insist on bringing your senior brother, then I will also bring someone."

Seeing that she was getting more and more angry, Shen Yimian tugged at Xie Lu's sleeve worriedly and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Be nicer and don't be so fierce."

Xie Lu glanced at Shen Yimian and softened his tone, "Okay, you can take anyone with you, but we will set off in half a minute."

Su Yuning turned away.

Half a minute later, Su Yuning walked into Qinghong Hall, and said with a slightly proud tone, "Xie Lu, we can set off now."

Xie Lu and Shen Yimian looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Brother Shen, we meet again."

Zuo Yan, dressed in a yellow-grade Taoist robe, greeted him with a smile, but his face was still a little pale and he was even coughing.

Shen Yimian was stunned and stepped forward to support him, asking puzzledly, "Why are you here?"

"Junior sister said she wanted to take me on a mission." Zuo Yan didn't even glance at Xie Lu. He smiled and introduced his junior sister to him. "This is my junior sister Su Yunning, the new member of Xianyue Peak. I'm sure you've already met her."

Su Yunning narrowed her eyes and looked carefully at the expressions of the three of them.

She had heard some rumors at Xianyue Peak.

This senior brother named Zuo Yan seems to have some relationship with both Xie Lu and Shen Yimian. Since they both like Zuo Yan, she can just help them.

Shen Yimian frowned and said in a deep voice, "But your injuries haven't fully healed yet, how can you go on this mission? Even if you are fully healed, this mission is extremely dangerous!"

Zuo Yan tugged at his clothes like a child who had made a mistake, and whispered, "Brother, I'm sorry, I just wanted to do the mission with you."

Shen Yimian didn't know what to say to him. After thinking for a long time, he looked at Xie Lu and asked, "What should we do? Can you lead us?"

Xie Lu glanced at Zuo Yan, clearly seeing the warning in his eyes. He frowned slightly, but did not refuse. "Okay."

"Brother, let's go."

When Su Yuning saw that he agreed to let Zuo Yan join, her face darkened even more, and she pulled Zuo Yan away.

In fact, there are two heavenly-level disciples in the team, so Shen Yimian is still very at ease. Moreover, with more people, he will not be so scared.

Before leaving, Xie Lu took off the Xiuyu necklace and his eyes swept across Zuo Yan's face.

He should have given this collar to Zuo Yan. Zuo Yan's role in the plot was a hundred times more important than Shen Yimian's, so he couldn't make any mistakes. But Shen Yimian and he were closer now, so this collar had always been for Shen Yimian...

After a brief hesitation, he still chose to hand the Xiuyu necklace to Zuo Yan and said, "Put it on."

Shen Yimian was stunned. He didn't expect Xie Lu to give the collar to Zuo Yan.

Somehow, I felt a little uncomfortable and sour in my heart.

It was like when your best friend suddenly becomes nicer to someone else, and he felt a little uncomfortable for a moment.

Zuo Yan readily took it and put it around his neck, saying thank you in a very perfunctory manner.

The atmosphere was a little tense. Su Yuning was so engrossed in watching the show that she couldn't help but scoff, "You're really good to my senior brother, but you gave the magic weapon to my senior brother. What about your senior brother?"

Shen Yimian clutched her sleeves sullenly and said softly, "It's okay if I don't need it."

He has refined more than a dozen inner cores in the storage ring that Xie Lu gave him, and his cultivation has greatly increased. Although his strength is far from that of an Earth-level disciple, he has still reached the Profound Level.

He can do it, on his own.

Xie Lu pulled Shen Yimian behind him and said calmly, "As long as Senior Brother stays by my side, nothing will happen."

This is the optimal solution he deduced.

He will protect Shen Yimian, and it is enough for Zuo Yan to have the Xiuyu necklace.

Su Yuning sneered sarcastically, "I hope you can protect him."

Xie Lu was just about to hold Shen Yimian's hand to fly the sword together, but before he could touch his hand, Shen Yimian dodged it without a trace.

Xie Lu paused in mid-air, stunned for a moment, watching Shen Yimian walk to Zuo Yan, smiling and speaking,

"Junior brother, my sword is rusted and cannot be used. Let's share a sword."

Zuo Yan readily agreed, pulled Shen Yimian up, took his hand and placed it on his waist, the smile on his lips deepened, "Senior Brother, hold me up."

Xie Lu's eyes darkened, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.

The four of them flew on their swords, galloping thousands of miles, and arrived at the mission location.

The old temple on Luopan Mountain.

Crows and sparrows flapped their wings and flew away, while insects chirped silently in the forest. Even in the daytime, the swaying shadows of the trees still gave off an eerie and spooky feeling.

They will sleep here tonight.

When Shen Yimian stepped into the temple, a stale smell of dust hit him in the face, making him sneeze twice.

"We can only rest here tonight. If we go further, we will reach the city occupied by the demons." Xie Lu regarded this old temple as a safe house for Shen Yimian and Zuo Yan, so he chose to settle down here.

Along the way, Su Yunning's anger had subsided a lot, and her expression was no longer cold. She even kindly shared the cakes she brought with her with Shen Yimian and Zuo Yan.

A bonfire was lit in the old temple, and a team of four sat around it and shared cakes.

"You guys divide it up."

As Su Yunning said this, her eyes were looking at Xie Lu, obviously wanting to ease the relationship with Xie Lu.

Shen Yimian was flattered and took the pastry. She broke off a piece and handed the rest to Zuo Yan.

They shared the cakes, which were sweet and tasted as if they had just been baked this morning and were still slightly warm.

"Brother, I can also make pastries." Zuo Yan lowered his voice, leaned close to Shen Yimian's ear, and spoke softly, "What do you like to eat? I will make it for you next time."

The breath brushed Shen Yimian's earlobe, making him feel itchy. He subconsciously dodged it and said, "No, that's too much trouble."

The two people whispered intimately, but it sounded different in the eyes of others.

Su Yunning felt that the two of them were quite suitable for each other, and they matched in every way, whether in appearance or talent.

What's more, in her opinion, the two of them have a good impression of each other.

On the contrary, Xie Lu...

She turned her head and saw Xie Lu quietly looking at the blazing bonfire in front of him, his expression gloomy, and he felt inexplicably lonely.

Su Yuning lowered her eyelashes, moved quietly and sat next to him.

"Actually, I didn't mean to be angry with you. It's just that I've never been rejected before, and I felt angry for a moment."

From the day of the entrance test, she had a deep memory of Xie Lu.

One of the test items was hunting monsters. At that time, Su Yuning was too confident in her own strength. She ignored the advice and wanted to hunt a demon dragon. She was almost killed by the dragon. When she was almost in despair, it was Xie Lu who saved her.

The young man stood with a sword in his hand, his face stained with a few drops of dragon's blood. He looked at her with aloofness and indifference, and stretched out his hand to her like a god descending from heaven.

"Are you okay?"

In an instant, my heart was pounding.

Su Yunning had never felt this way before. Whenever she saw Xie Lu, thought of Xie Lu, or heard Xie Lu's name, her heart would beat faster and her face would turn hot.

"You saved me then, and I've always wanted to thank you."

Xie Lu cast his gaze towards her and said calmly, "It's just a small favor, don't worry about it."

Su Yuning breathed a sigh of relief, a slight smile appeared on the corner of her lips, and she asked in a low voice, "How does the pastry taste? I made it myself."

"You didn't control the heat well." Xie Lu commented seriously, "You need to use low heat when frying the mung bean paste, otherwise it will burn."

Su Yuning: "...you still understand these things"

"I know a thing or two."

After the conversation ended, the two chatted for a few more words. Seeing that Xie Lu didn't seem to be interested, Su Yuning had to turn the topic to Shen Yimian and asked curiously, "Why are you so nice to your senior brother?"

It's clear that they have only been together for a short time, why does Xie Lu seem to have such a deep relationship with Shen Yimian?

Hearing this, Xie Lu finally showed some reaction. He raised his eyes and saw Zuo Yan diligently feeding Shen Yimian. He then lowered his eyes to hide the unclear emotions in his eyes.

After a long while, he spoke softly, "Because he is my senior brother, I must treat him well."

After a pause, Xie Lu inexplicably said, "By the way, there is something I want to ask you."

Su Yunning opened her eyes slightly and said expectantly, "What's the matter? Just tell me."

“If you make someone angry, but they don’t show that they are angry, how can you comfort them?”

Su Yuning: "...The person you are talking about, is he your senior brother?"

Xie Lu's expression changed slightly, he looked away without leaving any trace, and said in a very light voice,

"No, no, just asking."

After a moment, he became really curious and asked quietly, "How did you figure that out?"

Su Yunning's mouth twitched slightly, "I guessed." Only Shen Yimian ignored Xie Lu all night. Is this so difficult to guess?

"oh."

Xie Lu responded calmly, but his heart was filled with turmoil.

After a while, he quietly made a note in his heart.

——Humans are creatures that occasionally have a very strong sixth sense.