Chapter 278: Ancient-Style Forbidden Love?

Chen Huaian might not be the brightest,

But even

could tell—Li Qingran was in a mood.

Her voice might’ve been calm, but just look at her eyes—hazy like a misted-over window. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her sword, and invisible sword energy swirled around her. The knee-high grass around the formation had already been shaved down to bare turf...

At this rate, she was probably going to draw her sword any minute now.

“Master’s wife? Me?” Lin Lingling pointed to herself, face full of confusion.

She glanced between Chen Huaian and Li Qingran—then suddenly got it.

Ah, so Li Qingran must be the big sister the Governor was, uh… serving. And now they were role-playing?

An ancient-style forbidden romance between master and student, huh?

Say what you will—seriously, say what you will.

This beautiful big sister might be who-knows-how-many years old, but she really had maintained herself well. That fresh, youthful aura of a young girl was perfectly intact. Even if they were doing a period-style forbidden love story, there wasn’t a hint of anything out of place.

“We’re not like that, really. Qingran, you misunderstood.”

Chen Huaian hurriedly waved his hands and explained, “She’s… uh, you could say she’s a junior from the same sect.”

“Yeah, totally! Pretty Big Sis, I’m only 12 years old. How could I be in that kind of relationship with the Governor? Don’t worry!” Lin Lingling, finally not acting all cold and robotic in front of the beautiful lady, actually started buttering her up with lively enthusiasm.

Li Qingran shifted her focus to Lin Lingling and noticed her cultivation was only Qi Refining Stage 3.

And based on her bone age, she really was just 12 years old.

There’s no way Master would make a 12-year-old his wife. That’s just ridiculous.

Clearly, she’d been overthinking it.

Misunderstanding cleared, the cloudiness in her eyes vanished. She blinked, and a smile slowly crept onto her lips.

Seeing Li Qingran unable to suppress her smile, Chen Huaian finally let out a breath of relief.

He stole a glance at his phone and saw a bunch of notifications.

【Your Digital Girlfriend will descend in 1 minute】

【Please select your special effects package:

〈1〉Nascent Soul Realm cultivation (only applies to Li Qingran) – ¥9999

〈2〉Matching white hair as projection – ¥666/day

〈3〉Matching outfit as projection – ¥888/day

〈4〉Temporary speech correction – ¥1998/hour】

...

【Your Digital Girlfriend will descend in 10 seconds!】

...

【Your Digital Girlfriend has descended.】

【Special effects package closed. Good luck!】

...

Chen Huaian: “……”

Wait—hold on.

He might’ve forgotten something kinda important.

He was currently dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and a buzzcut. Classic modern guy look.

Wouldn’t that totally give him away?!

A waft of fragrance came his way as Li Qingran slowly approached—step by step, like a curious deer exploring the woods.

At first, she just stood next to him, acting casual, but kept sneaking glances at his side profile. Her bright eyes sparkled with curiosity.

In a seemingly unintentional moment, she leaned in and took a soft sniff, inhaling deeply.

Yep, it was that unique scent that only her Master had.

Li Qingran held her hands behind her back, lips curved in a soft smile.

“Master, is your hair still growing back?”

“Ah—yeah. This world suppresses my cultivation, so it’s growing kinda slow.”

Chen Huaian quickly gave the excuse he’d prepared in advance.

Thank god he’d thought about this ahead of time—just in case.

“I see. No wonder your cultivation only shows as Qi Refining Stage Nine.”

Li Qingran didn’t question him at all.

After all, this

was

a whole new world. The spiritual energy here was so thin it made her feel physically uncomfortable. And as for her Master’s strange clothing, she naturally assumed it was just to blend in.

Nothing strange about it.

“Sigh. That’s why I summoned you here.”

Chen Huaian faked a heavy sigh and said solemnly, “This world suppresses cultivation in a terrifying way. Grand Ascension gets pressed down below Qi Refining. Void Fusion is squashed under Foundation Establishment. Unity Stage gets knocked down to Golden Core… But below Nascent Soul, there’s no suppression. I’m about to step into danger, and I’m running out of options.”

Li Qingran’s expression turned serious instantly.

“I understand. Then it was absolutely right of you to summon me! Helping Master solve problems is exactly what a disciple should do!”

Lin Lingling’s gaze ping-ponged between the two of them, mouth slightly open.

What the heck is all this?

Heavenly Dao suppressing cultivation… Void Fusion and Unity Stage…

What even

this?

These two were way too deep into this role-play thing!

“Uh… Governor, don’t you think you’re a little

too

into character...?”

“Into character? What’s that supposed to mean?” Li Qingran blinked innocently, totally confused by Lin Lingling’s comment.

Chen Huaian quickly slapped a hand over Lin Lingling’s mouth and let out a nervous laugh. “Ahaha, nothing! This kid just says the darnedest things sometimes. Even I don’t understand half of what she’s babbling about, hahaha!”

Lin Lingling: “Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph! (I’m

not

a kid!)”

“Ahem. Disciple, please set up a defensive formation for her.”

Chen Huaian clamped a hand on Lin Lingling’s shoulder and turned to Li Qingran with a serious tone:

“It’s too risky to bring her along. If we run into danger, I might not be able to protect her. Once the formation is set, we can head out.”

He was desperate to get moving with Li Qingran already.

Every extra second they lingered around this idiot girl was another chance to blow his cover.

Sure, Li Qingran trusted him completely—she believed anything he said.

But he still had a conscience, okay?!

“Understood. Leave it to me!”

Li Qingran nodded, face composed.

She immediately took out spirit stones and began setting up a Golden Core-level stealth array, with a layered Mystic Armor Formation embedded inside.

Even the way she knelt to draw the formation was beautiful to look at.

“Governor, you’re a

legend

!” Lin Lingling, now free, instantly gave Chen Huaian a big thumbs-up.

“You sweet-talked a thousand-year-old big sis into doting on you, and now she’s even giving us resources for the Exorcist Division. You’re my idol!”

“If you don’t shut up, I swear I’ll toss you off this cliff!” Chen Huaian’s face darkened.

Thankfully, the stealth formation was already in place.

He and Lin Lingling were outside of it now. Otherwise, with Li Qingran’s Golden Core strength, she would’ve

definitely

heard that little whisper of hers.

“A thousand-year-old big sis? Exorcist Division?”

Inside the formation, as she worked on embedding the Mystic Armor Formation, Li Qingran tilted her head.

Then simply chuckled and shook her head.

“Kids will be kids—just saying random things…”

“Just in case, let’s embed a medium-tier killing formation inside too.”

After some more setup, the formation was complete.

Chen Huaian gave Lin Lingling a strict set of instructions—

Only when she promised

not

to leave the formation’s range did he finally set off with Li Qingran.

Next up: a beautiful wilderness adventure with his lovely little disciple…

And he didn’t want

anyone

interrupting it.

…

Near the mountaintop belonging to C Province Exorcist Division—

Lin Hao put down his binoculars, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. “F**

ing finally. That b

stard Chen Huaian’s left.”

“Boss, should we make our move now?” A few Awakened from the Lin Family huddled around him, sneaky as rats.

“Not yet. Wait a little longer,” Lin Hao ducked back behind cover, silently counting the minutes.

Three days ago, he’d tried to buy supplies from C Province Exorcist Division—Rejuvenation Pills, Sword Spheres, Talismans, especially the Bone-Cleansing Pill.

When he found out what the Bone-Cleansing Pill could do, he was

shocked

—

It had the same effects as the ones used by those hidden sects!

It didn’t take a genius to realize—that stuff was insanely valuable.

But Zhao Ying, that b*tch, coldly turned him down, saying his offer lacked sincerity.

What, wasn’t thirty million enough for a single pill?!

Originally, he planned to cozy up to a cultivator during the Monster Hunting Tournament and leech some resources.

But none of the Ascenders would even look at him.

So what if they’d been cultivating ten years ahead of him?

had ten extra years, he’d crush all of them!

Still—he had to admit one thing.

Spiritual revival was moving fast. New changes every day. He was already falling behind.

And in times like these, even a single misstep could destroy your future.

To be a true elite, you needed the freshest, highest-quality resources.

The Monster Hunting Tournament had them—but he couldn’t get any.

C Province Exorcist Division had them—but they wouldn’t give him any.

But d*mn it, he

really

wanted a Bone-Cleansing Pill!

Couldn’t they just sell him

one

He couldn’t even imagine how great he’d feel if he had one—reborn, practically!

Since they wouldn’t give it to him...

Then he’d just have to kidnap someone in exchange.

…