"So that’s your grand plan?" asked Ziyan, her feline ears twitching as she sought confirmation.

Shen Haoran simply nodded, his expression relaxed and confident as the two of them walked side by side toward the bustling city square.

"But... I don’t really think I’m needed here for this, Young Master," Ziyan murmured, looking down at her form-fitting qipao.

Her role in this aggressive financial takeover seemed entirely redundant given his overwhelming power and resources.

Besides, although she was a former noble in the Eastern Region, she has been very focused on cultivation and survival that she knew nothing of negotiations or anything of the sort.

"You can just act pretty and stay right by my side," Haoran smirked at her, his voice dripping with smooth, effortless charm.

Without warning, he extended his arm and wrapped it firmly around her slender waist, pulling her flush against his side.

"After all, I have no one else to accompany me today, and a beautiful woman is the best accessory for a young master."

Zhu Ziyan froze for a fraction of a second, her heart skipping a violent beat as the sudden warmth of Haoran’s body pressed against hers. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The unexpected proximity sent a flush of heat blooming across her cheeks.

However, despite the initial shock, Ziyan ultimately did nothing to resist. She remained completely compliant, letting him do exactly what he liked with her, her body naturally adapting to his possessive stride.

Her best friend had pretty much sold her off to him, this little bit of intimacy shouldn’t matter, right?

After all, Huo Yue had been very adamant about her subbing in whenever she(Huo Yue) felt tired.

"Is that snake girl still traveling with you?" Haoran asked, changing the subject casually as they navigated the crowded thoroughfare.

"Snake girl... do you mean Sister Medusa?" Ziyan asked, tilting her head as Haoran offered a brief, confirming nod. "Well, she chose to stay behind with Lady Liu Ruyan to help manage and expand the operations of the Flame Moon Pavilion. Her strength has been vital for keeping the local factions in check."

"Heh," Haoran chuckled softly, a flash of genuine amusement in his golden eyes. "That girl still didn’t leave, eh? Our transactional deal back then was for her to protect and accompany Huo Yue for a strict duration of three years only, and it has already been much longer than that. It seems she has taken quite a personal liking to you all."

Ziyan smiled warmly at the thought of her fierce companion. "Sister Medusa is definitely rough around the edges and incredibly blunt with her words, but deep down, she’s actually very gentle and protective of those she considers her own."

Haoran hummed in thought, his fingers lightly tapping against Ziyan’s hip. "Well, I guess I should properly uphold my turn of the deal then. I’ll make sure that the clan will send her premium cultivation resources until she successfully breaks through to the Saint rank."

Ziyan hummed softly in agreement, feeling a wave of gratitude for his casual generosity.

For a while, the two of them continued to walk through the magnificent stone streets in a comfortable, rhythmic silence.

Just then, as if a sudden memory had broken through her thoughts, Ziyan spoke up, her voice dropping to a cautious whisper.

"By the way, Young Master... I found something... rather strange today during my visit to the Pocket-Beast League."

Haoran raised a sharp eyebrow, glancing down at her profile. "Strange? How so?"

"You see, back in the Eastern Region, before everything fell apart, I had a fiance—" Ziyan suddenly paused mid-sentence.

At that moment, she realized how mentioning another man, especially your former fiance, in front of the man holding you might sound uncomfortable, and a flash of pure panic washed over her features.

She hurriedly raised her head to stare directly into his golden eyes, her words tripping over themselves in her haste to clarify. "I-It was entirely an arranged marriage! A political contract made by our families when we were children! We... we haven’t even ever kissed, or even held hands properly!"

Haoran looked profoundly amused by her frantic explanation, a low, teasing laugh vibrating in his chest. "Well, it seems like he was such a pure, overly cautious boy that he didn’t even dare to touch his own beautiful fiancee. If it were me in his position back then, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from completely eating you up every single day."

Ziyan’s entire face turned a brilliant, burning shade of crimson as she violently lowered her head, her gaze locking onto her own moving shoes as her cat ears flattened in pure embarrassment.

"W-Well, h-he’s not exactly like that. I... I just never gave him a single chance to get close to me."

Tai Yuhao was a scum who played with many women despite having a fiancee, why would she even associate with him?

She’d just feel dirty.

On the other hand, the fact that Haoran was the same, and is probably an even bigger scum, completely went over her head.

Or rather, she knew how Haoran is, but she believes that he’s different.

Yes, she’s incredibly bias and hypocritical.

"How utterly pitiful," Haoran chuckled, his tone dripping with playful malice. "It seems like someone else will end up eating the delicious cabbage that was originally supposed to belong to him."

"I..." Ziyan stammered, her throat completely dry.

She couldn’t even utter a single coherent word of refutation, her mind utterly short-circuiting under his shameless flirting.

Seeing her beautiful, flustered state, Haoran decided that he had indulged in enough teasing for the moment.

He reigned in his playful aura and asked, "So? What is it you actually wanted to say about him?"

Hearing that question, Ziyan finally sughed in relief.

She then took a deep, steadying breath, quickly calming her erratic heart rate. "Y-You see... I think, I think my former fiance somehow survived the destruction of our academy. I believe his soul has taken over the body of someone else, and he is currently right here in the academy, masquerading as a noble scion."

"Oh?" Haoran paused his steps entirely.

Ziyan also stopped and stood perfectly still beside him, his strong hand still resting possessively on her waist.

Haoran’s gaze drifted toward the distant skyline of the academy, a profound, unreadable smile playing on his lips. "That’s... truly interesting."

Ziyan felt a sudden, strange chill. She felt as though there was a massive, hidden meaning buried deep within those words, but since she couldn’t fathom what a grand figure like Haoran would care about a ghost from the Eastern Region, she decided to just forget about it.

"So? What do you think about this reunion?" Haoran asked, turning his gaze back down to her, smiling warmly.

"What do I... think?" Zhu Ziyan tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. "I... I don’t think he is of any relevance in my life anymore. He tried to send a message to meet up with me in a private room earlier today, but I didn’t go. I firmly believe our destiny was completely cut off the night our academy fell, so there is absolutely nothing left for us to talk about."

Haoran observed her closely, his golden eyes piercing deep into her soul to verify her sincerity.

Ziyan’s face immediately turned red again, feeling the intense, suffocating warmth of his proximity.

Satisfied with what he saw, Haoran finally backed up slightly, his smile turning bright and triumphant.

"Good to know. Let’s go."

With that, the two of them resumed their leisurely walk.

*

*

*

A few minutes later, they finally arriving at the edge of the grand city square.

The center of the square was dominated by a massive, raised stone platform etched with intricate, glowing silver runes that pulsed with profound spatial energy.

A few elderly academy overseers stood guard around the perimeter, maintaining order while hundreds of students stood in massive, painfully slow-moving lines, waiting for their turn to utilize the public array.

Haoran swept his gaze across the crowd, his sharp senses immediately noticing a strange anomaly.

Every single student waiting in these lines was only at the Nascent Soul Realm or below, and there wasn’t a single Spirit Ascension Realm or high-tier cultivator in sight.

He quickly realized the reason behind it.

Cultivators of that caliber usually belonged to elite, wealthy factions that possessed their own private, highly specialized teleportation arrays within their territory, entirely bypassing the need to mingle with the common student populace.

Ziyan stared at the agonizingly long lines, letting out a soft sigh. "It will probably be quite a while before we can pass through, Young Master."

"No, it won’t take long at all," Haoran smirked, his eyes gleaming with a ruthless, predatory light as he took a decisive step forward.

And at that exact second, the vibrant, sunlit world seemed to violently darken.

The cheerful atmosphere of the bustling square was instantly obliterated as Haoran released his suppressed aura.

It didn’t just leak out, no, it flared across the square like a physical, apocalyptic shockwave.

The temperature plummeted to sub-zero levels in an instant, frost rapidly crawling across the stone floor.

To everyone present, it felt as though the sky had cracked open and the icy, indifferent gaze of a primeval Death God had suddenly locked onto their mortal souls.

His continuous, unyielding Qi was so dense, so thick with raw, celestial weight that the ambient spiritual energy in the air literally began to condense into a heavy, dark mist, looking as though it was raining pure terror.

In that instant, a suffocating, localized gravity slammed into the crowd.

"W-Wh-What—!?"

"What’s... happening...!?"

"R-Rain?!"

Hundreds of students instantly choked on their own breath, the air turning to lead in their lungs as the pressure slammed into them like a physical hammer.

Weak-willed cultivators didn’t even have the chance to cry out; their knees buckled instantly, and they collapsed onto the hard cobblestones by the dozens, their bodies trembling violently, their mouths foaming in sheer, psychological terror as their mental spheres were brutally suppressed.

Soon, the entire square fell into a horrific, deathly silence, broken only by the sound of groaning bodies.

Haoran walked forward smoothly, his hand still resting comfortably on Ziyan’s waist, guiding her through the sea of collapsing, trembling students like a god walking through a graveyard of mortals.

Those bodies lying on the ground that were on the way were just kicked to the sude by him, causing them to immediately cough up mouthful of blood.

Zhu Ziyan couldn’t help but pity them, but said nothing.

Although she doesn’t like bullying the weak, but since it’s Haoran, then it should be okay.

Within seconds, the two of them stood directly before the main elder, who was currently sitting on a rustic rattan chair, his posture still as calm as a lake as he guarded the primary activation node of the teleportation circle.

The elder’s face looked bored, as if he had seen something insignificant, as he just stared at them

"Academy City," Haoran commanded smoothly, his voice breaking the absolute silence like a tolling church bell.

The elder pointed at the fallen students. "You skipped the line. This is against regulations..."

Haoran let out a low, melodious chuckle that sent shivers down the fallen student’s spine. "No, I didn’t skip anything, Elder. Look around you. They all willingly chose to step aside and let me pass."

The elder stared at him, his eyebrow raised at the sheer audacity and the monstrous pressure radiating from the youth.

But soon, he still shook his head, "That’s against the regulations. Line up if you want to pass."

"Hm?" Haoran tilted his head in a beautifully mockingly gesture, his golden eyes flashing with absolute, terrifying dominance. "Don’t talk to me like that, Elder. After all... this prestigious academy openly promotes the absolute, unyielding law of the jungle, does it not?"

The elder paused, staring at him up and down, before grinning.

"Ha...hahaha!" He then erupted into laughter and stood up, "That’s right. This academy operates in the absolute law of the jungle! Very well. You may go."

With that, Haoran gave the elder a nod before walking towards the circle.