After finishing, Ye Tiancheng sent Hou Mingzhu back to the top of the cliff, threw her there, and left. Hou Mingzhu finally managed to call her assistant to pick her up. Upon returning home, she fell seriously ill and remained bedridden.
Meanwhile, Ye Tiancheng had a dream. In it, a woman in white descended from the sky. Ye Tiancheng recalled that the girl, clad in snow-white attire, was named Lin Xue. Her appearance had been quite dramatic, accompanied by a loud noise from the heavens. This girl was beautiful and was the junior sister of Hei Ya, whom Ye Tiancheng had previously killed.
Her sudden appearance in his dream piqued Ye Tiancheng's interest in Lin Xue. To advance the plot, Ye Tiancheng decided to seek her out.
After traveling for a whole day, Ye Tiancheng finally reached Lin Xue's cultivation grounds. From afar, he saw the girl practicing her swordplay, dressed in white as in his dream.
"Lin Xue, your senior brother, Hei Ya, was killed by me. I've been waiting for you for a long time. Why haven't you received a mission to assassinate me yet?"
Lin Xue stopped her sword, looking at Ye Tiancheng blankly, then smiled helplessly.
"I don't know you. As for my senior brother Hei Ya, we weren't close. Why would I kill someone for him!"
Lin Xue's demeanor was somewhat simple and honest, completely unlike the cold-blooded assassin from his dream. The stunningly beautiful and icy female assassin had turned out to be so weak.
Seeing that Lin Xue didn't believe him, Ye Tiancheng took out Hei Ya's遗物, his spatial storage ring, to show her.
"After I killed your senior brother, I took all his treasures. Do you want to avenge him? Then make your move."
"My senior brother's treasures? I've seen those before. But since you killed my senior brother, the treasures are naturally yours. That's the rule of the martial world. Why would I break it?"
Lin Xue didn't seem like an assassin; she was more like a naive girl unaware of the world's ways. Ye Tiancheng didn't have time to waste on idle chatter.
"Alright, since you won't make a move, I'll have to go first!"
Ye Tiancheng sent a surge of true qi towards her. Lin Xue suddenly drew her long sword. As she swung it, the sword energy was incredibly clean and refreshing. Her body was exceptionally light as she zipped onto a tree, then changed direction from among the branches.
Indeed, these were the moves from his dream. It seemed Lin Xue was merely hiding her true abilities. Her agile footwork couldn't deceive him. At first, Ye Tiancheng even doubted if he had the wrong person, wondering why this woman was so frail.
"Fine, I don't care what you think. You must avenge your senior brother Hei Ya. Let's have a decisive battle."
Ye Tiancheng had altered too many main plot points. By now, he could no longer distinguish what was real and what was false, so he could only forcefully push the narrative forward.
Unfortunately, after Ye Tiancheng made a few more moves, Lin Xue was unable to parry them and kept retreating. Finally, she collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.
"How can you be so weak? I can't believe you're the female assassin from my dream. And your moves aren't as beautiful as in the dream. Back then, you were like a dancing maiden, but now you're incredibly clumsy."
Ye Tiancheng was deeply disappointed by such an opponent. He felt the fight hadn't even been satisfying before the other party collapsed, which was a great insult to him.
In this situation, Ye Tiancheng was unsure whether he should continue killing. The Lin Xue before him was on the verge of tears, looking like a helpless, decent woman, nothing like an assassin.
"Sir, please spare me. As you can see, I'm no match for you. You could so easily kill my senior brother Hei Ya, and my cultivation is far below his."
This Lin Xue finally began to beg for mercy. Ye Tiancheng thought he had misjudged her earlier. Could this crying woman truly be a cold-blooded killer?
"So, you weren't planning to kill me?"
"Of course not. I'm the weakest in our sect. If they were to send someone to kill you, it wouldn't be me. You've seen my skills. Challenging you with my cultivation level would be like offering myself up. I'm human, I fear death, and I wouldn't do something so foolish as to end my own life."
Lin Xue's words resonated with Ye Tiancheng. Perhaps their values aligned, or more likely, Lin Xue was truly beautiful. Ye Tiancheng extended his hand and helped Lin Xue up.
"Alright, it was just a false alarm. If you want to kill me, then so be it. But if you try, your end will be dire."
Ye Tiancheng had always been lenient towards women. His principle in dreams was to spare women and only be ruthless towards men.
After all, the gender ratio was currently imbalanced. Killing a woman meant depriving another man of the chance to start a family. Moreover, Lin Xue was so beautiful, likely the dream lover of many men. If she died, countless people would be saddened. It would be too sinful, and Ye Tiancheng didn't want to do anything so wicked.
"By the way, sir, you were talking about me trying to kill you in your dream. Did I die in the dream?"
"No, I was too soft-hearted and forgot about you. But you really didn't defeat me."
"Alright, if I'm not mistaken, you are Ye Tiancheng, right? I've heard a lot about you recently. You're quite a 'god' to me. It's rather sad that you suddenly came here wanting to kill me today."
They say beautiful women are good at deceiving. Ye Tiancheng didn't know how much truth there was in Lin Xue's words, but it was a man's fortune to have a woman willing to deceive him.
"Don't admire me, brother. Brother is just a legend. Too many women like me, and it becomes troublesome. Similarly, I don't want you to get hurt."
Ye Tiancheng said this deliberately to tease Lin Xue. After all he had been through, he had long shed his narcissistic and arrogant temper.
"Can I go with you? Brother Ye, I don't want to stay in this sect anymore. Can I cultivate with you?"
Ye Tiancheng was about to leave, but this outcome was entirely different from his dream. In his dream, Lin Xue hated him, and even though he let her go, she threatened to kill him.
"Isn't that inconvenient? You're a woman, and I don't practice swordplay, which you do. What can you learn from me?"
Ye Tiancheng didn't want to get involved with her because there was no such plotline in his dream, and he didn't need to complete any missions.
Besides, he had other women to deal with later. If Ye Tiancheng remembered correctly, Wang Xiaomiao would appear next. Ye Tiancheng was only one person and couldn't handle so many women surrounding him.
"I know Brother Ye looks down on me. My cultivation is very low. I've been cultivating for a long time, working hard day and night, but I haven't made any progress. I'm truly troubled. Brother Ye, please, consider it."
"Why are you making things difficult for me by following me? Isn't your sect quite good? Although your cultivation isn't great, you have food and shelter, so be content. Don't pursue those illusory things. The greater your ability, the greater the danger. You're a beautiful girl, likely pursued by many men. Wouldn't it be wonderful to marry someone and have children?"
Ye Tiancheng didn't quite understand why someone like Lin Xue, who could rely on her looks, insisted on cultivating so diligently. Furthermore, Ye Tiancheng could tell that Lin Xue's aptitude wasn't deep. No matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't reach a very high realm, unless she had a divine artifact like the Nuwa Stone as her right-hand man, like himself. But how many people in this world could obtain divine artifacts like Ye Tiancheng? Being too fortunate wasn't necessarily a good thing for a person; sometimes, disasters and abilities found a person together.
Ye Tiancheng thought he had successfully rejected this ethereal beauty in white, but Lin Xue directly knelt before him.
"Brother Ye, can you be my master? I started cultivating when I was nine, and I'm now eighteen without breaking through. I think I need to change my lifestyle. I don't want to be mediocre my whole life. So, although I'm a woman, I have ambitions and ideals, and I want to become someone superior."
No wonder she still looked a bit childish; she was only eighteen and had been cultivating for so many years. What truly moved Ye Tiancheng was Lin Xue's sincere attitude.
"Alright, but I live in a shack myself. I really don't know where to arrange for you."
"It's okay. I've saved some money over the years. I can build a house myself and live there. You won't have to worry about it, Master."
At first, Ye Tiancheng didn't react. But after Lin Xue said another sentence, he was stunned.
"Lin Xue, are you kidding me? You're calling me Master? When did I become your master? Don't call me that!"
"Master above, your disciple pays respects."
This Lin Xue was becoming more and more outrageous. Ye Tiancheng felt no need to take a disciple. Why bring someone along on the path of cultivation? But seeing Lin Xue's sincere attitude and her top-tier beauty, keeping her as a disciple wasn't bad. Others might mistake her for a female secretary, which would be quite prestigious. Primarily, she was good-looking, had a great figure, and exuded an aura of divinity.
"Alright, I'm truly defeated. I originally came to teach you a lesson, but I ended up inexplicably taking a disciple."
Ye Tiancheng sighed helplessly. But since he had agreed to Lin Xue, he would accept the situation as it came.
"Let's not talk about anything else. Let's go home together."
Ye Tiancheng had bewilderingly taken a disciple. On their way back, Lin Xue took good care of Ye Tiancheng, making him feel that having a disciple wasn't bad, at least there was someone to boss around. It seemed they would get along well in the future, and he wouldn't let anyone bully his little disciple.
When Ye Tiancheng and his disciple Lin Xue returned home to the horticultural center, many busy workers saw Ye Tiancheng and he had to introduce Lin Xue to everyone.
"This is my newly accepted disciple, Lin Xue. You can call her Miss Lin when you have nothing else to do."
As soon as Ye Tiancheng finished speaking, the people below began to murmur. Many felt that Lin Xue's relationship with Ye Tiancheng was unusual. After all, Ye Tiancheng had always been cold. Since Hou Qing'er left, he had never brought women around him. Something out of the ordinary must be going on, and their speculations grew louder.
"Mr. Ye, there are no outsiders here. Is this beautiful little fairy your wife? No, your girlfriend, right?"
"Mr. Ye is amazing. He managed to charm such a young and cute little sister. It's truly impressive."
"I don't mean anything by it. I'm a billionaire and a public figure. It's only right that I marry such a beautiful girl."
"It's just, why is this girl carrying a sword? Is she some martial arts actress?"
The murmuring instantly stopped when Ye Tiancheng coughed.