Chapter 63: Outsmarting the Mind Arts

Chapter 63: Outsmarting the Mind Arts

I hadn’t yet gone looking for Du Xiaoran when his virtual-world avatar, Liu Tanzhuang, came looking for me instead.

He said Young Miss Yuan had sent him to invite me over for a chat. Then he winked at me, with obvious mischief in his eyes.

I’d only just become a rank-eight Grandmaster, and it would have been awkward to refuse Young Miss Yuan’s goodwill—especially since Liu Tanzhuang mentioned she was the Sect Master’s own daughter. So I had no choice but to follow him to see Yuan Lingliang.

She was already seated in the inner hall of Xingyue Palace, dressed to seductive effect. The moment I stepped through the outer door, the maid Xiaocui darted through the inner one—no doubt to announce me.

When I entered, Yuan Lingliang’s manner toward me had done a complete about-face from the first time we’d met. She wore the shy, blushing look of a bride seeing her groom for the first time. A shame, really, that I’d already seen her at her most imperious before the match—no amount of coyness now could move me.

So I cupped my hands and said, in my roughest, heartiest voice, “Song Chenfeng offers his thanks to Young Miss Yuan for the recommendation before the match. Had you not given this humble fighter the chance to compete, I would never have become a rank-eight Grandmaster—nor gained so much besides. Song Chenfeng expresses his deepest gratitude!”

I brought up her “recommendation” on purpose—a reminder of exactly what kind of woman she’d shown herself to be.

But to my surprise, she seemed delighted by it. She covered her mouth with one hand, blushing prettily, and said, “Grandmaster Song is too kind. My father and I suspected all along that you were a hidden expert—we only used harsh words to provoke your fighting spirit. And sure enough, you unleashed your true power in the match and rendered great service to our sect. Lingliang has prepared some wine to show her gratitude.”

Xiaocui had the servants bring out food and drink, then waved Liu Tanzhuang off, signaling he should leave rather than linger and get underfoot.

He took the hint and excused himself at once.

The moment he left, I quietly activated same-frequency sensing to probe Yuan Lingliang’s intentions—and what I found startled me. A flicker of familiarity, faint but unmistakable. There was no scientific basis for the feeling; it was pure instinct. But somehow, Yuan Lingliang knew mind arts. And this particular flavor of mind arts—I thought I might have encountered it before, in the real world.

Keeping up my hollow courtesies, I sat down across from her while Xiaocui poured our wine.

I racked my memory, trying to recall if I’d ever crossed paths with a woman like this.

People from the Mundane World couldn’t reach the Elite World’s metaverse. And in the Elite World, I hadn’t been here long, and the people I’d met were few.

Noticing my stiffness, Yuan Lingliang reached out with a delicate hand, caught mine, and used it to pick up food for me. “Don’t be so reserved, Grandmaster Song. Eat. This West Lake vinegar fish was made specially by a chef from Jiangnan. Try it and tell me what you think.”

The scent of her, the touch of her skin—it brought one name rushing to mind: Pu Liuqian. Because I could feel it now, clear as day: Young Miss Yuan had been using mind arts on me this entire time, probing and enticing me at once. Of course, Yuan Lingliang couldn’t be Pu Liuqian herself. I’d once wrapped my hand around Pu Liuqian’s throat, and my brain had analyzed her biological signature then. The two women were not the same. The virtual world differed from the real one in some respects, but the Elite World’s metaverse was flawlessly lifelike—as Uncle liked to say, in the Elite World, the virtual is reality.

So this Yuan Lingliang and Pu Liuqian might share the same teacher.

Uncle had told me Pu Liuqian’s father was Pu Xuande, Grand Elder of the Shadow Pavilion. Yuan Lingliang’s father, according to Du Xiaoran, was Yuan Jiangyi…