Tang Lishen Pov
Tang Lishen stood a short distance away with his hands clasped behind his back, posture straight and relaxed, his aura deliberately released just enough to press down on the weaker disciples nearby. The effect was immediate and familiar—outer disciples subconsciously stepped aside, their breathing tightening as the pressure washed over them.
Tang Lishen noticed every reaction and accepted them as his due. His gaze drifted lazily across the hall, already bored, until it landed on Mei Lingling. In that instant, his expression sharpened with interest.
She wasn't merely pretty; she carried the quiet refinement of someone worth claiming, the kind of woman whose presence elevated a man's standing without effort. Then his eyes flicked to the man standing beside her, and the interest curdled into disdain. Xuanyan. An outer disciple with an unremarkable cultivation aura. Tang Lishen almost laughed.
"So this is where the commotion came from," Tang Lishen said calmly, stepping forward without acknowledging Xuanyan at all, his attention fixed solely on Lingling. "Fairy, you shouldn't linger in places like this. The outer sect is for people who lack ambition." Lingling frowned slightly, discomfort flickering across her face, but before she could respond, Xuanyan spoke in an even tone, saying that she was fine where she was.
The words cut cleanly through the air. Tang Lishen finally turned to look at him properly, his gaze slow and condescending, traveling from Xuanyan's face down to his robes before returning upward with a faint, amused smile.
"You?" Tang Lishen asked lightly, as though genuinely entertained. "You're speaking for her?"
""Brother, she isn't single," Xuanyan said calmly —
His hand slid around Lingling's waist with unhurried familiarity, drawing her closer, before drifting upward and stopping just under her breast, rubbing her gently but possessively.
Tang Lishen's eyes darkened the moment Xuanyan spoke, a sharp heat rushing to his head before he could stop it. An outer-sect disciple addressing him so calmly was already an insult; seeing that same man touching Mei Lingling as if he had every right made the insult feel deliberate.
His attention was locked onto Xuanyan's hand, resting with infuriating ease against Lingling's waist, occupying a place he had already claimed in his mind.Lingling, completely unaware of the internal storm raging inside the so-called genius, said softly, "I'm sorry, Junior Brother, but I already have a partner."
At the word partner, she glanced at Xuanyan with a shy, blooming smile.
Tang Lishen coughed loudly, trying to drag her attention back to himself.
"Fairy, allow me to introduce myself properly," he said, voice swelling with pride. "I am Tang Lishen, personal disciple of the Inner Sect Alchemy Elder."
He puffed up like a peacock, then continued,
"Sister Lingling, the moment I saw you, my heart stirred. My mind told me something… that we are destined soulma—"
He never finished.
Xuanyan's hand, the one resting on her waist, tightened.
He tilted Lingling's face toward him and kissed her — hard.
A hungry, devouring kiss.
His kiss deepened, his tongue plunging deeper into her mouth with a possessive rhythm that made her knees weaken, her body pressing flush against his. The world around them faded—the murmurs of onlookers .
Lingling melted immediately, responding with equal fire.
She didn't feel a shred of shame, not even with people watching.
Especially when it was Xuanyan. Her heart thundered against her chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Tang Lishen stared as if his soul had momentarily left his body to file a complaint with Heaven. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, producing only a strangled whisper. "W-What… what's happening…?" His brain scrambled desperately for an explanation. "Since when… since when does this happen to me…?"
This wasn't how things were supposed to go. This wasn't the script. Women were meant to notice him first, admire him quietly, then loudly. They were meant to compete for his attention, not ignore it entirely. He had never once had to wonder whether he was desirable—reality had always confirmed it for him.
And yet here it was.
The woman he had already chosen in his mind, the one fate clearly owed him, was kissing another man right in front of his face—without hesitation, without embarrassment, without even sparing Tang Lishen a second glance.
A few nearby cultivators exchanged glances. Someone coughed, trying—and failing—to hide a laugh. Tang Lishen felt it then, sharp and unmistakable: the shift. The looks aimed at him weren't admiring anymore. They were curious. Amused. Pitying. The kind reserved for someone who had confidently stepped forward… only to trip in public.
The world didn't just tilt—it quietly moved on without him. And for the first time in his life, Tang Lishen realized something far more terrifying than defeat.
No one was paying attention to him anymore.
Lingling finally pulled back, breathless, her cheeks glowing red like she had been drinking spiritual wine.Xuanyan still held her close, his thumb brushing her lower lip as if claiming it.
[Detected: Protagonist's Fate Thread Severed — 12%]
[Tang Lishen's Luck Value Decreasing…]
[Warning: Protagonist may develop obsession toward Host.]
Xuanyan : (^_^)
Xuanyan blinked once, his expression going momentarily blank as the system's warnings stacked neatly in his vision. For half a second, he genuinely wondered whether the system was being dramatic again—until Tang Lishen finally exhaled.
It was a slow, uneven breath, the kind that sounded forced, as if his lungs had forgotten how they were supposed to work. His shoulders rose and fell, tension crawling visibly beneath his robes, and then he laughed.
The sound wasn't loud. It wasn't manic. It carried no real humor at all.
It was simply… wrong.
"So this is how it is," Tang Lishen murmured, lifting his head at last. The arrogance that once defined his gaze was gone, scraped away and replaced by something darker, something raw and unsettled. His eyes locked onto Xuanyan with unsettling focus. "You dare kiss her in front of me. You dare touch what fate prepared for me."
The air around him shuddered faintly as his spiritual energy wavered, no longer smooth or controlled. It twisted inward instead, unstable and compressed, the earliest sign of a protagonist's halo reacting violently to rejection. Several nearby disciples felt the pressure and instinctively stepped back, unease crawling up their spines even though they didn't fully understand why.
Lingling frowned, confusion written plainly across her face as she took a half-step forward. "Junior Brother Tang, what are you—"
Tang Lishen raised a hand, cutting her off without even turning to look at her. The gesture was calm, almost polite.
"It's fine, Senior Sister Lingling," he said quietly. "It seems I misunderstood."
Despite his words, his jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles twitched beneath his skin, betraying the fracture in his composure.
Xuanyan moved half a step forward, positioning himself subtly but unmistakably in front of Lingling. His presence was calm, controlled, and cold enough to make the surrounding air feel sharper.
"You misunderstood a lot," he said evenly.
Tang Lishen looked at him again, studying him in silence for a long breath. Then he smiled—thin, brittle, and entirely unnatural.
"I see," he murmured. "I see. So destiny is testing me."
The trembling spiritual energy around him didn't dissipate. Instead, it drew inward, compressing, as if something had settled deep inside his chest rather than fading away.
"Good," he continued softly. "I shall prove myself."
Without another word, he turned sharply and strode toward the Alchemy Hall doors. There were no threats, no shouted declarations, no dramatic farewell. Yet the air he left behind felt heavy, thick with resentment that clung stubbornly to the space, as if something unseen had latched onto Xuanyan's shadow and decided it would not let go so easily.