Chapter 93: Disciple Conference (Part 5)

As Shen Suwei entered a meditative state, he already sensed who was approaching, but his thoughts were still unsettled, so he continued to complete his small circulation of Qi. He did not expect Xu Qianyu to suddenly make such a reckless move, forcing herself out of his spiritual grasp, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

It must be understood that for cultivators, especially high-level ones, a spiritual pool is not as open as a door. If someone rashly intrudes, it would be seen as an attack, and their spiritual awareness would immediately retaliate.

After the initial shock, he felt a surge of anger at her carelessness. Seeing Xu Qianyu’s eyes widen in fright, her body trembling uncontrollably, it was clear she was quite scared. However, she did not let go, continuing to hold her wrist firmly against the stone wall.

Now that Xu Qianyu’s perception was gradually recovering, she felt sharp pain from the impact on her back, which burned intensely. The senior brother lacked control over his strength, and the pain radiated from her wrist throughout her entire body. Not to mention the icy sword qi slicing through the air around them. Xu Qianyu broke out in a layer of sweat, murmuring, “It hurts.”

Coldness, pain, and confinement mixed with the subtle, clean fragrance of his clothes, creating a confusing sensation.

Her face turned pale, and her words were by no means exaggerated. Shen Suwei relaxed his grip but still stared at her, his gaze clear yet filled with questioning and reproach. The two were too close, and this gaze was suffocating.

Xu Qianyu said, “It wasn’t intentional.”

“I was practicing my soul projection, and I don’t know why, but as soon as I thought about it, it just flew out on its own.” Her expression was genuinely puzzled, and amidst her grievance, there was an innocence that was hard to blame.

After a moment of silence, Shen Suwei asked lightly, “Why did you think about it?”
“……”
“Mm?”

Xu Qianyu felt a bit embarrassed under his questioning and replied earnestly, “I’m… very, very curious about you.”

Very curious. Shen Suwei looked away.
He was afraid of this kind of curiosity.
Xu Qianyu didn’t have a love soul, so it was impossible for her to like anyone, but her desire soul was intact. She only had this simple and casual emotion, which could be directed toward many people; if others discovered this soft spot, they could easily lure her, which, upon reflection, was chilling.

Shen Suwei felt an unsettling emotion brewing, difficult to tolerate.
It was not out of worldly judgment. Since entering the immortal sect, he had always maintained a distance from everyone, never interfering in others’ private matters.
Nor was it entirely a worry and protection of a senior brother towards his junior sister.
He clearly knew Xu Qianyu was uncontrollable, yet he couldn’t help but want to limit her, to restrain her; if he found he couldn’t achieve this, there would be a hint of destructive desire within him.

As soon as Xu Qianyu turned her head, her chin was gently pinched by a cool finger, turning her back to face her senior brother’s slightly raised eyes. His tone remained calm as usual: “If you agree, I can lock your consciousness for two years.”

Xu Qianyu took a moment to react, roughly understanding the meaning of restricting her consciousness: “Why?”
“You seem unable to control your consciousness.” Shen Suwei observed her for a while and said, “If that’s the case, I can take care of it for you.”
This made Xu Qianyu feel that he was still in a fit of residual anger: “Why two years?”

“You’re too young.”

“I’m not young.” Xu Qianyu hated it when others treated her like a child; her face darkened, her pitch-black eyes coldly glaring at him. “If I were in Nanling, I could already discuss marriage.”
Shen Suwei said, “If you don’t agree, I won’t force you.”
Xu Qianyu was unwilling to be restricted, and subconsciously, he also hoped Xu Qianyu would refuse, not allowing his secretly growing desire for control to flourish.

As expected, Xu Qianyu said, “On what basis do you lock my consciousness?”
She looked steadily at her senior brother for a while, then couldn’t help but ask, “If I’m locked, can’t I interact with others’ spiritual senses?”
“Yes. Just like this, it won’t affect other attacks.”
Xu Qianyu’s eyes shifted: “Then can I lock you?”
Shen Suwei suddenly looked at her: “You want to lock me?”
This statement was astonishing and contained a hint of provocation, but coming from Xu Qianyu’s mouth, it wasn’t surprising.

He seemed to seriously consider it for a moment, then said without changing his expression, “How long do you want to lock me?”
Xu Qianyu asked the system in her heart: “How long was my senior brother locked after Lu You fell?”

System: “Less than a hundred years; if counted from the Nascent Soul stage, it should be over a hundred years?”
Xu Qianyu raised her eyes and said, “Two hundred years.”
Shen Suwei paused.

Seeing Xu Qianyu’s expression wasn’t joking, he seemed amused and confirmed, “I lock you for two years, and you want to lock me for two hundred years?”

Such a grudge, even if it meant self-damage of eight thousand, would still want to take down ten thousand enemies.
Moreover, he wasn’t incapable of controlling his spiritual sense.
Xu Qianyu said, “If you agree, I can lock you.”
“Okay.”
Xu Qianyu didn’t expect him to agree so readily, momentarily stunned. Shen Suwei had already sat down: “Come here; I’ll teach you how to lock me.”

Xu Qianyu’s heart leaped; she felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.
Two hundred years without connecting with others spiritually—this condition was highly tempting. In this way, could her senior brother be considered to have been “gained” by her for half?

“Sit closer.” Shen Suwei looked up at her, his eyes particularly bright in a line of light, with a stubborn meaning that was different from usual. Xu Qianyu, who had been kneeling opposite him, was pulled by him and stumbled forward a few steps, finally straddling his lap.
Too close.

Xu Qianyu felt a bit nervous, placing her palm against Shen Suwei’s chest to buffer, the fabric feeling soft and cool. Without waiting for her to adjust, Shen Suwei directly lifted her legs and embraced her, moving a bit closer. A very faint breath enveloped her.
In her panic, Xu Qianyu’s hand was guided around to her back, and she heard him speak, causing her chest to tremble: “Find the spiritual root.”

Perhaps due to the sudden breaking of distance, Xu Qianyu’s heart raced as if she were drowning; she didn’t quite catch what her senior brother was saying.
Shen Suwei did not urge her, patiently waiting for her to react.

If only she hadn’t used the transparency talisman earlier; as Xu Qianyu touched her senior brother’s waist, she remembered the image she had seen, knowing how the outline of his back curved, like painted mountains and rocks, tapering to his waist. She felt her way along his lower back to his spine, making the lines she had seen feel real in her hands. After a while, she realized her senior brother hadn’t spoken for a long time, thinking it wasn’t good, and hurriedly looked to see his reaction.

Shen Suwei was enduring.
All his battle intent was forcibly suppressed, and he remained silent and motionless while enduring.

Xu Qianyu looked up and met Shen Suwei’s bright eyes, staring straight at her, his thin lips slightly parted: “A little lower.”

Xu Qianyu quickly moved her hand down along the spine.
“Again, a little lower.”
Xu Qianyu moved down another inch.

While attending classes in the outer sect, Xu Qianyu had long since learned how to locate the root from the thoracic vertebrae, specifically the tenth vertebra counting down from that point. However, she had completely lost count at this moment and could only follow her senior brother’s instructions, constantly moving down.
Strangely, each time she moved an inch, she felt the need to look up at his reaction.
He was clearly tense and had not called a stop.

Shen Suwei insisted on staring at her, and their gazes met like two opponents. Xu Qianyu felt dizzy, beads of sweat beginning to form at the back of her neck.
Suddenly, Xu Qianyu’s hand was caught by him, as she had finally moved to the coccyx and couldn’t go down any further.
His long eyelashes trembled as he forcibly reined in all his battle intent: “Come in.”
Her consciousness slipped inside.
Shen Suwei created an ice shell for himself, and Xu Qianyu’s consciousness looked at the scene inside through the ice shell. If her spiritual pool was a small pond, then her senior brother’s spiritual pool resembled a vast lake, filled with dazzling light. From this point, she could see the shadow of the Nascent Soul in the spirit mansion, just like a curled-up little person.

The spiritual sense that once soared like a golden dragon was now condensed into the primordial spirit, shimmering like golden mist, creating vast virtual shadows.
So this is what the spiritual pool of a Nascent Soul cultivator looks like.

Unfortunately, the ice shell blocked her view, making it difficult to see clearly. Her consciousness floated around the ice shell for a while. Noticing that the ice shell wasn’t very thick, she tried to bump against it a couple of times, hoping to get a little closer.

Shen Suwei noticed what she was doing. His expression was calm, and just as she bumped against the ice shell for the third time, he suddenly removed it and quickly used his spiritual energy to push her out.

Xu Qianyu was startled.

It felt as if she had accidentally fallen into a torrent of lava, only to be immediately pulled out and then unceremoniously thrown into water.
But even that brief moment was enough for her to be engulfed in flames, turning to ash in the water.

She couldn’t control the shivers running through her body. Her vision went white, and she collapsed directly into Shen Suwei’s arms. After a moment, she felt someone supporting her, helping her sit up.

Although this incident wasn’t intentional, she had repeatedly crossed others’ boundaries, and Xu Qianyu was afraid her senior brother would be angry. She remembered she needed to apologize, but having briefly lost consciousness and feeling out of control, she found herself unable to speak, which made her anxious.

After a while, she raised her head and saw that Shen Suwei looked surprisingly calm, without any anger on his face. She breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that not apologizing for now wouldn’t be a problem.
Shen Suwei also silently took a moment to calm down. When he saw her looking at him, he fixed his gaze on her and asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Xu Qianyu had a small, delicate lip bead on her upper lip, and her lips were a bright crimson. Her large, bright eyes were usually very focused when looking at someone, but now they seemed somewhat distracted.

Without her usual spiritedness, there was indeed a captivating, hazy beauty about her.
It was quite alarming. If anyone else saw this scene, it would likely be hard for him to endure.
Shen Suwei turned his face away and said, “The spiritual pools of cultivators have self-defense mechanisms and shouldn’t be touched casually. To kill someone, one must first attack their spiritual pool. If I hadn’t restrained my battle intent, you would have been dead by now.”

But it was fine; today, he would just keep her locked.
He always preferred to be cautious, only feeling at ease when he had complete control.
He didn’t say much more, waiting for her to regain her composure before pressing her hand onto his spiritual root again. “Do you still want to be locked?”
Xu Qianyu, of course, wanted to be locked, so she struggled and sank back into his spiritual pool. “Teach me.”

Shen Suwei instructed her in the method and incantation, and Xu Qianyu gently touched the ice shell with her consciousness. It slowly melted, revealing a bright electric light. She learned the instruction and reinforced it with two additional layers.

Shen Suwei felt her actions and didn’t stop her. He said, “Your attributes are different from mine. I can’t unlock your lock.”
Xu Qianyu nodded.

Shen Suwei then asked, “Have I locked you?”
But when his finger was about to touch Xu Qianyu’s spine, her cold hand grabbed his. “Don’t.”
Two years may not seem long, but the feelings within her consciousness still lingered, and it felt very novel to her. If she couldn’t experience them anymore, she felt a bit reluctant and wanted to take it back. Her senior brother hadn’t said she couldn’t change her mind.

Shen Suwei silently stared at her.
What was she doing today that made Xu Qianyu lock him?
His hand continued downward.

“Don’t, no.” Her brows furrowed, but Shen Suwei had quickly locked her.
“Okay.”

Xu Qianyu looked a bit unhappy.
She tried to see if her consciousness could still move freely, and it could. She was able to touch the beetles on the ground, but her consciousness was followed by a wisp of water dragon, like a silver tail that faintly trailed behind her.

It looked harmless and didn’t seem like a “lock” in the literal sense; rather, it felt more like a tracking mechanism.
Xu Qianyu asked, “What happens if I forcefully touch someone else’s spiritual pool?”
Shen Suwei replied, “I will know immediately.”
“What if you touch someone else’s spiritual pool? Will I know?”
Shen Suwei’s expression remained calm. “Unless I kill someone, I won’t touch another person’s spiritual pool.”
“What if?”
Shen Suwei turned to stare at her. His crimson lips moved slightly, seemingly observing her reaction. “I will die.”

Xu Qianyu’s heart raced heavily. Unsure if he was serious, her senior brother carefully helped her up. “Let’s go out.”