Chapter 4: It’s Over! My Acting Skills Have Been Exposed!

The joy Lin Yue felt upon acquiring the Cultivation Technique lasted only for a moment before she sensed something was amiss.

Yan Qingjue's gaze remained fixed on her.

That's not right.

Had she discovered something?

She could sense that Yan Qingjue had walked over to the side of the bed.

Hurry up and leave, please! If you don't leave now, I really won't be able to hold on much longer!

Just as she was screaming silently in her heart, a crisp voice sounded from directly above her head, even-toned and devoid of any emotion, yet it instantly caused all of Lin Yue's muscles to stiffen.

"Stop pretending."

These three words brought about a brief ringing in her ears, and Lin Yue's mind instantly went blank.

She had been discovered! She had actually been exposed on the spot!

What should she do? Continue lying down, or immediately get up and admit her mistake?

No, admitting it now would be equivalent to telling the other person that she had been acting from start to finish.

Wouldn't the fragile and helpless image she had worked so hard to build up beforehand go completely to waste?

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Lin Yue's mind, yet not a single one could help her escape safely.

Yan Qingjue seemed to have no intention of rushing her, merely standing there quietly.

But this silent waiting was a form of pressure in itself.

In the end, Lin Yue gave up in this silent standoff.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she hesitatingly opened her eyes.

The first thing that came into view was Yan Qingjue's face.

She was looking down at her from above.

Lin Yue immediately adjusted her expression, revealing a just-awakened confusion on her face, tinged with a trace of panic at being seen through.

She rubbed her eyes, her voice soft and gentle.

"Mm~ Senior Sister… I, was I just asleep?"

Yan Qingjue did not answer, simply looking at her quietly like that.

Her gaze made Lin Yue feel a pure physiological discomfort, and she could only bite the bullet and continue acting.

She propped herself up to sit, the quilt covering her body sliding down from her shoulders.

She lowered her head timidly, her two hands nervously twisting the corner of her clothes, completely looking like a panicked person caught red-handed doing something wrong by an elder.

"Saintess… How did you know I…"

She asked softly, stopping herself halfway through her sentence as if afraid of admitting that she had been faking sleep.

"Your heartbeat."

Yan Qingjue finally spoke.

"It was faster after you passed out than before."

Lin Yue was left speechless for a moment, a blush quickly spreading across her face and the tips of her ears.

How utterly embarrassing!

At this moment, Lin Yue just wanted to make herself disappear from here.

"I…"

She opened her mouth, but not a single word came out, and she could only bury her head lower, revealing a patch of blushing back neck.

However, Yan Qingjue's attention was clearly not here.

"What on earth happened during this past hour?"

Yan Qingjue's tone remained calm, yet Lin Yue caught a hint of interrogation in it.

"What happened?"

Lin Yue raised her face, wearing an expression of complete incomprehension.

"The Spiritual Qi inside your body."

Yan Qingjue reached out, her cold fingertips pressing against Lin Yue's chest.

Through the thin fabric, that chill made Lin Yue's skin tighten.

"Before, you were still a Mortal."

Lin Yue's breath hitched for a moment.

The thing she was most worried about had happened after all!

The Cultivation Technique given by the System directly allowed her to step in to Cultivate, skipping the most basic step of guiding Qi into the body, and also making her lose the last chance to disguise herself as an ordinary person.

"Spiritual Qi? I don't know anything about it?"

Lin Yue shook her head desperately, her gaze innocent and blank.

"Right after I passed out, I felt like a very comfortable warm current was flowing inside my body, and then I didn't know anything else."

As she spoke, she carefully observed Yan Qingjue's expression.

This was the only excuse she could think of.

Blaming everything on the special nature of the Taiyin Holy Body.

Anyway, they all said this Physique was a once-in-ten-thousand-years occurrence, so who knew whether it would Cultivate on its own or not?

Yan Qingjue remained silent.

The finger she pressed against Lin Yue's chest did not move away; instead, an extremely faint chill probed into Lin Yue's body, wandering along her Meridians.

Here it comes again!

This feeling—it was the feeling of being inspected from the inside out, where all secrets had nowhere to hide!

That chill hovered near her Dantian for a while, carefully investigating the weak spiritual power belonging to the Taiyin Cultivation Technique.

After a long while, Yan Qingjue finally withdrew her hand.

Looking at Lin Yue's flustered face, a trace of hesitation appeared in her expression for the first time.

This Spiritual Qi was pure to the extreme, containing not a single shred of Impurities, and indeed did not look like it was forcibly infused through external force; instead, it looked more like it was spontaneously generated from within the body.

Could it be that the Taiyin Holy Body truly had undergone Awakening on its own in an unconscious state?

Such a matter was unprecedented.

This Junior Sister really was full of secrets all over.

The desire for inquiry in Yan Qingjue's heart completely suppressed the initial thought of treating her as a medicine ingredient.

A simple Cauldron and a person who could grow stronger on their own carried completely different weights.

She suddenly felt that things were beginning to get interesting: "Since you have already stepped in to Cultivate, you can no longer be so slack. Starting tomorrow, you will Cultivate together with me."

Lin Yue was stunned.

Cultivate together with you?

This merely delayed her death date of being exploited.

The color on her face instantly drained away, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long while.

"N-No need, Senior Sister… I can do it myself…"

"You have no room for refusal."

Before Lin Yue could finish speaking, Yan Qingjue ruthlessly interrupted her.

"Or do you want to return to the room just now and let them 'teach' you how to Cultivate?"

A single sentence accurately hit Lin Yue's vital weakness.

Lin Yue immediately shut her mouth, her face turning ashen.

Go back?

Stay with that group of women whose eyes were filled with greed?

Then she might as well die at Yan Qingjue's hands right now, at least she could leave behind an intact body.

Between two evils, choose the lesser one.

Lin Yue rapidly weighed the pros and cons in her heart.

Following Yan Qingjue might mean she could be sacrificed at any moment, but at least she was safe for the present.

Moreover, this Saintess seemed to still have some bottom line, unlike that crowd outside who were so eager.

More importantly, only by staying by her side would she have the opportunity to continue using the System to check in, make herself stronger, and then look for an opportunity to escape!

Figuring this out, Lin Yue instantly put on a different expression.

She raised her head, a pair of moist apricot eyes looking at Yan Qingjue, her gaze revealing the fortune of surviving a catastrophe and complete reliance.

"Everything shall be arranged by the Saintess."

Her voice was soft and obedient, and that docile and submissive look was completely different from the person who had just tried to muddle through.

Yan Qingjue was very satisfied with this reaction from her.

"Very good."

She turned and walked toward the outer chamber, her voice drifting from afar.

"Tonight you will sleep here. Without my permission, you are not allowed to step a single step outside this inner chamber."

As her voice fell, the door connecting the inner chamber and the outer hall slowly closed with a dull thud.

Only Lin Yue was left in the room.

Confirming that Yan Qingjue had truly left, Lin Yue's strength was completely drained, and her whole body collapsed limply onto the hard and cold bed.

She breathed heavily, the lingering fear of narrowly escaping death making her nose sting.

It was too perilous.

On the first day of Transmigration, she was first watched by a crowd, then forcibly taken away by the Saintess, experienced making a fool of herself on the spot and being interrogated, and in the end, she actually had to live in the same place as the Saintess!

What kind of mess is this!

Lin Yue lay on the bed for a moment before belatedly calling out the System panel.

[Host: Lin Yue]

[Physique: Taiyin Holy Body (Unawakened)]

[Cultivation: Qi Refinement Stage, Layer 1]

[Cultivation Technique: Taiyin Holy Body Exclusive Cultivation Technique · Introductory Chapter]

[Next Check-in Location: Hehuan Sect Scripture Pavilion]

[Countdown: 7 days. Reminder: There will be penalties if you fail to arrive at the location on time, oh?]

Scripture Pavilion?

Looking at the new check-in location, Lin Yue felt a headache coming on.

Yan Qingjue had just issued a restriction order forbidding her from stepping a single step outside this inner chamber.

Was this System intentionally going against her?

"System, can we discuss something? Can you change the check-in place? For example, the Saintess's bathroom?"

The System had no reaction.

Lin Yue sighed and calmly accepted reality.

It seemed that she must find a way to make Yan Qingjue take her to the Scripture Pavilion.

But what reason should she use?

A newbie who had just stepped into the Qi Refinement Stage proactively asking to go to the Scripture Pavilion was inherently suspicious.

Just as Lin Yue was troubled, she suddenly felt that warm current inside her body begin to circulate on its own again.

The Cultivation Technique of the Introductory Chapter circulated endlessly within her body, slowly nourishing her Meridians.

Although the speed was very slow, she was indeed growing stronger.

Lin Yue's mood improved slightly.

She sat cross-legged and began to try to actively guide that Spiritual Qi.

Although no one taught her, she learned this Cultivation Technique without any pressure, as if it had become her innate instinct.

With just a slight shift of her mind, the Spiritual Qi obediently began to flow along a specific Meridian route.

However, just as she had entered meditation not long ago, the door that had just been closed opened once again without warning.

Yan Qingjue returned after leaving, holding a tray in her hands.

She walked to the bedside and placed the tray on the bedside table.

On the tray was a steaming bowl of porridge and a few side dishes.

Lin Yue instantly snapped out of her state to Cultivate, looking at her somewhat dazed.

"Eat before you Cultivate."

Yan Qingjue put down the things and turned to leave.

"Senior Sister!"

Lin Yue subconsciously called out to her.

Yan Qingjue stopped her steps and looked back at Lin Yue.

Looking at that bowl of porridge, Lin Yue bit her lip, mustered up her courage, and asked in a low voice with a hint of ingratiating tone:

"Senior Sister, you haven't eaten yet, right! Would you like to have some together?"