The Library Pavilion.
"Mm… yeah…"
Ju Fufu sat quietly reading by herself, yet Arden was nowhere to be seen nearby.
Although Arden Xu and Ju Fufu often appeared together, they weren't glued to each other every single moment and still had their own personal time.
Like right now.
After getting up in the morning and finishing breakfast, Ju Fufu wanted to come to the Library Pavilion to read and improve herself, while Arden wanted to go back to sleep for a bit longer, so they split up.
"Fufu, is there something you don't understand?"
At this moment, Master Yixuan walked over. Seeing Ju Fufu's puzzled expression, she spoke up.
"Ah! Master Yixuan—do you know about a love tribulation?"
Ju Fufu pointed at a passage in the book and asked.
It wasn't a cultivation manual, but rather a fantasy cultivation novel. It described how the protagonist had to pass through several trials to cultivate and ascend, including a love tribulation, even things like killing one's wife to prove the Dao.
She recalled that Arden had mentioned cultivation before, so Ju Fufu couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"Love tribulation?"
Yixuan sat down beside Ju Fufu and casually flipped through the novel. "Mm… come to think of it, quite a few novels and films do like to build their stories around the love tribulations of cultivators."
"Then… Master, have you passed a love tribulation?"
Ju Fufu asked curiously, blinking her big, adorable eyes as the flames of gossip burned within her.
"….."
For some reason, the moment Ju Fufu asked that question, Arden's figure immediately surfaced in Yixuan's mind.
"Never!"
But very quickly, Yixuan shook her head and denied it.
That should count as… a disciple tribulation, right?
"Temper the heart amidst the mortal world. I believe that anyone and anything in this world can become an aid to cultivation."
"The so-called love tribulation is merely one of them."
Mm—there was also the disciple tribulation.
"And sometimes, being fixated on 'what must not be done' is itself a form of attachment."
When Yixuan said this, it felt less like she was enlightening Ju Fufu and more like she was speaking to herself.
"Mm… is that so."
Just as Ju Fufu was pondering Master Yixuan's words, a faintly cool sensation suddenly touched her smooth forehead.
It turned out that Yixuan had lightly tapped between Ju Fufu's brows with her finger.
"Fufu, you're asking about this… it wouldn't happen to be because Arden—"
With Arden nowhere in sight and Ju Fufu acting like this, Yixuan couldn't help but speculate.
"Master, don't misunderstand!"
Before she could finish, Ju Fufu interrupted her. "Arden—Second Senior Brother is doing just fine."
When she said the word "fine," Ju Fufu's face flushed slightly, though it wasn't clear what kind of "fine" she meant.
"I was just curious, that's all."
"Oh."
Yixuan replied and said nothing more.
"Master, Fufu—what are you two discussing here?"
At this moment, Arden's voice came from the side.
After sleeping until nearly noon and feeling a bit hungry, Arden got up and planned to come to the Library Pavilion to find Ju Fufu so they could have lunch together, only to find Master Yixuan there as well.
Seeing the two deep in discussion, Arden grew quite curious.
"Brother Arden, Master and I were talking about…"
Ju Fufu gave a brief explanation.
"Love tribulation?"
Arden looked at Ju Fufu, then at Yixuan. Two women discussing love tribulations together—why did that feel a little strange?
Ahem!
Arden coughed lightly. "As it happens, I have two major love tribulations."
As he spoke, Arden patted Ju Fufu's head. "One of them has already been overcome, and the other one…"
As his words fell, Arden stared at Yixuan with an expectant look.
"Master, you're so kind—could you help your disciple out?"
"….."
Hearing this, Yixuan shot Arden a glare. "Your skin's itching again—looking to get smacked?"
Sigh~ as expected, Arden really is my disciple tribulation.
With a sigh in her heart, Yixuan stood up and decisively walked away.
…..
That day, Yixuan brought Ju Fufu and Arden to Lumina Square—more precisely, to the Hollow Investigative Association's HIA Club at Lumina Square.
A brand-new VR virtual reality system had gone live here, the so-called immersive combat system.
The officials had requested that a top-tier expert like Yixuan come to test it, while Ju Fufu and Arden were there to register their identities.
In the Hollow Investigative Association's records, both Arden Xu and Ju Fufu were independent investigators. Now they needed to be assigned under Yunkui Summit. As for Pan Yinhu and Ye Shiyuan, the two had joined much earlier and were already registered.
Ju Fufu and Arden's registration process was simple and finished in five minutes.
After that, with nothing to do, the two wandered around the HIA Club area, browsing shops while waiting for Master Yixuan to finish.
Lumina Square could be considered one of the most prosperous places in all of New Eridu, something made obvious just by looking at the string of zeros in real estate prices.
"One zero, two zeros, three zeros…"
Ju Fufu counted the zeros after the housing advertisements, her eyes growing wider and wider. "One hundred million dennies per square meter!? Brother Arden, even if we sold the both of us, we couldn't afford a single square meter, right?"
She immediately gave up on the idea of buying property in Lumina Square.
"Heh, no matter how expensive the houses here are, they still can't compare to your place in my heart, Fufu… I wouldn't trade you for any house."
"Brother Arden, that's… way too mushy."
Even though she often showed affection with Arden, with so many passersby around, Ju Fufu couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
"Hm?"
Just as Arden was about to tease his adorable tiger some more, he noticed several uniformed individuals appearing outside the HIA Club.
Their arrival immediately drew a crowd of onlookers.
"Wow! It's people from Hollow Special Operations Section 6!"
"Master Yixuan of Yunkui Summit… and Section 6 too—could something big be happening?"
"I heard it's some kind of new system test!"
"….."
It seemed that this VR immersive test hadn't only invited Yunkui Summit, but also Hollow Special Operations Section 6.
"Brother Arden, people from Section 6 are even more popular than Master Yixuan!"
Ju Fufu stretched her neck to look inside, but due to her height, all she could see was a row of heads.
When they had arrived at the HIA Club with Master Yixuan earlier, it had also drawn attention, but most people approached Master Yixuan for divination or guidance. This scene, however, felt more like fans chasing after idols.
"Miss Hoshimi, our company would like to discuss an endorsement partnership with you!"
"Hoshimi Miyabi, I love you!"
"How can I become as strong as Miss Miyabi? Could you tell me?"
"….."
And the biggest focus of Hollow Special Operations Section 6 was naturally one of New Eridu's pinnacles, a Void Hunter—Section Chief Hoshimi Miyabi.
"So that's… Hoshimi Miyabi. Those fox ears really are super long."
Not only the crowd, but Arden and Ju Fufu were also very interested in Hoshimi Miyabi. Not only was she beautiful, her strength was on par with Master Yixuan's.
Before crossing over, Arden had played as Hoshimi Miyabi and even maxed her out, but this was his first time seeing her in person.
"Hoshimi Miyabi is here for the test too… do you think the two of them might spar?"
Arden speculated.
"Once Master comes out, we can just ask her, right?"
Ju Fufu's voice came from above Arden.
Given Arden's height, seeing Hoshimi Miyabi over the crowd wasn't difficult—but for Ju Fufu… she was currently sitting astride Arden's shoulders, her view wide open.
At a glance, though, the two of them looked a bit like a father taking his daughter out to play.