Water Reflects Peach Blossoms

As Donghua finished speaking, silence fell in the stone chamber.

Zheyan looked at Donghua, unable to tell whether he felt fear or admiration.

He, Mo Yuan and Donghua once studied together in the Water Swamp Academy. At that time, the world was just beginning, and everything was in ruins. There were no laws or regulations. It was pure survival of the fittest, and whoever had the bigger fist had the more influence.

Mo Yuan is the legitimate son of the Father God, the founder of the Water Swamp Academy. He is the first phoenix in the world and was later adopted as an adopted son by the Father God.

The only exception is Donghua. He has no relationship with the Father God and the Mother God, and he was admitted to the academy through the help of Shao Wan, the young master of the demon clan.

But afterwards, Donghua was the best in the academy in terms of cultivation, wisdom, and even physical skills. Although the phoenix was arrogant by nature and looked down on everyone, Zheyan had to admit that Donghua was indeed a god who could look down on the world from above.

Before, he and Donghua always stood on the same front.

He and Donghua were classmates at the Water Swamp Academy, and they were allies during their conquests. After Donghua abdicated as the ruler of heaven and earth, he and Donghua remained good friends, one in the Taichen Palace on the thirteenth floor of heaven, and the other cultivating his body and mind in the Ten-Mile Peach Forest.

It can be said that there has never been any dispute between them.

Until this time, because of Jiang Ruan, he and Donghua had to compete with each other.

But Donghua's words just now made Zheyan clearly understand his terrifyingness from the enemy's perspective for the first time.

Donghua was a man of great martial arts prowess and unfathomable strategy. He naturally knew how powerful he was, but this was the first time he truly felt his power.

He lost from the very beginning in hiding Jiang Ruan's traces.

This is when he has the upper hand.

At the beginning, he used magic to hide Jiang Ruan's whereabouts, ensuring that Donghua could not calculate her whereabouts no matter how hard he tried. He also took special precautions against the Miaohua Mirror that could see through everything.

He thought he was well prepared and flawless, but who would have known that Donghua, who was at a great disadvantage, could turn the tide of the battle in just a few days in the Heavenly Palace.

First, he quickly calmed down and tested Tianjun. When he couldn't figure out Jiang Ruan's whereabouts, he inferred her safety. Then he gradually investigated and checked Cen Sheng's life book, and then set up spies in Chenshui Town.

Although he stopped the land god of Chenshui Town from reporting Jiang Ruan's affairs to Donghua, he neglected to ask the land god in detail what Donghua had told him.

Jiang Ruan's defeat was not unfair since Donghua found him.

After a long silence.

Zhe Yan's voice was calm: "Your thoughts are still as deep as before."

Donghua said, "When it comes to Jiang Ruan, we must be extremely meticulous."

Initially unaware of his feelings for Jiang Ruan, Zhe Yan naturally only set up a spell to hide her traces, because he believed that Jiang Ruan would eventually return to the Heavenly Palace to be his empress.

But when Zheyan realized that he had fallen in love, although he provided meticulous protection, it was still not thorough enough.

Donghua saw all of Zheyan's reactions, but his indifferent expression remained unchanged.

Zheyan is the same as him. For hundreds of thousands of years, he practiced in the Water Swamp Academy, then conquered the world, and now lives a peaceful life. He has always been alone and has never been moved.

At this moment, he suddenly fell in love with the same woman, so naturally no one wanted to let go.

Hundreds of thousands of years of loneliness were too long and painful. Donghua sat high up in Taichen Palace, overlooking all living beings in the four seas and eight wildernesses. Zheyan lived in seclusion in the Ten-Mile Peach Forest, and his life was filled with the elegance of self-cultivation and winemaking.

They don't want to be alone anymore, but they don't know how to end it.

Donghua is the emperor. His unusual treatment of a certain god will lead to a change in the wind direction of the four seas and eight wastelands. It is also to appease the heart of the current emperor Haode. As the former master of heaven and earth, in order to maintain the existing peace in the four seas and eight wastelands, he can only sit on the high platform without any sadness or joy.

Zheyan needed to cultivate his character, and he had little interest in taking on disciples. He spent his days in the Ten-Mile Peach Forest, planting trees and brewing wine. When he felt like it, he played chess or the zither, never leaving the forest unless it was important. Sometimes, Bai Zhen and Bai Qian would come to play in the forest, and that was perhaps one of his rare moments of joy.

Until I met Jiang Ruan.

The gods who have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, who have experienced the changes of eras in the four seas and eight wildernesses, and whose young hearts have been worn down to the point of indifference, the world cannot imagine how they would be moved, even they themselves cannot imagine it.

But naturally, after meeting the destined person, his indifferent heart regained the excitement of youth.

Donghua has never failed to get what he wanted. As for Jiang Ruan, he regards her as the only person who can accompany him for the rest of his life, and he is determined to get her.

Isn’t it the same for Zheyan?

Seeing that the two had something to say, Mo Yuan, who had been sitting on the cushion drinking tea, stood up. He walked out of the stone chamber and stood at the door where he saw a small boat on the lake.

Mo Yuan's eyesight was good enough for him to see everything on the lake clearly.

A beautiful woman was sitting on the boat. She picked fresh lotus leaves with her soft and boneless hands, and many lotus pods were also placed on the boat.

She paddled and wandered among the lotus flowers.

Mo Yuan felt very strange.

Jiang Ruan is obviously a weak mortal woman, but she is very strong and never pretentious. The next second when people think she should be pampered, she can do rough work without any disgust.

In Shenshui Town, when he thought she could only accept her fate and rely on the strong, she was able to make the resolute move of preferring to commit suicide rather than accept her fate.

She is weak, yet able to shock people at every turn. She knows right from wrong and justice, and can always make choices quickly in critical moments.

Although he is a mortal, he has a heart of justice that can think for the people of the world.

……

Stone interior.

Zhe Yan said, "Well, from now on, it all depends on your own ability."

Then, he felt strange again: "When you first appeared in Shenshui Town, I thought a fight was inevitable between us."

"Why fight?" Donghua said with a half-smile: "Although I promised to set Jiang Ruan free, I will stay by her side."

"It's true that you have feelings for Jiang Ruan, but you should also know that Jiang Ruan and I are already engaged. Our engagement invitations have been sent everywhere, and I personally delivered the invitations to you, Mo Yuan, and Yao Guang."

"No matter what efforts you make in the future, as long as Jiang Ruan doesn't fall in love with you, I will be her destined marriage partner. When she ascends to become an immortal, my name will appear next to hers on the Three Lives Stone."

Donghua looked at Zheyan meaningfully at this point. "As for Jiang Ruan, now that she's been hurt by Cen Sheng, I'm afraid she'll be as timid as the devil when it comes to love. Besides, if she really had feelings for you, after six months of your meticulous care and companionship, it's only natural she'd develop feelings for you."

"No, that's all." Donghua lowered his voice, "Zheyan, don't waste your time."

It was precisely because of this that he never took Zhe Yan's coveting of Jiang Ruan seriously.

Zheyan could sense Donghua's arrogance in his words, which showed that he did not take him seriously.