Want to Ascend? Then Fall in Love

Chapter 20 – Love Tribulations Ma, Didn’t Involve Just One Person

Translated by juurensha

Edited by Noks and moon

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The initial task was really nothing, but the intention behind the last few was really too obvious.

Hugging, then sleeping, and then cohabitation….

Added to these now were also marriage incense and undressing.

The last part about a man ploughing and a man weaving hurt his eyes too much, and His Honorable Lordship just didn’t want to see it.

Marriage incense was a funny plaything that female cultivators loved to buy. 

As long as you lit it in a house and invited a man you liked over to have some fun, the color of the incense smoke would change according to the situation.

Shen Qingxian wasn’t clear on what each color represented. 

Because of the peculiarity of this incense, it was generally understood that lighting this incense was equivalent to indirectly indicating your feelings. 

The jade scroll wanted him to confess to Gu Jianshen?

Um… Gu Jianshen’s ruby red eyes flashed through Shen Qingxian’s mind. 

It was acceptable; if he had to go through a love tribulation, Gu Jianshen was a good choice. 

Maybe no one would believe it, but although Shen Qingxian had lived for more than ten thousand years, he had never experienced any romantic relationship.

He was extraordinarily gifted, achieving fame when he was still young. Afterwards, he had inherited the mantle of his shifu. 

The great dao believed in detachment and self-restraint. 

The first rule laid out in Shen Qingxian’s mental cultivation methods was to not have any emotions.

This condition had stranded countless heavenly dao cultivators, but it wasn’t something hard for Shen Qingxian.

He was ruthless and unfeeling, and though he lived in this world, he was also all on his own, remaining unswayed and unmoved.

Compared to emotions, the thing that had really given Shen Qingxian a hard time was his hobby.

He liked brightly-colored and shiny things, always desiring to take them home with him as soon as he saw them. 

Before becoming a sage, Shen Qingxian’s favorite place to visit had been the auction house. He had a high cultivation level and possessed many magic weapons, and since he couldn’t use all of them anyway, he simply took them to the auction house to exchange them for “treasures.”

Of course, these so-called “treasures were what he considered treasures; other people felt that they were entirely useless. 

For example, clothes made out of countless ruby wires, or earthly shiny gold bricks, or huge crowns inlaid with precious stones that could be used to light up an entire house….

Cultivators considered these kinds of things trash, and also, they looked too vulgar, to the point of even hurting the eyes. 

However, Shen Qingxian liked these sorts of things very much. At the auction, while everyone competed for the magic weapons he tossed away like garbage, he could be found fixedly staring at those things….

He was rich and powerful, so who could argue with him? Thus, he returned with a full load every time, beside himself with happiness.

It was during those years that his cultivation stopped, not progressing even a bit, and he was unable to become a sage.

His shizun was very puzzled; the qualifications his little apprentice possessed were hard to encounter even once in ten thousand years. Reasonably speaking, he should have become a sage long ago, so why wasn’t there any progress being made?

When he came out of seclusion to take a look, this guy, his own little apprentice who looked so cold that he was like an immortal already, couldn’t extricate himself from his addiction to colorful and gorgeous things. 

Flying into a rage, his honorable shizun threw Shen Qingxian to Wanxiu Mountain.

Wanxiu Mountain was an immortal land full of spiritual qi. Ordinary cultivators living here would be fine, but with the arrival of Shen Qingxian and his all-souls body, the spiritual power of the mountain now became overpowering, and ordinary things couldn’t bear it at all.

Those things that Shen Qingxian liked were all vulgar things, so vulgar that they didn’t contain a whit of spiritual qi. If he took them with him to Wanxiu Mountain, he would end up destroying them.

Here, some people may ask, why didn’t His Honorable Lordship collect brightly-colored treasures filled with spiritual qi?

It really wasn’t that Shen Qingxian didn’t want to, but that there weren’t any….

For thousands of years, the aesthetics of the heavenly dao had just been that plain, with moon-white, azure blue, and indigo green… In short, there were absolutely no red and gorgeous spiritual items. 

Shen Qingxian’s shizun told him, “Concentrate on cultivating. After reaching the Mahayana stage, all drives and desires will no longer matter anymore.”

This greatly inspired Shen Qingxian. He abandoned all his distractions and focused on cultivating. 

Time passed, and his shizun ascended. He also came to grasp the top seat of the heavenly dao, but by then, he no longer possessed the temperament to enjoy bright reds and willow greens anymore. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like it anymore, but that he now understood self-restraint.

Presently, he had come to a stop before the heavenly ladder, and received the task of repairing it.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out the ultimate reason behind these tasks if he looked at them carefully. 

A love tribulation?

Shen Qingxian didn’t mind trying it out.

Gu Jianshen and Shen Qingxian both received the same training task— To collect twenty pieces of cowhide. 

Gu Jianshen looked at the words on the bamboo scroll and asked him, “Has Shishu seen a cow before?”

Shen Qingxian looked at him in return. “Have you seen one before?”

Gu Jianshen said, “I’ve heard that cattle are animals that get excited when they see red.”

Shen Qingxian paused. “So, it seems that they are in fact very insightful creatures.”

Gu Jianshen’s eyes were full of smiles. 

Shen Qingxian thought of another creature with excellent vision and that had grown well. He asked Gu Jianshen, “What’s the name of your golden dragon?”

Gu Jianshen immediately discovered the intent behind his words. “Do you want it?”

“En.” Shen Qingxian was still in his teenage appearance at this time, and as he looked up at Gu Jianshen, his bright eyes were filled with expectations, and he was as good-looking as possible. 

Gu Jianshen’s heart trembled, and his voice was full of doting as he said, “When Shishu comes with me to my Weixin Palace, I’ll give it to you.”

Shen Qingxian widened his eyes slightly. “Really?”

Gu Jianshen, who had been deliberately flirting with Shen Qingxian until now, was now actually startled by his flirting being reciprocated. He paused for a bit before agreeing, “En.”

Shen Qingxian’s eyes curved, and his smile was especially beautiful. “I will go.”

Gu Jianshen: “!”

Shen Qingxian had already walked forward. “I won’t do the task today, I’ll go collect cowhide tomorrow ba.”

He walked straight ahead, and Gu Jianshen, who was behind, was left to stare at his back.

Shen Qingxian’s lips curved up slightly, and his face contained no trace of that innocent and artless look that he had put on before. 

Love tribulation ma.. It wasn’t a matter involving just one person, so you first had to excite the other person’s feelings. 

Back in the courtyard, Shen Qingxian slowly returned to his adult appearance as he walked into the house.

This made for a very pretty scene; the young and lovely child moved forward step by step, his inky black hair scattering like fog, his fine shadow like a cloud. A hundred years seemed to sink in with the blink of an eye, and it was like watching an entire lifetime. 

Gu Jianshen’s eyes remained fixed on him for a long time until Shen Qingxian turned to look back at him. “What are you doing just standing there?”

Gu Jianshen just laughed, saying nothing.

On seeing him enter, Shen Qingxian spoke, “Your Majesty, I have an unkind request.”

Gu Jianshen: “Your Lordship, please state it.”

Shen Qingxian said, “I stayed here at Meridian Temple not to observe the cultivation progress of my granddisciple’s disciples, but for something else.”

Gu Jianshen listened attentively. “What?”

Shen Qingxian built up the suspense again. “It can’t be said right now. I hope Your Majesty won’t be angry when I do tell you at that time.”

Gu Jianshen replied, “No matter what Shishu does, I won’t be angry.”

Shen Qingxian smiled. “You won’t be angry even if I kill you?”

Gu Jianshen said, “To die under Shishu’s sword and become a ghost is also romantic.”

He made a frivolous remark again, but Shen Qingxian didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled and commented, “The peony is very beautiful.”

Gu Jianshen: “Not even close to one ten-millionth of Shishu’s beauty.”

Shen Qingxian curved his lips and smiled, saying in a cold voice, “Your Majesty… I want to drink tea.” There was a lilt at the end of his sentence, a thread of tempting sweetness in the midst of the cold. 

Gu Jianshen lowered his eyes and whispered, “Alright.”

Before going to sleep, Shen Qingxian sat by the bed and looked at Gu Jianshen.

Gu Jianshen looked back at him. “Is something wrong?”

Shen Qingxian asked him, “Is your bed spacious?”

Gu Jianshen paused before replying, “It’s alright.”

Shen Qingxian said, “Mine is very narrow.”

Gu Jianshen looked at him and offered, “I’ll change it for you.”

Shen Qingxian said, “Don’t use magic.”

Gu Jianshen replied with a smile, “This room is narrow. I’m afraid I can’t fit a spacious bed in here without magic.”

Shen Qingxian said, “It’s uncomfortable to sleep with an illusion I can see through.”

Gu Jianshen suggested, “Then let’s change places…”

Before he could finish, Shen Qingxian interrupted him, “Put them together.”

Gu Jianshen raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t go to so much trouble.” Shen Qingxian stared at him and said softly, “There will be more room if the two beds are put together.”

Gu Jianshen’s eyes suddenly deepened. “Does Shishu want to sleep with me?”

Shen Qingxian asked him, “Is that okay?”

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The author has something to say:

Hold on, Your Majesty! Being flirted with in such an unruly way~~~

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Juurensha: !!!! So now that we’re pretty much caught up to where the other translation was, we’re going to be going to a biweekly schedule, with one chapter released on Wednesday and one on Friday, starting next week! Hope to see you guys on our little journey!