While Luan Ling was exploring the mortal world’s past, her beloved senior sister happened to encounter a major calamity.

 

A love tribulation.

 

“Huh?!”

 

Luan Ling stared at Dugū in disbelief.
“You’re saying Senior Sister accidentally took the wrong path while descending to the mortal realm, and now she has to go through a love tribulation? A love tribulation?!”

 

Dugū’s expression carried an indescribable despair.
“I’m afraid she won’t be able to return for at least a few months.”

 

“A few months—for a love tribulation?!”

 

Li Xiao was equally shocked.
“That’s not how it’s written in the books at all!”

 

Dugū explained,
“This time, Zhu Yin is a special case. She doesn’t need to reincarnate—she’ll undergo the tribulation while retaining her immortal body. After all, she’s only nineteen, still a young little immortal. We can’t seriously make her live like a mortal at that age, worrying about romance, marriage, and children… Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Of all people, why did it have to be Zhu Yin? Honestly, even if it were Li Xiao—”

 

“Hey!”

 

Li Xiao interrupted quickly.
“Sir, I’ve only just turned twenty. I’m still a pure, untouched little immortal. Just because I’m the eldest disciple doesn’t mean you can spread rumors about me.”

 

“Ahem. Anyway.”

 

Dugū straightened up.
“The situation is unavoidable now. The dean negotiated the outcome: Zhu Yin is permitted to undergo the tribulation with her immortal body intact. This ensures her safety and speeds things up, so she can return sooner and continue her studies.”

 

“But Senior Sister Zhu Yin…”

 

Situ Meng hesitated, clearly worried. He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.

 

Why did it have to be their cold, aloof senior sister? Thinking of the men they’d encountered in the mortal realm, Luan Ling couldn’t imagine a single one worthy of her. Even if it were just a casual romance like other young immortals experienced, Luan Ling couldn’t picture Zhu Yin interacting romantically with anyone at all.

 

“So!”

 

Dugū announced solemnly,
“To ensure your completely loveless senior sister returns as soon as possible, I’ve decided to mobilize the entire Qilin Hall. We will work together to help Zhu Yin overcome her love tribulation!”

 

The moment he finished speaking, Qilin Hall fell into a strange silence.

 

“Hmph.”

 

It was Si Zhuo who broke it first with his trademark sarcasm.
“Are we sure this is a genuine love tribulation? Or is it another fabricated trial by some deity who thinks Senior Sister needs to ‘experience mortal emotions’ to compensate for some missing ability?”

 

The insinuation was obvious, and Luan Ling caught it immediately. Honestly, she agreed with him—if there was a problem, why solve it in this way?

 

“Sir Dugū, is there really no room for reconsideration?”
Luan Ling asked.
“If Lord Rui Bi knew about this, wouldn’t she intervene? If the Heavenly Court—”

 

Dugū nodded.
“She already knows. And she’s quite at ease about it. Zhu Yin has an innate divine artifact, so she shouldn’t face any fatal danger physically. As for the love tribulation…”

 

He paused.
“She’s actually happy to let Zhu Yin meet more people in the mortal realm.”

 

“So careless?!”

 

Luan Ling was stunned. But then she thought again—given the murderous aura Zhu Yin occasionally emitted, ordinary mortals probably wouldn’t dare approach her anyway. Maybe it wasn’t as serious as they feared.

 

“Still, Zhu Yin’s personality is rather cold. Completing the task will likely require teamwork. That’s why the dean applied for a special divine consciousness channel for Qilin Hall, allowing you to contact Zhu Yin directly.”

 

Dugū snapped his fingers. Moments later, all four students of Qilin Hall sensed Zhu Yin’s presence far away in the mortal realm.

 

“Wow—inter-realm long-distance call,”

 

Luan Ling marveled.
“The dean really spared no expense. Hey, can I ask Senior Sister to livestream the mortal realm at night or something?”

 

Dugū quickly warned her,
“Better not push it. If the budget goes over, given Wen Yuan’s personality…”

 

As Wen Yuan’s student, he could already imagine the consequences.

 

Luan Ling wilted instantly.
“Oh… got it.”

 

“So, go prepare yourselves,” Dugū continued.
“This love tribulation has a primary target—the current mortal emperor’s third son, named Xie Yuyan. I looked up some basic information. Take a look, and come up with support strategies. If we leave everything to Zhu Yin alone, I’m worried she won’t be back even by the end of the year.”

 

“Don’t worry, Teacher,”

 

Li Xiao said firmly.
“Leave it to us! We won’t mess this up!”

 

Though the original intention was to help Senior Sister, as Luan Ling began thinking through possible approaches, she had to admit—the whole thing felt rash.

 

So far, her greatest exposure to immortal romance was the messy, tragic love entanglements happening right in front of her. Just thinking about them made her want to flee, let alone fantasize about sweet love stories.

 

Especially considering her own family environment—she struggled even with basic, human-like interpersonal relationships. Researching romance with mortals was beyond her imagination.

 

As a diligent, studious, book-loving student, Luan Ling decided to start with the fundamentals.

 

She gathered a massive pile of storybooks and began learning from scratch.

 

Some of the stories were just as melodramatic as the nonsense she’d seen before, but others were surprisingly fresh and interesting. She became so absorbed that she’d laugh out loud while walking, book in hand. Once, she nearly caused a catastrophe by being caught by the Heavenly Empress during an academy inspection.

 

After that, Luan Ling got smarter—she stored the books directly in her divine consciousness and read them quietly. But that was later.

 

As the saying goes, what you think about during the day appears in your dreams at night. Luan Ling soon realized her precognitive ability was also picking up content that even the current heavenly and mortal storybooks had never written about. She watched with delight, nearly exhausting her divine power.

 

Precognition was extremely draining on one’s consciousness; normally, she wouldn’t dare activate it continuously. Fortunately, observing storylines caused far less backlash than predicting real events. Using “spell expansion research” as an excuse, she studied happily—and when in a good mood, she even secretly copied some of the stories and passed them around.

 

Titles like “The Overbearing CEO of the Entire Solar System” or
“Why My Love Life Is This Complicated: A Few Minor Incidents”.

 

All very secretive, of course. If the Heavenly Empress caught her—even as her biological daughter—she was certain she’d be beaten to death.

 

The Heavenly Empress had always been strict with her. Though her attitude had softened recently, her academic demands were harsher than ever. After all, whenever Luan Ling felt bored, she just had to provoke her.

 

A better relationship with the Empress simply meant being assigned even more tasks.

 

Thus, half-playing and half-thinking, Luan Ling arrived at the time for Qilin Hall’s serious discussion.

 

Zhu Yin was currently inside the imperial palace—and the location felt disturbingly familiar to Luan Ling and Si Zhuo. It was the original site of the abandoned palace where they had once sealed the demon together. But hadn’t that place already been purified? Why had Senior Sister suddenly been pulled inside again, and why did it feel like an illusion?

 

“There is Junior Sister’s divine mark here,” Zhu Yin said.

 

Li Xiao immediately looked at Luan Ling.

 

She scratched her head.
“I’m not entirely sure either. When I descended before, I was heavily suppressed. It took a lot of effort for Si Zhuo and me, along with some cultivators, to purify a palace very similar to this one. But it was already abandoned when we arrived. Senior Sister, we experienced illusions inside too. Your situation looks similar—but the demonic aura was clearly removed back then, right under the dean’s supervision. How could this—”

 

And the illusion mechanism seemed different. It kept repeating the same scenario.

 

“It looks like a stage-clearing mechanism,” a voice cut in.
“If you hit a death trigger, you reset. You have to solve the problem to clear it.”

 

“Huh? You’re done with class?”

 

Luan Ling turned around. The boy tossed a pile of homework onto the ground, sat beside her, and joined the discussion.

 

“Stage-clearing… like a game?” she asked.

 

“Exactly.”

 

“But it’s just an illusion. Why not break it directly and get out faster?” Luan Ling suggested.

 

Si Zhuo let out a cold laugh.
“If you can do it, go ahead. Isn’t this thing your leftover mess?”

 

“You’ve got nerve—if it weren’t for me, you’d have been dragged off to the emperor for ‘favor’ by now!”

 

While the two bickered, Zhu Yin efficiently and brutally cleared the illusion three times using Wuxiang.

 

Staring at the bloody scene, Luan Ling silently put down her red fairy-berry juice. As expected—Senior Sister was ruthless and quiet. The storybooks she’d read clearly wouldn’t suit Zhu Yin’s style.

 

Li Xiao rubbed his temples and reminded her,
“Senior Sister, illusions are fine—but once you’re out, you must obey mortal rules. Some things can’t be done, some words—well, never mind. You don’t talk much anyway. I’ll organize a document later. You must read it thoroughly.”

 

Zhu Yin didn’t respond—but for her, silence meant consent. Li Xiao could only pray everything went smoothly.

 

“Since things seem safe on your end,” he continued,
“I’ll explain the love tribulation details. Your target is Xie Yuyan. But don’t stress—Lord Yue Lao said your case is special. As long as this mortal falls in love with—”

 

He paused, then continued,
“As long as this mortal develops feelings for you, you can return. Everything that comes after—heartache, complications—you don’t need to deal with any of it.”

 

Si Zhuo summarized succinctly:
“Just flirt. No after-sales service.”

 

“Sounds a bit scummy,” Luan Ling admitted, “but it’s not like Senior Sister chose this.”

 

“Exactly. And it’s just emotional attachment—no fraud, no exploitation. No real losses,” Situ Meng added helpfully.

 

Zhu Yin had already stopped listening after hearing the name “Xie Yuyan.” Letting her loose was like releasing a battle fairy back into her natural habitat—she only knew one thing: kill.

 

After leaving the palace, she followed Li Xiao’s instructions. Meanwhile, the four above her bombarded her with background info and strategy ideas. The divine channel never went quiet. On top of that, Zhu Yin had captured a heart demon named Zhang Cheng in the mortal realm, so voices surrounded her inside and out. Luan Ling had no idea which side Zhu Yin was even listening to.

 

Seeing that Senior Sister had exited the palace safely and things were stabilizing, Luan Ling raised her hand.

 

“Can we analyze the love tribulation properly now? If Senior Sister doesn’t come back, there won’t be music at Yunjing Pavilion at night, and I can’t sleep.”

 

“Yes, yes—this is important,” Li Xiao snapped back to focus.

 

He pulled out a thick stack of papers.
“I visited the Temple of Yue Lao earlier and reviewed thousands of years of myths. Our predecessors’ experiences are worth studying.”

 

He snapped his fingers, conjuring a board, and began his lecture.

 

“The main problem Senior Sister faces is—how to create a beautiful first meeting with her target.”

 

“Very academic, Senior Brother,” Luan Ling gave him a thumbs-up.

 

Li Xiao straightened his robes.
“Let’s start with the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The prerequisite is male initiative. That required an intermediary—the old ox—and even then it wasn’t guaranteed. Stealing clothes is morally questionable and has a high rejection rate—”

 

“Objection,”

 

Si Zhuo said lazily, spinning a gem.
“Senior Brother clearly doesn’t understand mortal men. Morality only restrains a small percentage.”

 

“True,” Situ Meng sighed.
“I only realized how wild the world could be after ascending. Men and women alike—no rules at all. We should be careful.”

 

Li Xiao coughed.
“Fine. That plan is out.”

 

Lowering his voice, he added,
“Let me share a bit of insider gossip from Yue Lao’s temple—the previous Heavenly Empress, Weaver Girl’s mother? She’s still furious about this!”

 

If it had just been an immortal falling in love with a mortal, or the Empress separating them, or meeting once a year—it would’ve been fine. Out of sight, out of mind. The real problem was the story spreading. The entire world turned that day into a lovers’ festival. With faith empowering it, the former Heavenly Empress was metaphorically flogged for centuries—she got so angry she quit her job.

 

“The consequences are too severe. Absolutely not!”

 

Luan Ling, daughter of the current Heavenly Empress, firmly vetoed it.

 

“So, excluding male initiative, ensuring helpful behavior, and gaining public blessing,” Li Xiao summarized, revealing a spiral diagram.

 

“I propose a safer option.”

 

“The Snail Maiden.”

 

“We arrange for Senior Sister to quietly help manage Xie Yuyan’s household. Curiosity will lead him to seek her out. We turn her initiative into his. Then she appears in beautiful robes, ribbons flowing—boom. Four words in his mind—”

 

“Heavenly maiden descends to the mortal realm!”

 

Luan Ling frowned.
“Will that really work? Won’t mortals just be scared?”

 

“Of course it works. Mortals are superstitious. Say it’s a god, they believe it’s a god. Say it’s a ghost, they believe that too.”

 

He paused, looking uneasy—clearly remembering something.

 

Checking the time, he said,
“Master Huaishu is coming. You all head back to Cuizhu Pavilion. I’ll go over the plan with Senior Sister and catch up shortly.”