I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The red dragon's wings drew two arcs in the night wind, and the mountains of the eastern border unfolded like an ink painting under the moonlight.

"We've arrived." Ji Tian stood up, his robes clinging to his body as the high-altitude airflow blew them up.

He raised his hand and pointed to a valley below shrouded in a thin mist.

"There, at the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect."

Alex looked down in the direction of the finger and saw the outlines of several stone peaks vaguely visible through the clouds, with a faint, ethereal light flowing around their peaks.

After Ji Tian performed a spell to open the hidden formation, a small building could be seen in the valley, with green tiles and white walls, nestled among ancient pines and cypresses.

Mason also poked his head out, surprised, "There's an array? I can't sense any magical fluctuations inside at all."

"That's natural. It's the protective array I personally set up, the Primordial Five Elements Array. It's based on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, with the five elements generating each other and forming a self-sustaining cycle. To outsiders, it's just a barren mountain."

Following Ji Tian's guidance, the red dragon swooped down into the valley.

The moment it passed through the clouds, an invisible film of light swept across the dragon's body, like passing through a layer of warm water.

Inside and outside the formation, two worlds.

The concentration of spiritual energy (magic essence) was several times higher than that of the outside world, and one could feel a cool breath flowing into the lungs with each breath.

A clear stream flows gently down the mountainside, and along its banks grow medicinal herbs that Ji Tian transplanted from various places, gleaming with a lustrous sheen under the moonlight.

The buildings are laid out in a staggered manner, with a three-story main hall in the very center. The plaque above the hall bears the four characters "Feng Ling Yue Ying" (Wind Spirit Moon Shadow), written in a sharp and vigorous style by Ji Tian himself.

The disciples' residences are located on both sides of the main hall, arranged in a row along the mountainside, each with its own courtyard.

Behind the main hall stands a tall tower, its spire inlaid with a massive magic crystal that emits a soft glow in the night—the core hub of the formation.

The red dragon landed on the bluestone square in front of the main hall, and the ground trembled slightly when its four claws touched the ground.

Ji Tian jumped down first, Alex helped Mason land, and Lilith was the last to slide down. Her legs went weak and she almost knelt down, but Ji Tian reached out to support her.

"This is... the sect?" Lilith looked up at the main hall and exclaimed in amazement.

"Hmm." Ji Tian turned around, his gaze sweeping across the plaza and landing on the steps of the main hall.

Ophelia stood on the steps in front of the main hall, her short, silvery-white hair fluttering slightly in the night breeze. She wore a dark blue robe with a matching cloak, and a silver leaf brooch was pinned to her collar.

Her hands were clasped in front of her, her posture as dignified as a birch tree growing on the steps.

Ice-blue eyes calmly watched the giant dragon that had just landed in the square, and the white-clad figure leaping down from its back.

Ji Tian walked up the steps and stood in front of her.

The master and apprentice looked at each other.

After a moment of silence, Ophelia lowered her head slightly and said softly, "Master, you're back."

"Yes." Ji Tian looked at her. "You knew I was coming back?"

Ophelia's eyelashes trembled slightly. "The divination has been completed. The hexagram says, 'A noble person is coming from the west, an omen of questioning one's crimes.'"

"Then do you know your crime?"

"Know."

Ophelia did not offer any explanation or excuse, nor did she even ask, "Which matter is Master referring to?"

She simply took out a thick stack of parchment from her sleeve: it contained the manuscripts of all her novels, neatly arranged in the order of publication, with the words "Ji Tian" written on the cover in delicate handwriting.

"These are the ones I wrote." She held out the drafts to Ji Tian with both hands, her head bowed. "Seventeen romance novels featuring my master as the protagonist. The ones circulating in the market all came from here."

Ji Tian took the stack of manuscripts and flipped through them casually. The paper was thick, the handwriting was neat, and there were even careful illustrations.

He saw on one of the pages that it read: "Ji Tian stood atop the snow-capped mountain, his robes fluttering in the wind. He turned and glanced at her, then whispered, 'It's worth it.'"

He turned a few more pages and saw: "'I will wait for you.' But she couldn't stop her tears."

Ji Tian slammed the manuscript shut, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Is there anything else?"

Ophelia was silent for a few seconds, then took out another book from her sleeve.

That older book, with a worn cover and yellowed paper, was her earliest long cultivation novel, and also the only one that wasn't a romance novel.

Ji Tian did not answer.

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking, was writing all of this your idea alone?"

Ophelia looked up, her icy blue eyes fixed on him, and replied earnestly, "It's just me."

Ji Tian frowned.

"No one taught me, no one encouraged me. From beginning to end, I wrote it all on my own. If Master wants to punish someone, punish me alone."

Ji Tian stared at her for a while, his mind filled with doubts.

How could my second apprentice, who even needs to divine whether to step with his left or right foot first, be so opinionated?

His gaze passed over Ophelia's shoulder and landed on the half-head peeking out from behind the side door of the main hall.

Alice was hiding behind the door frame, her hands gripping the edge, revealing half of her forehead and a pair of bright, darting eyes.

She seemed to realize she had been discovered and quickly shrank back, with a muffled thud—she had probably hit the doorframe.

Ji Tian's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

Realizing she couldn't hide any longer, Alice poked her head out again, her face bearing an expression that said, "I'm doomed, I've been caught red-handed," like a night cat caught in the light.

The next second, she forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Master... Master, welcome back... I... I'll go pour you some tea!" After saying that, she turned around and ran away.

"stop."

Alice froze in place, her shoulders visibly trembling.

Ji Tian didn't look at her, but instead turned his gaze back to Ophelia's face.

"Were those plot points she provided for you in those books?"

Ophelia paused for a moment, then shook her head: "No, it was my own idea."

But that moment of silence was enough.

Ji Tian's senses were incredibly sharp; he noticed Alice's heartbeat quicken when she heard the question, and the fleeting, subtle panic in Ophelia's eyes.

He understood everything.

It must have been Alice who coaxed and pleaded with her second senior sister to publish romance novels under her pen name. Ophelia, with her cold exterior but warm interior, coupled with her third junior sister's powerful sophistry, naturally wouldn't refuse.

As for why Alice tirelessly wrote short and medium-length romance novels featuring Ji Tian as the protagonist?

A person who is determined to do bad things is tireless, let alone Alice, who single-handedly caused nine-tenths of the sect's calamity.

As for divining one's own fate?

This must be a disciple's normal concern for his master's safety.

That's not surprising, that's not surprising.

He glanced sideways at the figure behind the door, who seemed to want to hide herself in a crack in the wall. "Alice."

"……exist."

"Under the old locust tree in the backyard, there are dozens of manuscripts you lost during your 'seclusion' last year. Copy them all by tomorrow."

Alice's face fell instantly, but she didn't dare to argue, only muttering under her breath, "Dozens of books... how long would it take to copy them all..."

"Not enough? Then add a hundred recitations of the Tao Te Ching."

"Not too much, not too little! Just right! Master is wise!" Alice said, and then ran into the main hall in a flash.