After today, there might never be another chance.
The Flower Festival came only once every hundred years—who could guarantee she would survive the next heavenly tribulation? And what if, in the meantime, he came to like someone else?
As she watched him surrounded by a crowd of immortals, the little camellia demon abruptly set down her wine cup, flung open her sleeves, and rushed straight through the throng.
Ignoring the complaints and glares around her, she called out urgently, “Divine Lord! Divine Lord!”
But her voice was quickly drowned in the sea of laughter.
The little camellia demon was growing anxious when, all of a sudden, the surroundings fell silent.
Countless eyes turned toward her.
He had recognized her. “Is something the matter?”
He actually heard me?
She hesitated only a second before gathering her courage and walking up to him. “I… may I become your Divine Consort?”
A strange silence followed.
The little camellia demon clenched her fingers nervously, staring unblinkingly at his handsome, slightly startled face. She didn’t miss even the subtlest change in his expression, holding her breath as she waited for his reply.
But before he could respond, laughter exploded all around them.
If no one had laughed, perhaps she wouldn’t have felt so humiliated. But now, with their laughter ringing in her ears, she grew indignant. She glared at the crowd and snapped, “What’s so funny?! I like the Divine Lord! I want to be his consort!”
A mere little flower demon dared to ask, publicly, to be the Divine Consort! That only made the crowd laugh harder.
He looked at her, and even his voice carried a smile. “Then you’d better cultivate well.”
The little episode passed quickly. In the future, at most, people would remember this banquet for having one particularly foolish little demon. The celestial music resumed. The immortal maidens danced again. The camellia demon returned to her seat—already having cast off all embarrassment. Facing the mocking stares around her, she stared each one down in turn. What’s so funny about liking the Divine Lord?
Sure enough, her wordless defiance bored them after a while. The flower spirits and immortals dispersed one by one.
She sat in her seat, gazing at him from afar in a daze.
Cultivation was truly painful and difficult.
But she liked him.
If she became an immortal, she could become his consort…
Was he giving her a hint? Could it be… he liked her too?
The camellia demon’s thoughts spun into wild fantasies. Her cheeks flushed redder and redder—almost the same color as her bright robes.
And then, to her utter astonishment—
He smiled at her.
And raised his wine cup.
She froze in place, stunned for a moment, before hastily grabbing her own cup with both hands. She clumsily lifted it from the table and drank several big gulps in a fluster—only to choke on the fragrant sweetness of the immortal brew, coughing uncontrollably.
He had been watching this curious little demon the whole time.
So bold—very few ever were.
He had initially worried that the ridicule might make her ashamed or timid. But to his surprise, she sat there with a composure far beyond expectation. She didn’t drink, didn’t speak. She just sat—staring at him, eyes wide and serious, as if contemplating something profoundly important. Not once did she flinch at the derision around her.
That innate spiritual aura of hers stirred something in him.
Unable to resist, he quietly summoned his power to divine her fate.
Unfortunately… she was destined to become only a scattered immortal [散仙 — a rogue or unregistered immortal not tied to a celestial office or sect].
He shook his head in quiet regret.
Then he thought again of what had just happened—and couldn’t help but smile. It was a clumsy confession, ridiculous even, and made right in front of everyone. Just two days ago, she had been kneeling and begging him not to throw her out, pitiful and frightened. Now she had the nerve to ask to be his consort?
Those eyes still gazed at him from afar—infatuated, unchanging.
Something youthful and impulsive stirred in him. He strolled over to the table, poured a cup of wine, and with a gentle smile, raised it toward her once again.
No one knew—
That in that single lift of the cup, her fate had already begun to change.
. Part 5){kind=link}
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