When Bai Ruxue saw Xiao Mo, her eyes instantly lit up.

"Xiao Mo, you're back!" Bai Ruxue happily ran into the courtyard.

"Yes, I'm back." Xiao Mo nodded, "But Ruxue, what happened to you?"

Ruxue's silver-white hair and white dress were stained with dust, making her look completely disheveled, as if she had been digging tunnels.

"Oh oh oh, it's nothing." Bai Ruxue cast a spell, and all the dirt on her body disappeared, "Xiao Mo, you came back at just the right time. I've prepared a gift for you. Come and see."

Before Xiao Mo could say anything, Bai Ruxue pulled him out of the courtyard.

Looking at her expectant and somewhat excited profile, Xiao Mo just smiled inwardly, wondering what new idea she had come up with.

Soon, Bai Ruxue brought Xiao Mo to the foot of a mountain peak.

Xiao Mo looked at the mountain peak before him.

"I'll cover your eyes for you, Xiao Mo. You're not allowed to peek." Bai Ruxue took out a black cloth.

"Alright." Xiao Mo cooperatively closed his eyes.

Bai Ruxue stood on her tiptoes, her soft body pressing against his back.

Xiao Mo was momentarily stunned.

He realized he seemed to have underestimated Ruxue.

After Bai Ruxue carefully tied the black cloth over his eyes, she jumped in front of Xiao Mo and held up one finger, "How many is this?"

Xiao Mo shook his head, "I can't see."

"Good that you can't see. Let's go." Bai Ruxue took Xiao Mo's hand and walked up the mountain.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps between leaves, casting dappled shadows. On the dark tree bark, moss was slippery and wet, gleaming with a faint green light in the dim illumination, like forgotten stars flickering obscurely in the depths of the tree shadows.

The bushes crowded densely together, with dewdrops hanging from the leaf tips like tears shed by those who had stayed awake all night, crystal clear and ready to fall.

Halfway up, Bai Ruxue suddenly realized she was holding Xiao Mo's large palm.

The woman's cheeks quietly flushed red. Her delicate white fingers tightened slightly, secretly gripping Xiao Mo's palm more firmly, yet seeming afraid that Xiao Mo might notice.

Feeling the warmth and softness of the woman's palm, Xiao Mo showed no reaction.

Seeing that Xiao Mo hadn't noticed, Bai Ruxue seemed to become bolder. She remembered a book she had read before.

Finally, Xiao Mo felt the young woman's slender jade fingers slip between his own, palm to palm, gently clasping together.

After "secretly" completing these bold actions, the blush on Bai Ruxue's cheeks had spread to her ears.

Bai Ruxue didn't even dare to lift her head to look at him but the next moment, Bai Ruxue felt her palm being gripped slightly tighter, and that joy spread quietly like a stream.

Bai Ruxue said nothing, just interlaced her fingers with his, hoping this mountain path could be longer, even longer, hoping she could walk with him for a lifetime.

But all paths have an end.

Half an hour later, Bai Ruxue brought Xiao Mo to the lake at the mountainside.

"We, we've arrived. Let me remove the cloth for you."

The woman reluctantly released Xiao Mo's large palm, stood on her tiptoes in front of him, and removed the black cloth.

Xiao Mo opened his eyes. What met his gaze was a lake.

Around the lake were planted spiritual flowers and herbs. A small bridge extended from the shore to the center of the lake, with a water pavilion at the bridge's end.

The lake surface reflected the pavilion's shadow.

Looking up, Xiao Mo could also see literary fortune continuously condensing into this lake.

Because of the literary fortune, the lake water had a faint black color, like an ink-washing pool.

"What is this?" Xiao Mo asked.

"This is a lake I built for you." Bai Ruxue said proudly.

"The bottom of the lake uses stones that can condense spiritual energy and literary fortune, and I've also set up several formations. As long as you drop a drop of blood into this lake, Xiao Mo, you can create a connection with it. The accumulated literary fortune can only be used by you. Unless it's a Confucian cultivator at the Ascension realm, no one can take it away.

But then again, cultivators at the Ascension realm wouldn't look down on this lake's literary fortune, and they wouldn't have that kind of shamelessness either."

Looking at this lake, Xiao Mo fell into silence.

"What's wrong, Xiao Mo? Don't you like it?" Bai Ruxue nervously tugged at Xiao Mo's sleeve.

Xiao Mo shook his head, "No, I like it very much. But Ruxue, there's no need to do such things in the future. I don't want you to be so tired."

"It's okay, Xiao Mo. As long as it's something I'm doing for you, I don't feel tired at all, and I'm very happy doing it." Hearing Xiao Mo say he liked it, Bai Ruxue's eyes curved into crescents, "Xiao Mo, quickly give it a name, and then I'll help you connect with this lake."Discover more novels at novelFɪre.net

"Alright then." Since the lake was already built, Xiao Mo couldn't waste Ruxue's good intentions, "But Ruxue, I have something to give you, and you can't refuse it."

Xiao Mo took out the Scholarly Fortune Orb and handed it to Ruxue.

"What is this? Such thick literary fortune." Bai Ruxue said in surprise.

"This is the reward I received for passing the assessment this time. It's called the Scholarly Fortune Orb. After taking it, you can receive the protection of literary fortune, which will give you better odds when facing tribulations in the future." Xiao Mo said.

"No, no, I can't accept this!" Bai Ruxue quickly shook her head, "This thing is too precious."

"It's not that precious. Compared to you building a lake for me, it's nothing at all. If you don't accept it, I'll turn around and leave."

Bai Ruxue lowered her head and hesitated for a long time before reluctantly accepting the Scholarly Fortune Orb, "I, I'll accept it, but I'll eat it later."

"Eat it now." Xiao Mo smiled, understanding her thoughts completely.

"Hmph! Annoying Xiao Mo." Bai Ruxue muttered softly and could only take the Scholarly Fortune Orb in front of Xiao Mo.

"Ruxue, you give this lake a name too." Xiao Mo smiled, "I can accept this lake, but since you built it, you should name it. It can also be a shared memory between us two."

"I get to name it?"

"Of course."

"Let me think."

Bai Ruxue pondered carefully, and her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Xiao Mo, I've got it! How about calling it Ink Lake?"

…

That night, at White Deer Academy.

On a mountain peak north of the academy.

A woman stood before a lake.

The bright moonlight fell, and this ink-colored lake rippled with a faint radiance.

"Teacher, why do you often come to this lake?" A young girl walked to her master's side and asked curiously.

The girl was named Hu Die, the final disciple of the White Deer Academy's dean.

The White Deer Academy dean named Shang Jiuli gazed quietly at the lake surface, "Because every time I see this lake, I think of, I think of an old friend."

"An old friend?" Hu Die asked curiously.

"He was my junior brother, and also a great Confucian scholar unknown to the world."

Shang Jiuli clasped her hands behind her back. The moonlight slowly outlined the young woman's figure, and those deep eyes seemed to pierce through four thousand years of time, returning to that day she would never forget.

"Four thousand years ago, during the most intense period of the war between humans and demons, he sacrificed his life and Dao for what was most important to him. It was on that day that something happened to this lake."

"What happened?"

"That day, White Deer Academy experienced a once-in-a-millennium heavy rain, and this Ink Lake flowed for a thousand li."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com