To please Grace Carter, after speaking he didn’t forget to add, “You two are a match made in heaven, a talented man and a beautiful woman—truly enviable. If I stay here any longer, I’m afraid I’ll just be getting in the way of you two deepening your relationship.”

He spoke with such emotion and flair, yet didn’t realize this was the greatest possible insult to their professional abilities—like dancing in a minefield—while grinning as brightly as a chrysanthemum, as if he could soar up and touch the sun at any moment.

Grace Carter was both angry and aggrieved.

Come on, please respect her role as the villainess! Who wants to deepen their relationship with the male lead!

Chapter 2

As a clever and beautiful girl well-versed in all kinds of male and female web novels, including certain “po” genres, Grace Carter wasn’t stupid—she immediately understood what Brian Cooper meant.

Her current actions did indeed make it easy for others to misunderstand. If she tried to argue, it would only make things worse.

In the original plot, the original character would insult Henry Clark and then turn to leave. Now, with the scene so awkward, she didn’t want to linger either. But to put an end to the male lead’s unrealistic self-indulgence, she still added before leaving, “I really don’t like you!”

Henry Clark looked at her expression...

Well, actually, there was no expression on his face at all. His long, narrow phoenix eyes gave a cold glance, his voice icy as shards, still carrying a trace of murderous intent: “I never said you liked me.”

Grace Carter choked.

Male lead, are you a dog? Would you die if you didn’t get in that jab?

Now it looked like she was the one being self-indulgent.

“And you two.”

Henry Clark was as hard as iron; she wasn’t stupid enough to kick at him, so she turned her gaze to the other two present: “Don’t let your imaginations run wild!”

Brian Cooper wore a look that screamed “Yes, yes, we get it, the young lady sure knows how to play,” nodding like a beckoning cat: “Yes, yes, absolutely, we won’t imagine anything.”

Grace Carter was about to die of anger.

But she couldn’t explain herself, so she could only grit her teeth and meet Henry Clark’s gaze, reciting the line the system forced her to say—the villainess’s final harsh words in the original: “We’ll meet again. Just you wait.”

Grace Carter: …

Even she felt that after all this, she’d clearly become a tsundere young lady secretly in love with the male lead but too shy to confess!

A line like “We’ll meet again” was indeed chilling in the original context, but coming from her…

Why did it sound like she was eager to see her beloved again!

Grace Carter was nearly suffocated by this farce, and turned to leave without hesitation—she didn’t even wave her sleeve or take a single cloud with her, leaving behind three people in the disciples’ quarters, each with their own expression.

Brian Cooper gave a dry laugh, glancing timidly at Henry Clark in front of him: “Looks like she’s deeply in love with you. Congratulations, congratulations.”

That little ancestor was gone, leaving behind the mad-dog-like Henry Clark, and he felt doomed.

Back during the entrance test, Henry Clark was just a poor kid with weak spiritual power and traces of demonic blood in his veins—no money, no status, no power—making him the perfect punching bag for him and Adam Sullivan.

But the kid was tough. Even with little strength, every time he got beaten up, he’d fight back desperately, which only brought on harsher beatings. No matter how badly he was hurt, he never begged for mercy.

Like a wolf cub without claws or fangs yet, his eyes blood-red.

Henry Clark’s swordsmanship… when did it become so refined?

This question echoed hollowly in his heart, and as the night deepened, Brian Cooper heard a barely audible chuckle.

The last rays of sunset mingled with moonlight, chaotic shadows flowing like water, outlining the sharp features of the youth before him.

Henry Clark’s dark eyes were filled with a crimson glow, the corners of his mouth barely curved, but his gaze was as cold as a northern wind over a frozen river, utterly devoid of warmth.

His tone was indifferent, tinged with laziness and mockery, the tear mole beneath his eye like a drop of congealed blood, making Brian Cooper instinctively shiver: “Draw your sword.”

=====

Whatever was happening with the male lead had absolutely nothing to do with Grace Carter at this moment.

If he wanted to build a harem, let him build a harem; if he wanted to enter a secret realm, let him enter a secret realm—she didn’t care at all.

The only thing Grace Carter cared about was that she could finally walk on the ground again! And not just walk—she could even fly on her sword with ease!

In her previous life, she’d been tormented by illness, suffering unbearably. When her illness was at its worst, she was barely breathing, too weak to even get out of bed, and could only lie there quietly waiting to die.

Thinking about it, it had been a long time since she’d walked freely.

Now, she was super, super, super happy!

Grace Carter almost jogged out of the disciples’ quarters, heading to an open spot on the mountain. Relying on her memory, she formed a hand seal with one hand.

With a flash of sword light at her waist, the long sword responded, leaping from its sheath to hover in midair.

This sword was called “Star Scar.” Its blade was slender and thin, light as a swallow, and under the moonlight it gleamed with a faint, cold glow.

The hilt was adorned with several small, exquisite Guanghan pearls, radiating spiritual light. At a glance, it sparkled brilliantly, truly resembling a sky full of star trails.

The original owner cherished this sword—or rather, in the eyes of every sword cultivator, their own sword was a peerless treasure.

Where the person is, the sword is; only the sword, only me.

No matter if it was splitting mountains, cleaving rivers, shattering the earth or breaking the sky, traversing all the mysterious realms of the heavens, fame and fortune were all external things—there was only one person and one sword.