The Heavenly Sovereign's Divine Artifact Set Me Up - Chapter 2

My face felt as if it had caught fire.

An indescribable wave of humiliation washed over me. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

Of course a figure as exalted as the Heavenly Sovereign would never have meant anything like that—especially not with a minor immortal who had only just ascended.

“You like me?”

Flushing furiously, I rushed to explain. “Every immortal admires Your Sovereignty. You are the ideal we all aspire to. Th-that’s why I’m willing to become your divine attendant.”

“I see.” Lou Yuan drew out the words.

I lowered my head again and missed the meaningful look in his eyes.

He held down Star-Eclipse, which was struggling to reach me. “The way you looked just now, I thought you wanted to become my…”

He left the sentence unfinished. I no longer dared guess what he meant.

“No, Your Sovereignty. I would never harbor any improper thoughts.”

Lou Yuan smiled. “Why are you so nervous?”

I clenched my hands inside my sleeves.

Who would not be nervous upon meeting the Heavenly Sovereign they had spent their whole life striving to follow?

Lou Yuan removed a paired-fish jade pendant from his waist. One fish was black and the other white. He separated the lustrous white half and offered it to me.

I accepted it carefully in both hands. “Your Sovereignty, what is this?”

He seemed to be in an excellent mood. He no longer restrained Star-Eclipse, allowing it to wind around my wrist again, while his fingers brushed the black half still hanging at his waist.

“A token for my divine attendant. Keep it with you from now on.”

I nodded eagerly. Just like that, I had become the Heavenly Sovereign’s attendant.

Who else could be so fortunate? I had barely ascended and had already been chosen to serve at his side.

Perhaps I owed some of that fortune to Star-Eclipse.

I stroked the whip lightly. It grew so excited that it tightened around my wrist.

Lou Yuan coughed, and only then did Star-Eclipse loosen its grip, though it continued to quiver with delight.

I looked up at him. “Your Sovereignty, I’ve been meaning to ask. Why does Star-Eclipse behave like this?”

The whip was famously ill-tempered. More than half the immortals in heaven had been beaten by it at one time or another.

Why did it treat me differently?

Lou Yuan glanced at the whip around my hand. “It likes you.”

The corners of my mouth rose before I could stop them.

Everyone knew a bonded divine artifact shared a profound connection with its master. That was especially true of an artifact like Star-Eclipse, which had developed a mind of its own.

To some extent, its feelings toward me reflected Lou Yuan’s.

“I like it too.”

Star-Eclipse’s tip shot proudly into the air.

Lou Yuan was immediately displeased. He pulled it back and refused to release it no matter how fiercely it struggled.

“Didn’t you just say you liked me?”

I blinked. Those were hardly the same thing.

One was the Heavenly Sovereign. The other was only his artifact.

“Which of us do you like more?” Lou Yuan pressed. “Me or the whip?”

I had never known the Heavenly Sovereign could be this childish. Star-Eclipse was his own bonded artifact, for heaven’s sake.

“You, of course.”

Some time later, I burst into his study with a roast chicken from the mortal realm.

“Your Sovereignty! I brought this back for you. Try it.”

I held a drumstick to his lips.

Lou Yuan set down his book, took a bite directly from my hand, then gestured for me to eat the rest.

“You slipped down to the mortal realm again?”

I happily gnawed on the drumstick. Lou Yuan did not care for mortal food and would take only a few bites when I personally fed him.

“Mm-hmm. You know I can’t sit still.”

Although I had become his divine attendant, he rarely gave me difficult work. Life here was easier than it had been at the Water God’s Palace.

Lou Yuan did not restrict me, either. Whenever boredom struck, I wandered down to the mortal realm—mostly because I craved the food.

He never reproached me for sneaking away. “You’re as fond of play as ever.”

I grinned and kept eating.

By the time I finished, my mouth and hands were greasy. Lou Yuan beckoned me to sit beside him, took out a handkerchief, and wiped my face.

A tiny cleansing spell could have accomplished the same thing. I could not understand why he chose such a troublesome method.

I said nothing. The sight of the Heavenly Sovereign lowering his head and carefully cleaning my face was far too affecting.

“Thank you, Your Sovereignty.”

He put away the handkerchief. “Stop calling me that. Call me Lou Yuan.”

I shook my head. How could I address the revered Heavenly Sovereign by name?

“That would be improper.”

Lou Yuan laughed and pinched my cheek. “You didn’t find it improper when you slept in my bed in the middle of the night.”

What a scandalous way to phrase it!

He was the one who had insisted I read him stories. He was also the one who told me to sit beside his bed while I read. I had merely grown sleepy and fallen asleep there, and he had allowed it.

Now he made it sound as if I had behaved shamelessly.

I slapped his hand away and rose. “Your Sovereignty, I arranged to meet Divine Lord Meng He today. I’ll take my leave.”

Ignoring his undisguised laughter behind me, I fled without looking back.

He could eat dinner by himself.

Only later did I remember that a divine being like Lou Yuan had no need to eat at all.

I hurried to the Water God’s Palace to find Meng He.

He was the first friend I had made after ascending. Easygoing and considerate, he had worried about me ever since Lou Yuan took me away. We often arranged little excursions to the mortal realm together.

“Yanzhi!”

Meng He waved when he saw me. I sat beside him and unceremoniously accepted the pastry he offered.

We chattered for quite a while about where we should go next. Then Meng He suddenly pointed at my waist, his face full of astonishment.

“Yanzhi, do you already have a divine partner?”