Once Lady Ling left, Gu Jin and Long Yifan also departed quietly.

They returned to the Mage World, to the Gu Mansion.

As soon as they entered, Long Yifan took out a round crystal artifact and threw it into the air.

He had done it discreetly.

The crystal glowed, creating a layer of invisible barriers around the entire mansion.

Blue lights flickered across the walls as the barrier strengthened. The sound of the world outside disappeared.

Yet to him, what appeared was tens of cursed eyes that were floating in the air.

Long Yifan looked up and frowned. "They're watching."

He had used the telepathic link to talk with Gu Jin.

Gu Jin's eyes narrowed. "You can see them?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "The cursed eyes. They're floating around the mansion. Invisible to normal mages."

Gu Jin clenched her fists. "So she's spying on us now."

Long Yifan gave a faint smile. "She's getting nervous."

Gu Jin looked at the door of her room and then at Long Yifan.

Her voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp. "It is time," she said quietly. "Time to put on our final act."

Long Yifan nodded. "Yes," he replied in a soft tone. "Let's end this charade once and for all."

On the surface, there was no sign of decay or weakness.

Both of them looked calm, too calm for what they were planning.

When Gu Jin reached her room, she turned around and looked at him coldly.

"You should leave," she said, her voice like ice. "I am not in the mood to see you."

Long Yifan stopped in his tracks. He stared at her for a moment and said softly,

"At least spend some time with me. It is Lady Ling's order."

Gu Jin gave a small, bitter laugh. "That was inside that Cursed Land. We do not have to act so close here."

Hearing her words, Long Yifan showed a trace of sadness on his face.

But he quickly stepped forward, pretending to be hurt but still gentle.

"Gu Jin," he said, "you should at least think about what Lady Ling would say. If she finds out that we are not even talking, she will be upset."

Gu Jin laughed again, this time with a mocking tone. "And how would she even know?" she said. "She is not here."

Long Yifan looked down, his eyes full of pain.

He said nothing more as Gu Jin walked away and closed her door. He sat on the stairs, his expression sad and lost.

But the sadness was only an act.

Inside his palm, a faint blue light glowed.

It was his cursed eye... he had taken out secretly. Through it, he could see the tiny black cursed eyes floating in the air, all spying on the mansion.

Slowly, all the cursed eyes left as if they were only there to confirm something.

When the last one disappeared, Long Yifan smirked. "She took the bait," he whispered to himself.

He knew that Lady Ling just wanted to confirm whether the fight between them was real or not.

That was why she had sent so many cursed eyes.

But once she realized that Long Yifan could sense them, she quickly withdrew them.

Still, she had not taken them all.

Long Yifan could sense one more...hiding under the sofa in the living room.

It was smaller, weaker, and meant for listening, not seeing.

He frowned slightly. "She left one to spy on us," he murmured.

His eyes turned bright blue for a second, and then the glow disappeared.

At night, the mansion was silent.

The moonlight spilled across the courtyard, and the wind blew gently through the trees.

Long Yifan stood up from the stairs and walked to Gu Jin's room. He knew she was waiting.

When he entered, everything was dark...completely black. Even his cursed eye could not see anything.

He could only hear faint breathing. "Gu Jin," he said, pretending to look around, "why can't I see you?"

From the darkness, her calm voice answered,

"You have a cursed eye, and I know about it. I asked my parents to build a magic circle in my room. It hides my presence completely."

Long Yifan frowned, pretending to be hurt. "You went that far just to avoid me?" he asked softly.

"It would be better for you if you leave," she replied coldly. "I am not in the mood to see you."

Long Yifan sighed and said, "You are being too much. At least show some mercy for the feelings you once had."

There was a short silence before Gu Jin said, "Feelings fade. You should understand that."

From far away, Lady Ling sat in her room, her fingers pressing against her temples.

Through the audio coming from the hidden cursed eye, she could hear every word.

She could not see anything because of the magic circle, but she could hear the pain in Long Yifan's voice and the coldness in Gu Jin's.

"Foolish girl," she muttered. "Why push him away now?"

She sighed deeply. If this continued, everything she planned might fall apart.

The ritual needed them both alive and bound by emotion.

Without that, it would fail. "If this goes on, even when the God materializes, we won't be able to kill them," she whispered to herself.

She listened as Long Yifan's footsteps moved away from Gu Jin's room.

The door closed behind him. The cursed eye recorded everything.

Satisfied for the moment, Lady Ling ordered, "Stay in Gu Jin's room and report everything."

But what she did not know was that Gu Jin and Long Yifan had already left.

In truth, Long Yifan had placed an artifact capable of creating an illusion in Gu Jin's room.

The cursed eye would continue to hear fake sounds...like footsteps and sighs...but the real Gu Jin and Long Yifan were now in Long Yifan's room.

Once Long Yifan checked the area and confirmed there were no cursed eyes, he nodded at Gu Jin.

"It is clear," he said quietly.

Gu Jin let out a soft sigh of relief. "Finally," she said. "I was feeling like someone was staring at me all day. It was stinging, like needles in my back."

Long Yifan gave a small smile. "You have good instincts. Lady Ling was watching the whole time. But now, she cannot see us."

Gu Jin nodded and then looked serious. "Now we can start cultivating again. We wasted too much time pretending."

For months, they had focused on acting cold and distant, pretending not to pay attention to cultivation.

During that time, they cultivated secretly in a space Gu Jin had unlocked.

That island was surrounded by thick mana mist, glowing rivers.

Gu Jin had unlocked it using the resources she gathered over the years, given by Lady Ling.

Whenever her consciousness entered the island, her body outside would remain still, but her spirit would cultivate endlessly.

Long Yifan, too, could enter the island through his link. With both of them cultivating there, their progress was astonishing.

Though the resources they got from Lady Ling were only half of what they needed, Long Yifan used his own contacts to secretly get the rest. It cost him heavily, but it was worth it.

Gu Jin opened her eyes in the dark room. "I have reached Saint Stage One," she said quietly. "And you?"

Long Yifan smiled. "I broke through to Saint Stage Three long ago too."

She nodded. "Good. We are getting closer."

Their goal was to reach Saint Stage Ten...the semi-godhood level. Only then would they be strong enough to face Lady Ling.

Gu Jin was already close to the peak of Saint Stage One and could break through soon, while Long Yifan was near Saint Stage Four. One more night of cultivation would push them forward again.

"Let's begin," Gu Jin said. With that, both of them entered the space.

They sat cross-legged, their eyes closing as their energy spread through the space.

Hours passed in silence until the space informed that a new day had started.

Suddenly, Gu Jin gasped softly. Her body felt hot, as if fire was burning inside her.

"Long Yifan," she said in a low voice, "do you feel that?"

He opened his eyes, his forehead covered in sweat. "Yes. It feels like heat spreading through every part of my body."

Gu Jin held her chest, her breathing uneven. "It started when I crossed Saint Stage One, but now it is stronger."

Long Yifan frowned. "Me too. It's not normal." He stood up, his face serious. "Something is wrong."

They looked at each other silently for a moment. Then, without realizing it, they slowly leaned closer.

Their breaths mixed, and their hearts beat faster. The air between them grew hot.

Long Yifan's hand reached up, brushing against her cheek. Gu Jin did not stop him.

For the first time in a long while, she let him get close. Their lips touched softly, and the world seemed to fade away.

But before it went any further, Gu Jin suddenly pulled back. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Not now."