The air over the Ji Clan testing grounds had shifted.
What once brimmed with the proud tension of combat evaluation and legacy trials had now morphed into a quieter, more insidious current—one made not of swords and spirit energy, but of gazes. Heated, hungry gazes.
The square, still packed with hundreds upon hundreds of candidates, clan elders, and observers, had not thinned even after the conclusion of the Trial of Mind's Clarity. People lingered, not merely to await results, but… to look.
To stare.
To feast their eyes on four celestial beings seated beneath the shade of a large silk-canopied pavilion at the eastern edge of the courtyard.
Ji Chuyan sat at the center of the group. Her expression remained cold as ever, unmarred by emotion or awareness of her surroundings—or rather, she projected such indifference with the practiced ease of someone born into nobility and attention. She seemed like a snow-lotus blooming on an icy cliff, beautiful but untouchable, watched by mortals from afar.
Her robes were blue today, a deep azure that made her skin appear even more pale, more flawless. The golden thread embroidery along her collar shimmered every time a breeze touched the silk. Her long, waterfall-like hair had been tied into a tall knot behind her head, secured by an ornamental phoenix pin, with two thin strands flowing down past her shoulders.
To her left sat her younger sister, Ji Yunqing—more lively, yet clearly uncomfortable. The girl had barely crossed sixteen summers and lacked the practiced poise of her elder sibling. Her nervous fingers tugged at her sleeve, smoothing imaginary wrinkles again and again, as if to shield herself from the sea of gazes crashing against them.
Beside them stood Ruolan, the maid. Always silent, always attentive. Her presence was like a shadow—not invisible, but never overwhelming. And behind them, observing with quiet pride and composed dignity, was Madam Ji herself.
Elegant. Dignified. And terrifying in her silence.
But not even the matriarch's presence could fully shield them from what was happening.
The gazes of over a thousand men bore down on the women like an invisible tide. Some were subtle—furtive glances over shoulders, sideways looks, fake coughs and repositioning of stance to steal a longer glance. Others were shameless. Eyes wide and fixed, lips parted, as if the mere sight of Ji Chuyan would grant enlightenment.
The Ji Clan soldiers held formation near the testing areas, but even they were not immune. Young guards flushed under their helmets, trying to focus on their duties, while older cultivators behind them chuckled, whispering dirty jokes that made their companions stifle laughter.
And from beneath a shaded tree not far from the pavilion, stood Lin Hao.
He was not meant to be here—at least not in any official capacity. The trials weren't open to people of his status, nor had he qualified to compete. But the crowd was vast, and many stood merely to spectate.
His hands were tucked behind his back. His posture was relaxed—but his eyes were anything but.
They swept across the crowd with eerie calm, noticing every stare, every hushed whisper. His ears caught the vulgar chuckles. His mind, already bitter and tired, only grew colder.
And then, the system's voice rang out.
💬 Ding! Lecherous gazes detected on Host's woman. Activating passive experience gain.
💡 System Notice: 1 EXP per 1,000 gazes.
📈 EXP: 0 → 1 / 100
His brow twitched. "Seriously?" he thought.
He hadn't even activated anything. It had triggered automatically.
💬 System Response: Host's emotional state has reached minimum threshold. Triggered passive tracking.
Conversion rate is optimized when humiliation or possessiveness is involved.
📈 EXP: 1 → 4 / 100
"Possessiveness?" Lin Hao muttered under his breath. "What am I, some petty husband from a storybook?"
💬 System Note: According to 3,210 simulations, you are currently exhibiting signs of possessive inferiority rage. Don't worry—it's good for growth.
📈 EXP: 4 → 7 / 100
He ground his teeth lightly and looked toward the women again.
Ji Chuyan had not even spared him a glance. She didn't need to. Her back was turned, her attention fixed on the announcement stage, where the elders had resumed deliberating the trial results.
Even from a distance, her perfection stung.
Lin Hao's eyes moved back to the crowd.
Just ahead of him, two outer sect youths were elbowing each other, whispering between laughs.
"That's the famed ice goddess?" said one. "If I could just smell her robes, I could die happy."
The other snorted. "Smell? I want to see what she looks like beneath them."
💬 EXP: 7 → 13 / 100
Host rage detected. Dopamine suppression engaged. Emotional burn converted to energy.
Lin Hao's knuckles turned white behind his back. He wanted to move. Say something. Crush their teeth in.
But he didn't.
The humiliation wasn't just physical. It was systemic. Fundamental. In this world, strength dictated status. Status dictated worth. Right now, he was worth nothing.
And so all he could do… was watch.
And gain.
💬 EXP: 13 → 18 / 100
A few paces away, an older cultivator—a guest elder from a distant branch family—licked his lips. "Her mother's not too bad either," he murmured to his companion. "Aged like good wine."
💬 EXP: 18 → 23 / 100
Even Ji Yunqing, barely more than a girl, was not spared the vileness of their eyes.
Lin Hao's stomach twisted.
He looked away.
But the system didn't.
💬 EXP: 23 → 30 / 100
System Memo: Your passivity is proving productive. You've harvested 3.4x more EXP by doing nothing than you ever did through training in the Ji Clan library.
He ignored it.
💬 EXP: 30 → 38 / 100
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He could smell the incense from the platform. The faint scent of spirit herbs burning in ceremonial braziers. The dust in the air. The sweat of unwashed candidates. But beneath all that, there was still… her.
Ji Chuyan's scent.
Once, just once, he had slept beside her—chastely, separated by a thick pillow, of course. But in those hours, her scent had imprinted into his mind.
And now, hundreds of filthy eyes tried to claim that same closeness.
💬 EXP: 38 → 42 / 100
"Enough…" he whispered.
But it didn't stop.
And it wouldn't.
Because in this world, until he climbed to the top, there would always be stronger men staring at what he couldn't protect.
💬 EXP: 42 → 47 / 100
Progress toward next level: 47 / 100