Since that night, Elia had changed a lot.
She was more willing to open her heart to Lu Mo.
The way she addressed her changed from “Master Lu Mo” to “Sister Lu Mo.”
When she smiled at Lu Mo, her expression no longer held that old restraint or sense of distance.
She still worked incredibly hard.
Whenever Lu Mo guided her cultivation or gifted her resources again, she would still keep that gratitude deep in her heart, but she no longer refused or felt overwhelmed by guilt.
She believed in Lu Mo.
Just as Lu Mo believed in her.
‘Don’t think about failure. Don’t fall into regret or guilt.’
‘Just keep moving forward and keep walking.’
‘Together with Sister Lu Mo.’
And so, the two of them passed through late autumn, the depths of winter, early spring, and midsummer.
Time flowed gently and silently.
Lu Mo effortlessly entered the Advanced Class, becoming the undisputed number one in the entire institute.
With Lu Mo’s help, Elia moved forward one step at a time, finally reaching high-level Starter rank.
Actually, the Frost Essence was not entirely useless.
Over these few years, Lu Mo had taken Elia to participate in several combat trials and set foot in many ice-attribute secret realms.
When they encountered opponents who were a match for Elia, Lu Mo would stand aside and let Elia kill the enemies alone.
Several times, Elia was seriously injured due to her lack of combat experience.
When Lu Mo prepared to intervene, she was stopped.
“No, Sister Lu Mo… I can do this…”
Elia spoke as she forced herself to stand through the pain, her eyes full of persistence.
After steadying herself, she gripped her blood-dripping sword and slashed at the magical beast once again.
For a brief moment, Lu Mo saw a flash of frost-colored light flickering on the surface of Elia’s skin.
It was like… the awakening of some bloodline, or the manifestation of some talent.
However, this awakening was, after all, only momentary.
After Elia killed the monster and fainted from exhaustion, the frost light vanished completely.
When Elia woke up, she could not sense the existence of any bloodline or talent in her body at all.
But once Elia recovered and practiced again under Lu Mo’s guidance, Lu Mo could clearly feel that Elia’s realm and her control over the frost element had improved slightly.
‘Could this be related to the Frostspeak Bloodline?’
Lu Mo had wondered more than once: if she deliberately let Elia reach the brink of death dozens or even a hundred times, would the Frostspeak Bloodline finally awaken?
But in the end, it was just a thought.
She would never do such a thing.
If she toyed with another person’s life and feelings so carelessly, what difference would there be between her and Cthilla?
What Elia needed was trust, companionship, and a big hug.
She didn’t need to live in blood and fear all day long.
“Let nature take its course,” Lu Mo whispered.
In the Simulated Reincarnation, she still had plenty of time — enough to accompany Elia through the long years.
She had enough time to wait for the flower to bloom.
As the First Senior Sister of the Ice Orchid Institute and possessing peerless beauty, Lu Mo naturally had many pursuers.
Sons of nobles, descendants of prestigious families, and even those from the direct royal bloodline.
But without exception, all of them were rejected by Lu Mo.
“Did you know? A few days ago, Prince Enxi confessed to Master Lu Mo, and he was rejected.”
“How many princes is that now?”
“As expected of Master Lu Mo… The way she rejects a prince with a cold face is just too cool. Can girls really be that cool?”
Even in Elia’s class, people were discussing matters related to Lu Mo.
Lu Mo had rejected every single pursuer.
In their eyes, Lu Mo was like a flower on a high peak, blooming atop a snowy mountain — breathtakingly beautiful, cold, and proud, beyond any touch of profanity.
“Lady Elia, you’re the closest to Master Lu Mo. Do you have any inside info?” a young girl leaned in and whispered to Elia.
Elia simply smiled and shook her head, indicating she knew nothing.
Another girl praised Elia’s own appearance.
“Speaking of which, Lady Elia is very beautiful too…”
“Haha, not at all…” Elia gave a sheepish laugh, answering shyly.
Elia was no longer the little girl who loved to cry.
She had grown into a graceful young woman.
Her physical development was even better than Lu Mo’s; standing in front of her, she was actually a bit taller.
Sometimes, when Lu Mo wanted to press her forehead against Elia’s, she even had to stand on her tiptoes.
This often left Lu Mo in a daze.
In her memory, Elia seemed to still be that little girl.
From the little girl who held her hand and followed behind her to the tall young woman she was now, it seemed as if it had happened in the blink of an eye.
“So, Elia, do you have someone you like?” a girl suddenly asked.
“Eh? Someone I like?” Elia blinked in surprise.
Before this, she had never thought about such things.
When it came to romance, she seemed to have never “awakened.”
Dating?
Was that as important as cultivation?
Was it as important as studying?
Seeing Elia’s stunned expression, the girl put a hand to her forehead.
She tried her best to think of how to explain it to Elia. “It’s… someone you really want to be with, someone you really want to cling to.”
“When you’re with that person, you’re very happy; when you’re apart, you’re very sad.”
“When you smell their scent, you involuntarily relax. When you hug them, you feel pleasure spreading through your body.”
“You want to… with that person…”
The girl used her hands to make a gesture that Elia didn’t understand.
“?”
A question mark slowly formed in Elia’s mind.
“Forget it.” Seeing that Elia still didn’t get it, the girl covered her face, regretting that she had risked her reputation to make such an indecent gesture.
“One day, Elia, you’ll understand,” she sighed finally.
As the bell rang for class, everyone returned to their seats and stopped talking.
Like?
However, for the rest of the time, Elia kept thinking about that question.
Wanting to be with someone?
Liking someone’s scent?
Involuntarily wanting to be close to someone?
It wasn’t that she had never felt this way.
In fact, lately, this feeling had been growing stronger and stronger.
The person who gave her that feeling…
‘It’s Sister Lu Mo.’
‘Was that feeling actually love?’
‘But… Sister Lu Mo is my most important family member!’
Elia suddenly thought of this.
In the past, she had always viewed Lu Mo as her sister.
But recently, for some reason, her feelings for Lu Mo were developing in a strange direction.
‘I can’t like my sister, can I?’ Elia tried to convince herself.
‘What if doing that makes Sister Lu Mo hate me?’
‘But…’
She suddenly thought: if one day Lu Mo really ended up with someone else, how would she feel?
Would she be depressed?
Would she go crazy?
Would she lose her mind and kill that “someone else”?
Elia struggled with the thought all day long.
Even when the sun set and school let out, she was still thinking about it as she headed home.
“And even if I consider it a thousand or ten thousand times! A girl being with another girl… it’s still very strange, isn’t it?” Elia muttered to herself as she returned home.
Sister Lu Mo would definitely be repulsed by it!
“Sister Lu Mo?” She knocked on Lu Mo’s door and found she wasn’t there.
Normally, she would go back to her room to study seriously and wait for the other to return so she could welcome her at the door.
But today, acting on a strange impulse, she actually pushed open Lu Mo’s door and sneaked inside like a stealthy cat.
“Hmm?”
She saw some manuscripts on Lu Mo’s desk.
There was quite a bit of writing on them.
She knew Lu Mo liked to write things.
However, Lu Mo had never shown them to anyone, and she had never asked.
After all, everyone had secrets.
‘Just one look… just a tiny peak!’
Driven by curiosity, Elia picked up one of the pages.
Constantly convincing herself, she began to read seriously.
Whatever Sister Lu Mo wrote must surely be a serious work comparable to a literary masterpiece, right?
‘This is… a story about a Senior Sister and a Junior Sister? Is it going to be touching?’
‘Hmm… Drugging?’
‘Senior Sister, I’m sorry?’
‘Begging for mercy?’
‘Body development?’
“Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh?”
In an instant, Elia’s face turned bright red, her eyes widened, and she felt as if her entire head was about to explode!
At that moment, it felt as if a brand-new door had swung wide open before her.