"Anping, are you really not going to show up in front of our disciples?"
"No, I don't really like showing off to others. As I said before, I'm just an ordinary person..."
"Heh... Ordinary dual-spiritual root cultivators can't form a heavenly golden core."
"..."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly, cupped his hands, and flew off under the gazes of Ye Ao and Kong Yulan.After Ye Anping left, Ye Ao suddenly turned emotional, and he couldn't help but sigh. "Hey -- this kid... is he really my son?"
Ten years ago, Ye Ao would never have dreamed that Ye Anping could go so far on the Immortal path, and even now, when he saw it with his own eyes, he still felt a little dazed.
He even had the thought that "*Ye Anping was born to Kong Yulan and a powerful cultivator*", but when he turned to look at Kong Yulan beside him, he immediately rejected that thought.
After all, his wife weighed over 200 pounds before marriage. Even those wealthy cultivators looking for slaves, would definitely not look at his wife, although she had now become a beautiful and graceful woman.
Kong Yulan looked at Ye Ao's silly smile and grabbed his ear, frowning. "Old man, what are you thinking about?"
"Nothing, nothing... Yulan, how about we work harder and give our Ping a sister?"
Kong Yulan rolled her eyes at him, but after hesitating for a while, she waved her hand and closed the door of the pavilion. "How old are you? Still thinking of giving our Ping a sister... We might as well practice hard so that we can at least help him in the future. Just now, he thought that we would hold him back. That's why he didn't let us follow him to the **Cold Country**.""Ah? What do you want to practice at such an old age..."
"Dual cultivation!" Kong Yulan frowned. She turned around and walked toward the second floor of the pavilion. "Go, take a bath. I'll wait for you in the room."
"Oh..."
...
After coming out of the *Heavenly Pavilion*, Ye Anping went around the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect to visit some of the elders who had watched him and Pei Lianxue grow up since they were little.
Most of those elders had been in the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect since his parents founded it. Although their cultivation had pretty much stopped at the *Foundation Building* stage and there was no possibility of further improvement in the future, he still respected them from the bottom of his heart.
Indeed, the practitioners of the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect did not achieve much in their cultivation, but the disciples and elders were as close as family members, and there was no difference in status due to the level of cultivation.
There were no intrigues or schemes, only treating people like family.
This was probably the main reason why many once-powerful cultivators preferred a small sect as a place to return to.
When Ye Anping returned to the pavilion on the **Eastern Peak**, it was almost dusk.
He re-laid the second level of the *Spiritual Gathering Array*, sat cross-legged in it, and began to feel the changes brought by the golden core in his body.
The golden core in his abdomen was like a second energy reserve, constantly purifying the spiritual water and wood in his meridians. Therefore, many spells that usually required the assistance of talismans to be cast could now be released simply by forming hand seals and focusing on the spell.
The spiritual sense that could only extend to ten miles could now reach a hundred miles.
Most importantly, the upper limit of yang energy that could be stored in the meridians had increased a lot, so he didn't have to worry about it bursting out in the short term.
Ye Anping originally wanted to abandon the *Nine Elements Heart Technique* he had practiced so far for a different technique after he formed the core. This way, he wouldn't need to worry about his yang energy erupting in the future.
But the time it took to form the core was slightly longer than he expected, nearly six months longer.
Therefore, he had no time to learn a new technique. Catching up with his sister as soon as possible was the top priority.
If Lianxue, Feng Yu Die, and Xiao Yunluo were to rely only on themselves, the chance of winning against Gu Mingxin would be less than 50%, which was the same as zero if rounded.
He couldn't afford to be late.
After condensing his energy for a while, Ye Anping slowly opened his eyes and called out. "Xiao Tian."
Suddenly, he felt a warm feeling coming from his forehead, and Xiao Tian came out directly from his forehead, holding a wooden hammer and nails in her hands.
*"Eh? What's going on? I was decorating my new home..."*
Ye Anping didn't know how to comment. He felt that Xiao Tian was really annoying these days. From time to time, he could even hear crackling sounds in his consciousness.
"Huu..." He let out a long breath before saying, "Go to Sister Feng now and tell her that I will be there as soon as possible. If she meets Gu Mingxin before that, she shouldn't get entangled with her. She should run first and wait for me to arrive."
Xiao Tian frowned when she heard that, then remembered the black "relative" she had previously seen in the ***Imperial*** Sect. *"Gu Mingxin? Is she also going to the **Cold Country**?"*
"Yep..."
*"Anping, I've been meaning to ask you for a long time, how do you know what will happen in a certain place? It's not even written in the Heavenly Dao Scroll."* Xiao Tian floated in front of Ye Anping, winked at him, and said, *"Tell me the truth. I won't tell Yu Die."*
"No."
*"Wuu..."* Xiao Tian frowned in dissatisfaction before hugging her chest and turning her head away. *"Hmph!"*
Ye Anping frowned. "It's useless to throw a tantrum, go!"
*"But..."* Xiao Tian looked at the wooden hammer in her hand. *"My new house is not renovated yet."*
"Go!"
*"Alright! ... Why are you so fierce..."* Xiao Tian pouted. Then, she circled over Ye Anping's head and stood on his shoulders, hugging his face and kissing him. *"Chi~~ Anping, take care of yourself when I'm not here~"*
?
"Hurry up and go!"
*"Woo~~"*
Xiao Tian pouted to show her dissatisfaction but didn't say anything. She got into Ye Anping's head, took out a small bundle, put it on her back, and flew out the window.
Ye Anping walked to the window and watched her fly away, then sighed and touched his face.
"..."
Perhaps it was because he had been so preoccupied with forming the core for a while that he hadn't noticed.
But just now, the kiss Xiao Tian gave him was different from before.
In other words, there was a sense of touch.
Although it was still different from a human touch, it was no longer the feeling of a breeze, but more like touching a ball of soft and warm cotton...
He remembered how Xiao Tian had come out of Xiao Yunluo's belly button, and at that time, she didn't feel a thing.
Moreover, when Xiao Tian lay on top of his head before, if he didn't pay close attention, he would easily forget that she was on his head...
"...Could it be caused by me and Feng Yu Die entering the *Core Formation* stage? Well, never mind."
Ye Anping thought about it for a while, and then let it go. After all, it was not a real problem, and in a sense, it was a good thing.
Then, he stood up from the *Spiritual Gathering Array*, walked to the desk, took out a pen and ink, and began to write on the paper.
---**Cold Country** *incident, Strategy Plan*...
...
A full moon slowly rose to the center of the starry sky. After making a rough plan, Ye Anping packed his luggage and walked out of the pavilion.
When he saw the full moon in the sky, he felt a little emotional. "Xiyue..."
The love of his childhood dreams should be twelve years old now.
He seemed to catch a glimpse of Xiyue's beautiful face reflected on the silver surface of the moon.
However, in the next moment.
Si Xuanji's face suddenly appeared, kicking Xiyue off the moon.
"..."
That heartless old lady, who used the alias "Master Tianji" to tease him for two and a half years, and then dumped him...
Ye Anping's face was black, and he shook his head, throwing away the distracting thoughts in his mind. "Sister and Yunluo are what matters now!"
As he said this, Ye Anping stepped on the flying sword and flew toward the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect's *Guest Hall*.
...
In a room in the *Guest Hall*, Li Longling was sitting cross-legged in the *Spiritual Gathering Array*, infusing her whole body with spiritual energy.
Although she could see the sunrise and sunset through the eyes of birds and beasts with the help of the talismans engraved by Ye Anping six years ago using "physiotherapy", as he said at the time, that was a compromise solution.
With her middle-stage *Foundation Building* energy reserve, she could only maintain the spell for about four to five hours at most.
For almost half the day, she couldn't see.
Perhaps because of this, she had encountered one or two assassination attempts almost every month in the past six years.
Most of the assassins' employers were her father's former enemies. While her father was alive, they could only swallow their anger since they could not afford to offend him. But after he died, they emerged like hornets.
One after another, they came in a steady stream, and it was impossible to eliminate the roots.
If her father hadn't left her the many loyal guards in the ***Dragon House***, she might have followed him right after Ye Anping left...
However, even with the protection of the ***Dragon House*** guards, Li Longling was still afraid every night.
That feeling was like walking blindfolded on a path full of traps and sharp blades, never knowing what she would step on next.
Several times, she even wanted to give up, curl up in the quilt, and stop going out.
But every time she thought of Ye Anping, she mustered up the courage to meet the dawn of the next day.
All cultivators walking the path of immortality needed "*Shin Dao*", the moral compass. Without it, a cultivator could easily go astray.
At one time, it was her father, Li Feng, who supported her moral heart.
Now, her principles required her to return Ye Anping's favor, and until this favor was returned, she had to grit her teeth and keep going no matter what.
"Sigh..."
*Tap-tap--*
Light footsteps were heard as if carried by the wind into the house.
Li Longling, who had four very keen senses, immediately pricked her ears, thinking there was an assassin, but after she remembered that she was in the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect, she was slightly more at ease.
She turned her head to the bird standing behind her and asked, "Ah Feng... who's here?"
The Fire Phoenix on the bird stand stared at Ye Anping who climbed through the window, causing him to stop five feet away from Li Longling with an embarrassed look on his face.
Although this Fire Phoenix was not as "eloquent" as the parrot raised by Si Xuanji, its eyes were much more lively than those of the parrot: *If you get one step closer to my master, I will peck you to death!!*
As expected of a phoenix, in terms of aura, it looked much more majestic than a certain old lady...
Somewhat helpless, Ye Anping said, "It's me."
Hearing Ye Anping's voice, Li Longling completely relaxed and asked in a playful tone, "Is it Young Master Ye of the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect? Or is it Young Master Jiang of the ***Dragon Slayers Society***? Or is it Master Ye of the ***Black Star*** Sect? Or the ***Moon Shadow Sword*** Sect's Young Master Yun?"
Ye Anping didn't expect her to ask this, and he chuckled. "Let's say it's Master Ye of the ***Black Star*** Sect."
"So..."
That meant he had something important to talk to her about, and not just visiting...
Li Longling felt a little disappointed. She slowly stood up, turned around, and walked toward him.
There was no light in the room, and it was hard to see anything. If not for the keen sight of the *Core Formation* stage, he probably wouldn't be able to see at all.
But Li Longling didn't look like a blind person probing with her hands. Very naturally, she approached the round table in the room and took out a spirit stone lamp to light it.
"Is it better now?"
"It's okay, I don't need to see."
"I also can't see."
Li Longling slightly raised her hand, and the Fire Phoenix flew off the bird stand, landing on her arm. "Ah Feng can't see clearly at night. I also have a cat, but I didn't bring it with me this time."
Ye Anping raised his eyebrows. "Are you practicing the beast control technique?"
"Yeah."
Li Longling sat down at the table, letting the Fire Phoenix look at Ye Anping. "I originally followed my father to learn swordsmanship, but after all, I am blind. Although I am not incapable, the sword skill was not something I could master. So in the past few years, I have collected some beast-taming techniques and raised some spirit pets, which can just make up for my eyesight."
"This is a good way."
"It's a pity that the upper limit of beast-taming cultivators is quite low. If you can't tame a powerful spirit pet, you will be useless..."
Li Longling said that with a shake of her head. Knowing that Ye Anping liked to speak his mind, she went straight to the point. "Master Ye, what do you want to discuss with me?"
This girl was really smart. She had learned all the ropes of dealing with people from Li Feng...
Ye Anping sighed and simply said, "Miss Li, there is something I would like to ask your help for."
"Please go on."
"I hope you can accompany me on a trip to the **Northern Region**." Ye Anping added, "This trip may take more than half a year. I will ensure your safety, and I will reward you after the matter is done."
Li Longling felt that this was a strange thing to say, but after thinking about it, she just asked, "...Reward?"
"How about a Water Dragon? As the Lady of the ***Dragon House***, you must have no shortage of spirit stones and natural treasures. I can only offer some things that I know."
"..."
Li Longling couldn't help but sigh. It was self-evident what she wanted more than a Water Dragon, but listening to Ye Anping's tone, she felt that it was not the right time to say it, so she nodded in agreement.
"Okay."
"You agreed just like that? Why don't you negotiate with me? I owe you now, so you should raise the price."
"Master Ye, you are really something. If I don't raise the price, you will benefit, right? Do you still want me to raise the price?" Li Longling thought for a while before asking, "Do you not trust me because I agreed too quickly?"
"Of course not, but this trip to the **Northern Region** will be full of dangers... You..."
Li Longling smiled, interrupting him. "How can I be in danger when I am with my benefactor? In the past six years since you left, I have been in danger every day. I don't know how many people in these four regions want to kill me."
"..."
"Well, let's not talk about these depressing things. When will we leave?"
"Now."
"Eh?"
"Things are rather urgent. I'll tell you the details on the way."
Ye Anping stood up and took a step forward. He wanted to pick up Li Longling and fly away, but he was immediately met with the Fire Phoenix's angry glare. He had no choice but to bow and ask, "...Miss Li, do you have anything else to do?"
"I didn't get to see Patriarch Ye today, and I wonder if this... is not good? Since I came to the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect, I should pay my respects to the Patriarch..."
"My father doesn't care about these things. Just pay your respects to me."
*That was not the point! I wanted to hint to your parents there might be a possibility that the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect and the ***Dragon House*** could join in marriage or something...*
Li Longling pursed her lips, somewhat helplessly, and nodded. "Sigh -- Okay, I'll get ready."
"Why are you sighing?"
"Master Ye..." Li Longling said with a faint resentment, "Sometimes you really don't understand feelings. Is it intentional? Or do you really not know?"
Ye Anping shrugged, laughing. "Consider it the latter."
"You're doing it on purpose. Forget it..."
With this, Li Longling shook her head and carried the Fire Phoenix back to the *Spiritual Gathering Array* to collect the materials placed there.
