Dong...
Dong---
The distant bell rang throughout the twelve peaks of White Jade City.
The Bright Star Heavenly Pavilion floated isolated above the clouds. Only a ten thousand-step ladder connected it to the Middle Peak of the Bright Star Sect.
After Zu Lingzhi brought Ye Anping to the Middle Peak on their flying swords, she led him on foot to the Heavenly Pavilion at the top. Along the way, she reminded Ye Anping to observe etiquette when he met Zu Yuan later."Kowtow three times after entering! If great-grandfather doesn't speak, you also don't speak, just answer whatever he asks. Don't show off thinking that you are very impressive. You have to know your identity clearly. Great Grandpa is willing to meet you in person, which is a great honor for you! He is currently the most powerful Void Returning cultivator in the Immortal Family..."
"Should be the oldest..."
"? What do you mean?"
Ye Anping replied calmly, "Literally. Didn't you know that your great-grandfather's life is nearing its end? This isn't a secret. As the great-granddaughter of the Great Immortal Zu Yuan, you actually don't know..."
Zu Lingzhi revealed a surprised expression and questioned, "How... How is it possible?! My great-grandfather is a cultivator in the Void Returning stage, how could he..."
Ye Anping didn't continue the conversation. Seeing that they were already at the last step and the door of the Heavenly Pavilion was not far away, he interrupted bluntly, "Oh~ We're here. Thank you for leading the way, Big Sis Zu."
"..."Zu Lingzhi stood frozen for a long time. When she came back to her senses, Ye Anping had already walked to the front door of the Heavenly Pavilion with the Yin and Yang Jade inlaid in it.
Rumble---
The heavy door slowly opened inward, and a mist-like spiritual fragrance poured out from the crack of the door.
Ye Anping took a deep breath and turned to look behind him. What he saw was the twelve ethereal peaks of the Bright Star Sect below him. After stepping over the threshold alone, he only took five or six steps before his figure disappeared completely into the spiritual mist in the pavilion.
The door of the pavilion slowly closed. Zu Lingzhi, who was standing at the entrance, suddenly frowned deeply. Then, she turned around and stepped on her flying sword. She quickly flew toward the Elders Pavilion on West Peak.
Grandpa Zu's lifespan was coming to an end?!
She didn't believe it! She had to ask Elder Liu!
...
Inside the Heavenly Pavilion, everything was obscured by white fog. However, after walking about a thousand steps forward, a ray of light broke through the spiritual fog, and everything around him became clear.
A pavilion isolated on the top of the mountain came into view. An old man with a long beard dressed in a black-and-white robe was already sitting at a stone table at the foot of the pavilion, where tea and cakes were prepared.
Zu Yuan stroked his beard and turned to look at Ye Anping, who was standing in front of the pavilion. He smiled and said politely, "Since you are here, you should be at peace. Just treat me as an old man, and don't worry about anything... Well, looking at you, it seems you don't worry anyway..."
Ye Anping nodded in greeting, then walked directly into the pavilion and sat on the stone bench.
"Over the years, there have been many young cultivators who have come to talk to me, but you are the first one to be so calm and sit down without saying a word."
"Didn't you tell me not to worry?"
"You are straightforward, but a bit too confident."
Ye Anping shrugged and said slowly, "Of course I'm confident. After all, this isn't the first such situation we've encountered."
"...Why don't I remember meeting you before?"
Ye Anping didn't answer. He lowered his head, picked up the teacup in front of him, and took a sip before continuing, "A few years ago, Li Feng, the master of the Dragon House, turned demonic because of the end of his lifespan. This led several cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect to form a blood sacrifice formation during the Dragon Convention in an attempt to change his fate against the will of heaven. You should have heard about the final result. He failed to change his fate, and more than ten thousand Dragon House cultivators died under the Blood Lotus Formation."
Zu Yuan's eyebrows trembled slightly. He had heard about the incident at the Dragon House.
Although it was rumored that Li Feng's lifespan was exhausted and he died fighting the demonic cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect in the end, avoiding a spiritual fire disaster in the Western Region, he was still a Void Returning-stage cultivator after all and could guess what was going on.
However, this happened so long ago, and Li Feng was once a close confidant of the Red Moon Matriarch, so no one dared to say this openly, and there was no evidence.
Looking at Ye Anping's confident expression, as if he had experienced it himself, he suddenly felt puzzled.
---Why did he mention this?
"Oh?"
"Master Li was a loser. He was insignificant among the countless cultivators who want to change their fate. Why did you bring this up all of a sudden?"
Ye Anping narrowed his eyes and asked, "So, Patriarch Zu, do you also want to follow in Master Li's footsteps?"
As soon as he said this, Zu Yuan's friendly face instantly changed. His eyebrows slightly lowered and, at the same time, the originally warm blue sky was also stained with a dark cloud.
The pavilion suddenly became gloomy.
Zu Yuan raised his head slightly, showing a little displeasure. "Ye Anping, although I am not as narrow-minded as Red Moon, you are going too far insulting me to my face."
"It's true that she's narrow-minded, but I think she's pretty cute."
"?"
"Patriarch Zu, I'll be frank." Ye Anping became serious. "The energy of the Spring Phase cannot help you break through the level and ascend. This is your destiny. The Void Returning stage is the end of the road for you."
"You're a Core Formation-stage cultivator who hasn't even lived half a century. How can you talk about my fate?!"
"You have lived twenty-two thousand three hundred years, and adding another entry to your life book is difficult. You should know better than me. This Spring Phase is nothing more than sustenance for you, but... as I told you, it cannot help you break through to the next level."
"Ye Anping, don't be shameless."
Zu Yuan raised his right hand, and in an instant, the dark clouds gathered in the sky turned into an endless void.
As if it were the beginning of the world, everything in Ye Anping's eyes turned dark in an instant, leaving only the sound of the breeze blowing in his ears and the breath of Zu Yuan across the table.
"If you want to offend your superior, you should see if you have the ability."
Ye Anping's tone remained calm. "If I didn't have the ability, I would never take the risk to come to you. I just want to warn you that even if you take away my Spring Phase energy, the result will be the same..."
"If I don't try, how do I know it won't work?"
"Are you sure you want to try? Li Feng killed nearly ten thousand members of the Dragon House because of a mistake. If you make a mistake, do you know how many disciples of the Bright Star Sect will die?"
At this point, a golden light spot suddenly appeared in the originally dark place.
And then---
Rumble--!
As the dragon roar spread, nine golden dragons rose from the seal in the center of Ye Anping's palm and lit up the dark space again with their golden light. They surrounded the pavilion from nine directions, staring at Zu Yuan, who was sitting opposite Ye Anping.
Zu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly as he glanced around while stroking his beard. "Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal? This is the Bright Star Sect, not the Central Region."
Then, he raised his hand and wanted to take the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal from Ye Anping's hand. However, when he reached out, a piece of black ice blocked his fingers three inches away from the Heavenly Seal.
The Snow Jade Spirit Sword flew out of Ye Anping's storage bag as the bandages wrapped around it suddenly disintegrated, revealing the ice-blue blade.
"Yun Jian's sword?"
Ye Anping nodded. "Patriarch Zu, you asked what confidence I have in asking you these offensive things. These immortal items are the reason why I came here to persuade you to turn back."
"So what if you have immortal items? These immortal objects are just artifacts left behind by those Void Returning-stage cultivators. Do you want to imply that you have the Mandate of Heaven?"
"It is indeed my destiny. Immortal Red Moon is my cultivation partner."
?
Zu Yuan froze, his serious expression dissolving. Three wrinkles appeared on his forehead, and he fell silent.
"..."
"That's the truth. Once I form my Nascent Soul, Immortal Red Moon agreed to be my cultivation partner." Ye Anping shrugged somewhat helplessly. "Immortal Red Moon has been pretending to be a disciple of the Black Star Sect for the past years. She comes to find me for dual cultivation whenever she has nothing to do and asks me to serve her in bed. In fact, I knew her identity from the very beginning."
"..."
"However, she doesn't seem to know that I already knew it. Because she is very narrow-minded, I have no choice but to play along with her. Sigh..."
After his sigh, the pavilion was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
But then, Zu Yuan's laughter broke the silence. "Hehe... hahahahaha..."
"Patriarch, why are you laughing?"
"Hehe... I just think that your jokes are quite funny. Pardon me for being blunt, but I can't imagine that girl Red Moon becoming a cultivation partner with anyone. Ridiculous! How could a Void Returning-stage cultivator be deceived by someone like you..."
Ye Anping raised the Nine Dragon Heavenly Seal in his hand and interrupted with a shrug.
"It's not a joke, it's the truth."
Zu Yuan looked at the Heavenly Seal in his hand, then glanced at the Snow Jade Spirit Sword before finally landing on Ye Anping's face. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really?"
"Do I need to swear?"
"That naughty girl was actually cheated by a Core Formation cultivator? You told me this; aren't you afraid that she will bury you in the ground after she finds out?"
"She can't bear it."
"Can't bear it..."
Zu Yuan lowered his eyes, then suddenly sneered.
"Hmph..."
Closing his eyes, he exhaled a long breath and looked at Ye Anping's calm face again, then shook his head slightly. "Heaven's Mandate?"
"Yes."
"How can you be so sure?"
"There is a book in the world that has been written since the beginning of the world. On the front page, there is my name."
"Heavenly Dao Scroll... Then, I want to hear my story..."
Ye Anping lowered his eyes and recalled for a while before calmly stating, "You were born in Heavenly River Town of the Southern Region. Your parents were Foundation Building cultivators. Your father's name was Zu Qinghe, and your mother's, Lin Zhiruo. When you were seventeen years old, you encountered a demonic cultivator in the forest and was saved by an Elder of the Bright Star Sect and joined the sect the following year. You formed your core at three hundred and twenty years old and the Nascent Soul at six hundred.
The previous Patriarch thought that you would stop at the Nascent Soul stage, but you achieved the Deification on your twelve hundredth birthday, and you began to transcend the Void Returning stage at five thousand seven hundred years old..."
"Haha, that's enough."
Zu Yuan raised his hand to stop him, then stood up and walked out of the pavilion. He waved his hand to disperse the nine golden dragons back into the Heavenly Seal in Ye Anping's hand. "Yun Jian, Nangong Cheng, Red Moon, and now me?"
"And a big fox."
"The Demon King... hehe." Zu Yuan sighed, shaking his head. "Ye Anping, how could I not know that I am not able to ascend? Don't think that I'm old enough to be blind and can't distinguish right from wrong. I can't use someone else's life for my own tribulation."
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
Zu Yuan walked back to Ye Anping's side and sized him up, then smiled. "The so-called Heaven's Mandate is nothing more than a cultivator with a double spirit root, even worse than my qualifications."
"Can't refute it."
"Was it you who lured the old demons from the Magical Poison and Hedonistic Sects?"
"The Empress of the Cold Country affirmed that I have the Spring Phase energy. How could they sit still?"
"Sun Juehu... Then, let's see what the final outcome will be for those who go against your 'Heaven's Mandate'. I can afford to wait for the remaining few hundred years of my life."
Zu Yuan pointed his sword finger at his own forehead, closed his eyes, and pulled slightly.
A golden thread that looked like a fine strand of hair flew out from the center of his forehead and floated onto the table.
"Nangong Cheng gave you the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal, Yun Jian passed his Spiritual Sword to you, and Red Moon gave herself to you... Hehehe... Then, I have to bring my contribution too, eh? You want my spiritual root, right?"
Seeing Zu Yuan stripping off his own spiritual root without hesitation and giving it to him, Ye Anping was shocked. He originally thought that he would have to wait until Zu Yuan came back after fighting with the leaders of the Magical Poison and the Hedonistic Sects before giving it to him.
In the end...
Seeing Ye Anping's expression, Zu Yuan couldn't help but laugh.
"Hehe, you didn't expect me to agree to it, did you? Ever since you entered, you've always controlled me. Now, it's time for me to return the favor."
"It's not that I didn't expect it, I just didn't think it would be so smooth."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly, stood up, and cupped his hands. "Thank you, Immortal Zu Yuan!"
"Just pretending..." Zu Yuan shook his head and looked toward the mountain with his hands behind his back. "Since that Six Eyes of the Magical Poison Sect and the witch of the Hedonistic Sect dared to set foot in the Southern Region, how could I let them leave safely?"
Ye Anping understood that Zu Yuan was going to fight. He cupped his hands and said,
"...Farewell, Immortal Patriarch."
Zu Yuan waved his hand and threw a jade talisman into Ye Anping's hand. "Guard White Jade City well. I'll be back soon."
After Ye Anping took the jade talisman, Zu Yuan turned into a golden light, and in the blink of an eye, rushed out of the cave.
Ye Anping took a look at the jade talisman, then walked back to the stone table and picked up the strand of golden thread on the table with his fingers.
Right at this time...
Rumble--!
In the blue sky that cleared after Zu Yuan left, thunderclouds gathered again, and the spiritual energy of the entire place turned into small dots and gathered in the sky.
Ye Anping looked up and frowned.
---His Nascent Soul lightning tribulation had arrived.
"Tsk, you really know how to pick the right time..."
...
Rumble--!
A thunderbolt resounded through the Bright Star Sect.
Feng Yu Die, who was playing mahjong for three in the guest hall of Middle Peak, suddenly trembled. The piece she had just touched fell from her hand.
Xiao Yunluo glanced at her and said with disdain, "Second Idiot, look at you! Even a single lightning bolt can scare you! It's spring in the Southern Region, and the weather is unpredictable. Thunder and rain are quite normal."
"But..."
Feng Yu Die pursed her lips, feeling extremely anxious. She took a deep breath and ran to the window. She looked out and saw golden lightning gathering above the Heavenly Pavilion like a coiled snake.
Xiao Tian, who was helping her peek at the cards, flew over from Xiao Yunluo's head. She narrowed her eyes looking at the strange cloud and shouted in shock, "Yu Die!! That's the Nascent Soul Tribulation Cloud! Someone is forming a Nascent Soul!"
Hearing the words "forming a Nascent Soul," Feng Yu Die almost felt her heart stop. Her eyes widened, and she clenched her collar tightly.
"Young Master Ye..."
At this moment, there was another loud noise.
Boom--!!
However, this time, it was not like thunder. It was as if the entire mountain had been shaken, and dust even fell from the ceiling of the guest hall.
"Ouch... what was that?"
Xiao Yunluo, who had just stood up, lost her balance and sat on the ground.
She patted the hornet's nest on her head and ran to Feng Yu Die's side. She looked out the window and saw twelve spiritual lights shooting into the sky from the twelve peaks of the Bright Star Sect, condensing into a huge Yin-Yang Formation.
"Ah? The Bright Star Sect's formation... Could it be..."
Before she could finish speaking, a fireball the size of a mountain pushed aside the dark clouds in the sky and slammed into the Yin-Yang Formation.
Boom---!!
The dazzling spiritual light forced Feng Yu Die and the other two to turn their heads away.
When they came back to their senses, they saw dense black dots rushing down from the clouds, sweeping toward the peaks of the Bright Star Sect like locusts.
The three of them stared into the distance and understood what had happened.
---The demonic cultivators were coming.
In the next moment, Ye Anping's amplified voice came from the Heavenly Pavilion, above White Jade City.
"Disciples of all peaks, listen up! Immortal Patriarch Zu Yuan has already gone to fight the sect leaders of the Magical Poison and Hedonistic Sect. The disciples on each peak will defend the twelve peak's Formations and fight against the demonic cultivators!"
