Yet Qin Jiaming seems to have eyes on the back of her head, skipping around carelessly but always avoiding danger.
"She is very familiar with Qi Kingdom; she doesn’t seem like a loose cultivator from Yan Kingdom..."
"Even if, at the very worst, a typical low-tier loose cultivator from Yan Kingdom came to Qi Kingdom, they shouldn’t be as composed as she is."
...
Half a day later.
A grayish city gate emerged at the horizon’s end.
This was Chouyun Pass.
Compared to Chen Ye’s arrival, the Chouyun Pass now was unaffected by war, more prosperous.
In the sky, Foundation Establishment cultivators occasionally flew by.
At the city gates, several black-robed demon cultivators were blatantly inspecting passing travelers.
Qin Jiaming skillfully took out a few grains of spiritual sand from her Storage Bag, cheerfully stuffed them into the guard’s hands, and sweetly said, "Thank you, brothers, for your hard work," before pulling Chen Ye inside boldly.
On the filthy road, demon cultivators led teams of ragged cultivators or commoners wandering past.
Qin Jiaming whispered,
"Many of these are Yan Kingdom cultivators! Recently, Emotion Crossing Sect has gone too far, abducting many Yan cultivators within Yan’s borders, thoroughly angering Lingyin Sect, leading to a battle in Changqing County, with many casualties."
"Yet it hasn’t hurt Emotion Crossing Sect’s strength. After all, Black Cliff City guards the Yan and Qi border, blocking Lingyin Sect. It is said that behind Black Cliff City is a great power, one that not even Lingyin Sect dares offend!"
Hmm...
Chen Ye pondered.
He recalled this battle, known as the Changqing Battle within Lingyin Sect.
The Yuan Family rose to prominence during this battle.
The feud between Lingyin Sect and Ten Thousand Puppet Sect was ignited during this battle—Ten Thousand Puppet Sect secretly led away many fallen cultivators of Lingyin Sect, including the corpse of the Baopu Peak Master, to refine them into corpse puppets.
"Does this mean the current timeline is about twenty-two years ago? Currently, ’I’ should be twenty-three years old."
Chen Ye silently speculated.
Thus,
he came to Qi Kingdom at twenty-three, met Li Guangzong at twenty-five, had the Hundred Herbs Pill Scripture stolen by Li Guangzong at twenty-eight, found Zhiwei at thirty-one, found Qing Jun at thirty-two, awakened his past life’s memory at forty, and now, he was already forty-five.
Walking through dirty, muddy streets, they stopped before a remote, decrepit inn.
"This is the place!"
Qin Jiaming pointed at the shaky sign and lowered her voice, saying,
"Brother Bai usually stays with Susu in the backyard here."
Chen Ye raised his head, eyes landing on the inn’s half-open wooden door.
Before even approaching,
the Heart Slaughter Sword within him emitted a faint tremor.
This person... such pure sword intent!
Chen Ye’s expression grew serious.
Bai Li had yet to form his core, but his aura was scarier than that of the evil heirs!
"No wonder he’s said to be a once-in-several-centuries genius of Lingyin Sect... It’s important to note that Lingyin Sect is just a few centuries old. Bai Li’s talent surpasses that of Huayue’s hidden dragon, Gu Tangyin. If he were at Huayue Mansion, he’d be in the top three hidden dragons, and after forming his core, he’d be able to climb the Soaring Dragon List in a few years!"
Chen Ye was shocked.
Bai Li fell too quickly; hardly had he formed his core when he was killed in an ambush, hence not emerging onto the Soaring Dragon List.
If he were still alive, he’d surely be solidifying in the Golden Core stage, perhaps already in the middle period, enhancing Lingyin Sect with another powerful Golden Core True Man.
At that point, destroying Emotion Crossing or Myriad Puppets would be a piece of cake, with strength rivaling the Refining God Sect.
"Hiss... Bai Li is already renowned now. Why would he directly expose his and Susu’s true names after coming to Qi Kingdom?"
Chen Ye’s heart harbored another doubt.
Even for himself, arriving in Qi Kingdom meant going through great trouble to hide his identity.
Previously, the only reason he revealed his true name to Qin Jiaming was that his disguise was ruined, his true face exposed, making any further fake claims redundant.
"Creak—"
Just as Chen Ye was thinking, Qin Jiaming had already eagerly pushed open the inn’s unstable backyard door, leaned her head inside, and whispered,
"Brother Bai! I’ve brought Brother Chen back safe and sound!"
Chen Ye collected his scattered thoughts and followed through the threshold, anticipation inevitably growing within his heart.
Soon, I will see my father-in-law and... Little Susu.
The backyard is not large, somewhat dilapidated, but kept clean and tidy.
In the corner, a small patch of Spirit Field is cultivated, growing a few First Tier Spirit Plant Star Face Flowers, which require meticulous care—these things, besides emitting a slight glow at night and looking a bit nice, are of no help to cultivation.
In a place like the Qi Kingdom, where Spiritual Qi is murky and land scarce, someone actually has the leisure to plant these things meant to amuse children.
Chen Ye’s gaze passed over that Spirit Field, landing beneath the old and withered locust tree in the courtyard.
A man stood there.
He was dressed in a coarse robe, sleeves rolled up, holding a small hoe with soil on it, looking just like an ordinary, fallen Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Upon hearing the commotion, the man turned around.
Chen Ye’s breath slightly halted.
This was a handsome and suave face, bearing a seven-tenths resemblance to the future Bai Susu in the brow and eyes but with more rugged features.
It was said that he and Bai Li bore some resemblance.
Yet upon closer inspection, it wasn’t quite as mystical as people described.
At most, there is a slight resemblance in appearance... After all, beautiful things always have a semblance.
However,
Chen Ye and Bai Li have similar physiques, and coupled with Bai Li’s present fallen Spirit Plant Cultivator image, the two indeed share quite a bit of resemblance.
"It’s good to return safely."
Bai Li casually placed the hoe on the stone table beside, his gaze gently settling on Chen Ye, his eyebrows slightly raised,
"Brother Chen, your aura... seems quite chaotic. Did you encounter trouble?"
Before Chen Ye could speak, Qin Jiaming hurriedly stepped forward, chattering away:
"Brother Bai! You wouldn’t believe it, a terrifying Void Storm suddenly swept through the Celestial Abyss outskirts! We got separated, and Brother Chen got swept by the storm, injuring his Divine Sense, and now he can’t remember past events clearly!"
"Void Storm?"
Bai Li frowned upon hearing that.
"Yes! At that time, the sea of clouds in the sky was churning, it was incredibly frightening!"
Qin Jiaming shivered at the memory, swallowed,
"The scariest part was that Brother accidentally entered the Broken Soul Gorge! It’s said to house powerful monsters, but luckily, the monster seemed also scared by the Celestial Abyss disruption and went who knows where."
The more Qin Jiaming explained, the more grave Bai Li’s expression became.
"That’s not right, the Celestial Abyss should not have Void Storms."
Bai Li shook his head after listening.
Qin Jiaming gave a start, scratching his head: "Huh, how come it can’t happen? It’s said that’s where the mighty ones fought, and the space is shattered. In such places, shouldn’t Void Storms be common?"
Most cultivators shared the same thought as Qin Jiaming.
The Celestial Abyss is like a sieve leaking everywhere, with extremely unstable space full of fragments.
Hence, encountering unforeseen incidents is nothing unusual.
"No."
Bai Li put his soil-stained fingers into the water basin beside, carefully washing them, while explaining,
"Although the Celestial Abyss is a remnant of a battle between Nascent Soul True Monarchs, with broken laws, it has, through a millennium’s evolution, formed a kind of balance. Otherwise, why would descendants settle here?"
"Unless... something extreme happened inside the Celestial Abyss, breaking that millennia-maintained balance, such that the agitation you speak of occurred."
"Extreme? How extreme?" Qin Jiaming blinked, asking.
"For example..."
Bai Li paused, drawing out a clean cloth, leisurely wiping between his fingers,
"For instance, if the cracks in the deepest part of the Celestial Abyss were forcibly attacked by a mighty being, implicating the entire abyss, causing it to explode. At that level of turmoil, it’s not just about stirring up a Void Storm, but cultivators throughout the Qi Kingdom and even the Yan Kingdom would sense the catastrophic upheaval."
"However, I stayed at Chouyun Pass for half a day and sensed no disturbances from the Celestial Abyss direction."
Upon these words.
Qin Jiaming widened his eyes: "Ah? So it was my misunderstanding, but the scene at that time was so frightening!"
"Brother Chen."
Bai Li fixed his gaze on Chen Ye, extending a clean, fair hand toward him, suddenly saying,
"Do you mind if I inspect your sea of consciousness? Perhaps you encountered a Void Turbulence that conceals the secrets of heaven? This kind of turbulence is not confined to the Celestial Abyss... If so, Brother Chen’s injuries might be much more severe than they appear."