The setting sun sloped to the west, and a gentle breeze scattered the drifting clouds.
When Ye Anping and his group arrived, it was dinner time.
At this time, many disciples were coming and going on the mountain paths, and most of them were rushing to the cafeteria to eat. Occasionally, you could see some female disciples gathering together in the pavilions beside the mountain path to eat snacks.
Since Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue were wearing the uniform of the Black Star Sect, most of the disciples who met them, politely made way and cupped their hands, saluting, "Greetings, seniors of the Black Star Sect!"
Only the older disciples they encountered would say, "Young Master, Miss Pei, welcome back~"
Ye Anping also felt quite emotional along the way. He was amazed that in less than half a year of absence, the Hundred Lotus Sect had already developed to such an extent. At first glance, there were already over a thousand disciples within the sect.
A year ago, the Hundred Lotus Sect only had a few hundred disciples.
Although he couldn't remember the name of every disciple like Li Longling did in the Dragon House , he could tell whether the person was a Hundred Lotus Sect disciple as long as he saw their face.
Now, there were many unfamiliar faces within the sect, and it seemed that the previous uniforms had also been updated and replaced. They were completely different from his own uniform kept in the storage bag.
Seeing the thriving scenes in the sect made him feel very comfortable, just like when you were cultivating the land and reaping the harvest.
However, just as he was feeling pleased with the development of the sect, more shocking surprises awaited him.
In the Central Square stood a colossal statue, a hundred feet tall, carved after the likeness of his father.
And in the Spirit Pet Hall , five or six disciples gathered around a pureblood red-crowned crane worth more than nine hundred thousand spirit stones, cleaning its droppings and tending to its feathers.
...
Let's not mention the statue; after all, it was reasonable for a sect to have a statue of the sect master. Apart from being a bit tacky, there was nothing wrong with it.
But what the hell was the deal with that pure-blooded red-crowned crane worth over nine hundred thousand spirit stones?
Ye Anping had an idea about it.
Except for immortal beasts like dragons, phoenixes, and turtles, most mounts and spiritual pets in this world were just accessories, unlike in the game, where they had various additional attributes.
Indeed, that bird looked good, felt divine when riding on it, and flew steadily. But apart from that, there were no other advantages.
Riding a bird when fighting was suicidal and even more so when trying to escape. That thing flew slower than the poor-quality flying sword he currently had.
If Ye Ao bought a spiritual pet valued at one hundred thousand or so as a mount to maintain his face at future sect meetings, he wouldn't say anything; but nine hundred thousand spirit stones?!
To buy a stinky bird to keep it at home and arrange several disciples to shovel its shit...
The Hundred Lotus Sect hadn't become a top-tier sect yet, but his father already had the ambitions of a top-class sect master.
--- Mother, why don't you do something about that spendthrift dad of mine?
Ye Anping walked down the mountain path towards the Heavenly Pavilion , his face becoming darker and darker. From time to time, he could feel Liang Zhu's doubtful gaze directed at him.
He could guess what Liang Zhu was thinking now: As the saying goes, like father, like son. Generally, a son's character is not much different from his father's.
Liang Zhu was probably wondering how someone like his father, extravagant and wasteful, without any self-awareness as a cultivator, managed to raise such an intelligent and outstanding individual, knowledgeable, composed, and independent.
"Sigh--"
As they reached the Heavenly Pavilion , Ye Anping sighed and asked Liang Zhu and Ating to wait outside while he went in first with his sister.
However, when he was about to knock on the door, he suddenly noticed that Pei Lianxue, who had been holding his hand all along, had a nervous expression on her face. With her head down, she was muttering something under her breath.
"Sister?"
Pei Lianxue raised her head, startled. "What... what's wrong?"
"You're asking me what's wrong?" Ye Anping looked at her strangely and asked, "Why are you nervous? This is our own home."
"Yes... my home and yours..." Pei Lianxue pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
Then, she took a deep breath and patted her cheeks again as if giving herself a pep talk. She repeated in her mind one last time the words she had been thinking about on the way here and exhaled heavily. "Phew--- alright! Let's go!"
?
Although Ye Anping was a little confused, he didn't pay much attention. He led her up the steps and knocked on the pavilion door.
Knock knock knock--
"Come in!"
Creak---
He pushed open the door with both hands, and a faint scent of sandalwood wafted over.
Ye Ao was sitting at the jade desk in the middle of the pavilion. While holding the jade spheres in his hand, he ticked off the papers with a quill. He lifted his head to glance at the door, then turned his attention back to his work, but jerked his head up again, thinking he had seen wrong.
"Ping?! Little Pei?! Why are you back?"
"Can't we come back?" Ye Anping raised his eyebrows and walked forward. "Father, where's my mother?"
Ye Ao quickly got up, walked over to Ye Anping, and looked him up and down in surprise. "How come you are almost at the middle stage of the Foundation Building ? It's been less than half a year since you left home."
"I've come across some opportunities. What about mother?"
"Hiss---" Ye Ao said, "You kid, you rarely come home and only ask about your mother and not your father? Your mother is meditating upstairs."
"Oh."
Ye Anping turned and prepared to go upstairs but was pulled back by Ye Ao.
He smiled and patted Ye Anping's shoulder, then looked at Pei Lianxue, put his arms around their shoulders, and pulled them toward the door.
"Let's go, I'll show you around. You haven't been back for half a year, and the Hundred Lotus Sect has changed a lot. Did you see our new entrance gate? Isn't it beautiful?"
Ye Anping rolled his eyes and said nothing.
Pei Lianxue responded awkwardly. "Err... it looks good."
"Heh! That's what I said. Look, little Pei also thinks it's beautiful. Yulan kept telling me that the gate was ugly. How can a gate that cost over six hundred thousand spirit stones not be beautiful?"
Ye Anping narrowed his eyes. "More than six hundred thousand? Did you tell mom?"
"No, I told your mother that it only cost fifty thousand spirit stones."
"...Oh." Ye Anping raised his eyebrows, then paused. "What about the red-crowned crane in the Spiritual Pet Hall ?"
"You saw it?" Ye Ao raised an eyebrow and proudly said with a smile, "I wanted to surprise you guys. Come on, I'll take you two to sit on it and experience its flight, which is particularly stable. And its feathers are really soft. Little Pei will definitely like it."
Just as he was saying this, Ye Anping suddenly noticed a figure floating down from the second floor behind them.
After a glance, he found that it was his mother, and raising his eyebrows, he asked quickly, "Dad, how much did you spend on that crane?"
Ye Ao replied with another question. "Why do you want to know? It's quite expensive anyway."
With a complicit smirk on his face, Ye Anping winked at him and said, "Dad, tell me, I want to broaden my horizons. Don't worry, I won't tell Mom."
"Hmm... okay." Ye Ao smiled and made an eight with his hands. "This much."
"Eighty thousand?"
"Tsk... add some more."
Ye Anping pretended to be surprised and exclaimed, "One hundred sixty thousand?! That's so expensive!"
Ye Ao shook his head and patted him on the back, saying, "You know nothing. I bought that crane for eight hundred and eighty thousand! Let me tell you something kid, it's a pureblood red-crowned crane in excellent condition. I arranged with my acquaintance from the Feathered Beast Sect for a discount for friends and family. If it were to be auctioned, it would easily go for a million five hundred thousand or even more."
"Really?" Kong Yulan's voice came from behind them.
In an instant, Ye Ao stiffened, turned his head with a shiver, and gulped upon seeing his wife with bulging veins on her forehead.
"Yulan... you listen to me... hey, hey--"
Before he could finish his sophistry, Kong Yulan reached out and grabbed his ear, interrupting him. "Eight hundred and eighty thousand, right? What did you tell me last time? The elder of the Feathered Beast Sect gave it to you, huh?! I'm just curious, why would they give you such an expensive thing?"
"Ay, ay, ay... this is not... aren't we prosperous now? We can buy some..."
"We're prosperous? Why don't you save eight hundred thousand for Ping and Lianxue's cultivation? Why don't you use it to buy a dozen more alchemy furnaces or Spirit Gathering arrays within the sect? Instead, you spent it on a bald, stinky bird?!"
"Yu-- Yu-- Yu... Yulan, didn't you say it was comfortable when you sat on it last time?"
"I didn't know that smelly bird was bought with eight hundred eighty thousand spirit stones. Eight hundred eighty thousand spirit stones under your butt. Are you comfortable with that?!"
Ye Ao raised an eyebrow. "I... I am comfortable."
"Hiss--"
"Yulan, wait a minute!! Hey-- hey-- little Pei, little Pei, please help me persuade her..."
"Ah... to persuade..." Pei Lianxue was very nervous. She took a deep breath and said, "I slept with my brother..."
... ...
... ...
... ...
?
Ye Anping was still in the mood to watch the show from the sidelines, watching with a smile how his mother taught his old man a lesson, but after his sister's words came out, his laughter died down. His eyes widened and he looked at her in disbelief.
"Huh?"
Ye Ao and Kong Yulan, who were in a scuffle, stopped abruptly and turned to look at her with wide eyes.
?
?
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Under the gaze of the three people, Pei Lianxue suddenly realized what she said. She blushed and lowered her head in self-blame. Uncle Ye only asked her to persuade Auntie, but why did she say that out loud?
She had intended to wait a while, but coming here, she kept thinking of what to say, which made her very nervous.
Ye Ao and Kong Yulan stared at Pei Lianxue for a while, then suddenly shifted their gaze to Ye Anping, making his scalp tingle.
Ye Anping hesitated for a long time with his mouth open as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, he squeezed out a sentence. "It's sleep, not that sleep."
Ye Ao and Kong Yulan looked puzzled and shook their heads at the same time, indicating that they did not understand.
Seeing this, Ye Anping turned around and pushed Pei Lianxue from behind, out of the pavilion. "Tsk, sister, wait outside for now."
Snap---
The pavilion door closed.
Pei Lianxue flinched, turned to look at Liang Zhu and Liang Ating waiting at the bottom of the steps, and whispered in response. "Oh..."