Rumble---
Under the pouring lava, the Jade Snow mountains cracked and collapsed one after another. After nearly two hours of turmoil, the mountain fire had already spread fifty miles away.
The lakes melted, the beasts fled, and the forest was in chaos.
Left unattended, the mountain fire caused by the explosion of the furnace would not stop until the hundreds of miles of mountains and fields surrounding Jade Snow Peak turned into a prairie fire.
The Sword Sect's high-ranking disciples who had been attracted by the fire from the furnace explosion, although they didn't know what exactly happened there, still hurriedly transferred a large amount of Water talismans and earth materials from the Sword Sect's coffers and used a variety of spells to delay the speed of this raging fire spreading.
"Brother, can't this fire be contained at all? We threw more than three hundred Water talismans, and Sister Chen's rain-summoning technique almost drained the spiritual energy on that side!"
"Well, let the brothers and sisters whose spiritual energy is running low retreat and rest, the others, continue! Anyway, let's wait until the Elders arrive!"
"...Yes, sir."
...
Meanwhile, in the sky above, six cultivators dressed in golden-white robes looked down with furrowed brows.
"Elder Tianxing, this earth spirit fire is not easy to put out."
The white-bearded Elder stroked his beard. "Well. This Jade Snow Peak is the place where Immortal Master Yun Jian and the Sect Master once cultivated for the Deification stage. The spiritual energy of the underground veins is chaotic, like a jar of aged wine. Just now, that fire seemed like someone was secretly refining pills here... lighting a fire on top of a wine jar... hmm..."
Another person held a spiritual mirror in his hand, observing the path of fire on the mountain from an aerial perspective, and said, "No time to complain. Let's find a way to extinguish the fire first. If it continues to burn like this, through the earth's veins, the map within a thousand miles will have to be redrawn."
"Is there a better way? For the more than ten Nascent Soul Elders in the sect, it will take several months and decades of true energy to extinguish this fire."
"It's easy to start a fire but hard to put it out." A female cultivator leaning against a huge jade gourd shook her head. "I've heard that in the hands of the Sword Ancestor lies an extraordinary sword capable of suppressing chaotic energies here effortlessly if we had that sword."
"So, where's the sword?"
The female cultivator glanced to the side. "You're asking me?"
"If you don't know, don't talk randomly!"
The white-bearded Elder shook his head. "---It's the Ancestor's life-bound spirit sword, Snow Jade Spirit . The Sect Master has been searching for over a thousand years, but unfortunately, its whereabouts are still unknown. It's possible that when the Sword Ancestor fell, the sword also broke or ended up in the hands of demonic cultivators in the Eastern Region ..."
"Enough talking. Let's set up the formation first, following the earth's veins, then calm down restless energies, and finally extinguish the fire on the mountain."
The six people sighed helplessly and summoned their swords, forming seals to gather spiritual energy.
Six streams of spiritual energy formed a huge hexagonal array on the sky dome above them, large enough to cover the entire Jade Snow Peak and everything below.
... ...
The wind and snow suddenly stopped, and the dark clouds in the sky were instantly dispersed by a divine light.
Ye Anping brought Pei Lianxue on his sword and arrived above a lake boiling with spiritual fire.
In his hand, the Snow Jade Spirit Sword made of black ice emanated a shocking cold air as if it was melting and a thin white mist continuously spread outward from its blade.
Seeing the formation appear in the sky, Ye Anping knew that the Elders of the Sword Sect had arrived, preparing to soothe the chaotic spirit veins and extinguish the earth spiritual fire.
In a sense, he was responsible for this earth spirit fire outbreak.
---That was weird!
In the development of the game's plot, there was no occurrence of a furnace blast or mountain fire, and Zhuang Yan successfully refined the demonic pill. Therefore, the ongoing plot was completely different from the game.
However, whether it was the blasting furnace incident or obtaining this Snow Jade Spirit Sword, both were part of his plan.
Both things aimed at the same result.
And this result was a gift he had prepared for his sister.
Ye Anping took a deep breath, turned around, and handed her the Snow Jade Spirit Sword. "Sister, have you ever been worried that I would look down on you?"
Not knowing why her brother would ask her this question, Pei Lianxue cocked her head and after deliberating for a moment, she nodded. "Well... you are the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect after all, and my parents are ordinary mortals. I was brought over by Patriarch Ye and turned from an ordinary mortal into an immortal..."
Pei Lianxue's eyes flickered, revealing some uneasiness. "Brother, why did you suddenly ask this?"
Ye Anping cupped her cheek, then said softly, "Actually, I'm the one who always felt unworthy of you."
Pei Lianxue expressed her confusion. "Huh?"
Ye Anping smiled and shook his head, saying, "Sister, you are actually far more unique than you know. Feng Yu Die has the Mandate of Heaven and Xiao Yunluo possesses the Azure Dragon's body, but you are not inferior to them."
"... But I have three spiritual roots."
"What did Immortal Yun Jian say just now? Didn't you listen?"
"What did he say?"
Does this girl not listen to anyone's words except her own? ...Ye Anping felt helpless but also a little pleased, and he said, "He said you have a pure water body."
Pei Lianxue thought for a while, but still couldn't understand, so she asked, "...Is that very powerful?"
"It's very powerful. Much, much more powerful than your brother... Compared with you, I am nothing."
"..."
Pei Lianxue fell silent, then looked down at the sword in her hand. "Big brother is big brother. Even if I'm more powerful than big brother, you are still my big brother... and also my cultivation partner!"
Ye Anping was somewhat speechless and awkwardly continued to explain, "You are no longer an ordinary cultivator who has risen from ordinary life to immortality. Look at this sword in your hand. What do you think you are now?"
Pei Lianxue was silent for a while before firmly saying, "I am your cultivation partner!"
"What else?"
"Your sister?"
"...Anything else?"
"...Pei Lianxue?"
Is this girl really so silly?
Ye Anping gently pinched her face and explained, "You are now the one who has received the legacy of the Sword Ancestor, Immortal Yun Jian's heir. This identity is enough for you to command the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, to appear with dignity in front of any of the immortal families, and to make the entire Hundred Lotus Sect show the utmost respect toward you."
"..."
Pei Lianxue held onto her sword, lowered her eyes, and asked, "But am I still your cultivation partner?"
"...You are."
"That's good then." Pei Lianxue pouted. "As long as I'm still your cultivation partner, nothing else matters."
"..."
Ye Anping now felt as if he had carefully prepared a priceless gift for his little sister, only to have it thrown in the utility room to gather dust, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless and embarrassed.
It seemed like his little sister had no idea how valuable the title of the "Sword Ancestor's heir" was.
He gave her this gift, hoping to see her a little proud, even a little arrogant. But it seemed that his sister was content with the status quo. As long as she could be his cultivation partner, nothing else mattered to her.
It was all his fault that she was so unassuming.
---He was the one who raised her like this.
"Sigh--"
Ye Anping sighed lightly, helping Pei Lianxue tidy up her wind-blown hair, and said, "Sister, use this sword to assist the Elders of the Sword Sect in calming the chaotic energy of this place. Do you know how to do it?"
Pei Lianxue looked at the sword in her hand, then at the blazing fire all around, and tilted her head. "...No idea."
Ye Anping sighed again and explained patiently, "Ah... it's like this..."