The dusk dyed the woman's white silk dress red, and the clear-eyed Fire Phoenix on her shoulder seemed to replace her closed eyes, adding a bit of solemnity to her delicate appearance.
Li Longling looked at the benefactor in front of her through the eyes of the Fire Phoenix, and she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
Seeing Ye Anping's expression a little blank, she thought he had forgotten about her. She felt quite depressed for a moment and reminded him in a low voice. "Master Ye, I haven't seen you since the incident at the Dragon House six years ago. Do you still remember me?"
Little did she know that Ye Anping was just a little lost in thought.
He remembered that when he and his sister left, Li Longling had just completed her Qi Refining , and now, six years later, she had become a cultivator in the middle stage of the Foundation Building .
The point was that her temperament had changed a lot.
In his impression, Li Longling was a little frail, but perhaps because she had grown a little taller and had a majestic Fire Phoenix on her shoulder, her temperament had become a little daunting.
Ye Anping looked around, hesitated for a moment, and hastily cupped his hands. "How could I not remember? I just didn't expect that Miss Li would come here. If you have something to discuss with the Hundred Lotus Sect, you should go there. Why come here?"
Li Longling was a little dissatisfied with this question, and she said, "Master Ye, why are you asking, don't you already know the answer?"
"Hmm?"
"I have nothing else to do in the Hundred Lotus Sect. I just want to see my benefactor."
Without beating around the bush, Li Longling stepped forward, opened her arms, and flung herself into Ye Anping's arms, tightly hugging his waist and pressing her forehead against his chest. "If it weren't for you, I would have died six years ago. The prosperity of the Dragon House and my life are all given by you..."
"..."
Ye Anping took a step back, being pushed by her.
A breeze blew past, carrying the faint floral scent of Li Longling's hair to his nose.
Vaguely, Ye Anping felt a little dampness on his collar.
Li Longling didn't know whether she was too excited, but two tears squeezed out of the corners of her tightly closed eyes, and she grasped his back with her hands, increasing her strength.
She had so much to say to him, but she had no idea where to start.
Since her father's death, the Dragon House had been supported by her alone.
Because she was alone, no matter how many grievances she suffered, there was no one to talk to, and no matter what difficulties she encountered, she had to face them by herself.
Having eye problems, she didn't have many friends.
Over these past six years, she must have suffered a lot.
But even so, under her leadership, the Dragon House walked out of the chaos created by her father's collusion with the demonic cultivators and went from decline to prosperity.
Looking at the past and present, this was definitely a remarkable feat.
Ye Anping exhaled lightly, thinking that Li Longling probably regarded him as a replacement for Li Feng and wanted to pour out that bitterness that had accumulated in her heart over these six years.
"...Impressive, very impressive."
He raised his hand to pat her back gently, just like he used to when praising his younger sister.
However...
Before his hand touched Li Longling's back, the Fire Phoenix standing on her shoulder poked its beak directly in his face.
?
Ye Anping slowly turned his head and saw the Fire Phoenix staring at him as if to say: If you dare to make a move on my master, I will peck your eyes out!!
"..."
Generally speaking, this Fire Phoenix was a strange beast in the Immortal Realm . Its temperament was just like its feathers' color, extremely irritable. Except for its owner, no one else could touch it. It could be said to be a Tibetan mastiff among birds.
Although it was not impossible to defeat it, Ye Anping didn't really want to mess with it.
"Miss Li, this Fire Phoenix is the one from back then..."
"Yeah." Li Longling nodded. She let go of Ye Anping's waist and raised her hand, gently scratching the bird's chin. "It's the young phoenix back then. I named it Ah Feng."
Li Longling touched Ah Feng's feathers., "Ah Feng, this is the benefactor who helped me with my eyes. You should remember him, right?"
The Fire Phoenix stared at Ye Anping, raised its head, and turned away, showing a somewhat aloof attitude.
Kiii---
Although there was indeed a lot to say, this was not the best place to talk.
Ye Anping jumped on the flying sword and extended his hand. "Miss Li, let's not talk here. Come on, reach out your hand. I'll take you to the Hundred Lotus Sect."
"...Alright."
Li Longling smiled and did not probe with her spiritual sense to see. She just stretched out her hand in the direction of Ye Anping's voice, and Ye Anping grabbed her and pulled her on his flying sword. Then, they rode together on the sword, heading toward the Hundred Lotus Sect in the east.
...
In the Hundred Lotus Sect, the countless mountain peaks were dyed dark red by the setting sun.
Thousands of inner disciples had responded to Ye Ao's summons and gathered in the square in front of the sect's main hall, chattering and gossiping.
Liang Ating had previously gone to her house and dressed up as a delicate young lady with a bit of rouge on her face. She now stood in front of the Heavenly Pavilion with a sword on her back.
Because her cultivation was still low, she had grown up a lot in the past two and a half years, and she was no longer the short and chubby girl she used to be.
She had also probably inherited it from Tong Zilan, as her body developed very fast.
Now, she was even taller than Pei Lianxue, and her breasts, a girl's facade, had become two small watermelons.
"Father, why hasn't Uncle come back yet?"
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Liang Zhu said as he glanced at her coldly. "I don't think you needed to come."
"Why not? That's my sixth uncle! He's different from my aunt. He used to be very nice to me. I haven't seen him for so long. I miss him."
Liang Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly. "You miss him?"
"Yes! Uncle is a good man, handsome, and rich. His cultivation is now higher than yours. I must curry favor with him! Hehe..."
Liang Zhu felt strange when he heard this as if he had been cheated by someone. He felt that he should emphasize the "uncle" relationship to his sixth brother later.
A few moments later, a flying sword carrying two people and a bird slowly landed in front of the Heavenly Pavilion .
Everyone was shocked to see Ye Anping hugging a woman in the Foundation Building stage, who had her eyes closed.
Liang Zhu thought for a while and finally remembered that she was the daughter of Li Feng from the Dragon House , and he was speechless.
Ye Anping calmly helped Li Longling down from the flying sword, then waved his hand to put the sword back into the storage bag before looking at the four people in front of him.
Liang Zhu, Ye Waner, and Tong Zilan were not much different from what he remembered, but...
"Are you... Ating?"
Seeing Ye Anping looking at her, Liang Ating covered her mouth, smiled, and ran over quickly. "Hehe, uncle, you didn't recognize me?"
Liang Ating raised her head and puffed her chest, showing off her watermelons, which were bigger than her aunt's, to Ye Anping and startling him.
He now felt that Liang Zhu was staring at him with a resentful and murderous look.
"Well, you've grown a lot."
"Hehe!" Liang Ating smiled with satisfaction, then quickly took out a small box from a storage bag and said, "Uncle, congratulations on forming the core. This is the gift I prepared for you!"
Ye Anping patted her head. "Thank you."
When Li Longling heard this, she became a little nervous and slightly pursed her lips.
Ye Anping didn't even look at what was in the box. After putting it in his storage bag, he walked directly to Liang Zhu and asked bluntly, "Brother Liang, your sixth brother just came out of retreat after forming his core. Where's your token of appreciation?"
"Hehe, your skin is really thick ." Liang Zhu rolled his eyes at him and took out a miniature tombstone and coffin from his storage bag. "Here, your elder brother gives you a red oak coffin and a pure jade tombstone."
Ye Anping's eyes twitched slightly, but then he relaxed and cupped his hands to thank him. "Thank you, Brother Liang. Aren't you going to form your core?"
"I'll start in a while."
"Okay, then when your core is formed, I will also prepare a big gift for you."
"..."
Liang Zhu glared at him but did not continue the topic. Instead, he got serious. "Your Core Formation process made quite a commotion. I'm afraid this matter can't be hidden. You, the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect with dual spiritual roots, have become famous for forming a Heavenly Dao golden core. This is not good."
"There's nothing I can do. I can't hide this kind of thing." Ye Anping shrugged slightly, indicating that it didn't matter.
Liang Zhu nodded in understanding. After exchanging a few words with Liang Zhu and the others, Ye Anping asked him to help Li Longling settle into the Hundred Lotus Sect and then he entered the Heavenly Pavilion alone.
After Ye Anping went in, Li Longling breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn't know that Ye Anping was finishing the Core Formation stage when she came here, so she didn't prepare any gifts. If Ye Anping asked her about it, it would be embarrassing, but luckily, he didn't.
"Phew..."
"Miss Li, it's been a long time since we last met. Let me take you to the guest hall."
"...Thank you."
Li Longling nodded, looked in the direction of the Heavenly Pavilion through the eyes of her Fire Phoenix, and followed Liang Zhu to the Hundred Lotus Sect Guest Hall , still thinking about that gift.
...
After entering the Heavenly Pavilion , Ye Anping was naturally greeted by his mother's bear hug, and by Ye Ao, who was looking at him proudly.
Tea serving, greetings, and exchanging pleasantries...
After completing the necessary etiquette, the family of three sat down at a tea table next to the bed.
Ye Ao personally poured a cup of tea for Ye Anping. "My son is amazing. Heavenly Dao golden core?"
"I was lucky." Ye Anping smiled wryly, shook his head, and asked, "Back to the point, didn't Lianxue form her core four months ago? Why haven't I seen her?"
Ye Ao snorted a laugh, stroking his long beard as he answered, "Heh, you've just finished the Core Formation , and you're already thinking about your wife?"
"I haven't seen her for two years, of course I miss her. But I'm a little confused. With my sister's personality, she would definitely come back immediately after forming her core."
Ye Ao shook his head helplessly, and turned to look at Kong Yulan. "Yulan, go get it."
"Get what?"
Ye Anping frowned and glanced at Xiao Tian who had been lying on his head, but she shook her head, indicating that she didn't know anything.
Kong Yulan stood up and walked to the study on the first floor. After searching for a while, she took out a jade slip and brought it back. "Anping, little Pei sent it to you last month. You were in the process of forming the core at that time, so we couldn't disturb you."
Ye Anping took the jade slip and scanned it.
--- "Madam Kong, after my brother has formed the core, please let him know that Yunluo and I went to the Northern Region 's Cold Country to collect some spiritual herbs on a mission for the Black Star Sect. Tell him not to worry. We will probably be back at the end of the year."
" Cold Country ..."
Ye Anping withdrew his spiritual sense and frowned.
His sister and Xiao Yunluo had gone to the Cold Country ?
Although the jade slip talked about "collecting herbs", and there were indeed many rare spiritual herbs in the Cold Country , but...
Was collecting herbs more important than meeting her brother whom she hadn't seen for two years?
This was not jealousy, but Ye Anping felt that the logic of this matter was inconsistent with his sister's temperament.
Even if they really went to collect spiritual herbs, they could still wait until he came out of retreat and take him along.
He concluded that his sister was definitely hiding something from him and it was related to the Cold Country .
But...
As it happened, it was about time the Cold Country 's main plot started. It was hard to say whether the two of them would be involved by accident...
No, they would definitely be involved.
When his sister and Xiao Yunluo left for the Cold Country , Feng Yu Die must have followed them.
Heavenly destinies attract each other, and Feng Yu Die would surely encounter Gu Mingxin.
Ye Anping was silent for a moment before asking, "When was this jade slip delivered?"
"About three and a half months ago." Kong Yulan looked at his serious expression. "What's wrong?"
"Mother, please help me find a faster flying sword. I need to go to the Cold Country ."
Ye Ao immediately became serious when he heard this. "Anping, that means something big is going to happen in the Cold Country , right?"
"?"
Ye Anping opened his mouth. He didn't want to admit it, but in the end, he did. "Yeah."
"..."
Ye Ao nodded and said, "Then, I will select some experienced disciples to accompany you. They might be of help."
"No need." Ye Anping raised his hand to interrupt. "The Hundred Lotus Sect is too small now, and there aren't many Core Formation stage cultivators. Besides, it's much more convenient to keep the secrecy if I act alone."
Ye Ao frowned. "Then, why don't you take me or your mother to accompany you? We are also Core Formation cultivators anyways. We won't hold you back."
Hold me back...
Ye Anping felt that it sounded quite strange. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and refused. "Dad, Mom..."
"Yeah."
"I don't care about many people in this world. Apart from you two, there are only my sister and the girls... I can't let you accompany me to risk your lives. This trip to the Cold Country is full of dangers. Moreover, you guys don't have the experience of fighting against demonic cultivators, so I can't possibly take you with me."
"But if you are alone on the road without a companion, we'll be worried. You used to have little Pei with you, why don't you bring someone else this time to take care of you on the road? The Northern Region is pretty far."
"..."
Ye Anping lowered his eyes, thinking. Although it was not a question of care, it was not a bad idea to have some insurance.
But who should he take with him?
Brother Liang was preparing to form the core, so he was not eligible for now.
Although Tong Zilan was in the Core Formation stage, she majored in alchemy. She was very good at making pills and talismans, but her combat power was negligible.
Ye Waner was good at escaping and stealing, but her skills were useless against Gu Mingxin. Besides, she was the type who ran away if she was in danger, and she might betray him.
Li Longling...
"Well, I have someone in mind. Please be patient, Dad and Mom, and help me prepare a faster magical tool."