The sun and the moon rotated several times, and a light rain fell over the twelve peaks of the Black Star Sect.
The rain rattled against the windows, somewhat irritating.
Si Xuanji sat barefoot and cross-legged on the top floor of the Sutra Pavilion on the Middle Peak , surrounded by rolls of old and cracked bamboo slips.
Among these bamboo slips, the youngest one was older than her. They were all either collected from the four regions or dug up from the graves of ancient cultivators by the former Patriarchs and Elders of the Black Star Sect.
Many of these were records of strange longevity methods that were long forgotten. There might even be just things that some cultivators bragged about over tea and dinner tens of thousands of years ago.
For example, the scroll in her hand said that if one ate turtle meat that was 3,333 years old, one could extend their lifespan by one hundred years...
Si Xuanji finished reading a scroll and used her fingers to control the ink brush beside her to write "One hundred" on the paper. Then, she stretched and stood up, looking around at the mess she had made in the room.
"Sigh..."
After exhaling lightly, she picked up the paper with numbers written on it and scanned it with her yin-yang eyes, adding them all up.
"One thousand and seventy-six years... even if you add the five hundred years in the Core Formation stage, it's only a little over one thousand six hundred at most..."
One thousand six hundred years, this number she calculated was the limit of a Core Formation cultivator's lifespan after using all kinds of medicines and magical techniques.
As to who this number was calculated for, it went without saying.
In other words, if Ye Anping remained in the Core Formation stage, he could only accompany her for one thousand six hundred years at most, after which he would disappear from her life.
For a Void Returning cultivator who could nap for two or three years, one thousand six hundred years was not enough.
And if Ye Anping recklessly chose to go through the Nascent Soul tribulation after reaching the late Core Formation stage, the number of one thousand six hundred might even be reduced to a single digit.
Last time, during Ye Anping's Core Formation stage, even the Stargazing Art showed that he had a high probability of dying under the lightning tribulation. If she hadn't gone there in these two years, Ye Anping might indeed have died.
As for the Nascent Soul tribulation, it was hundreds of times more powerful than the Core Formation tribulation.
In the past ten thousand years, even many talented people with heavenly spiritual roots died while forming their Nascent Soul . How could Ye Anping with only dual spiritual roots be sure to succeed?
"Sigh..."
Si Xuanji closed her eyes, gently pulled her collar with her small hand hidden in her cloud sleeve, and exhaled her depressed mood in deep breaths.
Ye Anping was the only person who could make her feel "worried" in the past thousand years.
It wasn't that she hadn't worried about others before, but because she could observe the general destiny of other people early on through her Stargazing Art .
As was the case with Li Feng or Great Master Taixu...
Si Xuanji had seen their ending long before they died.
She knew exactly in how many years and where they would die.
At least, in the nearly ten thousand miles of land in the Western Region , nothing was secret in her eyes.
But this also gave her a feeling of helplessness.
Many years ago, Si Xuanji tried her best to change the future deduced by stars, but she never succeeded.
She gradually got used to it, and even became somewhat numb in this regard...
Until seven years ago, an ordinary small star among many others suddenly broke away from its orbit and successively pulled other stars in its wake.
All those who met that Reverse Star basically escaped the shackles of destiny.
After thousands of years, Si Xuanji once again felt the excitement of opening a mysterious box.
Every time Ye Anping did something, it surprised her, but at the same time made her a little uneasy...
In the end, all stars would eventually extinguish and scatter.
The Reverse Star was no exception.
In the past, she was only a little curious about the Reverse Star and didn't care about its life or death. It was just like watching an interesting play or reading a well-written book...
However, because she couldn't see the death of the Reverse Star ahead of time, she was slowly starting to worry. She was worried that the black star would suddenly disappear forever from the starry dome tomorrow or the day after.
Si Xuanji felt that she was being a little too affected now. She stretched her shoulders, then walked barefoot and opened the door, preparing to take a look at the three-house compound on Heavenly Cloud Peak .
Squeak---
On the top floor of the Sutra Pavilion , outside the door, Qiu Shuirou sat with her eyes closed and rested as if she had been waiting for some time.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Qiu Shuirou instantly woke up. She turned to Si Xuanji, who had stepped out of the room, and said, "Little Miss, you finally came out. The rice cakes that Master Ye brought you three days ago are going to spoil. I was thinking of giving them to the parrot to eat today if you hadn't come out..."
The parrot stood on Qiu Shuirou's shoulder and whined when it saw Si Xuanji come out.
"What a pity!! What a pity!!"
Hearing this, Si Xuanji suddenly imagined Ye Anping holding a roasted chicken and pacing in front of her summer residence on Moon Spring Peak . Her mood suddenly improved greatly.
After spending two nights with Ye Anping last time, she could still vividly remember his innocent look when he came to his senses...
"Ah... but... but... I... I'm sorry, Miss Xuanji..."
Si Xuanji chuckled, then asked, "In these ten days or so, how many times did that brat come to look for me?"
"Uh... four times?" Qiu Shuirou recalled for a while and said honestly, "The last time was six days ago."
"Four times, heh..."
Si Xuanji pursed her lips and stroked her chin, feeling that it was about time...
She couldn't let Ye Anping get too close to her, but she couldn't let him get too far away either.
If Ye Anping was left hanging for a long time and he stopped coming to look for her in the future, then who would feed meat to her little tiger?
Her little tiger had a full meal a few months ago and had not eaten anything since.
"Shuirou, bring me an inner disciple's uniform and help me ask Mr. Qi to have Yunluo and Miss Pei help him deal with his matters, and find them some trivial trouble."
The parrot's face was full of disdain as it said, "Shameless! How shameless!"
"This is so they can read more cultivation books with Mr. Qi..."
Si Xuanji walked up to Qiu Shuirou and stretched out her hand.
Qiu Shuirou quickly half-knelt down, bringing the parrot from her shoulder to the delicate little hand, and Si Xuanji scratched its belly with her knuckles.
The parrot tilted its head. "Too itchy... Itchy... ugh..."
Si Xuanji grabbed it in her hand and squeezed it until its head swelled. She frowned slightly and threatened it. "Believe it or not, I'll tie your tongue..."
"..."
Next to her, Qiu Shuirou had an embarrassed expression. After a while, she said, "Um, Little Miss... Young Master Ye has returned to the Hundred Lotus Sect, and he's not in the Black Star Sect now."
Si Xuanji, who was originally quite happy, froze. She pouted and lowered her head.
"Oh, forget it then. Get me his rice cake, I'm craving it... Where's Yunluo?"
"Well... She is together with Young Master Ye."
"Together?"
Si Xuanji frowned slightly and suddenly had a bad feeling. Seeing Qiu Shuirou going to get the rice cake, she quickly stopped her.
"Wait a minute. The Pei and Feng girls, are they also with them?"
"Yeah, aren't they always together?"
"..."
Si Xuanji was silent for a moment. Then, she immediately shook off the parrot, stomped on the wooden floor as she ran back to a window in the pavilion, stood on tiptoe, and opened the window.
Snap---
Whoosh---
The drizzle outside the window was blown toward her by the breeze, but when it was about to fall on her face, it was blocked by a layer of invisible spiritual power.
Dark clouds covered the sky, hiding the stars and moon.
However, Si Xuanji waved her sleeves lightly and commanded: "Go!"
As if frightened by her, the dark clouds in the sky moved aside, leaving the stars and moon to reflect in her yin-yang eyes, one black and one white.
Back to the Hundred Lotus Sect?
When did the Hundred Lotus Sect go east of the Black Star Sect?
Si Xuanji bit her lip slightly. Previously, when she was teasing the fish with her feet in the lake, Ye Anping said that he was helpless. Moreover, she also advised Ye Anping not to act rashly.
But he still went over...
How disobedient!
Si Xuanji hugged her chest, her cheeks puffing up like a bun, and rolled her eyes as she looked at the Star of Destiny , representing the Justice Division .
She couldn't deduce the events of the Central Region in too much detail, but the stars told her that the person the Justice Division encountered this time was most likely the leader of the Ghost Spirit Sect.
A thousand years ago, she had fought with Seven Ghost Tomb and suffered quite a loss at that person's hands. He could be considered the second most difficult demonic cultivator among the six demonic sects.
Qiu Shuirou also caught up at this time. Seeing that Si Xuanji looked quite angry, she was also anxious and did not dare to speak.
Si Xuanji closed his eyes, slowly raised on tiptoes, and leaned on the window.
"Who granted them leave? Qi Baishi?"
"Ah... it was approved by Elder Lei."
Si Xuanji's eyes twitched slightly and, with a flick of her sleeve, she flipped the chair beside her.
"If they don't come back this time, he won't be the First Elder anymore!!"
"Ah..."
Seeing Si Xuanji suddenly lose her temper, Qiu Shuirou, although confused, didn't dare to say anything. Then, Si Xuanji turned around and stomped heavily toward the door.
"Hmph! That brat... he'd better die there. He's getting more and more assertive, and even dares to lie to me!"
Qiu Shuirou followed up in silence for a while, then asked in a small voice, "Ah... Little Miss, what happened..."
Si Xuanji bit her lips lightly, stopped in her tracks, and turned around. "Tell Lei Wanjun to go after them in the Central Region and bring them back."
"Ah? Cen... Central Region ?"
Hearing this, Qiu Shuirou finally understood that Ye Anping and the others were most likely lying. They said that they were going back to the Hundred Lotus Sect, but in the end, they went to the Eastern Great Wall. She nodded her head in response.
Then, she summoned her flying sword and jumped out the window, rushing toward Thunder Peak despite the light rain that began to fall again.
Watching Qiu Shuirou leave, Si Xuanji lowered her eyes slightly and closed the window, sighing again. "Sigh..."
Si Xuanji was now looking forward to Ye Anping giving her the usual surprise, returning safely, without missing any limbs, and without any mental suffering.
But anyway...
The little tiger would be hungry for another half a year...
...
The moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and the cold wind was blowing.
In Jade Pass City , four human cultivators wearing bamboo hats and waist badges of the Black Star Sect shuttled through the street under the eyes of countless beasts with beast faces and human bodies.
After the Demon King took over Heavenly Gate City , these immortal cities that originally belonged to the Imperial Sect were also occupied by the demonic beasts.
But perhaps because the number of beasts was too small to manage so many immortal cities, the Demon King did not exterminate the original human cultivators. Instead, he allowed them to live in the Central Region as usual.
However, although they could live, it didn't mean that they could live well.
Any time beasts and human cultivators came into conflict, humans were always at a disadvantage.
Still, human adaptability was incomparable to any living creature.
Ye Anping raised his hand to pull his bamboo hat and brought Pei Lianxue and the others to a luxurious restaurant. The words " Jade Sand Pavilion " on the building were still the same as a few years ago.
However, it was no longer a pawnshop but a restaurant.
It seemed that even after the Demon Clan occupied the Central Region , the black market still did not disappear.
When he came with his sister and Feng Yu Die last time, he bought Xiao Yunluo's sword from this place and also met the Immortal Thief Su Waner here.
Of course, Xiao Yunluo, who was standing behind him, also had some memories.
She and her mother encountered the Immortal Thief who stole her sword here, and then Ye Anping passed by and bought it back for a lot of money...
Xiao Yunluo was a bit reluctant and suggested, "Are we going to stay here? The streets are full of beasts, and..."
"Where in the Central Region are there no beasts now?"
Ye Anping turned to look at her with a smile. "Besides, the area within a hundred miles is all desert. It's different from the past when the Justice Division was in charge. Now, the desert is full of bandits who don't rob the beasts, but they will rob any human cultivators they see."
"Well, it's true..."
Ye Anping shrugged and didn't talk anymore. He stepped through the door and led the three girls to the counter. He said,
"Boss, give us three rooms."
Three rooms... Xiao Yunluo frowned slightly when she heard this number.
It was easy to see that, most likely, the second idiot would have one room, she would have one room, and Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue would share one room...
She had been traveling for several days and was tired, but Ye Anping won't even reward her.
Really...
The shopkeeper, who was crackling his abacus, relaxed a lot when he heard that the visitor was a human cultivator. Dealing with human cultivators was much easier than dealing with beasts.
He picked up the account, looked at it, and said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry, there are only two empty rooms left in this inn. The rooms are not big, and they can only accommodate two people. How about one of you Seniors make do with the utility room at the back after we clean it up? Or, will you stay two people in one room?"
Ye Anping thought and decided that it was acceptable. Either he or Feng Yu Die could sleep in the utility room, and Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo could sleep together.
But just as he nodded, Xiao Yunluo interrupted him. "Two rooms will do!"
?
Ye Anping, Pei Lianxue, and even Feng Yu Die, who was staring blankly at some demonic beasts on the first floor, all looked toward her instantly.
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and explained in a small voice. "The second idiot sleeps in one room, Lianxue, you and I sleep in one room."
Feng Yu Die on the side tilted her head in confusion, then rolled her eyes and smiled. "Won't it be too crowded for the three of you to stay together? How about Sister Pei sharing a room with me?"
Xiao Yunluo hesitated for a moment, but her voice collided with Ye Anping's.
"You can..."
"No."
Ye Anping pinched the bridge of his nose, then reached under Xiao Yunluo's bamboo hat, grabbed her face, and reprimanded her. "We're outside. Abstain yourself."
Xiao Yunluo slowly lowered her head. "Oh..."
"Then...?"
"Sigh..." Speechless, Ye Anping sighed and threw out a small bag of spirit stones. "Boss, have the utility room cleaned up."
"Alright!" Although the shopkeeper couldn't see the four people's faces, he could hear them. He added in a low voice, "In fact, the utility room is also soundproof."
"..."
Knowing that he had said too much, the shopkeeper smiled cheerfully and quickly walked out, spreading his hands to lead the way. "Seniors, this way please..."