The gentle rain moistened the sand, and the sandstone in the Seven Dragon Valley , which had experienced thousands of years of dryness, had now started to sprout some green buds.
Ye Anping lay on the ground, his eyes filled with the clear and boundless sky, feeling the clothes on his back soaked by dewy grass. Turning his head, he saw a tender bud poked out from between his right hand's fingers, fragile but representing new life.
Suddenly, a panicked shout woke him up from his daze.
"Anping!!"
Xiao Yunluo threw herself onto him tearfully, her eyes filled with endless worry. Her originally neat bangs on her forehead were divided into three sections by two long deer-like horns as if her hairline had been pulled higher.
Although she was a half-dragon now, she was in a pretty sorry state at this moment.
"You really did it..."
Ye Anping's eyes were full of tenderness. He slowly raised his hand, smoothed her purple hair, and then gently touched the dragon horns.
It was only when his fingers touched the glazed dragon horns that Xiao Yunluo suddenly realized that she had grown a pair of horns. She then blankly lifted her hands toward her temples, but she was shocked to see the scattered pieces of five-colored dragon scales on her wrists.
"Ah?!"
Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo's puzzled expression and sighed helplessly. He did not know if it was because Si Xuanji had hidden too much from her or because she was too careless and had never had the urge to investigate her own identity before...
"Ah..."
And in the next second, it was as if all the emotions that had been accumulating for a long time burst out.
"Wuuaaaaaaa---!! I'm so scared!! Anping!! I'm so scared!!"
"..."
Ye Anping was almost poked in the nose by her dragon horn. Startled, he turned his head to avoid it. Then, he breathed a sigh of relief and gently smoothed Xiao Yunluo's hair, comforting her. "It's alright, it's alright... The Young Miss of the Black Star Sect and you're still crying."
He slightly averted his gaze and looked to the side. Yun Yiyi was also standing a little further away watching, but she did not disturb them.
Ye Anping nodded slightly, expressing his gratitude to her for catching him and Xiao Yunluo.
Yun Yiyi smiled with narrowed eyes and nodded in response.
"..."
"..."
After exchanging glances, Ye Anping once again looked at Xiao Yunluo who was crying in his arms, and recalled the game plot in his memory...
Ten thousand years ago, the dragon race was defeated by the human race, which was still primitive.
The human race was proud of slaying dragons. They used dragon bones to make swords, dragon meat to refine pills, dragon scales to forge weapons, and dragon hearts to nourish the land...
The last Black Dragon left in the world had to compromise and found a cultivator in the human race who was only in the Qi Refining stage and made a deal with him--
He would nurture a vast territory with his dragon body until his dragon spirit died.
And this territory was the present Western Region .
The Black Dragon's only request was for the human cultivator to help it preserve its bloodline. When the human race was starting to crumble, it would rise again and slaughter all human cultivators, just like the humans have slayed the dragons.
The human cultivator agreed.
He was a former owner of the Heavenly Dao Scroll , and after that, he relied on the Black Dragon to establish his own sect, named Black Star Sect.
Xiao Yunluo was the descendant of the Black Dragon.
In the thousands of years after the Black Dragon died, the successive sect leaders of the Black Star Sect tried their best to hatch her and make her their spiritual pet, but none of them succeeded.
Until Si Xuanji appeared.
In a sense, Si Xuanji was also one of those greedy people who coveted the Black Dragon's spiritual energy.
But the difference was that she had succeeded.
She wasn't like those Black Star Sect Patriarchs of the past, who had either roasted it with spiritual fire or condensed strange formations in an attempt to hatch the dragon egg.
Si Xuanji simply stayed on the back mountain of the Black Star Sect, hugging the dragon egg like a mother hen for two years. She used the sky and the earth as a bed and the four seasons as a blanket.
Finally, Xiao Yunluo broke through her shell.
She didn't descend into this world as a dragon, but as a human similar to Si Xuanji, and became the Young Miss of the Black Star Sect.
...
Ye Anping watched Xiao Yunluo hugging him tightly and crying and decided to leave this story to Si Xuanji to tell her.
It was better for Si Xuanji to talk about this rather than him.
After Xiao Yunluo calmed down a little, he said, "Yunluo, when you go back, ask your mother about your origins."
"..."
"If possible, I also want to meet your mother. Can you introduce her to me?" Ye Anping turned away with a sigh. "I have to meet her anyway..."
Xiao Yunluo sniffled as she nodded blankly. "Well... I'll take you to her."
Ye Anping stretched out his right pinky. "Then, it's settled."
"Uh-huh!"
Xiao Yunluo hooked her right pinky with his and smiled, her eyes squinting. Then, she got up from Ye Anping's body, supported his shoulders, and pulled him up from the ground.
Yun Yiyi also hurried forward. Both of them held each one of Ye Anping's arms, leaned on his shoulders, and looked at him.
Yun Yiyi grabbed Ye Anping's wrist to take his pulse. "Let's go back and tend to your wounds first. You need to rest..."
Xiao Yunluo was slightly stunned and seemed to have suddenly remembered something. She looked up at the dragon horns on her forehead, crossing her eyes and blushing as she muttered, "Hmm... Anping, go back and rest well. I'll take good care of you."
"Young Miss Xiao, you must be tired too. I'll take care of my husband tonight, yes?"
"It's okay." Xiao Yunluo met Yun Yiyi's gaze. "He is also my husband. I can tend to him."
?
Looking at the two girls holding him, Ye Anping felt a little tired. He had a feeling that he probably wouldn't be able to rest tonight. He sighed slightly and interrupted them. "Before we rest, we still have things to do. Those people hiding among the disciples of the Justice Division who delivered messages to the demonic cultivators are still useful... Anyway, take me back to the camp first."
"Fine..."
The two nodded in agreement. They did not use their flying swords but their body control techniques to bring Ye Anping to a cave deep in the Seven Dragon Valley that had not been affected by the battle.
...
Drip-drip... Drip-drip
Dew dripped down from the stalactites. In a huge cave, nearly a thousand bonfires were burning and countless yellow tents were set up along the terraced terrain inside. Four immortals' boats were neatly arranged on one side.
More than three thousand Foundation Building cultivators wearing robes of the Justice Division sat around the bonfires, and the noisy voices echoed in this nearly thirty-acre cave.
Some were panicked. "I'm going to die!! I'm going to die!!! I don't want to die!! I still have my parents---"
Others were calm and composed. "Don't panic. From the sound of it, it seems like the battle is over... If the demonic cultivators rush in later, we'll blow up the entire cave and escape as many as we can."
And there were those hot-blooded and belligerent. "Damn those demonic cultivators, why didn't Miss Xiao and that guy Ye let us go out and have a good fight with them? Don't hold me back, I'm going to kill the demonic cultivators!!"
...
The earthquake just now frightened many people, but it also invigorated many.
In a corner, three men dressed in the Justice Division robes sat around the bonfire, looking around with shifty eyes and whispering, "From the looks of it, Young Master Gui should have killed that Ye man and the others. You find an opportunity to distract the disciples guarding the gate. I will sneak out and inform Young Master Gui of the location of this place so he doesn't waste time looking around."
"Well, the formation that the Young Lady of the Black Star Sect instructed us to set up in the Seven Dragon Valley is quite powerful. There were at least twelve knots. What kind of technique is it? I heard them say that it was a formation of the former Imperial Sect..."
"Say, did you guys hear the roar just now? I have the feeling that was a dragon roar..."
The two shook their heads in unison. "No way."
"Oh..."
The three of them discussed for a while. Because the caves in the Seven Dragon Valley were connected, they found the exit closest to them. Two of them took out drinks and walked over to chat with the two disciples of the Justice Division who were guarding the entrance.
"Senior brothers, why don't you let us guard here? You guys can go and rest for a while..."
The two disciples looked at them and did not refuse. They cupped their hands and bowed.
"Brothers, I don't think I've seen you before. Did you just enter the Justice Division ?"
"Ahahaha... indeed, we just passed the trial not long ago, and now we're here..."
"In that case, thanks for the offer, junior brothers..."
While they were talking, suddenly there was a shout of joy from another cave.
"Young Miss Xiao and the others are back!"
Although the cave was large, it was relatively closed, so after countless echoes, the shout was clearly heard by everyone.
!!!
A look of disbelief appeared on the faces of the three people and, together with the two disciples of the Justice Division , they looked in the direction of the shout.
Ye Anping was wearing a black brocade robe and was the first to walk in the cave. Before returning, he specially changed into a new robe.
Xiao Yunluo wore a veil over her head to cover her dragon horns. She walked behind him with Yun Yiyi and then came the twenty or so Moon Shadow Sword Sect disciples who had been in charge of the twelve formations.
The main reason why the disciples of the Justice Division were not included in the participation was that Ye Anping was not sure how many spies of the demonic cultivators were hiding among these three thousand people.
As for these Moon Shadow Sword Sect disciples, all of them belonged to the Flowing Water Peak , and Yun Yiyi remembered everyone's faces and names, so there was no risk of being impersonated.
Because the cave entrance was a little higher, after Ye Anping walked in, he could see all the disciples in the cave at a glance. He immediately noticed the three people standing with two disciples of the Division in front of another entrance.
He looked at the three people, took a deep breath, and broadcast his voice with his spiritual power. "The Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect and the fifty cultivators who came with him were all killed by me. Pass on this info, take a day off today, and we'll continue on the journey tomorrow. After passing the Seven Dragon Valley , the road will be smooth."
After he finished speaking, the cave fell silent.
Ye Anping used the Distant Vision technique to see the expressions on the faces of those three people change from shock to fear. It was as if they saw something indescribable and froze on the spot. He could now confirm their secret identities.
He pointed at the three people, calling out. "Yiyi."
"Sword Sect disciples, listen up! Capture those three!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Immediately, the Sword Sect disciples behind Ye Anping and the other two stood up and rushed directly to the three men, taking out iron chains from their storage bags without hesitation.
Probably out of too much shock, the three spies stayed frozen on the spot the whole time. It wasn't until they were wrapped up like three silkworm cocoons by the chains of the Sword Sect disciples that they realized what had happened. They all started screaming and roaring. "Ahhh Impossible! You guys... ah!"
The Sword Sect disciples jerked the chains and sent the three men flying over the heads of the disciples below, throwing them heavily at Ye Anping's feet.
Ye Anping squinted at the three spies, chuckling. "You've worked hard along the way. If it weren't for the three of you providing information, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to make Gui Qinghe and even the entire Ghost Spirit Sect underestimate me."
One of them wanted to retort. "It can't be! You..."
However, he only spat out five words. When Ye Anping slightly raised his hand, one of the Sword Sect disciples kicked his shoe directly into that man's mouth.
"Cough ah--!"
Then, Ye Anping once again amplified his voice into everyone's ears. "I don't expect you to identify the other demonic cultivators in the group. These words are addressed to all the demonic cultivators present. Immediately send a message to all the Ghost Spirit Sect Elders who have stepped into the Central Region at this moment, as well as your sect leader, Seven Ghost Tomb.
--- Justice Division is not fleeing. This time, the Justice Division left the Eastern Great Wall just to go and pay homage to the new ruler of the Imperial Sect.
---Also, the Central Region isn't the backyard of the demonic cultivators. The ending of Gui Qinghe and his fifty people is the consequence of their attempt to trample on the Immortal Family."
At this point, Ye Anping nodded slightly to the Sword Sect disciples on either side. "Throw them out, no need to kill them."
"Yes, sir!"
After that, he brought Xiao Yunluo and Yun Yiyi to the largest tent not far away. He lifted the curtain at the tent door and walked in.
Once the curtain fell, isolating the three people who entered, the initial whispers and murmurs of the Justice Division disciples instantly echoed throughout the cave.
Ye Anping let out a long breath as his legs went limp, and he collapsed on his seat. As for what was being said outside, he didn't care much. After all, his authority had been established.
In the future, when the Justice Division arrives at the Black Star Sect, at least they won't take him, the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect, lightly.
Yun Yiyi quickly took out a teapot from the side and brewed him some tea. She brought it over and said, "Husband, you were so cool just now."
"Yes, Anping..."
Ye Anping smiled helplessly. "I am aware that I am not the kind of person who is suitable to show off in front of an audience. I don't have an appropriate appearance. At most, I can be a counselor. Brother Liang is more suitable for this kind of role of giving orders in front of thousands of people. He has an impressive figure..."
Yun Yiyi smiled and walked behind him, starting to massage his shoulders. "Who says that a man in a formal robe can't command the three armies?"
"My small body is not suitable for leading too many people. I lack the murderous aura, which is not something that can be cultivated overnight."
Ye Anping relaxed and continued, "Yiyi, send a message to Jiujiu and Yunxi later, and tell them that we killed the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, and let them..."
"I would have done it even if you didn't tell me." Yun Yiyi interrupted him with a smile. "The three armies are retreating, and their morale is definitely low. The news of killing the Young Master of the Ghost Spirit Sect can help Jiujiu and Yunxi stabilize the disciples who follow them, especially Yunxi's team of tens of thousands of people. Who knows how many spies of the demonic cultivators are hiding there."
"Yeah."
"Anping, don't think too much and take a rest. I'm here. Leave the rest to me. After all, I'm the next leader of the Sword Sect. It's a piece of cake for me to manage these three thousand people."
Yun Yiyi glanced at Xiao Yunluo, smiling smugly. She then walked out of the tent to arrange the rest of the chores.
Xiao Yunluo saw that Yun Yiyi had stolen all of her work. She was the Young Lady of the Black Star Sect after all, and she could have done these things too...
"Anping, Lianxue said before that every time you encounter something, your yang energy will..."
Ye Anping was very tired now, and hearing that her thoughts were impure, he quickly got up and walked over to the bed. "I'll take a nap first. I'm so tired..."
"Ah... Oh... Then, I'll watch over you. Rest peacefully..."