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Tianyan Sect.

Zhuji Peak.

Yanyun tapped her finger lightly. The tea set flew into motion, and spiritual water poured into the teapot. A gentle, small fire was already burning beneath it. As a cultivator, there were many things she no longer needed to do by hand, and so she rarely did.

Having finished all this.

Only then did Yanyun speak slowly, "Martial Aunt Bai, hasn't your ascension taken a bit too long? It's been so long, yet there hasn't been the slightest stir."

"Tsk, the path ahead is sealed. Even if one becomes an immortal, they cannot go to the Immortal Realm." Bai Xuanling lay languidly on the white jade chair, answering as if she were spouting nonsense.

"That doesn't seem to be what you told Master before."

"Is there any need to overthink it? Naturally, I was just fooling your master for fun."

Faced with such a powerful and irrefutable reason, Yanyun could only smile helplessly.

She didn't know about other sects, but in this Tianyan Sect, the position of sect leader... truly failed to arouse even the slightest desire to compete for it.

Yanyun did not immediately continue her questioning.

Instead, she waited for the gentle fire to bring the spiritual tea to a boil, and then personally poured a cup for Bai Xuanling.

For things that ought to be done personally, Yanyun would still do them with her own hands.

After doing this, Yanyun slowly asked:

"You have been keeping your doors closed to visitors on Zhuji Peak recently; only Ling Yu has seen you. You have already become an immortal and no longer have the state of mind issues of the past. Closing your doors to guests is not your style."

Bai Xuanling propped herself up, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth:

"According to what you're saying, drawing my sword and going out to kill those I previously found an eyesore would be my style?"

Yanyun nodded calmly. "Pretty much. The people who rubbed you the wrong way before have all sent letters to the Tianyan Sect, wanting to clear up past misunderstandings with you."

"If you don't believe me, I specifically picked out the letters of two people whose heads you once swore you would chop off. Would you like to take a look?"

As Yanyun spoke, she actually took out two letter tokens from her spatial ring.

Bai Xuanling: "..."

There really were plenty of ways in this world to render someone speechless.

However, it was better to spare her from dwelling on such messy affairs.

Seeing that Bai Xuanling did not take the letter tokens, Yanyun put them back with a flip of her hand, and then continued:

"Martial Aunt, you also understand that I am not here to interrogate you, but as your martial niece and as someone who cares about you, to inquire about your situation."

Bai Xuanling used her spiritual power to draw the teacup over. After taking a gentle sip, she said slowly:

"I'm fine. It's just that I'm not quite used to being a True Immortal yet. I feel that this realm suppresses me, so I've been studying it for some time."

"Moreover, now that I am a True Immortal, naturally my standards are higher. All that fighting and killing is what low-level cultivators do."

The "low-level cultivator" Yanyun did not ask further. Instead, she nodded lightly and said:

"Even True Immortals have times when their power falls short. If Martial Aunt needs help with anything, I hope you won't hesitate to ask."

Bai Xuanling finished her tea and placed the cup back on the table:

"Cultivating to become a True Immortal doesn't rot one's brain. The principles I should have understood before, I still understand now."

Seeing this, Yanyun stood up. "Then I have disturbed Martial Aunt enough for today."

Bai Xuanling's lips curled into a smile:

"It can't really be considered a disturbance. If you encounter any difficult problems in your cultivation, you can also come to me for guidance."

Upon hearing this, a chill ran through Yanyun's body as bad memories swept over her. She immediately replied:

"O... okay."

This kind of "guidance" was already unforgettable even before Bai Xuanling became an immortal. Now that she had attained immortality, who knew what new methods she possessed? Previously, it was like being skinned and deboned; this time, it might just scatter her soul to the nine heavens.

Bai Xuanling nodded slightly, which counted as seeing Yanyun off.

This Zhuji Peak became quiet once again.

Bai Xuanling stood up and walked slowly to the viewing platform outside the courtyard. Her gaze slowly swept over the spiritually abundant Tianyan Sect.

Unconsciously, her eyes finally settled on the Loving Family Peak.

She had long heard that Chu Xingchen had woken up, but she hadn't gone to see him yet.

It wasn't because Chu Xingchen had done her some great favor and she was too embarrassed to visit.

Even when the child she had painstakingly raised was taken away for nothing by Chu Xingchen, hadn't she kept silent?

Rather, it was because she wasn't yet at the stage where she could go see Chu Xingchen; she still had some internal power that needed to be fully restrained and consolidated.

Bai Xuanling unconsciously let out a soft sigh.

It seemed she had become a loner once again.

A streak of azure light darted out from the courtyard, then transformed into Qingming, hovering by Bai Xuanling's side.

Bai Xuanling chuckled. "Alright, alright, it's my fault. How could I forget about you?"

Qingming nestled close to Bai Xuanling's side.

Bai Xuanling looked forward again.

After gazing for a moment.

She saw an azure flood dragon soar into the sky from the west. Its scales flashed with spiritual light. With a furious roar that scattered the clouds and smoke, its surging aura pressed down upon a swath of the forest.

The flood dragon wove through the clouds, its body twisting gracefully, before flying straight toward Zhuji Peak.

As the flood dragon rode the clouds and mist, its massive body instantly dissipated, leaving behind only specks of spiritual light. In its place appeared a young girl with dragon horns on her head.

"Lord Qinghe has reached the Soul Formation realm!"

A crisp and proud voice echoed across Zhuji Peak.

Without even looking, Qinghe threw herself directly at Bai Xuanling, who was standing on the viewing platform, and hugged her tightly. With a deeply moved tone, she said:

"How did Grandma Bai know I was coming out of seclusion today? Were you waiting here specifically for me?"

Just as her words fell, Qinghe's expression froze slightly as she hugged Bai Xuanling.

Oh no!

She was so happy that she forgot to filter her inner thoughts before speaking them out loud.

Fortunately, the iron fist she imagined from Grandma Bai never arrived.

Qinghe felt a pair of arms wrap around her as well, and Bai Xuanling's gentle voice sounded by her ear:

"Not bad. You've gained quite a bit of weight. It seems your hard cultivation during this time wasn't entirely in vain."

No beating?

Qinghe's expression instantly lit up. She hopped off Bai Xuanling and said with dancing eyebrows:

"Of course! I'm incredibly smart. A mere Soul Formation realm is a piece of cake for me."

"Smart, not necessarily. But as for complaints about your laziness, I receive them six or seven times a month."

Bai Xuanling reached out and lightly tapped Qinghe on the forehead. "However, seeing as your transformation turned out quite well, I'll spare you for now."

When she took Qingming away, Bai Xuanling truly hadn't expected to see Qinghe again.

But it wasn't bad.

It was better than Qinghe looking at a solitary, empty Zhuji Peak with no one around.

So the reason she spared Qinghe wasn't because her transformation was good, but simply because she got to see a lively and energetic Qinghe once again.

Qinghe's expression became even more radiant.

Still no beating?

But after thinking it over, Qinghe felt it was perfectly normal. Although she loved to slack off a bit during her special training, that hateful old flood dragon would pursue her relentlessly. Once caught, she would be subjected to crazy amounts of extra training.

Even though the crazy extra training couldn't stop Qinghe's determination to slack off.

Because she was caught slacking off so many times, the time spent on extra training far exceeded her planned cultivation time.

Strictly speaking, how could that not count as Qinghe cultivating hard?

"Where is Ling Yu? Why isn't she here?"

"She's at Chu Xingchen's place."

"Huh? Then why don't you go to Chu Xingchen's place?"

"According to what you're saying, we might as well rename Zhuji Peak to Loving Family Peak and let Chu Xingchen be the peak master."

Hearing this, Qinghe paused. She stood there thinking for a moment, and finally nodded:

"Good idea..."

Bai Xuanling narrowed her eyes. In the end, she couldn't hold back anymore.