Not long after, Ji Hanyue brought Xu Fan to a sect called the Supreme Void Immortal Mountain.
Among the many immortal sects in the Heavenly Cloud Realm, Supreme Void Immortal Mountain was neither powerful nor weak—positioned somewhere in the middle.
The reason Ji Hanyue chose this sect was because the late emperor of the Frozen Moon Empire had once told her that the sect master, Lin Jie, was trustworthy. The sect she led was a place well-suited for cultivation—quiet and secluded.
When Lin Jie saw Ji Hanyue arrive, she seemed a bit surprised but said nothing, silently accepting them.
There was none of that cliché nonsense from previous lives where brain-dead villains jumped out to mock them, nor were there any elders or disciples trying to humiliate or make things difficult for Xu Fan.
But there was one thing that shocked everyone.
Ji Hanyue’s cultivation aptitude was utterly monstrous. To put it bluntly, even Sect Master Lin Jie was like a firefly before the moon in comparison—one was in the heavens, the other on the ground.
Naturally, Ji Hanyue received the full support and resources of Supreme Void Immortal Mountain, something even she hadn’t expected.
Of course, aside from her cultivation, her temperament grew more composed and mature. Many things she once couldn’t understand became clear.
For example, when her younger imperial brother Ji Aotian sent soldiers to hunt her down.
No one was more heartless than those born into royalty. Ruthless purges were all too common during regime changes—there was no need to hold a grudge.
But the fact that she had managed to survive the entire winter safely in Huangsha Village, which wasn’t even far from the Frozen Moon Empire’s borders, suggested that Ji Aotian might have felt a sliver of compassion and had intentionally spared her.
So, after some thought, she decided not to stir up further conflict. Ji Aotian could remain the mundane emperor. As long as he didn’t provoke her again, they could cut ties—no contact, no interference.
With that figured out, Ji Hanyue’s heart relaxed. Her cultivation breakthrough became much smoother, and her lingering obsession faded by nearly half.
As for the rest of her obsession—it was all focused on Xu Fan.
Unlike Ji Hanyue, Xu Fan’s cultivation aptitude was so poor it made both gods and ghosts detest him. When Ji Hanyue had already broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm in just a few years, Xu Fan was still struggling to reach the 3rd stage Qi Refining Realm.
Such a huge gap made it hard for even the most patient elders to keep quiet.
Some more tactful elders merely advised Ji Hanyue to focus more on herself.
Others, more direct, bluntly criticized Xu Fan as useless, saying he would only drag Ji Hanyue down, that he was unfit to be her disciple, and she should find an excuse to expel him and let him fend for himself.
Though Ji Hanyue eventually “politely” kicked all those elders out with a dark expression, when she turned back to look at Xu Fan, those cold, alluring eyes still shimmered with traces of worry.
People change.
The higher one climbed, the stricter the demands on one’s heart became.
As Ji Hanyue advanced in cultivation, the time she spent thinking about Xu Fan gradually decreased.
Though she still had a faint, indescribable affection for him, it became easy to control—Ji Hanyue felt it wouldn’t even stir a ripple in her emotions.
Still, she never forgot her promise. Whenever she got something good, Xu Fan was the first person she thought of. Every year, she would take time to return with him to visit his parents. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Xu Fan was deeply moved, but also a little helpless.
After all, with how weak he was right now, how could he possibly win over Ji Hanyue?
But since this was his final lifetime, and the system wasn’t pressing him with any deadlines, Xu Fan wasn’t in a hurry. He just quietly stayed by Ji Hanyue’s side, cultivating with her, occasionally making playful jokes to slowly build affection.
…
Unknowingly, ten years had passed since Ji Hanyue had taken Xu Fan from Huangsha Village.
A lot had happened over the past decade.
For Ji Hanyue, the biggest change was that she suddenly became the successor of Supreme Void Immortal Mountain.
As for the former Sect Master Lin Jie—while attempting to break through from the Heaven Ascension Realm to the Divine Transformation Realm in closed-door seclusion—she lost control of her cultivation and died unexpectedly.
With Lin Jie gone, Ji Hanyue, who had already reached the late stage Nascent Soul Realm in just ten years, naturally became the elders’ top priority.
Among the twelve stages of cultivation, those who had not stepped onto the Immortal Path were nothing more than ants.
The Heaven Ascension Realm marked a major turning point. Every elder and disciple hoped Ji Hanyue could focus fully on her cultivation and break through to the Heaven Ascension Realm as soon as possible to carry the mantle left behind by Lin Jie.
Despite the changes in the world and Ji Hanyue’s growing ambitions, there was still one person she could never forget.
In the tenth year, instead of going into seclusion, she accompanied Xu Fan to visit the graves of his parents.
Kneeling before the tombstones, Xu Fan wept silently as he burned incense.
Staring at the cold stone markers, his expression turned dazed.
He missed home—not just the home where his parents of this life once lived, but also the one back on Blue Star, the one he had always considered his emotional harbor.
But that was another matter entirely.
Although the system had been urging him to quickly capture Ji Hanyue’s heart and return to Blue Star, he hadn’t done so.
First, his cultivation was simply too weak—he couldn’t shake Ji Hanyue’s heart like before.
Second, something inside him had changed.
In his first six lives, he had always held the upper hand. In terms of cultivation or status, he was always the dominant figure, so he never felt he owed his past lovers anything. When it was time to leave, he did so freely, with little emotional burden.
But this time—
Whether it was intentional or not, Ji Hanyue had truly raised him for ten years. She gave him the best food, clothes, and care. She watched over his cultivation like a true master.
That left Xu Fan confused. He didn’t know if he should continue trying to win her heart as the system instructed.
But now… he hesitated like never before.
He couldn’t sort out his feelings. So all he could do was kneel before the grave and murmur, “You don’t need to worry. In this lifetime, I’ll protect Master with everything I have. I won’t betray her kindness.”
Ji Hanyue smiled with satisfaction when she heard that, but she didn’t take it seriously.
After all, anyone could say such things.
Over the years, Ji Hanyue had seen far too much of the world’s coldness and cruelty—scheming, backstabbing, hypocrisy.
Even though her disciple’s words moved her a little, she had long stopped trusting sweet talk.
Then came the second decade.
Ji Hanyue officially stepped into the Heaven Ascension Realm and became the new sect master of Supreme Void Immortal Mountain.
She began to take on more sect affairs, and the time she spent thinking about her disciple Xu Fan lessened again.
To make up for it, she allocated more cultivation resources to Xu Fan.
Xu Fan was happy… but also not.
In the third decade, Ji Hanyue broke into the Divine Transformation Realm and became the strongest sect master within a radius of 5 million kilometers.
For Supreme Void Immortal Mountain, this was a huge win.
But for other sects, it was a looming threat.
Reaching Divine Transformation meant she could decide the life and death of any Heaven Ascension Realm cultivator at will—something other sect leaders stuck in that realm couldn’t tolerate.
So, under the web of conspiracy and ambushes, Ji Hanyue was besieged by several sect masters during a mission and suffered fatal injuries. She fled thousands of kilometers and finally reached a place called the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
The land was lush, full of birds and flowers, much like the scenery outside Huangsha Village back in the day.
This was the place Ji Hanyue chose as her final resting place.
They say: Why insist on dying in one’s homeland? Anywhere the mountains are green can be a burial ground.
She was satisfied with this place.
But in her final moments, there was only one regret in her heart—the disciple she had taken in her youth, the talentless Xu Fan.
Under the shade of a phoenix tree, she sat weakly, using the last of her strength to summon Xu Fan to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
At the end of her life, she wanted to pass all her cultivation to him through a final soul transmission.
This was the last thing she could do for him… as his master.
…