“What is wrong?”
Fu Jinyue asked, unable to understand the actions of these two.
Yun Heyin stood with his back to her, and looking past his shoulder, Fu Jinyue could only see Xi Chuan’s cold stare.
That youth was normally the most steady, but now, with his gaze fixed on Yun Heyin, his face actually bore a chilly, threatening look, which was quite novel.
Fu Jinyue simply liked the youth’s face; the more serious it was, the more delicious it became, so she was not afraid. She stepped around Yun Heyin’s stance and said:
“Xi Chuan, this is Perfected Lord Yun Heyin.”
As she spoke, Yun Heyin also turned around, still wearing that cold and detached expression, with only his gaze shifting inadvertently.
This flower on a high ridge usually had an indifferent expression, so a tiny change became very noticeable.
Fu Jinyue understood it, but she did not care what he was inexplicably anticipating. She continued, “This Senior Yun is a cultivator of the Dan Ding Sect and has great achievements in the Dao of Alchemy.”
Her words held an underlying meaning.
After secretly tipping off Xi Chuan, Fu Jinyue added, “Based on what I saw just now, Senior Yun should already know Fellow Daoist Xi Chuan, so this junior will not repeat the details.”
Her words were neutral and did not mention the relationship between the two in the slightest. Yun Heyin’s expression remained unchanged as he coldly watched the youth stiffly bend his waist in salutation, respectfully calling him “Senior.”
Beneath that submissiveness was a deliberately suppressed calmness.
He nodded slightly, and his mood instantly became extremely good again.
Yun Heyin said, “Your master, Perfected Lord Xiaoyao, places high hopes on you. Surely he would prefer to see you practicing diligently.”
“What senior says is entirely correct.” Xi Chuan’s expression was even more solemn than his, and he said seriously, “After thanking Fellow Daoist Fu for her assistance yesterday, this junior will certainly return to the peak to train twice as hard.”
Assistance?
Yun Heyin lowered his eyes coldly. “That is for the best.”
With that, he flipped his hand to reveal a clean white porcelain bottle. Handing it over, Yun Heyin spoke up, “I see that Fellow Daoist Xi has just entered the immortal path and only recently broke through to Foundation Establishment, leaving your cultivation somewhat unstable. This bottle of Qi Accumulation Pills shall serve as a meeting gift. Do not decline it, and I wish Fellow Daoist Xi a smooth path ahead.”
The porcelain bottle hovered overhead, but Xi Chuan’s first glance was toward the young girl beside him.
She was dressed in a plain white similar to Yun Heyin’s, her posture graceful, appearing no different from yesterday. Yet her cultivation level told him clearly and plainly—
She had cultivated with someone else.
Though he had known about the young girl’s path of cultivation long ago, having it placed right in front of him was truly a first.
The heat from when they embraced each other seemed to still burn in his chest.
Fu Jinyue looked back with some confusion, her expression even carrying a hint of innocence.
Xi Chuan said nothing, quietly withdrawing his gaze, and bowed to accept the item gifted by this powerful cultivator. A bit of abundant spiritual energy wafted from the mouth of the porcelain bottle, indicating its excellent quality. He then voiced his thanks, an enduring, indecipherable emotion hidden within his lowered eyes.
Yun Heyin’s look from above was indifferent, hovering overhead like something tangible.
Humiliation? Or unwillingness?
He couldn’t describe the feeling, nor did he feel pain, but it was as if he had returned to that noon when he climbed the Stairway to Heaven. Under the blazing, grand sun, sweat dripped down his forehead one drop at a time, soaking his clothes and wrapping tightly around him.
Damp, sticky, and suffocating.
Having paid his respects and offered his thanks, Xi Chuan felt frozen like a stone. He gripped the porcelain bottle tightly, not even remembering how he left.
The words he wanted to say could not be said, and the words he could say he did not wish to say.
He was merely silent.
Allowing his low self-esteem to ferment.
Fu Jinyue cast a strange glance at Yun Heyin, always feeling that this person had an inexplicable sense of joy, yet upon careful thought, there seemed to be no abnormality.
Her heart was still set on the urgent matter, and she asked, “Is the matter settled?”
Developing a good relationship with the Sword Sect was indispensable, and curing the great figure’s injuries was a necessary stepping stone.
Yun Heyin replied, “Sect Master You agreed, but you can only meet that great figure once.”
Just a single meeting.
Fu Jinyue understood. “So whether that great figure adopts my method depends entirely on my own performance?”
Yun Heyin lowered his eyes slightly. “I have done my best.”
“I didn’t blame you.” Fu Jinyue was very relaxed. The repeated verifications last night had given her a lot of insights, leaving her ninety percent confident about curing the injuries. As long as they met, she would find a way to gain the great figure’s trust.
Seeing her eagerness to try, a minute smile seemed to pass across Yun Heyin’s calm face.
Yun Heyin: “Sect Master You said we can go meet the great figure today. She is waiting for us at Juefuyun.”
Fu Jinyue smoothed the folds of her clothes and said with a smile, “Then what are we waiting for? Let us go right away.”
Above Juefuyun, pieces of broken stone arranged around rose and fell slightly, supporting immortal residences upon them. The largest one among them, even when viewed from afar, could easily have its towering silhouette discerned amidst the swirling mist.
On the path of flying on their swords, Fu Jinyue occasionally inquired about that great figure’s preferences.
Yun Heyin responded to every question, but although his parents were disciples of the Sword Sect, he had grown up in the Dan Ding Sect from a young age and knew only a small fraction of the Sword Sect’s elders.
He related what he knew one by one: “This elder reportedly entered alchemy at eighty, formed her Nascent Soul at a hundred, and both her spiritual root and aptitudes were merely ordinary. However, her comprehension was excellent. When her Nascent Soul lifespan was drawing to a close, she comprehended her own Dao and broke through, after which her path was smooth sailing.”
Fu Jinyue was curious: “After the breakthrough of the Dao heart, how smooth can it be?”
Yun Heyin said, “The elder does not often manifest before outsiders, but reportedly, by the time she was two hundred years old, she might already have a Tribulation Transmutation cultivation.”
This world generally divided cultivators’ realms into eight tiers: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Integration, Great Achievement, and Tribulation Transmutation.
If the rumors were true, this great figure at the Tribulation Transmutation stage…
“Can be called half a step to ascension.” Fu Jinyue was astonished, and turning her thoughts to the purpose of this trip, she couldn’t help but click her tongue.
Although this world had abundant spiritual energy, leading to the common joke that “Qi Refining steps everywhere, and Foundation Establishment are like dogs,” that was only limited to before the Golden Core stage.
After the Golden Core, jumping up a tier required several times or even a hundred times the mental and physical effort, not to mention that the lightning tribulations during breakthroughs would increase layer by layer.
Fu Jinyue advanced so easily now only because Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment did not require lightning strikes.
When she broke through to the Golden Core, regardless of what cultivation method she adopted, she would inevitably have to endure the test of six heavenly lightnings, commonly known as the Six-fold Heavenly Tribulation.
Further on, it would be nine, twenty-seven, fifty-four, and even eighty-one strikes. The heavenly lightning during ascension was even more terrifying; legends said it had no limits and its power increased boundlessly.
If the Sword Sect elder truly was at the Tribulation Transmutation stage, then she was ascending. The path of ascension was a matter of life or death; encountering such a terrifying lightning tribulation, to merely fail rather than perish was truly a testament to great fortune and remarkable capability.
Yun Heyin said, “After failing the tribulation, the elder’s primordial spirit was shattered into pieces, and only her divine sense was barely called back due to her Dao companion’s day and night nurturing.”
As he spoke, he seemed to think of something, turning his eyes to look at the young girl beside him.
The opponent had long clamored to learn the Wind Evading Art, but her proficiency was insufficient. The howling fierce wind was merely compressed by her into a gentle breeze, her hair and dress fluttering, giving off quite an immortal aura.
Dao companion.
Yun Heyin chewed on this term.
She and he were so compatible yesterday, and the passion within could by no means be faked. Did this also prove that her feelings for him were also… Perhaps they truly could become Dao companions.
He watched intently.
Fu Jinyue naturally noticed his scorching gaze, and she felt a wave of itching rise wherever she was watched. She couldn’t help but recall this person’s performance last night; he clearly possessed a posture of pure heart and few desires, yet who would have thought that upon tearing away the facade, one would spy the deep-seated ferocious nature within.
Yun Heyin acted like a fiercely starving tiger or leopard, wishing to swallow the person into his stomach, either biting or licking, kissing her every inch.
His kisses fell densely, as if wanting to leave his scent on every inch.
He always asked how he compared to others.
Yet he didn’t know that Fu Jinyue liked using Xi Chuan’s matters to stimulate him most. Watching an isolated and clean person fall into mundane desire brought waves of excitement to her heart.
She knew her actions were bad, and she couldn’t offer equivalent affection to exchange for true devotion, but perhaps everyone possessed an unerasable nature.
And her essence was coldness.
Fu Jinyue looked at him innocently, urging, “Continue speaking, senior.”
Yun Heyin stabilized his mind and continued, “Disciples of the Sword Sect mostly call this great figure ‘Elder Pingxin’.”
“Pingxin?”
“Derived from ‘speaking fairly’ (pingxin er lun).” Yun Heyin said, “This elder is said to be very amiable.”
As they spoke, they arrived at Juefuyun.
Parting the mist, the immortal residence appeared before their eyes. In front of the residence was a large expanse of open ground carved with intricate patterns. Viewed from above, it looked like a maze with no exit. You Feichen stood on the maze ground, waiting for them.
Seeing the two flying side by side from afar, she waved her hand.
“Little Friend Fu, it has been several days. Have you rested well within the sect?” You Feichen asked with a bright smile.
She wore a blade today, sheathed and out of sight. Because of its similar length, a casual glance made it not very different from a sword.
The Sect Master of the Sword Sect asked if she had rested well, so Fu Jinyue naturally could only say yes and pay her respects. Just as she cupped her hands, she was pulled up by the smiling You Feichen.
You Feichen: “Congratulations, Little Friend Fu, on breaking through to Foundation Establishment.”
The blade cultivator’s hand patted her shoulder, and Fu Jinyue noticed that You Feichen’s gaze seemed to glance to the side.
Yun Heyin’s expression was calm, showing nothing.
Just a moment before You Feichen could speak, he said calmly, “The elder does not have much time awake. It is better for the Sect Master to hurry.”
His tone held nothing special either.
Fu Jinyue felt strange in her heart, sensing that these two must share some secret. Their interaction did not resemble the ambiguity she had experienced before, yet they possessed some closeness. Considering Yun Heyin’s background, perhaps the source of this closeness came from his parents. One possibility was that You Feichen had watched Yun Heyin grow up—was it familial affection? Or regret?
In any case, thinking about it this way made some sense.
Otherwise, when she first entered the Sword Sect, why wasn’t some other person from the Sword Sect sent to receive her, but Yun Heyin instead? Yun Heyin brought the Sect Master of the Sword Sect, and it just so happened to be him whose single sentence made the matter of introducing her to the elder proceed logically.
This Perfected Lord Yun, regarding cultivation, background, and connections, still had many benefits to be reaped.
Fu Jinyue thought to herself, It seems I cannot treat him as a single-day use.
Elder Pingxin’s residence should currently be the place under the highest guard in the Sword Sect. You Feichen led the way personally, offering an apology before departure and casting a Sight-Obscuring Art over Fu Jinyue with her permission.
The Sight-Obscuring Art signified a single leaf blocking the view.
A layer of light and shadow seemed to cover Fu Jinyue’s eyes. Objects in the distance were blurry, and she could only look down to see her own palms clearly.
Yun Heyin took her hand, supporting Fu Jinyue as she mounted the sword again.
Fu Jinyue could imagine this person’s still calm and waveless expression when acting, but she didn’t know how startled You Feichen on the other side was.
She could faintly see that the shadow which should be Sect Master You probably shook a few times in surprise, but said nothing.
The three set out.
This time, the Wind Evading Art was set by Yun Heyin personally. There was no breeze, and she could only hear the speed of their advance from the fierce howling wind outside the spell.
The scenery brushing past them was distorted like waves, making one suspect that if a strand of hair drifted out at this time, it would be sliced apart harshly by this wind.
Yun Heyin flew high on his sword, yet forgot to let go of her hand.
During this flight, he stood behind her, and Fu Jinyue could feel a hand silently wrapping around her waist. Just as she wanted to mock this person for being duplicitous and secretly taking advantage, she heard a terrifying explosion—
It was thunder.
You Feichen, who had been flying ahead, paused. Her blurry figure surged, and she probably drew her blade, slashing fiercely at something to the side.
The snow-steel-like blade body collided with some dark object, exploding into a flash of bright white that instantly stung the eyes.
Immediately after came several more collisions, so fast that one couldn’t see the order at all. That blade seemed endlessly varied in You Feichen’s hands, fierce as a tiger.
The explosions pricked the eardrums painfully.
Right at this moment, the hand wrapped around her waist suddenly tightened. Fu Jinyue could feel a drop beneath her feet, her body tilting, and the world spun as she was actually hung upside down.
Yun Heyin held her tightly, his hand on her lower abdomen welded fast like a steel bar. She saw a thick streak of purple electricity flash beneath her head by a hair’s breadth, and only then did she hear the sky-shattering thunder.
The speed of flight became increasingly fast, but their posture was no longer leisurely.
One breath, two breaths, or perhaps longer.
Until her feet grew steady, and a light sigh murmured beside her that they had arrived. Only then did a finger tap between her brows, and her vision suddenly became clear. Fu Jinyue suppressed her discomfort, her eyelashes trembling as she lifted her eyes to look into the distance, finally able to see the place where she was located clearly.
—It was also the place where Elder Pingxin underwent her tribulation.
This was a land devoid of life.
Mountains rose and fell, and as far as the eye could see, not a blade of grass grew. The rocks were a red-fissured, rusty-brown color, with char marks everywhere.
Dark clouds pressed overhead, dense enough to block the sky. Thick lightning occasionally zipped through, illuminating the cloud layers. The moments of alternating light and dark made it seem like a dragon hovering amidst the clouds, its full form hidden, staring down with glaring eyes and eyeing the living creatures on the ground greedily.
Fu Jinyue looked down at this land, seeing a deeply concave basin, and thought that should be the place where Elder Pingxin met her tribulation.
She couldn’t describe the feeling.
It was merely oppressive, cowering, and terrifying.
Rocks large and small were affected by the anomaly, cracking and flying up. On the side of a massive floating rock, there was a cave that could hardly be called a cave. It should have been carved out manually, slanting toward the concave depression of the land.
Yun Heyin said softly, “Elder Pingxin is inside that cave.”
He added, “Sect Master You said that when Elder Pingxin underwent the tribulation, her body could no longer endure it, and her primordial spirit was about to dissipate. The elder’s Dao companion risked his life to lay down an array to hide her, but because there is still one streak of lightning that has not been received and she has not departed, the thunder has long refused to scatter.”
“The heavenly tribulation does not permit the person undergoing it to leave.” You Feichen flew over from the side at this time, saying, “I have tried every method, but none could bring her away.”
Her blade body was still entwined with crackling lightning, which she dispersed with a swing.
It seemed that what she had just fought were these lightnings.
Sheathing her blade, You Feichen continued, “The lightning tribulation here is too fierce. If an outsider enters without authorization, they cannot avoid a round of wild bombardment. Although I called so many medical cultivators to the Sword Sect, I cannot bring every single one to this place. This time, it is also because Heyin is protecting you that I dare bring you here.”
“Now that the lightning tribulation has paused temporarily, it is the perfect time to hurry and send you inside, otherwise it will likely be terrible if it comes again in a while.”
The two flying swords rose high, pressing extremely close to the thunderclouds, making it feel as if their entire beings were about to plunge inside.
The three of them flew toward the giant rock in the sky, and their destination was soon to be reached.
“Little Friend Fu,” You Feichen suddenly said solemnly, “Ruan Jiang is in your hands.”
At the same time, the sword body descended, and Yun Heyin leaned near Fu Jinyue’s ear, saying softly, “Do not fear.”
Before she could understand this crucial phrase, the outline of the giant rock they had circled for a long time slowly turned away, revealing a small hollow. Meanwhile, the hand that had been wrapped around her waist relaxed, and Fu Jinyue felt a force suddenly toss her upward.
Leaving the protection of the Wind Evading Art, the wind scraped across her face like a knife, her hair dancing wildly.
Beneath her was a vast expanse of high sky, and Fu Jinyue widened her eyes.
Yun Heyin held several yellow paper talismans between his fingers, standing with his back to the devastated world and the rolling lightning tribulation overhead, watching her leave.
Only now did You Feichen shout as if suddenly realizing, “Right, besides the elder, inside the cave there is also…”
But the concealment barrier had already enveloped her, and Fu Jinyue could no longer hear anything.
She was sent into this suspended rock cave.
“You dying thing!”
A shrill voice scolded, “Hurry up and get up.”
Fu Jinyue rubbed her head as she rose, finding herself pressing on top of something, which felt uncomfortably hard. She felt the ground beneath her was wet, and looking up after rising, it indeed was that she had knocked over a water basin. The water had spilled all over the ground, soaking the soil.
A young boy with disheveled clothes wrapped in an outer robe was looking at her with flushed eyes. The rosy-purple corner of his robe hung softly onto the ground, soaked by the remaining water.
Catching sight of it, the boy’s eyes turned red with anger again, and he opened his mouth to scold, “I have never seen such an undisciplined person. If you come in, come in properly; why must you knock over the water!”
His appearance was exceptionally beautiful, his rose-like eyes possessing a naturally timid charm, his skin white enough that a pinch would probably leave a mark. Yet his expression was arrogant and unbridled, and the words he hurled at her also revealed a pungent personality.
Seeing Fu Jinyue looking at him with an inexplicable expression, the young boy tilted his chin arrogantly and said fiercely, “What! Still unhappy?”
This was… Elder Pingxin?
Fu Jinyue swept the opponent’s cultivation, finding it was actually also around the Foundation Establishment stage, and couldn’t help but feel doubtful in her heart.
It didn’t feel like it.
Right at this moment, another voice rang out.
“Yu Ling, do not fool around.”
The young boy pouted, “Brother, this time it isn’t me fooling around.”
The voice came from deep within the cave. Fu Jinyue looked over and saw a luxuriant plant growing tall and upright. Its leaves were special, with pairs of small leaflets arranged side by side to form a single large leaf, shaped like a feather.
Whether because the cave was too small or for some other reason, the main trunk and branches of the plant bent uncomfortably, bundling themselves into one place like a fur ball, their leaves also overlapping with each other. A soft light diffused faintly from the gaps.
Fu Jinyue recognized what this was at a single glance.
A mimosa.
A massive mimosa.
So this plant that grew like a mimosa was the source of the voice that stopped the young boy.
Fu Jinyue couldn’t see where its mouth was located, only hearing the gentle male voice ring out again.
It said, “This little fellow daoist is the person of destiny, come to help us.”
The boy named Yu Ling looked askance and said, “Ah? This is that person carrying the destiny to save the world?
Brother, didn’t you say Star Sovereign Dinggui was a grand figure? The person calculated so mysteriously turns out to be just this?”
He crossed his arms, tilting his chin, and added, “Her cultivation is about the same as mine too.”
Fu Jinyue didn’t hold it against a child, adjusting her appearance. The front of her chest had already been soaked by the mud, but fortunately there wasn’t much water in the basin, so her entire body wasn’t soaked. Simply patting the dust off her skirt hem, she intended to speak, but the young boy intercepted her again:
“No way, you don’t even know the Body-Cleansing Art?”
Fu Jinyue truly wished his mouth would shut, but unable to gauge his relationship with Elder Pingxin, she could only suppress it for now.
A branch extended, its feather-like leaves tapping the boy’s head, the voice turning a bit sterner.
“Yu Ling, apologize.”
Yu Ling pouted, gave a light snort, and bent his waist to salute, saying, “Sorry, it was I who offended…”
He lifted his eyelids to glance quickly. Fu Jinyue felt a divine sense sweep across her person.
Only then did Yu Ling add unhurriedly, “It was I who offended a junior.”
“Yu Ling! You are becoming increasingly unbridled. Go to the corner and stay quiet for me!”
The gentle male voice shouted sternly. Seeing the young boy go to the corner to face the wall reluctantly, it turned a leaf toward Fu Jinyue, saying apologetically, “I am truly sorry to Little Friend Fu. This child’s personality is too arrogant; normally even I cannot control him.”
“No matter, no matter.” Fu Jinyue said after consideration, “Is Fellow Daoist Yu Ling senior’s younger brother?”
Wasn’t she here to save the elder heavily injured by the lightning tribulation? Why did a younger brother inexplicably appear?
This question brought out something strange.
The mimosa-like leaves startled in a very human-like manner, and said softly, “Sect Master You is likely busy with important matters and forgot to relate the details.”
The leaves opened and closed, appearing to hesitate, but ultimately it still said, “Yu Ling is my younger brother indeed. He is a seedpod left behind before our parents passed away, entrusted to my care on their deathbed.”
“Because of this background, I used to spoil Xiao Ling a bit in the past. Furthermore, his aptitude is excellent and his cultivation smooth, so he has always been accustomed to being proud and arrogant. In truth, he didn’t intend to offend fellow daoist. This place is dry, and just now Xiao Ling was absorbing water. After the water basin was accidentally knocked over, his words were hasty, offending fellow daoist. I am truly sorry.”
Fu Jinyue naturally waved her hands repeatedly, saying guiltily that it was her own fault.
She muttered in her heart, Both a seedpod and a younger brother, Yu Ling must certainly also be a mimosa spirit.
This water basin was only tiny, completely unable to submerge a person. That so-called absorbing water should mean the young boy was currently soaking in water in his original form, and as a result, she overturned him along with the basin, forcing him to hastily transform into human form and dress. No wonder he was glaring and couldn’t stand her.
The edges of the leaves curled slightly, and the gentle male voice added, “The place of the lightning tribulation was originally not a place he should come to. But right before the lightning tribulation, while training outside, he was heavily injured by evil cultivators and almost captured to become a bonded slave.”
“His injuries were too severe, and his life was in imminent danger. Fortunately, we plant demons also possess unique secret methods. By connecting our roots and stems, I barely saved him. Before his injuries heal, Yu Ling cannot be too far from me. Who would have thought…”
The leaf’s tone grew sluggish.
Appearing unwilling to recall, he summarized hastily, “Who would have thought this lightning tribulation matter was too sudden. I came too quickly and actually forgot he was still… Alas, in short, Xiao Ling remained here to guard this place with me.”
Fu Jinyue understood somewhat, pondering her tone, and said carefully, “So, you are not Elder Pingxin?”
The curled leaf swayed as if shaking its head, and then guided her toward the depths of the cave. The massive mimosa body bundled into a mass, the layered leaves rustling and shaking, gently unfurling what was wrapped inside.
It was a cultivator’s divine sense shaped like a ball of light.
The light was gorgeous but weak, rising and falling, brightening and dimming like breathing.
Fu Jinyue was startled.
The soft light she had seen earlier in the gaps between the leaves had found its source now.
Who could have expected it?
Within the mountain peaks surrounded by thunderclouds, bordering on world destruction, was hidden a tiny cave. And inside the cave grew a mimosa that stood tall and upright. It bent itself, taking root in soil that was not suitable, exerting all its strength solely to safely cradle a handful of light.
“I am A-Jiang’s Dao companion, Yu Ning.”
The leaves gently supported the ball of light, the remaining leaves carefully surrounding the side.
Yu Ning introduced, “This is the Elder Pingxin you are looking for, Ruan Jiang.”
Only now did Fu Jinyue understand Yun Heyin’s solemn expression at that time.
His phrase “shocking to those who see it” could not describe a ten-thousandth of the miserable state at this moment.
Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—looking all the way back, the essence of cultivation was merely absorbing spiritual energy and refining spiritual power. A wisp of ethereal spiritual power inside the Dantian accumulated to become a lake, which cultivators kneaded into a core, then molded into a small person, and finally infused with divine sense to forge an incomparably solid primordial spirit.
Generally speaking, before the Nascent Soul, one cultivated the physical body. After the Nascent Soul, one cultivated the divine sense.
But Fu Jinyue gazed at this small handful of divine sense before her, only feeling astonished.
Just how ferocious must the heavenly lightning be to shatter a great figure’s physical body and primordial spirit completely, leaving only this bit of divine sense.
And just how tragic must the sacrifice be for someone to successfully charge into the lightning tribulation to lay down an array, deceive heaven and earth, and enter danger with their own body just to protect this tiny bit of hope.
Fu Jinyue could not imagine the scene at that time.
Seeing her silence, Yu Ning’s leaves moved slightly, appearing to smile helplessly. Then gathering the leaves, the divine sense was hidden, and he protected the person at his very center once more.
The light brightened and dimmed in turn. Fu Jinyue carefully noticed that this massive mimosa appeared luxuriant, but in reality, the edges of its leaves had all turned yellow, with many signs of curling and drying on the outer layer, and only some deep green remaining on the inner layer.
Presumably, he must also be at the end of his tether.
Yu Ning said, “My cultivation is inferior to A-Jiang’s. Using myself as an array to protect her is already my limit. In truth…”
He paused, “In truth, I originally did not wish to see you. How heavily A-Jiang is injured, I know myself. But Sect Master You was very persistent, and I also heard her say that your method could even restore a sliver of the primary soul Taiguang that Perfected Lord Yun was born lacking, which can be called a miracle.”
Fu Jinyue’s heart moved slightly. Restored the primary soul that Yun Heyin was born lacking?
No one had confessed this to her.
She noted this matter, continuing to listen to Yu Ning speak without showing any change in expression.
Yu Ning sighed, “Perhaps it was to stake everything on a single throw, and there are other reasons. In the end, I still asked Sect Master You to bring little friend here. I hope that even if A-Jiang cannot be cured, Little Friend Fu can take Xiao Ling away.”
Take that arrogant and domineering Yu Ling away?
Fu Jinyue was surprised, “But didn’t senior just say…”
Yu Ning said, “Yes, Xiao Ling is heavily injured and his Dantian is damaged. It is entirely because we are vegetation demons that our roots and stems can connect, allowing me to transmit spiritual energy to heal him. Before his injuries are healed, he cannot leave me.”
Fu Jinyue was even more bewildered, “Since it is so…”
An incredible thought appeared in her heart.
The youth who had been crouching in the corner acting as a small plant rushed over at this moment, shouting fiercely, “Brother, I won’t leave! I want to live and die together with you and sister-in-law!”
Yu Ning scolded, “Nonsense!”
Coils of branches entwined the youth, binding him firmly, and lifting a corner of his collar, stuffed it into his mouth.
Yu Ling was stuffed tightly, unable to utter a single word of what he wanted to say. Emitting muffled sounds, those charming eyes widened, yet lacked any ferociousness, resembling a cat crying out wildly while being disciplined.
With his younger brother making such a mess, Yu Ning could no longer feel sorrowful.
The leaves stood high, appearing to sit upright. He said in a deep voice, “Little Friend Fu, this is how I think. Since your method is certain to cure A-Jiang and can repair missing soul light, presumably it must also be able to cure Xiao Ling’s injuries.”
“To die with A-Jiang is my fortune. But Xiao Ling is still young; his life should not end here. As long as Little Friend Fu can assist to make Xiao Ling’s injuries improve, I can disconnect the secret method. He will then be able to leave this land of trouble.”
Fu Jinyue caught some clues, finding the direction of the words moving closer and closer to the absurd thought in her heart, thinking no way.
Yet what Yu Ning wanted to say was precisely that “no way.” He said solemnly:
“Little Friend Fu, I trust Sect Master You, and I can trust you. Life is at stake, please use the method of the orthodox Hehuan to cure Xiao Ling right now.”
On the other side, Yu Ling struggled violently, his cream-like snow skin being bound into streaks of red marks.
Muffling sounds came from his mouth, which presumably should be words like “I won’t” or “hurry and release me.”
He struggled so violently that the clothes he had managed to put on properly became a total mess again. His plump thighs were bound into undulations among the branches, his slender waist twisting, his face bearing a peach-red color like smeared rouge, and his eyes were also flushed. The water glisten was overflowing, like trembling peach blossoms on a branch, able to ooze water at any moment.
The young boy didn’t want to hate his brother, so he stared viciously only at Fu Jinyue.
And Fu Jinyue?
She completely did not know what to do anymore.