Chapter 442: Tianchong, Dad!
The sky was clear, and mist enveloped the white snow-covered peaks of the Sword Sect.
Dozens of Immortal Ships were neatly lined up at the sect’s gate.
Below the Immortal Ship flying the flag of Xing Tian Division, Yun Tianchong, accompanied by Yun Xi, stood to see off Fu Xuan Shangxian and the accompanying elders of Xing Tian Division as they set sail.
“Pavilion Master Qu, if you have the opportunity in the future, please visit the Moon Shadow Sword Sect more often. I, Yun, will personally accompany you for drinks and we’ll get thoroughly drunk.”
“Heh heh… I don’t wish to experience what happened in Donghuang a second time, so please excuse me, Qu, for declining Sect Master Yun’s kind offer.”
Qu Ruyun, with a polite smile, cupped her hands in farewell. Without looking back, she boarded the Immortal Ship with Yue Xuanming and the other elders of Xing Tian Division.
During her stay at the Sword Sect, she had almost been driven mad by Yun Tianchong’s pestering.
Since the banquet that day, Yun Tianchong had been bringing her gifts and chatting with her as if they were old friends, clearly trying to “befriend” her.
If it were an ordinary Deity Transformation Stage cultivator seeking her company, Qu Ruyun would have been happy to oblige. However, as she had said before, her reputation was tarnished, and it wouldn’t be restored overnight. Divination couldn’t tell her whether Yun Tianchong’s intentions were genuine or peculiar.
But then again…
After returning to the deck, Qu Ruyun secretly glanced at Ye Anping, who was still waiting below for Xiao Yunluo, a hint of complexity in her eyes.
Driven by curiosity, Qu Ruyun had occasionally sent her spiritual sense out to observe Ye Anping’s activities.
What she discovered astonished her, completely reshaping her understanding of Core Formation Stage cultivators.
After dual cultivating with his junior sister and Yun Family’s Eldest Miss, Ye Anping still had the energy to spar with Feng Yu Die, accompany the girls to the marketplace, and play games of dice and drinking…
Dual cultivation was an extremely draining process, especially when there wasn’t a significant cultivation gap between partners. An ordinary Core Formation Stage cultivator would need several days, or even half a month, to recover their yang energy after one session.
Yet, Ye Anping seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of yang energy.
She hadn’t seen him rest at all during these past few days. He had even discovered her spying and driven her spirit away with a talisman script.
Could this be one of the reasons why that old woman Dan Yue favored him?
She wasn’t close to Si Xuanji and wasn’t sure of her thoughts.
But then again, who in this world wouldn’t want a subordinate who could “advance to fight and slay demonic cultivators, retreat to manage the Immortal Sect, and serve in bed at night”?
Ye Anping seemed to sense Fu Xuan Shangxian’s gaze and turned to look. However, he saw Fu Xuan smile and shake her head before heading towards the cabin.
Seeing Fu Xuan’s smile, Ye Anping finally understood. So, it was her who had been peeping at him with her spiritual sense these past few days…
Although a little annoyed, Ye Anping couldn’t do anything about it, given that she was a Deity Transformation Stage cultivator.
He sighed softly, feeling that Fu Xuan Shangxian was truly too idle. A Deity Transformation Stage cultivator peeping at a Core Formation Stage cultivator during dual cultivation.
“Alas—”
From now on, he should plaster talismans in the room and prepare thoroughly before engaging in any intimate activities…
Ye Anping sighed again before turning to Yun Tianchong. After some thought, he decided to inform him about his relationship with Yun Yiyi. He stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting.
“Sect Master Yun.”
Yun Tianchong responded with a smile, “Yes, what is it?”
“It’s about Miss Yun…”
“Oh?” Yun Tianchong was slightly taken aback. He suddenly became serious, tilting his head slightly and adopting a formal pose. “Ahem, speak. I am all ears.”
Seeing his demeanor, Ye Anping felt that Yun Tianchong hadn’t realized that his precious daughter had been… deflowered. He found it difficult to express himself and didn’t know how to begin.
If he were to reveal the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword now, would that be too much of an imposition?
Ye Anping fell silent. “…”
“Hmm? Continue…”
Yun Xi, who was unusually not in her wheelchair, understood what Ye Anping was implying and decided to help him speak. She called out, “Dad.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Young Master Ye and Yiyi sister…”
As she spoke, Yun Xi saw two flying swords approaching from Yi Shui Peak. After a moment’s thought, she closed her mouth, prompting Yun Tianchong to hesitate and take a deep breath.
“Hiss— You two are barely finishing your sentences. Are you trying to choke me to death?”
“Yiyi sister’s here. Let her say it herself.”
Yun Yiyi arrived with Xiao Yunluo, whose head was wrapped in a large bandage, on her flying sword. She landed and saw Ye Anping’s hesitant expression. Seemingly understanding something, she walked up to Ye Anping, gently pushed aside her golden hair, and stood on her tiptoes.
“Peck~”
A soft kiss cleared Xiao Yunluo’s hazy mind, which had been groggy from sleeping for two days. It shocked Yun Tianchong’s somewhat androgynous face and provided sustenance for Yun Xi, who would probably never find a cultivation partner with a strong enough destiny in her lifetime.
“Anping, hurry and take Young Master Xiao away. It’s going to snow heavily in the Southern Domain in a few days, and the journey will be uncomfortable. You should return to the Western Regions as soon as possible.”
“…Yes.”
Ye Anping nodded, looking at Yun Tianchong’s stunned gaze. He cupped his hands in greeting.
“Sect Master Yun, then this junior will take his leave. Yunluo… let’s go.”
Xiao Yunluo nodded blankly. Sensing Yun Tianchong’s darkening expression beside her, she quickly bowed in greeting, stood beside Ye Anping, and they turned to jump onto a flying sword, heading towards another Immortal Ship.
However, the moment they took off.
Yun Tianchong transformed into an enraged father whose prized cabbage was being snatched. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he shot forward like a bolt of golden light, reaching out to grab Ye Anping’s shoulder and keep him there.
“…”
But just as his hand was about to land on Ye Anping’s shoulder, an icy blue spiritual light shot out from Ye Anping’s storage bag, blocking his hand and Ye Anping’s shoulder, forming an ice wall in mid-air that separated them.
Yun Tianchong’s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the sword.
The Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword seemed covered in the dust of a thousand years. Several small scratches contained the sword intent from the clash between immortals and demons a millennium ago.
Just a glance sent a chill down Yun Tianchong’s spine, and his hand felt the stinging pain of a ruler’s thrashing.
“…”
Ye Anping hadn’t intended to take out the sword. After all, Yun Tianchong was Yun Yiyi’s biological father. He wouldn’t use the sword to suppress him unless it was absolutely necessary.
The sword had come out of his storage bag on its own…
Yun Tianchong then remembered that on the city wall in Donghuang, he had felt that the sword Ye Anping carried was familiar. But it had been wrapped in bandages at the time, and its spiritual energy was masked, so he hadn’t been able to ascertain anything. He had only thought it was a sword lent to Ye Anping by a Sword Cultivator from the Xuan Xing Sect.
Now, the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword was unwrapped. The familiar hilt, unseen for a thousand years, was within inches of his hand, yet it was blocked by an ice wall, preventing him from touching it.
Yun Tianchong frowned and asked angrily, “Where did you get this sword from…”
Before he could finish, a translucent spectral hand of a youth appeared out of thin air beside him and struck Yun Tianchong directly in the face.
“Boom—”
A wave of air exploded, and Yun Tianchong spun around seven or eight times before a furious, childlike voice echoed in the ears of everyone present except Xiao Yunluo.
“—I gave it to him!!”
In the next instant, Yun Tianchong smashed down towards Yun Xi below, creating a huge crater in the paving stones in front of the sect’s gate.
Yun Yiyi stood aside, looking up at the youth who had appeared before the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword, his appearance similar in age to Ye Anping. She quickly reacted, bowed, and cupped her hands.
“Greetings, Grandpa Yun.”
“Hmph, at least you’re polite.” The phantom of Yun Jian Shang Xian looked at Yun Yiyi below, crossed his arms, and nodded. Then he turned to look at Ye Anping behind him and Xiao Yunluo beside him.
His playful eyes beneath his golden bangs stared at Xiao Yunluo for a moment. He furrowed his brow slightly and asked, “Oh? Did that little vixen Dan Yue really manage to hatch this Xuan Dragon egg?”
Ye Anping cupped his hands in greeting. “This disciple greets Master.”
However, Xiao Yunluo beside him was completely bewildered. She couldn’t see Yun Jian Shang Xian, but observing the reactions of Yun Tianchong, Ye Anping, and Yun Yiyi, who had just been inexplicably sent flying, and the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword floating before her, she guessed what was happening. She quickly followed Ye Anping’s example and bowed.
“Greetings… Yun Jian Shang Xian?”
At this moment, Yun Tianchong climbed out of the crater. He no longer cared about Yun Xi’s feelings. Seeing his father’s spiritual apparition in the sky, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Father! You’re not dead?!”
?
Yun Tianchong blinked, a vein throbbing on his forehead. He raised his hand to scold, “What are you calling me, you brat?”
But he didn’t throw the punch.
Looking at his incompetent son, his eyes held a complex expression. He sighed and turned to Ye Anping. “Young Master Ye, continue on your way.”
“…”
Ye Anping looked at Yun Yiyi and Yun Tianchong below. He felt as if he had triggered some new side quest that wasn’t in the game. After a moment of hesitation, he said nothing more. He cupped his hands in greeting, then pulled Xiao Yunluo and continued towards the Immortal Ship.
After they had flown further away, Yun Jian Shang Xian let out a sigh and glanced at Yun Tianchong again, murmuring, “It’s good that you’re still alive.”
He then vanished. The Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword also transformed into an icy blue spiritual light, catching up to Ye Anping, and returned to his storage bag.
Shortly after, with a whistling sound.
The dozens of Immortal Ships docked there slowly lifted off the ground, chasing the setting sun as they gradually disappeared into the distance.
Yun Tianchong stood dumbly before the crater where Yun Xi was, watching the fleet disappear behind a mountain range tens of miles away. Only then did he snap back to reality and quickly turn around to pull Yun Xi out of the crater.
“Ah? Xi’er… are you alright?”
Yun Xi wanted to speak but stopped. She finally showed an expression of utter defeat and gazed at the clear blue sky, relaxing.
Yun Yiyi walked over and said, “That’s just how it is.”
“Ah… what’s ‘just how it is’?”
“Anping received his spirit sword and sword art directly from Grandpa. But he is, after all, an outsider. As for me, I am of Yun family blood. In the future, when I marry Anping and have children, they will be entered into the Yun family genealogy. This matter is decided, whether Father agrees or not.”
“…”
Yun Tianchong was stunned. He looked at Yun Yiyi and asked somewhat aggrievedly, “Yi’er, why don’t I take you to the Hundred Lotus Sect later and discuss it with my father? That Ye kid isn’t bad, but isn’t he already engaged to the Xuan Xing Sect’s Young Master and has that girl Pei? If you marry him, where would you rank?”
Yun Yiyi frowned and asked, “Father, who is the Sword Sect’s Young Master?”
“You…”
“Within the Sword Sect, I am the greatest. I am marrying Ye Anping! This is non-negotiable. I’ve already told Sister Pei and Young Master Xiao.”
“…”
Yun Tianchong looked at Yun Xi, who had a look of utter defeat in her arms. He said no more, sighed, and quickly took Yun Xi towards the medical pavilion on the Central Peak.
Yun Yiyi also breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced back at the fleet that had already disappeared into the horizon and pursed her lips into a smile.
“Anping, we’ll meet again~”
Then, she summoned her flying sword, stepped onto it, and flew towards Yi Shui Peak.
…
————
Whoosh, whoosh—
The Immortal Ships cut through the clouds and pierced the sky, traveling over the snow-covered plains of the Southern Domain.
Ye Anping stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the distant mountains. Seeing that there was no one around, he took out the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword and tentatively called out, “Master?”
However, Yun Jian Shang Xian didn’t seem to respond to every summons. He waited for a long time but saw no reaction from the sword.
For a moment, he put the sword back into his storage bag.
The person who emerged from the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword was not Yun Jian Shang Xian himself. He had died a thousand years ago in an attack by several sect masters of the Demonic Sect. What remained in the sword was merely his sword spirit.
An artifact spirit that, by following Yun Jian Shang Xian for a thousand years, had inherited his memories.
In the game, players could obtain this sword, and the item description stated that it housed the sword spirit of Yun Jian Shang Xian. However, it would never appear before the players.
It was almost identical to Xiao Tian’s existence, and Xiao Tian didn’t exist in the game either…
Ye Anping was lost in thought about Yun Jian Shang Xian as he gazed into the distance. Xiao Yunluo suddenly leaned in from behind and asked, “Anping, just now was…”
“Oh, right. You don’t know yet. That spirit sword was Yun Jian Shang Xian’s imperial spirit sword. I obtained it by chance when my junior sister and Senior Sister Feng and I came to the Sword Sect last time.”
“Is that so… Then should I go back to Xuan Xing Sect and ask Mr. Qi for you?”
“No need, it’s nothing major.” Ye Anping shrugged slightly and looked at her. “By the way, remember what happened at Seven Dragon Valley?”
At Seven Dragon Valley, she and Yun Yiyi…
*Bang—*
Noticing Xiao Yunluo blushing, Ye Anping raised his hand and tapped her head, which was bandaged like an ant’s bottom. He sighed helplessly, “Not that.”
“Oh…”
“I asked you to ask your mother about your Xuan Dragon identity and, while you’re at it, take me to see your mother.”
Xiao Yunluo then remembered and nodded quickly. “Oh… yes, I’ll ask when I get back. Anping, speaking of which, have we already been in the Sword Sect for several days?”
“Yes… why?”
“But why do I feel like we’ve only been here for a day? Did I lose my memory? Could it be because of these dragon horns?”
?
Ye Anping fell silent for a moment. He immediately understood what Yun Yiyi had done. No wonder he hadn’t seen Xiao Yunluo for the past few days. Yun Yiyi had said she didn’t want to come out and preferred to play alone in her room. But… then…
“Alas… is that so? Yesterday, the four of us – you, Yun Yiyi, my junior sister, and I – played cards and drank. You drank several jars. Don’t you remember?”
Xiao Yunluo wriggled her brows slightly and slowly shook her head. “I don’t remember…”
“Then you probably just drank yourself into a stupor.”
Ye Anping chuckled, took her hand, and led her back towards the cabin.
“Where’s my junior sister?”
“Downstairs, and Second Imbecile is there too…”
“Then it’s perfect. Shall I play Mahjong with you? Didn’t you lose quite a few spirit stones to Second Imbecile earlier? This time I’ll help you win them back.”
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and asked softly, “Hmm… actually, you don’t have to call her Second Imbecile. Let her play by herself… We can play three-player Mahjong.”
“Then she’ll feel isolated and cry again.”
“…True.”
Character Illustration – Xiao Yunluo
