The moon was bright and the stars were clear, and the night wind was a little chilly.
On the Star Gazing Platform atop the main peak of the Xuan Xing Sect, Si Xuanji, clad in a black and white immortal robe, sat cross-legged, gazing upwards. The myriad stars were reflected in her yin-yang eyes.
The gentle breeze stirred her ear hair, yet it brought her a sense of “coldness.”
The starry night sky spanned thousands of years, encompassing the cycle of yin and yang in the world.
The Star Divination technique allowed her to glimpse the fate of all people in the world.
And now, in the same way, from the celestial phenomena, she saw a great, unresolved calamity that belonged to her.
The instigator of this calamity was Sun Juehu.
Led by the Hantian Kingdom, the Xuan Xing Sect, and the Wu Nian Sect, immortal cultivators from the Northern, Western, and Southern Regions were about to cross the mortal realm and simultaneously invade the Eastern Domain from three directions, intending to eradicate the demonic cultivators who had not been purged a thousand years ago.
The invasion of the Eastern Domain was proposed by the Hantian Kingdom.
The superficial reason was that the demonic cultivators of the Eastern Domain had crossed the line of the immortal families, launching a surprise attack on the Taibai Sect and causing Zu Yuan to lose all his cultivation. The immortal families could no longer tolerate it.
However, Si Xuanji was well aware of what Sun Juehu was plotting behind the scenes.
Sun Juehu wanted to lure her to the Eastern Domain, weaken her with the demonic qi within the mountains and rivers of the Eastern Domain, and then avenge her Sun family’s Ancestor.
Facing Sun Juehu head-on in the Eastern Domain, without considering other variables, she estimated her chances of winning were only forty percent.
There was no doubt that the events in the Eastern Domain were a Hongmen Banquet prepared for her by Sun Juehu.
And since she knew it was a Hongmen Banquet, the safest course of action was not to go.
As long as she didn’t go to the Eastern Domain, Sun Jue hu could do nothing to her.
However, if she didn’t go, Sun Juehu would undoubtedly do something to Ye Anping.
Even if she had Ye Anping stay in the Western Regions as well, Sun Juehu would still find a way to threaten her Ye Anping, just as she had suddenly gone to the Hundred Lotus Sect to give Ye Anping a gift before.
That was a show of force, warning her:
“Sister Danyan, don’t think about hiding in the Western Regions and not coming out. Sister, don’t disappoint my intentions with the banquet I’ve prepared for you.”
Thinking of this, Si Xuanji felt a surge of anger.
This was the first man she cared about in her life, and yet he became her weakness, causing her to be targeted by her enemy.
Si Xuanji closed her eyes and calmed her emotions before asking, “Is Anping still on Tianyun Peak accompanying Pei girl?”
Si Xuanji asked this of Qiu Shui Rou, but the answer came in a calm, boyish voice that was as still as an ancient well: “Yunluo is accompanying my junior sister.”
!
Hearing Ye Anping’s voice, Si Xuanji was stunned. She turned to look behind her, only to see Qiu Shui Rou, who should have been standing behind her serving her, now with her eyes lowered, having gone below the Star Gazing Platform. Instead, it was Ye Anping, dressed in a black brocade robe.
Si Xuanji quickly averted her gaze, pretending to be a senior observing the stars, and calmly asked, “Aren’t you accompanying Pei girl during her Nascent Soul Formation? Why are you here to see me?”
Ye Anping had planned to set off for Donghuang with Feng Yu Die tomorrow, so he had specifically fried some sunflower seeds and brought them to say goodbye to her.
When Qiu Shui Rou brought him here, seeing Si Xuanji engrossed in stargazing, he didn’t speak and quietly stood to the side, only to end up with a cold shoulder.
“Xuanji, you don’t want me to come?”
“Pei girl is undergoing Nascent Soul Formation, you should be accompanying her. This makes me seem like a sneaky cat.”
Ye Anping smiled and said frankly, “Then… I’ll leave.”
With that, he turned and walked towards the platform.
Si Xuanji’s cheeks puffed up with displeasure. This boy was getting bolder and bolder, even daring to tease me!
Si Xuanji didn’t believe that Ye Anping couldn’t tell she wanted him to stay. She knitted her brows, looked at Ye Anping walking away with his back to her, her voice suddenly shifted, and she flew up to grab Ye Anping by the collar, “You’re pushing your luck!!”
Below the Star Gazing Platform, A Ying, standing on Qiu Shui Rou’s shoulder, immediately clicked his tongue: “Naughty! Naughty!!”
Ye Anping wore a slightly sheepish smile, and the next moment he suddenly felt his vision tilt. When he came to his senses, he was already in front of the long couch in the great hall next to the Star Gazing Platform.
Si Xuanji floated down to the couch, sat down, crossed her legs, and looked up at Ye Anping in front of her: “You really think I dote on you and you can get away with anything? Hmph!”
“Just a joke, Immortal Dan Yue has boundless magnanimity, how can you stoop to the level of a mere Nascent Soul cultivator like me?” Ye Anping cupped his hands in a salute and smiled, “I came to say goodbye to you, Xuanji.”
“You’re leaving? Pei girl hasn’t even formed her Nascent Soul yet.”
“Feng Yu Die has also passed the third Nascent Soul lightning tribulation yesterday. I was thinking of taking her to the Eastern Domain first.”
Si Xuanji switched her crossed legs, looked at him, and after a moment of silence, she slowly opened and closed the five toes of her right foot, replying coldly, “Approved…”
“Well, I’ll trouble Xuanji to keep an eye on my junior sister for me, and also…”
“Speak.”
“Before in Donghuang, I made a promise to Xue Tian Qiao. If she helped me, I would get her another strand of her master’s tail fur, so Xuanji, when you take Yunluo to Tian’an in the Central Domain later, could you…”
Si Xuanji was silent for a moment, showing a hint of difficulty, and waved her left hand: “You really know how to use me. That big fox cherishes its tail, it spends several hours combing it every day…”
Ye Anping immediately understood what she meant. Looking at Si Xuanji’s swinging bare feet, he pondered for a moment and then knelt on one knee, raising his hand to cup her foot.
Seeing this, Si Xuanji closed one eye, her lips pursed in anticipation: “Hmm?”
Ye Anping slowly lowered his head, closed his eyes, and said, “I know this matter is a Hongmen Banquet set for you by Sun Juehu, and I also know you’ve always wanted to unify the Four Domains. I promise to hand them over to you.”
Si Xuanji nodded: “I believe you.”
“Mhm…”
“However, rather than hearing you say it, I’d prefer something I can touch and see…”
Ye Anping had anticipated that this would be unavoidable when he came. He had even taken a bath before changing clothes.
Looking up, he saw Si Xuanji had already raised her hand and slid her shoulder strap down. He gathered himself for a moment and gently kissed the back of Si Xuanji’s foot.
*Chu*…
Then, he smoothly moved forward, with his Nascent Soul cultivation embracing the woman in the Void Refinement realm in front of him, their foreheads touching.
“Anping…”
“Mm, Xuanji.”
“Don’t make me watch the stars alone for the next few thousand years, okay?”
“Mm.”
Their lips met, and the black and white hair gradually spread out from behind their heads. Then, a spring breeze filled the bed in the hall, filling the small heart that had finally found a home after nearly ten thousand years of solitude…
Soft whispers drifted out of the hall and into the starry sky.
Unconsciously, a morning bell rang from the peak of the main peak below, awakening the dawn of the Xuan Xing Sect.
The morning sun rose from the horizon, shining through the open window of the Star Gazing Hall, illuminating the two people lying in each other’s arms on the couch.
Si Xuanji lay on Ye Anping’s chest, watching the dawn through the window. She felt a little resentful that time passed so quickly, but the unsettling feeling from her earlier stargazing had been smoothed over by Ye Anping.
“Sigh… Are you leaving?”
“Mm.”
Ye Anping took a cloak from his Storage Bag, wrapped it around her, then moved his legs to the side of the bed, put on his clothes, stood up.
Si Xuanji sat on the couch like a duck, her small hands wrapped around the cloak he had given her. Her yin-yang eyes revealed boundless tenderness. She crawled forward a step, picked up a comb, and began to style Ye Anping’s hair, which she had messed up the night before.
“Anping, be careful with everything.”
“I’m aware of it.”
After Si Xuanji finished styling his hair, Ye Anping also put on his clothes and stood up, cupping his hands in a salute: “I’m leaving now. I entrust my junior sister to you, Xuanji.”
“Mm.”
Si Xuanji nodded slightly, tightened the cloak around her body, and watched Ye Anping walk out of the Star Gazing Hall. He smiled back at her and then flew away on his sword.
Sun Juehu had been trying to settle things with her for the past thousand years. She had ignored it before, but now it was time to end this feud.
Si Xuanji quietly pondered the matter of Sun Juehu and the demonic cultivators of the Eastern Domain.
A moment later, hurried footsteps could be heard.
Xiao Yunluo descended on her sword from the direction of Tianyun Peak. She poked her head out from outside the door, her dragon horns visible. When she saw her master, who seemed to be unclothed and sitting on the couch in a cloak, her expression froze.
“… …”
Si Xuanji raised her head slightly and looked at her, calling out, “Yunluo.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo flinched in fear and quickly lowered her head as she walked in, swallowing. “Ah? Mas… Master…”
“Why are you here?”
Earlier, Xiao Yunluo had been accompanying Pei Lianxue on the Sword Wind Platform on Tianyun Peak, waiting for the tribulation clouds to arrive. However, the tribulation clouds didn’t arrive, but Qiu Shui Rou brought some pastries.
Although Qiu Shui Rou repeatedly said, “I just came to see you, and brought you some pastries and tea.”
However, given her previous experiences, Xiao Yunluo quickly realized that Aunt Qiu was here to keep an eye on her. Her master was probably “stealing” her husband again.
So she found an opportunity to sneak away.
It wasn’t that she wanted to join.
She really, really just wanted to see for herself how her master whimpered when she was “taught a lesson” by her husband!
However, Xiao Yunluo dared not say this out loud, otherwise, she would probably be spanked by her master until her butt was swollen.
She pursed her lips shyly and replied in a low voice, “Master… I… I was just passing by.”
Si Xuanji pursed her lips and saw through her thoughts at a glance. She propped up her cheeks and said, “Unfortunately, you’re too late.”
“Ah… Wha… What do you mean, too late?”
Si Xuanji shook her head slightly, stood up wrapped in the cloak, jumped off the couch, and said, “Since you’re here, help me comb my hair and change my clothes.”
“Ah… Oh.”
Xiao Yunluo nodded weakly, then looked at the black and white immortal robe scattered on the bed. She crouched down to pick it up, and together with the cloak, carried her master to the dressing table in a corner of the Star Gazing Hall and helped her style her hair with a jade comb…
… …
——
The gentle breeze was like silk, washing away the blush from Ye Anping’s face.
After leaving the Star Gazing Hall, Ye Anping rode his sword back to the Three-Bay House he shared with Xiao Yunluo on Tianyun Peak. He took down the “left hand” hanging on the windowsill, which had been acting as a weather charm, and hung it on his waist. He returned to his room, packed his luggage, and went over his plan in his mind.
The first thing he had to do on this trip to the Eastern Domain was to break through the demonic cultivator defense line at the border from within, coordinating with the immortal sects of the Southern Region, the Xuan Xing Sect, and even the Hantian Kingdom, to help the immortal families invade the Eastern Domain as easily as possible.
Although Sun Juehu intended to lure Si Xuanji to the Eastern Domain to avenge herself, she was not stupid. If the Sect Master of the Tian Mo Sect was still alive, any conflict between her and Si Xuanji in the Eastern Domain would only result in a “snipe and clam clamor, fisherman benefits” situation.
In other words, before Yu Yan fell, Sun Juehu would not reveal her true intentions. Instead, she would stand on the same side as Si Xuanji and jointly deal with the six demonic sects led by the Tian Mo Sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect.
Ye Anping counted the demonic cultivator magical artifacts and pills he had collected from the black market through Liang Zhu during this period. He then took Gu Mingxin’s hand and wrote on her palm again with his index finger:
“See you in Donghuang Immortal City in twenty days.”
Gu Mingxin seemed to be looking forward to meeting him, and she grabbed his finger and rubbed it, as if to say, “We’ll meet there, rain or shine.”
Afterward, Ye Anping tied Gu Mingxin’s hand back to his waist, pushed open the door of the Three-Bay House, and prepared to go to Feng Yu Die’s next door.
However, just as he stepped out, Feng Yu Die was already waiting at the entrance of the courtyard.
“Young Master Ye~~”
She was wearing a snow-white long dress, her hair tied in a ponytail, and a sweet smile on her face. Most striking were the bulging neckline of her dress.
?
Ye Anping was startled and couldn’t help but stare at her chest for a moment without speaking.
“…”
Seeing Ye Anping emerge from the courtyard, Feng Yu Die quickly walked over, hands behind her back, smiling up at him, deliberately puffing out her chest: “Young Master Ye, are we leaving?”
Ye Anping stared at her chest and nodded slightly: “…Mm.”
“…Can you go somewhere with me first?”
“Where to?”
“To see my master. Before we leave, you know… Hehe—”
“Yuxu Mountain?”
“No, it’s right here in the Xuan Xing Sect.” Feng Yu Die grinned, “When I returned from Donghuang before, Xing Tian Division needed to bury their disciples, so I dug up my master’s grave on Yuxu Mountain and moved it to the Xuan Xing Sect. Hehe…”
?
“So, you used Xing Tian Division’s budget to move your master’s grave?”
“Save where you can.”
Feng Yu Die gave a silly smile and stepped forward, hugging Ye Anping’s right arm and forcefully clamping it to her chest: “Let’s go… it’ll just be for a little while. I’ll burn some incense and then we’ll go.”
“… …”
Ye Anping knew she had padded herself, but he didn’t feel the sensation of sandbags. He figured it was likely done with some kind of magical artifact. He then expressionlessly pulled his arm out of her embrace: “Mm, alright.”
Seeing his reaction, Feng Yu Die was slightly disappointed. She had spent several thousand spirit stones at the marketplace buying this set of breasts the day before yesterday. The female shopkeeper had said they were genuine.
“Young Master Ye…”
“Put those things back. They’re an eyesore.”
“Oh… okay… Hehe…”
… …
