"So this is just a clichéd myth!" Li Mingke picked up a pear and crunched on it. "It's not even as interesting as the ones at the street stalls. Women wouldn't have written this kind of plot eight hundred years ago!"

These words infuriated Li Jianshi.

"Is that really what you think?"

Li Mingke's cheeks puffed out. "Otherwise what?"

Li Jianshi placed his hands on his forehead.

"Alright, that's all for you, go have some fun!"

Li Mingke, on the contrary, sat there and refused to leave.

"Grandpa, is this some kind of heavenly book? Have you only been studying this for the past ten years?"

She truly felt that her grandfather's precious ten-odd years had been wasted on this kind of thing, and that it was all worthless.

But she didn't dare say it.

But Li Jianshi just stared at her and sighed softly.

It's good that she's so ignorant.

"Alas, fate!"

He stood by the window with his hands behind his back.

Li Mingke thought she had upset her grandfather, so she quickly jumped to his side and comforted him, "Grandpa, I was just saying it casually, please don't take it to heart!"

Li Jianshi simply patted her head affectionately.

“Grandpa is fine and not sad. Mingke is right. I really shouldn’t have spent so much time on this, neglecting my family and friends.”

In Li Mingke's eyes, Li Jianshi's expression conveyed a sense of wistful relief.

She didn't quite understand.

"It's alright, Mingke, go have fun. You've had a tough month. Go to the front yard to find your parents and sister!" He still told her to leave.

"But...Grandpa, do you really not want me to stay here with you?"

She couldn't quite describe Li Jianshi's current state, so she felt she should stay and keep him company.

Grandpa wants to be alone for a while.

"……All right."

They've already pushed her away like this; it wouldn't be good if she didn't leave soon.

Just before she closed the door, Li Jianshi was still looking out the window, unmoved by her departure.

What is Grandpa looking at?

She walked into the courtyard.

There's a swallow's nest under the eaves, which has been there for three years. Every year, baby swallows are born in the nest and then fly away with their parents. A few small yellow flowers peek out from the corner of the wall. She doesn't know what kind of flowers they are, but she can feel their tenacious vitality. The yard is a small garden that Grandpa personally tends. There are rules about where each flower is planted. It is said that Grandpa even consulted the "I Ching" before planting them.

After Li Mingke's figure disappeared into the distance, Li Jianshi returned to his desk and stroked the version she had rewritten.

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Fate cannot be defied..."

He is going to the Star-Picking Pavilion.

...

When Li Mingke arrived at the front yard, he saw a tall man standing next to his sister. The two were standing side by side by the pond, throwing food into the fishpond. The koi carp, plump from being fed, tilted their heads back and opened their mouths, waiting to eat.

Who is that man?

She could only see their backs; they were talking and seemed to know each other well.

Could it be that some young master is pursuing Yue'er?

Hey, she's the eldest sister! If you want to pursue Yue'er, you'll have to get past her first!

She strode toward the two men, but the man seemed to sense her presence and turned back before she even got close.

When Li Mingke saw the other person's face, his eyes widened.

"cousin!"

"Jingyuan?"

It was not an outsider, but her good cousin, the young master of Fengyulou—Wang Jingyuan.

"Jingyuan, how come you've grown so tall?" She had to look up to see him; she remembered that he used to be only a little taller than her!

"What good food did your uncle give you?" She punched Wang Jingyuan in the chest; it was hard and made her joints ache.

Wang Jingyuan flexed his arm muscles. "How about it? While you were in seclusion cultivating, cousin, I didn't fall behind!"

It turned out that his good ranking on the previous list of heroes had given him great confidence, so much so that he went back and cultivated like crazy, making rapid progress in just over a year.

Li Mingke clicked his tongue in admiration, "Not bad, not bad!"

She suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, cousin, what are you doing at my house? Did your master give you a day off?"

Wang Jingyuan said, "Master is in seclusion. Now our senior sister is teaching us. She dotes on me the most. If I beg her, she'll let me out to play!"

He jumped in front of her and said, "Actually, I heard from my cousin Yue'er that you've finished your seclusion and can come out to play, so I came to try my luck!"

He said, sounding both resentful and angry, "Last time you finally came out, cousin, you only invited cousin Yue'er to play with you, completely forgetting about me!"

Li Mingke smiled and apologized, "You just said that you are diligently cultivating in the Immortal Sect, how could I possibly disturb you!"

"A day or two won't make a difference in cultivation!"

"How can it not be bad? If we're bad one day today, and bad one day tomorrow, we'll gradually fall behind!"

Wang Jingyuan still didn't change his way of addressing her, continuing to call her cousin. She didn't mind, since she had been calling him that for so many years.

"By the way, cousin, aren't you pretty good now? I heard from Yue'er that you almost beat her!"

In Wang Jingyuan's heart, his cousin Li Pinyue was an unparalleled genius, not to mention that she had become the top of the list of heroes at a young age, a mountain that he could only look up to but never reach.

But he found it incredible that his cousin, who had never been particularly outstanding, could rival his idol.

If you can catch up with a genius in a very short time, wouldn't that make you even more of a genius than a genius?

Li Mingke laughed and said, "Don't listen to Yue'er's nonsense! How could that be! She's always flattering me; in reality, she's the one who beat me to a pulp!"

"really?"

"Absolutely!"

Wang Jingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He said, how can the results of one year of cultivation compare to more than ten years of cultivation from childhood to adulthood?

"What level is my cousin at now?"

"It should be alright? Based on the level of the previous Elite List, it should be around ten or twenty places."

"A dozen or twenty people?" Wang Jingyuan was so surprised that his mouth dropped open.

"Cousin, what kind of monster are you?"

That's terrifying!

If my cousin had trained since childhood, he could probably beat not only his peers, but even those of a different generation!

"Come on, cousin, let's have a match!"

He wants to experience it for himself!

Seeing his cousin already posing, Li Mingke also became interested.

"good!"

...

Half an incense stick later.

Wang Jingyuan threw the talisman in his hand and sat down on the ground with a thud.

"This is unfair! A sword and heart cultivator fighting against a weak talisman cultivator like me!" he began to wail.

Li Mingke squatted down beside him and asked, "How about it? Isn't brother a genius?" She tossed her hair casually.

"Yes, yes, yes! Cousin, you're not just a genius, you're a monster!"

Most people only know one skill. Who can cultivate both mental techniques and swordsmanship at the same time? Especially since it's a mental technique that's almost lost and few people know it.

"Cousin, I want to cling to your leg!"

"Get away! Don't come any closer!" Li Mingke shouted.

?

The three of them found a small restaurant to drink.

"Cousin, you're so amazing now, why don't you join our exploration team?"

"An expedition team?" She tilted her head.

"Yes! A few of us formed an adventure team, all of whom you know: Ma Gege, Chen Zifeng, Bai Tianshui, and of course, me. We just heard that there were some magical herbs and treasures somewhere, so we decided to go find them together."

"Wow, I want to join!"

That sounds really interesting!

Moreover, she is now capable of protecting herself. The other members of her team are all outstanding young talents, and they all know each other and have gotten along well before. Why not?

"Okay! I approve your membership!"

"You think it's okay just because you say so?" she asked, glancing at him.

"Of course, I'm the vice-captain!"

"Vice-captain, then who is the captain?"

"Ma Gege!"

Ma Gege is the strongest in the team, so she is undoubtedly the right person to be the captain! Moreover, with great power comes great responsibility, and as captain, she can better protect everyone.

"Okay! Oh, right!" She turned to look at Li Pinyue, who had been drinking tea, "Where's Yue'er? Want to come along?"

Wang Jingyuan replied, "I've already asked my cousin Yue'er, and she said she wants to cultivate at home!"

Li Pinyue smiled and nodded.

Look, this is the number one!

I won't get involved in other things! Cultivation is the most important thing!

Wang Jingyuan actually took out a pocket-sized map from his pocket.

"Cousin, look, these places marked with an X are all places our team has already been!"

When Li Mingke took a look, he was amazed to see that they had been to quite a few places!

"Of course, we found quite a few treasures while exploring!"

Although 99% of them are herbs.

Li Mingke's eyes were filled with undisguised envy.

"What does this circled thing mean?"

"This is our team's next target—"

"In the ethereal realm!"