The Empress's fleeting appearance caused a stir among the ancient powers of the entire continent. Countless eyes turned to Yunzhou, but no powerful figure dared to come and investigate personally, for the slightest carelessness could lead to the annihilation of their Dao Fruit.

After all, they couldn't bear the consequences of the Empress's actions, not even the slightest bit of karmic connection.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more afraid one is of this.

However, it was impossible for them to give up investigating the situation, after all, this matter concerned the Empress, the one who, apart from the first Demon Lord, dared to fight against immortals and gods alone for millions of years.

Therefore, in a short time, various forces dispatched their elite members to Yunzhou to investigate what had happened.

This led to a sudden influx of many outstanding young and middle-aged cultivators into this small, remote border region of Yunzhou.

After Qin Shou sensed the changes in Yunzhou, he even wrote a letter to Xiao Xuan, urging him to be more restrained and extra careful.

However, the formation left by Qin Shou on the Vermilion Bird Imperial City could withstand attacks from those below the Integration Realm. In addition, the powerful beings at the Integration Realm were afraid of karma and dared not personally enter the formation to investigate, which made Qin Shou feel a little relieved.

However, the fact that Yunzhou had become a place of great interest to the world still made Qin Shou worried every day, and he even had the idea of ​​"moving to another place to continue hiding".

However, Qin Shou had developed an attachment to this place, and with the presence of a powerful array capable of withstanding the attacks of Mahayana True Immortals and concealing the secrets of heaven, Qin Shou finally abandoned this idea.

On the other end.

The royal family of Luoshen is holding a grand meeting to discuss the Empress's appearance in Yunzhou, and coincidentally, Luo Xihe has just returned.

"Ancestor, you're back."

A high-ranking elder from the royal family stepped forward to greet them, bowing solemnly and asking, "Ancestor, are you aware of the recent changes that have occurred in Yunzhou?"

Snap—

Upon seeing this, Luo Xihe stepped forward and delivered a powerful blow, glaring at him as he said:

"What are you asking!"

"Instead of focusing on your cultivation, all you do is ask these stupid questions. Get back to cultivating!"

Luo Xi cursed and left in a huff.

He felt it would be more comfortable to lie in his coffin in his ancestral home.

Royal Elder: ...Looking left and right, blinking his eyes.

Did I say something wrong?

He looked at the crowd.

swish swish swish —

Everyone shook their heads in unison, "We don't know."

"That's right, Ancestor is right. Uncle, you should really focus on your cultivation. You're getting on in years; I could have easily cleaved you in two with one strike."

Luo Shen'an also spoke with a somewhat sorrowful expression.

Normally I'm very respectful to these old guys, but for some reason today I just want to give them a piece of my mind. Anyway, the ancestor said so, and I've endured all the humiliations in the past ten years, so I don't care about them anymore.

"...????"

The royal elder looked at Luo Shen'an in shock, almost thinking that he had been possessed.

"You son of a bitch, who are you talking to? Huh! Second brother, serve the clan rules!"

The elder member of the royal family was so angry he was jumping up and down.

It's one thing for my ancestor to humiliate me, but how dare you, a little brat I watched grow up, be so arrogant!

Luo Shen'an glanced at the elders' council, then left unconcerned.

Anyway, there aren't many who can fight.

"Third brother, look at this! This is the brat your little bastard raised, daring to be so arrogant towards me!"

"Ah, brother, please calm down. There must be a reason why the ancestor said that. You're just a bit short-sighted; otherwise, you would have thought of it."

"...Damn it, third brother, is your family planning a rebellion?! Ah!!!"

"Well... Boss, you're a bachelor with no children or wife, while my family is thriving, with two powerful members combined. If we really fight, hehehe..."

"What the hell are you grinning about? Humph, I'm off to a brothel."

"Elder brother, the Ancestor has decreed that you must abstain from sex for a thousand years, and you still have two hundred and seventeen years left."

The second brother tried to stop him, but the eldest brother ran even faster.

There are plenty of people in this world who enjoy themselves, especially some old fogies who have lived long enough.

......

Time flows on and on like the sands of the Ganges.

Another year has passed in the blink of an eye.

In recent years, Yunzhou has become a lively place, where groups of geniuses can be seen fighting in mid-air from time to time, and the mountains and rivers are often shaken by their battles.

Although there is a consensus in the cultivation world that cultivators should not harm mortals in their battles, no matter how careful they are, they still inevitably affect many mortals, as well as the weak and vulnerable at the bottom of the cultivation world.

This has made the current ruler of Yunzhou, the Vermilion Bird Dynasty, suffer greatly.

After all, these are the pride of their respective states, each one proud and skilled in cultivation. When they meet, it is inevitable that they will have thoughts of fighting and trouble.

Therefore, the Vermilion Bird Dynasty had to be mindful of others' attitudes even if it wanted to coexist peacefully, let alone suppress them.

This situation only changed three months ago.

The incident began when a prodigy from outside the Nascent Soul Realm took a fancy to a female Golden Core cultivator from the Falling Water Sect. He offered her a magic weapon, asking her to engage in dual cultivation with him. The female cultivator was a woman of strong character and unyielding integrity, and she refused to comply. However, what power did a mere Golden Core cultivator have against a powerful Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? She couldn't even manage to self-destruct.

Ultimately, this female cultivator at the Golden Core stage was defiled by the illegitimate son of what was supposedly the sect leader of a major sect. After being toyed with for half a month, she was abandoned and went insane. Her Golden Core was even crushed by that treacherous playboy. The sect behind her was also destroyed because it voiced its dissatisfaction after she left.

The entire clan was wiped out.

The female cultivator's father happened to be the prefect of a prefecture, a fourth-rank official of the Vermilion Bird Dynasty. Upon learning of his daughter's ordeal, he angrily went to confront the other party, only to find that the other party was of great importance and had no fear of the dynasty behind him. He even slapped the man to death, claiming that the man was too ugly and noisy.

He then made some outrageous remarks, telling the young emperor of the Vermilion Bird Dynasty to be more sensible, otherwise he wouldn't mind going to the capital, beheading that fallen emperor, and taking a fling with his concubines and wives.

Xiao Xuan was furious when he learned of this.

He stepped out of the imperial city alone, heading straight south, and found that Nascent Soul prodigy. He beheaded him with a single sword strike, and even the two Void Realm protectors beside that Nascent Soul prodigy couldn't stop him.

Afterwards, Xiao Xuan used his Nascent Soul form to forcefully kill the two guardians who were at the early stage of the Void Realm on the Guangling River.

This battle was witnessed by many prodigies from various states, who were deeply shocked by it.

During this time, a cultivator at the seventh level of the Void Realm even made a move against Xiao Xuan with ill intentions, attempting to kill this peerless prodigy of this desolate place.

No matter how strong Xiao Xuan is, within the Nascent Soul Realm, he is definitely no match for that Void Realm Grandmaster.

However, Qin Shou also sensed that battle. Yunzhou was very large, but compared with the other vast states in the cultivation world, it was not that big. With Qin Shou's current powerful divine sense, it was enough to cover half of the state, or even an entire state.

And so, the sword from beyond the sky came into being.

Qin Beast condensed a sword with dozens of laws and unleashed a devastating sword strike from hundreds of thousands of miles away, swiftly killing the Void Realm cultivator.

Then, they quickly erased all traces left in the void.

After that, Xiao Xuan secretly sent people to spread the word that there was a powerful figure at the peak of the Integration Realm behind the Vermilion Bird Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, no one doubted anything further.

Because they didn't believe that such a peerless genius as Xiao Xuan could have emerged from such a small place as Yunzhou without the support of an unparalleled expert.

Since then, all the cultivators from other states and the Vermilion Bird Dynasty have reached a tacit understanding that they will not interfere with each other.

Yunzhou returned to its previous relative tranquility.

Some cultivators left after their investigation yielded no results, returning to report back, while others stayed to continue their search.

It's snowing on Turtle Mountain.

It is winter.

Snowflakes covered the mountains and rivers, and the entire world.

Looking into the distance, the vast wilderness is covered in a blanket of silver.

Qin Shou lay under the peach tree, gently rocking the bamboo chair, which creaked and groaned.

He liked the sound; the rhythmic noise could bring a sense of peace and help pass the time.

Splash—

The peach trees overhead swayed gently in the wind and snow, and crystal-clear petals drifted down with the wind, a beautiful pink.

Snow-white, pink, absolutely stunning...

Glug glug—

On the small stove beside Qin Shou, a pot of wine was steaming, its white vapor rising as if dancing joyfully with the wind and snow.

"Black Rabbit, when do you think Yi Cheng will wake up?"

Little Fatty sat by the spirit pool, holding a flower in his hand, plucking the petals one by one.

"Squeak, I don't know."

The black rabbit had droopy ears.

Yi Cheng has been sleeping for a long time, and no one wakes them up to patrol the mountain every morning.

Before, Black Rabbit would wake up as soon as Orange called out to him. Now, Black Rabbit is a heavy sleeper. He wakes up before noon and finds there's no meat to eat because he has to catch it himself.

It was the same at lunchtime. With Yicheng not around, he and Xiaopang could eat a lot more meat, but without Yicheng vying for the rice, although they still enjoyed their meals, they felt less enthusiastic about eating.

"Sigh, really, why is Yicheng sleeping for so long?"

Little Fatty sighed again and again.

"By the way, Black Rabbit, where's my sister?"

"Squeak, Da Mei went to paint on the back hill this morning. She said the flowers are so beautiful when it snows, with an indescribable delicate beauty."

"Okay, okay." Little Fatty nodded, then added, "Black Rabbit, we haven't caught any food for today yet. Why don't you go? I don't want to go."

"Oh? You don't want to eat meat anymore?"

"I want to eat it, so go get it."

"...Squeak, I'm not going either, I, Grandpa Rabbit, want to sleep."

Black Rabbit, with her large belly, lay down on the old mulberry tree behind her, her big, dark eyes darting around with a hint of sorrow.

"What's going on? Without Yi Cheng, none of us want to go get any meat."

When Yi Cheng was around, they would go catch meat every day and were very happy.

"well....... "

Black Rabbit suddenly sighed, her small face filled with deep sorrow.

"Little Fatty, why don't you go ask Master when Yi Cheng will wake up?"

"I'm not going, you go. I still need to count the flower petals."

"Oh, why are you counting flower petals?"

"I count how many petals a flower has, and I know when Orange will wake up."

"Sigh, Little Fatty, you've been counting petals for so many, many, many days, but Yi Cheng still hasn't woken up. Why don't you go ask the master? The master is so handsome, he'll definitely know."

"I'm not going," Little Fatty shook his head. "Last time I went to ask, my owner complained I was noisy and spanked me."

"Then... let's play rock-paper-scissors. The loser goes to ask."

"Okay, rock-paper-scissors... Oops, I lost again!"

Little Fatty stood up, patted his bottom, and ran happily towards Qin Beast.

"Master, here, take a little red flower."

Little Fatty obediently offered a small red flower to Qin Shou, his big eyes were so cute, and his little face was rosy red, which looked so good in the wind and snow that you couldn't help but want to take a bite.

"Hey, Little Fatty, why are you suddenly thinking of giving me a little red flower?"

Qin Shou took the little red flower and gently twirled it between his fingertips.

"Hehe, Master, when will Yi Cheng wake up?"

Little Fatty blinked his big eyes and asked.

"Hmm... I don't know either. Maybe Yi Cheng will wake up when you break through to the next realm."

"Ah! It's taking so long!"

Little Fatty scratched his head, then his big eyes suddenly lit up as he asked, "Master, if I cultivate faster, will Yi Cheng wake up sooner?"

"Hmm, that's roughly the idea."

"Alright, then I'll work hard at my training."

The chubby boy pouted his pink lips, his little eyebrows furrowed slightly, and his little face seemed a little troubled.

Little Fatty here hates cultivation the most.

"Haha, little fatty, seeing how well-behaved you are, your master has personally written a storybook for you. Here, this is for you."

Qin Shou took out a small notebook and said, "It tells the story of a carp who cultivated herself into human form. She was kind-hearted and used the power of her precious pearl to save the people of a region infected with a plague. In the end, she won the people's love, became an emperor, and established a small kingdom. However, some villains coveted her pearl and tried to assassinate her. Fortunately, she eventually received help from a great hero from the martial world..."

"Huh! I'm the main character!"

Little Fatty, holding the storybook, was so happy he felt like he could take off on the spot.

"Even without Yi Cheng, I, Little Fatty, can still be the main character!"

"Black Rabbit, Black Rabbit, hurry and call the little brothers! We're going to rehearse our play! I'm the lead actor, and you're the second lead..."

A short while later.

In the midst of howling winds and snow in the Grand Canyon.

An epic performance has begun.

Little Fatty, draped in a bed sheet and with a rice bowl on his head, sat on the dragon throne. At that moment, a group of powerful demons dressed as assassins rushed in, wreaking havoc on thin air and demanding that the emperor hand over the Koi Pearl.

The chubby boy, seated on the dragon throne, barked in a childish voice, "You treacherous villains! Guards, come and protect the Emperor!!"

"I've arrived!"

With a loud shout, Black Rabbit, the number one swordsman of Rabbit Mountain, made a grand entrance.

Wearing a straw raincoat and a cloak, and carrying a precious sword, he leaped across the air to the front of the steps, standing between the emperor and the assassin, and slowly drew the precious sword from his robes.

The precious sword emitted a cold gleam, reflecting in the hero's dark eyes as he charged down, unleashing a series of slow-motion slashes.

He then walked through the crowd and stood outside the palace gate, while the people behind him fell down one after another.

"Sir, you saved my life. What reward do you desire? Just name your wish, and I will grant it."

"I don't need a reward."

Black Rabbit adjusted her straw hat and said in a cold voice:

"I am Black Rabbit, the number one swordsman of Rabbit Mountain. I save you today because you are a good emperor, and I hope you will continue to be a good emperor in the future."