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Early in the morning on the 16th day of the first lunar month, Pei Yingguan was about to leave, and Xiao Wan'er sent him to the gate of the villa.

Pei Yingguan looked at Xiao Wan'er deeply, and when Xiao Wan'er thought he was about to leave, he suddenly walked up to her and held her in his arms.

"I'll wait for you in Chang'an." His chin rested on Xiao Wan'er's head, and Xiao Wan'er could feel his gentle breathing.

"Okay." Xiao Wan'er nodded.

After seeing Pei Yingguan off, Xiao Wan'er had no intention of returning to her residence to meditate, so she simply went directly to the place where the old man was preaching.

Not long after he entered into meditation, the old man slowly walked over with a fishing rod and a fish basket.

"Oh, I haven't been here for half a month, and the pond is full of koi again." He was like a cat seeing fish, and he became happy all of a sudden.

"Senior, let's talk about the Dao first." Seeing that he was about to go fishing, Xiao Wan'er immediately spoke up to draw his attention back.

The old man looked at Xiao Wan'er in silence and began a new day of practice. It wasn't until mid-morning that he finally stopped talking and sat down by the pond.

"Okay, you can arrange your time accordingly," he said, putting the bait on his line and casting his rod into the water. "You really don't want to waste any time on cultivation, little girl. I wanted to come here earlier and fish for a while."

Xiao Wan'er laughed dryly, "I sent my senior brother off this morning, so I came here early."

What a helpless coincidence.

Soon after the fishing rod was in the water, it began to vibrate. The old man lifted the rod and found a fish on the hook.

"I heard your senior brother won the most beautiful lantern in the villa last night and gave it to you?" The old man threw the fish into the basket. "You two are not suitable at all."

"Let's try dating first, and then break up if it's not suitable."

The old man looked at Xiao Wan'er's nonchalant expression and shook his head. He didn't think Pei Yingguan would be able to separate peacefully from Xiao Wan'er.

By mid-February, Liu Mingyin's letter had also arrived at the villa. Unlike when he received Pei Yingguan's letter, the villa owner's attitude this time was very calm.

"Excuse me." Xiao Wan'er took the letter and thanked him. He said "You're welcome" and left.

Only after walking quite a distance did he murmur to himself, "Fellow Daoist Xiao has a very poor eye for choosing a Daoist companion."

As usual, Liu Mingyin's letter first talked about his daily duty and the progress he had made during this period, and then he mentioned the relationship between Xiao Wan'er and Pei Yingguan.

"I heard that Senior Sister wants to become a Taoist couple with Senior Brother. Junior Brother wishes Senior Sister happiness and success."

Xiao Wan'er looked at the letter and seemed to see Liu Mingyin's slightly aggrieved face. She didn't know how to reply. But how did it get spread that she and Pei Yingguan were going to become a Taoist couple? Didn't they agree to try it out first?

In late spring, the imperial edict from Chang'an arrived at the gate of the villa, and Xiao Wan'er went out to receive it.

The imperial edict required Xiao Wan'er to return to Zhongshoujiang City to guard it after completing her training. After Xiao Wan'er received the edict, the eunuch who delivered the edict handed her another letter.

"This is what Deputy Commander Pei asked me to give to Deputy Commander Xiao."

"Thank you, sir." Xiao Wan'er took it.

Pei Yingguan's letter first wrote about what he saw and heard after returning to Chang'an, and then talked about the imperial edict.

"Junior sister, please stay in Zhongshoujiang City for the time being. If there is an opportunity, I will definitely advise His Majesty to summon you back to Chang'an."

Xiao Wan'er asked the eunuch who delivered the order to wait for a moment, and rushed back to her residence as quickly as possible to write a reply. She then rushed back to the gate of the villa as quickly as possible to hand the letter to the eunuch.

"Lord Lao, please give this letter to Deputy Commander Pei." Along with the letter, a heavy silver ingot was also handed over.

The eunuch just flipped the silver and accepted the commission.

A few days later, when Xiao Wan'er went to see the old man again, she no longer saw her fishing rod or basket. The old man came over with a sword and said to Xiao Wan'er, "No lecture today. Let's have a sparring match."

Xiao Wan'er was a little surprised.

"Why, just because I'm old, you think I can't fight anymore?" The old man saw through Xiao Wan'er's thoughts and sneered, "You little girl might not even be able to beat an old man like me."

As he spoke, he drew his sword from its sheath.

"Hurry up, if you keep dawdling I'll open it right away."

The moment he drew his sword, the old man's aura pressed down on Xiao Wan'er like a mountain. Xiao Wan'er immediately put aside her doubts and entered a state of combat readiness.

"Please give me some advice, senior."

As soon as she finished speaking, she had already struck before the old man. She unleashed a spell without reservation, heading straight for the old man. The old man didn't swing his sword, but instead counterattacked with his own spell.

The two spells were evenly matched. Simultaneously, the old man threw his sword upward, and in mid-air, it transformed into nine identical swords. He pointed forward, and four of them attacked Xiao Wan'er, while the remaining five spun around him.

Not far away, the owner of the villa and his younger brother were watching the sparring.

"Who do you think will win between the two of them?" the owner of the villa asked his brother.

"I think Senior is still the best. His sword can split into nine pieces an infinite number of times, and he also has magic skills. Deputy Commander Xiao is probably no match for him."

As he spoke, the several swords that had already split apart split into nine more, stabbing at Xiao Wan'er in a dense swarm. Not to be outdone, Xiao Wan'er unleashed a variety of spells, even finding time to draw talismans during the confrontation.

"With Deputy Commander Xiao's current strength, if he fights against the swordsman from the last match of the competition, he should be able to win easily, right?" The owner of the villa sighed.

"Yes," the villa owner's brother said with absolute certainty, "She has really improved a lot."

As they talked, the talismans were activated, and thunder roared, its power far surpassing that of the previous one. Under the powerful thunderbolts, several of the old man's swords shattered.

The old man changed his gesture, and the fragments of the sword turned into sharp blades that attacked Xiao Wan'er. Xiao Wan'er hurriedly turned the soil around her into a small house to block these sharp blades.

"It's really wonderful." The owner of the villa said unconsciously.

Seeing that the outcome was clear, the two brothers who owned the villa stopped watching and quietly left. Shortly after they left, Xiao Wan'er was indeed defeated.

"Yes, you have made great progress," the old man said, sheathing his swords after collecting them into one. "I have nothing more to teach you."

Xiao Wan'er was stunned.

"Why, do you still want to stay here? It's time for you to go back to your duties."

Xiao Wan'er came back to her senses and bowed to the old man, saying thank you: "Thank you for your guidance, senior."

"No need to thank me," the old man said as he left with his sword, his voice heard from afar, "if you want to thank someone, thank your master!"

Xiao Wan'er left the villa the next day.

Before leaving, she thanked the owner of the villa: "Thank you for taking me in during this time. I wish you a smooth and successful life."

"I wish Fellow Daoist Xiao a smooth and bright path."

Xiao Wan'er walked all the way north until her back disappeared from the sight of the owner of the villa, and then the old man appeared next to the owner of the villa.

"Senior," the owner of the villa said respectfully to the old man, "What do you think of Deputy Commander Xiao's qualifications?"

"If there is still someone in the world who can touch the threshold of the Return to Truth Realm, it is probably her."

The owner of the villa was shocked, obviously not expecting the old man to give Xiao Wan'er such a high evaluation.

"Liu Yun's judgment of people is indeed accurate. What he couldn't do back then, perhaps his apprentice can actually accomplish. It's a pity that his sword-wielding apprentice has lost interest in cultivation, otherwise she would have been a promising candidate for achieving enlightenment," the old man sighed as he mentioned his old friend. "Over the past few months, this young girl has made such great progress. I can say I have lived up to my expectations."

That night, the old man also quietly left the villa.

After Xiao Wan'er returned to Zhongshoujiang City, she immediately met with Zhang Renyuan before returning to her official residence. Although she had been away for a long time, the residence was still as clean as new, evidently having been constantly maintained.

Xiao Wan'er put down her luggage and returned to her usual routine before leaving Zhongshoujiang City, except that she communicated with Pei Yingguan more frequently than before.

This went on until June.

That afternoon, Xiao Wan'er had just finished her shift when she saw a man lying in front of her residence. He was wearing the uniform of a Shenlong Guard and was sprawled on the ground. Xiao Wan'er picked him up and, seeing his face, recognized him as one of her own.

She immediately dragged the man into the official residence.

After all this trouble, the man still didn't wake up. Xiao Wan'er took his pulse and let the spiritual energy flow into his body. After a careful examination, she found out the reason.

This person has been traveling at an excessive speed all the way, his spiritual energy has dried up, and his physical strength has been severely overdrawn. If he is not rescued, he may become a rare cultivator in history who is exhausted to death.

"It's amazing! You're already a cultivator, but you can still work yourself to death." Xiao Wan'er was speechless. "I'll increase the training volume for your entire team when we get back."

As she spoke, she injected spiritual energy into the team member's meridians to prevent his meridians from being completely damaged by the drying up. Then she took out a pill that could simply cure anything, pried open his mouth, and threw the crushed pill into his mouth.

With the nourishment of spiritual energy and medicine and the stimulation of the smell of medicine, the team members woke up soon.

Lying on the bed, he looked at the unfamiliar ceiling and struggled to get up.

"Captain!" he shouted. "Captain, are you there?"

"Here!" Xiao Wan'er returned with a bowl of honey water. Seeing that he had gotten out of bed by himself, she quickly pushed him back down. "Who told you to do that? Drink the honey water first."

The team member took the honey water, drank it all, put the bowl down and reported to Xiao Wan'er.

"Captain, something's happened! His Majesty has collapsed!"

"What?" Xiao Wan'er didn't react for a moment.

"His Majesty has collapsed!" the team member repeated, then handed a secret letter to Xiao Wan'er. "This is what Her Royal Highness Princess Taiping asked me to give you."

Xiao Wan'er took the secret letter and opened it immediately.

The emperor had passed away on the renwu day of the sixth lunar month. Empress Wei kept the news of his death a secret until the dinghai day of the same month. Then, Empress Wei, Princess Taiping, and Shangguan Wan'er jointly drafted an imperial edict, enthroning the late emperor's youngest son, Prince Wen Li Chongmao, as the new emperor. The reign was changed to Tanglong, and Empress Dowager Wei took charge of the government. Subsequently, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Zong Chuke, and Wei Wen, a third-rank official in the Secretariat of State, altered the edict. Empress Wei was certainly pleased with this, but the court was thrown into chaos.

In a secret letter, Princess Taiping ordered Xiao Wan'er to return to Chang'an secretly to assist her and Prince Xiang in stabilizing the situation and wait for an opportunity to rescue Shangguan Wan'er.

"I understand." Xiao Wan'er said, putting the secret letter away and comforting the team member who delivered it, "You've been traveling so fast and have suffered a lot of damage. Rest well here. I'll return to Chang'an now."

After saying that, she packed up her combat tools as quickly as possible, walked out of the residence, and rushed out of the city gate.