One afternoon six months later.
Ayao stood in front of the window, watching the leaves rustling in the wind. She inexplicably thought of the lines, "A gentle breeze comes and lingers, a swift wind passes and rushes by." Half a year had passed, and Xu Fengzhi had not come to see her again.
He used to send her things every few days, even if he didn't come in person, the gift would still arrive. But now, half a year has passed, and he hasn't sent her anything, not even a jade slip. Sect Leader Xu and Madam Xu have come to see her, and quite frequently at that. They said Xu Fengzhi was in seclusion.
Ayao felt that Xu Fengzhi had angered her and didn't want to see her again.
You really can't trust what men say. They said things like "dying under a peony is still romantic even as a ghost," but they didn't actually kill him. They just seriously injured him, and that's how he disappeared without a trace.
That's fine too.
Ah Yao thought to herself.
She immediately focused her attention on cultivation, determined to increase her strength as soon as possible to save her master. In her previous life, she had arrived in the Xuan Yin Realm in a daze, with no idea how she had entered the strange place that sealed her master.
Dragged down by the demonic vines, she fell into a deep abyss rift and was carried to the Void Realm by spatial turbulence. She was lucky enough to survive and then cultivated in the Void Realm for hundreds of years, reaching the Refinement Void stage. Once, during a battle, she almost perished together with her opponent.
She remembered being caught in a vortex before she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was in a strange place where she met her master's remnant soul. After going out with her master, she realized that she was already in the Xuan Yin Realm.
This method cannot be replicated at all.
She herself had no idea what happened while she was unconscious. Was she supposed to wait for that vortex to appear at the same time and place, and then just jump in? Heaven knows what might happen.
Moreover, she met her master at the age of 3,150 in her previous life. More than 3,000 years, she couldn't wait for that vortex.
To reach the Xuan Yin Realm through normal means, she needs to at least reach the True Immortal stage; she wants to become an immortal as soon as possible.
With a determined look in her eyes, Ayao went into seclusion once again.
————
Two hundred and thirty-one years ago.
In the cold starry sky, countless planets floated. In a star field filled with star mist, a blue light suddenly appeared. This blue light grew thicker and thicker, and finally transformed into a blue dragon with a body ten thousand feet long in the starry sky.
The azure dragon, each scale bearing mysterious totems, gazes with golden eyes at the vast, cold starry sky.
Suddenly, its enormous body scattered into countless pink petals. Some of these petals drifted towards the cultivation continent floating in the starry sky, some towards cultivation stars, some landed on wild planets, and some were blown towards the great worlds, middle worlds, and small worlds.
One of the petals flew towards the Canglan Realm and drifted to the Youyun Nangong family in the Southern Region.
————
Now, ten years from now.
Ten years is not a long time for many cultivators, but for Lu Xuening, who was under house arrest, these ten years felt like an eternity. Because Xu Lianxin kept whispering in Lu Xiuwen's ear, Lu Xuening's fifty-year house arrest was reduced to ten years.
After she was released, she became much more obedient.
In ten years, A Yao's cultivation had reached the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, while three of her four clones were now at the late-Nascent Soul stage, and the strongest, the metal-elemental clone, was at the early-stage Deity Transformation stage. The golden jade cicadas she raised had also multiplied to several thousand, and the sight of thousands of golden jade cicadas fluttering in the night was quite beautiful.
Because A Yao's advancement was too rapid, Lu Yunli felt a lot of pressure and went into seclusion. Not long after he went into seclusion, Lu Yunchuan also chose to go into seclusion for similar reasons.
Lu Yunlin, Lu Yunxing, and Lu Yunqi went out to train. Lu Yunlin didn't want to go, fearing that Xiao Ba would be bullied if he left, but it was Lu Xiuwen's order, and he dared not disobey.
Inside the attic, a small cauldron was emitting wisps of smoke, a beaded curtain was half-rolled up, and a dragonfly was dancing in the painting on a screen embroidered with white lotus flowers.
Before the screen sat a pair of Daoist lovers. Both were dressed in white, and both were exceptionally beautiful. Beside them stood a young girl in green, who was pretty and looked pitiful.
Ayao came in from outside and first bowed to Lu Xiuwen and Xu Lianxin: "Greetings, Father and Mother!"
When Lu Xuening saw A Yao, a mix of emotions surged within her, including envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Ten years, all because of that bitch Lu Xueyao, she was confined for ten years. During these ten years, she couldn't go anywhere. Her eldest brothers were either in seclusion or undergoing training. Her third brother had already grown tired of her, her fifth brother wasn't as nice to her as before, and her fourth brother wasn't as nice to her either. Her fiancé, Gu Huaiyuan, had only visited her twice in these ten years. Every day on Yushu Peak was more agonizing than the last.
It was all Lu Xueyao's fault, causing her to suffer like this for ten years.
She hated Ayao even more.
Of course, she dared not show it. After seeing A Yao bow, she immediately and gracefully bowed to A Yao as well: "Greetings, Seventh Sister."
Ayao didn't even look at her.
Lu Xuening's eyes immediately reddened, and she looked like she was about to cry. Xu Lianxin felt sorry for her, but Lu Xiuwen was displeased to see her still acting like this.
"Xiao Qi, have a seat!" Lu Xiuwen said.
Ayao then sat down.
“Nangong Cheng, the second young master of the Nangong family, has sent an invitation to his son’s one-month celebration banquet, so I, as his father, will not be going. I will have your mother take you and Xiao Ba there. Do you have any objections?” Lu Xiuwen said.
The Nangong family?
The Youyun Palace and the Shenmeng Sect have been on good terms for generations. Nangong Cheng's son is the first grandson of the Nangong family, the eldest grandson, so it's likely that the Shenmeng Sect will send someone along. For some reason, Ayao thought of Xu Fengzhi. Would Xu Fengzhi go? Ten years—Ayao has been in seclusion for these ten years, and so has he.
Has he cleared customs? Will he go?
Wait, what does it have to do with her whether he goes or not?
"Xiao Qi, do you have any objections?" Lu Xiuwen asked again.
Slightly distracted, Ayao said, "No."
Lu Xiuwen nodded.
————
Like the Kunshan Mountains, the Youyun Mountains are spiritual lands where more than twenty spiritual veins converge. The Youyun Mountains are no less impressive in terms of scale and abundance of spiritual energy than the Kunshan Mountains, but in terms of the beauty of the scenery, the Kunshan Mountains are superior.
The head of the Nangong family had four children. His eldest son died young, and they had no children afterward. They spent a lot of money to obtain the Deer-Shu Grass Elixir from the Lu family in Kunshan. Subsequently, Madam Nangong gave birth to three more children: Nangong Cheng, Nangong Qi, and Nangong Rou.
The reason why so many powerful forces in the Southern Region have so many offspring is because of the Lu family's Deer Grass.
However, the Deer Grass grows very slowly, taking thousands of years to grow a single leaf. Therefore, only Xu Lianxin has actually eaten the Deer Grass; everyone else has only drunk the spiritual liquid infused with it. The medicinal effects of this spiritual liquid are definitely not as good as those of the Deer Grass itself, and it is highly dependent on individual constitution. Some people experience stronger effects, while others experience weaker effects, and the medicinal effects cannot be passed down to offspring.
Although Nangong Cheng was the second son, his elder brother had died young, so he was actually the eldest son by the legitimate wife. His son was the eldest grandson by the legitimate wife.
The full moon celebration for the eldest grandson of the Nangong family patriarch is sure to be a grand affair. The Nangong family has invited all the prominent sects in the Southern Region.
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