Extra Chapter: This House Has No Host and Must Be Dispersed
Wangshu Terrace is shrouded in a sea of clouds.
Ye Ling, a young woman who has blossomed into a graceful young lady, is enthusiastically demonstrating to her parents a new technique that combines swordplay and array formations.
Runes flickered amidst the flowing sword light. Though still immature, they were already taking shape, brimming with spiritual energy, and displaying astonishing comprehension and talent.
Ye Wuyang stood to one side with his hands behind his back, a hint of relief flashing in his icy blue eyes, but when he spoke, his tone remained as cold and serious as ever: "Ling'er has an exceptional talent for swordsmanship, which is a good thing. However, the foundation is of paramount importance and cannot be neglected. You should take the 'Ice Heart Sword Manual' as your guide, practice your swordsmanship ten thousand times a day, and hone your sword intent so that your sword heart can be clear and bright, as pure as ice and as fine as jade."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yunzhou, who was leaning against the pillar with his sword, frowned slightly and retorted, "Sword intent arises from the heart, but is tempered in battle. To build a sword behind closed doors is ultimately empty talk. Real combat is the foundation. Since Ling'er has this comprehension, she can come with me into the Sword Domain. Only in the midst of life-and-death battles can she truly understand what sword heart is and what decisive killing is."
"Hey! What kind of talk is this, fighting and killing!" Ji Qianqiu's loud voice immediately rang out. He took a few steps forward and waved his hand, "How old are you, kid! Your bones and muscles aren't even fully developed yet! Strengthening your body is the most important thing! Learn the 'War God Body Forging Technique' with me, make your blood and qi strong and solid, lay a solid foundation, and you'll be able to learn anything quickly in the future. The body is the foundation of cultivation!"
Xie Chen, fanning himself with a jade fan, interjected at the opportune moment, attempting to mediate: "Please calm down, everyone. Ling'er is naturally gifted and intelligent. Observing the agility of her array symbols, she seems to understand the principles of heaven and earth and the order of all things. In my opinion, we should first guide her to observe the changes in celestial phenomena, understand the mysteries of array formations, and comprehend the grand order of the universe. Once her mind is clear and her foundation is stable, then when she learns the art of killing, she will achieve twice the result with half the effort, without losing her benevolence."
The four people each held their own opinions, and each felt that their reasoning was the most correct. At first, they were just discussing, but gradually their voices grew louder.
Ji Qianqiu's voice was loud and clear, causing the clouds and mist around the Sendai to churn; Shen Yunzhou's body was filled with a faint sword aura, the sharp intent of which pierced people's skin with a slight sting; Ye Wuyang's face was as cold as ice, and the temperature around him dropped sharply; Xie Chen maintained his composure, but his words were sharp and he did not give an inch.
The atmosphere on the Sendai platform suddenly became tense, as if swords were about to be drawn.
Fang Li, who had been meditating in her inner room, was disturbed by the increasingly heated argument. She rubbed her temples, sighed softly, and stepped out of the room, trying to ease the tension: "Ling'er is still young, and the path of cultivation is long. Why rush to conclusions? A gradual approach is best..."
However, the four were arguing so intensely that they couldn't stop in time and ignored her.
Surrounded in the middle, Xiao Yeling watched as her fathers, who usually doted on her, argued fiercely like fighting cocks. Their powerful aura and loud voices made her shrink back in fear. She pouted and quickly ran behind Fang Li, tightly clutching her mother's clothes, her big eyes filled with terror.
Looking at the four men in front of her, who were fighting like cocks and refusing to give way to each other, and feeling her daughter's slight trembling and unease behind her, Fang Li felt a surge of exhaustion from her own cultivation bottleneck and a strange sense of disappointment.
She took a deep breath and stomped her foot!
In an instant, the noisy Sendai fell silent. All eyes were on her.
Fang Li's gaze slowly swept over the four people who had frozen in place, finally landing on her daughter who was clinging tightly to her: "Good, very good. Since you all have so much energy and so many reasons."
She took Ye Ling's small hand, turned and left, leaving behind only a cold sentence that echoed in the deathly silence of Sendai:
"Don't let anyone see me for the next month. Ling'er, come with me."
After saying this, the mother and daughter disappeared at the end of the corridor leading to the bedroom.
Immediately afterwards, a powerful protective light shone, completely sealing off Fang Li's bedroom and severing all communication between the inside and outside.
On the platform, four men stood frozen in place, looking at each other in bewilderment.
The heat of the argument vanished instantly, leaving only the helplessness of someone who had caused a major disaster.
They then snapped out of their fervent desire to "do what's best for their daughter" and realized that their argument had not only frightened the child but also caused a disaster.
After returning to their respective caves, they were even more tormented and restless.
In the days that followed, figures could always be seen lingering outside Fang Li's bedchamber, yet none dared to actually approach the barrier.
The next morning, Fang Li opened the window to get some fresh air, but was stunned by the sight before her.
The ancient tree outside the window, imbued with chaotic energy that she had brought from Li Yuan, was now completely enveloped in a layer of crystal-clear mystic ice.
Strangely, within the ice layer, there were specks of chaotic fluorescence, like stars, slowly flowing and reflecting a dreamlike and enchanting light under the morning sun, breathtakingly beautiful.
Beneath the tree lay a jade slip formed from pure ice crystals.
Fang Li frowned and probed the jade slip with her divine sense. Inside was only a dry and uncultured sentence: "Li'er, this ice can gather spiritual energy and calm the mind, so it will not disturb your cultivation."
Fang Li was speechless: "...He froze the tree left by our ancestors into a giant ice sculpture for me? This idiot..." But looking at the starlight flowing inside the ice, it was clear that he had put a lot of effort into condensing it. Just thinking about Ye Wuyang doing this... her lips twitched slightly involuntarily.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Liuli, who had been closely monitoring the situation, immediately transformed into a streak of light and darted off to another location: "Report—! Ice Cube Daddy has made his move! He's frozen the tree! Created a giant ice sculpture! The host seems... stunned for a moment, but didn't swear!"
Before long, Fang Li noticed other abnormalities.
The area within a hundred miles centered on her bedroom suddenly became unusually quiet.
The subtle sounds of the wind, the rustling of leaves, and the distant sounds of disciples practicing their skills all disappeared.
The whole world seemed to fall silent. Even a clumsy bird that crashed into her window was gently caught by a soft sword aura three feet away and silently returned to its branch without making a sound.
Fang Li walked to the window, feeling the eerie silence, and thought to herself, "...It's quiet now. But it's too quiet, like being in prison... There's no life in it at all." She began to pace back and forth in the room, feeling somewhat restless.
Little Liuli gave another live broadcast: "Sword God Daddy unleashed a powerful attack! He created a vacuum around us! There wasn't a sound! Host, are you pacing back and forth in the room? Are you feeling stuffy?"
When it was time to eat, a strong and domineering aroma of roasted meat wafted directly through the silent sword domain set up by Shen Yunzhou and into Fang Li's nose.
She couldn't resist walking to the window and quietly peeking out through a crack.
Ji Qianqiu was seen bending over, using the back of his giant axe, capable of splitting mountains and splitting the earth, as a baking pan. On it sat a dragon carp, brimming with spiritual energy, roasted to a golden brown and dripping with oil, sizzling with flavor. He had the heat perfectly controlled.
He stiffened his neck, stared at the fish, dared not look out the window, and shouted with all his might, "Junior sister! I...I grilled fish! I'll leave it at the door! You...you can eat it or not, it's up to you!" After shouting, he quickly placed the grilled fish on a warm jade plate at the door and fled in a panic.
Fang Li sniffed the enticing aroma, her stomach growling involuntarily. She struggled internally: "...Grilling fish with an axe...only he could come up with that. But...it smells really good."
Little Liuli was perched on the windowsill, drool practically flowing from her mouth: "Meat! It smells so good! It's intoxicatingly fragrant! Host opened the window three times to sniff! Three times! There's hope!"
That night, Fang Li found another ancient jade slip beside her pillow.
Upon opening it, she found a notebook titled "Anecdotes on Child Rearing in Chaotic Realms," which vividly and humorously recorded the embarrassing incidents and parenting tips of various ancient mythical beasts and spiritual creatures in their infancy. It also included Xie Chen's insightful and slightly teasing annotations, which perfectly addressed Fang Li's most pressing and troublesome child-rearing issues.
Fang Li flipped through the pages and came across an entry about "the irritable temperament of the fledgling Rainbow Phoenix during its molting period, requiring gentle guidance and patient counseling." She couldn't help but chuckle, "Goodness... this was waiting for me. But... this one is quite interesting. Ling'er has been a bit mischievous lately..."
Little Liuli rolled around excitedly: "My scheming dad sent me a book! The host started laughing out loud while reading it! There's hope! There's hope!"
Soon, the four men realized that going it alone was not very effective, and with Xie Chen's subtle hints, they decided to join forces to do something "big".
A few days later, Fang Li was finally dragged out of the house by Xiao Liuli's persistent pleading and cajoling.
Arriving at a corner of Sendai, she was stunned.
There, a small, exquisite, crystal-clear ice and snow castle had appeared out of nowhere.
This castle was clearly the work of Ye Wuyang, with exquisitely crafted ice carvings, featuring upturned eaves and lifelike details.
Shen Yunzhou used his exquisite sword energy to etch a vast star map onto the ice wall, with the star trails clearly visible and flowing with faint light.
Ji Qianqiu contributed various spiritual fruits and strung them together with spiritual herbs to form a giant "candied hawthorn," which was then placed on top of the castle, its colors vibrant.
Xie Chen, meanwhile, used an array to project an image inside the castle, showing the adorable, wobbly way Ye Ling was learning to walk, giggling and so cute it melted anyone's heart.
Four grown men stood side by side in front of the castle, their expressions tense.
Ji Qianqiu's face flushed red as he rubbed his hands together, managing to squeeze out, "Junior Sister... this... this is for... for Ling'er to play with..."
Looking at the bizarre yet clearly meticulously crafted castle, and then at the four of them looking tense and anxious, Fang Li's pent-up frustration of the past month suddenly dissipated. She inwardly chuckled and lamented, "...a bunch of old fogies who've lived for tens of thousands of years...and this is what they came up with..."
She walked silently to the castle, turned her back to them, and looked at the images of her daughter as a child in the castle for a long time.
Ye Wuyang's deep voice rang out first, tinged with a rare bitterness: "Li'er, it was our loss of composure that disturbed you."
Shen Yunzhou remained concise and made a promise: "In the future, it won't happen again."
Ji Qianqiu scratched his head and said anxiously, "Junior sister, I was wrong! I'll be quieter in the future! No, I won't argue anymore! I'll never argue again!"
Xie Chen said sincerely, "Concern leads to confusion, and we forgot that you need peace and quiet the most. It was our oversight, and we know we were wrong."
Fang Li slowly turned around, her face expressionless, but the frost in her eyes had melted away.
Her gaze swept over the four of them, and she finally sighed. The sigh carried a hint of helplessness, but also a hint of undisguised amusement.
"This will not be repeated."
She walked to the door, picked up the fish from the warm jade plate, took a bite, and after tasting it carefully, commented lightly, "The cooking is alright, but it's a bit too salty."
Ji Qianqiu was taken aback at first, then a silly smile spread across his face as he nodded repeatedly: "Hey! Hey! I'll put less salt next time!"
Little Liuli hopped onto Fang Li's shoulder, wagging her tail triumphantly: "See! This house would have fallen apart long ago if it didn't have a host to keep it in check!"
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