After returning once again to the Xuanxing Sect.
Ye Ping’an immediately arranged for the two of them to have a good rest.
Now that Xiao Mengyao had broken through to the Zhuji Stage, the preparations for her awakening would be up to him next. He should also take the chance to share the good news with his mother.
After all, as Shen Mengting’s disciple, she could have reached Foundation Establishment more than a year ago.
Moreover, Ye Lingtian had already handed the Zhujidan over to Ye Ping’an long ago, and this was something Shen Mengting naturally knew about.
So, starting a year ago, Shen Mengting began to ask every now and then: when could Xiao Mengyao reach Foundation Establishment?
Was the process going smoothly? Was she eating well? Was she warm enough? Would anything affect her Foundation Establishment?
That anxious look—if you didn’t know better, you’d think she was more familiar with the plot than Ye Ping’an himself.
Of course, although Shen Mengting was anxious, she was also afraid of putting pressure on Xiao Mengyao, which might cause a disturbance in her state of mind and lead to failure in Foundation Establishment.
So she never once asked Xiao Mengyao directly, always asking Ye Ping’an instead.
Now that Xiao Mengyao had finally succeeded in Foundation Establishment, Ye Ping’an figured he should share the good news with his mother first, rather than have her constantly pestering him with questions.
When Ye Ping’an arrived at his parents’ residence, he found Ye Lingtian and Shen Mengting together.
Sure enough, as soon as Ye Ping’an entered the house, Shen Mengting grabbed him and asked with concern, “Son, you’re back! How did it go this time? Did your junior sister break through smoothly? If she didn’t, it’s fine, don’t let her feel pressured. At worst, your father can get a couple more.”
Ye Lingtian, of course, perked up his ears from afar, since he was also quite concerned about Xiao Mengyao’s cultivation. If she could reach the Zhuji Stage at twelve, that was extremely rare in Moyou.
Ye Lingtian was even thinking, if Xiao Mengyao reached adulthood and married Ye Ping’an, he could pass the Zongzhu position down to the next generation.
However, when he heard his wife talking about getting a few more Zhujidan, he immediately wore a bitter expression: “Dear, Zhujidan aren’t cabbages, you know.”
Ever since Moyou’s last collective procurement of Zhujidan materials and sending them to the Feng Family for refinement, the supply of materials for refining Zhujidan in all of Moyou had been in shortage.
Now, let alone gathering ten portions of materials for refining, even scraping together one portion was extremely difficult.
Forget it!
***
Over the past year, Ye Lingtian had been going everywhere trying to gather enough, hoping to collect ten portions for the Feng Family to refine another batch.
In fact, for most of the materials needed for Zhujidan, he’d already managed to gather over twenty portions, but for two of the main herbs, there were only a few portions at best.
Ye Lingtian sighed helplessly: “Dear, isn’t a few a bit much?”
“What? You have a problem?” Shen Mengting immediately glared at him.
“No, no, it’s just… sigh!”
Seeing her husband hesitate like that, Shen Mengting also understood the current situation in Moyou.
Now, not only were Zhujidan hard to come by, even the materials for refining them were extremely scarce.
Due to the stalemate between the two sects, there was demand for other Spirit Herbs besides Zhujidan as well.
In fact, it was now rare to see even a single Second-Grade Pill or Second-Grade Spiritual Herb in Moyou.
You could say that the nearby Moyou sects downstream of the Feng Family had all become their suppliers.
It was even said that the alchemists there hadn’t had a break for over a year, which reminded her of the Zhujidan Ye Lingtian brought back last time.
“Didn’t you refine five Zhujidan last time? Don’t tell me you’ve used them all up!”
“There’s still one left, it’s with Elder Li right now, but that was reserved in advance.”
“After all, Elder Li has done so much for the Xuanxing Sect, and I can’t just go back on my word when he asked for a Zhujidan for his junior.”
“His grandson will probably need it in a year or so. It’s best not to have ideas about that one.”
Just as Shen Mengting was about to say something more, Ye Ping’an interrupted her directly:
“Wait, Father, Mother, let me finish! Xiao Mengyao has already successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, there’s no need for a Zhujidan anymore.”
Originally, Ye Ping’an thought his father was hiding some pills and wanted to take advantage of Xiao Mengyao’s name to pocket one or two.
But hearing that all the Zhujidan had been given out, there was no helping it. Now, hearing they were even thinking of taking Elder Li’s, he had to stop them.
After all, he knew the Li Clan’s son they were talking about, and he was on decent terms with him—if he found out he missed his Zhujidan because of Ye Ping’an, wouldn’t he seek revenge?
After all, Ye Ping’an wasn’t the protagonist. If he stole someone else’s opportunity, it wasn’t like they’d thank him, or feel honored to help the protagonist grow.
In the most classic hero stories, some heroes even looted the whole village at the start, practically acting like bandits. Yet the villagers ABCDE… wouldn’t dare say a word, even putting on fawning smiles.
People often said there was no difference between heroes and bandits.
Perhaps the only difference was that one side represented justice, and the other represented evil.
“Really! Then I have to go see my daughter-in-law… my good disciple!” With that, Shen Mengting didn’t bother with the two of them anymore and rushed out the door straight to Xiao Mengyao’s residence.
Father and son looked at Shen Mengting’s excited figure and couldn’t help but laugh wryly.
“By the way, Dad… about Xiao Mengyao, it’s best not to make it public. If someone gets any bad ideas, I’m worried Xiao Mengyao might…” Ye Ping’an suddenly turned to his father and said seriously.
“Mm, you’re right. I’ll remind your mother later. You’ve worked hard all this time, and now that Xiao Mengyao has reached Foundation Establishment, you should get some rest too.”
Ye Lingtian nodded, fully understanding in his heart that Xiao Mengyao’s breakthrough was all thanks to Ye Ping’an’s patient teaching and silent companionship over the years. What Ye Ping’an said made sense.
“Yeah, I plan to rest for a few days before heading out again—this time on my own! It’s about time I went to seek my own opportunity.” Ye Ping’an didn’t tell his father the details of his plan.
Ye Lingtian was speechless. He’d thought his son had long since given up on seeking heaven-defying opportunities. Turns out he was wrong.
It was just that, before, he had to take care of his junior sister, but now that Xiao Mengyao had grown up, he finally had the urge to seek opportunities again. Ye Lingtian was helpless, but didn’t stop him.
With his son’s talent, if he truly wanted to achieve something in cultivation, without a great opportunity, it might really be impossible.
He could only say helplessly, “Alright then, be careful when you go out.”
After leaving his father’s place, Ye Ping’an immediately returned to his own room.
Although he’d rested for a few days in the Spirit Pool after Xiao Mengyao’s fierce attack, and spent a few days standing on his Flying Sword, there were still aftereffects.
Lying on his long-missed bed, Ye Ping’an quickly drifted off to sleep.
***
A few days later, after bidding farewell to the two young women, Ye Ping’an set off alone on his journey to find Star Ash.