After all, even in the original storyline, the protagonist had never done anything like this. Now that he had experienced it himself—would the protagonist ever let him off the hook?
Ye Ping’an fell into deep thought.
But as he once again felt that soft pressure from behind, Ye Ping’an let it go. As long as his junior sister and Ning Yue kept their mouths shut, the protagonist would never find out.
And so, relieved for now, Ye Ping’an continued flying toward their destination, enjoying the sensation of softness pressing against his back while steering the sword carrying little Mengyao.
Ning Yue, as the blossoming girl-next-door type, naturally cherished this rare opportunity.
She was especially overjoyed when it came time to assign seating arrangements.
However, seeing her young master gripping little Mengyao’s hair to steer, Ning Yue couldn’t shake off a strange feeling.
It gave her a strong sense of déjà vu—like she’d seen this somewhere before.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall where. Maybe she’d been too young back then, and the memory had blurred with time.
Still, something about this pose just felt… wrong.
Of course, Ning Yue didn’t waste too much energy dwelling on it.
Once little Mengyao and the young master were in position, she suddenly lunged forward and hugged little Mengyao from behind.
This brought Ning Yue and Ye Ping’an into close, almost-too-close contact. Of course, due to some… physical realities, their distance never dipped into the negative.
Although Ning Yue and Ye Ping’an were usually quite close, it was rare to be this close. Gently breathing in the scent of Ye Ping’an, Ning Yue felt an overwhelming sense of bliss she’d never experienced before.
What thrilled her even more was feeling those two already quite developed “fruits” of hers pressing against Ye Ping’an’s back, drawing all sorts of mischievous shapes.
The way his body stiffened only made Ning Yue even more tempted to tease him further.
And so, with a playful glint in her eyes and a prankster’s delight, she began tracing lazy, teasing patterns across his back with her ample chest.
Eventually, as Ye Ping’an’s resistance wore thin, Ning Yue finally stopped—at least on the surface. She merely clung to him, no longer continuing her “artwork.”
Naturally, the trio couldn’t rely on sword-flight the whole journey. After all, little Mengyao was still just a beginner at the Qi Refining stage.
She hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment yet, so it was impossible for her to fly continuously for long periods.
As a result, the three of them traveled with frequent breaks. While on the move, they picked areas with thin spiritual energy to avoid powerful beasts.
When it was time to rest, they found secluded spots to meditate, restore spiritual energy, and eat from their pre-packed rations.
Luckily, since they were flying through spiritless lands, they didn’t run into any real danger.
And even if they had, with little Mengyao’s strength—already at the tenth level of Qi Refinement—any threats in these barren areas wouldn’t have been too serious anyway.
At last, after zigzagging their way through the wilderness for about seven days, the three finally reached their destination.
It had taken them longer partly because Ye Ping’an was relying solely on memory from the original story, causing them to take a few unnecessary detours.
On top of that, his junior sister had needed multiple stops to restore her energy. If they hadn’t had spirit stones to help with recovery, the trip would’ve taken even longer.
“Senior brother… are you sure this place can really help me break through?” Little Mengyao asked, puzzled, as she looked around at the dense forest and crumbling ruins.
You couldn’t really blame her—Ye Ping’an had brought them to the middle of a seemingly endless stretch of primeval forest, right in the heart of the spiritless zone.
Over the past two years, little Mengyao had learned well: places like this, with barely any spiritual energy, were the last spots you’d expect to find anything valuable.
Even Ning Yue behind them looked confused.
But Ye Ping’an just gave a calm smile and pointed to a rocky cliff up ahead.
“Come on. You’ll understand once we get there.”
With that, he led the two girls toward the cliff face.
This very place had been the site of a crucial turning point in the original novel—a hidden opportunity that changed everything for the protagonist, Feng Aotian.
Only when Ye Ping’an saw the moss-covered cliff up close did he confirm its identity.
According to the story, Feng Aotian’s female lead had just started cultivating when, burdened by years of repressed self-doubt, she overcompensated with arrogance.
She was only at the third level of Qi Refinement when she decided to venture out on her own.
She accidentally provoked a powerful beast at the fifth level of Qi Refinement and was chased all the way to this very cliff, overgrown with moss and surrounded by ruin.
Cornered with nowhere to run, despair setting in, she took a desperate gamble. Spotting a crooked, overgrown tree nearby, she leapt into the weeds below, hoping her small frame might help her escape notice.
But by pure luck, she tumbled straight into a hidden cave—and narrowly escaped with her life.
Let’s be real—if anyone else had been in her shoes, they’d have died long before discovering the cave. Only a protagonist would be blessed with such ridiculous luck.
By Ye Ping’an’s timeline, this event was still three years away. Feng Aotian’s female lead, born to a lesser branch of her family, had originally been marked for marriage alliances.
Her parents had vanished early on, and since she was destined to be married off anyway, no one saw the point in investing resources in her.
She was never trained, aside from a single test to check her potential—one that ended in disaster when she overloaded a spirit-testing stone that had lasted centuries.
Everyone thought she was a jinx and kept the result a secret, planning to marry her off quietly in the future.
Later, by sheer coincidence, she obtained the “Condensing Essence Manual” and began cultivating in secret, shocking her entire clan when her power was finally revealed.
Because she’d grown up with a predetermined fate of being sold off in marriage, she developed a strong distrust of men.
And since the ones taking care of her had always been beautiful women—after all, she was a “product” being groomed for trade—she naturally began developing… unusual feelings toward women.
Eventually, even during her training, she disguised herself as a man.
Ye Ping’an didn’t dwell too much on how the original plot would unfold. Standing before the cliff, he scanned the surroundings until he finally spotted the crooked, moss-covered tree.
Rather than diving in like Feng Aotian’s heroine, Ye Ping’an carefully approached the area—who knew if jumping would just lead to a broken leg instead of hidden treasure?
After feeling around for a while, his hands suddenly sank into the cliff face. His eyes lit up with excitement, and he exclaimed, “Found it!”
The two girls rushed to his side and followed his gaze. Sure enough, beneath a dense layer of weeds, a narrow cave entrance slowly revealed itself.
Faint ripples of spiritual energy shimmered at the mouth of the cave, warping the stone around it—clearly the effect of a concealing formation. It had been hidden on purpose.