“So you actually pulled it off?”
Ao Tian smacked his lips in disbelief. That Oily Boy had actually been right.
“You upper-realm divine birds could never understand a mortal’s craving for immortality. Yu Shen Longyi’s lifespan is running out—how could he bear to let go of power and influence? From the very start, I had him figured out.”
Yun Liu shook his head with a light laugh. He knew that old thief’s mindset inside and out.
So what if he was a Fusion Realm senior? The stronger his will to survive, the more desperate he’d become. Once the Sakura Dragon dropped dead, that old thief was as good as dead.
The Yushen Clan and the Hazy Sakura Crowd would fall apart, and the trouble at the Divine Tree of Yingzhou would be resolved. By then, when the little junior sister came back, she could still be her miss.
“What’s next? When do we escape? My feathers can only get me back to Shanhai Pavilion—still within the Hazy Sakura Crowd’s territory.”
“It’s not that simple. We have to wait for the right opportunity—a chance when the Hazy Sakura Crowd is too busy to mind the shrine. That old thief talks pretty, but really he’s just locked me in this cage to work for him. If I’m not mistaken, the security around here has gotten even tighter. If the plan fails, we’ll never get out alive.”
Even though this prison had birdsong, fragrant flowers, good food, comfortable lodging, and hundreds of maidservants—hardly lonely at all.
“What?!”
Ao Tian flapped his wings a couple of times. You never told me the consequences were this serious when you came in!
Inside the palace, a group of pretty little shrine maidens flitted around the shrine like colorful butterflies, bowing reverently.
Yun Liu leisurely admired the scenery before him, as if inspecting his own harem.
“Greetings, Priest.”
Even kissing the priest’s toes was considered a supreme honor.
The Hazy Sakura Priest was practically the mouthpiece of the divine—any request would be satisfied unconditionally. Being superior to others was much more enjoyable than staying in the Sea of Clouds managing the family business. If time weren’t so tight, he’d really love to enjoy the bliss of being the Hazy Sakura Priest for a while.
The golden-haired youth draped in the Hazy Sakura robe nodded faintly.
“Mm. Good.”
The joy of playing the villain continued. These poor young maidens were all potted plants carefully selected by the Yushen Clan—plump spiritual roots, decent talent, top-quality furnaces of the Profound-grade upper tier.
And every single one of them was still a virgin. The nascent yin energy of maidens was the most nourishing. He hadn’t even refined the massive amount of pure spiritual energy he’d gotten from Lady Lan.
If Yun Liu went all out and used the Sacred Fire, he could reach the peak of Golden Core in less than a year.
The Hazy Sakura Priest gave an order, and the young maidens all stopped their work, gathered in the inner room of the shrine, and knelt down timidly.
The shrine maidens stole curious glances, their cheeks faintly flushed. The new priest was so young and already deeply trusted by the patriarch—and so handsome too.
Finally, there was a man in the shrine. From now on, serving the Lord Divine Dragon… didn’t seem so boring anymore?
They had heard that every generation of the priest was the Sakura Dragon Lord’s walking incarnation on earth. As shrine maidens, it was only natural to share the burden of the Dragon Bride and dedicate both body and soul to the Divine Master. That was common knowledge to them.
Yun Liu pretended to look around the room, but didn’t see the pink-haired little junior sister. Frowning, he asked:
“Why hasn’t Lady Yinglian come?”
An older, mature shrine maiden stepped forward, looking troubled.
“She… Lady Yinglian doesn’t like us following her. She often uses the Marvelous Sword Art from Beyond to run off everywhere. Please forgive her, Lord Shiyu.”
“No matter. I’ll go find her myself.”
Yun Liu dismissed the maidservants and strolled through the cherry blossom forest, searching for his little junior sister.
His tense mood relaxed considerably, and he couldn’t help wanting to tease the poor little thing from Celestial Phenomena Peak.
Ah Lian would never have imagined that meeting her senior brother again would be like this.
A light mist hung in the forest. Falling cherry blossoms drifted everywhere, and from the hazy steam came the faint sound of splashing water.
The shrine was built in a hollow at the base of the giant divine tree. Thick roots coiled around everywhere, forming many hot spring lakes of various sizes. The water and wood elemental atmosphere was extremely strong—perfect for cultivation.
Standing on the shore, Yun Liu squinted his eyes. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a pale white back in the center of the lake—a naked girl like a pink koi fish.
“The unsolved mystery of Hazy Sakura Shrine: how many times does Ah Lian take a bath in one day?”
The youth bent down, scooped up some lake water, and sniffed it. His eyes rolled around as if he’d spotted a mountain of gold.
A whole lake of Divine Path Water… should he pack some back home to sell before leaving? It would definitely be popular with the VIPs at Shenhua Pavilion!
The ridiculous idea quickly faded. The attendant god maiden was right here—he could just casually take some plain water and have Ah Lian stir it with her finger. Why bother with all that effort?
Peeping like this obviously wasn’t good, even though he’d done it more than once at Celestial Phenomena Peak.
Just as Yun Liu was about to quietly retreat, a water arrow shot toward him like Sword Qi!
The Water Phase Sword Qi rapidly condensed mid-flight, turning into Cold Moon Freezing Frost—Moonrise: First Quarter.
Smack!
Yun Liu raised his hand and shattered the moonlight. His fingers tingled from the impact, and he stared in surprise.
When they had parted, his little junior sister had just reached Foundation Establishment, weaker than him. But in just one year, Ah Lian had grown far stronger.
Unlike those fake Fortune Fruits created from inferior seeds, Ah Lian was the legitimate vessel of the divine tree’s essence. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her the Qi Luck Maiden of Yingzhou.
She didn’t need spiritual medicines, nor any Elixir Cultivator to lay the foundation—breaking through realms came naturally.
Looking closely, the girl’s Spirit Breath had already reached the initial stage of Golden Core. It was also a Heavenly Dao Spiritual Foundation, a Heavenly Dao Foundation Formation.
That was the power of the Divine Tree Fortune—she herself was the best spiritual medicine in the world.
At this moment, the little junior sister was still healthy. With her Water-Wood-Wind Three Phase Spirit Root, Fifth Level of Upper Grade Sword Canon, and extraordinary comprehension, she had inherited all of her Aunt Master’s true teachings.
“Oh? I thought it was a wild monkey.”
The girl in the lake turned back curiously. She hadn’t expected that the swordsmanship she’d learned in the Eastern Pole Province would be so easily deflected.
Her lifeless pupils stared at the golden-haired man in the distance.
Yu Shen Yinglian’s expression was blank. Her voice, dreamlike, carried no fluctuation—light as a feather, murmured to herself:
“Are you here to collect Divine Path Water again? How troublesome. Wait a moment, okay? Ah Lian met a smelly bird in the tree today that kept throwing things around, got fruit pulp all over me, and I haven’t even washed my armpits clean yet…”
“I… that’s not it.”
So today’s Divine Path Water was fruit-flavored.
“Oh, right—you must be the priest Lord Longyi mentioned.”
The girl spoke dully. Men who could appear in the shrine were naturally special.
“Miss Lian may call me Shiyu.”
“Here, take this.”
Yinglian casually scooped up a bucket of lake water and walked to the shore.
Two rabbits bounced and swam over, making Yun cover his eyes and turn his back, taking a towel from his ring and handing it to her.
Still the same as before—no sense of modesty, always worrying.
“Lord Longyi said that from now on, I’m responsible for attending to your daily needs. Mr. Shiyu, please take care of me.”
The girl’s voice was flat. Her wet short hair stuck to her face, like an emotionless puppet.
“Ahem… put some clothes on first.”
The girl looked confused. She walked barefoot onto the shore and asked flatly:
“Why wear them? We’ll just take them off later anyway.”
“Take them off? Why…”
Yun Liu was stunned. Then he remembered the surprise Yu Shen Longyi had mentioned, and his head started to ache.
Good heavens, what exactly had that old thief been filling these innocent young girls’ heads with?!