Deep within the Blazing Sun Sect, at the Earth Vein Hot Spring.
Misty white steam drifted like gauzy silk, swirling above the massive natural hot spring pool.
The water was pleasantly warm, carrying a faint hint of sulfur and the pure spiritual energy of earth fire.
Soft light refracted down through the crystals in the cavern ceiling, diffusing into a hazy glow amidst the mist.
Zhu Siyao soaked in the comforting waters, her body more relaxed than ever before.
She gazed a few steps away, at her mother, Zhuxin, who was also soaking in the spring.
Shed of the Fire Robe that symbolized the Sect Master’s authority, her full figure was indistinct beneath the water, with long, wet hair draping over her shoulders.
The face so strikingly similar to her own was, at this moment, free of its usual coldness and distance, revealing only a peaceful laziness.
Zhu Siyao sneaked a glance at her mother’s figure, then looked down at her own.
Why was the difference so great? Her mother could almost count as two of her.
After achieving the Immortal Ascension Stage, Zhuxin no longer needed to suppress herself as before. Her aura was now harmonious and restrained, no longer possessing the intimidating sharpness of the past.
In Zhu Siyao’s memories, ever since she grew up, her mother had seldom been so close and shared such “ordinary” moments together.
It seemed that after growing up, her mother had intentionally distanced herself, even to the point of aversion.
Now, there were no sect duties, no lectures, no invisible barriers.
Only the warm water enveloping their bodies, only the rising mist blurring their sight, and only the occasional, slightly clumsy yet genuinely gentle gaze from her mother.
“Mother.”
Zhu Siyao couldn’t help but speak softly, her voice floating in the mist, tentative:
“It’s as warm here as it always was.”
Zhuxin tilted her head slightly, her eyes landing on her daughter’s cheeks, flushed pink from the heat. A hint of rare gentleness flickered through her gaze.
“Mm.” She replied in a low, uncharacteristically gentle voice.
“When you were little, you always pestered me to come play in this spring. You’d soak here for half a day at a time, and it was nearly impossible to drag you away.”
Zhu Siyao’s eyes lit up instantly, surprise and delight in her voice: “Mother! You remember?!”
“I remember.”
Zhuxin’s lips seemed to curve up just a fraction before returning to calm, but her eyes had softened noticeably.
She had given up the so-called Supreme Sage Great Ascension; in the future, she’d become an Immortal herself, and then train her daughter to go to the Immortal Realm as well, whether as a remnant immortal or by other means, it didn’t matter.
There was a Blazing Sun Sect in the Immortal Realm too, and the status of human immortals there was fairly high.
Still, she’d have to find a man to balance out the yin and yang in Siyao’s body first.
As for how to achieve that, Zhuxin pondered, deciding to consult some ancient texts later.
The long-missed warmth between mother and daughter, like the gentle flow of the spring, silently melted the icy layer that had built up between them.
Zhu Siyao felt a mix of bitterness and heat in her heart. She cautiously edged closer, gathering her courage to swim over and lean by Zhuxin’s side.
Was it because her mother couldn’t break through to the Supreme Sage Great Ascension that she had returned to her side?
She didn’t care, she truly didn’t care about such things.
She didn’t know that it was exactly because Zhuxin had given up on the Supreme Sage Great Ascension that she came back to her side.
“Mother, on my last outing for training, I met a man. He’s actually pretty good-looking.”
“He even helped me out, back at the Huanhuan Sect.” Zhu Siyao chatted idly.
Zhuxin’s lips curled into a faint smile: “What, has your heart been moved? Thinking of finding a Dao partner?”
“Our Blazing Sun Sect forbids breaking one’s purity, you must keep your Yuan Yin intact.”
It was helpless, but that was reality. Unless Zhu Siyao went to cultivate other techniques, joined some other major sect, that was the only way.
Thinking of Jiang Huai, Zhu Siyao pouted, with a trace of sourness:
“Of course not, I just said he looked decent, that’s all.”
“He already has a Master Mother. It’s that Qin Qingyue, the East Sea Dragon Lord.”
She’d originally planned to chat with Jiang Huai, who’d helped her out, maybe stroll the streets together afterwards.
But unfortunately, he was taken away by someone even stronger, leaving the young woman frustrated.
“Mother, can you tell me who my father is?” Zhu Siyao leaned in to ask.
So many years had passed, yet she hadn’t heard a thing about her father.
At these words, Zhuxin’s expression grew conflicted, a trace of guilt in her eyes.
She didn’t know how to tell Zhu Siyao. Should she say that she’d originally intended to use her daughter as an ingredient for alchemy to break through realms, and only then had her?
She didn’t want her daughter to be heartbroken. Best not to mention it.
She’d have to find her a father anyway in the future, so why get tangled up in this?
“Your father…” Zhuxin was just about to fabricate a story.
BOOM!
A deafening, terrifying blast erupted above the hot spring cavern, as if the entire mountain was about to be overturned, with no warning whatsoever.
Chunks of sturdy crystal from the ceiling rained down, and the spring water roiled violently as if boiling.
“Who?!” Zhuxin’s expression changed dramatically, leaping up from the warm water in an instant.
The aura of an Immortal Ascension Stage exploded forth without reservation, crimson-gold flames instantly enveloping her body and forming a suit of Fiery Armor.
Zhu Siyao hurried ashore, hastily putting on her clothes.
“Siyao, don’t go out recklessly. Someone’s forcing their way into the Blazing Sun Sect.” Zhuxin instructed.
What kind of cultivation dared barge in here? It had to be at least Supreme Sage Great Ascension, right? Who could it be?
Could it be Wu Zhaohua?
A black figure, shrouded in cold, violent Dragon Might, burst directly into the Blazing Sun Sect.
Qin Qingyue stood in the air above the sect, her black robes billowing despite the stillness, crimson vertical pupils surveying the scene.
Su Yingman followed at her side, hand resting confidently on the long sword at her waist.
The Blazing Sun Sect wasn’t the Red Dragon Clan; here, she could help Qin Qingyue as needed.
“Pure Yang Body, Zhuxin?”
“This Lord has some business to discuss with you.”
“Qin Qingyue?! Are you insane?!”
Zhuxin was shocked and furious, flames blazing all around her as she struggled to resist the crushing pressure of Dragon Might.
“This place is the forbidden ground of my Blazing Sun Sect! What are you trying to do?!”
“What am I trying to do?”
Qin Qingyue’s lips curled in an amused arc:
“Borrow your Pure Yang Body for a bit—make you a concubine for my husband.”
To her, such a woman was fit only to be a concubine, and her cultivation wasn’t high.
Not the Fusion Stage as the intelligence had said, but merely Immortal Ascension Stage—nothing worth worrying about.
Before she finished speaking, Qin Qingyue gave Zhuxin no chance to react or negotiate.
Her figure vanished on the spot, and in the next instant appeared right in front of Zhuxin.
A grotesque dragon claw covered in fine black scales, its five fingers like hooked blades, let out a shrill whistle as it slashed straight for Zhuxin’s shoulder, ignoring her protective fiery aura.
Having just donned her blue clothes, Zhu Siyao caught sight of this scene and cried out hoarsely:
“Mother!”
Zhuxin’s pupils shrank. Though she had reached Immortal Ascension Stage, how could she be a match for the battle-hardened, Celestial-level Qin Qingyue?
Especially when Qin Qingyue struck with full force, holding nothing back.
“Burning Heaven Palm!” Zhuxin shouted, hastily gathering her life’s cultivation into a single palm strike, enveloped in the annihilating True Flame of Crimson Gold, facing off against the dreadful dragon claw.
Bang.
True Flame of Crimson Gold and pitch-black dragon claw collided head-on!
A terrifying shockwave exploded like a tsunami. Zhuxin felt an unstoppable, Dragon-strengthened force crash down on her arm like the end of the world.
With a muffled cry of pain, Zhuxin’s giant flaming palm collapsed instantly, and her Fiery Armor-clad arm emitted a hair-raising sound of bones cracking.
Her whole body, like a kite with a broken string, was flung away by that overwhelming force.
Her aura faded instantly, the flames around her body flickering and nearly extinguished.
This was the difference in the quality of cultivation; early on, it wasn’t obvious, but by the Great Ascension stage, it was clear as day.
The Immortal Ascension Stage could never match the Supreme Sage Great Ascension, much less a Celestial-level opponent.
Especially since Zhuxin had just recently broken through.
Just one blow.
The Blazing Sun Sect Master, Zhuxin at the Immortal Ascension Stage, was defeated.
“So it’s you, little girl.” Qin Qingyue recognized Zhu Siyao and smiled faintly.
She stepped forward, intending to approach the fallen Zhuxin and forcibly take her away.
“I won’t mistreat you, and I won’t mistreat your daughter either.” Qin Qingyue strode toward Zhuxin, already acting as if she were the other woman’s Master Mother.
“Get away! Don’t hurt my mother!”
Zhu Siyao didn’t know where she found the courage, but she suddenly rushed in front of Zhuxin, arms wide, using her slender body to shield her mother from Qin Qingyue.
Qin Qingyue glanced at her, then casually tossed an Earth Grade Superior Spirit Sword to the ground, along with some Immortal Material.
“If your mother behaves well in the future, I’ll give you more.”
“If not, then she won’t get anything.”
“Master Mother, please wait!” A soft, anxious voice called out.
Su Yingman appeared at the shattered entrance to the cave.