Feelings are just like this.
Love, familial affection, friendship—these emotions rarely withstand the erosion of time.
And those that do endure are one in a million.
At this thought, Xu Ping’an couldn’t help but raise his head to look north.
He knew roughly where the Floating Cloud Sect was; after all, he had once climbed the mountain to seek immortality.
Yingying… I only hope you are safe and well, that your cultivation bears fruit, and that you can forget this relationship, facing life anew.
After all, your path in life is still so long… so very long.
Turning back, Xu Ping’an gently comforted his wife in his arms.
Pei Qingxuan had cried herself to sleep, sobbing the whole way. Ever since she had come to Xu Ping’an’s side, she had never suffered such grievance. Yet…
This matter would never simply pass.
Not for anything else, but for the sake of his wife’s tears tonight!
The next morning, Xu Ping’an got up early, busied himself for a while in the eastern wing, ate breakfast, and left the house.
He entrusted Pei Qingxuan to Li Yuer, and set out alone for the county town.
What he did not know was that after he left, Pei Qingxuan was still fast asleep.
In her hazy state, she seemed to arrive at a place both familiar and strange.
In the distance stretched endless mountain ranges, ravines winding, shrouded in clouds and mist—a beauty beyond words.
At this moment, she was in a courtyard, sitting cross-legged, silently chanting formula after formula in her heart.
Unconsciously, these formulas kept circulating in her mind, and in her dreams, she instinctively began to circulate the spiritual energy within her body.
Thanks to Xu Ping’an’s days of diligent care, her own special constitution, his rare medicinal prescriptions, and her cultivation of the Nine Heavens Phoenix Cry Profound Art, the circulating True Qi within her began to undergo a marvelous transformation, starting to automatically repair damaged meridians and restore her organs to their proper places.
Though her injuries were not yet fully healed, at least now the flow of True Qi was unobstructed.
At the same time, scenes flickered one after another before the dreaming Pei Qingxuan’s eyes.
Some were familiar, some were not.
All of a sudden, a pair of piercing phoenix eyes slowly opened.
Gazing at the familiar ceiling, feeling the endless flashes of images in her mind, she abruptly sat up, crossed her legs, and formed hand seals over her dantian.
Outside her dantian, a purple lotus glowed softly, synchronizing with the technique, endlessly gathering the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth.
For a moment, above the entire Myriad Demon Mountains, spiritual energy surged like wind sweeping away clouds, rapidly converging from all directions.
The movement of the spiritual energy stirred up a whirlwind, pulling the clouds from the sky and forming a massive vortex!
Not far from there, in Burning Wheel Valley.
Valley Master Chai Ruo Cheng saw this scene and his eyes widened.
“Is this the terror of the Great Ascension stage? Just one session of cultivation, and it can actually trigger such a Heaven and Earth phenomenon!”
High in the heavens, clouds clustered and would not disperse. In the center of the vortex, thunder and lightning raged, illuminating the darkness beneath the clouds again and again.
This phenomenon lasted for nearly half an hour. As the vortex, like a dragon sucking water, suddenly ceased, the swirling clouds in the sky gradually dispersed.
Sitting cross-legged atop the bed, Pei Qingxuan opened her eyes, and in her dark pupils flickered a rainbow sheen, fading away bit by bit.
The girl lightly caressed the spot on the bed where… someone had lain before. There… still seemed to be a trace of that person’s presence.
Suddenly, her pretty face flushed.
She daintily lifted the blue silk to cover herself once more, then wriggled like a worm over to that person’s spot.
Her delicate nose twitched as she inhaled the lingering scent he had left behind, and a sweet, happy smile unconsciously curled her lips.
Then her gaze turned sharp. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally… let go of the killing intent hidden in her eyes.
Breathing in that faint medicinal fragrance, she closed her eyes.
At that moment, outside the house, Zhao Pingzhi was scattering breadcrumbs for the fish in the pond.
Inside, Xiao Jing’er was quietly grinding ink.
Li Yuer stood at the desk, brush in hand, and set her calligraphy to paper.
“Knock! Knock knock!”
Outside the Liu Family Mansion in Liuyexian.
A man in a blue long robe, hair wrapped in a headscarf, stood calmly at the gate.
“Who goes there?”
A servant’s questioning voice came from the Liu Family’s gatehouse.
“Xu Ping’an.” “Xu Ping’an?”
The gatekeeper was momentarily stunned. The name Doctor Xu was nearly a household one in Liuyexian—if not known by all, then at least by many.
And the Liu Family knew it best of all.
After all, wasn’t it because of Xu Ping’an that Miss Liu had been dragged home by the Master just yesterday?
“Do you have a calling card?”
“No, I’ve come today to seek an explanation from the Liu Family Patriarch.” At these words, the gatekeeper instantly understood that trouble was at the door.
He opened the side gate, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then quickly came down the steps.
“Doctor Xu, why have you come? The Patriarch is in a foul mood right now, you’d best not—” Before he could finish, Xu Ping’an lightly waved his hand in front of him and swaggered straight in.
The Chaos Golden Eyes and Chaotic Body simultaneously sensed the surrounding spiritual energy, and it shifted accordingly.
This was the greatest trait of the Chaotic Body: any spiritual energy or True Qi would treat it as its own.
In short, his body could not be harmed by spiritual energy, nor could he cultivate, yet the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth would consider him as part of itself.
This was why he could so easily activate the Heaven and Earth Grand Formation—because Heaven and Earth themselves saw him as their own.
When Heaven and Earth move themselves, naturally, there is no cost.
And this was also why, should the Heavenly Dao ever discover his existence, it might take action against him.
After all… this Chaotic Body, to the Heavenly Dao, was a bug in the very workings of Heaven and Earth.
If the bug isn’t removed, the operation of Heaven and Earth is at risk.
Naturally, such an existence would not be tolerated.
But today, Xu Ping’an cared little for all that.
The image of his wife in tears still haunted his mind.
Thinking of Liu Yingying crying out his name, of his own wife weeping half the night because of this—
As a man, how could he possibly ignore it?
At this thought, the surrounding spiritual energy, intentionally guided by him, gradually formed a grand formation.
Xu Ping’an stood his ground and called out in a clear voice.
“I am Xu Ping’an, here to see the Liu Family Patriarch!”
The moment his words fell, the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth suddenly surged!
In an instant, a tremendous pressure descended over the entire Liu Family Mansion.
Ordinary people might not notice, but those who cultivated would feel it immediately.
Before the Liu Family Patriarch could even appear, a figure descended from the sky.
“Xu Family brat!? What are you doing here!?”
The newcomer was none other than the Liu Family’s old ancestor, Liu Zongting, who had once visited the Xu Family’s small courtyard!
Sensing the faint spiritual pressure in the air, he was both shocked and inwardly on guard.
“Xu Family brat, what is the meaning of this?”