The turmoil caused by the demonic cultivators had ended. Now, the disciples of the Bright Star Sect were busy coordinating the repairs for the buildings and fields damaged by the invaders. Anything that could not be repaired, was completely demolished and rebuilt. The Elders were also discussing the rearrangement of the sect's defensive formations.
After the Elders searched the souls of a few remaining demonic cultivators, they discovered that although the demonic cultivators in the Eastern Region did not seem to make any movements, their minions had actually spread all over the Southern Region.
Before the demonic cultivators' surprise attack, they had spent a thousand years secretly exploring the position of the Bright Star Sect's formation, which allowed those Core Formation and several Nascent Soul-stage cultivators to attack the top of the twelve peaks so quickly.
Many Qi Refining disciples in the sect were killed or injured, but no Elders above the Nascent Soul stage died.
Although Zu Yuan had also returned to the ordinary people's world, the leaders of the Hedonistic and Magical Poison Sect had died. At least for the next thousand years, the two sects would not be able to make too many waves. Unless, some late-stage Deification cultivators in both sects would enter the Void Returning stage, which was a very small possibility.
... ...
The Main Peak of the Bright Star Sect, Spring Courtyard.
Ta-ta... Ta-ta!
The sound of wooden swords colliding echoed around the courtyard.
In the small pavilion on the side of the lotus pond, Xiao Yunluo, wearing a light purple dress, sat in front of a stone table filled with cakes and tea as she watched Yun Tianchong and Pei Lianxue sparring in the yard. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Even at a distance of thirty feet, she and the bushes beside the pavilion could feel the sword wind drawn by the two people every time they swung their swords.
What surprised her even more was that Pei Lianxue had been fighting with Yun Tianchong for nearly a quarter of an hour without losing.
Indeed, Yun Tianchong deliberately suppressed his cultivation and even went easy on her. However, putting aside his personality, he was also a cultivator who was personally taught by the Sword Ancestor in his childhood, had a profound comprehension of the sword intention and spiritual power, and had reached the late stage of Deification.
Pei Lianxue had touched fewer swords than he had touched women...
Lianxue was too scary...
Xiao Yunluo shrank her neck and suddenly felt that she had made the right choice to change from sword to magic practice. She would probably never be able to catch up with Lianxue on the same track.
"Third wife Xiao!! Third wife Xiao!"
?
"Huh?"
The parrot, who was pecking at the crumbs of pastries on the table, squawked cryptically.
Xiao Yunluo raised her eyebrows, grabbed the parrot, and shook it in her hand, bringing it in front of her. "Who said that? No matter what... I am the second wife! My cultivation is higher than Li Longling and Yun Yiyi's..."
The parrot stared at her with a look of contempt and said nothing.
Seeing its eyes, Xiao Yunluo suddenly felt like a fool. Why was she arguing with a parrot?
She took some pastry and stuffed it into the parrot's mouth:
"Eat and shut up!"
But on second thought, she noticed something wrong.
The parrot came to the Bright Star Sect, so where was her mother?
She had said before that she and Zu Yuan had killed the leaders of the Magical Poison and Hedonistic Sects, but why didn't she show up here?
Xiao Yunluo couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After she came back last time from the Eastern Wall, her mother suddenly told her that they would be just master and apprentice in the future. Aunt Qiu told her that it might not be a bad thing...
She didn't feel sad.
Ever since she could remember, apart from the last time in the Central Region, she could count the number of times she had met Si Xuanji on two hands. When she was young, she had basically grown up under the care of Aunt Qiu, Qi Baishi, and the other Elders of the Black Star Sect.
Thinking about it, Si Xuanji was indeed more like her master than her mother.
But!
Since there was no difference, why didn't her master recognize her as her daughter?
Sword wind blew from thirty feet away, causing her lavender hair to flutter.
Xiao Yunluo propped up her cheeks and looked up at the dragon horns on her forehead. Then, she puffed out her cheeks and blew out her bangs.
After much thought, she still couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it and looked up at the white clouds in the sky.
She also wondered where Ye Anping went...
Yesterday afternoon, she went to the Heavenly Pavilion to ask Zu Yuan.
Zu Yuan laughed inexplicably when he heard that she was asking about "Ye Anping", but the next moment, as if he thought of something, his expression suddenly became very solemn. He stared at her up and down for a long time, and then said somewhat embarrassedly, "Ye kid went to find a place to form his Nascent Soul."
Zu Yuan said he didn't know where he went.
When asked which direction he went, he also said he didn't know.
Xiao Yunluo had no choice but to bow and leave, but just when she turned around and flew out of the pavilion, she heard Zu Yuan say "Wow~~" and then burst into laughter again.
She was kind of scared by his laughter.
Xiao Yunluo pouted. The last time was a while ago, in the City of Dreams... She was a little worried that Ye Anping's yang energy would suddenly explode or something...
"Really? He just left without a word..."
"Fooling around!! Fooling around!!"
?
Xiao Yunluo was taken aback, and she stared at the parrot with a frown, quickly pinching its beak. "What are you talking about? How could Anping fool around? Do you think Anping is..."
Xiao Yunluo's gaze involuntarily fell on Yun Tianchong, who was focused on fighting Pei Lianxue, but she quickly shook her head and felt that it was impossible. She poked the parrot's belly. "If you slander Anping again, Lianxue will hear it. She will stew you and feed you to the Second Idiot."
"It's Her! I'm talking about Her!"
Xiao Yunluo didn't understand and tilted her head. "Huh?"
"The Beauty!! Fooling around!!"
"?"
Xiao Yunluo raised her eyebrows and asked, "Anping is a man, how is he a beauty..."
But the next moment, she pursed her lips and lowered her head with a red face.
"...Although he is indeed beautiful..."
The question mark shifted to the parrot's head, who seemed to think that Xiao Yunluo was hopeless. It shook its head and exhaled like an old man, then closed its beak and lowered its head to continue pecking at the osmanthus cake.
Not long after, a spiritual light passed over the courtyard.
Zu Lingzhi, wearing a black-and-white robe, landed in front of the pavilion with a box in her hand. Seeing Pei Lianxue fighting with Yun Tianchong, she watched them in amazement for a while before walking to the pavilion and handing the box to Xiao Yunluo.
Feng Yu Die nodded weakly, looking at Ye Anping's robe in her hand. After a long pause, she slowly brought it to her nose and sniffed it.
"Sniff..."
Even though it had been a few days and the scent of her and her bedding was all over the robe, she did not know why she felt warmth in her heart just by smelling it, as if Ye Anping was right beside her.
A faint blush gradually appeared on her pale face.
Seeing her like this, Xiao Tian hugged her chest like an old-fashioned matchmaker, and said: "Hehe... Are you dependent on Anping? You feel anxious when you can't see him, right? Yu Die... this is love, hum~"
Feng Yu Die bit her lips lightly and did not refute. She remembered what she blurted out in front of Gu Mingxin in a state of confusion.
"..."
"Yu Die, don't be embarrassed~ Come on! Say it! I'll help you tell Anping then! Come~~ ah... say it with me, I. Like. Young. Master Ye."
Pouting, Feng Yu Die glared at her. "You useless guy, so annoying, shut up! Let me think about it!!"
"Well~ Okay... Hehe-- tell me if you want to say it, I'm right next to you."
"..."
Seeing Xiao Tian returning to the table to practice swordplay, Feng Yu Die sat on the edge of the bed and lowered her eyes to look at her bare feet resting on the wooden floor. She put her hair around her ear, and then, as if she had thought of something, she felt around, took the storage bag in her hand, and summoned the portrait that she had bought in the City of Dreams a while ago.
Whoosh---
The painting unfolded, and the solemn boy in black filled her golden eyes, causing her pupils to tremble slightly.
Before she knew it, she was mesmerized.
Xiao Tian had already swung her sword for the hundredth time, but Feng Yu Die was still sitting by the bed holding the scroll, staring at the person in the painting, only blinking from time to time.
"Hehehe..."
Suddenly, there were two knocks on the door.
Knock knock---
Startled, Feng Yu Die hastily rolled back the painting and hid it under her buttocks.
She looked up and saw that it was the Bright Star Sect girl she had saved from Gu Mingxin who opened the door and poked her head in.
---You are Zu... Zu something?
Zu Lingzhi was a little surprised to see Feng Yu Die sitting on the bed. She hurriedly took out some pills from the storage bag, handed them to her, and sat down beside her.
"Miss Feng, these are some top-grade Spirit Gathering pills. You should take them to nourish your body after you have been sleeping for so long. If it weren't for you, I would have died in the hands of the demonic cultivator disguised as a disciple of the Bright Star Sect."
Feng Yu Die nodded woodenly and took it directly. She unscrewed the cork and poured two pills into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed them, then stuck out her tongue bitterly. "Well... you're welcome."
However, when she looked at Zu Lingzhi, she found that Zu Lingzhi seemed to be preparing herself mentally as she was taking a few deep breaths with a blushing face.
"Miss Feng, that... I heard from Miss Xiao that you like girls... right?"
?
Feng Yu Die was stunned and did not respond, wondering why she asked this question.
"..."
Seeing that she did not deny it, Zu Lingzhi smiled shyly and continued, "I don't mind girls... You saved me, and I would like to repay you, if possible! Will you consider it? I know you like Miss Pei... but no one said that there can be only one cultivation partner..."
Hearing this, Xiao Tian, who was standing on the table, suddenly bared her teeth and took a deep breath. "Hiss---"
Yu Die was finally straightened by Anping, why did this Zu Lingzhi suddenly come out and want to change her Yu Die back?!
Xiao Tian narrowed her eyes and wanted to kick Zu Lingzhi in the face. However, just as she jumped up, Feng Yu Die frowned and said, "We don't even have a bird together, how can we be cultivation partners?"
"?"
Xiao Tian was stunned. She felt as if she had heard these words from Yun Jiujiu before...
Zu Lingzhi was also stunned. She had clearly prepared herself mentally for a while before entering the room. After all, the original concept, the harmony of yin and yang was common sense.
But she didn't care. She could accept the double yin.
And now, she was stumped when she heard Feng Yu Die's question...
"Ah... But Miss Feng... Don't you like girls?"
"But two girls can't have children." Feng Yu Die raised an eyebrow and asked, "Miss Zu, you don't even know this?"
"I know... No... I don't know... No... I..."
"The crane won't bring the baby."
"..."
Zu Lingzhi looked at Feng Yu Die who explained things to her seriously. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. After opening and closing her mouth several times, she simply didn't say anything.
The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian was like an old mother seeing her son, who had been stupid for more than twenty years, suddenly become normal one day.
Tears welled up in her eyes and she threw herself on Feng Yu Die's head, hugging her. "Waaaa, Yu Die! My Yu Die!! My Yu Die has grown up!"
Zu Lingzhi finally sorted out the mess, and asked with a sigh of relief, "However, I have to repay you. Is there anything you lack? Spirit stones, pills, natural treasures, houses, caves... Even if you want to be an Elder of the Bright Star Sect, I can do that for you."
Feng Yu Die peeled off Xiao Tian from her head, thought for a while, and her eyes lit up as she said,
"Spirit stones, the more the better."
At least it's better to be straightforward than saying "Give me what you see fit"...
Zu Lingzhi nodded, then asked, "Can I make another small request?"
"Oh?"
"Just come to the Bright Star Sect when you have nothing to do in the future, and I'll take you to the market." Zu Lingzhi stroked a strand of her hair and lowered her head. "Don't look like I am the great-granddaughter of the Immortal Patriarch Zu Yuan. In fact, I... I don't have many friends."
"Okay."
"By the way, I will be the Young Miss of the Bright Star Sect in the future! Great grandfather has lost all his cultivation now. If you need anything in the future, just send me a letter and tell me. As long as I can do it, I will agree!"
"Okay."
"Then... I won't disturb your rest. I still have to help the disciples of the sect to repair the spiritual fields. Bye. By the way, just call me Lingzhi in the future."
"Okay, Lingzhi."
Zu Lingzhi smiled, walked out of the room, slowly closed the door, and then leaned against it, letting out a heavy breath. She secretly rejoiced for a while because she had finally made the first cultivator friend she wanted to make, and then flew to the mountainside on her sword.