Chapter 1987: You Will Go
Pei Mianman ran into the room with a reddened face. When she saw the face she yearned for day and night in the floating recording mirror, the corners of her lips moved and she pouted coquettishly, saying, “Ah Zu, this is Jadefall Palace’s recording mirror! It’ll alert the entire sect whenever you use it, so how can you use something like this just to talk to me?” Even though she was always more enthusiastic and took the initiative, when it came to talking to her sweetheart in front of her elders and letting everyone in the sect know, she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide out of embarra.s.sment.
When he saw this rare instance of bashfulness from Pei Mianman, Zu An found it quite adorable. His mood improved considerably as he replied, “I missed you. How can I worry about anything else?”
“You’re so annoying~” Pei Mianman exclaimed. Even though she was a bit embarra.s.sed, she still found her sweetheart’s words sweet. A bit of charm returned to her eyes.
“Hm? Your cultivation seems to have increased quite a bit,” Zu An said with a bit of shock. He could sense a tangible intent from the other party’s body. This seemed to be a unique threshold that was only possible after reaching a certain point in one’s cultivation.
Sure enough, Pei Mianman raised her chin proudly and replied, “That’s right! I’ve already broken into the master rank, you know? And I’ve even reached the essence mortal soul stage!”
“That quickly?” Zu An exclaimed. Even he was a bit surprised. Previously, when he had seen her at Violet Mountain, she was only around the middle of the ninth rank. Now, she had immediately risen by two major cultivation ranks!
“But of course. I was able to absorb so much natural ki in the Yinxu secret dungeon back then, which helped my cultivation a lot. Then, I obtained the Paramita Flower in the daoists’ secret dungeon, which also helped very much. Once I came back and focused on my cultivation, I felt myself progressing much faster," Pei Mianman said as she looked deeply at the man in the mirror.
You’re so amazing already. If I don’t work hard too, won’t we just end up growing further and further apart from each other?
Zu An thought for a bit, then warned her, “The essence mortal soul stage stresses refining the essence and transforming the ki, so as to prevent a cultivator from being consumed by various desires. However, during the process, all sorts of heart demons might form, so it is extremely dangerous. You absolutely must be careful.”
Pei Mianman replied with a smile, “What’s wrong, are you scared that I might go looking for other men?”
Zu An’s expression darkened. This woman really was a bit too forward. These weren’t words other young ladies would dare to say.
Pei Mianman burst out into laughter and said, “Don’t worry, I have my master watching over me. Do you know how strict she"s been all this time? That’s why she reacted so strongly when you came looking for me.”
“It looks like I’ve misunderstood your master,” Zu An said, stunned. He had thought that the other woman was trying to break them up, and that was why she was being so aggressive.
“Hmph, besides, even if master weren’t watching over me, what would even happen to me? After having a man like you, I don’t think there’s another who would ever catch my eye,” Pei Mianman said with a charming smile.
Zu An nodded and said, “You can send more praises like that my way.”
“Hmph, shameless~” Pei Mianman protested playfully. “Right, between me and Chuyan, whose cultivation is higher now?”
“She’s around the same level too,” Zu An replied. When he chatted with her through the recording mirror earlier, he had also found out Chu Chuyan’s cultivation rank. The techniques she cultivated, whether they were the Unshakable Daoist Manual or the Snowflake Sword, were both extremely cold techniques that were good at restricting the negative aspects of this cultivation rank. That was why he didn’t feel a need to worry about her too much.
“You called Chuyan first after all before you came looking for me.” Pei Mianman harrumphed. She didn’t look happy.
Zu An was speechless. How could he have predicted that she was setting up a trap for him to jump into?! It turned out this young lady didn’t care about Chu Chuyan’s cultivation rank at all, and just wanted to know if he had already contacted her.
Zu An was sweating buckets. He could only chuckle awkwardly and change the topic. “Ahem, I"m actually contacting you through the court’s recording mirror this time. Apart from checking on how you"re doing, I need to tell you about some important matters that concern the safety of the entire world...”
Then, he gave her a rough summary of the monsters" invasion. He also warned her about how to deal with several kinds of monsters.
As she listened, Pei Mianman’s expression changed greatly. She couldn"t be bothered with jealousy at all anymore.
“I also already talked to Guan Chouhai. I"m sure he"ll come to Jadefall Palace to discuss this with you soon. However, before then, you need to be careful. You absolutely can"t let those monsters take advantage of you,” Zu An warned.
“Fine.” Pei Mianman gradually calmed down. After all, she had already experienced several secret dungeons with Zu An and seen all kinds of things, so it was easier for her to accept different things. She said, “Ah Zu, you have to be careful too. You"re definitely the most important target those monsters are eyeing right now.”
“Don’t worry, I"m actually hoping for them to come for revenge as early as possible. That way, I can start getting rid of them one by one,” Zu An replied.
Despite what he said, though, he was a bit worried. If they came right now, with this very world’s natural barrier weakening their strength, he likely wouldn"t be scared. However, if they went into hiding and waited until the world’s barrier completely dissolved, then arrived in their strongest state, would he really be able to defeat them? More importantly, the intelligence the patrols had brought back showed that there were no other powerful monsters invading. It seemed that the second possibility was most likely.
“Ah Zu is so amazing!” Pei Mianman exclaimed. She showed a big smile, then said, “I"ll cultivate well too. That way, I’ll be able to fight side by side with you!”
Her first impulse was to run over to his side. They didn’t even know how much time they all had left. Spending that time with her lover was better than anything else. However, she quickly abandoned that thought. Only by becoming stronger herself would she be helpful to Ah Zu.
The two of them exchanged some more words of love before reluctantly turning off the recording mirror.
...
When they saw Pei Mianman come back out, Wan Tongtian immediately asked, “Just what kind of existential affair did he talk about?”
Elder Huo Ling said with a sneer, “Isn’t it all just to fool a young lady? What kind of huge affair could there be?”
Pei Mianman sighed and said, “Master, there really was something...”
As the two listened to her talk about the things she had heard from Zu An one by one, both of them almost jumped in alarm.
...
Meanwhile, Zu An dialed Yu Yanluo’s recording mirror. Soon, a devastatingly beautiful face appeared in the mirror.
“It’s been so long. Did you finally remember to talk to me?” Yu Yanluo remarked. She had been sitting upright and still, thinking that the court was contacting her, but when she saw her lover, a big smile filled her face.
Zu An could only tell her about how impoverished he had become from his pill refinement.
“Impoverished?” Yu Yanluo repeated, raising a brow. “It seems my suspicions weren’t off after all. Judging from the time, it should almost be there.”
“What"s almost here?” Zu An asked, stunned.
“I suspected that your expenses on that side could be strained, so I had someone deliver a few ki stones to the capital. I reckon they"ll arrive in a few days,” Yu Yanluo said with a warm smile.
Zu An was speechless. Yu Yanluo was from one of the wealthiest clans in the world. Even if she said it was just a little bit, how could it really be a little bit? He looked at her with a complicated expression and said, “It looks like I’m really a moocher through and through.” Just how many times now had women taken the initiative to give him stuff?
Yu Yanluo’s beautiful brows rose slightly. She asked, “What did your other women give you?”
“It’s not like that! Who in this world can compare to a sugar momma like you?” Zu An replied. He didn’t dare to speak the truth and changed the topic out of guilt. “By the way, are you able to mobilize your resources on the human side now?”
Yu Yanluo replied, with a smile, “Did you forget? After your status climbed higher and higher in the court, you sent people over a few times. The Yu clan"s frozen industries were gradually restored. Even though we haven’t reached our peak, we’ve more or less recovered.”
Zu An sighed in relief and said, “I was worried that those people would covet the Yu clan’s mines and that they wouldn’t be willing to let go.”
“Who would dare to offend you right now, my regent?” Yu Yanluo replied, a hint of astonishment appearing on her face. “I really didn’t expect you to concurrently become the regent of both the Fiend and human sides. Furthermore, you were able to even kill an earth immortal in the capital. Everything is going well for you right now; who would dare to be such a fool in this situation?”
Zu An was stunned, asking, “You’ve even received news of it on your side already?”
Yu Yanluo shook her head slightly, saying, “Others might not have received news so quickly, but I’ve always collected information about you, you know?”
Zu An felt warm inside, saying, “Yanluo...”
Yu Yanluo opened her mouth, but in the end, she only quietly said, “I miss you...”
Zu An felt something stir within him. He really wanted to rush over to her side. However, he quickly calmed down and said, “If it were any other time, I would definitely go over to look for you, but something major happened. I called you to let you know...” He then told her about the monsters’ invasion.
Yu Yanluo’s expression changed. She asked, “Is this world going to be destroyed?”
Zu An replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, I"ll take care of it!”
Yu Yanluo’s eyes were filled with worry. She said, “Then you have to be careful! I"ll find a place to settle all of my clansmen here, and then I’ll come back to look for you.”
“It isn’t too easy for those monsters to injure me, so I"m actually more worried about you. Also, please warn those around you,” Zu An said.
“Don’t worry. For better or for worse, I am the Medusa Queen and the late libationer’s personal disciple. How could I be so easily dealt with?” Yu Yanluo replied; she gradually calmed down. “By the way, Qing’er and Bai’er seem to miss you quite a bit and are always asking about you. Did you do something to the two of them?”
“What could I have done to them?” Zu An replied, feeling a bit stirred. He recalled the unique warmth of the Snake race.
...
Meanwhile, at the same time, inside an Embroidered Envoy secret courtyard, a black-clad figure was sizing up the tall and slender woman in front of him. He clicked his tongue and said, “What long legs. Even I’m starting to feel envious.”
Zhang Zitong didn’t reply. She looked at the guards collapsed around her, then stared at the black-clad figure in front of her vigilantly again.
“Don’t worry, they’re only unconscious. I didn’t take their lives. I didn’t expect you to have actually considered them your colleagues," the figure said.
Zhang Zitong finally released a slight sigh of relief. After Yi Commandery’s events were exposed, Sir Eleven had locked her up here alone. He hadn"t killed her, but he hadn’t let her go either. She had been in this courtyard ever since. She had never tried to escape either. That was, until this fellow barged in.
She asked with a cold snort, “Why are you here?”
“I need your help with something,” the black-clad figure said quietly.
“Why should I help you? Everything between us has already been settled.” Zhang Zitong harrumphed.
“No, you will go, because that person will also go...” the black-clad figure said, then slowly explained the situation. Sure enough, Zhang Zitong’s expression changed.