A Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Child
[The Azure Feather Luan's wind blades collided with the Lihuo Fire Crow's fireballs, exploding into a sky full of flowing flames.]
[Crow-Crow hovered behind you, watching the Azure Feather Luan, its flames churning, its arrogance reaching its peak.]
[Everyone is in the Transformation Stage.]
[Although Azure Feather Luan is Half-Step Heavenly Demon, her life soul has only just returned to its place, and she is very weak.]
[The Crow-Crow swallowed the Chunwu's Sun True Fire and was resurrected at full strength.]
[Azure Feather Luan froze.]
[It stared at the Crow-Crow, the ferocity in its eyes replaced by fear.]
[The Azure Feather Luan belongs to the element of wind and wood; the Lihuo Fire Crow belongs to the element of fire.]
[The wind fanned the flames, and the wood fueled the fire. If a real fight broke out, the Azure Feather Luan would suffer a great loss.]
[My spirit can't defeat you, and my physical strength can't suppress this strange bird.]
[Azure Feather Luan understood that she couldn't get back at them today.]
A flash of blue light.
[Qingyu's demonic body rapidly shrank, eventually transforming into a human form.]
[A woman of exceptional beauty, dressed in a light blue palace gown, appeared on the altar.]
[Her face was ashen, and she glared at you angrily.]
[Seeing that she had withdrawn her Divine Ability, you also retracted the Crow-Crow into your Dantian.]
[You straightened your robes and respectfully bowed with your hands clasped.]
"Junior Lu Ping greets Senior Qingyu."
[Regardless, he is still the Profound Beast Taming Sect's Sect-Guardian Ancestor, a being who has lived for tens of thousands of years.]
The due courtesy should still be shown.
Seeing this, Qinghe also bowed in greeting.
"Junior Qinghe greets Senior."
[Azure Feather Luan snorted coldly, completely disliking you, not even giving you a glance.]
[But when she turned to look at Qinghe, the anger on her face vanished, replaced by an extremely kind expression.]
[She stepped forward, grabbed Qinghe's hand, and the gesture was as intimate as that of a family.]
"Why call me 'senior'?"
[Azure Feather Luan glanced at you out of the corner of her eye, a wicked smile curving her lips.]
"Call me 'sister'."
Qinghe paused for a moment.
[She and Qingyu were originally of the same soul but in different bodies. Although they have severed their connection now, that natural affinity between them cannot be erased.]
[Moreover, Azure Feather Luan is now nominally her Fatebound Spirit Beast.]
[Okay, actually it is.]
[Qinghe glanced at you again, and seeing that you didn't object, she obediently changed her address.]
["Elder sister."]
Azure Feather Luan smiled contentedly and reached out to touch Qinghe's hair.
"Oh, dear sister."
[You stand to the side, frozen in the posture of bowing, your expression frozen.]
You looked at Qinghe, then at Qingyu.
[Qinghe calls you Martial Uncle.]
[Qinghe calls Qingyu sister.]
[So what have you become?]
[Your junior apprentice has become your senior in the blink of an eye.]
[Big sister, are you really that childish?]
[You looked at Azure Feather Luan's smug face and shook your head helplessly.]
[Just now, when you were trying to save your life in your Sea of Consciousness, you called me "Uncle-Master" so smoothly, but now you're acting all high and mighty like a senior.]
[Just as you finished your internal monologue, Azure Feather Luan seemed to sense your thoughts and gave you a cold glance, her eyes seeming to say, "What, you have a problem with that?"]
[You immediately composed yourself, adopting a calm and collected expression.]
It's not worth arguing with a childish person who's lived for ten thousand years.
"Now that this matter is settled, you may all leave. I have just awakened and need to consolidate my cultivation here."
[Qingyu issued an order to leave.]
You nodded and led Qinghe out of the Ancestral Spirit Cave.
For the next month, the entire Profound Beast Taming Sect was shrouded in a subtle but palpable pressure.
[There was a sense of unease and uncertainty throughout the various peaks of the Profound Beast Taming Sect.]
[As the sect's guardian spirit Spirit Beast, Azure Feather Ancestor's reputation is naturally known to all.]
[However, it is common knowledge within the sect that this patriarch has been in a deep slumber for many years.]
[Let alone ordinary disciples, even many Nascent Soul Cultivators in the sect, from their initial entry to the formation of their Nascent Soul, have never actually seen Azure Feather Ancestor truly awaken.]
[Why did it suddenly become noisy?]
The elders of each peak, harboring their own doubts, couldn't help but inquire with you about the true nature of the Ancestral Spirit Cave.
You remained calm and dismissed the person with a nonchalant air.
[Faced with everyone's doubts, you only offered reassurance: the sect is safe and sound, and its great prosperity is imminent.]
[Qinghe, on the other hand, is in seclusion in her cave abode.]
[She and Azure Feather Luan signed an equal Life-Bond Contract. When Azure Feather Luan awakened, she, as the other party to the contract, also received enormous benefits.]
[The portion of her divine soul essence that Azure Feather Luan severed, combined with the immense Demon Power fed back from the contract, caused her cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, as if she were on Flying Boat.]
[Golden Core Early Stage, Golden Core Middle Stage, Golden Core Late Stage...]
[In just one month, her aura surged to the peak of the Golden Core Perfection stage, and she began to draw upon the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul.]
[Above Returning to Truth Peak, dark clouds gathered once more, and lightning bolts danced wildly.]
[You stand outside the cave abode, gazing calmly at the tribulation clouds in the sky.]
This time, you didn't feel uneasy.
[Qinghe's divine soul was stable, her Dao foundation was solid, and she was protected by the original Demon Power of Azure Feather Luan. This Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation was nothing more than a formality for her.]
The thunder roared and continued for an entire day.
As the final bolt of tribulation lightning dissipated, a Nascent Soul aura surged into the sky from the cave abode.
Another month has passed.
[The cave abode gate opened, Qinghe stepped out.]
Her aura has completely stabilized at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
[Eighteen-year-old, Nascent Soul Middle Stage.]
Looking at the increasingly aloof and ethereal young woman before you, like a celestial being descended to earth, you can't help but feel a sense of awe.
[This cultivation speed is simply unreasonable.]
Comparison is the thief of joy.
"Uncle-Master."
[Qinghe walks up to you and bows deeply.]
"I have already Nascent Soul."
You accepted her bow without hesitation and nodded.
["Very good."]
[You look at the Azure Nether Rings on her wrist; its azure light flows, its Spiritual Qi contained within.]
[Back when she Foundation Establishment, you gifted her this top-grade magic Law Artifact, deliberately leaving one final layer of Restriction unsealed. Now, she has perfected that Restriction herself, making it a genuine low-grade magic Law Treasure.]
[For ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators, low-grade Law Treasures are sufficient.]
[When Qinghe reached the Core Formation and encountered Qingyu's situation, you didn't even have time to give her a congratulatory gift.]
[Now that my daughter has turned eighteen and reached the age of infancy, as her elder, you should at least give her something decent to show your appreciation.]
[Options pop up.]
[A: Send Qinghe a bunch of big gifts.]
[B: The best gift is companionship. Take her down the mountain to the mortal world for a stroll, eat some candied hawthorns, and experience the everyday life of ordinary people.]
[C: Pulls out a ten-meter-long red banner with gold lettering that reads "Warmly congratulate Qinghe of Returning to Truth Peak on achieving Nascent Soul Nascent Soul," hires thirty-two Golden Core Stage Body Cultivators to carry her through the peaks of the Profound Beast Taming Sect with drums and gongs, and uses a Law Artifact to broadcast repeatedly: "Eighteen, eighteen, Nascent Soul auspiciousness! Ancestor Qinghe, your might dominates the world! Register for Returning to Truth Peak now and receive a fresh, original blue leg hair personally plucked by Ancestor Azure Feather Luan!"]