How Should This Senior Be Addressed?!

Painted a long time ago?

Ling An'an was a little dazed. After taking the scroll Jing Pu handed her, she froze for a moment. This scroll seemed... to be an utterly ordinary painting. There was no True Qi flowing through it, no Spiritual Power stirring within it. It looked like nothing more than a mundane object.

However, Ling An'an was not displeased. She had heard Jing Pu's words clearly just now.

This had been painted by the senior a long time ago. It must have been something he created when he had just begun cultivating immortality, or not long after.

Thinking of it that way, it had to be from a very, very long time ago. Since a painting from so long ago had been kept until now, preserved for thousands of years, it must have held extraordinary meaning for the senior and been something he treasured deeply!

And now, this painting that held such extraordinary meaning to the senior, this painting he cherished so dearly, had suddenly been given to her...

At that thought, Ling An'an's face turned even redder...

Jing Pu had no idea what Ling An'an was thinking about. Still, this painting really had been made a long time ago—about... three years ago.

After entering the Void Space three years ago, the first thing Jing Pu learned was Painting Intent, and he had painted this back then.

A place like the Void Space had made every day feel like a year to Jing Pu. To him, it truly had been a long time ago, so he was not exactly making things up.

After giving her the painting, Jing Pu said directly, "Fairy Maiden, you should get back to your own business first. I can handle the rest myself."

During his three years in the Void Space, Jing Pu had developed the good habit of relying on himself in everything. He would not ask Ling An'an to pull strings for him just because they were on good terms.

He would try the Outer Disciple examination in a while. Passing it would naturally be best; if he failed...

Then Jing Pu would go back and find that beautiful innkeeper. She liked him so much that even if he went there to serve tea and run errands, he would not starve to death.

Ling An'an had not wanted to leave. She wanted to stay and watch Jing Pu's examination. But since Jing Pu had told her to go, she could not say much. Besides, it was a good opportunity to tell her Master about this matter.

Ling An'an immediately nodded, then gave Jing Pu a slight, respectful bow.

"Then I'll be leaving first, Senior. I'll come see you again later."

As Ling An'an rode her Flying Sword toward the mountain, Jing Pu looked nervously at the cultivator before him and asked respectfully:

"Immortal, what should I do next?"

At this moment, Ling An'an was like a cheerful little bird, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face. This left many people puzzled. Their usually icy, frosty senior sister's face was so red today...

After speeding to the front of a massive palace and leaping off her Flying Sword, Ling An'an hurried inside.

Inside the palace, only an old man sat behind a desk, holding a book in his hands. He frowned faintly, as if something written in the book had baffled him.

Just then, Ling An'an stood in the center of the hall and respectfully called out to the old man, who was absorbed in his reading:

"Master, I'm back."

The old man was startled. When he saw Ling An'an, the worry on his face vanished, replaced by a kindly smile.

"An'an, you're back. Were the invitations delivered to the three princes?"

The old man was named Ling Tiannan. He was Ling An'an's Master, her uncle, and an elder of the Divine Sword Sect.

Ling An'an nodded quickly and hurriedly said:

"All the invitations have been delivered. Master, on my way back, I encountered a senior—an immensely powerful expert!"

Ling Tiannan did not panic at Ling An'an's words. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and said with an amused look:

"An immensely powerful expert? Just how powerful?"

The next moment, Ling An'an immediately said solemnly:

"At the very least, he is a senior at the Tribulation Crossing stage!"

Once Ling An'an finished speaking, Ling Tiannan, who had looked calm moments ago, went blank for an instant. After coming back to himself, he raised his brows, clearly unconvinced.

"A Tribulation Crossing expert? Could you have made a mistake? Our Blazing Dynasty has no Tribulation Crossing experts. The strongest is our sect master, who is merely at the peak of Spirit Emergence. Where would a Tribulation Crossing expert come from?"

Ling An'an nodded with absolute certainty.

"He must be a Tribulation Crossing expert, because I personally saw him Defying Heaven to Change Fate, altering the fortune of the lands around Qinghe Town for a hundred years."

At this, Ling Tiannan was also taken aback. For a brief moment earlier, he had indeed sensed a strange fluctuation in the south. But he had thought he was simply too absorbed in his reading and had sensed it wrongly.

Ling An'an hurriedly continued:

"And more importantly, that senior... also guided me... I'm about to enter the Golden Core stage."

Ling Tiannan was beginning to believe her. He stood up unconsciously, his face filled with astonishment.

"Where is that senior?"

Ling An'an immediately replied, "He's taking the Outer Disciple examination at the Divine Sword Sect right now."

Huh??

Ling Tiannan's mind could not process it. Taking the Outer Disciple examination??

A Tribulation Crossing expert?

Taking the Divine Sword Sect's Outer Disciple examination??

Huh??

What kind of muddled nonsense was this??

For a moment, Ling Tiannan wondered whether his foolishly sweet niece and disciple... had been deceived.

Though his niece usually looked cold as ice, Ling Tiannan knew better than anyone that she was cold on the outside but warm within. At times, she was easily impulsive and easily fooled.

Besides, if a Tribulation Crossing expert had truly come to the Divine Sword Sect, then forget about entering the sect's gates—Ling Tiannan would have immediately sensed the terrifying Spiritual Power fluctuations radiating from such an expert even from hundreds of miles away.

Seeing that her Master did not quite believe her, Ling An'an grew anxious and immediately said:

"Master, it's true! The senior seems to be playing through the mortal world. He claims to outsiders that he is only an ordinary person. Master, come take a look with me. The moment you see the senior, you'll definitely believe everything!"

That was true enough. Going to take a look would not cost him anything. He had been reading all day anyway; he could treat it as a chance to stretch his limbs. Ling Tiannan immediately got to his feet and said:

"Let's go. We'll take a look."

Though he said they would take a look, Ling Tiannan still felt that his niece had probably been deceived.

When Ling Tiannan came to Ling An'an's side, he noticed the painting scroll she held in her hand and immediately asked curiously:

"What is that?"

Ling An'an froze, then blushed as she replied:

"This was given to me by the senior... He said it was a painting from a long time ago, one of extraordinary meaning... so he gave it to me..."

As she spoke, Ling An'an handed the painting to Ling Tiannan.

The instant Ling Tiannan took the painting, he curled his lips. Well then... his foolish niece had definitely been conned.

There was not the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Power inside it. It was simply an extremely ordinary mundane object.

It was supposedly of extraordinary meaning? One look was enough to tell that fellow was no good, using such trash to sweet-talk and deceive others.

Ling Tiannan immediately frowned and unhappily unfurled the scroll.

However... before the scroll had even been opened a tenth of the way, Ling Tiannan, who had just been wearing an unhappy expression and thinking of how to deal with Jing Pu, froze on the spot.

Then a look of terror immediately surfaced on his face, and his whole body trembled faintly.

Before Ling An'an could figure out what was happening, Ling Tiannan swallowed hard and stammered as he looked at her:

"Th-this senior... how should he be addressed?!"