Eldest Senior Sister Xiao Muxue

At the foot of Qingyun Mountain.

Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu walked over, both looking utterly exhausted.

Ever since they had left the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, they had traveled through the entire night before finally returning to the Qingyun Dao Sect.

Seeing the familiar surroundings, Grand Hua Daoist and Su Changyu could not help but reveal long-missed smiles.

"Master, if you sneak off like this next time, be more careful. Don't let me catch you."

Su Changyu spoke helplessly.

"Get lost, get lost, get lost."

Grand Hua Daoist replied irritably, though he knew Su Changyu was merely joking. If something like this truly happened, Su Changyu would still choose to go with him.

"For the next two days, master and disciple should get some proper rest. Once we have recovered, we'll go down the mountain and forge a flying sword for your little junior brother."

Grand Hua Daoist said this.

"Alright."

Su Changyu nodded.

"Oh, right. Once you've rested, go check on your little junior brother and see how he's been lately. Don't let Luo Chen lead him astray."

"Alright, I'll make a trip there."

Su Changyu felt that Grand Hua Daoist made sense, so he agreed.

"Oh, and if your little junior brother has made another painting, bring it along too. Let's try to get your little junior brother a high-grade flying sword."

Grand Hua Daoist said somewhat awkwardly.

Though the painting was meant to help Ye Ping acquire a flying sword, it still felt somewhat embarrassing.

"Alright, I'll do my best."

Su Changyu also understood Grand Hua Daoist's meaning. Obtaining Spirit Essence Stones would allow them to forge a flying sword, but forging it required money too. Adding formations to it also cost money.

The Spirit Essence Stones they had obtained alone definitely would not be enough. If they could get another painting from Ye Ping, then it would not merely be a low-grade flying sword—they might even be able to acquire a high-grade flying sword.

Very soon, master and disciple returned to the Qingyun Dao Sect.

After more than ten days of traveling, coupled with the constant anxiety of recent days, both of them were exhausted in body and mind and only wanted to sleep peacefully.

At this moment, inside a thatched cottage in the Qingyun Dao Sect, a woman slowly stepped out.

Outside the thatched cottage.

The woman wore white robes and looked around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Her figure was graceful and supple, while her face was peerlessly beautiful, giving off the sense of a beauty who could bring calamity upon a kingdom.

Not the seductive sort of devastating beauty, but one so beautiful that her captivating peach-blossom eyes seemed capable of making any man in the world fall for her with a single glance.

She was beautiful. Calling her a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms and cities would not be an exaggeration.

It was truly difficult to imagine how such a small Qingyun Dao Sect could possess such an unparalleled woman.

She was the Qingyun Dao Sect's eldest senior sister, Xiao Muxue.

For the past few months, she had been in seclusion. Aside from appearing once at that meeting, she had not shown herself at any other time. No one knew what she had been busy with.

"Eldest Senior Sister."

At that moment, Chen Lingrou's voice rang out.

Hearing Chen Lingrou call out, Xiao Muxue could not help but turn her gaze over.

When she saw Chen Lingrou, a smile appeared on Xiao Muxue's stunning face.

"Eldest Senior Sister, you've finally emerged from seclusion?"

Chen Lingrou approached Xiao Muxue with a broad smile, even affectionately wrapping her arms around Xiao Muxue's arm.

"Yes, Lingrou. Come, let Senior Sister see whether you've developed."

Xiao Muxue chuckled, appearing exceedingly uninhibited.

The moment those words were spoken, Chen Lingrou immediately stepped back a little and said somewhat gloomily, "Eldest Senior Sister, why are you always concerned about this sort of thing?"

Chen Lingrou was rather helpless. Throughout the Qingyun Dao Sect, her eldest senior sister was the strangest one. Her mouth was full of ferocious tiger-and-wolf words, so none of the senior brothers dared provoke her.

Even their Sect Leader master often reprimanded Eldest Senior Sister for having none of the bearing expected of a cultivator.

"Hahaha, the little girl is getting shy. It's not as though Senior Sister doesn't have what you have. Look at that figure of yours—if you don't eat more, your Dao companion will suffer later."

Xiao Muxue chuckled, then pulled a jade gourd from her collar, removed its stopper, and took a great gulp of wine.

"Eldest Senior Sister, why do you speak of Dao companions every day? The Sect Leader introduced several people to you, yet you refused to become Dao companions with any of them. I really can't understand it."

"And Eldest Senior Sister, you're drinking again? Didn't Master say you weren't allowed to drink anymore? If you keep drinking, he'll punish you to reflect on your mistakes for a year. Aren't you really afraid of Master?"

Chen Lingrou was curious, but she also seemed somewhat nervous.

After all, the Sect Leader master had brought up Eldest Senior Sister's drinking more than once.

"The people Master introduced to me were all lecherous fools and wine sacks stuffed with rice. Your Senior Sister has high standards. And what is there to fear from taking a sip of wine? Little Junior Sister, wine is medicine for merriment. Would you like a taste too?"

Xiao Muxue chuckled and even reached out, intending to feed Chen Lingrou a sip of wine.

"I won't drink."

Chen Lingrou stepped back another half-step, her expression tense. She did not want to be scolded by the Sect Leader master. If he found out that she had been drinking, she probably would not live to see eighteen.

"Heh."

Xiao Muxue smiled, then took another sip of wine and cried out in delight.

"Lingrou, has anything happened in our sect lately? Has that disappointing eldest senior brother of yours condensed the Spring Thunder Sword Intent?"

Xiao Muxue asked.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like Eldest Senior Brother is probably still the same." Chen Lingrou shook her little head, then continued, "But while you were in seclusion, Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother seemed to have been angered by our little junior brother."

Chen Lingrou said this.

"Angered? How so?"

At this moment, Xiao Muxue appeared extremely eager for gossip. Looking at Chen Lingrou, she said, "Quick, tell me. What happened?"

She looked at Chen Lingrou with great interest.

"When Little Junior Brother first arrived, didn't Eldest Senior Brother teach him swordsmanship? But unexpectedly, Little Junior Brother's aptitude was extremely poor. No matter how they taught him, he couldn't learn it, so their mentality nearly collapsed."

"Some time ago, whenever midnight came, Eldest Senior Brother would stand alone on the cliff, looking weighed down by worries. Later, Brother Luochen took over Eldest Senior Brother's duties, but last night Second Senior Brother was the same, exactly like Eldest Senior Brother."

Chen Lingrou explained very seriously.

"Eldest Senior Sister, even if Little Junior Brother's talent truly isn't good, Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother don't even have this much ability to bear pressure. If the Sect Leader master hands the position over to them in the future, won't our Qingyun Dao Sect be finished?"

After saying this, Chen Lingrou looked deeply worried.

There was one more thing she did not say, but she kept it hidden in her heart.

"Hmph. Lingrou, you must properly learn the cultivation method Senior Sister taught you. Whatever you do, don't become like those two useless senior brothers of yours."

Xiao Muxue patted Chen Lingrou's head, then left.

"Senior Sister, where are you going?"

Chen Lingrou asked curiously.

"To see that little junior brother of yours."

Xiao Muxue answered casually.

"Oh, shall I go with you?"

Chen Lingrou continued asking.

"No. Go cultivate properly. If you want to take over our Qingyun Dao Sect, you must work harder."

Xiao Muxue saw through Chen Lingrou's thoughts and said so.

The moment those words were spoken, Chen Lingrou could not help but look a little embarrassed.

At the end.

Xiao Muxue suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Chen Lingrou.

Her stunning face, illuminated by sunlight, looked exceptionally beautiful. Under such a gaze, Chen Lingrou could not help but blush.

"Little Junior Sister, remember to eat more. Learn from Senior Sister. Stop binding your chest, or be careful you don't end up underdeveloped."

Xiao Muxue chuckled.

The moment those words were spoken, Chen Lingrou's little face reddened, and she became somewhat irritated.

And so it was.

Xiao Muxue carried her wine gourd and headed toward the Qingyun Back Cliff.

A quarter of an hour later.

In the distance.

Xiao Muxue spotted Ye Ping's figure from afar.

Below the cliff.

Ye Ping was cultivating in tranquil focus, his eyes closed and his expression exceedingly serious.

"Gasp, he's actually a young fresh-faced beauty?"

When Xiao Muxue saw Ye Ping for the first time, her beautiful eyes immediately lit up.

Ye Ping's current appearance had undergone a completely different change from before. The former Ye Ping could only be called delicate-looking, but the current Ye Ping was not only exceedingly handsome, his entire body also exuded the aura of a Confucian Immortal.

He carried a natural air of the Great Dao that inexplicably inspired goodwill.

"Who would have thought? Who would have thought that Master would take in such a handsome little junior brother for me? He happens to be exactly my type. Tsk, tsk. Since that's the case, fine water should not flow into outsiders' fields."

Xiao Muxue chuckled, her beautiful eyes brimming with amusement. She tucked the wine gourd back into her collar, then slowly walked toward Ye Ping.

But after taking a few more steps closer, Xiao Muxue was suddenly stunned.

Xiao Muxue froze completely.

She stood in the distance, staring at Ye Ping, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

After a long while, Xiao Muxue came back to herself. She rubbed her eyes, then examined Ye Ping once more.

Finally, she could not help but draw in a sharp breath.

"Such a physique actually exists?"

Xiao Muxue was utterly shaken.

At a glance, she sensed that Ye Ping's physique was extraordinarily special. At first, she did not think much of it, but after observing carefully, she was thoroughly shocked.

"Who would have thought? Who would have thought that Master, who has such rotten luck, could actually take in such an unparalleled genius? Incredible, truly incredible. A physique that exists only in myths—I never expected it to truly exist."

"No, it might not necessarily be that kind of physique, but at the very least, it is an exceptionally extraordinary physique."

"I truly never expected two peerless existences to appear in the Qingyun Dao Sect at once. It seems I was right all those years ago. The Qingyun Dao Sect is hiding someone who bears supreme fortune."

"No, no, I must drink this mouthful of rich water."

Xiao Muxue muttered inwardly.

She was indeed shocked.

At a glance, she had noticed that Ye Ping's physique was extraordinarily remarkable, and she guessed that it might be some kind of peerless physique. Yet she was not entirely certain. For now, she could only confirm that Ye Ping was extraordinary—very, very extraordinary.

She took a few more steps forward.

Xiao Muxue stopped again.

"Peerless aptitude for the sword Dao?"

"Peerless aptitude for alchemy?"

"Gasp! Does it have to be this outrageous? There's no need to go this far, right?"

Xiao Muxue was stunned once more.

Because she discovered that Ye Ping not only possessed some exceptionally extraordinary physique, but also peerless aptitude for the sword Dao and peerless aptitude for alchemy.

This was a little too outrageous.

"Heavens, I wonder whether Little Junior Brother can accept a Dao companion older than him. No, no, for such a peerless genius, even if I can't have him, I must take every advantage I can."

The next moment, Xiao Muxue became even more excited.