Far North's "Growing Grass" Routine

"Xing Lan, Jing Heng still not awake? I'm getting so bored I'm practically growing weeds." Xie Xie leaned back in his chair, sipping his black tea.

Tang Wulin was coming in from outside, his shoulders still covered in unmelted snow.

Hearing Xie Xie say this, he took off his outer robe and said, "Bored? How about I accompany you for a few laps? The eastern section just replaced a new batch of sentry towers last night, and they need someone to test them out."

He said this very seriously; he genuinely wanted to find something for Xie Xie to do.

Xie Xie rolled his eyes, and was about to say, "Then I might as well keep growing weeds," when Ye Xinglan spoke up.

"Ask, ask, ask every single day."

Ye Xinglan didn't even look up, and put down the blanket in her hand.

"Is he my boyfriend or your boyfriend? Xie Xie, has Yuan En abandoned you?"

Xie Xie almost spat out his mouthful of black tea.

He sat up abruptly, making the chair creak.

"Hahahahaha!" ×2

Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan laughed exaggeratedly.

Yuanen Yehui happened to be passing by the door. Hearing the second half of the sentence, he didn't stop walking, but simply said in a calm voice, "Actually, I don't mind having a couple more days of peace and quiet."

Xie Xie's face turned green. "No, Yuan En, let me explain--"

"Explain what?"

Yuanen Yehui had already walked away, leaving only half of his back view and a faint remark. "You certainly have a lot of free time."

"I mind! He's my boyfriend!" Ye Xinglan shouted.

Xu Xiaoyan finally stopped laughing and quickly waved her hand, "Alright, alright, if you keep teasing Xing Lan, none of you will escape when Jing Heng comes back."

She leaned closer to the charcoal stove, then, as if remembering something, said mysteriously, "Hey, by the way, have you heard that Sister Gu Yue is wreaking havoc in the Spirit Pagoda?"

I've heard about it.

Tang Wulin hung up his outer robe and sat down by the fire. "She really didn't hold back this time. Six branch tower masters were wiped out in an instant, one of whom was a veteran from the north who had followed Qiangu Dongfeng back in the day. He's no longer in the tower."

"I also heard it from the Tang Sect." Yuanen Yehui turned back, carrying a small bag of dried fruit.

She sat down next to Xu Xiaoyan and slowly said, "Originally, a few people wanted to cause trouble. Gu Yuena didn't give them a chance to speak. As soon as the Tower Master's Seal appeared, the guards immediately arrested them. Two had their orders removed, and one was immediately suppressed. The Spirit Pagoda Headquarters was sealed off that afternoon."

"That's too fierce."

Xie Xie hugged his teacup tightly. "How come I never realized she could be so scary before?"

"She's the kind of person who never smiles, but once she takes action, she can make you so angry you won't even be able to cry."

Xu Xiaoyan whispered, "You didn't see it, but now the people in the tower are calling her 'Tower Master' with a trembling voice."

Ye Xinglan remained silent, simply wiping her hands slowly.

Hearing this, she said calmly, "It's already quite difficult for her to stand there all by herself."

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Everyone knew that Gu Yuena was alone in the Spirit Pagoda, unlike them who were in the Far North.

There were eyes everywhere.

Overtly, there is suspicion about her identity; covertly, there are remnants of the Federation and the Holy Spirit Cult.

The fact that she was able to stand firm in such a place and pay off the debts of six people is more than just strong.

He forced himself to transform from a "disciple of Leng Yaozhu" into the "master of the Spirit Pagoda".

As they were talking, the door was pushed open from the outside.

The wind and snow swept in.

Yun Jingheng stood at the door, his hair covered in snow, but his eyes were extremely bright.

He glanced around the room, a slow smile creeping onto his lips. "I could hear you all shouting from far away. What are you talking about? Count me in."

He walked in, bringing with him a chill.

Ye Xinglan had already stood up, and Xie Xie jumped up as well, his eyes lighting up.

"You've finally emerged from seclusion! What realm are you at now?"

Yun Jingheng shrugged. "I'm not very talented, only at level 89 peak. If I hadn't focused on Soul Tool, I might have already reached my limit."

"Level 89 peak?!"

Xie Xie sprang up from his chair, spilling half of his red tea. He frantically wiped it up, but couldn't bear to look away from Yun Jingheng. "We've been working ourselves to the bone these past few days, barely making it to level 70, and you, you just sit in an ice cave and come out at level 89? Peak level? And you call yourself 'incompetent'?"

"That is."

Xu Xiaoyan puffed out her cheeks, her voice not loud, but full of accusation, "Jing Heng, you're really hurting us. What do you mean 'if you don't focus on Soul Tool '? You can get 89 if you focus on Soul Tool, so if you concentrate on cultivation, are we even allowed to live?"

Yun Jingheng sat down next to Ye Xinglan with a smile, took the hot water she handed him, and seemed to enjoy everyone's reaction.

He blew on the steam rising from the water and said slowly, "I was just being modest. But to be honest, God Trial are different from regular cultivation."

"It's not as simple as just meditating and practicing internal energy every day. The reason I was able to stay inside was because of all the things that happened before. If you were in my shoes, you might have been able to get in even faster than me."

"Don't try to fix it."

Xie Xie clutched his chest, "You're already 89. Tang Wulin is only 80. Gu Yuena has already broken through the Spirit Pagoda."

"I feel like in this team, only Xiao Yan, Yuan En, and I are still behaving Xing Lan."

He turned to look at Yuanen Yehui: "Yuan En, hit him, let me see if he's really out of seclusion. What if it's just a clone?"

Yuanen Yehui snapped open the dried fruit shell with a "click," without even looking up. "I don't want it. I'm afraid he'll turn around and plant me in the snow."

Ye Xinglan quietly added, "I'm level 84."

Xie Xie helplessly, "Fine, there are three immortals here."

Tang Wulin laughed and continued, "Jing Heng is right. He hasn't come out for four months, and the rest of us haven't been idle on the front lines either."

"Now that you're out of seclusion, our team is only missing Gu Yue."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Yun Jingheng, carrying a long-lost sense of relief.

Yun Jingheng glanced at Tang Wulin and nodded. "You smell of the sea. Looks like the road over there is almost finished."

Tang Wulin was taken aback, then chuckled, "You can even sense that?"

"Of course," Yun Jingheng said.

Xie Xie was a little confused. "What the hell is seafood? Did I marinate it for you after a year in the Star Luo Empire?"

Tang Wulin couldn't help but smack him on the back of the head. "You're the one who's really marinated."

Yun Jingheng didn't explain, just smiled and lowered his head to drink water.

Of course he knew what it was.

The faint fluctuations around Tang Wulin were actually more accurate than they had been four months ago, even though he had just emerged from seclusion.

Those are traces left by the Sea God Divine Power.

Tang Wulin didn't mention it, which meant it wasn't the right time to talk about it yet, so he pretended not to know.

Xie Xie, seeing that one of them was pretending to be stupid and the other was watching the show, became even more interested.

He leaned closer to Tang Wulin and sniffed him twice. "No, you really have a smell? Is the Star Luo Empire Sea really that magical? Or is that conch shell you brought back some kind of treasure?"

As he spoke, he reached out to touch her, but Tang Wulin stopped him. "If you're really that free, I'll take you for a run around the east side of the city right now. I guarantee you won't smell the sea anymore when we get back, only the smell of sweat."

Xu Xiaoyan laughed from the side, "Xie Xie, are you a dog?"

Yuanen Yehui said calmly, "Like cats, they get sick from being idle."

Ye Xinglan watched the group playfully bickering with a smile.

After they finished arguing, Yun Jingheng slowly said, "You've been in the Star Luo Empire for so long, in harbors and on ships, isn't it normal to smell a bit of seawater on you? That's how it is along the coast of both the Federation and Star Luo Empire."

"That's normal."