Qin the Aunt-Master

With matters here settled, the two headed toward the sect. Ye Wan agreed when she learned that Chen Fan wanted to restore his cultivation through his own efforts. This meant there was no need to hurry along the road; they could take this chance to admire the scenery, roam mountains and rivers, and travel like an immortal couple, carefree beyond compare.

Along the way, their feelings warmed further. Though they did not burn with the same dry-kindling blaze as they had that night, their eyes remained full of tenderness, and they always walked hand in hand, side by side.

Yet happy times were always so short. As they walked, they soon arrived before the mountain gate at the foot of Swordcry Mountain. Two inner court disciples were standing guard. Both appeared to be nearing forty—not old, exactly—but their cultivation was formidable, on par with Ye Wan's. The moment they saw Ye Wan, they cried out joyfully, "Junior Sister Ye, you finally returned? The elders have been talking about you lately, wondering why you had been traveling down the mountain for so long. They were even worried you might have run into some trouble."

"So it is Senior Brother Liao and Senior Brother Zhu. I did encounter some matters during this trip down the mountain, and I was just about to report them to the elders." As Ye Wan spoke, she walked toward the mountain gate, with Chen Fan following behind. At this moment, he certainly did not dare flaunt their affection with Ye Wan again.

"Wait. This junior nephew, could you show us your disciple token?" the man surnamed Zhu said as he stopped Chen Fan.

Chen Fan smiled awkwardly. His outer sect disciple token had been crudely made to begin with. That night, when he and Ye Wan had been consumed by desire, not only had their clothes been ruined, even his disciple token had suffered along with them.

"Senior Brothers, I can verify that he is outer sect disciple Chen Fan. Earlier, he and I encountered some trouble together below the mountain, so his disciple token was lost. Please allow him to pass," Ye Wan said. She had likely guessed what had happened and hurriedly covered for Chen Fan.

"This... I'm afraid that does not comply with sect rules. How about you return to the sect first, Junior Sister? I can find the outer sect steward, who can naturally verify this person's identity," the man surnamed Zhu said.

"There is no need. If I say he is who he is, then he is. If there is any problem, you may ask the elders to punish me!" With that, Ye Wan's aura surged. A dense wave of Origin Qi condensed and swept toward the two senior brothers.

All three were immediately shocked. Yes, even Chen Fan's mouth twitched. This woman—once she returned to the sect, she had become that peerlessly arrogant Fairy Ye again.

"Junior Sister, stop. We will let him through," the two quickly yielded. The man surnamed Zhu added, "I never expected that this trip down the mountain would allow Junior Sister to break through to the fifth level. It seems your fortune was no small matter indeed. We are truly green with envy."

The fifth level already? Chen Fan was equally shaken. Not only had the gap between them failed to shrink, it had instead grown ever wider.

Ye Wan gave a cold snort and entered the mountain gate, with Chen Fan close behind.

As they made their way up the mountain, Ye Wan did not use the Soaring Art. She knew Chen Fan must be feeling incomparably bitter, so she climbed the mountain path with him step by step.

"I had wanted to tell you earlier, but then I suddenly discovered that your cultivation had regressed, so I..." Ye Wan explained.

"It is nothing. Naturally, I am happy that you broke through. But I was thinking, how could a fifth-level bottleneck possibly be so easy to break through? Could it be...?" Chen Fan suddenly looked at Ye Wan with a beaming smile.

Ye Wan's face immediately reddened again. "You know, yet you still had to say it?"

The two understood without needing words. It had been that night: under the stimulation of the supremely yang thing, followed by the process of yin and yang merging, Ye Wan's Internal Qi, already at the peak of the fourth level, had leapt in one bound into the fifth. As expected, breakthroughs depended on opportunity! Chen Fan thought. Passion could be considered one kind of opportunity too.

Not long afterward, the two entered Swordcry Mountain's main gate. Ye Wan sighed softly and said reluctantly, "We can only part ways now. I need to return to the inner court and report to the elders, then consolidate my realm. You should return to the outer court and recuperate properly as well." In truth, Swordcry Mountain had already received reports from several small and medium sects in the surrounding area. Children had been abducted in the major cities throughout the West Ridge Mountains, and those sects had sought Swordcry Mountain's aid. From all the information she had obtained, Ye Wan understood the gravity of the matter. She needed to inform the sect as soon as possible so it could make preparations early.

Chen Fan was also rather melancholy. This meant that he might not see Ye Wan again for quite some time. Nor was it yet the time to reveal their relationship, or it would inevitably invite criticism.

They both understood what returning to the sect meant, but it was all for the sake of cultivating better and strengthening themselves. The days ahead were long; they could take things slowly in the future. Thus, they wished each other well before going their separate ways.

After returning to the outer sect, Chen Fan encountered several other disciples. They all knew him. After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, he did not linger and headed straight for his residence.

Chen Fan impatiently opened his door. By his reckoning, he had been down the mountain for half a month. Those two snakes had probably been starved half to death by now.

The instant he stepped through the door, two figures shot out at lightning speed and lunged straight at him. Chen Fan did not panic. Instead, he laughed loudly. "Haha, you two little fellows, it seems you have improved again!"

The two snakes' bodies had grown considerably larger than before, and the patterns on their bodies had become increasingly solid. If ordinary mortals saw them, they would surely be scared out of their wits. Before Chen Fan could move closer for a better look, the Eastern Heretic and Western Venom snakes rushed up and coiled around him. The sight was extremely terrifying, yet Chen Fan's smile only widened. The two snakes were clearly welcoming his return. They truly were remarkably intelligent.

"All right, you two, get down." The moment Chen Fan spoke, the two snakes swiftly slipped off his body. Chen Fan had thought that this welcoming ceremony was over. Unexpectedly, it was only the beginning of a grand performance.

The two snakes began twisting their bodies happily, dancing with graceful sways. Then one snake's form suddenly blurred, and its body began continuously shrinking. After several breaths, it had shrunk from several zhang long to only several feet. Chen Fan was greatly astonished. He recognized the one with darker green eyes as Little Xi. Although demonic beasts had a certain chance of acquiring unusual innate abilities, this fellow had only been born not long ago, yet it already possessed one—and such a strange one at that. It seemed his painstaking efforts in feeding them all manner of poisons had not been wasted.

After Little Xi shrank, it swayed back and forth before Chen Fan, seemingly showing off. Then it suddenly darted onto Chen Fan and coiled around his waist, remaining motionless like a belt. Chen Fan burst into laughter. "You little fellow, you really are clever. This way, it will be convenient for you to go out with me, right?"

He then looked toward Little Dong. This fellow would surely refuse to be outdone. Sure enough, when Little Dong saw Little Xi coiled around Chen Fan's waist, it hissed loudly, clearly expressing its dissatisfaction. Then it abruptly straightened upright and continuously rose until it stood fully erect. By then, it nearly reached the ceiling. In the next instant, its straight body suddenly began spinning, faster and faster, as a faint glow shimmered around it. A moment later, Little Dong's height slowly decreased, though it did not become as small as Little Xi.

When its height had shrunk to Chen Fan's chest, the spinning stopped, and the light vanished. Chen Fan discovered that Little Dong had transformed into a pitch-black snake staff. When he reached out to touch it, its surface was hard. Gripping it and giving it a light swing, it really did resemble a weapon. If he combined it with the Golden Wheel Staff Technique, which he had not practiced in a long while, perhaps it could truly display some measure of power. This way, he could also carry it with him openly and naturally. Still, he did not dare use the snake staff Little Dong had become to clash weapons with an enemy. It would be bad if he accidentally hurt it.

"All right, I am very satisfied with you two. Change back for now. There are some pills here too; take them and eat them." Chen Fan casually tossed out several medicinal pellets. These were also some of his last remaining ones, but now that he had returned to the sect, he had plenty of time to make more.

The main task upon returning this time was to visit the Sword-forging Room and reforge and upgrade his broken sword. To avoid wasting time, he first asked an outer sect elder whether the Sword-forging Room had any openings over the next few days, how much material would roughly be needed, and the entire process of forging a sword. Once he had prepared all this, Chen Fan decided to visit the Sword-forging Room the next day.

Early the next morning, Chen Fan gathered his Spirit Stones and materials and prepared to head to the Sword-forging Room. Ordinary outer sect disciples rarely used this place. It was located beside the Sword-Imperial Pavilion in the inner court, and Chen Fan had only qualified to enter after entrusting an outer sect elder to make an appointment and registration the previous day.

Just as he stepped out of his room, a figure drifted gracefully toward him. The person before him wore a long red dress, with a voluptuous figure. Her long hair was not coiled behind her head, but tied into two long braids that swung behind her. It was Qin Ziyan, whom he had not seen in over a year. She now carried an unmistakably mature charm, her flawless face and figure displayed in full.

"Ah, Senior Sister Qin." Chen Fan froze before coming to his senses. "Oh, no, that is not right. I should be calling you Aunt-Master Qin now." Chen Fan had previously heard that Qin Ziyan had successfully emerged from seclusion after breaking through. Although her Internal Qi realm remained at the third level, with her sword arts and divine abilities, she was already effectively a fourth-level cultivator.

"Are you sick? You make me sound so old. Can't you just call me Ziyan? We are friends." When she said the word "friends," Qin Ziyan's pretty face flushed slightly.

What was going on here? In truth, after Qin Ziyan had given him the handwritten copy that day, Chen Fan's attitude toward her had changed. This girl truly valued loyalty and kept her word. She was kind-hearted too, though her temper was a little unruly. Still, she had treated him exceptionally well. Could it be that she liked him? Where had he gotten so much romantic fortune?

"Friends, of course we are friends. I still have to thank you for giving me that copied book that day," Chen Fan said sincerely.

"What is there to thank me for? Do not forget, you saved my life. Compared to a life, what do these things amount to?" Qin Ziyan said disdainfully.

It seemed that his relationship with this Little Witch would be impossible to disentangle in the future. Chen Fan asked curiously, "Did you come to find me this time because you want to go somewhere again?"

"Haha, yes. How did you know?" Qin Ziyan looked quite happy. "I only emerged from seclusion not long ago, and then I came looking for you, wanting to see how your cultivation was progressing. Who would have thought that you had gone down the mountain? Then I went to find Senior Sister Ye, only to discover that she was not around either. It was not until Senior Sister Ye returned yesterday that I asked her and learned that you had actually come back with her." As she spoke, she eyed Chen Fan suspiciously.

Chen Fan secretly thought that things were not looking good. Had this Little Witch discovered something? Earlier, he and Ye Wan had already agreed on their story. They would say that they had been attacked by men in black below the mountain, that he had been badly injured and suffered a cultivation regression, and that Fairy Ye had happened to arrive in time to save him, after which he returned to the sect with her. This version of events was plain and unadorned, but entirely reasonable. No one should doubt it, right?

"What did Fairy Ye say?" Chen Fan asked indirectly, probing from the side.

"She said that the moment you came back, you started exchanging flirtatious glances with some outer sect female disciples. You were just injured, and you still had the leisure to flirt!?" Qin Ziyan said angrily.

What? Wan'er's move was a little hard to understand. But on second thought, Chen Fan suddenly realized something, and his admiration for Ye Wan became boundless.

This was like the principal wife sending the third mistress to keep an eye on the fourth and fifth mistresses. She did not need to show herself, yet everything remained under her control. It was simply brilliant. He thought that although Wan'er could sometimes be gentle and sweet before him, she was still the Ice Fairy who had long been renowned. How could he or Qin Ziyan compare to her in intelligence and methods? It seemed that in this regard, he would have to tuck his tail between his legs from now on.

"There is no such thing. How could I possibly be that kind of person? Ever since returning, I have been meditating and cultivating, recovering from my injuries," Chen Fan hurriedly explained.

"Right, how are your injuries?" Qin Ziyan had also heard Ye Wan mention that Chen Fan had been attacked and injured, and that it might even involve a conspiracy by a major sect. The inner court elders were all deeply concerned.

"I am already fine. There is no need to worry," Chen Fan said lightly.

"You are really fine?" Qin Ziyan had heard that the person who attacked Chen Fan was a fourth-level expert. She focused her gaze on him. Suddenly, the aura around her surged, as though she were furious beyond all limit. "Who did it? I will go kill him!"

"Ah, what is it?"

What did she mean? Was she referring to my cultivation regression, or to my first time being taken? A strange thought arose from nowhere in Chen Fan's heart.

"Cultivating the Starforce Formula already gives one a powerful perception of Origin Qi in heaven and earth, and my realm has improved again recently. How much longer did you think you could hide it from me?" Qin Ziyan's furious face held a pair of eyes that were faintly reddened. "Who exactly did this? Was it one of the other three great sects?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan finally understood what she was asking about.

"No, do not worry about that first. Come! Come with me to see my master. He will surely have a way to help you restore your cultivation." Qin Ziyan anxiously grabbed Chen Fan's hand. She knew very clearly what it meant to fall an entire realm. In her heart, Chen Fan was not merely her lifesaver; he was also a genius like herself. She had thought Chen Fan would soon reach the fourth level as well, yet she had never expected things to become like this.

Chen Fan felt Qin Ziyan's undisguised fury and anxiety, and his heart was moved by her once again. Her fiery temperament seemed to warm his heart as well.