Ye Fan's Departure

After using Reflection Points, Jiang Yun felt his vision blur. As the stars shifted, he seemed to arrive in the depths of the cosmos.

A towering figure emerged from the void before him. The moment he appeared, countless Daos resonated, and the stars pulsed with his breathing.

Seeing that the illusory image before him had its eyes tightly shut, Jiang Yun breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought Emperor Hengyu had revived.

Jiang Yun's heart suddenly stirred, and in the darkness, he came to understand certain principles. He could choose some scriptures and secret techniques.

The secret techniques and scriptures mastered by Emperor Hengyu were as vast as the sea. Jiang Yun even saw the complete Solar Scripture and the Lunar Scripture, which lacked its forbidden secret technique.

There were also five inheritances of the Nine Secrets: Bing, Dou, Zhe, Zu, and Jie.

Reflection Points were obtained based on favorability. They were not difficult to acquire, but there was a limit.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yun chose the complete Solar Scripture and Nine Secrets: Zhe. It was just a pity there was no Secret of Xing.

Although he could not cultivate the former for now, it could broaden his horizons. Nine Secrets: Zhe could save his life. Keeping his dog life mattered most.

As for the Hengyu Scripture, Jiang Yun considered it and gave up on choosing it. Once he joined the Jiang Family in the future, they would all be family.

There was no need to waste a choice on something he could naturally obtain.

His vision blurred again, and Jiang Yun's consciousness returned to his body. The Solar Scripture and Nine Secrets: Zhe had already been imprinted in his heart.

After making his choices, Jiang Yun did not dwell on them further. As for cultivating either of them, that was even more impossible.

He had not even reached the Life Spring yet. Rather than cultivating those, it was more practical to honestly raise his realm.

After consuming some Divine Spring Fluid, he cultivated with Source Stone in hand. His entire being sank into a mysterious state. Above the dark green Sea of Bitterness, three Divine Patterns shone brilliantly.

As Jiang Yun refined the Divine Spring Fluid, his Sea of Bitterness gradually expanded. Clouds and rosy mist rose, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and amid the circulating essence energy, a new Divine Pattern split off.

Through arduous cultivation, a month passed in the blink of an eye. During the day, Jiang Yun cultivated diligently; at night, he worked diligently.

After a month, Jiang Shuanglan was positively radiant. Her originally elegant and dignified bearing had gained a trace of mature feminine charm, making her even more graceful and noble.

At first, she had cooperated readily, but after more than a month, she was in terrible shape. She could hardly endure three or four hours every day, and in recent days, she had found it difficult to get up and cultivate after it was over.

Jiang Shuanglan felt rather proud that Jiang Yun was so infatuated with her, but she also felt it delayed his cultivation too much and had warned him more than once.

But when she saw the ten divine chains shooting from Jiang Yun's Sea of Bitterness, she fell silent.

At present, there were only eight Divine Patterns above her Sea of Bitterness. That was the result of three years of cultivation. Now that she had an ample supply of Hundred-Grass Liquid, she cultivated even more diligently.

Jiang Yun gave his hundred bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid to Ye Fan, helping him open a golden Sea of Bitterness. The stormy, wave-like commotion truly shocked Jiang Yun.

The gap between people was simply too enormous, even greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

That day, the sky was clear, the sun shone brightly, and not a cloud stretched across the endless heavens. It was perfect weather for going out.

Ye Fan packed his belongings and knocked on Jiang Yun's door.

"What's this?"

Though he had long been prepared, Jiang Yun was still somewhat surprised when the day truly came. He had not expected Ye Fan to want to leave so soon.

"Brother, I've already opened my Sea of Bitterness and nurtured two Divine Patterns. I have the ability to protect myself while traveling outside now. I want to see the lands of the Eastern Wilderness and search for a way to break the Sacred Physique Curse."

Ye Fan had prepared for this day for a long time. Though he had joined Jade Cauldron Paradise, it was ultimately because of Jiang Yun, so he did not feel much attachment to this place.

The Sacred Physique had merely opened its Sea of Bitterness, yet it had already consumed so many resources. He was too embarrassed to let Jiang Yun support him. Jiang Yun was his cousin, not his father.

Ye Fan had a strong sense of pride and was unwilling to live dependent on others like this. When his cousin got married, he could not even afford a wedding gift.

A man born between heaven and earth, how could he remain dejected beneath another for long?

"Are you really prepared? Do you have cultivation scriptures for the other secret realms in the future? Do you know where to obtain cultivation resources? Do you even know where you are in the Eastern Wilderness?"

Jiang Yun fired off a string of urgent questions, successfully leaving Ye Fan dumbfounded.

"I..." Ye Fan wanted to say that none of this was urgent and that he could slowly ask around and search.

"Don't rush. I know you don't have any of those things, but I've prepared them all for you."

Jiang Yun interrupted Ye Fan, directly pulled him into the alchemy room, and gave him the complete cultivation method of the Dao Scripture.

He then took out a map of part of the Eastern Wilderness, which he had previously asked Elder Feng to obtain.

He also handed Ye Fan a bottle of Divine Spring Fluid the size of a mineral water bottle.

"So what if the Ancient Sacred Body cannot cultivate? I believe you will eventually break the Sacred Physique Curse. Your future is destined to be brilliant and glorious. Staying in Jade Cauldron Paradise all the time only limits you. Your cousin believes in you."

Jiang Yun grabbed Ye Fan and began speaking passionately, filling him with encouragement.

Ye Fan had imagined many possibilities. If his cousin refused to let him leave, he had even planned to sneak away at night.

But he had never imagined this situation.

Ye Fan quickly calmed down. Since his cousin supported him so much, he would definitely not betray his cousin's trust.

The two men did not say much more in farewell. It was not as though they would never meet again.

Jiang Yun called Jiang Shuanglan out, and together they saw Ye Fan out of Jade Cauldron Paradise.

At parting, Jiang Shuanglan also gave Ye Fan fifty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid as assistance.

"No matter what happens outside, remember that you have a cousin who can support you."

Ye Fan's eyes instantly reddened. He rubbed the sand from his eyes, then immediately turned and left.

As she watched Ye Fan's receding figure, Jiang Shuanglan looked at Jiang Yun and asked,

"You're really that relieved to let your cousin leave Jade Cauldron Paradise and travel alone?"

"You don't understand. If he stays in Jade Cauldron Paradise, he's only Ye Fan. Only by going out can he become Heavenly Emperor Ye."

Jiang Yun looked at Ye Fan's departing back and murmured.

"Hmph, what a boast."

Hearing such unrealistic words, Jiang Shuanglan spoke a phrase from Jiang Yun's hometown dialect.

But Jiang Shuanglan understood how much Jiang Yun valued this cousin of his.

Jiang Yun smiled and said nothing. No one would believe those words no matter who he told them to.

After all, if Ye Fan did not cultivate diligently, he could only go home and inherit the Dao-Merging Flower, with becoming a Great Emperor as his fallback.

How many people could understand that kind of trouble?

After seeing Ye Fan off, the two returned to the valley.

"From today onward, we can finally begin our true world of just the two of us!"

Looking at the valley without a third wheel, Jiang Yun happily picked Jiang Shuanglan up and spun her in circles.

That night.

With only the two of them, Jiang Shuanglan no longer needed to suppress her voice.

After entering a state of enlightenment, Jiang Yun felt Lan'er in his arms.

Her flowing hair carried a faint fragrance.

"I can't do this anymore. We can't do this next time. I can't cultivate like this. I need to get up and cultivate."

Jiang Shuanglan murmured groggily.

Jiang Yun felt somewhat distressed as he listened. Jiang Shuanglan cultivated very diligently, but Jiang Yun took up so much of her time every night that she had no way to cultivate.

Although Jiang Shuanglan cared greatly about cultivation, she had never refused Jiang Yun.

In truth, their happy life at night could also be considered a form of cultivation.

After more than a month of effort, Jiang Shuanglan's physique had improved somewhat. Though the improvement was not great, perseverance was what mattered.

Dripping water could pierce stone, and an iron pestle could be ground into a needle. One day, there would be a qualitative transformation.

Sharpening the knife did not delay the chopping of firewood. Jiang Yun comforted himself with that thought, and his sense of guilt faded away.