At that moment, Ling Qingcheng was moved.
Overwhelming so many supreme elders single-handedly was beyond any ordinary expert.
In other words, this man who looked about her age was a Great Emperor?
That thought alone was enough to drive someone mad!
How was that possible?
She considered her own talent unparalleled, yet even she was nowhere near that outrageous. This fellow had to be an old monster...
So she thought.
The instant Chen Fan met Ling Qingcheng's eyes, the jade pendant stirred noticeably, and he hurriedly pressed it down.
Barring any surprises, this should be the current incarnation of his reincarnated master, Great Emperor Xuanji.
Her disciple had finally found her.
But something unexpected seemed to have happened on his master's side as well. As her disciple, he naturally had no need to worry. She was no ordinary person.
While the atmosphere turned strange, the people below were thinking of something else instead. Looking up at the two overhead, they thought the pair suited this scene perfectly. A match, an absolute match.
However they looked at them, the two were inexplicably one hell of a match.
How could the supreme elders spare any thought for what had happened with Ling Qingcheng?
They could barely save their own skins.
"We pay our respects to the Great Emperor. This truly was a misunderstanding. May we ask whom you have come to find? Our Divine Dao Holy Land will certainly cooperate fully." The chief supreme elder's attitude took a complete turn.
He was utterly deferential.
The Divine Dao Holy Land was indeed powerful, but it still could not afford to offend a Great Emperor! No reason was needed.
Who the hell knew why Chen Fan had already reached such a realm!
He was simply terrifying beyond belief, but his age was of no use whatsoever now. They dared neither ask nor speak.
An Emperor Realm expert! At the chief supreme elder's words, the disciples who finally caught on nearly wet themselves on the spot. Fuck, this had to be a joke.
Chen Fan did not conceal it. "The one I seek is her..."
Everyone knew that "her" meant Ling Qingcheng, who had suddenly appeared.
Ling Qingcheng was instantly bewildered.
I was only watching. I couldn't interfere anyway. He's looking for me?
The supreme elders' hearts sank. They were finished. Someone had set his sights on their most gifted holy maiden. Danger.
But they could not stop him!
As everyone's attention shifted, Ling Qingcheng's attention shifted as well.
Yet just then, Granny Luo, who lay on the ground with broken bones, barely clinging to life, released a stream of Black Qi from her soul. Then she directly detonated her spirit artifact, and the Soul-Guiding Demonic Banner exploded with a thunderous blast.
She had failed! Ling Qingcheng had never been under her control, from beginning to end!
However she thought about it, she could not understand!
Her end was certain death! At that moment, she resolved to drag someone down with her, furiously cursing the heavens for their injustice!
"Oh no." Sensing that presence, Ling Qingcheng came back to her senses.
At the same time, the elders' expressions changed drastically.
The next instant, Chen Fan was already beside Ling Qingcheng. With one hand, he suppressed Granny Luo, directly shattering both her and the spirit artifact to pieces.
A mere ant dared try to harm someone right under his nose. She was courting death.
Even in death, Granny Luo never understood why she had failed, or why even dragging someone down with her had been so difficult.
Seeing Chen Fan act decisively, the supreme elders knew they need not intervene. Still, however they looked at it, something seemed fishy.
Ling Qingcheng's breathing fluctuated. Beside a Great Emperor, there was an inherent pressure, no matter how prodigious she was.
She asked, "Why did you help me?"
Chen Fan was certain now. His master had not yet awakened her memories of her previous life. Beautiful.
He said, "A friend's lover from his previous life owed him a child. Unfortunately, their relationship never bore fruit before his past-life lover entered reincarnation."
"Now that friend has asked me to help find his past-life lover and have her give him the child she owed him."
Ling Qingcheng was utterly confused.
But she knew her limits and would not offend an Emperor Realm expert. Had anyone else brought up such a strange subject, she would have turned and left.
"Then does this friend of yours have anything to do with me?"
Chen Fan considered how to keep sweet-talking her.
He said, "Of course. This friend of mine paid a fortune to become his past-life lover's child groom. They were very close, and you are his past-life lover."
That was not wrong, either.
Back then, he had gone to Empress Cliff while still an infant, because everyone knew that the influence of one's surroundings was crucial for a cultivator.
As the saying went, start while they were babies and cultivate them from the roots.
Unfortunately, it had failed.
A child groom? Ling Qingcheng's expression turned positively extraordinary. I might actually be someone reincarnated...
But this child groom... Was I really that wild in my previous life?
"Then who is this friend of yours?"
Even if a Great Emperor was joking with her, she was willing to play along.
After all, the atmosphere seemed a little off. She would consider it a contribution to the holy land.
Chen Fan said solemnly, "To tell you the truth, it's me, Chen Fan."
Pfft. Ling Qingcheng could barely hold on to her cool composure.
You're conjuring a friend out of thin air!
Wait, would I really have done something like that in my previous life?
She found it somewhat unbelievable, her lovely face blank with bewilderment.
Chen Fan added, "I know you don't believe me, but do you think a dignified Great Emperor like me would deceive you?"
Master, just believe your disciple.
Ling Qingcheng thought it over. That was true. Otherwise, there was no reason a mighty Great Emperor like Chen Fan would seek her out and even help her.
Perhaps it was an ill-fated bond left over from her previous life.
Thinking about her current self, how glorious would it be to have an Emperor Realm husband!
But this husband had arrived somewhat unexpectedly. It was a little hasty.
She hesitated. "I believe you. But where does this business of owing you a child come from?"
She had also noticed her astonishing talent. This confirmed it, since reincarnation and entering the cycle to cultivate anew meant that she should have been quite powerful in her previous life.
Chen Fan said, "Put it this way. I can owe you one instead."
Ling Qingcheng: "..."
There was simply no getting around it.
Still, her previous life was her previous life. Though they had met again, there was still a sense of unfamiliarity between them.
Nor did she want to continue this strange topic.
"Then how old are you now?"
Chen Fan looked far too young. Although he might be an old monster of an expert who could retain his youthful appearance, the traces of time about him-that sort of bearing-were far too faint.
"Twenty-three years." Chen Fan carried his act through to the end. "Of course, I came through reincarnation as well."
For the first time, Ling Qingcheng panicked!
Her past-life lover cultivated even faster than she did and was even more monstrous!
Her competitive spirit surged at once.
Because judging by her current cultivation, even when she reached twenty-three, she could not possibly become an Emperor Realm expert!
"Don't believe me? Then you can feel my bones," Chen Fan suggested.
The age of one's bones could not lie.
Driven by her competitive spirit, Ling Qingcheng inexplicably reached out her delicate hand and felt Chen Fan's bones.
He really was twenty-three!
A twenty-three-year-old Emperor Realm expert! There probably had never been anyone like him before, nor would there ever be again!
Was my husband from my previous life really this incredible?
Chen Fan smiled. "Would you be willing to become my wife?"
Time was pressing. There was no time to talk, so he went straight to the point.
The unexpected question left even Ling Qingcheng feeling somewhat troubled.
Her Great Emperor husband had come looking for her. Why did it feel a little like a dream?
"Then do you have any proof to show me?"
"Of course." Chen Fan took out the jade pendant and handed it to Ling Qingcheng.
"This is a token. It contains a wisp of your soul consciousness from your previous life."
His face did not redden, nor did his heart skip a beat. He had no choice. She was no longer so easy to fool. Without taking it out, he probably would not succeed easily.
An extreme Dao divine weapon. This should do it, right? Not enough. Still not fast enough!
Ling Qingcheng took the jade pendant and held it in her hand.
She felt a connection between their souls. Perhaps this had been what she sensed earlier... It had been Chen Fan, searching for her.
Then she said, "Ling Qingcheng..."
It was actually true! Even now, she still wondered whether she really, really, really had been that wild in her previous life.
Chen Fan hummed in acknowledgment. "From now on, I'll call you Qingcheng."
Though he had been young back then, his master had indeed taken excellent care of him. From the moment he could run, she had strictly guided him... No, he had been required to cultivate while still holding a milk bottle.
This is the wife I sweet-talked into marrying me through my own ability!
Inwardly, Ling Qingcheng was trying hard to convince herself. A Great Emperor husband. Be content. This is right.
There's no escaping it now. Accept it.
"Do we have a home?" In this life, her family had been destroyed and her loved ones killed.
The sudden question caught Chen Fan completely off guard.
"Yes! Whenever you wish, you're welcome home. Also, do you know why I cultivate so quickly?"
"You can too."
Swindling and deceiving.
Ling Qingcheng immediately grew even more interested, her gaze burning with longing and anticipation!
The elders not far away were puzzled. They had no idea what the two were talking about.
The disciples dared speak even less.
One person was silently getting excited all by himself.
That was Chen Xuandao.
"Chen Fan? That's the young master..."
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected the young master to come poach someone in person!
Moreover, he had already reached the Emperor Realm! Even the Divine Dao Holy Land could do nothing about him. For a moment, Chen Xuandao was instead the one unable to accept it. It was unbelievable.
No, I need to keep lying low a little longer and see how things develop.
White Emperor Province.
A city bearing the words "Chen Lineage."
Many experts had gathered there.
Every one of their gazes burned fervently.
"The core of that power emanated from this place..."
P.S. Please urge me to update, please send tips, and I'm on my knees begging for every kind of support.