Ye Yan was dead.
There was a hole between his brows, and blood streamed from it.
And Ye Qiubai? He had long since vanished from the Ye residence.
Clearly, he had already left.
The Ye Lineage ancestor watched this scene, his expression exceedingly grim.
After all, Ye Yan was the successor he had chosen, yet Ye Qiubai had killed him.
Seeing that Ye Qiubai had gotten away safely, Ye Qing stopped worrying and smiled in relief.
The Ye Lineage ancestor looked at Ye Qing and snorted coldly. "From this day forward, Ye Ling will serve as lineage head!"
Ye Ling froze at those words, but he could not feel happy at all. After all, his son had been killed.
Ye Qing shrugged, unconcerned. To him, nothing mattered more than Ye Qiubai having recovered his strength.
Meanwhile, the instigator of it all, Ye Qiubai, was sitting in a cave outside Heavenly Origin City.
He was regulating his breathing.
After all, drawing the Azure Cloud Sword earlier had inflicted considerable backlash on him.
At the same time, Ye Qiubai was secretly astonished.
Drawing just a tiny portion of the blade had allowed him to kill someone with overwhelming force right under the nose of an expert like the Ye Lineage ancestor.
Then if he drew it completely, even the ancestor probably could not withstand a single strike, could he?
But if he fully drew the Azure Cloud Sword, that incomparably powerful sword intent would probably destroy Ye Qiubai in an instant...
He recalled what Jiang Tianhan had said earlier.
The Sunset Dynasty... huh.
The ruler of the Northern Region, whose current sovereign was an extraordinary powerhouse ranked fourth on the Four Regions Martial Ranking.
Yet Ye Qiubai felt no discouragement whatsoever.
To him, even the Sunset Dynasty was not necessarily beyond his ability to surpass!
As he thought of this.
A surge of sword intent rose from Ye Qiubai's body.
It shot straight into the clouds with unstoppable momentum!
With a resolute sword heart, pressing ever forward, he could cleave through all things!
His sword intent broke through!
The current Ye Qiubai could be called a sword master!
Only two days later did Ye Qiubai finish his contemplation, leave this place, and head toward the Hidden Dao Academy.
I wonder if Master has been lonely. After all, I'm his only disciple.
With me gone, there's no one to talk to him or cook for him.
Meanwhile.
At the Cottage.
A woman walked out of the kitchen with furrowed brows, carrying a bowl of fish soup.
She set it in front of Lu Changsheng and said coldly, "Now can you give me some guidance?"
Over these past days.
Lu Changsheng had given her far too many shocks.
From the very beginning, she had been unable to see through him.
The faint traces of sword Dao presence he gave off were far more profound than ordinary sword intent, brimming with the power of rules!
Even in her previous life, Hong Ying had never encountered such a sword Dao presence.
Then there was the willow tree on the cliff. It had clearly developed sentience, though it gave off no presence whatsoever.
Yet it stirred a faint wariness in her heart.
The little bird on the parasol tree exerted a bloodline attraction on Hong Ying.
What was terrifying was that she even faintly felt suppressed!
And that was not all.
Even Lu Changsheng's understanding of cultivation methods had deeply shocked Hong Ying.
A casual remark, a word of guidance, could bring Hong Ying fresh insights!
One had to remember that she had been a Great Emperor in her previous life!
Her understanding of the martial Dao could be considered among the highest in this world.
It was easy to imagine how far Lu Changsheng's understanding of the martial Dao surpassed hers!
This was also why Hong Ying had taken the initiative to seek his guidance.
However, his guidance did not come free.
As it happened, no one had been cooking for him since Ye Qiubai left, and he was too lazy to cook himself.
So he made cooking the price. As long as Hong Ying handled three meals a day, Lu Changsheng would give her one session of guidance.
One had to remember that Hong Ying had never cooked in all these tens of thousands of years.
Looking at the fish soup before him, Lu Changsheng chuckled and nodded. "Not bad. Much better than that pitch-black stuff from before."
Then he took a sip.
"Mm, at least it's edible."
Hong Ying snorted in annoyance.
As an empress, when had she ever been ordered around like this?
"Is that good enough? Hurry up and teach me!"
"No rush. Let me finish eating first."
And so, Hong Ying sat opposite Lu Changsheng, watching him eat one mouthful at a time.
But Lu Changsheng ate far too slowly, chewing every mouthful thoroughly before swallowing.
Even Hong Ying grew a little impatient.
Suddenly, Hong Ying froze.
That's right. When did I become so restless?
I'm getting irritated after waiting just this little while?
Realizing this, Hong Ying immediately sat cross-legged and adjusted her state of mind.
One's state of mind.
It was extremely important on the path of cultivation, yet at times, it was overlooked.
When someone was impatient, their cultivation might fail to advance even an inch.
In severe cases, they could even suffer Qi deviation!
Their cultivation would regress, damaging their Dao foundation!
Only by maintaining a calm state could one gain more insights.
This was a principle every cultivator understood.
And yet.
Sometimes, the simpler something was, the more easily it was forgotten.
Like Hong Ying now.
She was desperate to recover and improve her strength.
Yet she had failed to notice that her state of mind was already unsuitable for cultivation.
Only now that she had realized it did she immediately begin adjusting it.
Lu Changsheng finished eating.
Seeing that Hong Ying was still meditating, he shrugged and casually cleared away the bowl and chopsticks.
The next day, Hong Ying was still meditating.
On the third day, she remained the same.
Not until the fifth day...
Did Hong Ying slowly open her eyes, a brilliant gleam flashing through them!
Her presence erupted!
A breakthrough-the Water Overflow Realm!
It came naturally, like water flowing into a channel!
After the Golden Core came the Purple Mansion. After the Purple Mansion Realm came the Qi Sea Realm, and only after the Qi Sea Realm came the Water Overflow Realm.
Ye Qing was in the early stage of the Water Overflow Realm.
And the Ye Lineage ancestor had already reached the peak of the Water Overflow Realm!
Hong Ying let out a long breath, an exquisitely beautiful smile appearing on her lips.
Lu Changsheng came out just then and smiled. "You broke through?"
Hong Ying nodded, then bowed to Lu Changsheng. "Thank you for your guidance."
Huh?
Lu Changsheng froze. He had not given her any guidance these past few days, had he?
Hong Ying smiled and said, "You knew something was wrong with my state of mind, so you deliberately had me cook to help me discover the problem, didn't you?"
Lu Changsheng: "????"
That wasn't me. I didn't do that. Don't make things up.
I simply wanted you to cook for me.
Hong Ying continued, "Otherwise, with your current cultivation, you would have long since reached the point where you no longer needed food. Why would you eat mundane things every day? Especially when my cooking isn't good."
As she mentioned that last point, Hong Ying could not help blushing.
Lu Changsheng, however, was utterly dumbfounded.
Why does everyone around me love filling in the blanks themselves so much?
That wasn't what I was thinking at all...
Then Hong Ying suddenly dropped to both knees and bowed to Lu Changsheng. "In learning, seniority does not matter; the accomplished are the teachers. Please accept me as your disciple!"
Lu Changsheng: "..."
I haven't even done anything yet.
How... did she talk herself into it?
I'm completely dumbfounded...