The twenty-day voyage, originally dull and dangerous, became smooth sailing after Jiang Jinyue joined him, without even a hint of danger, and the time passed quickly.
He sailed and cooked by day, cultivated and practiced by night, and occasionally traded barbs with Jiang Jinyue. The days flew by.
Even when the coastline came into view in the distance, Qi Yan was still wondering in a daze whether, since losing his parents as a child, these twenty-odd days adrift at sea had actually been the only time his life felt like home.
To be honest, Qi Yan knew Jiang Jinyue was certainly no sixteen-year-old girl, but he really could not bring himself to call her "big sister."
It was not merely the barrier of his own perceptions-that petite, pretty appearance made her look like a little-sister-type demoness no matter how he looked at her. More importantly, the better he knew her, the more he felt this girl had never really grown up.
She was tsundere, a little rebellious, a little nasty, and fucking greedy and picky about food to boot.
She flatly refused to eat the dry rations in the cabin, insisting on freshly caught seafood. She even jumped into the sea herself for it, bringing back octopus, crab, lobster, and something different every day.
Then, once Qi Yan had cooked it, she would eat until her belly was round and lie sunning herself on the deck, her face filled with contentment with life.
Who could call a girl like that big sister...? Even his memories of the terrifying demoness he had first met were almost gone. Qi Yan felt it was more accurate to say he had gained a little sister.
But this bratty little sister's cultivation knowledge was impeccable. She had said he would not break through to the fourth layer of qi refining during this voyage, and he really did not.
Going from the third layer to the fourth was a small hurdle between the early and middle stages. Though it required no particular enlightenment or anything of that sort, there was a small leap in the energy required.
Here, too, witchcraft's shortcomings compared with Dao arts began to show. After all, Dao arts emphasized spiritual root compatibility and allowed practitioners to draw the energy of heaven and earth into their bodies, giving them another source of energy besides spirit stones and pills. Without that channel, witchcraft's cultivation efficiency was indeed reduced, and its demands on resources were higher.
In short, he had cultivated for the full twenty days, the boat was almost ashore, and he had used half the spirit stones and pills Luo Chaoge had given him, yet the fourth layer was still nowhere in sight. What would he do if he exhausted his resources without managing to join a sect? Go work for Yun Ranyi?
Before they reached shore, Jiang Jinyue slipped away, cradling her belly, round from eating. "Big sister has something to do, so I'm leaving first. The Heavenly Evolution Sect isn't too far from here. Take your time, little brother."
Her voice drifted away, and she was already gone.
Qi Yan, who had once deliberately tried to shake her off, actually felt a little reluctant to part as he watched her figure float away.
Without her, this journey would never have been so comfortable, so much like home... Who knew when they would meet again?
But that small pang of parting was soon replaced by joy.
He had finally reached Heavenly Prefecture Continent, foremost among the Six Continents of Tiannan.
Had he not faced all those dangers for precisely this moment...?
After coming ashore, Qi Yan casually asked a passerby a few questions and easily learned the route to the Heavenly Evolution Sect. The Heavenly Evolution Sect was simply too famous. Although its sect master's ambitions lay elsewhere, so it had not sought supremacy or expansion and could not be called the strongest sect, it had a Nine Tribulations expert. There was no question that it belonged among the first-tier sects, and everyone on Heavenly Prefecture Continent knew of it.
Jiang Jinyue had not been talking complete nonsense when she said it was "not too far." It was only a little over a thousand li away, roughly the same as his journey from Anding City to the coast. For a qi refinement cultivator who could use the Divine Movement Instruction, that really was not far.
Full of anticipation, Qi Yan set out.
A mere thousand-odd li took Jiang Jinyue very little time. She returned to the sect's main hall in a flash, and at once saw the white-haired Mu Xunzhen open her eyes from her cross-legged meditation, her gaze like lightning.
Jiang Jinyue shuddered all over. The cheeky, grinning manner she wore outside vanished in an instant, and she bowed respectfully, silent as a cicada in winter. "Master."
Mu Xunzhen stared coldly at her belly. "About a month ago, you sent word that you had obtained news of the Demon Realm and would return to report the details... Then you spent nearly a month traveling this short distance?"
On this subject, Jiang Jinyue was not flustered at all. "Master, do you remember my report about someone named Qi Yan, who seemed to offer a possible lead?"
As long as there was a lead in the search for that person, never mind the Demon Realm-even if the sky fell, her master would attend to the search first.
Sure enough, Mu Xunzhen immediately shifted her attention. But after so many years of torment from "possible leads," she had long since ceased to be stirred by them. She merely asked calmly, "And?"
"He rowed out to sea alone to come to Heavenly Prefecture Continent. I was afraid something might happen to him, so I secretly protected him along the way. That was why I was delayed."
"By 'secretly' protecting him, do you mean you ate him into your belly?"
Jiang Jinyue: "..."
Mu Xunzhen said coldly, "What lead? Show me."
Jiang Jinyue obediently took out a mirror. Watery light rippled across it, and soon it displayed the Qi Clan ancestor's tomb and his desiccated face.
Mu Xunzhen glanced at the Qi Clan ancestor's appearance and shook her head. "A mere Golden Core. It couldn't be him."
Then she looked at the engraved restriction patterns, a hint of recollection in her eyes. "These are the Blood Spirit Valley's restrictions from back then... They should have dwindled away after that battle as well. It seems some Golden Core disciples survived after all."
"Huh?" Jiang Jinyue was even more disappointed than Mu Xunzhen. "It wasn't that Wondrous God Sect?"
Mu Xunzhen said, "No. It's just that most ancient witchcraft is similar, and learning from one another is easy, unlike Dao arts, with their many schools and barriers between them. Back then... I only taught him a few words, and later he could teach me instead."
By the end, her voice had grown very gentle.
Jiang Jinyue turned her head away, unwilling to look into her master's eyes.
Every time she saw that look, she felt her master's image collapse into utter ruins.
Mu Xunzhen drifted into thought for a while before finally saying, "Regardless, you have indeed put effort into searching for clues. What you obtained this time may yet prove an important piece of the puzzle. I will overlook this delay."
Jiang Jinyue breathed a sigh of relief.
Mu Xunzhen continued, "As for Qi Yan himself, since you believe there are still leads about him left to uncover, why didn't you bring him here?"
Jiang Jinyue said, "Master, he wants to join the Heavenly Evolution Sect. He'll come on his own."
"Hmm?"
Jiang Jinyue then reported everything Qi Yan had done in full, concluding, "This disciple believes he meets our sect's requirements quite well."
Mu Xunzhen nodded slightly. "From what you say, he is indeed a promising seedling. A mixed spiritual root is not too fatal a problem... But the sect's rules must not be allowed to lapse. He must still undergo the required entrance assessment."
Jiang Jinyue bowed. "Yes."
Mu Xunzhen watched her for a while, then suddenly revealed a rare smile. "You can be his examiner."
Jiang Jinyue was overjoyed. "Master, how did you know I wanted to? I was afraid I'd be scolded if I asked."
"Heh..." Mu Xunzhen rubbed her head. "Who wasn't a child once?"
Her beautiful eyes swept over the mirror floating before her. The scene within it had vanished, leaving its surface smooth and clear as water again.
As she looked at the full head of white hair reflected in the mirror, Mu Xunzhen's eyes gradually grew hazy, as though she could see the glossy black hair of her past.
Who wasn't a child once...?
The entrance assessment?
That person's voice from long ago still echoed in her ears. "Little Crybaby, do you still remember what your entrance assessment was like?"
What had happened back then, for her to remember those words so clearly...?
Oh, right. At the time, she had been unable to reach Brother A-Yan for almost a month. She had wondered whether some shameless vixen had latched onto him...
She had finally gotten through and was happily chatting when Sixth Senior Brother brought an uncle who served as a steward on an outer peak to make trouble. Little Crybaby had been so angry.
"Ugh..." Little Crybaby held the jade pendant in her cave abode, her little face drooping.
Over these days, she had tried to reach Brother A-Yan every three to five days. Each time, she could feel the connection going through, but no one answered. It had been twenty days now.
She wondered whether some shameless vixen had latched onto him...
What would she do if Brother A-Yan had a vixen and stopped paying attention to Little Crybaby...?
They had already agreed that if he did not respond to the vibration, it meant he was busy. Mu Xunzhen did not dare call endlessly. While she was hesitating over whether to call once more, the jade pendant began to vibrate.
Mu Xunzhen's heart gave a leap, and she answered happily. "Brother A-Yan!"
Previously, Qi Yan had always had either Yun Ranyi or Jiang Jinyue beside him, leaving him no opportunity to contact Little Crybaby. Now, on his way to the Heavenly Evolution Sect, he checked into an inn in a small town for the night, and the first thing he did was take out the jade pendant and call her back.
Hearing Little Crybaby's voice put Qi Yan in a good mood. "Sorry, Little Crybaby. I've had someone beside me this whole time, so it really wasn't convenient. I only just got a moment."
So there really was a vixen...? Mu Xunzhen sniffled. She wanted to tear into that vixen, but felt she had no standing to do so. She was only a stranger who had chatted with Brother A-Yan remotely a few times...
So she pitifully held it in for a long while, and could only say, "As long as you're safe."
Qi Yan could sense the poor little thing's resentment and asked cautiously, "Was there something you needed when you tried to reach me?"
"No..." At this point, Mu Xunzhen felt a little embarrassed. Somehow, seeking a man out for no reason felt a little too... She quickly changed her answer. "I just wanted to report my earlier results to you, Brother. I finished that python-slaying mission and came back, and I reached Golden Core too."
"Congratulations! After you got back, your fellow disciples didn't keep being assholes?"
Mu Xunzhen thought Brother A-Yan's words were very crude, and a girl must not learn them... Yet, for some reason, they felt so satisfying.
She answered, "As soon as I returned, I used the excuse that I needed to stabilize my cultivation and shut myself inside my cave abode without going out. They couldn't be ass... Mm, they couldn't bully me."
Qi Yan sighed in relief. "I was worried you'd run into some difficulty and I hadn't been able to help... I'm glad nothing happened."
Warmth stirred in Mu Xunzhen's heart. Her little resentments instantly flew beyond the ninth heaven, and she smiled. "I'm on guard against all of them now. How could they bully me so easily? But what about you, Brother A-Yan? Have you encountered any problems with that witchcraft?"
"Not for now."
Mu Xunzhen faltered, because if neither of them had any serious matters to consult the other about, there seemed to be no suitable topic to keep the conversation going.
After all, they were a young man and woman. Once they began talking about daily trivialities, their feelings, or their preferences, it would seem very intimate. For the moment, the young girl did not quite dare steer things that way.
Yet she was very reluctant to give up the peace and reassurance she felt when talking to Qi Yan. Mu Xunzhen was a little torn. They had gone a whole month without speaking-were they going to end it after just a few sentences? Ugh... What should I do...?
Just then, Qi Yan suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right... Little Crybaby, do you still remember what your entrance assessment was like?"
Mu Xunzhen immediately brightened. As long as they had something to talk about.
She was just about to answer, brimming with energy, when a clamorous voice came from outside her cave abode. "Little Seven, your senior brother has come to visit, and this is how rudely you treat me?"
Mu Xunzhen was certain that this was the first time in her sixteen years that she had felt such irritation and fury. Even when she had resisted the Essence-Draining Incantation before, she had not felt like this.