Chapter 070

Chapter 70: You Are Senior Brother, I Am Junior Sister

After Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation comes the Void Refinement Stage. It was a Void Refinement stronger than even Yan Ding.

Ye Wan Wan looked at Xun Yin’s back and, for the first time in a long while, felt completely safe. Yan Ju seemed to understand her worry and also knew why she was so badly hurt: she had forced herself to keep her breath from scattering just so the others would not be dragged down.

For the first time, Yan Ju felt respect for a child, and his heart ached for her.

He spoke in a low, steady voice: “No one will hurt them. Don’t worry.”

Ye Wan Wan was afraid that her impulsive choice would drag Bai Jian and the others into trouble, so she had kept holding on.

She asked softly: “Can I sleep?”

Hearing this, Li Wan Zhi finally broke down crying, blurting through tears: “Why are you even asking at a time like this, sleep, if you want to sleep then sleep!”

But Ye Wan Wan still looked at Yan Ju, stubbornly waiting for an answer.

Yan Ju understood she wanted a promise, so he said: “Sleep. Your senior uncle promises that when you wake up, you will be at Heavenly One Sect.”

Ye Wan Wan seemed to relax at last as she whispered: “Senior uncle, I miss Snow Mountain… and I miss master too…”

The girl closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Yan Ju’s hand slowly tightened into a fist. He swept a cold gaze over the forces gathering in the distance and ordered in an icy tone: “Everyone from Supreme Sect, step out.”

Azure Thunder Sword left its sheath. Thunder flashed. The young man stood at the foot of the mountain Xun Yin had already leveled and shouted coldly: “All of you, get out!”

From that day on, everyone knew: you can pick a fight with Heavenly One Sect if you dare, but if you hurt the young ones, then be ready for the older ones to come for revenge. And after the older ones, even older ones will come.

Yan Ju and Xun Yin, furious for Ye Wan Wan’s sake, leveled Dream Marsh Mountain. The whole thing shocked Dreammarsh City and the entire Cultivation World.

Ye Wan Wan knew none of this. Yan Ju had not lied to her. When she woke, she truly was in a cave dwelling at Heavenly One Sect.

But she was drowsy and could not open her eyes. She could faintly hear footsteps nearby, Xun Yin senior uncle’s scolding mixed with a low, apologetic laugh, master sounding angry, and the sect master, their senior uncle, trying to calm him down: “Third brother and little Yan Ju already crippled that whole group. If you go kick the Supreme Sect’s gates now, it will be hard to justify. Although senior brother thinks kicking them a little is fine, there is no excuse. Bear with it. We have already called the fifth back, and he brought medicine this time. He will surely heal the little girl. Sigh, she has had it hard. She forced her realm up. This kid, why doesn’t she treasure herself. Just like you.”

Ye Wan Wan did not know what Pei Xuan said next, but she could tell master was standing up for her. She closed her eyes and slept again, and this time she slept for a very long time.

It was a peaceful sleep. In two lives, she had never slept so soundly. It felt like walking barefoot on soft grass while the sky was blue, the lake was green, and the earth was bright. It felt like the world she had sensed in her cultivation and the one perfect sleep she had wished for all these years. [I found where I belong.]

Her heart had a home now: Heavenly One Sect.

Ye Wan Wan woke a month later. On the first day she woke, she saw Li Wan Zhi’s swollen, red eyes.

He sniffled and said with a wobbling voice: “Junior sister, I told you to sleep, but I didn’t tell you to sleep for that long. If you keep this up, no one will be able to hold back Pei Xuan senior uncle. Master said it will turn into a war between the two sects. I’m not afraid to die on a battlefield, I’m afraid you won’t see how heroic I look on it. Please, please wake up.”

Ye Wan Wan stared at him for a while, and only then did Li Wan Zhi realize the girl was already awake. He yelped and jumped three feet high.

He shouted at the top of his lungs as he dashed from the room into the courtyard and toward the mountains: “She’s awake! Junior sister is awake!”

By the time Ye Wan Wan spoke to stop him, another person had already appeared inside.

He had long silver-white hair and wore a silver robe, like he was part of the colors of Snow Mountain itself. His features were pale and quiet. He stood three steps away, looked Ye Wan Wan over from head to toe to make sure she was unharmed, then fixed his eyes on her face and frowned as he asked: “Where is your sense. If you can’t win, why didn’t you call for help?”

Ye Wan Wan had been pressing her lips together. Pei Xuan also frowned, wondering if his tone had been too stern and if he had frightened her.

Her eyes turned red, but she lifted her face with a smile and answered honestly: “But master, I don’t know how to call. I’ve never called before.”

Pei Xuan’s lips moved. He held back from scolding his disciple. Keeping a calm face, he flicked his hand and sent a streak of spiritual light into the Disciple Token by her bed; a Primordial Spirit Mark of his appeared inside the token.

He said in a level voice: “Next time you can’t win, call me directly.”

Ye Wan Wan nodded: “Okay.”

After that, Pei Xuan seemed at a loss for words, and so did she. Other than cultivation, the two of them hardly ever talked about anything else. He did not know how to start a topic, especially with the little miss sitting on the bed looking so soft and fragile. She looked different from the stubborn girl who always forced herself to try hard in practice. He could not very well tell her to go train in the snow right now.

Just then, Bai Jian and Fang He An arrived. Pei Xuan spoke mildly: “They have been coming every day. I think they have things to say to you. As your master, I won’t disturb you.”

With that, he disappeared.

Li Wan Zhi burst in and had just opened his mouth to shout senior uncle, but Pei Xuan was already gone. Li Wan Zhi scratched his head and muttered: “Why did senior uncle run off so fast.”

“Junior sister!” Fang He An rushed in like the wind. He flopped across Ye Wan Wan’s bed and started howling, only to be swept aside by a single sleeve from Bai Jian.

Fang He An: “…”

Bai Jian gripped Ye Wan Wan’s cold hand. Before she could speak, her tears were already falling.

Ye Wan Wan reached out to wipe her tears and said with a smile: “Senior sister, you can’t be a crybaby.”

Bai Jian nodded hard, then said firmly: “You can’t charge in alone. If you can’t win, you still have us and you have master. We will go together.”

Ye Wan Wan answered at once: “Okay.”

Bai Jian seemed to think of something. She raised her head to look at Ye Wan Wan and repeated one word at a time: “And you were not wrong. What is yours should be taken back. If you still want revenge, we will go to Supreme Sect and bring the person back for you.”

Bai Jian’s eyes burned with resolve as she waited for Ye Wan Wan’s answer. If Ye Wan Wan nodded, she would leave at once. Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi felt the same.

Fang He An thumped his chest and declared: “We are your senior brother and senior sister. Your business is our business. If you want something, just tell us. We will not refuse!”

Ye Wan Wan looked at each of them and saw the sincerity in their eyes. She suddenly reached out and hugged Bai Jian, saying in a light voice: “I don’t want anything. Having you is enough.”

She looked at Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi and repeated with a smile: “Having you is enough.”

Fang He An scratched his head, embarrassed. Li Wan Zhi made a little fuss and said, half shy and half proud: “Junior sister, you’ll make fourth senior brother shy. He isn’t married yet, you know.”

“Get out,” said Bai Jian and Fang He An together.

Listening to Li Wan Zhi being scolded and smacked, Ye Wan Wan could not help wanting to laugh. The noisy warmth inside the room chased away the chill of Snow Mountain. As she watched them, she felt a gaze on her. She looked up and saw Shen Nan Zhou standing at the doorway.

The youth looked quietly at the lively scene inside. No one could tell what he was thinking. There was longing in his eyes, and a fear no one noticed. He wanted to come closer but did not dare.

Ye Wan Wan called out to him with a smile: “Fifth senior brother.”

The three inside stopped together and looked toward the door.

Shen Nan Zhou’s body went a little stiff. He turned, meeting Ye Wan Wan’s eyes. She grinned like a child who had pulled off a prank and said: “My Disciple Token number is six.”

Shen Nan Zhou: “…”

“You are senior brother, and I am junior sister.”