Chapter 954: Those Years, Those People

The sky was peaceful.

Under the reflection of the sunset on the Inner Sea, it spread out across the sky above the Forbidden Sea and the Nanhuangzhou, like the most magnificent painting between heaven and earth.

Its deep colors and mysterious charm seemed to interpret the brilliance and sedimentation of life.

Finally, it melted into the afterglow of the sunset, scattering across the sea surface.

It draped a layer of shimmering waves over the black sea.

The afterglow also fell upon the land, reflecting on the port of the Seven Blood Eyes, and together with the low, rhythmic sound of waves gently lapping against the reefs on the shore, it bore witness to the coming of night!

The sea breeze was also part of it!

In this quiet evening, it blew softly, passing through the various ships docked in the port, and brushing past the cultivators of different races and sects coming and going!

Along the way, the wind lifted a few strands of Ding Xue’s hair, causing them to drift before her eyes!

It shook the bell Yan Yan had placed on the wooden crate beside her, ringing out a tinkling sound!

It also caused the hem of the dress of that graceful figure in the pharmacy by the sea to ripple slightly!

Ding Xue stood on the shore of the port, her tight-fitting attire revealing her beautiful curves while also displaying the dashing spirit she had possessed back then!

It was as if time had never changed here!

The bronze greatsword on her back, as well as Zhao Zhongheng, who was gazing at her with infatuation in the distance, were the same!

Yan Yan, squatting on a wooden crate at Port 79—where the dharma boat was docked when Xu Qing first arrived at the Seven Blood Eyes—gazed out at the Forbidden Sea!

Beside her were five water vats, emitting a bloody scent!

She squinted her eyes, pursed her lips, and expectation shone in her gaze!

Waiting with them were many other disciples of the Seven Blood Eyes, as well as cultivators from the Criminal Investigation Department of various regions.

Thus, time slowly passed, and night fell!

The lights of the port gradually lit up, like stars, illuminating the entire port until it looked like a starry sky!

These starlights intertwined with the ripples reflected on the sea surface, forming a beautiful painting!

Within the painting, a dharma boat gradually sailed in!

Xu Qing stood on the dharma boat, looking at the familiar Seven Blood Eyes, looking at those familiar faces, and he also saw Ding Xue and Yan Yan!

As the cries of "Fourth Prince" rang out from the Seven Blood Eyes disciples in the port, the Second Senior Sister walked down from the Seventh Peak, arriving at the port and standing before the dharma boat!

Huang Yan was the first to arrive beside the Senior Sister, his expression full of pride, looking as if to say, "See, I successfully brought your Junior Brother back!"

The Second Senior Sister smiled, then looked toward Xu Qing!

"Junior Brother, welcome home!"

A familiar aura, a familiar environment, a familiar mountain peak!

After catching up with old friends, Xu Qing did not disturb the reunion between Huang Yan and the Second Senior Sister, and walked alone into his own cave dwelling, treading through the night.

Although Xu Qing had not lived in this cave dwelling of his for very long, as he sat cross-legged now and felt the surrounding tranquility, his heart, which had been racing throughout the journey, finally settled down a bit!

Recalling his experiences over the past half-year, from meeting Fu Xie to destroying the Holy Land to hunt down Fu Xie... and then following Yu Liuchen to the Outer Seas, the journey had been fraught with danger!

His heart had always been on edge, and his will had remained tightly coiled.

Only now, within the Seven Blood Eyes, did Xu Qing let out a long breath!

But he knew that this rest was only temporary!

He could not stay in the Seven Blood Eyes for too long!

The war had already begun; as the master of the Sheng Lan Grand Domain and the Black Spirit Grand Domain, and as the soul of the Feng Hai County cultivators, he needed to return when necessary to answer the Empress's call and participate in this war that concerned the entire eastern part of Wanggu. And he, too, needed the tempering of blood and slaughter to make his physical body and soul more compatible, while also increasing his comprehension of divine authority!

"Also, the Great Wings are shattered and cannot be used; I need to find Zhang San to repair them!"

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate!

The Profound Yang Immortal Light flowed within his body, as if a great sun had risen in his heart-sea, emitting a brilliant radiance to nourish his entire body before returning to the great sun, forming a cycle!

During this process, his divine source was also mobilized to participate, reflecting against the thousand faint traces of divine authority!

Time passed bit by bit!

An hour later, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked toward the cave dwelling entrance, his brows slightly furrowed!

After a while, a voice came from outside the door!

"Senior Brother Xu Qing, are you available?"

"I made sweet potato and peanut porridge, and brought some for you, Senior Brother!"

The voice was intentionally soft and sweet, carrying a hint of obvious timidity!

This familiar tone and familiar routine were naturally Ding Xue!

Xu Qing felt helpless; he was no longer the naive youth he once was, and he now understood Ding Xue's intentions and the way she looked at him!

But since they were fellow sect members, Xu Qing raised his hand, and the cave dwelling door opened silently. As the moonlight spilled in, a graceful figure walked in from the moonlight!

She walked until she was inside the cave dwelling, appearing before Xu Qing!

"Brother Xu Qing, I haven't seen you for a long time!"

Ding Xue's small face was slightly flushed, her eyelashes thick and long; every time she blinked, it was as if she were telling a moving story!

Now that she was close, she bent over and placed the sweet potato and peanut porridge in her hand in front of Xu Qing!

Her tight-fitting attire made her posture look perfect with this bending movement!

Her eyes, while gazing at Xu Qing's face, were like the brightest stars in the night sky, flickering with a mysterious and charming light!

Especially since the passage of time had not taken anything away from her, but had instead left behind beauty, to the point where her eyebrows were more elegant than before, looking like fine willow leaves, gently curved, giving one a feeling of gentleness and firmness!

Coupled with her straight nose and that cherry mouth, it made one feel an impulse to explore it upon a single glance!

[End of line 58/59]

Xu Qing didn't speak, but looking at the expectation in Ding Xue's eyes, he thought of her financial support in the early days... so he sighed, picked up the sweet potato and peanut porridge, and took a sip.

"Not bad!"

Xu Qing spoke slowly, then asked about some matters regarding her cultivation!

Ding Xue looked at Xu Qing's face, her heart beating faster; her original plan was to definitely win Xu Qing over tonight!

That was why she was dressed like this!

But meeting him now, she became nervous again, not knowing how to proceed, and could only follow Xu Qing's questioning and talk about cultivation.

Time passed bit by bit!

Half an hour later, Ding Xue left the cave dwelling in a daze!

The moment she walked out, she realized that her plan to win Xu Qing over this time had failed again!

"I need to prepare more; next time... next time I will definitely win over Senior Brother Xu Qing."

"But I must also restrain myself; I like him, this is my own business, I cannot let Senior Brother Xu Qing feel pressured!"

Ding Xue patted her towering chest, took a deep breath, and after cheering and encouraging herself, she left!

She knew someone was following her, but she was already used to it; to her, that person behind her was as existent as the air!

That person was none other than Zhao Zhongheng!

He was in the night not far away, his face full of affection, muttering to himself!

"Xue'er, it's been so many years... I like you, but I know that liking you is my own business, so you don't need to feel pressured. I don't want my love to be a burden to you; I hope you are always happy!"

As Zhao Zhongheng spoke, he was moved by himself once again. After taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and followed firmly!

This scene was naturally clear to Xu Qing's perception!

Seeing that Zhao Zhongheng had remained like this for so many years, a sense of pity couldn't help but rise in his heart. He then shook his head, closed his eyes, and was about to continue cultivating!

But the next moment, his eyes opened again, looking outside the cave dwelling!

After a while, a voice with a tremor entered the cave dwelling!

"Brother Xu Qing, I heard from my grandmother that you got into trouble because you saved me... but I couldn't catch the Holy Land cultivators, so I could only catch a few Night Doves to vent your anger!"

[End of line 82/83]

Outside the cave dwelling, in the moonlight, Yan Yan, dressed in red robes, stood there prettily. Her lip had already been bitten through, but the blood did not drip; she sucked it all up with her tongue!

Half an hour later, Yan Yan left the cave dwelling!

Inside the cave dwelling, Xu Qing was lost in thought!

He had noticed the uniqueness of Yan Yan's body before, and combined with her ability to attract the gaze of the Golden Crow musician, all of this led to a guess in his heart.

Just now, when Yan Yan dealt with those Night Doves, Xu Qing used his spiritual sense to verify this guess!

"She doesn't lack foreign matter; it's just that the foreign matter isn't in her physical body, but fused with her soul... This makes her soul extremely special; she can absorb foreign matter, but she doesn't know how to utilize it!"

"Therefore, walking the path of cultivation is not smooth for her, and she will experience intense emotional fluctuations, because to some extent, Yan Yan is a natural Divine Cultivator."

Xu Qing muttered in his heart.

So, just now, he left a wisp of his own divine source in Yan Yan's soul, turning it into a seed to guide Yan Yan's future cultivation!

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, closed his eyes again, and began to cultivate!

This night, finally, no one else came to disturb him, until late at night, until dawn!

In the peaceful Seven Blood Eyes port, a figure covered in wet fur crawled up from the seawater!

The moment he reached the shore, this furry figure cursed loudly!

"Huang Yan, you old bird, you threw me out with one slap and even sealed my storage bag and part of my cultivation base, so I couldn't fly for long and had to swim back, didn't you? You just wait for me."

This person was none other than Erniu!

As he gritted his teeth, the sky brightened!

The morning breeze, carrying some raindrops, sprinkled into the port's water. Xu Qing held an oil-paper umbrella, walked down the Seventh Peak, and walked through the streets with his appearance slightly concealed, just like when he was a low-level disciple, heading toward a breakfast shop he used to visit.

He drank a bowl of bean curd!

He then walked toward the 176th port where Zhang San was located.

Go!

Although it was raining, the bustle of the port had not diminished much, with members of various races coming and going in an endless stream!

Until, while passing by a pharmacy he used to frequent back then, Xu Qing saw a figure wearing an orange-yellow long dress, who was lowering her head to refine elixirs inside the pharmacy!

That was the former prodigy of the Elixir Peak, Gu Mu, whom Xu Qing had met because of a white elixir!

Watching the earnest expression on her face, Xu Qing did not disturb her...

He stepped away!

Inside the shop, Gu Mu felt something, raised her head, and cast her gaze outside!

In the rain, pedestrians hurried by, a hazy scene!

Like a distant place difficult to embrace, destined to be without cause or reason!

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