Chapter 792

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

The outward appearance of Ning'an City is much like Lin'an City, but inside it is even more harmonious.

Judging by the dress and bearing of ordinary people, Ning'an City has a touch more tranquility compared to Lin'an City, making it seem somewhat unlike the cities of Qingchuan.

After all, the pros and cons of the Qingchuan Secret Realm are obvious; it drove the development of the entire Qingchuan Region, yet also ruined the region's reputation completely.

Ordinary people living in Qingchuan have seen more, and their own danger has increased accordingly.

Pulling back the carriage curtain, Shen Yao poked her head out to observe; the clamor from both sides of the street drifted into her ears, and also made her notice the bustling mortal life here.

The carriage stopped at the City Gate Mountain; Shen Yao and Lu Yan directly declared their identities.

"You know the An Family?"

"We crossed paths during my travels in earlier years."

After Lu Yan finished speaking, he produced a palm-sized An Token.

They did not seek an inn in the city to lodge, but went straight to the An Family in the East City.

Shen Yao looked at the grand gate hung with the An Family signboard and thought to herself that this was quite luxurious; although it lacked the flamboyant ostentation of Lin'an City, every brick and tile reflected the An Family's wealth.

Sure enough

The Nanny is still too authoritative; nowadays, which cultivator who gets injured doesn't look for a Nanny?

The An Family Steward came out to receive Lu Yan, first leading the two to a small courtyard, then separately inviting Lu Yan to the Main Courtyard to meet the An Family Head who holds power.

Shen Yao waved her hand quite calmly, completely without the awkwardness of Lu Yan not being there, even though this was not their territory.

The Blazing Flame Lion and Swift Wind Wolf lay at Shen Yao's feet; the Black Feather Snake still coiled atop her hairpin. Shen Yao half-squatted and poked the lazy Xiao Huo, "Not following Lu Yan? Be careful your Contract Master gets bullied."

Xiao Feng is currently still in the stage of digesting spirit resources; she herself is alternately awake and drowsy, wanting to help but powerless to do so.

"Roar"

"Just knows how to boast," truly a smart aleck; Lu Yan having such a contract beast is also remarkable.

Raising her hand, she gathered the two furry things into her arms, then arranged and instructed the servants who had followed to coordinate with the An Mansion's servants. Shen Yao stepped into the room and leaned on the couch as if she had no bones at all.

No matter how comfortable the carriage, it jolts; moreover, their journey was not peaceful all the way. Although there were no bandit cultivators, the occasional strange beasts and plants jumping out were enough to give them a hard time.

Fortunately, Lin'an City is not far from Ning'an City; their carriage traveled a hundred li a day without tiring, compressing the originally needed days into a journey of several days. Shen Yao felt she was about to fall apart.

Raising her hand to knead here and pinch there, Shen Yao did not forget to press the Blazing Flame Lion into helping out.

Blazing Flame Lion: ……

Here Shen Yao closed her eyes to enjoy; on the other side, Lu Yan was chatting freely with the An Family Head.

The An Family Head looked young, appearing to be only a few years different from Lu Yan.

In fact, they truly are the same age; the old An Family Head suffered severe injuries in a secret realm accident and had to abdicate early in favor of the worthy.

The current An Family Head is precisely an acquaintance Lu Yan had crossed paths with back then.

"Brother Lu, long time no see, your bearing is unchanged," An Ran sighed. Counting carefully, they had not met for several years; who would have thought Brother Lu would progress so fast — that is a full three contract beasts.

"Brother An, if you had followed the regular path, your achievements would be no weaker than mine."

It is a pity that An Ran assumed the Family Head position early; for the sake of the An Family he exhausted his mind and energy, delaying his own cultivation, and also dragging down the advancement of his contract beasts.

You must know An Ran's talent and potential are exactly on par with Lu Yan's; otherwise they could not have crossed paths and become good friends.

But now things have changed and people are different; some things are better left unsaid.

An Ran and Lu Yan sat in the spacious hall; An Ran gestured at everything here and said with a bitter smile, "Sometimes An truly envies Brother Lu, not as empty words, but a thought from the bottom of my lungs."

The An Family and Lu Family are different; because of his birth mother, Lu Yan had a hard time in the Lu Family. Even though his later-revealed talent was exceptionally outstanding, it did not make the Lu Family invest much more.

An Ran is the An Family Heir; from childhood to adulthood his position never wavered. From childhood he was required to devote everything to the An Family; right now it is merely advancing the timeline.

Lu Yan pursed his lips, not meaning to misunderstand An Ran on this point. Every family has a hard scripture to recite; whether you value inner depression or value self-sacrifice, who can truly transcend worldly desires? They are all just ordinary people struggling to survive in the waves of the mortal world.

When Lu Yan returned to the small courtyard, the courtyard was quiet, without a sound of speech.

The original An Mansion servants had all withdrawn; those left to attend were all Lu Mansion servants.

It's just that Shen Yao does not need these people to attend to her personally; therefore, after the servants tidied up the things they brought, they all hid in their rooms, making the small courtyard appear empty and deserted.

Lu Yan entered, went around the screen placed to one side, and saw Shen Yao lying on the couch, sleeping soundly.

The Blazing Flame Lion sprawled its four limbs flat like a cat loaf; the Swift Wind Wolf curled into a circle, wind elemental energy continuously overflowing with each breath; the Black Feather Snake hid in Shen Yao's hair, its concealment plain to see.

Raising his hand to touch Shen Yao's rouge-colored cheek, Lu Yan lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then stood and went outside the courtyard.

What exactly he did, Shen Yao could not know, because by the time Shen Yao woke, Lu Yan was sitting at the desk not far away, holding a travelogue flipped halfway through.

The travelogue's content was unclear, but seeing the words 'Qingchuan' on the page, it should be related to the secret realm.

"Awake?"

Lu Yan raised his head; his gaze turned gentle when it fell on Shen Yao.

The way the two of them get along is somewhat miraculous; there is no ordinary blazing passion, just a fine, long-lasting flow, unknowingly giving rise to a trace of affection that cannot be ignored.

Lu Yan is not a hesitant person, let alone Shen Yao who is not even human this time.

Natural physical interactions and relaxation during conversation made them grow intimate; just like now, Shen Yao gave an 'mm', nodded, then rubbed her eyes, got off the couch, and walked over to sit beside Lu Yan.

Leaning her head on Lu Yan's shoulder, the corner of her eye glancing at the book in Lu Yan's hand, Shen Yao couldn't help shaking her head; a faint glimmer of tears shimmered in her eyes.

Mm

This is the aftereffect of sleeping too long; however, Shen Yao only needs to rest a while to recover normal.

Asking Lu Yan about the An Family matter, Shen Yao idly played with the ends of Lu Yan's hair, and then heard Lu Yan say he intended to enter the secret realm again, "To search for more spirit resources the contract beasts need."

Because this is Ning'an City, the secret realm produce in the surroundings leans toward healing; moreover, the An Family's existence can make these healing-type treasures exert even better effects.

Since Lu Yan had come, he felt he might as well make thorough preparations in every respect; otherwise, after leaving Qingchuan, even the desire to do so would become a case of having the will but not the means.

"Although my interactions with An Ran have been few, this person's ability is not ordinary, and his character is pure and noble," otherwise the An Family's old Family Head would not have handed over power so swiftly.

"The An Family has changed its Family Head; this is a good opportunity for them to recuperate and avoid trouble," in reality it kills two birds with one stone, and there is nothing bad about it for the An Family.

It is just a pity for An Ran, this new Family Head; a perfectly good genius seedling has no choice but to be confined within the An Family's clan glory, sinking deeper and deeper.

The pros and cons of great clans have always been thus.

Lu Yan was going into the Secret Realm, and Shen Yao naturally followed; only this time the Secret Realm was not as urgent as when they were in Lin An City, they still had time to wander all over Ning'an City.

Oh

The wandering here referred to Shen Yao herself; Lu Yan was merely accompaniment, a dedicated tool person responsible for paying money most of the time.

Shen Yao browsed everything in Ning'an City with great interest; this place truly is a nanny's heaven, all kinds of therapeutic exotic beasts and exotic plants emerge endlessly, even the various things sold in the shops can more or less be linked to healing.

"Miss, you truly have good taste; this is a pair of ear ornaments crafted from a spirit stone rarely seen in a hundred years, and it can continuously emit healing wood-element energy," the shopkeeper excitedly promoted his own goods, afraid this big spender Shen Yao would not buy.

Shen Yao bent her finger and touched the long tassel-hanging ear ornaments that swayed back and forth; "Wrap them up."

Hearing this, the shopkeeper felt as if hearing heavenly music, his eyes shining as he indicated they would also gift other treasures; after all, this pair of ear ornaments had sat for several years unsold, and gaining Shen Yao's favor was the shop's luck.

Lu Yan expressionlessly fished out Spirit Jade; the bag of Spirit Jade he brought was simply not enough to spend; fortunately Shen Yao eventually complained walking was too tiring and returned home early, otherwise Lu Yan might have had to exchange for more.

Shen Yao spent money like crazy; Lu Yan was long used to it, but the other people of the An Residence were all surprised by Shen Yao's lavish spending.

When An Ran saw Lu Yan afterward, he still wore a look of wanting to speak but stopping; after all, it was truly hard to connect the previous Lu Yan with the current Lu Yan — one must know An Ran once planned to matchmake his own younger sister, but was forced to stop because Lu Yan did not understand romance.

Now Lu Yan has changed; that Miss Shen is truly unfathomable.

Shen Yao:...

One can only say imagination is a sickness that needs treatment; wild speculation is one's own problem.

After resting in the An Residence for a period, waiting until the Spirit Resources inside the Gale Wolf's body stabilized in consumption, only then did Lu Yan take Shen Yao to the Secret Realm outside the city.

Still the same process as Lin An City; the only difference is there are not many bandit cultivators daring to rob here, perhaps because they know robbing a healer is unwise, since no one can guarantee they truly will not get injured.

A familiar vortex-shaped appearance emerged before them; the two people entered with three Contract Beasts; there are many cultivators like them, and surrounding people would not pay extra attention at all, after all it is a daily occurrence.

Time in the Secret Realm passed extremely fast; Lu Yan and Shen Yao walked through almost all the surrounding Secret Realms, taking about a month's time.

The Gale Wolf has already changed greatly compared to before, especially a pair of ears standing up like antennae, with wind-element energy constantly appearing at the cochlea.

The Blazing Lion lay lazily in Shen Yao's arms; it is a fire-attribute exotic beast, uninterested in a Secret Realm with too many wood attributes, and would even generate a destructive urge hard to suppress.

Fortunately Lu Yan was by its side; the Blazing Lion wanted to be evil but had no chance; most of the time it just lay in Shen Yao's arms acting like a salted fish.

Rubbing the Blazing Lion's little belly on one hand, discussing with Lu Yan on the other whether they should go to the west side to find Spirit Resources the Blazing Lion needs; ever since leaving Lian Tang City, a year has already passed.

Lu Yan first enhanced the Black Feather Snake's potential issue, then enhanced the Gale Wolf's potential; it went much more smoothly than expected.

The Blazing Lion raised its head to look at its own Contract Master; it was also a bit curious about its own changes after potential enhancement, whether it would become even more mighty and majestic?

The Blazing Lion is completely muscle controlling the brain; clever a little but not much.

Lu Yan had no intention of leaving immediately; he said there was still time, the Qingchuan Secret Realm is rich in Spirit Resources, staying longer and gaining more is still very necessary.

Shen Yao:...

Didn't expect Lu Yan to be such a person who makes preparations in advance; no matter how important the Qingchuan Secret Realm is, it is just one more Secret Realm; if ranking Secret Realms by importance, the Qingchuan Secret Realm cannot even make the list.

Hearing Lu Yan did not want to leave, the Blazing Lion immediately lay back in Shen Yao's arms bored again.

Shen Yao continued kneading and pinching the Blazing Lion; as for Lu Yan not wanting to leave, wanting to continue entering the Secret Realm then he can enter; anyway Shen Yao is the same wherever she is.

For most of the following time, Lu Yan went back and forth hurriedly doing proper business; Shen Yao accompanied Lu Yan for a trip when she thought of it, let Lu Yan go alone when she didn't, while she stayed in the Small Courtyard or went out shopping.

The An Residence's other masters were few; Shen Yao is also a rather spontaneous and free person; the only one who could get along with her was An Ran's own younger sister, a little girl only twelve this year; the two were exceptionally in tune regarding clothing and jewelry, able to shop at the same stall.

"Ah, what a pity, what a pity; I thought I could accompany An Hui younger sister for a longer time."

As a result, Lu Yan's progress here was too smooth; Ning'an City no longer had Secret Realms for him to harvest wool; they could only choose to switch to a new city.

Lu Yan had just parted with An Ran; hearing Shen Yao speak like this he only smiled; "Wait for an opportunity to come back again."

Shen Yao:...

Lying; who knows when this will almost have to wait until.

In the end they still left; when leaving Shen Yao and An Hui held hands and looked at each other with tearful eyes; both girls were very reluctant, but An Hui could not leave the An Family, and Shen Yao could not just stay in the An Family; in the end they could only agree to write letters frequently, relying on current transportation means to maintain contact.

The carriage left Ning'an City heading for the next city named Shanglu.

That place is a rather special city in the Qingchuan Region; there are not many exotic plants inside, but quite a few exotic beasts, and most are related to deer.

"It is said the founding of Shang Lu Cheng is related to a five-colored deer that could ride clouds and drive mist; Shang Lu Cheng is also the earliest city to appear in Qingchuan."

The specific time of appearance can no longer be verified, but Lu Yan conjectures roughly a thousand years ago.

A thousand years ah

However the Jiuzhou Continent's existence is measured in ten-thousands of years; a thousand years is still very short.

"Here in Qingchuan, a great chaos occurs every thousand years," lightly forces are extinguished, heavily no one survives; the forces in Qingchuan right now are all new rising forces that slowly developed after the great chaos a thousand years ago.

As for what exactly is the situation with Shanglu? Unless it is that kind of family whose inheritance has never been severed, otherwise there truly is no one who knows Shanglu's inside story.

Lu Yan recalled the relevant information he saw in the Lu Family Library; "Perhaps the Strange Treasure mentioned by the bandit cultivators is in Shanglu."