Chapter 206: Ye Qingxian

If someone were to ask you what you would do if two fox-eared maidens were simultaneously lying obediently on chairs, tails flicking, looking at you with bewitching gazes.

Ning Mu feels that he is the most qualified to answer this question.

It is simply too wonderful! And what shocked Ning Mu the most was.

Su Yueqiao's performance was actually no different from Su Zuozuo's.

This kind of innocence, at a glance, did not look like it was faked.

"Are you still a virgin?"

I do not know how much time passed.

Everything had already ended.

The battlefield was cleaned up, Liu Qingmei had arrived, and those prisoners who were to be escorted to the Luoxia Slope Salt Well had all been sent off.

Fenglei Stronghold, having just experienced a great battle.

Had returned to tranquility once more.

People came and went on the drill ground.

The only difference was that the current Fenglei Stronghold had already changed masters.

"Alright, everyone follow the arrangements I just made and go to each stronghold to take charge of the overall situation. Abandon what needs to be abandoned, and within half a year, the remaining strongholds must be connected into one piece. From now on, there is only one Mountain Stronghold on Xima Mountain, and only one Stronghold Master!"

"Go now!"

The drill ground.

Liu Qingmei looked at the few people she had carefully selected and gave her instructions.

Naturally, the various mountain strongholds could not be completely abandoned.

Otherwise, before long, a new batch of bandits would occupy them again.

Therefore, Liu Qingmei arranged for a group of reliable personnel to serve as branch stronghold masters, forming a defensive posture around Ningyang Stronghold.

From this point on, the entire Xima Mountain was firmly under her control.

What the Mountain Stronghold needed to do next was to recruit soldiers, buy horses, and accumulate supplies.

In the words of her husband, it was to build high walls and store grain widely.

And at this moment.

In the council hall.

Su Yueqiao's expression revealed a hint of shyness, but she still nodded freely.

"Are you not Zhai Dali's wife?" Ning Mu raised an eyebrow.

At this time.

Liuli, who had been watching the battle from the side for a long time, suddenly remembered something. She immediately stared at Su Yueqiao and questioned, "What evil art did you and Zhai Dali practice? Just now, my palm strike should have killed you. Why was it Zhai Dali who died, while you were only knocked out of your original form and remained unscathed?"

Su Yueqiao's expression showed panic, but she was under the control of others, and now she had been completely occupied by this young man.

She only hesitated for a moment before telling everything.

After hearing her account, Ning Mu could not help but be stunned, blinking his eyes as he said, "There is actually such a bizarre Double Cultivation technique in this world?"

Su Yueqiao nodded and said in a soft voice, "This technique has an upper and lower volume. The practitioner of the lower volume is the life-slave of the practitioner of the upper volume. But at the same time, the one who practices the lower volume will devour the Cultivation Points of the upper-volume practitioner bound to them. This is also the reason why Zhai Dali's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. I... Qiaonu, ever since I was bound to the life-slave Zhai Dali, almost all the cultivation I gained was supplied to him!"

Su Yueqiao's face was flushed, and her eyes flickered with embarrassment.

She called herself Qiaonu, not out of a desire to please or willingness.

But just now.

Under that wave after wave of surging tides, she had been requested to do so by the young man before her.

From now on, she and Su Zuozuo would both be reduced to the young man's pets and private slaves.

She is Qiaonu.

Zuozuo is Zuo Slave.

Youyou is You Slave.

Hearing Su Yueqiao's words, Ning Mu could not help but raise his eyebrows, revealing a glimmer of regret.

He had even thought about taking this technique to practice himself.

But not only would it devour his own cultivation, it was also very difficult to find a suitable life-slave candidate to bind with. Naturally, he could not let the women around him become his life-slaves, even if they were willing.

Better forget it.

"Sister Liu, you have changed so much!"

On the drill ground.

When the subordinates had received their orders and left, leaving only Liu Qingmei and Ye Qingxian, Ye Qingxian could not help but turn her head and look at the heroic and spirited Liu Qingmei, who was issuing orders, and let out a sigh.

"What?"

This sudden remark made Liu Qingmei pause in surprise.

Ye Qingxian's eyes flickered with a complex look. She glanced in the direction of the council hall, then looked back at Liu Qingmei and said, "I mean, compared to when you were at Cangjian Villa, you have changed a lot. You are more cheerful, confident, and full of vitality; it is as if you have become a different person."

Liu Qingmei could not help but blink, thinking to herself, have I changed that much?

However, she revealed a smile and said calmly and composedly, "Qingxian, do you know why I have changed so much?"

"Why?" Ye Qingxian looked at her curiously.

Naturally, she wanted to know why her former sister-in-law, the Manor Mistress of Cangjian Villa and a direct descendant of the Liu Family, had undergone such a great change. Why she was willing to abandon those affluent living conditions and reputation, yet view a stable hand as the deity in her heart, and even go as far as to cast everything aside, ruin her own future, become a bandit with him, and assist Ning Mu in rising from the wilderness.

One must know.

If Liu Qingmei were still the mistress of Cangjian Villa, today, the result would likely be entirely different.

With her there, there would be the support of the Liutang County Liu Family.

The Lieyang Sect and the Fengmo Sword Sect would not dare to kick Cangjian Villa while it was down.

And she, too, will inevitably become an insurmountable mountain in the hearts of all Cangjian Villa Disciples.

"Because of my husband!"

"To put it simply and bluntly, in front of my husband, I don't need to put on airs, I don't need to consider gains, losses, honor, or disgrace, and I certainly don't need to care about worldly dogmas; I can act as wild as I want, and live however I please."

"To put it more profoundly, ever since I met my husband, I have been changing every single day. I can clearly feel that the beast I had suppressed in my heart for twenty years is constantly awakening, and then, with a brand-new perspective, it is coming to understand this world!"

A look of reminiscence appeared in Liu Qingmei's eyes.

Her voice was soft yet firm.

In her mind, she could not help but recall the cautious and timid appearance of her husband when she first made his acquaintance.

And those bizarre yet natural tasks that perfectly brought the two of them together.

Until she had completely pledged her heart to him, convinced and won over.

"It was my husband who made me understand that one should enjoy life while one is in this world, and it was also my husband who let me know what living truly is!"

"I have indeed changed, but in the Ye Family, what was I?"

"Nothing more than an outsider wife. I struggled bitterly to support everything, only to be met with the fate of an abandoned pawn. Those high-and-mighty Clan Elders never once thought about how hard it was to support all of this!"

Speaking up to this point.

Ye Qingxian, who was walking slowly behind her, could not help but have her gaze dim.

Although she was a member of the Ye Family, she had to admit that the Ye Family owed Liu Qingmei too much.

If she had not been severely injured and unconscious at that time.

She would have certainly urged the Clan Elders.

Perhaps it would have been a different outcome.

It is just that in this world, there are always some things and some people who intrude into one's life so abruptly and unreasonably! There are not that many "perhapses."

"But it is different now. Although my husband came from the stables, his destiny is extraordinary; he is fated to be the man of Liu Qingmei. He makes me crazy for him, makes me pave the way for him. In front of him, I can do my utmost without being held back by others, and I can fully unleash my abilities!"

"More importantly, he understands me, and knows me even better! To say something shameless, it was he who made me understand what a woman's true happiness in this world is!"

A happy smile hung on the corner of Liu Qingmei's mouth.

She glanced sideways at Ye Qingxian, who was lost in thought with a hint of shyness drifting in her eyes.

She was slowly planting a seed in this woman's heart.

Then, she waited quietly for it to take root and sprout.

"Enough about me, let's talk about you."

Liu Qingmei waved her hand with a smile, then pulled Ye Qingxian along for an aimless stroll.

"What is there to say about me?"

Ye Qingxian was startled.

Immediately, she looked up at Liu Qingmei and said with a firm tone: "Sister Liu, to tell you the truth, the reason I am still alive now is because of the hatred of my clan's extermination. I have nothing else to do for the rest of my life but to accumulate strength and then take revenge for the Ye Family!"

Liu Qingmei smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

She said: "It's not that I want to pour cold water on you, Qingxian, but you are currently only at the early stage of the Sitting Reflection Realm, yet the Lieyang Sect has a True Person martial artist, Liang Zhengang, as well as a Grandmaster with strength comparable to yours, not to mention countless other Disciples. With your strength, you would be surrounded and killed by the sect's Disciples before you could even see Liang Zhengang."

"Although the Fengmo Sword Sect does not have a True Person expert stationed there, they have three Grandmasters. With the two sects combined, there is one True Person, four Grandmasters, and thousands of powerful Disciples!"

"These Disciples are not the bandit riffraff in these mountains that can be wiped out so easily."

"For you to seek revenge with your own strength alone is undoubtedly a fantasy."

"You are not yet twenty this year; if you could enter the Divine Origin Realm by the age of thirty, there would be some hope for revenge."

"But you have no resources. Although you are a guest in our Mountain Stronghold, I must say something I shouldn't: we don't have many resources to give you for your cultivation either!"

"Conversely, the Lieyang Sect and the Fengmo Sword Sect have swallowed up the Ye Family, making their resources even more abundant. There is no guarantee that a second True Person martial artist won't appear."

"With them growing and you waning, I fear there is no hope for revenge!"

Liu Qingmei shook her head, analyzing the situation for Ye Qingxian and unceremoniously pouring cold water on her.

Ye Qingxian's brows were tightly furrowed, and a flicker of unwillingness still lingered in her eyes.

She was an extremely intelligent and sharp person.

How could she not have thought of these things? Even if her eyes were blinded by hatred, she was still well aware of the disparity in strength.

Moreover, the hatred of a clan's extermination is not something that can be avenged simply by beheading a few people.

She wanted the Lieyang Sect and the Fengmo Sword Sect to be completely wiped out; she wanted every single person in these two sects who participated in the destruction of the Ye Family to have their bones ground to dust.

Such a goal is naturally difficult to achieve.

However, suddenly.

She remembered something, and the resentment and unwillingness in her eyes vanished, replaced by deep confusion and curiosity.

"Sister Liu, come to think of it, it has only been a few short months. Your strength was about the same as mine back then, perhaps even slightly inferior, so why have you made such rapid progress now?"

Ye Qingxian asked the question that had been buried deep in her heart for a long time.

This increase in strength was too fast! Back in the Ye Family, she was only at the Zuozhao Rumeng stage.

And she had been stuck at the Zuozhao Rumeng stage for several years, yet in these few short months, she had jumped from the Zuozhao Rumeng stage all the way to the early stage of the Divine Origin Realm—crossing an entire major realm!

This is too fantastical! It is not something an ordinary person could achieve.

But due to their past friendship, she had always found it difficult to ask.

Today, with the conversation leading here, she took the opportunity to ask about the curiosity in her heart.

At the same time, she secretly hoped for this, to see if there was some secret trick! Liu Qingmei could not help but smile slightly, as if she had long expected her to ask this.

"I thought you weren't going to ask me."

Liu Qingmei smiled calmly, then looked toward the direction of the Great Assembly Hall, a glimmer of admiration in her eyes, and said softly: "I wouldn't reveal half a word to anyone else, but since it is you, I will speak frankly."

"Actually, my husband is far from what you see in your eyes. You all think he is a lowly stable hand who can't be brought into polite society, a glutton for lust."

"But in reality, it is precisely because of my husband's guidance that my Cultivation Points have progressed so rapidly!"

"Speaking of which, this is also a factor in why I feel grateful and admire him!"

Liu Qingmei said ambiguously.

She attributed the reason for her own rapid growth in Cultivation Points entirely to Ning Mu's "guidance."

Her true purpose was self-evident.

It was to use this to go a step further, to stimulate the seed planted in Ye Qingxian's heart and make it sprout.

"Him?"

Ye Qingxian furrowed her brows as expected, her face full of doubt.

Clearly, she did not quite believe Liu Qingmei's words.

How could that be possible?

A stable hand; no matter how much of a genius he might be, his knowledge and experience were limited.

Guiding a Grandmaster? And making this Grandmaster's Cultivation Points advance by leaps and bounds? This was too unrealistic!

Even storybooks wouldn't dare to write it like this.

Facing Ye Qingxian's disbelief, Liu Qingmei remained calm and composed, as if she had expected it long ago; she shrugged nonchalantly and said, "That's right, it is because of him."

"You should know of Divine Nun Ciyun, right!"

Ye Qingxian blinked and said, "Who doesn't know that? I was even curious why Divine Nun Ciyun also..."

She couldn't help but blush, and she felt too embarrassed to continue the rest of her sentence.

She wanted to ask why even someone like Liuli, a nun of the Buddha Gate and a Disciple of Zen Master Poluo, would fall into the mortal world, ruin her own future, and willingly become Ning Mu's woman.

This question had also been hidden in her heart for a long time.

It was just that she was not the type of woman keen on gossip, so she had never asked.

"Liuli has been stuck at the Half-step Divine Origin Realm for a long time; this is something known to everyone in the Jianghu. It was also because of my husband's guidance that her Cultivation Points are now even higher than mine, reaching the Great Completion of the Divine Origin Realm. With her current Cultivation Points, given time, reaching the Saint-Following Realm will be as simple as eating and drinking; she only needs time to achieve it."

"But why, with such a bright future, is she still willing to risk the condemnation of the world, and even the risk of being expelled from the sect by Bolu Zushi, just to stay by my husband's side?"

A faint smile hung on the corners of Liu Qingmei's mouth.

With Liuli Shitai as proof, she didn't believe Ye Qingxian wouldn't take the bait.

Sure enough.

Hearing these words from Liu Qingmei, Ye Qingxian fell silent.

In those beautiful eyes, deep curiosity flickered, but at times, hesitation lingered.

Could it be?

Does Ning Mu really have such formidable ability to provide guidance that makes one's Cultivation Points advance by leaps and bounds? But his own strength...

Right!

Ye Qingxian suddenly remembered.

One must know that Ning Mu had never practiced cultivation before; in the Ye Family, he was merely a stable hand.

But ever since he became Liu Qingmei's disciple, he had been quiet and unassuming. Looking at the Cultivation Points he displayed in this great battle today, he was at least in the Inner Profound Realm.

Perhaps even more formidable than an average Inner Profound Realm practitioner.

How long has it been?

In just a few months, he leaped from a stable hand who couldn't cultivate to an Inner Profound Realm martial artist! And, he even has a mythical beast as a mount.

All these things, without exception, highlighted his extraordinariness! At this moment.

Ye Qingxian had to admit, her heart was moved!

(End of this chapter)