Chapter 1751: Yan Changsheng, Su Ying

When Li Luo asked this question, everyone present looked at the pair of man and woman before them, who had survived since that distant era of the Faceless Holy Sect.

Yan Changsheng and Su Ying exchanged a glance, and both saw a trace of nostalgia in each other's eyes.

Yan Changsheng's cold, stern expression softened considerably at this moment, and he said softly, "The first time we met your mother, she was only a little girl of about ten years old. She was surviving and roaming in this region outside the Spiritual Phase Cave Heaven."

"At that time, she hadn't even awakened her phase yet."

"But this little girl was not afraid because of it. On the contrary, even though she was all alone with no one to rely on, she still dared to mingle among many exploration teams, using her extraordinary wits and courage to seek survival and opportunity."

Li Taixuan, Li Luo, and Jiang Jiang Qinge were all somewhat stunned, thinking of a little girl only about ten years old, who hadn't yet awakened her phase, often without even the strength to protect herself, yet she still dared to venture into a place of exploration like the Great Star Plain. One must know that in such a place, there were countless villains, and to win treasures and opportunities, some grouped rogue cultivators would even dare to kill people of the Heavenly King lineage, let alone a little girl without the strength to truss a chicken?

Occasionally in the past, from Dantai Lan's own words, one could learn that she had been an orphan since childhood, often wandering, struggling to survive, yet even after enduring countless hardships, she still strove to seize any chance that could change her fate.

A trace of heartache inevitably rose in the hearts of the three.

It was hard to imagine how much bullying the young Dantai Lan had endured while wandering everywhere, and how much suffering she had tasted.

Such a Dantai Lan was like a foxtail grass in a rock crevice—even after enduring wind and rain, she still stubbornly grew toward the sun, and finally broke out from that crack, transforming into a towering tree.

At this moment, the image of Dantai Lan as she was now surfaced in their minds—dignified, elegant, valiant and powerful, yet at the same time so warm.

"During these adventures, Xiao Lan went through many crises, but it was during one life-or-death moment that her phase palace finally opened, and at the same time her first phase nature was born."

When Yan Changsheng spoke to this point, Li Taixuan, Li Luo, and Jiang Jiang Qinge all thought of Dantai Lan's first phase—that was... the Golden-Winged Great Roc Phase.

"It happened to be the period of our awakening. Because my true body is the Golden-Winged Great Roc, I sensed her phase nature..."

"Perhaps because we had endured long ages and were too empty and bored, we took a bit of interest in this little girl. After that, we watched her from the shadows. We watched her go through many trials, often having her treasures seized and being hunted, in constant deadly peril."

"But her strength was ultimately still too weak. In the end, during one crisis, she was surrounded by powerful enemies and nearly suffered grievous injury and death. So we took pity on her talent, opened a corner of the Spiritual Phase Cave Heaven's space, rescued her, and brought her here."

"After that, Xiao Lan stayed here. Ying'er and I taught her, until several years later, when she finally departed from us with a carefree farewell."

Listening to Yan Changsheng's unhurried account, Li Taixuan, Li Luo, and Jiang Jiang Qinge finally learned of these extraordinary experiences of Dantai Lan, and their hearts were all somewhat filled with wonder.

"In that case, the two seniors can be considered my mother's masters." Li Luo said respectfully.

Yan Changsheng said in a gentle voice, "Strictly speaking, it can't really be counted as a master-disciple relationship. We didn't give her too many opportunities—everything was won by herself. During those few short years here, Xiao Lan called me Uncle Changsheng, and called Ying'er Aunt Ying. She also dispelled much of our loneliness."

Su Ying also smiled and said, "Xiao Lan is a very outstanding child. With her talent and disposition, even within our Faceless Holy Sect, she would be able to stand out."

Li Taixuan, however, had a solemn expression. He bent his body and bowed with the most solemn junior's great courtesy toward Yan Changsheng and Su Ying, his voice sincere: "My wife was lonely and suffering in her youth. Many thanks to the two seniors for giving her shelter and guidance when she was at her weakest. This is a grace of rebirth. The weight of this kindness—my entire household shall never dare forget it."

Although Yan Changsheng spoke of it simply, Li Taixuan was very clear about what those few short years of teaching and companionship from the two seniors represented for Dantai Lan, who had suffered loneliness for over a decade. She was a person who valued bonds—even if she didn't speak of it, in her heart she must surely regard them as her most respected kin.

This respect was such that it even caused her to never tell even himself, Li Luo, and Jiang Jiang Qinge—the three people she was most deeply bonded to in her heart—about the secrets of this place in advance.

Behind Li Taixuan, Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge also followed suit and bowed with the great courtesy. This was something they did willingly, for if it had not been for the two before them rescuing and teaching Dantai Lan back then, perhaps many of the things that happened afterward would never have come to pass.

But then Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge discovered that Li Taixuan had bowed down, yet the two of them were held up by an invisible force, preventing them from bending their bodies. They could only look up in confusion.

Yan Changsheng and Su Ying watched the two with smiles on their faces. The former, Xu Xu, spoke: "It's fine for your father to bow, but the two of you, forget it."

Su Ying gave a light laugh and said, "The one who has cultivated the Ten Divine Seals from the Myriad Phases Wheel—the Myriad Phases Seed—within our Faceless Holy Sect holds a status equal to the enthroned Sect Master. As the two of us are the Six Sons of Faceless, how could we commit the offense of superiors against inferiors and accept your bow?"

Then her gaze turned toward Jiang Jiang Qinge, and her eyes grew much more complicated, with a faint trace of reverence within them.

"As for 'Light,' in our eyes, you are the Sect Master." Su Ying said slowly.

"What do you mean by that, seniors?" Li Taixuan asked, somewhat startled and doubtful.

He did not understand why these two seniors would call Jiang Jiang Qinge "Light."

Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge exchanged a glance, paused briefly, and finally took the initiative to speak and clear up Li Taixuan's doubts, while also revealing for the first time the secret of Jiang Jiang Qinge's "pseudo-ten-grade" Light Phase.

"What? Xiao'e was transformed from that legendary Sect Master's 'pseudo-ten-grade' Light Phase?!" Faced with such a heavyweight secret, even Li Taixuan's composure could not help but show a face full of shock, and he cried out involuntarily.

But... thinking carefully, Jiang Jiang Qinge's identity was indeed full of mystery.

Moreover, on this point, he and Dantai Lan had the deepest personal experience—after all... it was the two of them who had brought Jiang Jiang Qinge out from the ruins of the Faceless Holy Sect's sect.

So, if Jiang Jiang Qinge truly was transformed from that legendary Sect Master's "pseudo-ten-grade" Light Phase, it did indeed make sense.

Although the matter of such a phase nature transforming into human form and possessing spiritual intelligence was too fantastical, anything touched by the word "ten" had already transcended the normal framework.

That was already a realm like that of the divine.

And the Light King Qi Huang, standing to one side, after a moment of stunned silence, showed instead a trace of understanding in his eyes. Although he did not know of this secret, relying on his own attainments in the Light Phase, he had long since perceived Jiang Jiang Qinge's difference in the aspect of Light.

At this moment, Yan Changsheng also gave a soft sigh and said, "The affairs of this world—every sip and every peck are all fated. Back then, we were moved by compassion and saved Xiao Lan. Who could have thought that decades later, it would also be because of her that we would see the Myriad Phases Seed and Light once again."

"The task left behind by the Sect Master has finally come to a conclusion."

"The task left by the Sect Master?"

At these words, everyone was startled.

"The two of us, husband and wife, remain here naturally to suppress and purify the Withering-Flourishing Phase." Su Ying said.

Li Luo asked in confusion, "But the Withering-Flourishing Phase has already been seized by the Guiyi Hui. Why did the two seniors not stop it before?"

If these two Divine Fruit Heavenly Kings could have acted, even though their power would be suppressed by the Heavenly King's Pardoning Words, it still wouldn't have allowed the Guiyi Hui to succeed.

Yan Changsheng smiled lightly and said, "The fact that the two of us have been able to endure the long ages without dissipating is naturally because this place is special. This was the Sect Master's doing—borrowing the flourishing vitality of the 'Flourishing Phase' to maintain our resistance against the erosion of time. But it is limited to this. If the two of us were to step out of this Spiritual Phase Cave Heaven now, we would be eroded by time in an instant, reduced to flying ash, scattered throughout the world."

Everyone was speechless. Light King Qi Huang especially had a flash of disappointment in his eyes. If that was the case, these two Divine Fruit Heavenly Kings simply could not leave this place—once they left, they would be eroded by time.

"The Withering-Flourishing Phase has already been seized. Then what task do the two seniors still have?" Qi Huang asked respectfully.

Su Ying, upon hearing this, smiled and shook her head.

"Although the Withering-Flourishing Phase has been seized, it cannot be considered completely lost."