Chapter 57: Ye Ruyan's Spiteful Scheme

Even though everyone knew full well in their hearts,

Ye Qingping had not yet been in secluded cultivation for a full year this time,

which could not be called long—only brief,

yet everyone still could not help but feel a measure of worry in their hearts.

"Hello, Second Aunt! Hello, Third Aunt! Hello, Fourth Aunt…"

Ye Xiuxiu warmly greeted each elder one by one,

and finally said to Ye Ruyan with a smile, "And little sister Ruyan too!"

Ye Ruyan returned a gentle smile,

but her beautiful eyes remained fixed on the Jinhua cat in Ye Xiuxiu's arms.

Ye Ruyan gritted her teeth inwardly,

and muttered resentfully in her heart:

"Hmph, just you wait and see! It won't be long before—"

"I'll have a beast-taming ring,"

"and when that time comes, we'll see how I teach you a proper lesson and show you the consequences of offending me!"

Ye Xiuxiu, cradling the Jinhua cat,

walked slowly toward Ye Ruyan.

Wearing a warm smile on her face, she said:

"Little sister Ruyan, what level of Qi Refining have you reached in your cultivation now?"

This was just like students in the secular world being asked about their grades—

for immortal cultivators,

what everyone cared about most was naturally each other's cultivation realm.

Such topics were commonplace.

Hearing this, Ye Ruyan smiled faintly and parted her red lips to reply:

"Sister Xiuxiu, I've only just barely managed to cultivate to Qi Refining Stage Level Three."

After saying so, she turned her gaze to Ye Xiuxiu

and went on to ask, "But you, sister, are exceptionally gifted, possessing an enviable double-mutated single spirit root,"

"so your cultivation speed must surely far surpass mine."

"In my view, sister, you've probably already broken through to the Qi Refining Stage by now?"

Ye Xiuxiu was taken aback at first, then let out a burst of crisp, bell-like laughter:

"Haha, little sister Ruyan, you really think too highly of me!"

"I'm not as formidable as you say!"

"I couldn't have reached Qi Refining Stage Level Six that quickly."

"Actually, even though I have a mutated dual spirit root, it's not like the outside rumors say—that I'd have double the cultivation speed."

"It simply means I can pursue both Body Refining and spiritual Qi cultivation at the same time, that's all."

"And because I have to spend half my time on Body Refining, my overall cultivation progress is actually not as fast as one might imagine."

"Right now I'm only at Qi Refining Stage Level Four."

Originally,

Ye Ruyan had only been thinking of showing off and acting impressive in front of Ye Xiuxiu.

But when she heard that Ye Xiuxiu had already successfully broken through to Qi Refining Stage Level Four,

the smug smile that had been on her face instantly froze.

One must understand—

she herself held in her hands a peerless cultivation technique handed down from the immortal realm, the Heaven and Earth Immortal Art!

By all rights, with this immortal secret manual,

her cultivation speed should far exceed that of ordinary people.

Yet unexpectedly,

she had actually lost to Ye Xiuxiu's companion cultivation technique in terms of cultivation progress!

Even if this companion cultivation technique was immensely powerful,

the peak realm it could reach was at most the pinnacle of this world;

but the problem was,

what she held in her own hands was a supreme method originating from the immortal realm!

What was even harder to accept was that

Ye Xiuxiu still spent a great deal of time and energy tempering her physical body on ordinary days,

and even so,

her cultivation speed was still considerably faster than her own.

This was simply outrageous!

Could it be that Heaven had gone blind?

Just then, Ye Ruyan's eyes suddenly shifted,

and a crafty smile appeared on her face once more,

as she said to Ye Xiuxiu, "Sister Xiuxiu, how about a little sparring match?"

Although her cultivation was one level lower than Ye Xiuxiu's,

But when it came to combat awareness and technique,

Ye Ruyan was confident that she was absolutely no match for Ye Xiuxiu.

She pondered silently in her heart,

that she would cleverly scheme to deliberately injure Ye Xiuxiu, and the more severe the injury, the better,

ideally leaving her with a lifelong disability.

Right now, Ye Qingping was at a critical juncture of secluded cultivation,

with no way to protect her in real time at all,

even if something truly went wrong,

with her mother backing her up,

she presumably would not face excessive punishment,

and by then, even if they wanted to punish her, it would be too late.

Moreover, once this perfect opportunity was missed,

she feared it would be hard to find such a fine chance again in the future.

After all, Ye Xiuxiu's growth rate was simply too astonishing,

shockingly fast beyond imagination!

She had originally been thinking of preventing Ye Xiuxiu from going out on training journeys to curb her development,

but looking at it now, she had to act decisively,

to nip this rising star that threatened her status in the bud as early as possible, so she could be at peace.

Hearing these words, Ye Xiuxiu

could not help but turn to look at Bai Qingxia beside her,

and asked softly, "Mother, do you think this is all right?"

She saw Bai Qingxia frown slightly,

a trace of hesitation appearing on her face.

She first cast her gaze toward Liu Yuesong opposite her,

and slowly began to speak:

"Yuesong, the two children want to spar,"

"I think this matter should still…"

She was about to say forget it,

but was interrupted by Liu Yuesong,

before she could finish, she saw Liu Yuesong interject with a smile:

"Big Sister, not bad,"

"I think we should grant them this."

With a smile on his face and a glint of admiration in his eyes, he continued:

"The path of cultivation is inherently rugged and rough; only through the tempering of real combat can one's strength truly improve."

"If one always works behind closed doors and discusses strategy on paper, it will ultimately be difficult to achieve the Great Dao."

"Since the children have such thoughts and courage, we as elders might as well oblige them, and let them go all out."

"Forget it,"

Bai Qingxia still shook her head, trying to refuse this proposal once more,

she said with a face full of worry:

"I'm really afraid of accidentally hurting someone."

But Liu Yuesong standing to the side had a face full of smiles,

waving his hands repeatedly to reassure her:

"No, absolutely not!"

He promised with absolute certainty,

then added: "

Ruyan here knows very well how to hold back."

Hearing this, Bai Qingxia was instantly stunned,

"It seems Xiuxiu is now at the fourth level of the Qi Refining Stage, and Ruyan at the third,"

"You think I'm worried about Xiuxiu getting hurt?"

she muttered to herself inwardly:

"Did I just say Ruyan?"

"What I said was clearly that I was worried Xiuxiu wouldn't be able to hold back!"

"I'm worried that Ruyan would get hurt, all right!"

"After all, Ye Xiuxiu's current strength is nearly invincible at the Qi Refining Stage,"

"What if a moment of carelessness ends up hurting Ye Ruyan, what then?"

"We're all good sisters; if a conflict breaks out over such a small matter, that would be bad."

Others might not know,

but Bai Qingxia knew very well,

that the intensity of Ye Xiuxiu's innate spell Military Body Fist was far beyond the norm,

she herself, at the Nascent Soul Stage, still couldn't use it even now, yet Ye Xiuxiu wielded it with ease.

Thinking of this,

Bai Qingxia couldn't help but furrow her brows,

She felt increasingly uneasy in her heart.

(End of chapter)