Chapter 1385: Long Time No See

"You dare to flirt with my Wu'er right in front of me? You're the first Quasi-Saint to do so." The Qingyi Nuzi glanced at Ye Chen with a smile. "This kind of boldness is indeed similar to Liu Dao."

"Just messing around for fun," Ye Chen gave a dry laugh and quickly became more subdued.

"Youth has its perks." The Qingyi Nuzi smiled again, gently raising her hand and brushing it over Ye Chen's sacred body. She extracted just three drops of sacred blood and sealed them into a pristine lotus flower.

"Only three drops?" Ye Chen was taken aback; this wasn't what he had expected.

"Any more would be useless." The Qingyi Nuzi slowly rose and smiled at Nanming Yushu. "Back then, you were only ten years old, and in the blink of an eye, two hundred years have passed. My Wu'er must now forge her own path."

"Lady Mother's guidance and grace, Hua Wu will never forget," Nanming Yushu hurriedly performed a deep bow.

"Before you leave, let me give you one last opportunity—consider it my dowry to you." The Qingyi Nuzi smiled warmly, holding the lotus flower sealed with the sacred blood and gently pressing it to Nanming Yushu's forehead, merging it into her body.

"Dharmadhatu infusion," Ye Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, instantly understanding the Qingyi Nuzi's intention: to use Quasi-Emperor principles and the essence of sacred blood to awaken the hidden divine treasury within Nanming Yushu.

Nanming Yushu's bloodline was indeed extraordinarily unique—at least, Ye Chen couldn't fully comprehend it. The hidden divine treasury and inheritance in such a bloodline were immensely vast. The more powerful the bloodline, the harder it was to awaken, and the Qingyi Nuzi was using her great divine abilities to guide it.

"This is truly a stroke of fortune." Ye Chen took a deep breath and stepped back to a safe distance.

"Little one, don't let my Wu'er down." An ethereal voice echoed in his ear—it was the Qingyi Nuzi, speaking through divine sense, inaudible to others.

"Senior, you're joking. Our relationship is very straightforward," Ye Chen couldn't help but cough awkwardly.

The Qingyi Nuzi said nothing more, her Quasi-Emperor principles transforming into chains of order that entered Nanming Yushu's body, intertwining with the essence of the sacred blood to help awaken her hidden divine treasury.

It had to be said, the Qingyi Nuzi's abilities were effective. Nanming Yushu's entire body radiated with immortal light, and dazzling immortal haze danced around her. A mysterious and powerful force slowly stirred to life. Gradually, that bloodline divine treasury exuded an oppressive aura.

Ye Chen discreetly activated his immortal eye, staring straight at Nanming Yushu to glimpse her divine treasury. To his regret, all he saw was a haze of chaos.

Helpless, he withdrew his gaze and quietly left the small bamboo grove. He wandered around the estate with a wine jug in hand, occasionally plucking a couple of spirit fruits. Whenever he spotted rare flowers or exotic grasses, he casually collected a few. As a penniless wanderer at the moment, everything seemed like treasure to him.

It had to be admitted, the estate was full of valuable items, leaving him dazzled.

So, without any shame, he helped himself. The Qingyi Nuzi was busy awakening Nanming Yushu's divine treasury and had no time for him, so he didn't treat himself as an outsider—just take what he liked.

"No harm in our separation." Just as he set his sights on a purple spirit herb, a faint voice seemed to echo in the void, lingering in his ear. It was ethereal and ancient.

"Who's there?" Ye Chen whirled around, furrowing his brow as he scanned his surroundings, but saw no one.

"No harm in our separation." The voice sounded again, still ethereal and ancient, lacking any authority—gentle, even. It was clearly from an elder.

Instinctively, Ye Chen looked up toward the hazy void, as if peering through ten thousand zhang to see the Tian Que Emperor Seal suspended high in the sky. He was certain the voice came from there—more precisely, from the Tian Que Emperor Seal itself.

"Was that you speaking just now?" Ye Chen eyed the emperor's artifact of Tian Que Great Emperor tentatively.

"No harm in our separation." The Emperor Seal trembled lightly, with emperor principles dancing around it. It was enveloped in emperor aura, every strand capable of suppressing the vast heavens, manifesting the might of an emperor.

"Do you know me?" Ye Chen frowned, still staring at the Tian Que Emperor Seal.

However, his question went unanswered. The seal simply hovered in the void, its emperor aura flowing and emperor principles weaving, suppressing the surrounding world.

Ye Chen was baffled, calling out repeatedly, but the Emperor Seal remained silent, as if everything had been an illusion—the ethereal words merely a figment of his imagination.

Shaking his head, he finally turned away, plucked the purple spirit herb, and headed back to the small bamboo grove. By his estimate, the time was about right.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the bamboo grove, he saw the Qingyi Nuzi lowering her hand and exhaling a long breath of turbid air. Even with her Quasi-Emperor cultivation, her face had paled slightly.

Nanming Yushu, too, had undergone a significant transformation. Her divine treasury hadn't fully awakened yet, but her bloodline was already making even sacred blood pulse. That hidden power remained mysterious and immense.

At the sight, Ye Chen scratched his head. He had only inherited the source of the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body and had never encountered a divine treasury himself. In his view, the sacred body's divine treasury must be incredibly dominant.

"Thank you, Lady Mother." Nanming Yushu awoke and bowed deeply once more. Her eyes, like clear water, were even purer, untouched by any worldly impurities.

"Come back to visit often." The Qingyi Nuzi smiled kindly, handing Ye Chen's storage bag to Nanming Yushu before sighing and gradually fading away. Even as she vanished, she cast a meaningful and contented glance at Ye Chen.

"Your Lady Mother treats you very well." Ye Chen approached slowly, smiling.

"If not for Lady Mother rescuing me back then, I probably would have died." Nanming Yushu smiled. "For two hundred years, she taught me to cultivate my heart and dao, passing on many supreme secret arts to me."

"You're truly fortunate," Ye Chen sighed. When would he ever get a Quasi-Emperor to give him such an infusion?

"Here, your storage bag back." Nanming Yushu casually returned it to him.

"This is great." Ye Chen grinned and took it, feeling a mix of highs and lows in life. He had been broke just moments ago, and now his pockets were full again—he could wander freely once more.

"Let's go." Nanming Yushu shot him an annoyed glance and turned, stepping lightly like a lotus. In a couple of strides, her appearance shifted to that of a man in disguise. Her stunning features made her as handsome as Ji Ningshuang.

"How interesting," Ye Chen sighed. In his memory, only Nanming Yushu and Ji Ningshuang from his homeland in Da Chu liked to dress as men, and he was used to it by now.

The two of them entered the Qing Lou through a side door without drawing any attention.

The Qing Lou was most lively at night, shrouded in mist and filled with the scent of women. Even without the courtesans' dances, the male cultivators were still enjoying themselves, as this was their paradise.

Seeing the scene, Nanming Yushu shook her head with a smile. She truly didn't understand why her Lady Mother, a dignified Quasi-Emperor, would open such a place, and she had lived here for two hundred years.

She couldn't figure it out, and neither could Ye Chen. Was it just for money? But a Quasi-Emperor wouldn't lack for that. If not, then it must be for amusement—probably just to pass the time.

Meanwhile, Qi Wang and Ji Ningshuang were still waiting. Qi Wang was having a blast, while Ji Ningshuang was buried in her blank book, not lifting her head once.

Nanming Yushu glanced at Qi Wang before her eyes settled on Ji Ningshuang, staring for a couple of seconds. She then looked at Ye Chen with a strange expression. "Is she Ji Ningshuang?"

"As you said," Ye Chen shrugged. "But she hasn't unlocked her past-life memories yet."

"Bringing your ex-girlfriend to a place like the Qing Lou—aren't you just asking for trouble?" Nanming Yushu looked at Ye Chen like he was some oddity. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed such a thing was possible.

"She insisted on coming—I didn't drag her. You can't blame me. Besides, I only came here to find you; otherwise, who'd waste time and money in a place like this?"

"Kidnapping her in your past life, and now bringing her to the Qing Lou in this one—you're one of a kind."

"Enough with the nonsense—let's get serious," Ye Chen said, pulling out a storage bag and handing it to Nanming Yushu. "Inside are jade slips sealed with the soul imprints of reincarnated individuals and the immortal light to unlock memories. If you meet anyone similar, crush a jade slip to test them."

"We'll rendezvous in the Xuanhuang realm."

"In a hundred years, at Kunlun Xu." Ye Chen smiled. "As long as we're still alive by then."

"See you in a hundred years." Nanming Yushu smiled and turned to leave, but after a couple of steps, she suddenly whirled back, startling Ye Chen.

"As a reward, a kiss for you." Before Ye Chen could speak, Nanming Yushu cupped his face, gazing at him intently for a moment before pressing her rosy lips to his.

The kiss came out of nowhere, leaving Ye Chen stunned. Qi Wang, who had been flirting with the female cultivators, froze on the spot, and even Ji Ningshuang, buried in her book, instinctively looked up.

Not just them—everyone in the Qing Lou, whether male or female cultivators, turned to stare, their expressions oddly curious. It was because Nanming Yushu was dressed as a man, and seeing one man kiss another like that just felt off.

By the time everyone snapped out of their daze, Nanming Yushu had already turned and walked away, leaving behind a faint lip print and a whisper of tender words. She didn't look back, gradually fading from sight.

It wasn't until she was gone that Ye Chen regained his senses, the scent of her lingering on his face.

Perhaps he didn't realize it, but a seed of affection had been planted two hundred years ago in the dark, ten-thousand-li mountains—his warm back had melted a woman's heart.

After a moment of shock, Ye Chen smiled to himself and turned to leave, walking out of the Qing Lou under the strange gazes of the crowd. Qi Wang and Ji Ningshuang followed, chuckling quietly.

The three of them didn't linger, heading straight for the center of Emperor City to use the teleportation array to reach Yao Chi.