Chapter 789: Frustration

The night sky was vast and deep, with scattered stars like dust.

Ye Chen brought Ji Ningshuang to a quiet and secluded xiaozhu lin on Yunu Peak. Deep within the bamboo grove stood an elegant small pavilion.

"This place isn't bad. It's most suitable for you," Ye Chen said casually as he looked around.

"Don't worry, I won't leave the xiaozhu lin on normal days," Ji Ningshuang replied softly.

"I'm not restricting your freedom, don't misunderstand," Ye Chen scratched his ear. "Since you've come, you'll have to meet them eventually, it's just a matter of time."

"I understand." Ji Ningshuang took a deep breath, still feeling a sense of unreality. Just a short while ago, she and Hengyue had been enemies, yet in just a few days, everything had changed.

"Here, your storage bag, I'm giving it back." Ye Chen handed over a storage bag. It was the one he had forcibly taken from her that night.

"For Ye Chen to actually return something he took, I'm honored," she said.

"Nonsense, it was just temporary custody." Ye Chen shrugged, then handed her two more storage bags. One was filled with dan yao, and the other contained various secret techniques and divine abilities, all of exceptional quality.

"I'm surprised you're giving me so many dan yao and secret techniques," Ji Ningshuang glanced at the storage bags but didn't refuse them.

"I need a high-level expert like you as my partner," Ye Chen smiled. "Facts have proven that our teamwork yields unexpected results. I'm certain that in future battles against Da Chu, you will be my strongest right-hand ally. So, I need you to become even stronger in the shortest possible time."

"Aren't you afraid that once my cultivation reaches its peak, I could become your enemy?" Ji Ningshuang put away the storage bags with a calm tone.

"If I didn't have that much confidence, would I give you all these dan yao and secret techniques?" Ye Chen looked at Ji Ningshuang with a smile. "Besides, I can't imagine any reason for you to turn against me."

"I see now why you've achieved so much and built such influence in just a year," Ji Ningshuang said, taking a deep breath. "You have the bearing and wisdom of an emperor."

"It's rare to hear you praise me," Ye Chen chuckled. "But with the secret techniques I'm giving you, I hope you'll practice them diligently. As someone with the Xuanling Zhiti, your fighting style has been thoroughly studied by many. If you stick only to Xuanling secret methods, you'll eventually suffer a major loss."

"Understood."

"If you have nothing else, go get some rest." Ye Chen turned to leave as he spoke. "If you need anything, just say so. You can treat this place like home and me like family."

Home? Family?

Hearing those words, Ji Ningshuang, hidden behind her mask, smiled inexplicably. The receding, slender figure brought her a long-forgotten warmth.

Soon, her hazy, beautiful eyes regained their coldness. She turned her gaze toward the east. "Little girl, you've been hiding for so long, come out now!"

Hee hee hee!

Laughter rang out quickly, and a light, playful figure darted out like a little sprite, innocent and pure. It was Xi Yan.

"Greetings, Shiniang," the little girl said, stepping lightly and bowing gracefully before Ji Ningshuang.

"You're Ye Chen's disciple?" Ji Ningshuang looked at Xi Yan, her eyes filled with surprise, especially when she saw the girl's clear, bright eyes, causing her delicate brows to furrow slightly.

"Yes, yes I am, hee hee hee." Xi Yan nodded eagerly, her big eyes curving into crescents.

"I'm not your shiniang, don't call me that," Ji Ningshuang averted her gaze from Xi Yan's eyes and pulled out a scroll called Feng Shen Jue from her storage bag, flipping through it unhurriedly.

"How could that be?" Xi Yan blinked. "Shifu never brings women back, you're the first one."

"Little girl, you can speak your mind, but don't try to use illusions on me. Your illusions are useless against me, and you might end up backfiring on yourself," Ji Ningshuang continued flipping through the scroll, her body radiating brilliant tri-color divine light, which made the nearby Xi Yan shake her dizzy head.

"Shifu brought back a shiniang who's really something else," Xi Yan rubbed her eyes. "Even Shifu fell for it, but Shiniang is unaffected. The legendary Xuanling Zhiti is no joke."

"Go back and rest!" Ji Ningshuang released a trace of Xuanling power into Xi Yan's body, soothing the backlash from the illusion.

"Uh!"

Reluctantly, Xi Yan mumbled and started walking away. But after four or five zhang, she suddenly turned back with a grin and thrust a sword wreathed in wind energy toward Ji Ningshuang, its power quite formidable.

Ji Ningshuang remained unfazed, still flipping through the scroll as if she hadn't noticed the attack.

However, just as the tip of Xi Yan's Ling Shuang Jian was three inches from her, Ji Ningshuang lightly raised her hand, her slender jade fingers clamping onto the sword precisely. With a gentle flick, she sent Xi Yan flying backward.

Xi Yan let out a loud "wah!" and stumbled back four or five steps before stopping. Before she could steady herself, a ghostly figure appeared before her. Ji Ningshuang was already there, her fair, delicate finger lightly pressed against Xi Yan's forehead.

Xi Yan broke out in a cold sweat. If Ji Ningshuang had struck to kill, her forehead and even her divine sea would have been pierced.

"I couldn't even last one move against her," Xi Yan said, looking at Ji Ningshuang with an unprecedented sense of defeat.

"Little girl, can you go back and rest now?" Ji Ningshuang's ethereal voice echoed through the xiaozhu lin.

Hearing this, Xi Yan's small body trembled, and her vision went dark. When she opened her eyes again, everything seemed as if it hadn't happened. Ji Ningshuang was still sitting there reading the scroll, and Xi Yan herself hadn't moved an inch.

"Was all of that an illusion?" Xi Yan's eyes showed disbelief. She, who prided herself on illusions, had been pulled into an illusion realm the moment she stepped out.

"Shiniang, I didn't really mean to attack you," Xi Yan said, lowering her head like a child who had done wrong after the shock.

"I don't blame you. And stop calling me shiniang, I'm not your shiniang."

"Uh!"

Xi Yan nodded again, pouted, and turned to leave.

Once out of the xiaozhu lin, she spotted Ye Chen sitting on a nearby rock, drinking.

"Have you been knocked down a peg?" Ye Chen asked leisurely.

"Shifu, you knew?" Xi Yan was stunned and walked over slowly.

"Don't underestimate your shifu's intelligence," Ye Chen smiled. "She could sense your presence, so of course I could too. I didn't expose you because I wanted you to learn a lesson the hard way. Otherwise, you'd never understand that there are always taller mountains and stronger people out there."

"So that was Shifu's real intention." Xi Yan hung her head and bit her lip. "But that big sister is really amazing. I couldn't even last one move against her."

"She has the Xuanling Zhiti, a once-in-a-millennium prodigy and an undefeated legend, it's not just talk," Ye Chen gently patted Xi Yan's head and said with a smile. "That undefeated reputation isn't empty. Her bloodline and divine repositories are fully awakened, so even for me, defeating her completely would come at a bloody price."

"What about her illusions?"

"That's Yi Nian Hua Kai," Ye Chen replied with a slight smile. "It's more domineering than your Wan Hua Tong. This technique can be used anytime to drag someone into an illusion without them realizing it. Its downsides are that it consumes a lot of soul force, and if it's detected, the backlash is multiplied."

As he spoke, Ye Chen patted her head again. "Little girl, the world is full of wonders, with karma cycling endlessly. One thing counters another. You can last two moves against me, but that doesn't mean you can against her. Her cultivation methods and secret techniques inherently suppress your Ling Clan bloodline. Since Wan Hua Tong is ineffective against her, you've already lost half the battle."

"I understand," Xi Yan said, taking a deep breath. "To surpass you, Shifu, I have to surpass her first."

"That interpretation isn't wrong," Ye Chen said with a shrug and a laugh. "Go on. With your exceptional talent, you need to build a solid foundation. Your future achievements will surely exceed both mine and hers."

"Mm!"

Xi Yan nodded solemnly, clenched her small fists, and left.

After Xi Yan departed, Ye Chen drained the wine from his jug in one go, jumped down from the rock, and looked toward the xiaozhu lin. He said with a smile, "If you have time someday, could you teach my disciple?"

"No need for me to teach her. With her talent, once her bloodline fully awakens, neither you nor I will be able to handle her," Ji Ningshuang's ethereal voice came from the xiaozhu lin. "You know better than anyone that what she truly lacks isn't a guide, but the perseverance for cultivation. Compared to her, that boy with the Sheng Yuan bloodline has a level of determination that's truly impressive."

"I won't deny that." Ye Chen smiled and glanced toward the xiaozhu lin where he used to stay, his eyes falling on Hu Wa, who was wildly swinging his Wu Tie Gun. Hu Wa's body glowed with divine light, his eyes like golden beams with flames surging, exuding a domineering aura that inspired fear.

"How about you take him as your disciple?" Ye Chen suddenly had this odd idea as he watched.

"Sure." To Ye Chen's surprise, Ji Ningshuang agreed without hesitation.

"That's great."

"What the hell?" Before Ye Chen could finish, the voice of Tai Xu Ancient Dragon cursed loudly. "Are you two crazy? An Huang Gu Sheng Ti teaching a Ling Clan person, and a Xuanling Zhiti teaching someone with Sheng Yuan bloodline, this is a messed-up combination."

"What's your problem?" Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I have a problem. You're misleading the kids," Tai Xu Ancient Dragon ranted. "Listen to me: have the Xuanling Zhiti teach the Ling Clan girl, and you teach the Sheng Yuan bloodline boy. That's the perfect match."

"Dragon Lord does have style," Ye Chen said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "But even if you have an opinion, it doesn't make a difference."

"@#￥%&*!"