Ye Zuilan's primordial spirit entered the illusion, while her physical body stood frozen in place.
Only a few breaths of time had passed in reality since their conversation just moments ago.
Su Zhiyun had transformed into her human form, now lacking her fox ears and tail, and walked over to the front desk to say coldly, "Take this and go claim your reward."
It was a black ink-jade token with the character "Wang" deeply engraved upon it.
Upon seeing the ink-jade token, the innkeeper trembled as he accepted it with both hands and said respectfully, "Th-thank you, my lord!"
Afterwards, the innkeeper watched respectfully as Su Zhiyun stepped out of the tavern.
"Is that the true owner of Wangyou Tavern? She's so pretty," one of the waiters whispered.
"Don't go gossiping about that lord behind her back! Do you think you've lived too long?" the innkeeper interrupted.
A short while later, Su Zhiyun returned to the illusion.
Su Zhiyun pulled Ye Zuilan's hand and said, "Let's go, Sister Zuilan, this humble one will take you around Wu'an City!"
Looking at the environment, which felt as real as the actual world, Ye Zuilan sighed helplessly and said, "Little Su, how about you let me out first?"
Su Zhiyun's ears drooped, her tail hung low, and with a dejected expression she said, "What if Sister Zuilan abandons me again?"
Ye Zuilan moved her body and, realizing she could move again, patted Su Zhiyun's head and said, "Of course not! When have I ever lied to you?"
Su Zhiyun giggled. "Hehe, of course you've never lied to me. Sister Zuilan, in this illusion, everyone else has been removed by me. There's only the two of us here. This is Wu'an City belonging exclusively to us—you don't need to worry about your body in reality, I will protect you."
Ye Zuilan gasped inwardly.
She had never expected the little fox's illusion techniques to have reached such a level.
Ye Zuilan smiled. "Then I shall accompany you to see this Wu'an City."
When in Rome, do as the Romans do—this had always been Ye Zuilan's attitude toward dealing with matters.
Seeing Ye Zuilan be so enthusiastic, Su Zhiyun stopped holding back. She pulled Ye Zuilan's hand, leaned in close to her lips, kissed her, and murmured softly, "You must accompany me through the portion meant for these past twenty years, alright~?"
Ye Zuilan's eyes widened. "???"
Why did something feel terribly wrong?!
***
"Eldest Sister Apprentice, what does it mean when you say Master is an unfathomable person?"
After holding it in for several days, Lu Qingning finally asked anyway.
"Hmm... Master knows many spell arts, and every single one of them is extremely powerful. But she has never mentioned where she learned them, and those spell arts are not to be found in the Tianjian Sect's scripture pavilion.Xiao Hongyu pondered aloud as she spoke.
Lu Qingning came to a sudden realization. "Oh~ So she really is unfathomable! I'm getting a little excited to meet Master."
Xiao Hongyu smiled faintly. "Mmm."
Xiao Hongyu, however, was not looking forward to meeting Ye Zuilan.
After all, she had already met her own master.
Better to let that magnificent master live on in Lu Qingning's heart for now, and talk about it after they actually met her in the future.
Although Xiao Hongyu held no hope for her own unreliable master, Ye Zuilan's mastery of spell arts was indeed profound.
Cultivation was boring, so Lu Qingning turned to ask Xiao Hongyu, who was meditating nearby, "Eldest Sister Apprentice, when will I be able to go out and see the world? Or participate in some other classes? I want to go have a look at Danding Peak! Or maybe visit some of the other peaks."
Hearing this, Xiao Hongyu pondered for a moment. "Hmm... Very well. Tomorrow I will take you to Danding Peak."
Lu Qingning: "!!!"
Having cultivated on Qingzhu Peak for half a year, she was finally going to be able to go out and see the world!
The excitement in Lu Qingning's heart at this moment was beyond words.
Locked up on Qingzhu Peak for half a year, it wasn't as though Lu Qingning had never thought of walking out to take a look, but the moment she strayed beyond a certain distance from the peak, a transparent wall would block her path. At first, she thought she was finally free to leave, only to crash headfirst into the invisible barrier, sending her sitting on the ground holding her head for a full ten minutes before she recovered.
Ever since then, she had tried circling the entire mountain, and as expected, that transparent wall blocked her everywhere. That barrier must have been a formation similar to a mountain-guarding array.
With all her escape attempts failing, Lu Qingning could only silently continue her cultivation on Qingzhu Peak.
This wasn't the first time she had brought up going out to Xiao Hongyu, yet this time Lu Qingning never expected that Xiao Hongyu would actually agree.
Watching the tiny sparks twinkling in Lu Qingning's eyes, Xiao Hongyu smiled softly.
Staring with wide eyes as Xiao Hongyu let out a soft smile, Lu Qingning was instantly dazed. Her eyes darting about, she asked, "Eldest Sister Apprentice, when... when are we leaving?"
Glancing at the sky, Xiao Hongyu turned to her and said, "The day is still young. There is no time like the present—let's go right now."
Lu Qingning was taken aback. "Ah? So soon?"
Before she could even prepare herself, Lu Qingning was scooped up by the waist and carried onto a flying sword by Xiao Hongyu.
Thinking back, the last time she had ridden a flying sword was half a year ago, and back then Lu Qingning hadn't had the composure to appreciate the scenery.
This time, she stood at the front of the flying sword while Xiao Hongyu stood behind her. Gathering her courage, Lu Qingning looked out at her surroundings.
As their altitude increased, her field of vision grew increasingly vast. She could see distant mountain ranges rolling and undulating like waves, stretching endlessly toward the horizon.
Lu Qingning and Xiao Hongyu stood atop the flying sword as the long blade carved trails of light through the sea of clouds. They shuttled back and forth among the rolling mountain ranges; the peaks rose high into the clouds, the snowy white of their summits contrasting delightfully with the azure blue of the sky. Occasionally, a few celestial cranes soared out from the mountain gorges, their elegant postures perfectly complementing the figures of the immortal cultivators.
Lu Qingning looked all around her left and right, and then she glanced down at her feet...
Suddenly, her legs went weak, and she collapsed backward.
Reaching out, Xiao Hongyu caught her by the waist, preventing her from falling off the flying sword.
"What's wrong with you?"
Xiao Hongyu had never encountered such a situation before.
Leaning on Xiao Hongyu's support, Lu Qingning burrowed further into Xiao Hongyu's embrace, burying her head against her chest as she said, "Eldest Sister Apprentice, I'm afraid of heights."
Xiao Hongyu: "..."
This was a situation she truly had not anticipated.
In the half-year since her junior sister had entered the sect, she indeed hadn't taken Lu Qingning flying on a sword much, nor had she even taught her how to fly using a flying sword.
If word got out that a sword cultivator was afraid of heights and couldn't execute a Sword Flight, she would likely become the laughingstock of others.
Slowing the speed of the flying sword, Xiao Hongyu glided steadily through the sea of clouds. Feeling the speed gradually stabilize, Lu Qingning slowly poked her head out from Xiao Hongyu's embrace, but after just a single glance, she closed her eyes and tucked her head right back to where it was.
And so, clinging to Xiao Hongyu like a koala, Lu Qingning remained embraced until the flying sword touched down at the foot of Danding Peak.
The two of them landed. Lu Qingning tentatively stretched out a foot to step onto the ground, and after dismounting the flying sword and standing firmly, she planted her hands on her hips and laughed, "The ground is still the most reliable! I, Lu Qingning, am back in action!"
Silently gazing at Lu Qingning, Xiao Hongyu said, "..."
Feeling Xiao Hongyu's wordless gaze, Lu Qingning instantly grew a bit embarrassed. She turned to Xiao Hongyu and protested, "So what if I'm afraid of heights! Sword cultivators don't necessarily have to use Sword Flight anyway! Honestly."
Only digging herself deeper with that excuse, Lu Qingning simply decided to head up the mountain.
Flying was prohibited inside Danding Peak, but the path up the mountain was much gentler than Qingzhu Peak and considerably easier to walk.
Not long after walking, Lu Qingning arrived at a massive platform.