Xu Ying woke up and saw this scene. He immediately leaped into the air, jumping out from Wutong Palace, stepping on the Cloud Ladder to catch the petite young girl.
He forced himself to use the Cloud Ladder Heaven Leap, damaging his heart's power. He felt his heart twisting in pain, as if it was about to burst.
Xu Ying forced himself to gather his vital energy. Sword Qi erupted around him, transforming the Cloud Ladder Heaven Leap into the Sword Control Technique. A streak of sword light carried Little Fengxian flying toward the wutong tree and into Wutong Palace.
Little Fengxian was unconscious. Xu Ying found a room and laid her down, carefully examining her. He then used the vitality of his Niwan Secret Treasury to help her heal, and gradually her breathing stabilized.
After Little Fengxian regained consciousness, her throat tasted bitter and fishy. Remembering her fainting, she hurried to get up, only to find herself covered with a blanket, having returned to Wutong Palace without knowing when.
She got out of bed, feeling that her injuries were not as severe as she thought.
She walked out of the room and saw Xu Ying sitting on a fragrant couch outside the door, holding a scroll of book, with the book covering his face, his head tilted to one side, sleeping soundly.
She then realized that Xu Ying had healed her. Seeing him sleeping so innocently, she secretly smiled and walked forward to tease him. But before she could reach him, Xu Ying woke up, moved the book from his face, and smiled: "I just read a few pages and fell asleep. How long have you been awake?"
"Just woke up too."
Little Fengxian abandoned her idea of teasing him and said apologetically: "Young Master, I originally thought I could help you break the seal, but I didn't expect your seal to be different from mine. I rashly tried to break the seal, not only suffered backlash myself, but also might have implicated you and alerted the one who placed the seal. We shouldn't stay here long. The one who placed the seal will definitely notice it's been disturbed and will send people to investigate."
She moved lightly to pack her things, saying:
"Young Master, although Little Fengxian couldn't help you break the seal, it has loosened considerably. It's a small contribution. For your two life-saving graces, if there's a chance, I'll repay you in the future! If not, I'll repay you in the next life!"
Xu Ying said seriously: "Miss Fengxian, did you really see me three thousand years ago?"
Little Fengxian flew around Wutong Palace like a bird, packing things, and said: "Of course I saw you. Three thousand years ago, when I had just hatched, I also saw you on Mount Jiuyi. At that time, your appearance was just like now, but you seemed a bit younger."
Xu Ying stared blankly. She had no reason to deceive him.
But if Little Fengxian saw him three thousand years ago, didn't that mean he was at least three thousand years old?
How could a person live so long?
And what about his memories of Xu Family Village, of his parents? Were his childhood happy memories, his painful memories of the fire in Xu Family Village, all... false??
Little Fengxian finished packing, pushed open the window lattice, and was about to fly away.
Xu Ying hurriedly called out to her. The petite young girl stood on the windowsill, turned her phoenix head back, and smiled beautifully: "Young Master, if I don't leave now, I might be trapped. I'm still weak now, and it's a matter of life and death. Please, Young Master, don't try to keep me."
Xu Ying said: "You mentioned before that you were also sealed. What was the reason? Who sealed you?"
Little Fengxian's expression grew more tense. She said quickly: "I was born with keen senses. Not long after I was born, I sensed that heaven and earth were about to change, so I wanted to flee this world. That day, I had prepared everything and was about to fly out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, when suddenly I saw heaven and earth twisting and rotating. Everything went dark before my eyes, and I knew nothing more. It was as if I had fallen into immense darkness, or returned to the state before I was born, in a daze."
Xu Ying asked: "Then what?"
Little Fengxian said: "Suddenly one day, I woke up, opened my eyes, and it was already three thousand years later. I was flying in the sky, and everything I saw was unfamiliar. All the things I was familiar with before no longer existed."
Her face darkened.
Everything was gone, including her family and friends.
That's why when she saw Xu Ying, she was so happy and asked for help, because Xu Ying was the only familiar face she knew.
Xu Ying asked: "You don't know who sealed you?"
Little Fengxian shook her head: "I'm different from you. I suspect I was sealed along with the entire world, but you're special. It seems like someone specifically sealed you. I must go!"
She said urgently: "I sense danger approaching closer, I can't delay! My senses are very accurate!"
Xu Ying hurriedly said: "Wait! Who sealed this world? And who broke the seal?"
Little Fengxian had already transformed into a colorful phoenix, spreading her wings and flying away, leaving a trail of rainbow light in the sky.
Her clear voice came from afar: "Young Master Xu, leave this place quickly! Once that person notices the seal has been disturbed, they will definitely come looking for you!"
Xu Ying watched her disappear, feeling a sense of loss: "Am I really someone from three thousand years ago? Could she have mistaken me for someone else? Isn't my home in Xu Family Village?"
He stood silently for a long time, not leaving, but waiting.
He wanted to see if, as Little Fengxian said, the person who sealed him would come here to investigate.
Little Fengxian soared through the sky at incredible speed, leaving a trail of Seven-Colored Auspicious Cloud behind her.
Suddenly, a green light blocked her path ahead. The green light was like a wall of heaven, its width and height unknown, standing there亘古不变.
Little Fengxian's heart skipped a beat. She flew upward, trying to cross this green light barrier, only to see crisscrossing lines on the green light wall, like a chessboard.
"This is the chessboard!"
Little Fengxian felt terrified. "Could it be a great divine ability like 'close yet worlds apart'?"
She became alert and flew rapidly, only to see an enormous finger from beyond the sky, holding a white chess piece, piercing through the thick atmosphere and descending toward her!
The chess piece was as large as a mountain. The piece and finger were already burning fiercely from friction with the atmosphere, pressing down directly. It brushed past her with a crisp sound, causing green fire to dance wildly across the giant chessboard.
Little Fengxian spread her wings to dodge the piece, only to see another white jade-like hand reaching from beyond the sky, two fingers holding a black piece, descending onto the green chessboard!
Little Fengxian pushed her speed to the limit, darting left and right to avoid the white jade hand and black piece, yet another delicate jade hand holding a white piece descended!
She was like an ant on the chessboard, dodging left and right, avoiding one after another mountain-sized pieces pressing down, doing her utmost.
However, the pieces fell faster and faster, and the chessboard became more and more crowded, each piece as large as a mountain, making her evasion increasingly difficult.
She could only try her best to pass between these mountain-like pieces, avoiding one attack after another from above!
Just as Little Fengxian was in despair, suddenly a voice laughed: "This game is finished."
The green light and chessboard vanished instantly. Little Fengxian, still shaken, looked down toward the voice and saw on a mountain peak ahead, an old man and a woman playing chess, using a green jade board as their chessboard!
Little Fengxian flew to that mountain peak. When she was still far from the old man and the woman, she landed, transforming into a little girl in colorful clothes, and bowed respectfully: "I pray for my life!"
The white-robed old man didn't even lift his head, waving his hand: "Go. Next time, don't meddle in others' affairs."
Little Fengxian felt as if she had been granted amnesty. She hurriedly took a few steps back, turned and leaped into the air, transforming into a phoenix and flying far away.
The woman playing chess with the old man wore black clothes, had a round face, and a red mole between her eyebrows. She smiled: "That old gentleman went to deliver tea again?"
The white-robed old man sighed: "Yes. It's quite pitiful, running back and forth every day, serving tea and water. I heard that this time, he prepared ten bowls of Meng Po Soup. Meng Po also found him annoying for coming so often and spoke many ill words about him behind his back."
The red-mole woman couldn't help but laugh: "Ten bowls of Meng Po Soup? Is he feeding cattle?"
The white-robed old man laughed loudly: "After灌 down ten bowls of tea, even immortals would倒. In this way, we can also sleep soundly."
The red-clothed woman sighed: "I hope so. Otherwise, with all these daily surprises, one would get sick from fright even without being ill."
Xu Ying stood at the window lattice of Wutong Palace, looking outside, his mind surging with emotions, unable to calm down for a long time.
"After resolving Old Ancestor Zhou's matter, I will go to Xu Family Village!"
He thought silently in his heart, "Only by finding this place can I solve the mystery of my origin!"
In his memory, there was a path to Xu Family Village.
Suddenly, outside Wutong Palace came a knocking sound.
Xu Ying passed through the layers of palace gates, arrived at the palace door, and opened it. He smelled the scent of incense and saw a Sorrowful Elder standing on a tree branch outside, looking at him with a face full of sorrow.
Xu Ying didn't seem surprised and smiled: "Old gentleman, we meet again."
The Sorrowful Elder sighed: "On Wuwang Mountain, we could have met originally, but we missed each other. But fortunately, we've met again, Young Master Xu."
Xu Ying's eyes flashed: "This time you've come, you're not planning to invite me for tea again, are you?"
The Sorrowful Elder said: "Young Master Xu is exceptionally clever, guessing correctly at once. This time this old man has brought fine tea, please taste it."
Xu Ying smiled somewhat insincerely: "What if I refuse to drink?"
The Sorrowful Elder sighed: "Then, this old man will have to force the young master to drink tea. Come!"
The sky shook violently, golden light piercing through, illuminating the sky above Mount Jiuyi. Golden-Armored Giants stood atop the clouds, bowing and looking down.
Seeing this, Xu Ying stepped aside and invited him in: "I cannot resist you, so I might as well not resist. Old gentleman, bring the tea, and I'll drink it."
He calculated in his mind: if the Great Bell were here, plus his Pure Yang Strange Fire from the Xiyi Domain, he could probably struggle with this old man. As long as he caused a big commotion, then Zhou Qiyun would definitely appear!
With Zhou Qiyun present, this Sorrowful Elder probably wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble!
"Just now Little Fengxian caused such a commotion, it shouldn't be difficult for the Bell Master to find this place," Xu Ying thought.
The Sorrowful Elder set up the tea set, a flame appearing in his palm to heat water, scalding the tea set before pouring tea for Xu Ying. The tea was clear and bright, making one's thirst quench just by looking.
Xu Ying saw the flame heating the water and was startled, dismissing the idea of summoning Pure Yang Strange Fire. Because the flame the Sorrowful Elder used to heat water was exactly Pure Yang Strange Fire!
Obviously, using Pure Yang Strange Fire against him was completely useless!
"Just now there was such a commotion here, Zhou Qiyun should come to check it out!" he thought silently.
"Young Master, drink your tea." The Sorrowful Elder raised his hand and pushed the teacup forward with a piece of green bamboo.
Xu Ying picked up the teacup and smiled: "Last time you invited me for tea, it didn't seem very effective. This time the tea looks no different from last time. Aren't you worried this tea might be ineffective?"
The Sorrowful Elder's heart skipped a beat. He had long had this suspicion, worrying that the Meng Po Soup might be ineffective.
"Young Master Xu, drink while it's hot." His expression remained unchanged.
Xu Ying's expression shifted uncertainly. He held the teacup but didn't move for a long time. The Sorrowful Elder said: "Young Master Xu, are you waiting for Zhou Qiyun? His injuries haven't healed, and he wouldn't dare show himself before this old man. There's also another powerful person in this mountain, Emperor Shengshen Zhangwu Xiaodi, but he's also injured. As the emperor, he wouldn't risk coming here easily."
Xu Ying stared at the teacup, his heart in turmoil. Suddenly gritting his teeth, he tilted his head and drank it all in one gulp!
When he put down the teacup, the Sorrowful Elder's brows relaxed slightly. He picked up the pot and poured more tea: "I brought several Golden-Armored Warriors. If you didn't drink, we would have held you down and forced it down your throat. But since you're willing to cooperate, this old man can spare these methods."
Xu Ying laughed: "Just a few sips of tea, no need to trouble you to do it yourself. I'm actually quite thirsty too."
He grabbed the teapot, removed the lid, and drank heartily.
Seeing this, the Sorrowful Elder's sorrowful expression completely vanished, replaced by a joyful smile.
Xu Ying drank the entire pot of tea dry and laughed: "Last time you invited me for tea, you also told an interesting story about Emperor Chen Mianzhu of the Nandian Kingdom, who transformed into a white-robed immortal and was eaten completely. Why is there no story this time?"
The Sorrowful Elder smiled broadly, the wrinkles on his face seemingly fewer: "Then, while the medicine takes effect, this old man will tell another interesting thing."
He smiled mysteriously: "This blessed land is called Chaozhen Taixu Blessed Land. In ancient times, there were still some Qi cultivators here gathering energy and cultivating, thinking it was a blessed land. In this blessed land, there are traces left by immortals who ascended. Everyone thought this place could achieve ascension. Everyone wanted to use the traces of that immortal's ascension to open a path to the immortal realm using the power of heavenly tribulation. Haha!"
He exaggeratedly opened his mouth wide, spreading his ten fingers, which were thin and long, and laughed: "They all died, you know?"
He laughed until tears flowed, extending his long thin fingers to wipe away the tears from his eyes, chuckling: "All died, not a single one survived. Later, someone who cultivated the Immortal Eye came. With sharp insight, he looked at that ascension light and said it wasn't ascension light, but the light from the first unlucky person who tried to undergo tribulation here, and was struck to pieces. Those lights were formed from his corpse fragments and primordial spirit shards."
His expression returned to calm, a calm that was somewhat terrifying: "Young Master, do you think it's laughable or not?"
Xu Ying had already collapsed on the tea table, snoring soundly, sleeping very peacefully, like a baby.
"Very laughable, isn't it?"
The Sorrowful Elder's eyes deepened. He packed up the tea set, stood up, walked out of Wutong Palace, and turned to close the palace door.
At that moment, a great bell was flying toward here. The Sorrowful Elder saw the bell and raised his sleeve to cover his face.
The bell crashed through the window in the tree into Wutong Palace, bumping and crashing all the way, shouting: "A-Ying, A-Ying, are you alright?"
The Sorrowful Elder smiled and was about to jump down from the wutong tree, when he heard Xu Ying wake up with a yawn: "You're the Bell Master. How did I fall asleep?"
The Sorrowful Elder's eyes twitched, the smile on his face froze, gradually turning into sorrow.
Something big has happened. He thought silently in his heart.