“Ah, Ning Cheng really didn’t come out?” Xiang Zhilan had also noticed that Ning Cheng was not there and only she and Yan Ji had come out.
“I’m afraid that only two people at most can come out of that Spiritual Sacrifice, Senior Brother Ning has given the opportunity to the two of us.” Yan Ji was silent when she finished speaking, Ning Cheng had saved her twice in a row, while she had tried to save him once, instead blocking Ning Cheng’s way to live.
Xiang Zhilan took Yan Ji’s hand and said, “That shouldn’t be the case, it might be that there is another problem with the Spiritual Sacrifice. Let’s bleed River Mountain first and wait for him outside.”
Yan Ji suddenly asked, “Senior Sister Lan, is it true that as long as it’s been more than three years, you won’t be able to enter the Blood River Mountain? If we go out this time, it should be impossible for us to come in again, right?”
Xiang Zhi Lan nodded, “Yes, the Blood River Mountain can only be entered by those who have entered the Rule Road within three years, but they can stay in it for as long as they like. Once you go out, you won’t be able to enter again. But you don’t need to be anxious, Senior Brother Ning Cheng is a good person and a genius. In all the years I’ve been at the bottom of the Blood River, I haven’t seen anyone who can find their way out, and he might be the only one. Since he was able to find a way out once, he will be able to find it a second time.” Xiang Zhilan comforted Yan Ji.
Yan Ji shook his head, “Senior Sister Lan, having one extremely high quality spirit stone is a heavenly opportunity, how can there be two? Even if he had the means to get out, it wouldn’t be possible without a very high quality spirit stone. He doesn’t get along with that Feng Yushan, and even Grey Dodo came out with me, so he’s destined to be alone if he stays inside ……”
Seeing Yan Ji keep looking at the Blood River Peak, Xiang Zhi Lan’s heart tensed up, Senior Sister Yan Ji wouldn’t want to enter the bottom of the Blood River again, would she? If she thinks so, that’s too crazy.
“Sister Ji, let’s go out first. With our current abilities, we won’t be able to save him. Senior Brother Ning had a hard time getting us out, so we should cherish this opportunity.” Xiang Zhilan hurriedly persuaded again, and she tried to make her tone a little calmer.
Yan Ji sighed for a long time before saying, “Senior Sister Lan, I always feel indebted to him. I don’t like owing people things, let alone a life, but, but ……”
After thinking for a while, Xiang Zhi Lan finally said, “Senior Sister Ji, in fact, Ning Cheng might actually feel somewhat indebted to you in his heart, so you should not think too much about it. In the path of cultivation, this kind of mentality is most taboo.”
“Senior Sister Lan, if you add saving me from Feng Yushan, Ning Cheng has saved me three times. This time, it might also be because of me that he didn’t come out, so how could he possibly owe me?” Yan Ji looked at Xiang Zhi Lan in complete confusion.
Xiang Zhilan blushed slightly and said, “In order for Ning Cheng to check if there was Feng Yushan’s divine sense mark on your body, his divine sense should have peered into your entire body. This matter was originally only known to me and Ning Cheng, but now since Ning Cheng has not come out and told you about it, you should not take it to heart.”
In Xiang Zhilan’s opinion, Yan Ji, a young girl with a great future, had been spied on by a casual cultivator like Ning Cheng, so it was obvious that Ning Cheng had taken advantage of her.
Yan Ji’s face likewise turned blood red, but did not feel surprised.
“Senior sister Ji, you know about this?” Seeing that Yan Ji was not acting very excited, Xiang Zhilan asked out in confusion.
Yan Ji nodded and said, “I guessed some of it, but I just didn’t dare to be sure, and now that you’ve said it, I’m already sure.”
She was a genius disciple of Qingxia Academy, even if she hadn’t thought about it at the time due to her distractedness. He could still guess afterwards, and it was because Ning Cheng had looked at her body that he was certain that there were no divine sense markings on her.
If Ning Cheng knew that Yan Ji thought this way, he would definitely be screaming injustice. He had seen Xiang Zhilan fine, but he really had not checked Yan Ji’s body.
“Senior sister, are you pulling my hand because you are afraid that I will suddenly rush up to the Blood River Peak and then deliberately enter the bottom of the Blood River?” Yan Ji suddenly said.
Xiang Zhilan let go of Yan Ji’s hand with some embarrassment and said, “It was me who thought too much, you shouldn’t have done such a crazy move. You should know that even if you go in again, you may not be able to find Ning Cheng, and it is more likely that you will fall into Feng Yushan’s hands.”
Yan Ji’s tone rose somewhat slyly, “Senior Sister Lan, do you think that my character is not a little bit gentle, and that I am big and unconventional? I have no scruples about what I say?”
“There is some of that, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s better to act according to one’s heart in cultivating the Dao, there’s no need to care about the rest.” Xiang Zhilan really felt that Yan Ji lacked a young girl’s reserve, sometimes saying things that did not sound like a young girl’s words.
“Senior sister, you should know about Guiyuan City, right? It’s one of the three nine-star sects in Le Continent, alongside the Numinous Sect and Dragon Phoenix Academy.” Yan Ji did not continue the conversation she had just had, but instead digressed to something else.
“I know.”
Yan Ji said with a sigh, “There is a saying in Le Continent, the first four lines are called, Parallel Lotus, Begonia Flower, Star in the Sky, and Half Ride the Clouds.”
“What does it mean?”
“It refers to the nine genius disciples, of which the parallel lotus refers to me from the Qingxia Academy and Nalan Ruxue from the Wu Nian Clan. Begonia refers to the three siblings of Gui Yuan City, Gui Yu Hai, Gui Yu Tang and Gui Yu Hua. Star in the sky refers to our academy’s genius senior brother Kui Tian and Longfeng Academy’s Beixingjin, and Half Ride the Clouds refers to Multiplying Yixiao of the Numinous Clan and Luo Half Cloud of Longfeng Academy.”
Xiang Zhi Lan immediately understood and said with a bitter smile, “It looks like in the hundred years I’ve been stuck in here, Le Continent has produced quite a few talents.”
Yan Ji, however, said, “Doesn’t Senior Sister Lan feel that these people all come from a fixed background? The three nine-star sects and our Qingxia Academy. Even a fool would know that Qingxia Academy is about to become a nine-star academy.”
“Qingxia Academy had the strength to become a nine-star academy a hundred years ago, so it’s not unusual for it to become a nine-star academy now.” Xiang Zhilan certainly did not feel that Qingxia Academy was not qualified to become a nine-star academy.
“In fact, the balance of power among the three nine-star sects in Le Continent has been long, and the power of the Numinous Sect has declined greatly. They don’t want Qingxia Academy to become the fourth largest nine-star sect in Le Continent, so they have all joined forces to boycott Qingxia Academy.
And Qingxia Academy has been flourishing with geniuses coming out frequently in some recent years. Senior Brother Kui Tian of Qingxia Academy is not even fifty years old and is already a Yuan-Soul cultivator, unmatched by anyone except Luo Half-Yun of Longfeng Academy. In order to pull in the support of Qingxia Academy from Guiyuan City, Qingxia Academy has asked Guiyuan City for a marriage, hoping that Guiyuan Yuhua and Senior Brother Kui Tian can become a daoist couple.”
Hearing Yan Ji’s words, Xiang Zhilan immediately said, “This is a good thing, what’s wrong with it?”
Yan Ji said in a downcast tone, “The Numinous Sect knows that they are not as strong as Qingxia Academy, so they also want to draw in Gui Yuan City and want to take the initiative to pledge Nalan Ru Xue to Gui Yu Hai. Qingxia Academy is afraid that if Zuoyuan City and Wu Nian Clan form an alliance, it will be detrimental to Qingxia Academy’s promotion to a nine-star academy, so ……”
Xiang Zhilan understood, it should be that Qingxia Academy also wanted to promise Yan Ji to Guiyuhai in order to draw in Guiyuan City. If this matter happened to her head, she would definitely not have resisted. If Gui Yuhai could become a genius disciple, his qualifications must be heaven defying. He must have a high status in Gui Yuan City, and there was nothing wrong with being a couple with such a person. It was just Yan Ji, she had some understanding of Yan Ji’s thoughts in her heart.
Yan Ji knew what Xiang Zhilan meant, and she said with another sigh, “Originally, I was trained by Qingxia Academy, and this move by Qingxia Academy is for my own good, although this matter has not been explicitly raised yet. But this time, after going out from Rule Road, it will definitely be mentioned. I know that that Gui Yuhai likes a woman as gentle as water, and I deliberately spoke and acted in an unconventional manner, just to make him choose Nalan Ruxue. And now, Ning Cheng he ……”
“Senior sister Ji, I understand.” Xiang Zhilan once again grabbed Yan Ji’s hand and said, she knew what Yan Ji wanted to say and also understood what Ning Cheng meant.
Ning Cheng was still alive now, he had seen Yan Ji’s body, Yan Ji still had good feelings towards him, and he had saved Yan Ji several times in a row. Under such circumstances, to let a woman like Yan Ji marry another man, it was indeed a little unfair to Yan Ji.
In the Yixing Continent, although a man could marry three or four concubines or have more than one daoist partner, it was only a lady’s virtue for a woman to be devoted to one woman and abide by the ways of women. Ning Cheng had seen Yan Ji’s body, and in a sense, Yan Ji was already Ning Cheng’s person. It was only right that she should keep her body for Ning Cheng.
Seeing that Senior Sister understood what she meant, Yan Ji gave a faint smile and said, “And Grey Dudu is still here with me. Senior Sister, you have experienced a hundred years of loneliness, so I think you should know that kind of torment, I just barely managed to endure it for three years. Since I’ve made my choice now, I don’t want him to experience that hundred years of loneliness again as well, that kind of feeling, those who don’t experience it will never understand how terrible it is.”
After saying that, she patted the grey doodad in her arms and slowly turned around to walk towards one of the Blood River Peaks once again.
Looking at Yan Ji’s somewhat lonely back, Xiang Zhilan suddenly felt her throat clogging a little, and after fully understanding what Yan Ji meant, she did not feel that Yan Ji had done anything wrong. If it were her, perhaps she would have chosen the same way. But from her training until now, apart from finding a symbolic daoist partner, she had never really liked someone, nor had she ever loved someone.
But she understood Yan Ji’s feelings, an understanding that had been exchanged for a hundred years of loneliness.