Chapter 61

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Chapter 61: The Filial Child

The poor Phoenix tree was not special in appearance, and it was not even taken away by Martial Sister Mengran in the beginning. It ended up lonely on the windowsill enduring wind and rain silently. Fortunately, the people of Blizzard Island liked these plants and didn’t throw it away.

At this moment, the heartless owner Wen Yun returned. Instead of rushing to water it or using bright magical spells on it, Wen Yun excitedly called out to Ye Shubai, "Hey, look, it’s actually growing better when left alone."

The delicate Phoenix tree has now grown from a small sapling into a thriving little tree. The light green leaves have turned a deep green, and the main stem has grown thick like a wrist. The large bowl that Wen Yun casually used as a plant pot can hardly contain it now.

After searching inside the house, Wen Yun didn’t find any extra flower pots, only a suitable wooden pot. So, Wen Yun rolled up sleeves and personally replanted the Phoenix tree.

Ye Shubai lifted his eyelids slowly, slightly surprised, and reminded, "That’s a foot basin."

Wen Yun, who had already filled half of the foot basin with soil, paused for a moment but then continued working hard, saying, "It’s fine, it doesn’t know anyway. Besides, you are out here, and it’s not like you live in the foot basin."

This heartless and cruel woman.

Ye Shubai glanced at the neglected little tree, casting a comforting magical spell on its leaves, while also helping Wen Yun fill the foot basin with soil.

After successfully transplanting the Phoenix tree, Wen Yun touched its leaves and worried, "Will it be okay after moving the pot?"

"No need to worry, the Phoenix tree is known for its strong vitality. It thrives when it meets water and soil, and hides when it encounters gold and fire. Just moving the pot will not cause any harm."

When Ye Shubai spoke, Wen Yun turned her head to look at him, unable to hide her curious gaze.

"Didn’t you say that more than ten years ago, you were able to reshape your body and come back to life with the help of the Phoenix Tree Sword’s life force?"

Ye Shubai nodded and explained, "After the Phoenix tree was reborn, I was also able to be reborn with it."

Wen Yun’s expression became even more puzzled. "But this tree I’ve only been raising for a few months has grown so big. How come you, who grew for over ten years, are still so small and thin?"

When she brought this up, Ye Shubai fell into a long silence, and after a while, he spoke with a not-so-friendly tone.

"Yushan often comes up the mountain to visit me, and each time he comes, he casually clears the wild grass and trees growing on the mountaintop."

Ye Shubai’s three disciples were orphans he had saved by chance. When Ye Shubai moved back to the mountaintop from the Dark Heaven Secret Realm, the Qingliu Sword Sect wanted disciples for each peak, so these three coincidentally joined his sect.

Back when Yue Xingzhou and Xu Wanfeng were teenagers, Bai Yushan was a clumsy young boy who couldn’t even remember his own name. When asked, he could only recall the last name of the person who brought him up the mountain, which was White, so he started calling himself White.

As Bai Yushan improved in his training, he became a bit smarter, but still seemed a bit simple compared to the other two disciples, but he held Ye Shubai in high regard.

This child especially couldn’t stand seeing his master’s cave overgrown with grass… Oops, not a grave, a cave.

In any case, Bai Yushan was very diligent in pulling out weeds. Just as the Phoenix tree was starting to sprout, he would uproot it and throw it into a pile of weeds. If the Phoenix tree weren’t so resilient, he might not have been saved by Wen Yun when she came out.

So you should have come out a long time ago. But every now and then, Third Martial Brother would pull out a seedling, so it hasn’t grown in over ten years?

No wonder Ye Shubai gave the most burnt fish to Third Martial Brother last time. There’s a whole story of grudges inside.

Wen Yun didn’t know what to say for a moment, so she dryly comforted him, "Don’t be so down, at least the child is quite filial."

He is quite filial, nearly pulled our master out from the roots.

*

After swallowing the unbearable past, Ye Shubai helped Wen Yun transplant the Phoenix tree into a foot bath basin.

The next crucial step was to extract Yu Qinghong’s soul and place it into the Phoenix tree.

"I have stored his soul in my elixir field. He is currently protected by the laws of life and death. However, caution must be taken when extracting it, as it may easily dissipate."

Ye Shubai was not as skilled in soul manipulation as Mo You. It was a stroke of luck that he managed to save Yu Qinghong’s soul before. Attempting to house it in the Phoenix tree now was like getting blood from a stone, full of dangers.

The only relief was that the Phoenix tree was not inhabited by any spirits, and Ye Shubai, who had previously resided there, was now out. Therefore, sending Yu Qinghong in again was not as troublesome as possession.

Luckily, there were no indigenous spirits inside, so the soul wouldn’t be scattered.

"Don’t worry, I’ll protect it."

Wen Yun casually drew out golden energy from her elixir field as she spoke. It seeped into Ye Shubai’s elixir field like a thread, and he immediately understood. A small spark of light emerged and merged into the golden glow.

Within the golden beam, Wen Yun faintly saw a dignified figure with a weak presence, like a flickering candle on the verge of extinguishing, yet still solemnly bowing deeply to both of them.

In the next moment, a sudden flash of golden light appeared, carrying Yu Qinghong’s spirit to the top of the Phoenix tree. The leaves trembled, sensing a foreign presence, and instinctively resisted.

Wen Yun decisively pressed towards the Phoenix tree, her energy enveloping the spirit. After a brief resistance, the Phoenix tree, marked by Wen Yun’s spiritual imprint, obediently accepted Yu Qinghong’s spirit.

Both of them were surprised by how smoothly it went, letting out a sigh of relief.

The jade-like leaves shimmered, and as Wen Yun leaned down, she focused on the delicate figure faintly visible above.

"Alright, he is cultivating his spirit inside. With time, he may be able to regain a physical form, settling the debt from the past when we destroyed his body."

Wen Yun was satisfied with the outcome but couldn’t help sighing at the thought of something else, "I originally wanted to try nurturing Little Hong inside the Phoenix tree to help it recover sooner, but now I have to prioritize saving Yu Qinghong first."

The name Little Hong sounded strange, and Ye Shubai sensed something amiss, gazing intently and asking, "Who is Little Hong?"

"That’s my wand spirit, your predecessor," Wen Yun casually replied, not seeing anything wrong with it.

The wand spirit initially took the form of a golden-red dragon and required a new name from its owner after bonding. Seeing its vibrant red appearance, Wen Yun quickly decided on the friendly name, Little Hong.

What a nice name! Red is such a powerful and festive color, much better than the name Small Gold, right?

Unfortunately, this dragon has no heart. Every time it hears this name, it opens its mouth wide to protest by biting. Wen Yun is scared of being bitten, so she can only call it by that name.

"Little Hong…"

Ye Shubai quietly muttered this affectionate nickname a few times, and then remembered how Wen Yun used to call him "Little Bai," causing him to fall silent with lowered eyes.

After a long time, he slowly realized, showing no emotion on his face. He nonchalantly pursed his lips, placed the Phoenix tree on the low table, and though his eyes were fixed on the wood, his thoughts were elsewhere.

Does she call him Ye Xiaobai because he always wears white?

So, Little Hong…

Hearing this name, one would think of a handsome boy who loves wearing red clothes, right?

Last time hearing that wand spirit talk arrogantly and childishly, it must be a spirited young teenager. Compared to this old and boring man, he is indeed more likable.

He pushed down the sudden complicated thoughts and said in a deep voice, "I put him with your huge Magic Stone before, he recovered very well. When you make a new staff for him to inhabit again, he will be able to be by your side often…"

The Magic Stone was huge, big enough for the little fire dragon to absorb magic.

It recovered really quickly, now every time Ye Shubai opens the space bag, he can hear the grumbling sound.

Wen Yun just realized that her Magic Stone was taken away by Ye Shubai, she puzzled, "You could have just put it in my space bag, why did you move it all to your place?"

Ye Shubai turned his face slightly away, not saying anything.

She felt a sense of humor in her heart, tilted her head and looked at Ye Shubai, jokingly said, "Are you jealous and didn’t want it by my side, so you took it secretly?"

"…"

Ye Shubai’s thick eyelashes suddenly flickered, pushed the chair and hurriedly walked out.

"Since Yu Qinghong’s soul has been settled, let’s go to the island and see if the survivors are settled in."

He clearly didn’t use spiritual power, but he seemed to be walking with ease as if a breeze, heading outside in a hurry.

Holding onto the Phoenix tree, Wen Yun was puzzled, "Why are you reacting so differently today? You seem suspicious, like something has touched a nerve."

The man in front of her didn’t respond, his body just slightly stiffened.

Wen Yun caught up energetically and skillfully leaped onto the flying sword, "Hey Ye Xiaobai, are you really feeling jealous?"

"Don’t be jealous, you are definitely my favorite sword spirit."

Because the other one is not a sword spirit, it’s a wand spirit.

It wasn’t until Wen Yun stepped back onto the mortal island that she stopped asking questions and resumed her artificial stance, elegant and aloof, the standard image of a sword cultivator.

With the help of Yue Xingzhou and the other two Soul Changing Stage cultivators, houses and fields had miraculously been developed, bursting with vitality.

With Wen Yun and the two of them joining in, the speed of building houses increased, so that when Qian Lishen caught up after half a month, a simple village had already taken shape.

Qian Lishen walked around the village entrance and finally ran into someone he knew.

"Shen Xinghai!" he called out as he walked towards him, complaining, "Do you know where Wen Yun has gone? We were supposed to go to Blizzard Island together to help Yu Qinghong, but I can’t find her anywhere."

He grumbled, "I’ve been searching through those old books for so long and she still hasn’t shown up. Is she being lazy?"

Shen Xinghai hesitated, "Martial Sister Wen took care of Young Master Qing Hong’s spirit half a month ago."

Qian Lishen looked at him suspiciously and then decided to walk away, "I remember now, you from the Qingliu Sword Sect never talk straight. I shouldn’t have asked you. I’ll find her on my own."

He had been searching for answers in those books for half a month, and Wen Yun found them half a month ago? Could that be true? If she really found them, she would have come to tell him and share the joy together!

No, he had to go find that woman and ask her clearly!

Shen Xinghai snorted and chuckled, "Go ahead, I bet Martial Sister Wen is almost at Qingliu Sword Sect by now."

Qian Lishen’s face turned stiff, "What do you mean? Is she gone already?"

The woman actually ran away without even saying hello? She doesn’t respect him at all!

Shen Xinghai nodded, just as Qian Lishen was about to explode in anger, he leisurely added, "She asked me to say sorry to Taoist Friend Qian, she said she had to go back to get something and would come back to continue this…"

Shen Xinghai paused for a moment, finally remembering the peculiar title, "The Tenth Peak’s sub-peak."

Qian Lishen completely disregarded the second half of the sentence, his mind only focusing on the first half, he suppressed a smile on his face, his eyes sparkling.

"Oh, so she went back to get something, huh? Well, she must be really poor to run so far to get some worthless item."

Qian Lishen snorted, turned around to continue walking forward, took two steps, couldn’t resist turning back again, and reminded Shen Xinghai sternly, "Remember, when she comes back, let me know, I want… I want to go find her and settle the score for standing me up!"

At this moment, soaring in the northward sky.

A snowy white dove flew past, narrowly avoiding the unfamiliar Sword Control Art practitioner Wen Yun.

"Thank goodness, otherwise I would owe a dove’s life."

Wen Yun patted her chest and continued to fly towards the direction of Qingliu Sword Sect while controlling her sword.

The three senior brothers had already flown ahead, with Ye Shubai, her kind master, sharing a sword with her. The three of them didn’t feel anything wrong, only praising the master for being responsible and personally teaching the younger martial sister to control the sword.

This pair of good master and disciple flew leisurely behind, but the words they spoke didn’t seem as peaceful as they appeared.

The words were plain, but with a chilling intent.

"Are you ready to draw your sword?"

"Yes."