In the morning, at the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool.
The gatekeeper, Tang Guangjun, had just finished a bowl of soft-shelled turtle noodle soup. He sat in front of the south gate of the small town, picking his teeth with a bamboo twig. This bowl of noodles was the best meal he had eaten recently. The noodles were stolen with a gentle sword energy from a bamboo basket placed outside Granny Six’s house in the town. The soft-shelled turtles were scooped from the White Fish Creek at night. He was even bitten while trying to scoop out a turtle, but fortunately, a twelfth-realm Sword Cultivator’s physique is robust and it didn’t hurt. Even the chopped scallions were pilfered from Widow Liu’s vegetable patch in the town. A dignified Military Strategist Sword Cultivator always believed in getting things for free. If even a drop of soup in his meal was his own, he would consider it a loss.
The people in the small town saw all of Tang Guangjun’s exploits but couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. Even when Tang Guangjun ogled the young widow as she worked in the fields, they turned a blind eye. There were quite a few such idlers in the town, and he was a bachelor too. The aunties and grandmas in the town actually felt quite sorry for him.
Sometimes, when Tang Guangjun lay on the rooftop basking in the sun, he felt a pang of sadness. Those older women were so caring! He wished he could just marry Granny Six, on the condition that her farmer husband agreed.
“Burp~~~”
Tang Guangjun sat on a bluestone at the town’s entrance and couldn’t help but let out a satisfied belch. With nothing else to do, he wondered what to do in the afternoon. Cultivate his sword? Cultivate his ass! A twelfth-realm Sword Cultivator’s realm wasn’t achieved through practice. Military Strategist cultivators needed to accumulate killing intent to improve their strength; they needed to fight and kill.
Forget it, maybe he’d go chat with Lord Su Shan and Old Sword Immortal Han in the afternoon? Although their realms were very low, they were both full of wit and wisdom. Talking to them often helped improve one’s state of mind.
Just as Tang Guangjun was about to get up, he suddenly saw two figures ascending the mountain.
One of them was wearing a well-fitting, deep blue spiritual robe that outlined her alluring figure perfectly, with curves that rose and fell like mountains and plains, truly a place of natural beauty. Her face was exquisite, and her bright, lively eyes were full of charm. The other was a woman in battle armor, with a beautiful face and a graceful, undulating figure. A cape billowed behind her, making her look heroic and valiant. Most importantly, she possessed a pair of slender, jade-like legs that could make anyone’s heart flutter.
“Halt.”
Tang Guangjun suddenly raised his arm and said in a deep voice, “This is the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool, a vital military stronghold. If the two young ladies have no business here, it’s best not to ascend the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool. If you must ascend, I demand a body search for verification, lest you are spies from the demon race!”
“Huh?”
Shen Xingchen was taken aback.
Leng Yan, with her willow-leaf eyebrows slightly furrowed, said, “We are friends of Lin Zhao. We have to be searched too? This gatekeeper doesn’t seem like a good person. Why would my Lin Zhao hire someone like you as a gatekeeper?”
“Ah!?”
Tang Guangjun’s heart trembled. So they were acquaintances of his junior brother! He quickly changed his expression to an extremely fawning one, lowered his posture significantly, and said with a lick of his lips, “So the two young ladies are friends of the Mountain Lord. Then there’s no problem. I was just saying, the two young ladies are so beautiful, truly stunning. I doubt anyone in this world besides my Mountain Lord would be qualified to have even a fleeting acquaintance with you.”
“…”
Both Leng Yan and Shen Xingchen were speechless.
“Let’s go.”
Shen Xingchen pulled Leng Yan’s hand and said with a smile, “The people Lin Zhao recruits at the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool are truly strange. Let’s not bother with him. Let’s quickly start our revisiting plan. Maybe we can even snag an S-rank main quest here or something.”
“Mm.”
Leng Yan smiled and nodded. After brushing past Tang Guangjun, she looked back at him and made a small gesture as if to draw her sword and hack him, which immediately sent a cold sweat down Tang Guangjun’s spine. Indeed, all the beautiful and attractive women in the world were formidable. If this woman was truly his junior brother’s paramour, he might face repercussions later!
…
Inside the small town.
With people constantly moving in, the rebuilt Heavenly Pool Town already had many households. Most of the rebuilt houses were occupied. As Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan walked side-by-side down the alley, they could hear the distant barking of dogs, see geese chasing schoolboys by the roadside, and even a young boy carrying a wooden sword to protect his sister as he chased away a goose. There was even a tavern by the stone bridge, with peach blossoms in full bloom next to it.
Everything was as it used to be.
Leng Yan couldn’t help but let out a beautiful smile and said, “Ever since he returned here, everything has changed.”
“Naturally.”
Shen Xingchen smiled and said, “He truly considers this place his home now.”
Shortly after, the two passed by a rebuilt stone bridge. On the bridge, a burly young martial artist was practicing his fist stance, his body straight, and streaks of profound fist intent flowing through his entire being. He was Chen Ben, the youngest Sea-Stepping realm martial artist in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool.
Leng Yan glanced at him. The young man’s fist practice had the demeanor of Lin Zhao’s practice back in the day, but Lin Zhao had been much thinner and darker back then, unlike the current young martial artist who was extremely stout.
“Two older sisters.”
Chen Ben felt a sense of alertness. After all, he had never seen such beautiful girls in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool before. These two were even more beautiful than Chuan Zhi and Chu Yu. His mother had always said that most of the extremely beautiful women in the world were either demonesses or spirits in disguise, and he had to be careful. So, could they be spies from the demon race?
For a moment, Chen Ben’s sword-like eyebrows knitted together, and he said, “You two look unfamiliar. Is this your first time at the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool?”
“Mm, I guess it is, for the first time.”
Leng Yan said with a smile, “We are Lin Zhao’s friends. We’ve come to find him.”
“Ah?!”
Chen Ben couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re Brother Lin Zhao’s friends? I see… I’ll lead the way for you. He lives in the Natural Abode in the Villa on the mountain peak. It might be a bit troublesome for you to find him yourselves.”
“Okay~~~”
Shen Xingchen nodded and chuckled softly.
…
The Natural Abode.
As Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan stepped onto the cobblestone path, they saw that in the study of the Natural Abode, someone was engrossed in drawing talismans. He was drawing Talismans to Break Evil, which were extremely effective against monsters from the four northern tribes. Although the damage dealt didn’t count towards players’ merits, nor did it drop equipment or gold coins, they were quite useful in story quests. Therefore, he needed to draw more to keep as spares. After all, the more prepared one was, the better the final record would be. This was an undeniable fact.
The next moment, Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan, two beautiful women, leaned by the window, resting their pretty little heads on the windowsill, their pair of limpid, big eyes blinking at Lin Zhao.
“Hm?”
Lin Zhao suddenly felt a prickle of awareness. He looked up and couldn’t help but smile, “Why have you two come?”
“We just wanted to come and see, so we came.”
Shen Xingchen smiled slightly, then lowered her voice, “Actually, A Yan wanted to revisit the old place. I was afraid she might get lost, so I made time out of my busy schedule to accompany her.”
“Oh, oh!”
Lin Zhao chuckled, “Alright, come in and sit. Don’t just stand outside. Dongcang, make some tea.”
“Yes, young master.”
Xing Nu Dongcang floated in and began making tea in the living room.
Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan both knew Dongcang, so they didn’t find anything amiss. Shen Xingchen sat demurely in a chair in the study, while Leng Yan, unable to stay still, strode around the study with her long, snow-white legs, looking at Lin Zhao’s living space in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool. The corners of her mouth curved upwards, and she said with a smile, “It’s truly completely different now. It feels like the rebuilt Snow Domain Heavenly Pool is even better than before.”
“Mm.”
Lin Zhao smiled with no small amount of pride, “If we only compare it to the Heavenly Pool Army of the Great Chen Dynasty back then, today’s Snow Domain Heavenly Pool is indeed stronger. The Heavenly Pool Army back then had 8,000 troops, while our Snow Domain Legion now has nearly 20,000 elite soldiers, all of whom are cavalry. The Great Chen Dynasty had one twelfth-realm and one tenth-realm cultivator, while we now have two eleventh-realm and two tenth-realm cultivators, plus a large group of middle-tier cultivators. Overall… it’s certainly different from the past.”
Leng Yan smiled lightly, “My Xingchen and I came to visit. Did we disturb you?”
“Not at all.”
Lin Zhao shook his head and smiled, “Stay for lunch here. Taste the mountain delicacies of our Natural Abode.”
“Okay!”
Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan agreed without hesitation. It was a rare opportunity. Other players would have to beg for a meal at the Natural Abode and might even feel out of place, but Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan wouldn’t. They were among the beta testers, people who had journeyed alongside Lin Zhao for the past hundred years.
…
Thus, Lin Zhao took the two girls fishing by the lotus pond, while the two young girls, Wang Yue and Tong Yu, went to the back mountain with small baskets to pick mushrooms and wild vegetables. Shortly after, Mu Kua carried a small wild boar up the mountain. Then, Xu Sheng came up the mountain with a war bow on his back. Hearing that there were guests, he left the few rabbits tied to his waist. Chen Ben, barefoot, went into the lotus pond and dug up some fresh lotus roots.
Soon, Dongcang took charge in the kitchen, with Tong Yu and Wang Yue helping to pick vegetables, and began cooking in the kitchen next to the Natural Abode. Lin Zhao and Shen Xingchen, Leng Yan also reeled in their fishing lines. All the fish, big and small, were stewed in one pot, making a flavorful fish soup.
At noon, there were only a few people at the dining table.
Besides Lin Zhao, Shen Xingchen, and Leng Yan, there were Chuan Zhi and Mu Kua, two upper-tier cultivators, as companions. Others felt too embarrassed to sit at the table. Chuan Zhi and Mu Kua actually had some impression of Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan, but they couldn’t figure out who these two were. Were they from another world? Why were they here a hundred years ago? Or… were these two extraordinarily beautiful women, the legendary upper-tier cultivators, actually of extraordinary origin?
These were all uncertain, but they could tell that Shen Xingchen and Leng Yan were very, very good friends of Lin Zhao. This was beyond doubt.
…
After lunch, Xiang Ji arrived and whispered a few words to Lin Zhao, informing him of the current location of the fifty thousand sheep tribute and the exact time of its arrival at Gu Xia Pass.
“Let’s go to North Mountain!”
Lin Zhao, having eaten his fill, clapped his hands and said with a smile, “Let’s see if there’s any movement in the demon army’s camp!”
“Mm!”
Leng Yan’s beautiful eyes were like water, carrying a dreamlike sensation, as if everything had returned to the past.