Chapter 253: Chapter 250: Yunzhi Returns Home

Amidst Li Ping’s arduous cultivation.

A year had passed without him realizing it.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yunzhi, who had journeyed to the Ice Sea in search of the Thousand-Year Ice Jade, finally returned safely to Flying Snow City after several years.

The first thing she did upon returning to Flying Snow City was find Shi Yutong to report on her mission.

There were three tasks Shi Yutong had asked her to complete.

The first was to investigate the reason behind Mu Yun Master’s death.

Xiao Yunzhi had already learned from Gao Ji Taoist what had truly happened that day. The Barbarian Bone Tribe’s desperate assault on Silver Moon City, its subsequent fall, and the deaths of two Core Formation Masters—all of it had been orchestrated by a mysterious Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Since it involved a Nascent Soul Cultivator, it was clearly beyond her ability to investigate any further.

Therefore, she could only relay everything Gao Ji Taoist had told her to Shi Yutong, exactly as she had heard it.

Upon hearing that her father’s death was suspected to be connected to a Nascent Soul Cultivator, Shi Yutong fell silent for a long time. In the end, she only let out a heavy sigh and said nothing.

Xiao Yunzhi understood how she felt.

’A Nascent Soul Cultivator... Even if the seven remaining Main Cities of the Land of the Far North joined forces, they wouldn’t be able to handle one. What could she possibly do?’

Shi Yutong could only bury the hatred deep in her heart and continue to lead the Flying Snow Sect forward.

Perhaps she would only reinvestigate the matter in the future, if she herself could become a Nascent Soul expert.

The second task.

Shi Yutong had hoped to obtain a piece of Thousand-Year Ice Jade.

With the help of the Earth Spirit Rat and guidance from Gao Ji Taoist, Xiao Yunzhi had successfully found more than one piece of Thousand-Year Ice Jade.

Now, standing before Shi Yutong, she retrieved a palm-sized Jade Box from her Storage Bag and said with a smile, "This is the Thousand-Year Ice Jade you needed, Sect Leader Shi. Please, take a look."

Shi Yutong replied respectfully, "Senior Xiao, please excuse me."

With that, she carefully picked up the Jade Box, peeled off the Sealing Spirit Talisman on its surface, and opened it with a CLICK.

The instant the Jade Box opened, a frigid aura billowed out. The temperature in the room plummeted, and in the blink of an eye, a layer of frost coated every surface.

Shi Yutong examined it carefully, a look of satisfaction finally appearing on her face. She said respectfully, "This piece Senior Xiao has provided is indeed Thousand-Year Ice Jade. Yutong is eternally grateful."

"There’s no need for gratitude. This was simply a transaction between us," Xiao Yunzhi said with a smiling nod.

She then moved on to the third matter: Shi Yutong had asked her to kill Long Jie, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Cloud Sect.

Before the year’s end, after obtaining the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade that Gao Ji Taoist had hidden, Xiao Yunzhi had returned directly to the mainland and gone to the Cloud Sect to find Long Jie.

But to her surprise, according to intelligence from the Cloud Sect cultivators, Long Jie’s life token, which was kept in the Sect, had shattered during the Beast Tide.

In other words, Long Jie was already long dead.

So she had no choice but to return to the Flying Snow Sect and deliver this news to Shi Yutong in person.

"Dead? During the Beast Tide?" Hearing this, Shi Yutong was visibly stunned.

The Ice Sea Beast Tide had occurred at the exact same time as the chaos that erupted in Flying Snow City.

During the crisis, Qianxue Master had captured the pillaging Loose Cultivators in one fell swoop, quelling the turmoil.

Afterward, through interrogating those Loose Cultivators, she learned that Long Jie had been the one behind both the sabotage of the Sect Protection Array and the incitement of the Loose Cultivators to swarm the Flying Snow Sect.

Since Long Jie had not appeared on the main battlefield that day, she had easily deduced that his true target was the Sect’s legacy Spiritual Object, and that Master Lei had also died at his hands.

It was out of this immense hatred that she had requested Xiao Yunzhi to kill Long Jie!

But she never expected that Long Jie had already died on the very day of the chaos in Flying Snow City.

’Who killed Long Jie? Or did he die at the hands of a Demon Beast or one of the Alien Races?’ Many thoughts flashed through Shi Yutong’s mind, but she ultimately came up with nothing.

After all, she had too little information to go on.

Xiao Yunzhi said with a smile, "I played no part in Long Jie’s death, so if Sect Leader Shi requires it, I can do one more thing for Flying Snow City."

"Absolutely not!" Hearing this, Shi Yutong quickly shook her head and said gravely, "Xiao Master, you personally journeyed to the Cloud Sect and confirmed the news of Long Jie’s death. That already fulfills your promise. How could Yutong dare ask Xiao Master to do anything else? From this day forward, Xiao Master no longer owes Flying Snow City any favors!"

Xiao Yunzhi glanced at her, then shook her head slightly. "I wouldn’t feel right taking advantage of you."

With that, before Shi Yutong could speak again, she took out another piece of Thousand-Year Ice Jade from her Storage Bag. "My trip to the Ice Sea was quite lucky; I found more than one piece of Thousand-Year Ice Jade. Please accept this one, Sect Leader Shi. How about we consider it payment for the third task?"

Shi Yutong quickly tried to refuse, but Xiao Yunzhi’s attitude was resolute, and in the end, she had no choice but to accept the second piece of Thousand-Year Ice Jade.

...

「Changping Square, a cultivator’s estate.」

Xiao Yunzhi took out the token for the estate’s Array, activated it, and sauntered inside as naturally as if she were coming home.

In fact, this place truly was her home—a home she shared with Li Ping!

Upon learning that Xiao Yunzhi had finally returned from the Ice Sea after several years of separation, Li Ping emerged from his seclusion. He planned to arrange a banquet in the city to welcome her back.

However, Xiao Yunzhi rejected his proposal. She took out several types of precious Spirit Fruits from her Storage Bag. "Brother Li, I had quite a harvest in the Ice Sea and picked many precious Spirit Fruits. Please, try some!"

Standing in the pavilion, Li Ping couldn’t help but smile slightly as he saw the Spiritual Objects, brimming with Vibrant Spiritual Energy, that Xiao Yunzhi placed on the table. He had already guessed who was to thank for this.

Just as he expected, Xiao Yunzhi said with a smile, "Speaking of which, if Brother Li hadn’t lent me the Earth Spirit Rat, my journey probably wouldn’t have been so smooth, and I certainly wouldn’t have found these Spirit Fruits."

In truth, without the Earth Spirit Rat, she would never have discovered the mustard-seed sphere where Gao Ji Taoist was hiding.

If not for that, she would have missed the opportunity to obtain the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade and the Sun and Moon Ring Magical Treasure.

One could say the little rat was the real hero of this trip.

As she spoke, Xiao Yunzhi removed the Spirit Beast Pouch from her waist and handed it to Li Ping, joking, "I almost don’t want to give the Earth Spirit Rat back to you, Brother Li."

Li Ping unceremoniously reached out and took the Spirit Beast Pouch from Xiao Yunzhi.

’Jokes are one thing,’ he thought, ’but there’s no way I’m giving away my Spirit Beast.’

"Go!"

Li Ping tapped the Spirit Beast Pouch, summoned the Earth Spirit Rat, and fed it a Beast Feeding Pill before letting it roam freely in the courtyard.

Only after doing all this did he sit down across from Xiao Yunzhi.

He listened to her describe her experiences over the past few years while savoring the delicious Spirit Fruits.

Facing Li Ping, Xiao Yunzhi naturally held nothing back.

She told Li Ping everything—about Gao Ji Taoist in the mustard-seed sphere, the traces of the Nascent Soul Cultivator, and her plan to refine the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade into the Sun and Moon Ring.

But what Xiao Yunzhi found strange was that while Li Ping reacted normally to everything else, his expression became extremely odd when he heard Gao Ji Taoist’s Daoist title. "Yunzhi," he asked, "did you say that ancient cultivator from the Celestial Skill Sect is named ’Taoist Tech-Fiddler’?"

’The Celestial Skill Sect is best at making puppets. On my past life’s Earth, they’d be like a robotics company.’

’So for him to call himself ’Taoist Tech-Fiddler’ would actually make sense, but isn’t that title a little... ahead of its time?’

Fortunately, Xiao Yunzhi’s explanation cleared things up. He finally understood that the ancient cultivator from the Celestial Skill Sect was Gao Ji Taoist, not ’Taoist Tech-Fiddler’—the names just sounded alike.

What does ’Gao Ji’ mean?

A pearl on the riverbank!

Li Ping nodded slightly. "So, in other words, Yunzhi, you made a Dao Heart Vow to do everything in your power to slay that Ice Flood Dragon in the Ice Sea, and in return, that Gao Ji Taoist gave you a piece of Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade and the refining method for the ’Sun and Moon Ring’ Magical Treasure?"

"Yes, Brother Li," Xiao Yunzhi confirmed with a nod.

Li Ping offered an objective assessment. "That seems like a fair trade."

Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade is a top-tier Spiritual Material in the Cultivation Realm, something even Nascent Soul Cultivators would fight over. The power of a Sun and Moon Ring Magical Treasure refined from such a material, combined with a Ten Thousand Year Fire Crystal Stone, is hard to imagine.

Xiao Yunzhi had received her payment upfront and would settle the debt later. For now, the only price she’d paid was a simple vow.

"Oh, right! Brother Li, I know you’ve been looking for a Divine Sense Cultivation Technique from the Celestial Skill Sect. As it happens, Fellow Daoist Gao Ji has the complete ’Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill’." As Xiao Yunzhi said this, a joyful expression appeared on her face. "Brother Li, your wish can finally be fulfilled!"

Having finished their private conversation, Xiao Yunzhi took the mustard-seed sphere where Gao Ji Taoist was hidden from her Storage Bag and placed it on the table.

She spoke with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Gao Ji, this is the Fellow Daoist Li I mentioned to you. He is the one who needs the complete ’Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill’."

Sensing the importance Xiao Yunzhi placed on Li Ping, Gao Ji Taoist showed her some respect. Instead of calling Li Ping a junior, he spoke, his voice stiff, "If I’m not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Li has already cultivated the first layer of the ’Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill’, correct?"

Li Ping had learned from Xiao Yunzhi that Gao Ji Taoist’s remnant soul was hidden within the Gray Ball. Hearing the voice, he also smiled and replied, "Senior is correct. This junior has indeed cultivated this technique."

"It seems your talent is quite good, Fellow Daoist Li. The ’Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill’ is not a technique just any Cultivator can practice. If one lacks the talent... Huh? That Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet in the courtyard—did you refine it?" Gao Ji Taoist’s voice was filled with surprise.

He could tell at a glance that the seemingly ordinary puppet Li Ping was using as a servant was actually a Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet with combat power comparable to a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

As a Core Formation Cultivator, a Tier Three Puppet Master, and a remnant soul who had existed for over a thousand years, Gao Ji Taoist certainly knew how difficult it was to refine a Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet.

In fact, even in the Celestial Skill Sect a thousand years ago, there weren’t many Puppet Masters who could refine a Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet.

He never imagined that a thousand years after the fall of the Celestial Skill Sect, someone other than himself could recreate one of its Tier Two Upper Grade Puppets.

’Puppet refining techniques are a top secret of the Sect,’ Gao Ji Taoist silently mused. ’Could it be that other fellow disciples besides me survived back then and passed down the Puppetry Technique?’

Hearing Gao Ji Master’s question, Li Ping had no intention of hiding anything.

After all, even if Gao Ji Master had been a Core Formation Cultivator in life, in his current remnant soul state, he couldn’t cause any trouble. Li Ping could extinguish him with a wave of his hand.

He smiled and nodded. "Senior’s guess is correct. This puppet was indeed refined by this junior’s own hands."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.