“Lu Yun!”

  “For so many years, you’ve never come to find me once.”

  “And today you’ve shown up—probably because of what happened last night, right?”

  Li Ziyao spoke coldly.

  This damn man—decades had passed without him ever seeking her out, yet the moment something went wrong, he suddenly remembered she existed.

  In his eyes, was this all she was worth?

  “Indeed, it’s about last night.”

  Lu Yun didn’t deny it. Since she had already said it outright, there was no point in him trying to hide anything.

  “Last night, I took one of my students and broke out of the sect using that token you once gave me…”

  Lu Yun was still speaking when Li Ziyao raised her hand and cut him off.

  The Yunxiao Sect wasn’t large; how could she not know what had happened?

  She was simply curious. Ever since that incident, Lu Yun had lost interest in everything—why would he suddenly go out of his way to help a junior now?

  At that moment,

  Li Ziyao suddenly frowned, turned her head, and stared fixedly at Lu Yun.

  “Wait?”

  “You broke through?”

  “How is that possible?”

  When Lu Yun first entered, Li Ziyao hadn’t examined him closely. But the moment he stood before her, she instantly sensed something wrong—his cultivation had actually reached the Golden Core stage?

  But how could that be?

  She had known Lu Yun for many years and understood his talent perfectly. Logically speaking, he should have been permanently stuck at Foundation Establishment for the rest of his life; breaking through to Golden Core was impossible.

  Thinking of this,

  and combining it with the fact that he had helped a junior last night, Li Ziyao seemed to piece together a clue.

  Lu Yun must have encountered some great opportunity recently.

  If that were true, then perhaps between her and Lu Yun…

  The thought made her secretly shake her head. Forget it. Even if he had gained an opportunity, it was already impossible between them.

  Lu Yun’s limit in this lifetime should only be Golden Core at best.

  She, on the other hand, had long since become a peerless powerhouse at the Void Refinement stage. A Golden Core cultivator’s lifespan was merely a thousand years—far too short compared to hers.

  At the same time,

  Lu Yun was also stunned.

  She had actually seen through the Cold Branch Veil and detected his true cultivation. Did that mean her realm surpassed his by three full major stages?!

  Above Golden Core was Nascent Soul, above Nascent Soul was Soul Formation, and above Soul Formation was Void Refinement!

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  In just a few short decades, she had surged from mid-Soul Formation all the way to Void Refinement.

  Even across the entire Northern Wilderness Continent, a cultivation level like hers could be counted on one hand.

  “Truly, fate plays tricks on people…”

  Lu Yun sighed inwardly, but quickly rallied himself.

  He was no longer the same person he used to be. With the Investment System at his disposal, who was to say he couldn’t surpass her one day?

  Come on, Lu Yun! You’ve got this!

  “I did break through—a lucky breakthrough a few days ago.”

  Lu Yun spoke calmly, refusing to linger on the topic of cultivation.

  “Good… that’s good.”

  “Since you’ve come to see me as an old friend, I can’t refuse to give you face.”

  “Don’t worry about what happened last night—I’ll handle it for you.”

  Li Ziyao gazed deeply at Lu Yun. For such a long time she had kept countless words bottled up in her heart, wanting to say them to him. Yet now that he stood right in front of her, she suddenly didn’t know how to begin.

  Perhaps this was what time did—it slowly washed away everything from the past.

  “In that case… thank you.”

  Lu Yun cupped his hands in gratitude.

  Beyond that,

  he truly didn’t know what else to say.

  It was just like Lu Xun and Runtu: in their youth they had shared everything and were inseparable, but when they met again in their later years, Runtu could only call him “Master.”

  After speaking, Lu Yun prepared to leave.

  Standing here made him feel unbearably uncomfortable, as if needles were pricking him all over.

  But Li Ziyao called out to stop him.

  “Lu Yun.”

  “Leaving just like that? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

  “I helped you resolve your problem. In the past, no matter what, you would always repay me somehow.”

  Li Ziyao spoke with a half-smile.

  She knew that with their current cultivation gap, if he actually offered repayment it would only be more humiliating.

  “Name it. As long as I can do it, I won’t refuse.”

  Lu Yun nodded slightly. He wouldn’t say too much or too little. He knew he had no real way to repay her, and she knew it too—but since she had brought it up, he would accept whatever she asked.

  “I have a special child here.”

  “She was originally an excellent seedling, but she ran into some unusual circumstances and can’t enter a cultivation state. Even I have no solution. I want to leave her by your side—perhaps you’ll bring about some change.”

  After Li Ziyao finished speaking, a young girl walked in from the outer door.

  She had a delicate, childlike face with two rosy blushes on her cheeks, looking extremely adorable.

  “Master, you called for me?”

  The girl obediently knelt before Li Ziyao’s bed, her eyes occasionally stealing glances toward Lu Yun.

  “This is the second master I’ve found for you. From now on, you will cultivate by his side. If anything comes up, I will send word to you.”

  After speaking to the girl, Li Ziyao turned her gaze to Lu Yun.

  There was not the slightest room for discussion in her tone—whether toward the girl or toward Lu Yun.

  At the same time,

  the girl’s panel appeared before Lu Yun’s eyes.

  …

  【Name: Xiao Yan’er】 【Age: 7】 【Cultivation: None】 【Fortune: Gold】 【Future Evaluation: She carries the fire of another world within her. Her spiritual root is a mutated Fire Spirit Root. Her birth father is the Lord of the Flame Domain. This girl was born as radiant as the sun itself—no one can ever overshadow her brilliance.】 【Recent Investable Encounter: She has been constantly haunted by nightmares for years, preventing her from cultivating. The moment she enters a cultivation state, the nightmare terrorizes her.】 【Investment Method: Identify the nightmare and slay it.】

  …

  After reading Xiao Yan’er’s information, Lu Yun first felt a surge of delight, followed by complete helplessness.

  The delight came from the fact that this little girl was pure gold quality. If he invested in her, the returns would be absolutely massive.

  But after seeing the investment method, he was at a loss.

  He knew nothing about nightmares, let alone how to identify one and kill it.

  Moreover, the girl had been with Li Ziyao for so long, and even she couldn’t solve the problem—what could he possibly do?

  Still, since Li Ziyao had entrusted the girl to him, he had no grounds to refuse.

  He would just keep her by his side. Having a gold-quality investee around to look at wasn’t a bad thing.

  “The child’s talent is excellent, but there’s some issue I can’t quite explain.”

  “I don’t know how to solve it either. If you trust me, then leave her with me.”

  Lu Yun agreed.

  He deliberately didn’t reveal Xiao Yan’er’s exact problem right away—this was also for safety’s sake.

  “Mm.”

  “As long as you have no objections.”

  Li Ziyao waved lazily, signaling that Lu Yun and Xiao Yan’er could leave.

  Immediately after,

  Xiao Yan’er kowtowed to Lu Yun once more.

  “Disciple Xiao Yan’er pays respects to Second Master.”

  “Rise.”

  “For now, stay by my side. I will find a way to help you solve your problem.”

  Lu Yun helped Xiao Yan’er to her feet, then left Li Ziyao’s room with her.

  Just as he was about to step out of the doorway, Lu Yun seemed to remember something. He turned his head back and said,

  “Li Ziyao, if you trust me—ten years from now, meet me at the Sun-Moon Great Wall!”