Before graduating, when he had still been in the top ten of the Strong Ranking, Xiao Jietian had extended invitations to several outstanding students. Liu Qing had been one of them.
However, because of his straightforward temperament and sense of duty, Liu Qing had chosen to return to his family to help and repay their kindness.
Xiao Jietian had not forced the matter. Everyone had their own ambitions. He had simply offered an olive branch; the choice was theirs to make.
"It seems you've learned how to act like a proper family head these past few years," Xiao Jietian said, looking at Liu Qing. "But that expression of yours still isn't convincing at all."
Liu Qing, who had always been a battle-maniac with a straightforward personality, had actually learned to joke around.
"Hahaha!" Liu Qing laughed heartily. Not only had he survived today, he had also reunited with an old friend. Joy welled up from the bottom of his heart.
He assumed Xiao Jietian was heading to the Pill Domain. After all, Xiao Jietian was an alchemist, and the spatial wormhole in Tianhuang City led straight to one of the cities in the Pill Domain.
"Going there to take a look and broaden my horizons," Xiao Jietian replied with a faint smile.
Liu Qing and Liu Fei exchanged glances. With Xiao Jietian's monstrous talent in both cultivation and alchemy, and already at Dou Zun level, his alchemist rank was definitely no lower than seventh-grade. Calling it "broadening horizons" was basically like saying he was going to blast fish in a pond.
Liu Qing was just about to invite Xiao Jietian to the Liu family residence for proper hospitality and to arrange the spatial wormhole. This year, the management rights to the wormhole were still held by the Liu family.
Before he could speak, however, space rippled slightly beside Xiao Jietian. A graceful woman appeared out of thin air, accompanied by two little girls.
Liu Qing and Liu Fei's eyes widened at once.
Although their realms were not high, they understood enough to know that only Dou Zun experts could move through space like that—and not even low-level ones could do it so effortlessly.
This meant the woman who had just appeared was also at Dou Zun level.
She wore a thin veil over her face, but her exposed eyes were deep and serene like still pools. Her figure was graceful and perfectly proportioned—neither too thin nor too full. An aura of quiet strength, confidence, and long-standing high status radiated from her.
Liu Fei couldn't help glancing at the woman's figure, then at her own. In both temperament and looks, she was completely outclassed.
Liu Qing even felt an inexplicable sense of fatal threat coming from the two little girls.
"Daddy, are they the friends you mentioned?" Xiao Ling walked over and tugged at Xiao Jietian's clothes.
"That's right. They were Daddy's friends from the same academy," Xiao Jietian said. He picked up both Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng at the same time—he had to treat them equally, or he would have to coax the other one later.
When Liu Qing and Liu Fei heard the word "Daddy" and saw how much the two little girls resembled Xiao Jietian, they immediately understood these were his biological daughters.
They just didn't know which woman he had them with. After all, they were aware that Xiao Jietian had quite a few beautiful women around him.
Xiao Jietian introduced everyone. Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng sweetly called them "Uncle Liu Qing" and "Aunt Liu Fei." Liu Qing and Liu Fei responded with warm smiles.
When Xiao Jietian was about to introduce Xuan Yi, she spoke first in a clear, cool voice:
"Xuan Yu."
Xuan Yi did not want to reveal her real name. Although she usually kept a low profile, many people on the continent still knew the name Xuan Yi. Very few, however, knew that one of the three giants of the Pill Tower was a woman.
She also didn't want to expose her whereabouts and invite unnecessary trouble.
As Xiao Jietian introduced her, Xuan Yi quietly moved closer until her shoulder gently touched his.
Xiao Jietian noticed the small movement and couldn't help smiling inwardly. He hadn't expected the usually composed Xuan Yi to act like a little girl sometimes.
He had zero interest in Liu Fei. Although she wasn't bad-looking, there was still a noticeable gap compared to Han Yue and Han Xue, let alone Medusa and the others.
…
After that, the five of them rode the Shadow Eagle Emperor toward Tianhuang City.
When Liu Qing and Liu Fei saw the Sixth-Tier Shadow Eagle Emperor, they weren't particularly surprised. With Xiao Jietian's abnormal strength, they actually felt a Sixth-Tier eagle mount was a bit too ordinary for him.
While Xiao Jietian's group set off, at the border between the Northern and Western Regions of the Central Plains, two slightly disheveled figures appeared in a remote mountain range.
Sunlight fell on them, revealing their faces—Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran, who had come out of the Eternal Heaven World to train.
At first, the two had planned to head to the Northwest Region of the Central Plains according to Xiao Jietian's guidance.
They traveled westward and entered a place called the Myriad Demon Mountain Range to temper themselves and search for opportunities.
During their training, they accidentally encountered disciples and elders from the Wind and Thunder Southern Pavilion.
Nalan Yanran, already beautiful to begin with, had become even more charming and moving under Xiao Yan's careful care and nurturing. It was no exaggeration to call her a stunning beauty.
Moreover, after awakening her wind-attribute physique, her entire presence had gained an agile, ethereal quality.
When the Wind and Thunder Southern Pavilion members saw the alluring Nalan Yanran, lust clouded their judgment. They tried to scheme against her, but Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran killed them all.
However, when they eliminated a Dou Zong elder of the pavilion, they left behind clues. In the end, history repeated itself in a surprising way—Xiao Yan once again found himself being hunted by the Wind and Thunder Pavilion.
This time, it wasn't the Northern Pavilion chasing him, but the Pavilion Master of the Southern Pavilion himself.
The Southern Pavilion Master was an Eight-Star Dou Zong. Xiao Yan, using the high-level Dou Techniques he had learned from the Boundless Heaven Hall and the soul Dou Techniques given by Xiao Jietian, was not at a disadvantage in direct combat. Unfortunately, the opponent did not come alone—he brought an entire group of Dou Zongs and Dou Huangs.
There was no other reason: one of the people who had tried to harm Nalan Yanran was the Southern Pavilion Master's own son—his late-in-life precious child.
As a result, the entire Wind and Thunder Southern Pavilion had been mobilized to encircle and suppress the two.
After Xiao Yan blasted and killed two Dou Zongs, he took Nalan Yanran and chose a strategic retreat.
The main reason was that Yao Lao had already warned him before this Central Plains training: unless it was truly a life-or-death situation, he was not to use the Heavenly Dou Technique, Ghost Possession.
Xiao Yan had the same intention. Relying on constant shelter would never be his true path.
In the mountain range, Xiao Yan, now safely hidden, looked at the panting Nalan Yanran in front of him. He couldn't help pulling her into his arms and asked gently:
"How is it? Do you regret coming out to train with me?"
Nalan Yanran shook her head. Although she looked a little tired, her eyes sparkled with an unprecedented excitement.
"No. On the contrary… I feel more alive than ever before."
Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, then smiled as he understood what she meant.