"Kid, I’m leaving soon."

The day before departure.

Liou Zhen, who was busy in the city handling the matters of recruiting disciples, suddenly returned home to find Liou Yuan.

Liou Yuan was helping Bai Xin with curing herbs when he was called aside by Liou Zhen.

"Yesterday, I tested Kong Yi’s aptitude." In the courtyard, Liou Zhen’s tall figure stood under the old tree with its bare branches.

Liou Yuan stood beside Liou Zhen.

As soon as Liou Zhen began to speak, Liou Yuan knew that the matter was not simple.

If Kong Yi had no aptitude, Liou Zhen wouldn’t have specifically sought him out, so he tentatively asked, "Does the girl have a Star Acupoint?"

Liou Zhen gently nodded, saying, "Four-Star Wood Acupoint. This trip to Yanhe City, she’s arguably my greatest gain."

"Four-Star Wood Acupoint?" The envy in Liou Yuan’s eyes was almost overflowing.

Liou Zhen’s own aptitude was only Five-Star, and he was already a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator.

The standard for recruiting disciples at Five Extremes Mountain was merely Three-Star Star Acupoint, proving that Kong Yi’s aptitude already surpassed most disciples of Five Extremes Mountain.

Liou Yuan forced a smile and said to Liou Zhen, "That’s a good thing."

"But that girl seems unwilling to leave Yanhe City."

Liou Zhen said with Kong Yi’s refined eyebrows slightly furrowed, appearing quite helpless:

"If it were someone else, it would be fine, but she is Kong Yi, and her mother protects her. I truly have no way."

The thing that made Liou Zhen most helpless was Bai Xin’s shielding, saying that Kong Yi’s choice should be respected.

Even with his Foundation Establishment Cultivation, facing Bai Xin’s objection, Liou Zhen was momentarily at a loss.

Liou Yuan smiled slightly, roughly understanding why Liou Zhen came to him.

"Big brother, there’s nothing you can do with me."

"Kong Yi is mom’s biological daughter."

"Moreover, when have the decisions made by the old lady ever changed?"

"Indeed!" Liou Zhen chuckled wryly and said somewhat regretfully, "Such aptitude, not to cultivate, is truly a shame."

"How about this." After a brief pause and consideration, Liou Yuan replied, "I’ll go talk to Kong Yi tonight."

"If she agrees herself, mother won’t be able to stop her."

"That would be great." That’s why Liou Zhen came to find Liou Yuan.

...

"Not going!"

Inside the Xuanhu Clinic, Kong Yi, with her face smoked gray, shot a bad-tempered look at Liou Yuan standing by the medicine jar.

"Why not go?" Liou Yuan was not angry and smilingly said, "Don’t you want to cultivate? After cultivating, your life span will greatly increase, you can keep your youthful appearance for years, don’t you want that?"

This is a temptation that almost all women cannot resist.

Aging is quick, and no woman wishes to face herself with a head full of white hair.

"Of course, I do." Kong Yi, focusing on the charcoal flames below, raised her head with a bun hairstyle and nodded honestly.

"Then why are you unwilling to leave with me and big brother?" Liou Yuan rubbed his temples, feeling that this silly girl’s logic was problematic.

Kong Yi stopped her actions, raising her still charming face despite being smoked black, earnestly saying, "Liou Zhen brother leaves, you leave, and then I leave."

"What about the teacher? What about my father?"

After two questions, Liou Yuan was stunned, standing silent for a long time.

Kong Yi didn’t look at Liou Yuan anymore, added a log of wood to the stove of her own accord, and spoke softly, "Don’t overthink it, I’m not staying to care for the two elders because of the marriage between us, that was decided by the previous generation."

"We grew up together, I’ve always seen you as a brother, and I know you always see me as a sister."

"Aside from the marriage arrangement, this filial piety has to be done."

"You go ahead, I’ll keep an eye at home, so you can be at ease."

Evidently, Kong Yi was not staying because she was Liou Yuan’s fiancée.

It’s purely because of her deep feelings for Bai Xin and Kong Dasheng.

Don’t mind her usual tendency to act faster than think, she knows everything in her heart.

Isn’t Liou Zhen powerful enough? Yet he has to go home only once every few years.

Once they go to Five Extremes Mountain, many things are not up to them.

Moreover, cultivation sects have always been about severing ties with secular relations.

Liou Zhen’s return to Yanhe City this time was just a pretext of recruiting disciples; otherwise, he would be bound by many regulations.

"Sigh!" Liou Yuan sighed, no longer persuaded.

Before leaving, he paused, looking at the girl still crouching by the stove, and called out.

"Kong Yi."

"What!" Kong Yi responded without raising her head.

"Do you want me to find you a rich husband in Five Extremes Mountain?" Liou Yuan grinned.

Kong Yi blushed, but reluctantly retorted, "You should take care of yourself!"