Chapter 718: Seeing Situ Jingyu Again

A hundred years had passed, but not much had changed here. After the Flying Boat landed, two disciples from the Earth Cave Fire Domain still came forward to receive him.

Beside these two, several enormous, crimson toads came hopping over from the distance.

Up close, the toads were as tall as a one-story building. Huge bulges protruded from their backs, and they occasionally spat blue flames. Such a fearsome sight would strike terror into the heart of any mortal.

Seeing these Flaming Fire Toads, Fang Qingyuan recalled the time he and Jinbao had been swallowed whole, and he couldn’t help but let out a knowing smile. It was a pity Jinbao was still hibernating and couldn’t witness this scene.

Besides, even if Jinbao were awake, given his current size, these Flaming Fire Toads wouldn’t be able to swallow him anymore.

After presenting his notice, Fang Qingyuan waited patiently. The two disciples knew this handsome Cultivator with an extraordinary aura was an old acquaintance of their Ancestor, so they didn’t dare approach and disturb him, merely waiting alongside him.

But after only a moment, Situ Jingyu’s figure appeared before the three of them.

Seeing that Fang Qingyuan’s face had barely changed, Situ Jingyu strode forward and thumped a fist on his shoulder. The two disciples standing by were so shocked by this that their jaws dropped.

‘Our Ancestor is a Golden Core Body Cultivator! A single casual punch from her could shatter a Foundation Establishment rock lizard to pieces, yet this Cultivator before us shows no reaction at all?’

“You finally remembered to come see me! It’s been so many years. Is this any way to treat a friend?”

Situ Jingyu’s expression was a mix of playful pouting and genuine complaint, which greatly exceeded the two disciples’ expectations. ‘Is this really our domineering Ancestor?’

‘We’re doomed.’ Seeing their Ancestor like this, the two Qi Cultivation Disciples were horrified. They wished they could become blind and deaf on the spot so they wouldn’t have seen a thing.

Situ Jingyu, however, couldn’t care less whether her image was shattering. This was her most genuine reaction to seeing Fang Qingyuan.

“It hasn’t been that long, has it? Only a decade or so. Besides, Senior Sister, you pack quite a punch.”

Fang Qingyuan feigned rubbing his shoulder. In truth, Situ Jingyu’s blow hadn’t hurt in the slightest. After all, he also practiced Body Refining; his physical body was incredibly tough.

“Has it been so short a time? I thought many, many years had passed. Did I really hurt you just now?”

Situ Jingyu looked slightly worried, but when she saw Fang Qingyuan’s teasing grin, she knew he was pulling her leg. It was only then that she remembered his cultivation level was now higher than hers.

Without realizing it, Situ Jingyu had already slipped back into her role as the senior sister.

“Is everything alright with your sect lately?”

The two walked side by side, falling into an easy chat about the trivial matters of their respective sects. Now that both were sect leaders, the topic came to them naturally.

“What could happen? It’s the same as always—we’re not starving, but we’re not exactly feasting either. Just holding on to our little corner of the world. That’s all we can do.”

With their current cultivation levels, they no longer needed to ride Flaming Fire Toads through the underground lava tunnels. They strolled as if through a garden, the surrounding molten lava feeling no more intense than a steaming hot spring.

“How’s your cultivation coming along, Senior Sister? You’ve been stuck at the bottleneck between the Third-Layer and Fourth-Layer Golden Core for quite some time, haven’t you?”

“There’s not much I can do. Body Refining Cultivators rely on resources; aptitude isn’t as important. But just look at our Sub-Sect. Where would we find the Spirit Stones to buy high-level body-refining materials? Being stuck is fine, I guess. The longer I spend accumulating, the easier the eventual breakthrough will be.”

“Have you considered borrowing some Spirit Stones to get over this hurdle first? You could pay them back later. With the reputation of your Beast Taming Sub-Sect, I’m sure someone would be willing to lend you a few thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones.”

Hearing Fang Qingyuan’s suggestion, Situ Jingyu immediately shook her head.

“Absolutely not. Before Master passed away, he forbade us from operating on debt. Besides, we don’t like borrowing. Life might be a little harder this way, but it’s still manageable. If we take on debt, the interest will pile up—interest on interest, interest begetting more interest. The sect would be forever at someone else’s mercy.”

Fang Qingyuan felt a new sense of admiration for Situ Jingyu’s master. That kindly old man had shown such foresight. ‘If Situ Jingyu were to take on debt,’ he thought, ‘knowing her, she’d almost certainly be taken for a ride.’

“What if someone was willing to lend you five thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones with no interest? No compounding, no strings attached. Would you accept then?”

After Fang Qingyuan said this with a smile, Situ Jingyu looked at him in astonishment. “That someone wouldn’t be you, would it? Be honest, Junior Brother. Are you expecting me to put myself up as collateral?”

Fang Qingyuan’s smile froze. ‘Why is she always thinking about putting herself up as collateral?’

“Let’s put that aside for now. Senior Sister, how about you take me to see Nanli’s mother?”

Fang Qingyuan temporarily dropped the subject. The Earth Cave Fire Domain had a total of ten subterranean levels. The top four were home to Qi Cultivation Stage demon beasts, the middle three housed Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts, and the bottom three were where Golden Core Stage demon beasts resided. Situ Jingyu had snatched Nanli from the eighth level all those years ago.

Fang Qingyuan was using the pretext of reuniting Nanli with its mother to observe whether the Spiritual Qi in the eighth level’s magma was rich enough to meet the needs of his Immortal Mansion.

Tu Dai’Er was still waiting for him back at the Qingyuan Sect. Fang Qingyuan had snuck out for this trip and could stay for three months at most, so he absolutely had to find a location that was exceedingly rich in Spiritual Qi.

Situ Jingyu was quite direct. Instead of letting Fang Qingyuan rest, she took his suggestion and led him straight toward the Fire Cave on the eighth level.

The two of them passed through layer after layer of Fire Caves. As they descended, the subterranean temperature rose steadily. The deeper they went, the fewer signs of life they encountered.

“That Fire-Bright Mother Bird was at the Early-stage Golden Core a hundred years ago, but now she’s broken through to the Mid-stage Golden Core. Her territory is on the southern side of the eighth level, taking up half the entire floor. Her temper isn’t the best, but I imagine she’ll show us some courtesy when she sees Nanli.”

On the eighth level, the temperature was completely unsuitable for any Qi Cultivation life form. Even Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts would feel exceptionally uncomfortable here. Magma from the Earth Core Volcano sprayed through the air, and everything one could see was a sea of crimson.

As Fang Qingyuan listened to Situ Jingyu’s explanation, a thought crossed his mind, and he summoned Nanli, who had been sleeping in the Purple Bamboo Forest inside the Immortal Mansion.

“SKRAW! REE!”

The sudden heat scalded Nanli’s feet, causing her to hop from one foot to the other. Hearing her squawks, Fang Qingyuan was certain the little fellow was cursing up a storm.

However, upon seeing Fang Qingyuan’s face, Nanli instantly became much more docile.

“Ah, so this is little Nanli! I haven’t seen her in so many years. She’s gotten so big.”

Situ Jingyu recalled the tiny chick from all those years ago. The difference between it and this magnificent, twenty-foot-tall bird before her was simply immense.

Spotting Situ Jingyu, Nanli’s eyes darted. With a flash of understanding, she came closer, lowered her neck, and rubbed her beak against Situ Jingyu’s chest.

Situ Jingyu reached out to stroke Nanli’s head, feeling that the little creature was still quite fond of her.

Just as the woman and bird were interacting, a tremendous cry suddenly echoed from the distance:

“SKRAWW! YOO!”

An enormous Firebird, fifty-five feet long with a wingspan of over a hundred feet, was running toward them, flapping its wings awkwardly.

Watching the bird’s bizarre running style, Situ Jingyu laughed.

“The ceilings in these underground Fire Caves are low. This Fire-Bright Bird has been here so long, it’s sort of forgotten how to fly. So it usually just flaps its way around.”

Fang Qingyuan nodded. ‘No wonder Nanli always looks so shifty and sneaky, like a vulture that only walks on the ground,’ he thought. ‘So it’s hereditary.’

Seeing the huge Fire-Bright Bird rushing toward her, Nanli’s expression changed from confusion to excitement. She stretched out her neck and cried out endlessly to the approaching bird.

But without Fang Qingyuan’s command, Nanli didn’t dare to approach on her own. It wasn’t until he gave her a nod that she scrambled forward.

Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu found a protruding rock to sit on, shoulder to shoulder, and quietly watched the reunion between Nanli and her mother.

“You got yourself seriously injured back then just for my thirty Top-grade Spirit Stones. Thinking about it now, do you have any regrets?”

“Of course I regret it. If I’d known you were so rich, I would’ve asked for fifty. For only thirty, I got ripped off.”

“Haha, I’ll give you fifty now. How about you help me abduct Nanli’s mother?”

“In your dreams! I wouldn’t do it for less than a hundred!”

Beneath a rain of fire and magma, Fang Qingyuan sat quietly, shoulder to shoulder with Situ Jingyu, exchanging silly jokes.

Bursts of magma arced through the air and fell back into the lake behind them, sending ripples across the molten surface.