Chapter 124 - 84: Shangguan Ling’Er

Chapter 124: Chapter 84: Shangguan Ling’Er

Inside Jiang Ningzhi’s bedroom.

"A Grand Daoist?" Hearing her best friend’s words, Jiang Ningzhi paused in surprise. She subconsciously thought of her martial nephew, but quickly shook her head. With her martial nephew’s aptitude, becoming a Grand Daoist and an Imperial Decree Daoist was only a matter of time. However, he was simply too young. Even after the New Year, he would only be twenty-three.

Ling’Er gently stroked her Dantian. A streak of multicolored light flew from her fingertips, transforming into a Five-Colored Glazed Cup that enveloped Jiang Ningzhi. The five colors of white, cyan, profound, red, and yellow swirled on the Glazed Cup. Its aura was perfectly integrated, clearly showing it was a powerful Magical Treasure.

"Let’s go take a look outside." Ling’Er linked arms with Jiang Ningzhi, pulling her out of the bedroom to look toward the horizon.

At the same time, a Profound Color Ruyi appeared in her palm, and the golden jade hairpin on her head flew out, turning into a slender sword about two feet long. Both were Magical Treasures with auras no weaker than the Glazed Cup.

A Cyan Rainbow shot across the horizon.

"What pure and vigorous Wood Qi!" Ling’Er’s expression turned serious. She practiced a Five Elements Cultivation Technique, so she was extremely astonished by the Wood Qi shooting over from afar.

Hearing the mention of the Wood Element, Jiang Ningzhi could basically confirm it wasn’t her martial nephew. The Qingxuan Scripture that Li Yinsheng practiced was upright and peaceful. Although his Magical Power was also light cyan, it had no obvious connection to the Five Elements. Where would he get such pure Wood Qi?

The Cyan Rainbow arrived extremely fast. Just as a few thoughts flashed through her mind, it had already flown into Xuanzhen Temple and stopped in front of her and Ling’Er. The Cyan Rainbow retracted after landing, revealing a very bewildered Li Yinsheng, as well as Mu Xiaoyu, who was standing behind him and tugging at the corner of his clothes.

"Yin Sheng!" Jiang Ningzhi blurted out.

"Martial Uncle." Li Yinsheng nodded, but his Divine Sense remained fixed on the woman in multicolored clothes beside his martial uncle.

He thought, "This person’s Cultivation is quite impressive."

Jiang Ningzhi quickly introduced, "Yin Sheng, this is Shangguan Ling’Er, a good friend I made in the Dharma Vein. She has been in secluded cultivation within the Dharma Vein for all these years, so I never mentioned her to you.

"However, you can trust her. Ling’Er and I have known each other since we were young. We’ve braved danger together many times and are life-and-death companions."

Hearing his martial uncle’s introduction, Li Yinsheng cupped his hands in greeting. "A pleasure to meet you, Elder Shangguan."

Although he felt his own aura was on par with the woman in multicolored clothes, she was his martial uncle’s friend after all, so he simply addressed her as an elder. Besides, even if their Cultivation levels were similar, this person was definitely many times his age. Calling her an elder wouldn’t cost him anything.

Shangguan Ling’Er didn’t return the greeting; she just stared fixedly at Li Yinsheng. More accurately, her attention was split in two. Half was on Li Yinsheng’s face, and the other half was on the Celestial Cyan Sword by his side.

The Cyan Rainbow that Li Yinsheng had arrived in just now was the result of him executing an Escape Technique with the Celestial Cyan Sword. Although he hadn’t formally learned any Escape Skills, when riding a Magical Treasure of the Celestial Cyan Sword’s caliber, the act itself could be considered a type of Escape Skill. Its speed was more than ten times faster than a Talisman Crane. If he had also learned a Sword Escape Technique, his speed would be even faster.

The Cyan Rainbow hadn’t disappeared after retracting; instead, it reverted to the Celestial Cyan Sword, hovering quietly by Li Yinsheng’s side. After all, before his martial uncle introduced her, he hadn’t known Shangguan Ling’Er’s true identity and inevitably had his guard up. Just as he was about to put away the Celestial Cyan Sword, he noticed Shangguan Ling’Er’s strange gaze.

"Elder Shangguan?" Li Yinsheng called out.

"Oh!" Shangguan Ling’Er finally snapped back to reality, looking at Li Yinsheng with an odd expression. "You are... Ningzhi’s martial nephew?"

"That’s right," Li Yinsheng nodded.

"Didn’t you say Xuanzhen Temple was about to disband?" Shangguan Ling’Er widened her eyes at her best friend. "You have a Grand Daoist! Why would the Dharma Vein dissolve your temple?"

"It’s complicated. The Dharma Vein doesn’t know Yin Sheng is a Grand Daoist yet," Jiang Ningzhi said.

"You also broke through recently?" Shangguan Ling’Er realized, but still shook her head. "That doesn’t make sense either. With a Daoist around, there’s no reason for the Dharma Vein to disband you, right?"

Without waiting for Jiang Ningzhi to answer, she took two steps forward, looking at Li Yinsheng with a face full of curiosity.

"Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist, I know most of the Daoists in Xuanzhen Temple, but how come I’ve never seen you?" she asked in extreme bewilderment. Because she was very close to Jiang Ningzhi, she frequently visited her before the incident at Xuanzhen Temple. While she wasn’t necessarily close friends with the other Daoists in the temple, she was at least a familiar face to them.

Why did she have absolutely no impression of this Daoist who had suddenly popped out of nowhere?

"Martial Uncle, Elder Shangguan," Li Yinsheng didn’t immediately answer Shangguan Ling’Er’s question because his face was equally full of confusion. "What is this Grand Daoist you’re talking about?"

"Huh?" Shangguan Ling’Er blinked.

"Sigh, what a mess," Jiang Ningzhi rubbed her temples. "It’s a long story. You two, come inside, and we’ll talk slowly."

Li Yinsheng and Shangguan Ling’Er exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

Retracting the Celestial Cyan Sword, Li Yinsheng rubbed the head of Mu Xiaoyu behind him. "Junior Martial Sister, I have matters to discuss with Martial Uncle and the elder. Go back and rest first."

"Mhm!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded. But then a conflicted look appeared on her face. She gritted her teeth and said, "Senior Martial Brother, I haven’t had time to cultivate today. How about I practice my Cultivation Technique for a bit first?"

Li Yinsheng nodded in gratification. "Alright, go ahead."

Nearly half an hour later, inside Jiang Ningzhi’s bedroom.

Jiang Ningzhi was half-reclining on a soft couch, while Li Yinsheng and Shangguan Ling’Er sat facing each other across a long desk. After a complicated explanation, she had finally clarified all of their questions one by one.

"You should both understand now, right?" she asked.

"I understand," Li Yinsheng nodded, complaining with a smile. "So becoming a Daoist is divided into three tiers. Martial Uncle, you should have told me earlier. Because of that, I didn’t even know I had already entered the Divine Travel realm."

Jiang Ningzhi remained silent for a few breaths, not knowing how to respond.

"I don’t understand! I don’t understand!" Shangguan Ling’Er shouted from the side. "What do you mean he only joined Xuanzhen Temple after I went into secluded cultivation?!"

"You went into seclusion twenty years ago," Jiang Ningzhi said matter-of-factly. "Yin Sheng’s admission to the temple was naturally after your seclusion. There’s nothing wrong with that."

"Who asked you about that!" Shangguan Ling’Er slammed her hand on the desk. "I’m asking what you mean by a twenty-two-year-old Grand Daoist!"

"Jiang Ningzhi, are you messing with me?" She abruptly stood up, took two steps forward, and grabbed her best friend’s cheeks with both hands, pulling them outward. "Do I look that gullible?"

"I’m naught lying! It’sh twue!" Jiang Ningzhi mumbled indistinctly, her face still being pinched.

"Elder Shangguan, every word Martial Uncle said is indeed true," Li Yinsheng, who was holding back his laughter nearby, testified for Jiang Ningzhi.

"I don’t believe it!" Shangguan Ling’Er let go of her best friend’s flushed cheeks, placed her hands on her hips, and glared at Li Yinsheng. "Also, don’t call me Elder! Call me Fellow Daoist!"

"That doesn’t seem right. You are Martial Uncle’s friend, so in terms of seniority..."

Li Yinsheng’s sentence was cut off halfway by Shangguan Ling’Er.

"What seniority! I don’t even believe you two are martial uncle and nephew anymore!" Her gaze swept back and forth between Li Yinsheng and Jiang Ningzhi. "If you told me you were actually Ningzhi’s Dao Companion that she’d kept secret from me for half her life, it would be more believable than some twenty-two-year-old Grand Daoist!"

"Ling’Er!" Jiang Ningzhi’s face instantly burned red with embarrassment. "What are you talking about! Yin Sheng really is my... martial nephew!"

Fortunately, her face was already flushed red from being pinched, so the difference wasn’t noticeable.

Li Yinsheng was also a bit awkward. "Elder, I really am..."

"Do you have any idea what a twenty-two-year-old Grand Daoist means? Do you know how many years it’s been since the Dharma Vein produced a Grand Daoist under the age of fifty?! And you’re telling me you’re twenty-two?" Shangguan Ling’Er glared fiercely at Li Yinsheng. "Do you dare let me test your age personally?"

"Test my age?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback at first, but then he nodded. "Why not? Please go ahead, Elder."

Without standing on ceremony, Shangguan Ling’Er pressed her hands on Li Yinsheng’s shoulders and probed his body with her Magical Power.

A few breaths later, she let out a soft exclamation of surprise. She then released her grip on his shoulders, grabbed both of his wrists, and sent her Magical Power in again.

"Huh?" Her expression changed. "I don’t believe it!"

This time, she simply grabbed Li Yinsheng’s palms, intertwining their fingers tightly together, and poured her Magical Power into his palms.

"Ah? Could it really be true?" A moment later, the corners of her eyes began to twitch.

"IM-POS-SIBLE!"

She let go of his hands and started pressing and tapping all over his body, as if feeling his bones. She practically circled around him, probing him from head to toe, checking every limb and bone.

"Ling’Er, that’s enough! Yin Sheng has the same Cultivation as you, after all. You can’t just keep bullying him because he has a good temper, right?" Jiang Ningzhi said with some dissatisfaction.

Testing his age was one thing, but what was the meaning of doing it for so long?

"Ahhh! I don’t want to live anymore!!!"

Shangguan Ling’Er cried out loudly. Her figure flashed, appearing in the corner of the bedroom. She squatted down facing the wall, and the Five-Colored Glazed Cup she had previously used to protect Junior Martial Uncle Jiang was now enveloped over herself.

"Elder Shangguan? Elder Shangguan?"

Li Yinsheng called out twice, but the Glazed Cup Magical Treasure on her body seemed to have the function of isolating sound and Divine Sense. No matter how he called her, she gave no reaction, just continuing to squat with her back to them, immersed in her own world. If it weren’t for the wrong color of her clothes, Li Yinsheng would have suspected that this Elder Shangguan was a Scaredy-shroom spirit.

"It’s fine, Yin Sheng. Just ignore her." Junior Martial Uncle Jiang’s lips curled up as she waved at Li Yinsheng. "She used to be like this. Whenever she’s in a bad mood, she ignores people. She’ll be fine if you just let her be by herself for a while.

"I haven’t seen her like this in decades. It’s actually quite nostalgic."

There was no worry for her best friend on Junior Martial Uncle Jiang’s face, only a gloating smile.

"Decades?" Li Yinsheng caught onto another key point and couldn’t help but grow curious. "Exactly how many years is that?"

The smile on Jiang Ningzhi’s face instantly froze.