Mortal: Fengling Linggen, married Chen Qiaoqian

"The love factor in the wind, flowers, snow and moon?"

"Well, Wan'er, please don't make fun of your husband. Peiling, who are these visitors? Have you asked for their names?"

Yan Yun coughed awkwardly a few times and asked in confusion.

"I have already asked. One of the groups is led by a male cultivator named Yan, followed by two elders from the Ghost Spirit Sect."

"The other group includes a female cultivator named Han Yunzhi from the Yuling Sect and Dong Xuaner from the Hehuan Sect." Mu Peiling answered him without hesitation.

"It's actually them?"

Yan Yun was immediately extremely surprised and whispered to himself.

After hearing this, Nangong Wan, who was standing next to him, raised her beautiful eyebrows slightly and then smiled charmingly.

"It seems that these people do have a deep friendship with my husband. My husband might as well meet them, otherwise it would be a bit rude."

Nangong Wan suggested gently.

"I met these old friends when my cultivation path was not yet complete. It is only right for me to meet them once."

"Pei Ling, go back and tell my senior brother that I will be meeting them later. Put them in two VIP rooms. I want to have a conversation with them separately."

Yan Yun thought about it for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.

"As you wish, I'll take my leave now."

Mu Peiling bowed respectfully, then turned into a bright light and disappeared without a trace.

Yan Yun was left standing alone, gazing into the sky with a solemn expression on his face.

"What's going on? My husband seems to be dissatisfied with Sister Peiling?"

Nangong Wan keenly noticed Yan Yun's abnormality and asked in a low voice.

"It's nothing serious, but I just don't understand why Madam is willing to treat Pei Ling as her adopted sister after leaving the underworld. I originally planned to ask Madam to accept this girl as her successor."

Yan Yun put his hands behind his back and shook his head in confusion.

"What's wrong with taking Pei Ling as my adopted sister? First of all, I only hope to accompany my husband in the pursuit of cultivation, and I don't want to recruit any disciples."

"Secondly, this woman's life story is quite similar to mine, and we felt quite compatible during the conversation."

"Finally, rather than letting her get into trouble without knowing why, I would rather recognize her as a sister first. This way, whether she becomes your husband's concubine in the future, or your husband privately treats her as a disciple and teaches her the way of cultivation, it will not cause criticism from others."

Nangong Wan said softly.

"Since Madam has made the decision, then we will do as Madam wishes. I will go in and meet those distinguished guests first, and then I will explain the details to you later."

Yan Yun responded calmly.

"My dear husband, just do what you want. I will temporarily return to the cave in Lingxi to wait for your return." Nangong Wan said with a faint smile.

Hearing Nangong Wan's words, Yan Yun couldn't help but smile bitterly:

"Madam, the 'Cai Nu Tian Yue Jue' you are practicing is really too strange. During the practice, you must use the brilliance of the bright moon filled with yin energy to achieve the best effect."

"In this case, a lot of energy will be needed to set up the magic array in order to gather enough Yin Moon power."

"However, this Yin Moon power is extremely harmful to other cultivators. If they practice within the influence of the magic circle, their progress in cultivation will be delayed."

"This means that we can't practice in the same cave at the same time. We have to open up an independent practice cave on another mountain."

"I was only attracted by the powerful force of this spell at first, but did not seriously consider the difficulties involved." Nangong Wan said with an apologetic look on her face.

Located at the intersection of dozens of luxurious VIP hotels of Luoyun Sect, Mu Peiling was standing in front of one of the buildings, looking up into the sky from time to time.

A figure suddenly flashed out from the horizon, and a dazzling light came like lightning, and in an instant it leaped over the attic. After a brief circle, it suddenly landed on the ground.

"Greetings, sir! The colleagues from the Ghost Spirit Sect are resting here, and the other two women are in the attic of No. C."

As soon as Yan Yun appeared in front of the building, Mu Peiling quickly stepped forward and reported in a low voice.

"I already know, you can leave first."

Yan Yun glanced at the attic behind Mu Peiling, then glanced at another one not far away, and nodded calmly.

Hearing Yan Yun's words, Mu Peiling bowed respectfully, then turned into a beam of white light and disappeared.

Yan Yun moved and instantly appeared at the entrance of the attic. His spiritual sense quickly penetrated into it, and then he stepped in leisurely.

In the spacious hall on the first floor of the attic, there were three people, two men and one woman, sitting there, discussing something enthusiastically.

At this moment, although the three people's words were full of concern, it was difficult to conceal the hint of worry between their brows.

The moment Yan Yun appeared silently at the entrance of the hall, the three people's attention was instantly attracted. After seeing Yan Yun's face clearly, the three of them showed joy on their faces and stood up to greet him.

"No need to be polite, my three Taoist friends. Please sit down and discuss in detail."

Before the three of them could speak, Yan Yun flashed by like a ghost, and instantly appeared on a wooden chair opposite the three of them. He waved his hand gently and spoke calmly.

Elder Zhong, the big man in yellow robe and the other two failed to notice anything unusual.

"Then I will not be so reserved." The pale old man's heart was tense, but he still had a smile on his face and responded politely.

The scent of the sacred wood filled the air, and the emerald green luster inside the wooden box was dazzling. In that flickering light, a thumb-sized emerald green round bead lay peacefully in the cloth box.

Master Yan used his divine sense to examine it carefully, and then he realized that this pearl was neither stone nor wood, and its composition was complex and difficult to identify. However, when this pearl appeared in the world, the surrounding area was suddenly filled with rich wood spirit, and Master Yan felt excited when he inhaled this breath.

"It is indeed the Spirit Gathering Pearl! It appeared in the world long ago. It was born naturally, or it was artificially refined. However, it has been extinct in the current world of immortal cultivation for a long time. Your sect actually has one."

"Fairy Ranyan, is your sect willing to give me such a valuable item? As we all know, those who practice wood-based skills can use this bead to improve their practice efficiency by half that of ordinary people."

Yan Yun held the round bead between his hands, looked at it for a moment, then turned to the woman in yellow robe and spoke in a calm tone.

“Although this pearl is the most precious treasure in the world, compared with our sect’s inheritance, we have our own judgment on which is more important.

“Besides, Brother Yan should understand that wood attributes are rarely seen in the skills of our Ghost Spirit Sect, so there is not much meaning in keeping this item in the sect.

"The first two items are acceptable, but this Spirit Gathering Pearl is extremely important to me. However, if you want me to stop the Yuling Sect and other major sects, your sect needs to complete a task, otherwise..." Yan Yun shook his head slightly.

"What is it? As long as the Ghost Spirit Sect can do it, we will not let you down."

The yellow-robed man asked eagerly with bright eyes.

……

At the same time, in the forbidden area of ​​Hehuan Sect, deep in the Tianyang Lake shrouded in gray fog, a figure was vaguely sitting cross-legged on a huge rock, whispering:
"In due time, that treasure will soon fall into Yan Xiaoer's hands. Humph, the Wood Spirit Pearl! With this rare treasure, the speed of cultivation will certainly increase, but when it comes to breaking through the bottleneck of the Spiritualization Stage, hehe..."

Before he finished speaking, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Inside the VIP building, Master Yan was holding the Wood Spirit Pearl, wanting to put it and the other two treasures into his pocket, when he heard the boy's indifferent voice.

"Fellow Daoist Yan, do you really intend to keep this pearl?"

"What's the problem with this pearl?" Master Yan asked in confusion, frowning slightly.

"There is nothing wrong with this bead itself, but the Soul Gathering Bead is actually a failed semi-finished treasure. In the early stage of cultivation with the help of this bead, the cultivation level increased greatly and the magic power improved rapidly. However, when it reached a certain level and faced a bottleneck, its defects became apparent."

"Relying on a single spiritual energy for cultivation actually weakens the ability to perceive other spiritual energies. For cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, this defect is not significant."

“However, for someone like Daoist Fellow Yan who needs to sense all kinds of heaven and earth energy before he can break through, this is really not worth it.”

"Therefore, although the Spirit Gathering Pearl is extremely miraculous, in the Spirit World it is mostly used by low-level disciples with low qualifications to quickly improve their cultivation. High-level cultivators are unwilling to take this approach."

"How could such a thing happen? It seems that this treasure will not affect my advancement to the Divine Transformation Stage. To me, it is actually worthless."

Yan Yun's expression changed slightly. He stared at the emerald green unknown bead in his hand, and anger surged in his heart.

"I have already told you that this pearl is only a semi-finished product. If we can find some other precious wood-attributed materials, we may be able to transform it into another treasure - the Wood-Growing Pearl."

“Although it cannot help you speed up your cultivation, once it is completely refined, it will grant you the magical power of an immortal body, which can protect your life in times of crisis.”

The boy explained leisurely.

Yan Yun was extremely shocked and didn't understand what an immortal body was.

Such magical powers only exist in great monsters with profound backgrounds, ancient demons, and demonized corpses of the Heavenly Demon. There has been no report of any human cultivator successfully practicing it.

The boy smiled softly when he saw this.
"With just one Wood-Growing Pearl, one can cast the Immortal Body Technique. Even if one's head falls to the ground and one's body is separated, one can quickly recover."

Yan Yun was surprised and puzzled:
"It can only be used once, isn't it a consumable treasure?"

The boy snorted in dissatisfaction:
"An immortal body is enough to save your life at a critical moment. Why complain? Besides, other than the Wood Spirit Pearl, the other materials needed are hard to find in the human world. It is still unknown whether it can be successfully refined."

Yan Yun smiled calmly: "I do have a rich collection of wood-attributed materials."

The boy said bluntly: "I will include the list of required materials in the refining method. But if I teach you the refining technique, you need to give me a corresponding reward."

Yan Yun felt relieved after hearing this: "Fellow Daoist Tianlan, please let me know if you need anything."

The boy told him frankly: "Although I have successfully transformed, I still need spiritual medicine to consolidate my realm. Brother Yan is a leader in Tiannan, so it should be easy for him to obtain such spiritual medicine."

Yan Yun said without hesitation: "All the items that Daoist friend needs can be included in the refining method."

The boy nodded with satisfaction: "When you return to the cave, I will immediately present the list of materials and the refining method."

Yan Yun responded with a smile, put the wooden spirit bead back into the wooden box, then flipped his palm and put the three treasures into the storage bag.

"Fellow Daoist Tianlan, do you think the Ghost Spirit Sect knows the disadvantages of the Wood Spirit Pearl?" Yan Yun's eyes flickered and his tone suddenly turned cold.

"I am not in a position to comment on its situation. According to what you said, this pearl has long been abandoned by ancient monks, and it has no obvious drawbacks and has been passed down through the ages."

"If there are any Nascent Soul cultivators with wood-attributed skills in the Ghost Spirit Sect who have used this bead, they may be able to detect its harm."

"On the contrary, it is difficult to detect abnormalities just by looking at the bead itself. Do you suspect that those three intend to use this bead to prevent you from advancing to the Divine Transformation stage?" The boy quickly understood.

"I once had such doubts, but now it seems that the Ghost Spirit Sect has no such motive. Even if I am prevented from advancing to the Divine Transformation Realm, I am still the number one cultivator in Tiannan."

"How dare they risk angering me and causing the destruction of the sect? There may be another hidden reason. Let me think about it for a moment. The one who can use the Ghost Spirit Sect should be a native cultivator of Tiannan."

"How will preventing me from advancing to the Divine Transformation stage affect others? Even if they are not Divine Transformation cultivators, no one in Tiannan can defeat me. The only consequence may be that my life span will no longer increase, and I will only have a thousand years left."

"In this way, Luoyun Sect's suppression of the various sects in Tiannan will be greatly shortened."

"However, for ordinary sects, it makes no difference who is the largest sect in Tiannan. I'm afraid only a few sects such as Huayi Sect, Hehuan Sect and Taiyi Sect are interested in this, and they are either acting alone or secretly joining forces."

Yan Yun stroked his beard and analyzed the situation calmly.

"Your explanation has made the originally vague matter suddenly clear. Could it be that you think the other three late Nascent Soul cultivators were involved?"

The boy was quite surprised at Yan Yun's inference, and after a while he asked with a wry smile.

"Maybe so. But it's just speculation, the truth is still unclear. I dare not say how much I am sure of it." Yan Yun stood up and paced, looked around, and answered with a sneer.

"It is not difficult to find out the truth. Capture those three people and use the soul-searching technique to find out." The boy suggested in a low voice.

"It's easy to capture these three people, but it may not yield any results. Even if I learn the truth, I can't attack a sect at will without solid evidence."

"Moreover, if we capture three Nascent Soul cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect in one fell swoop, we will surely bring disaster upon ourselves."

"Now that I am the number one cultivator in Tiannan, although I am admired by everyone, I can't help but attract jealousy and fear. I am afraid that someone will take the opportunity to fan the flames and cause the cultivators in Tiannan to attack me."

"Even though I am extremely powerful, I still cannot resist the entire Tiannan cultivation world alone. Such cases are not unheard of in Tiannan."

Yan Yun's face changed, and after careful consideration, he still shook his head to express his opposition.

"Mr. Yan is too cautious. Based on my style in the spirit world, haha, such matters should be decided by you. As long as you can survive this disaster safely, I will not interfere."

The boy said leisurely.

"Don't worry, sir. If I know someone is plotting something bad, I will always be on guard. Just ignore it for now!"

"If they stop, then that's fine. If they try to use tricks again, they will eventually be exposed. We just need to get enough evidence. Humph, then they will understand what life and death dilemma is."

Yan Yun's face was calm, but his words revealed an endless chill. (End of this chapter)