Volume 1 Chapter 87: Senior Brother, Foundation Building Achieved
“Ah!!!”
Just as he had walked not far from the Heavenly Pavilion, Ye Anping, relying on his excellent hearing honed over the years, heard a miserable scream from inside the Heavenly Pavilion, which sounded like his old man was in pain but also somewhat pleasurable.
Perhaps when he reached the Foundation Building stage, he might have the opportunity to have another younger sister or brother.
Ye Anping glanced at Xiao Yunluo, who was following behind him. She seemed to have been secretly watching him since they left the Heavenly Pavilion. When she noticed him looking at her, Xiao Yunluo quickly averted her gaze.
Ye Anping shrugged helplessly and asked, “Hey, did my mother praise me to the skies?”
“Ah— she said you are honest, gentle, intelligent, and full of vitality,” Xiao Yunluo nodded.
“My mother is not wrong.”
“…”
“For the next two days, just rest assured. I’ll take you to the room where my junior sister used to stay. There should still be a little potted plant I gave her inside. Don’t touch it randomly; let Xiao Die take care of it. Other than that, the day after tomorrow, we’ll go to the Spirit Gathering Array in the rear mountain to prepare for Foundation Building.”
“…Okay.”
“Remember to refine those Foundation Building materials.”
“I know! You don’t have to remind me!”
“That’s good then.”
Ye Anping shook his head helplessly and then took Xiao Yunluo to the small courtyard where Pei Lengxue used to live before returning to his own quarters.
Although he hadn’t been back for several months, it seemed that Xiao Die had been taking care of everything on time. The inside and outside of the house were as clean as ever, and the bedding was neatly arranged.
After stretching lazily, he lay down on the bed and began to contemplate what would happen after Foundation Building.
In the game, after Xiao Yunluo achieved Foundation Building, Sima Xuanji would have her replace him to go to the Chi Dragon Mansion to celebrate the “Immortal Lord’s” birthday, and Feng Yudie would go with her as well.
Following the main character wherever they went and getting into trouble wherever they went was a characteristic of the game. Chi Dragon Mansion had become the first large-scale dungeon for players in the game, not only involving demonic cultivators but also where Feng Yudie would obtain the first scroll of the “Mysterious Yin Art.”
However, in the current situation, after achieving Foundation Building, Xiao Yunluo would definitely invite him or his junior sister to go with her. He would have to decline this invitation.
Only Feng Yudie would be accompanying her on this journey.
In order to maintain the development of the game’s plot as much as possible, he needed to predict what would happen next.
There were too many variables in the Chi Dragon Mansion, and if he and his junior sister openly participated, it would easily turn into chaos.
Ye Anping took out pen and paper and roughly sketched out the plot of Chi Dragon Mansion.
“Well… my junior sister and I will follow a different route, while Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yudie will follow the game’s path.”
“Now it depends on whether my old man can get me two invitations to the Chi Dragon Conference. If not… I’ll have to think of another way to get in, which could be troublesome…”
After filling three pages with content, Ye Anping put down his brush.
He looked out of the window.
Unconsciously, the moon had risen halfway up the sky.
At this moment, snowflakes were falling from the night sky. When he woke up tomorrow, the entire Hundred Lotus Sect would probably be covered in a blanket of white.
“I wonder if my junior sister’s Foundation Building will go smoothly. It should be fine… it’s just Foundation Building. I’ve taught her the methods, and I’ve prepared the materials and Cold Sky Sand for her. Elder Qin should also help take care of her…”
Ye Anping inexplicably remembered the scene when he used to urge his junior sister to practice in a thin shirt on a snowy day. At that time, after each practice session, her hands and feet would be so frozen that she couldn’t move them, and every time he had to carry her back to the house. While Xiao Die helped her bathe, he would go into the room and start a charcoal fire to warm up her bed.
“It’s been almost eleven years in the blink of an eye. When my junior sister comes out after Foundation Building, she’ll be an adult, a real young lady…”
After sighing like this, Ye Anping also felt a bit tired. He got up, changed into pajamas, and then lay down on the bed to sleep.
…
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed.
Snowflakes fell like goose feathers.
The mountain range where the Hundred Lotus Sect was located was now completely covered by snow.
Under Kong Yulan’s arrangement, after bathing early in the morning, Ye Anping and Xiao Yunluo came to a cave in the back mountains of the Hundred Lotus Sect.
Inside, there were two Spirit Gathering Arrays that could be used for Foundation Building.
However…
These two Spirit Gathering Arrays were not like ordinary ones. Normally, only one would be placed in a closed stone chamber, but these two Spirit Gathering Arrays were built in the same chamber.
Kong Yulan led the two inside and proudly said, “Ping’er, this is where your parents practiced when they were building their Foundation. Mother just cleaned it up for you yesterday. Whether it’s the Spirit Gathering Array diagram or the Feng Shui, there’s definitely nothing better within a hundred miles.”
Ye Anping glanced at Xiao Yunluo beside him, who now had a blush on her face. She seemed to understand that this Spirit Gathering Array was “specifically for cultivating with your Dao partner.”
After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Mother, this is not necessary. We are only at the Foundation Building stage, not at the Core Formation stage— It’s a bit too extravagant to use something like this.”
“Oh!” Kong Yulan patted Ye Anping’s shoulder and smiled indulgently. “The Spirit Gathering Array is not a consumable. It’s better to use it well. Besides, it’s our family’s property. Moreover– Isn’t Young Miss Xiao also going to build her Foundation? If we use an ordinary Spirit Gathering Array, it would be neglecting the hospitality.”
“… …”
Kong Yulan looked at Xiao Yunluo beside her and asked, “Xiao girl, what do you think of this place?”
“Ah— I–,” Xiao Yunluo was startled, turned to look at Kong Yulan, then glanced at Ye Anping, took a deep breath, and said, “I don’t mind, it’s the same wherever we build our Foundation.”
“See, Xiao girl says the same,” Kong Yulan said with a slightly knowing look.
Ye Anping felt a bit helpless and didn’t refuse anymore. After Kong Yulan arranged the formation, she closed the door of the stone chamber.
“You two take your time. There’s a formation here that isolates spiritual consciousness probing. No one outside can see or hear anything. No matter how much noise you make, no one will disturb you. Hehe~”
Kong Yulan left this sentence with an ambiguous look at the two and then slammed the stone door shut and left.
Instantly, the stone chamber fell into silence.
Ye Anping could even hear Xiao Yunluo’s heartbeat clearly. Her heartbeat now was like playing basketball, heavy and fast.
After a pause, Ye Anping said, “Senior Sister Xiao, let’s get ready for Foundation Building. It’s nice to have a companion.”
“…Hmm.”
Xiao Yunluo pouted and didn’t respond, looked at Ye Anping, then shook her head, and then walked to the center of one of the Spirit Gathering Arrays. She took off the light purple robe that she was wearing, leaving only a thin white undershirt.
Ye Anping also walked to the center of the other Spirit Gathering Array and removed all his clothes, leaving only a pair of large underpants.
They both looked in the direction of the Spirit Gathering Array and, after sitting cross-legged, realized that they had to face each other.
“… …”
“… …”
Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo and found her gaze fixed on his chest. His eye twitched for a moment, but he didn’t say anything. After taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he took out the spiritual materials for Foundation Building from his storage pouch and placed them on the various spiritual convergence points of the Spirit Gathering Array.
Soon, he was enveloped in a radiant orange light, floating in mid-air while maintaining a cross-legged posture.
“Hmm…”
On the other side, Xiao Yunluo watched for a while before realizing that she should start building her Foundation as well. In their consciousness, the sun and the moon seemed to turn into two playful birds chasing each other across the sky, leaving behind a halo with a trailing shadow.
With each breath, black and white alternated.
Countless days and nights passed swiftly in their minds.
What used to be forged bones and meridians through body tempering and Qi cultivation gradually separated and then merged.
There was no feeling of “power surging out!!”, Ye Anping felt like he had just had a rather long dream.
When he woke up, he opened his eyes and saw that the bangs that had just been at his eyebrows now covered his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly checked the meridians in his body. He saw that the accumulation of “Yang Qi” was well within a controllable range, which made him somewhat relieved.
Ye Anping reached up to push his bangs slightly to the side and then noticed that Xiao Yunluo had already completed her Foundation Building and was lying on the ground next to his Spirit Gathering Array, squinting her eyes as she slept.
It seemed that she had finished Foundation Building a long time ago but hadn’t left immediately. She had been waiting in this stone chamber.
“… …”
Ye Anping walked over to her, clicked his tongue, “Hey.”
“Ugh…”
“Wake up, Senior Sister Xiao.”
“Hmm… hmm?”
Xiao Yunluo, with a bewildered expression, stood up, rubbed her eyes, and upon seeing Ye Anping standing in front of her, she was suddenly frightened and quickly moved back several feet.
“… …”
“… …”
After staring at Ye Anping for a while, she finally came to her senses and asked, “Have you completed your Foundation Building?”
“Yes,” Ye Anping nodded, “How long have you been waiting for me?”
“I’ve been waiting…,” Xiao Yunluo extended her fingers and counted, “for half a month, I guess.”
“… …”
“No! I wasn’t waiting for you!!”
“Why didn’t you leave then?”
“Well– well…,” Xiao Yunluo looked around nervously, then pointed to the stone door in the chamber and said, “I was afraid that if I pushed open the stone door, the noise would disturb your Foundation Building. What if you went berserk?”
“Oh.”