Chapter 87: Senior brother, the foundation is established
“Ah——”
Not far from leaving the Heavenly Pavilion, Ye Anping, relying on his excellent hearing developed over the years, heard his father’s screams from the Heavenly Pavilion, which seemed painful but somewhat satisfying.
When he formed a core, there would be a chance to have a younger sister or brother. Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo, who was following him. She seemed to have been peeking at him since they left the Heavenly Pavilion. Now, seeing him look over, Xiao Yunluo quickly averted her gaze.
Ye Anping shrugged helplessly and asked, “Hey, did my mother praise me too much?”
“Ah… She said you are upright, gentle, smart, and spirited,” Xiao Yunluo nodded.
“My mother is right.”
“…”
“Today and tomorrow, rest assured. Later, I’ll take you to the room where my junior sister used to live. Inside, there should still be the small potted plant I gave her. Don’t touch it. Let Xiadie take care of it. Other than that, the day after tomorrow, we’ll go to the Gathering Spirit Array in the back mountain to prepare for foundation building.”
“Um.”
“Remember to refine those foundation-building materials.”
“I know! You don’t need to remind me!”
“That’s good.”
Ye Anping shook his head helplessly and then took Xiao Yunluo to the small courtyard where Pei Lianxue used to live, then returned to his own dormitory.
Although he hadn’t come back for several months, Xiaodie had taken care of things on time these days. Everything inside and outside the house was as tidy as ever, and the bed was neatly made.
After stretching, he simply lay down on the bed and thought about what to do after building the foundation. In the game, after Xiao Yunluo establishes the foundation, Si Xuanji asks Xiao Yunluo to go to Chilong Mansion on her behalf to wish the “immortal king” of Chilong Mansion a birthday, and Feng Yudie naturally goes with her.
The person travelling with Xiao Yunluo must be Feng Yudie. To maintain the development of the plot in the game as much as possible, he could predict what would happen next.
Chilong Mansion had too many variables. If he and his junior sister participated openly, they could easily turn the place into a chaotic mess.
Ye Anping took out a pen and paper and roughly went through the plot of Chilong Mansion.
“Hmm… Junior sister and I are travelling together while Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yudie follow the route in the game.”
“Now it depends on whether my father can help me get two invitations to the Chilong Conference. If not… Then I have to find another way to get in, which is quite troublesome…”
After writing three pages, Ye Anping put the brush in his hand back on the pen holder. He looked up and looked out the window. Unknowingly, the moon had risen halfway.
At this time, bits and pieces of snowflakes were falling in the night sky. He thought that when he would get up tomorrow, the entire Hundred Lotus Sect would also be a vast expanse of white.
“I don’t know if my junior sister’s foundation building is going smoothly, but it should be fine… It’s just foundation-building. I taught her the method and prepared the materials and Cold Heavenly Sand for her. Elder Qin should also help take care of it…”
Ye Anping inexplicably remembered the scene where he once urged his junior sister to practice on a snowy day wearing a thin undershirt.
That time, every time the junior sister finished practising, her hands and feet would be so cold that she couldn’t move at all. Then every time, he would carry the junior sister back to the house. When Xiaodie helped the junior sister take a bath, he would go to the house to prepare a charcoal fire and then help her warm the bed.
“In the blink of an eye, it has been almost eleven years. By the time junior sister builds her foundation, she has already reached the age of maturity and has become a real big girl…”
After sighing like this, Ye Anping also felt a little tired. He got up and walked to the bed to change into pyjamas, then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
… …
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed. Snowflakes, like goose feathers, poured down from the sky, covering the mountainous area where the Hundred Lotus Sect was located.
Under Kong Yulan’s arrangement, after taking a bath this morning, Ye Anping and Xiao Yunluo went to a cave in the back mountain of the Hundred Lotus Sect. Inside, two spirit-gathering arrays could be used for core formation. However, these two spirit-gathering arrays were not ordinary. Usually, only one was placed in a closed stone room, but these two were built in the same room.
Kong Yulan led them inside, a proud look on her face. “Anping, this is where your parents used to retreat when forming the core. Yesterday, Mom cleaned it up for you. Whether it’s the spirit-gathering array or Feng Shui, there is nothing better within a hundred miles.”
Ye Anping glanced at Xiao Yunluo, who was blushing. She seemed to understand that this spirit-gathering array was exclusively used for Daoist companions to condense Qi.
After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Mom, this isn’t necessary. We’re just building the foundation, not forming the core… This is a bit extravagant.”
“Oh!” Kong Yulan patted Ye Anping’s shoulder and smiled. “The Spirit Gathering Array is not consumable. It’s better if you can use it well. It’s our own thing anyway. And… Xiao Young Master, don’t you also need to build a foundation? If you use an ordinary spirit gathering formation, you will lose the friendship of the landlord.”
“…”
Kong Yulan looked at Xiao Yunluo and asked, “Xiao, what do you think of this place?”
“Ah… I…” Xiao Yunluo was startled, looked at Kong Yulan, then at Ye Anping, and took a deep breath. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter where I build the foundation…”
“Look, Xiao said the same thing.”
Ye Anping felt a little helpless, then waved his hand and simply accepted it.
Later, after Kong Yulan arranged the formation, she closed the door of the stone room. “Take your time, both of you. We have set up a formation here to isolate the detection of spiritual consciousness. You will never be able to see or hear it from outside. No matter how much noise you make, no one will bother you, hey~”
With that, Kong Yulan left, leaving the stone room in complete silence. Ye Anping could even hear Xiao Yunluo’s heartbeat clearly. It sounded heavy and fast, like playing basketball.
After a pause, Ye Anping said, “Senior Sister Xiao, prepare to build the foundation. It’s good to have a companion.”
“Um.”
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and did not respond. She glanced at Ye Anping, shook her head, and then walked to the centre of one of the spirit-gathering arrays. There, she took off her lavender chest-length undershirt, leaving only a thin white cardigan.
Ye Anping also walked to the centre of another spirit-gathering formation, took off all his clothes, and left only a pair of large pants.
Looking in the direction of the spirit-gathering formation, the two of them, after sitting down cross-legged, realised that they had to sit face to face.
“…”
“…”
Ye Anping looked at Xiao Yunluo and noticed her gaze fixed on his chest. His eye corner twitched, but he remained silent. After taking several deep breaths to steady himself, he retrieved the materials for the foundation building from his storage bag. He placed them on various convergence points of the spirit-gathering array.
Soon, an orange light enveloped his body, and he floated into the air in a cross-legged position.
“Um…”
On the other side, Xiao Yunluo watched for a moment, then realised what was happening. Following his lead, she began the process of building the foundation.
In their consciousness, the sun and moon transformed into two playful birds, leaving a trailing halo in the sky. With each breath, black and white alternated, and a myriad of scenes passed through their minds.
The process of forging bones and refining Qi, once inseparable, gradually separated and then merged again. There was no sensation of power surging out. Ye Anping felt like he had just had a long dream.
When he woke up, he opened his eyes to find that his bangs, which had just reached his eyebrows, now covered his eyes. Hesitating for a moment, he quickly checked his meridians and found that the accumulation of “Yang Qi” was within a manageable range. He felt somewhat relieved.
Ye Anping lifted his hand to push his bangs aside and saw Xiao Yunluo lying on the ground next to his spirit-gathering array. Eyes closed, apparently already finished with the foundation building but choosing to stay.
“…”
Approaching her, Ye Anping clicked his tongue.
“Ta——”
“Woo——”
“Wake up, Senior Sister Xiao.”
“Uh-huh?”
Xiao Yunluo, with a bewildered expression, sat up, rubbed her eyes, and, upon seeing Ye Anping in front of her, quickly moved back several feet, startled.
“…”
After staring at Ye Anping for a long time, she finally came to her senses and asked, “Have you finished building the foundation?”
“Yes.” Ye Anping nodded. “How long have you been waiting for me?”
“Waited…” Xiao Yunluo extended her fingers and counted. “About half a month.”
“…”
“No! I wasn’t waiting for you!”
“Then why didn’t you leave first?”
“This… this…” Xiao Yunluo looked around nervously, finally noticing the stone chamber’s door. She explained, “I was afraid that the sound of me pushing open the stone door would disturb your foundation building. What if you went into a demonic state?”
“Oh.”