Chapter 569: At the Foot of Taihe Mountain, Father and Daughter Meet
There hadn’t been any major religious activities in the past few days.
The Daoist continued, “A while ago, the Central Plains Region was hit by a sudden downpour. Vast expanses of fertile land were flooded, and countless starved to death. Our temple held special Rituals to guide the souls of the departed.”
The Daoists of this temple were quite considerate of the common folk, earning a bit more respect from Lu Yuan and Su Liyan.
“Excuse me, is Daoist Quanyi in the temple right now?” Lu Yuan asked.
Lu Yuan’s only purpose for coming this time was to see his daughter; he had no intention of bothering anyone else.
The Daoist thought for a moment before replying, “Daoist Quanyi roams far and wide and doesn’t often reside in the temple. He is not here at the moment.”
“Thank you, Daoist!” Lu Yuan and Su Liyan stepped aside, clearing the path for him to head down the mountain.
After the Daoist left, Su Liyan looked at Lu Yuan and asked, “What do we do now?”
“Never mind. Let’s head down the mountain for now.” Lu Yuan turned, took Su Liyan’s hand, and started walking down.
The two of them didn’t say much along the way.
When they returned to the Post House, Zhao Qiao’Er saw them and asked, “How are you back so early?”
Su Liyan looked unhappy, pouting as she said, “That old Daoist wasn’t even at the temple.”
After returning to his room, Lu Yuan used his Divination Calculation Skill.
Lu Yuan rarely used this technique, as knowing too much of the future was draining and tended to rob life of its joys.
Lu Yuan’s calculation revealed that in three days, Daoist Quanyi would arrive at this very place with his daughter.
Therefore, Lu Yuan and the others decided to stay at the Post House for three days, just so they could see their eldest daughter, Lu Ruyan.
「Three days later.」
A little girl with a long, glossy black braid appeared at the foot of Taihe Mountain.
She wore a set of tight-fitting, light blue clothes, stood just over a meter tall, and clutched a tree branch in her hand.
The little girl whipped at the flourishing weeds by the roadside with the branch she had picked up. The weeds were seventy to eighty centimeters high.
With each lash of the branch, the weeds were snapped in half, like rows of soldiers being struck down to the ground.
It was immensely satisfying!
The little girl stopped and stared at the forest in the distance, sensing that the space there seemed to shimmer unnaturally.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the girl silently recited a Spell, and a chill emanated from the branch in her hand.
She whipped it through the air!
The branch in the little girl’s hand unleashed a blast of frigid air, shattering the space in the distance.
Unable to withstand such a powerful impact, the branch in her hand snapped into several pieces.
Even a seasoned general with years of battle experience couldn’t have unleashed such powerful Sword Qi, let alone strike at a distance no one had ever reached before.
Only then did the forest over there reveal its true appearance.
A Post House stood there, its roof tiles coated in a layer of frost…
The old Shopkeeper in front of the counter sneezed and muttered, “Early autumn isn’t even here yet. Why does it feel so chilly?”
That old Shopkeeper should thank the heavens, the earth, and his lucky stars that he was far away from that little girl.
Otherwise, the entire Post House would have been blown to pieces.
Inside the Post House, Su Liyan and Xiaoqian immediately sensed that the Illusionary Array they had placed around the building had been broken.
In a room on the second floor, Su Liyan, who had been chatting with Lu Yuan and the others, shot up in alarm. “The Array has been broken! There’s a powerful expert nearby!”
Breaking an Array set up jointly by Su Liyan and Xiaoqian was no easy feat.
Its core was extremely difficult to locate!
The Jinyi Guards who had been tailing Lu Yuan’s convoy three days ago were still trapped in the Illusion Array, unable to get out.
To the Jinyi Guards inside the Illusion Array, it seemed as though they were still following Lu Yuan’s convoy, but in reality, they had been walking in circles at the Three-Way Fork for days.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan released his Inner Strength to scan the area. Indeed, two powerful individuals had appeared within a one-kilometer radius.
Lu Yuan zipped out the window, and Su Liyan followed close behind, leaping out after him.
“Be careful!” Zhao Qiao’Er, Song Meiqin, and Gu Ziye all shouted in unison.
Before the words had even faded, Lu Yuan and Su Liyan were already far in the distance.
Seeing Lu Yuan and Su Liyan heading south, Xiaoqian, who was in the next room, also slipped out her window.
When Su Changliang saw his wife follow them, he put one foot out the window, then pulled himself back in.
Su Changliang wagged his right index finger in the air and declared, “A gentleman does not climb through windows! I shall take the main door!”
Hitching up his trousers, Su Changliang CLOMPED down the stairs from the second floor.
Su Liyan’s mother also sensed something was wrong and blocked Su Changliang at the bottom of the stairs. “Son, what’s going on?”
Su Changliang was anxious. If he didn’t hurry, he would lose them.
Slipping past his mother, Su Changliang said, “Mom, you wait here! Look after Dad and the ladies. I’m going to follow them and see what’s happening!”
With that, Su Changliang hurried after them.
Su Liyan’s mother looked around. ‘The hall is full of Mansion Guards, and there are seven or eight Grand Celestial Masters. What do they need my protection for?’
An old man had now appeared beside the little girl.
The spirited little girl asked, “Master, my Cultivation Method still isn’t good enough. The branch broke.”
The Cultivation Method the girl was practicing was incredibly profound, but she had yet to achieve perfect mastery.
If she reached the Realm of Perfection, even a simple twig in her hand wouldn’t break from the immense Inner Strength channeled through it.
That’s why truly powerful masters of Martial Arts never rely on their weapons.
It was always the ones with a little bit of knowledge who made the most noise—they wouldn’t dare act arrogant without a “Heaven-Swaying Sword” or a “Dragon-slaying Saber” in hand.
The old man had a kind expression as he stroked the little girl’s head. “You can’t rush these things,” he said. “You’re still young. To have reached this level already makes you our most outstanding disciple.”
The old man didn’t dare praise her too much, afraid she would get a big head.
This old man had arrived after the fact and didn’t know that the little girl had just broken the Illusionary Array in the distance.
As the two were talking, Lu Yuan and the others came speeding toward them from afar.
The old man looked up into the distance, sensed Lu Yuan’s presence, and said, “Ruyan, your parents are here.”
The little girl sensed them too and began clapping her hands excitedly.
With just a few leaps, Lu Yuan appeared in their line of sight.
“Daughter!” Lu Yuan shouted.
“Daddy!” Lu Ruyan jumped for joy and charged toward him.
Although they hadn’t seen each other in two years, Lu Ruyan recognized her father at a single glance.
Lu Yuan, on the other hand, almost didn’t recognize her.
If it weren’t for the icy blast Lu Ruyan had unleashed on the Post House, how could he have been sure it was her?
‘We haven’t seen each other in two or three years, and my eldest daughter has already grown so tall.’
Lu Ruyan threw herself directly into Lu Yuan’s arms, hitting him like a cannonball.
The powerful impact forced Lu Yuan to take three or four steps back before he could steady himself.
Had it been an ordinary person, they would have been smashed to pieces and torn limb from limb by Lu Ruyan’s charge.
Lu Ruyan didn’t yet have a clear understanding of her own strength.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to shatter the Illusionary Array set up by Su Liyan and Xiaoqian through sheer brute force.
Lu Ruyan was like a cuddly little wildcat, snuggling and burrowing into Lu Yuan’s embrace.
The father and daughter were very close.
Su Liyan, Xiaoqian, and Su Changliang arrived one after another.
Lu Ruyan was all sweetness as she quickly greeted them, “Mom! Auntie! Uncle! You’re all here! I missed you guys so much!”
Su Liyan gently pinched Lu Ruyan’s little cheek and said,
“You mischievous little imp. You even broke Mom’s Array.”
Lu Ruyan put on an innocent face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
The old man standing to the side was Daoist Quanyi.
Lu Yuan looked toward Daoist Quanyi, his expression instantly turning cold. He handed his daughter to his wife.
Lu Yuan spoke up, “Daoist, we had an agreement. You were supposed to bring Ruyan to see her parents every so often. It seems you’ve broken your promise.”
Daoist Quanyi chuckled and slapped his forehead. “Oh my, I’m getting old, and my memory isn’t what it used to be. How embarrassing.”
‘As if I’d believe that nonsense. My own daughter is with him every day—how could he possibly forget when he sees her all the time? To put it bluntly, Daoist Quanyi was just afraid that once Ruyan was back with her parents, she wouldn’t want to continue her training with him.’
“In that case, our daughter is coming home with us. Let’s go!”