A moment later, Xia Ning Chang flew down from the top of the cliff into the cave, and as Yang Kai was currently blocking the entrance, the two nearly collided head on.
Yang Kai quickly side stepped and caught her, letting her safely land next to him, smiling at her, "Little Senior Sister, I'm back."
Xia Ning Chang eyes instantly went wet, unable to hide the joy and excitement of their long awaited reunion. Her face was still covered with her characteristic veil, and her forehead was still adorned with a brilliant sapphire. Hearing Yang Kai call out to her so gently, she barely managed to hold back her tears. Seeing her gradually dampening eyes, Yang Kai did not dare to speak, afraid that anything he said might accidentally make her cry.
"How did you know that I returned?" Yang Kai quickly shifted her attention.
"Su Yan told me." Xia Ning Chang gently sniffled, trying her best to endure the bitterness welling up in her heart, tightly gripping her dress, she whispered, "If she did not say anything, I would never have known."
"I was just about to come tell you." Yang Kai said, feeling truly guilty.
"Really?" Xia Ning Chang looked up at him, a hint of joy flashing in her eyes.
"Of course." Yang Kai strongly nodded.
This Little Senior Sister was too easily coaxed! With just two or three sentences, it would dispel her disappointment and grievance, leaving only the joy and happiness.
"Hmph, you still have a little conscience." Xia Ning Chang pouted adorably.
"Then I'll give you a gift," Yang Kai said seriously.
"You don't have to…" Xia Ning Chang replied softly, but despite her words, a radiant smile bloomed on her face. Her eyes curved like crescent moons, overflowing with joy and satisfaction, as if the thought alone was enough.
"What kind of gift?" she asked in a low, curious voice.
Yang Kai reached and pulled out a intricately carved wooden box. With a flick of his fingers, the lid popped open, revealing layer upon layer of neatly sorted spirit herbs—each one glowing faintly with vitality, some rare and exotic, others common yet impeccably preserved.
Xia Ning Chang's breath caught. Even through the veil, her astonishment was clear.
"So many!" Xia Ning Chang was shocked, stepping forward, sweeping over them with her eyes she quickly identified the names and grades of these herbs.
"You need herbs and pills to assist you when you cultivate, right? Take a look and see what you need, you can take however much you want." Yang Kai boldly declared; his heart filled with a sour guilt. He had left adventuring, but had not thought to pick up a gift for Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, it was truly negligent.
"I don't need any." Xia Ning Chang examined these herbs one by one. Finished, she looked up and said, "I'll help you refine them all into pills instead."
"No no, that would be too burdensome." With such a big bag of herbs, refining them all into pills, who knows how many days that would take?
"It's no trouble for me at all." Xia Ning Chang chuckled, "Refining herbs allows me to cultivate, and it is significantly more efficient than when I use orthodox cultivation techniques. Also, the higher the grade of herbs I refine, the greater the benefits to me. Senior Brother, this bag of materials you've brought back is already the best gift you could possibly give me."
"You're not trying to fool me right?" Yang Kai looked at her suspiciously.
"I have never lied to anyone." Xia Ning Chang said in a slightly teasing tone.
"I also do not lie." Yang Kai said embarrassedly. "In that case, I'll have to trouble you Little Senior Sister."
"En, you take care of your affairs, leave this pill refining to me." Xia Ning Chang said very happily.
Yang Kai observed her for a while and found that she was familiar with each of these herbs and in no time had divided and sorted them out.
Smiling, Yang Kai also went into the cave, tidying up his own things.
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In the following few days, the herbs had been consumed by Xia Ning Chang's alchemy, and a variety of pills were now refined out, enough to fill dozens of bottles.
The pure heart pills were the lowest quality at only Earth Grade Low-Rank, but some pills she had refined had even reached Heaven Grade; their value was simply immeasurable. He had now been back to Sect for half a month, it was high time he checked out the current situation, and with those three great forces residing in High Heaven Pavilion, and their three favored sons having ideas about Su Yan, how could Yang Kai sit still.
She was his woman!
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Strolling through High Heaven Pavilion, Yang Kai's first stop was the Contribution Hall to pay his respects to Meng Wu Ya.
The moment Meng Wu Ya saw him, his old face twisted into a grimace, as if Yang Kai had just borrowed a million silver and conveniently forgotten to return it.
"Old Man Meng," Yang Kai greeted with a grin, unfazed by the sour expression.
Meng Wu Ya snorted. He didn't bother replying right away—just glared at the boy like he was the source of all the world's problems.
In that instant, he understood. All the gloom that had clung to his precious disciple lately had vanished like fog under sunlight. She'd been cheerful these past couple of days, humming little tunes, drifting around in a daze, yet rarely at the Contribution Hall anymore.
Damn it! This little brat is back.
There was no need to ask—she must've already reunited with him. No wonder her mood had flipped like a spirit coin.
Meng Wu Ya rubbed his temples. "So, you've finally come crawling back, have you?"
Speaking till here, Meng Wu Ya's face suddenly froze. His expression turned sharp as he extended his Divine Sense to sweep over Yang Kai.
The next moment, his eyes widened in disbelief. "You… you've already reached the Separation and Reunion Boundary?!"
"En." Yang Kai nodded lightly, as if reporting something as mundane as eating breakfast.
Meng Wu Ya nearly bit his tongue.
How could that be!?
When this brat left, he was still just stepped into Qi Transformation at best! How long had it even been? To leap all the way to Separation and Reunion, it was outright insane!
Even for top sect geniuses with heaven-defying talent and limitless resources, this kind of cultivation speed was unheard of. Cultivation wasn't a joke—each minor realm required time, understanding, and foundation. Skip too much, and the meridians would crumble under the pressure.
Yet here Yang Kai stood, not only alive but perfectly stable—his aura calm, his foundation solid, without the slightest trace of instability or forced breakthroughs.
"…What did you eat out there?" Meng Wu Ya muttered suspiciously. "Did you steal an ancient dragon's core and boil it into soup?"
Yang Kai chuckled. "Nothing so dramatic."
Meng Wu Ya no longer inquired further, perhaps if this little brat could maintain this cultivation pace, he would be able to break through the bonds of this small world; only then might he be worthy of his precious disciple's favor.
"Anyway, be careful, kid. Don't say this old man didn't warn you," Meng Wu Ya muttered darkly. "That brat from the Dong Family seems to be very concerned about you—he's already come by twice to pester me for news."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow with interest. "Oh? Where is he now?"
"He's living in your old house. That boy is a little strange, the Bai Family and Purple Thorn Valley people have arranged comfortable places to live, but he insists on waiting for you in that little broken down house, determined to find you. It's probably best for you to avoid attention right now." Old Man Meng's face became solemn, strongly urging, "Or you can leave here for a year or so."
[If this pest left again for a year or so, perhaps my treasure would forget about him!], nothing would make Meng Wu Ya happier.
Saying farewell to Meng Wu Ya, Yang Kai walked towards his own small broken house.