"Shuang'er, do you like Song Zhiyi?"
"Yeah."
Shuang'er didn't deny it. Instead, she admitted it boldly.
"Come on. I'll teach you how to cook a dish. It may not taste good, but it suits that little rascal Song Zhiyi's palate."
One night passed in a lively bustle.
The next day, Zhao Shuning was still sound asleep when she was woken up by the deafening exclamations outside. She covered herself with the quilt, intending to go back to sleep. However, the noise was so loud and getting even louder. It was simply a pipe dream for Zhao Shuning to fall asleep again.
Helpless, she got up, put on her clothes, shoes, and socks, and then walked to the window of the room. Since her room was on the fourth floor, a high position, as soon as she opened the window, she could see what was going on where the noise came from.
More and more people were gathering beside the ancestral hall, excitedly shouting as they watched the gushing clear water.
Zhao Shuning, who had been in a bad mood because of being woken up, couldn't help smiling when she saw this scene. Sometimes, when the common people's wishes were fulfilled, just seeing the smiles on their faces was satisfying enough.
Zhao Shuning sat on the window sill with her feet hanging in the air, enjoying watching all this. Below was the street with people constantly passing by.
At some point, Shuang'er actually stood on a high platform, loudly promoting something.
"Have you heard? The female emperor Ye Ling has shown her spiritual presence!"
"That fresh water is her reward to us!"
"Really? Some people used to say that Ye Ling's vengeful spirit was haunting us."
"Nonsense! It's all nonsense. Ye Ling is a great kind - hearted person. Didn't you hear that Miss Li from the Li family was shouting with a flag early this morning, saying that Ye Ling appeared in her dream and was willing to sacrifice her own ancestral hall to benefit the people of Haiyou City?"
Zhao Shuning looked into the distance. Shuang'er was holding a flag, excitedly talking. Song Zhiyi, who had sobered up, was standing beside her, silently watching all this and tacitly approving of Shuang'er's actions.
Maybe Shuang'er made up this story to gain Song Zhiyi's favor, but what a beautiful story it was!
The false accusations that Ye Ling had been burdened with in her previous life, Zhao Shuning would remove them one by one in this life.
Time passed quickly. In the homes of the people in Haiyou City, the statue of a person began to be enshrined. It was said to be the statue of the female emperor Ye Ling. But Zhao Shuning didn't go to see what the statue looked like exactly. Anyway, now that the big trouble in Haiyou City had been solved, she believed that in the future, Haiyou City would become better and better in Song Zhiyi's hands.
Thanks to Zhao Shuning, Chu Wen and Chu Nuan had reconciled with Song Zhiyi. Zhao Shuning had told Chu Wen and Chu Nuan about the two corpses she saw in the ancient tomb. They learned that their ancestor had another surname, Wu. With this clue, everything would be easier to investigate.
On the day Zhao Shuning left, Song Zhiyi didn't come to see her off because he knew this was not a farewell of life and death. They were bound to meet again in the future.
Ye Xingchen and Xie An returned to Shuiyunsheng. Zhao Shuning had said that Ye Xingchen was a rare military strategist. Although Xie An had excellent spiritual power, he knew too little about strategies. With Ye Xingchen assisting him, things would be much easier. Xie An thought about it and didn't refuse. Then the two of them left together.
Zhao Shuning also left. She walked for a long time, passing through many forests and streams and seeing many spiritual and demonic beasts. When she passed by a place called the Nether Valley, the Soul - Condensing Beads on her hand actually started to react.
After those Soul - Condensing Beads had fallen, Zhao Shuning picked them up, found some silk thread, and strung them back on her hand. The purple Soul - Condensing Bead seemed to be faintly glowing. But when Zhao Shuning stared at it carefully, the bead showed no more reaction.
Maybe she was just being too sensitive. Zhao Huai had been dead for so many years, but just thinking about him still made Zhao Shuning's heart ache.
She quickly walked past the Nether Valley. Under the chaos, a cyan - purple aura stirred slightly, almost imperceptibly.
"Supreme, is there something wrong?"
"Nothing."
Was it little Ning'er? Was it really her? Zhao Huai closed his eyes, not daring to let himself think. Now he was just a monster without a physical body, unable to do anything and go anywhere.
But to Zhao Huai's surprise, at this moment, the phoenix also seemed to start moving.
"Phoenix, what's wrong with you?"
The sound of the phoenix's cry rang out. But because of the barrier here, Zhao Shuning outside the Nether Valley didn't hear it.
"If you want to go out, just go."
The phoenix let out a mournful cry. Ye Ling was the phoenix's only master, but Zhao Huai was the Supreme of the strange beasts and the ancestor of the beast world. As a divine beast, it was the phoenix's duty to protect Zhao Huai's broken primordial spirit.
"You don't have to worry about me. Go out. I know you're burdened with a deep blood feud. Don't waste your time here with me. Your body has recovered now. You don't have to be confined in this small world."
The phoenix spread its five - colored wings, flew into the air, circled for a long time, let out a cry, and then left the Nether Valley.
The phoenix was a high - level divine beast with consciousness and the king of all birds. Back then, the four great families had committed heinous crimes. The master had died, and the phoenix had almost perished too. If it weren't for the master using all her remaining cultivation to protect it, it would have ceased to exist in this world by now.
The phoenix's hatred for the four great families had been buried deep in its bones for eighteen years. Originally, like the chaos, the phoenix had wanted to destroy the world. But during its recuperation, it had constantly felt the power of the ancestor, so it had never had the chance to act and had been constantly looking for the Supreme of the strange beasts.
Now that the ancestor's primordial spirit was gradually stabilizing, the phoenix didn't want to be trapped in the Nether Valley anymore.
Among the four great families that had massacred the East Ze Great Wilderness Palace back then, only the Yuan family and the An family still stood. The An family was a powerful force, so let's not talk about them for now. But for the Yuan family, the phoenix would make the entire family pay with their lives for what they had done back then.
When Zhao Shuning passed by the Dahewan Valley, she found a purple - gold spiritual herb. This kind of spiritual herb was a top - grade spiritual medicine, something that even an eighth - rank alchemist could hardly come across.
The flowering period of this herb was extremely short, only about a quarter of an hour. Zhao Shuning had to seize the time and inject the power of her spiritual energy within that quarter of an hour.
The purple - gold energy was gentle and could nourish a damaged spiritual root. However, refining it was extremely difficult. For Zhao Shuning, a seventh - rank alchemist, it would take three months.
If three months could be exchanged for the Spirit - Restoring Pill, Zhao Shuning was willing to do it. Her father, Zhao Zheng, had a damaged spiritual root. If he had the Spirit - Restoring Pill, there might still be a chance to save his spiritual root.
But Zhao Shuning didn't know that the Spirit - Restoring Pill was extremely difficult to refine. Even Xia Wanning, an eighth - rank alchemist, had failed many times.
It was said that so far, except for the master and his disciple Luo Qiu, no one else had the ability to refine this pill.