Chapter 83: Meeting Their Past (3)

In a small pavilion beside a pond, one that Ji Yue had often stayed in when she first came to the Inner Sect, three women and one man sat around a table with a clear view of the water.

Facing three women of the Ji family like this, the pressure on Gu Yuan’s shoulders should have been immense. It wasn’t, because of one person: his mother-in-law, Su Yulan.

The atmosphere felt less like a meeting with the mother of two reincarnated Empresses and more like being invited into a family conversation he had never had the chance to experience before.

Listening to stories of the twins’ childhood in this life, Gu Yuan found himself strangely invested.

Su Yulan began from the moment of their birth. "When they came into the world, the heavens themselves rejoiced. Crimson and silver light spilled across the clouds, flowers bloomed out of season, and from above descended a pair of radiant swans, their wings scattering lotus petals that drifted across the land."

Hearing about such a phenomenon, Gu Yuan found himself nodding.

If it were those two, such a grand display didn’t seem particularly excessive.

"Not only did they learn to speak and walk early, but they also started cultivating early. By the time they were two years old, they had already begun cultivating!"

Gu Yuan was slightly surprised.

Two years old?

"But instead of using one of the cultivation techniques passed down by the Ji Clan, they created their own."

Gu Yuan’s expression became a little strange.

So they had already looked down on the cultivation techniques of their own family at that age?

Su Yulan continued speaking in detail, and the story gradually grew longer. Yet she spoke with such enthusiasm that Gu Yuan found himself listening with relish. The more he heard, the more interested he became.

"When they were seven, Yue wanted a particular spiritual fruit from the family treasury. But because it was too potent for her cultivation at the time, we refused to give it to her."

"So what did she do?" Gu Yuan asked curiously.

Did she cultivate until she reached the required realm?

He wondered.

But, just as he expected...

"No. She stole it."

Gu Yuan immediately lowered his head and stifled a laugh.

Ji Yan, knowing that her own turn would probably come soon, wisely remained silent. Ji Yue, meanwhile, simply took a sip of her tea before calmly saying, "I returned it afterward."

"After eating it?"

"The seed was returned."

Su Yulan sighed. "This is what I had to deal with."

Despite her tone, it was obvious that she didn’t actually think badly of her daughters. If anything, the pride in her eyes was impossible to hide.

The twins might have never been particularly good at putting others in their eyes, and even their own parents had often found dealing with them difficult. But that had never stopped them from being deeply loved.

Unable to hold back, Gu Yuan sighed. "I really wish I could have met you sooner, Mother-in-law."

Su Yulan seemed to understand what he meant, and her expression changed slightly.

"Could it be...?"

"Yes. I didn’t even know they had a mother until today."

"These two..." Su Yulan shook her head helplessly. "I see. They really didn’t tell you much about us."

"Not exactly." Gu Yuan glanced at the twins. "They didn’t tell me anything."

Ji Yue calmly defended herself, "What do you mean, I didn’t tell you anything? I have told you everything important, and I also said that you could ask me anything."

Hearing this, Su Yulan looked at Gu Yuan. "I’m sorry."

Gu Yuan quickly shook his head. "Please don’t apologize."

He increasingly felt as though he had met his savior.

He had expected the mother of two women with such unfathomable cultivation to be someone equally difficult to approach. After all, he had already learned that even the maid of the Ji Clan could have easily wiped out the Black Desolation Sect. The last thing he expected was for her to be this easy to talk to.

Far from intimidating or picking on him, she treated him warmly, and so did the servants. No one gave him a disrespectful look, despite his low cultivation and the high standing of the twins in the Ji Clan, being the patriarch’s only two daughters.

The conversation with his mother-in-law continued like this for quite some time, and Gu Yuan found himself genuinely enjoying it.

When he complained about the twins, Su Yulan placed a hand lightly over her chest. "Don’t worry, I’ll help you."

How dependable...

Gu Yuan would have liked to believe that.

But then she suddenly asked, "Now tell me. Between Yue and Yan, which one gives you more trouble?"

Couldn’t you have asked that when we were alone, Mother-in-law? Gu Yuan grumbled inwardly, feeling two pairs of eyes settle on him.

Ji Yan looked at him with mischievous eyes, while Ji Yue remained calm, though there was a faint trace of amusement in her eyes.

At that moment, Gu Yuan realized something.

This woman was dangerous in an entirely different way.

He immediately stood up.

"I suddenly remembered that I have something very important to do."

"What?"

"I need to break through."

"You can do that later."

"I don’t think I can."

With those words, Gu Yuan left the disappointed Su Yulan behind and flew away.

Not to run away, of course.

He was going to break through into the Spiritual Core Realm.

Gu Yuan left the sect and began searching for a secluded place suitable for his breakthrough. Before he could find one, however, someone else found him.

"I’ll travel with you."

It was Ji Yan.

She didn’t explain herself, but Gu Yuan could easily guess why she had decided to accompany him.

She was probably going to guard him.

Once again, Gu Yuan felt just how good those two women were to him. He might complain about them from time to time, but he still had to give them the treatment they deserved.

Or so he told himself.

With Ji Yan accompanying him, it didn’t take long for them to find a suitable location for his upcoming heavenly tribulation.

Ji Yan didn’t try to start a conversation. She simply sat down some distance away and began meditating.

With her watching over him, Gu Yuan felt completely at ease. He sat cross-legged and gave his full attention to his cultivation.

He first consolidated his condition to bring himself to peak shape before attempting the breakthrough... and three months later, he was ready.