Chapter 1557 - 451: Master Zhou, You Arrived Just in Time! (6k)

Zhou Qing gazed at the sleeping Yaoyao in his arms, his voice turning somber: "Little Yaoyao’s existence is currently known to very few people."

"If someone starts to hunt me down, especially the Demon Emperor, you must take good care of Yaoyao."

Upon hearing this, Yu Yan’s face changed, and she became somewhat nervous.

"Don’t worry," Zhou Qing’s tone softened slightly, "this is just my prediction. Even if I am truly pursued, as long as I can escape, I will definitely make time to come back and see you."

He lowered his head to look at Yaoyao’s peaceful sleeping face, a trace of bitterness flashing in his eyes, "I’m only afraid that by then, this little girl won’t recognize me as her father."

Yu Yan bit her lip lightly, but she knew Zhou Qing’s character—once he made a decision, there was no turning back.

"Alright," she finally nodded solemnly, her voice carrying determination, "as I said before, I will protect her with my life. But you must be extremely careful."

Zhou Qing gave a faint smile: "Don’t worry, even if a Supreme comes, I am somewhat confident in slaying them."

Yu Yan, hearing this, just thought Zhou Qing was comforting her.

Slay a Supreme being in the Spirit Severing Realm?

That’s simply a fantasy!

One must know, in Nanhuang State’s one palace, two temples, three sects, four families, and eight noble families, besides the Celestial Phoenix Palace having an Earth Venerable, the strongest in all the other families is just of the Supreme Realm.

Those old monsters rely on the Tribulation Transformation Map to pass the Supreme Tribulation, standing tall to this day.

If Supreme beings were truly so easy to slay, how could they be worthy of being called "Supreme"?

"Where are we going now?" Yu Yan asked in a low voice.

Zhou Qing’s gaze was deep: "Vast Mansion. Since the Yan Family was able to find this place, the spies of the Celestial Phoenix Palace must not be far behind. We can no longer stay at Lingyun Mansion."

"Understood." Yu Yan agreed straightforwardly.

The two did not speak further and immediately summoned a flying ship, transforming into a stream of light heading straight for the teleportation array at Lingyun Mansion...

...

Two months later!

Back mountain of the White Jade Taixu Courtyard.

Autumn winds swept through the fallen leaves, wandering between the ruins, as Zhou Qing stood in front of a lonely grave half-hidden by wild grass.

The words "Lin Daochen" on the green stone tombstone were no longer clear. He reached out to wipe away the dust, a pang of sorrow welling up in his heart.

Three sticks of incense were inserted in front of the grave, their smoke curling upwards.

Zhou Qing stepped back three paces and solemnly performed three bows.

The mountain wind suddenly strengthened, causing his robe to flutter, and in a daze, it seemed as if there was a sigh from an old friend.

"Master and the others..." Gazing at the wild grass on the grave, he thought of those taken away by the Innate Spirit.

Without breaking through the Spirit Severing Realm, with the lifespan they have remaining, they likely cannot hold on for many years.

After a long silence, he took out a broom and began to sweep the blue bricks, personally clearing every inch of the graveyard.

When he placed the spirit fruit and opened the alcohol jar’s seal, the rich aroma of the wine mixed with the mountain mist spread out.

Afterwards, Zhou Qing turned to Yu Yan: "During this time, you and Yaoyao should stay here for now. This place is desolate, and few people come."

Yu Yan nodded, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding dilapidated buildings: "Did you once study here? This place looks like an academy."

"Yes." A trace of nostalgia flashed in Zhou Qing’s eyes, "I stayed here for a while. It was here that I broke through to the Divinity Transformation, and also met the two sisters of the Lu Family."

Waves of emotion surged up within him.

Back then, this place was bustling with people; the young talents from massive sects comparable to the Taiqing Sect in the Southwest Two Domains studied here.

Senior Brother Yan Xiaohu, Senior Brother Li Daoxuan of Divine Peak, the mischievous Lu Yaoyao, and others like Second Uncle, Old Hen, Elder Weng, Lin Jin in white...

Now everything has changed, leaving only this lonely grave to bear witness to the past.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to my old cave mansion." Zhou Qing lifted the sleeping Yaoyao and said to Yu Yan, "We can tidy it up and stay for a while."

The three of them passed through the courtyard overgrown with wild grass, arriving at a cave mansion in the inner courtyard.

As the long-sealed stone door slowly opened, the interior was still as it was years ago, only covered in the dust of time.

Zhou Qing casually threw out several dust-removal talismans, which burned out in the air, turning into countless tiny light points scattering around.

The dust in the cave mansion was immediately swept away, even the accumulated dust in the stone crevices was cleaned thoroughly.

For safety’s sake, he took out an array disc and array flag in four colors to set up a formation, and taught Yu Yan how to control it.

"By the way, Miss Yu Yan..." Zhou Qing suddenly stopped his actions, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Have you ever heard of the name Weng Yunqi?"

Yu Yan was taken aback upon hearing this, after thinking for a moment, she nodded: "I’m somewhat familiar, he was a dean of an academy."

"White Jade Taixu Courtyard?" Zhou Qing suddenly turned, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Not that." Yu Yan shook her head, "I can’t recall which academy exactly, but he wasn’t someone from Nanhuang State."

Zhou Qing furrowed his brows slightly: "Then how do you know of him?"

"An elder in my family mentioned him before." Yu Yan recalled, "It’s said that his academy recruited an exceptional genius with the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown potential."

"Later, somehow news got out, and powerhouses from all sides swarmed in, all wanting to forcibly take that student as their own."

Zhou Qing’s heart trembled, and in his mind, the image of the Three-Flower Corpse from the Desolate Forbidden flashed by.

"What happened afterwards?" He asked urgently.

Yu Yan sighed: "I don’t know the details, only that he was eventually thrown into the void by several Supreme Realm powerhouses working together, ultimately perishing."

Zhou Qing remained silent for a long time, so that’s how it was.

In this way, it matches with what he saw in the Desolate Forbidden, a fight to the death with an enemy in the Supreme Realm, confirming each other.

He must have similarly, like myself, narrowly escaped from the void back then and concealed himself in the vicinity of the Vast Mansion to heal his wounds.