Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 247 In order to be worthy of Mr.

"You want a reward, is that it?" Ye Tinglan smiled insincerely, moving the hand that was adjusting her clothes to his face, pretending to stroke it lightly: "How about I give you a big slap as a reward?"

Lu Xingzhou blinked.

Ye Tinglan's expression turned strange. She then remembered that this man was different from normal people; he was a pervert. Earlier, when she stepped on his chest, he seemed to enjoy it. So, did he also enjoy being slapped?
This pervert also likes to touch hands. Is this really a reward for him?
Thinking about it this way, the gentle caress of the hand, which was originally a clear threat, suddenly took on a different meaning and became flirtation.

Ye Tinglan quickly withdrew her hand and hid it behind her back.

Seeing her glaring at him with her hands hidden behind her back, Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ye Tinglan angrily retorted, "What are you laughing at!"

"It's nothing..." Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "You are much more vibrant now than you were before, when you were indifferent and aloof."

Ye Tinglan remained expressionless.

She could hardly remember what she looked like on a normal day... Being with him, her emotions grew stronger and stronger, and she didn't even know when it started to subtly influence her.

Even when he hadn't yet mastered his cultivation, he rarely acted like this. Back then, he was known for being indifferent and aloof.

So all that's missing is a persistent, shameless man?
But if an ordinary man did that, he would have been beaten to death long ago. What man would dare to do that?

Ye Tinglan didn't understand for a moment, but Lu Xingzhou had already naturally taken her hand and walked south: "Let's go, we should go to Si Han's place as soon as possible."

Ye Tinglan looked down at her hand that was being held: "Are you asking for a pinch again?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "If we want to get to Si Han's place quickly, you have to carry me by flying. Do you expect me to slowly drive the old man in his wheelchair?"

Ye Tinglan finally said nothing.

She'd already hugged him, and even kissed his bare shoulders. At this moment, holding hands like this felt almost meaningless. She might as well just fly away with him.

"If you want a reward, then this is it." Ye Tinglan was unwilling to suffer a loss, so she left with these words and pulled Lu Xingzhou away at breakneck speed to the south.

The gust of wind scattered Lu Xingzhou's response into a jumbled mess: "This little reward is less valuable than a spatial rift."

Ye Tinglan heard it, but pretended not to hear it with a straight face.

What are spatial rifts like? They are tightly embracing.

You still want that?
Want to eat fart.

…………

The reason why Tianshuang Kingdom is named Tianshuang is not only because it borders Dongyue Hanchuan to the north, but also because the entire territory is relatively cold.

Even traveling south, the landscape only transformed from ice and snow to frost everywhere. But now it's the height of summer; in the dry season, the blazing sun would be blinding, yet here it feels like winter.

“From a latitude perspective, this shouldn’t be the case.” Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin in puzzlement: “How did this climate form…”

Ye Tinglan asked expressionlessly, "What latitude?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that we're far from Frozen Moon River now, so why is the climate still like this?"

Ye Tinglan said, "It is still related to the Frozen Moon Cold River, caused by the ancient secrets buried beneath, but no one has solved the mystery yet."

Lu Xingzhou nodded. The secret realm the two had entered earlier was clearly one that no one else had ever been to before, showing that even after all these years, there were still many secrets in Frozen Moon Cold River that had not been explored. As for the climate changes in the world caused by the changes in the earth's veins, this was quite normal for this world. Wasn't their Xia Prefecture the same? After the secret realm was unlocked, Xia Prefecture recovered.

If the secret of Frozen Moon River is revealed, the Heavenly Frost Kingdom will naturally change as well.

However, at present, the entire Tianshuang Kingdom is not very suitable for ordinary people to live in, resulting in a vast but sparsely populated area with mountains and wilderness all around, and its development level is like that of the poorest and most remote places in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Conversely, it also became a place closer to the world of cultivation, with various immortal sects standing tall on famous mountains and rivers, each vying for supremacy.

I saw several battles between cultivators along the way; the colorful displays were quite a sight to behold.

The two flew south for a long time, and the towns they saw were all desolate. However, they passed by several seemingly powerful immortal sects, with cranes soaring and sword energy standing tall. The slightly more prosperous towns were all backed by powerful sects, and people rarely went out. After all, with few people around, the possibility of encountering strange beasts and demons in the wilderness was greatly increased, making the environment quite dangerous.

“No wonder the Great Qian doesn’t value this place and has no intention of conquering it,” Lu Xingzhou said. “Conquering such a place, apart from adding a bunch of uncontrollable immortal sects to the Great Qian, doesn’t seem to have any other benefits. The greatest value of this place is that it can form an alliance to resist the demon race. It is also because of this that the Great Qian does not want the Tianshuang Kingdom to be molded into a unified and powerful country, otherwise the threat to the Great Qian would be no less than that of the demons.”

Ye Tinglan did not answer.

Lu Xingzhou said, "Why don't you give me a proper introduction? Are you just going to let me see it from the air like this?"

Ye Tinglan sighed: "Actually, Gu Zhanting did plan to conquer Tianshuang and incorporate it into his territory."

Lu Xingzhou was stunned for a moment: "Is he just bored?"

“Low development level does not mean low spiritual energy. Many famous mountains and rivers here are sacred lands with abundant spiritual stones and various high-grade minerals. It also means that many treasures have not yet been discovered.” Ye Tinglan said in a low voice, “Moreover, if he can conquer these immortal sects, it also means that he can have a large number of powerful henchmen.”

Lu Xingzhou scoffed: "What are you thinking? He's too far away to reach them. There are only so many first-rank officials in the Great Qian Dynasty; he doesn't have that kind of control. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

“Unless your Tianyao Holy Land completely obeys him, then he can truly control the winds and rains. Let alone conquering the Tianshuang Kingdom, conquering the demon race is not out of the question.” Ye Tinglan smiled, seemingly acknowledging Lu Xingzhou’s statement, and then said, “Judging from his desire to conquer the Tianshuang Kingdom, Gu Zhanting’s focus in recent years has been much less on the conventional governance of a nation. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered the Tianshuang Kingdom. He is now closer to the perspective of a cultivator, spending more time and energy on cultivation resources and improving his strength.”

"Because secular rule has reached its peak?" Lu Xingzhou said, "At the same time, his injuries have made him impatient, especially as he is increasingly at a disadvantage against the Tianyao Holy Land. It is difficult for an emperor to tolerate such constraints."

Ye Tinglan remained silent for a moment before answering from a different angle: "In the world of cultivation, an individual's strength can determine many things. The reason for cultivating a power is simply because one's individual strength has not been able to overwhelm others. Conversely, if the cultivation of a power reaches a bottleneck, an individual's breakthrough becomes crucial."

This essentially means that Gu Zhanting's desire to conquer the Tianshuang Kingdom is strongly related to his desire to increase his strength and counterattack the Tianyao Holy Land.

Lu Xingzhou nodded: "So, Gu Zhanting ultimately didn't take action against Tianshuang Kingdom because of the constraints imposed by Tianyao Holy Land? The Grand Preceptor objected?"

Ye Tinglan said, "Well, I... Senior Sister strongly opposes the advance into Tianshuang. Without the support of Tianyao Holy Land, Gu Zhanting has no choice but to give up."

Lu Xingzhou chuckled to himself.

Feeling embarrassed, Ye Tinglan turned her head and said, "Besides..."

Lu Xingzhou showed some interest: "What else?"

What is your most fundamental goal in spiritual practice?

"revenge."

"Gone?"

"Didn't I tell you before about my grand ambitions and ideals?"

Ye Tinglan shook her head: "It's not about that, but... power and immortality."

Lu Xingzhou paused for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I haven't reached the point of wanting to achieve immortality yet... but power is indeed necessary. Only with power can one fulfill one's ideals."

Ye Tinglan said, "The higher one's cultivation level, the more direct one's pursuit in this area becomes, because many worldly desires have already faded away. For example, you once deliberately provoked my appetite, and I haven't really wanted to eat much since. This is a microcosm. When you no longer care about worldly desires, all you can focus on is increasing your power and having an endless lifespan."

Lu Xingzhou said, "You brought this up because you mean that Gu Zhanting's shift in focus to cultivation is not necessarily all about power, but also because of his personal pursuit of immortality?"

Ye Tinglan nodded: "Yes."

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment: "Is it possible that the increase in power and the infinite lifespan are merely for the sake of more conveniently maintaining power and enjoying desires for a longer period? Otherwise, what's the use of immortality? I have no interest in fine clothes and delicacies, no interest in supreme power, I don't want beauties, I don't want enjoyment, just to pursue eternal solitude?"

Ye Tinglan was taken aback by what he said and did not reply.

"In my understanding, an emperor who desires immortality does so because he can't bear to relinquish his power. If he seeks strength, it's because there's still something he hasn't conquered... like Gu Zhanting's relationship with the Tianyao Holy Land." Lu Xingzhou said, his expression suddenly turning somewhat strange: "Hey, Gu Zhanting wouldn't happen to like you... Senior Sister, would he?"

Ye Tinglan remained expressionless.

She could tell that Gu Zhanting had desires for her, of course. But since he never expressed them directly, she pretended they didn't exist.

After all, there are plenty of men who have feelings for her, which is normal. Ye Tinglan knows how fatally attractive her beauty is to men. No one can stop someone from liking you, right? But who dares to express it? Even Gu Zhanting doesn't dare. I don't know how you, Lu Xingzhou, dare to do it.

But then again, all the men he's seen are possessive of her beauty and a desire to conquer her status. Lu Xingzhou is truly one of a kind when it comes to saying things like "I feel sorry for you," "I hope you can share the burden," "I hope you can relax a little," and "I hope you can smile more."

In addition, Ye Tinglan did not quite agree with Lu Xingzhou's words.

If Gu Zhanting's personal cultivation pursuit is to better maintain his desire for dominance and conquest, then what is Ye Tinglan's cultivation pursuit for?
Is it so she can find a better man?
That's utterly absurd and fallacious argument.

However, everyone has their own ambitions, and the meaning of everyone's cultivation is different. Otherwise, how could there be a distinction between good and evil? Ye Tinglan really dared not say what Gu Zhanting was thinking. Perhaps men understand men better, and Lu Xingzhou's judgment of Gu Zhanting was more accurate?

Lost in thought for a while, Ye Tinglan didn't answer Lu Xingzhou's question. Finally, she asked in return, "So what about you? What is the purpose of the power you pursue? Don't tell me it's to fulfill your ideals."

Lu Xingzhou coughed twice: "To be worthy of you, sir."

"Bang!" Lu Xingzhou screamed and flew far away.

Ye Tinglan chased after him angrily and grabbed him, saying, "Are you still going to be sarcastic?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "You're the one who asked me this. Was I wrong to tell the truth?"

"I don't believe you for a second, just telling the truth!"

“But it’s true, at least that’s part of the meaning,” Lu Xingzhou said. “I’ve said it before, I don’t live off women.”

Ye Tinglan kept a straight face and didn't say anything, inwardly cursing herself for asking him these questions. They were having a perfectly good conversation about the main topic... She quickly corrected her mistake and forced the topic back on track: "We should be discussing Si Han, why are we bringing up Gu Zhanting all the time?"

"There's not much to discuss about Si Han. The reason we came to find Si Han is essentially a game of strategy with Gu Zhanting. Once we understand the essence of the matter, even if Si Han dies, can't we support another force to counter Gu Zhanting?"

Ye Tinglan finally nodded.

As they were talking, sword light shot out from afar, and killing intent soared into the sky.

Lu Xingzhou gazed into the distance: "Which family is fighting now?"

Ye Tinglan's expression turned serious: "That's Si Han's mountain gate, the Shadow Moon Sect."

(End of this chapter)