Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

After Xie Lingran and Chen Qiuyu escaped, no one could find them.

After all, as a descendant of the former royal family and now a thorn in the side of the Great Zhou emperor, Xie Lingran could easily master the method of concealing her presence and making herself untraceable.

The two arrived in a small town in northern Shuobei and settled down temporarily.

Overnight, five years of painstaking efforts were in vain. Even someone as deep-thinking as Xie Lingran couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

Over the years, he has been deeply involved in the sect, taking steady steps and making plans, and he is only one step away from influencing the landscape of the Central Continent and even the world.

But the persistent Gu Hanfeng and the elder of the Lone Smoke Sect joined forces to deal with him again.

This left him with nothing again.

"..."

No, he wasn't completely without anything; he still had her.

Thinking of this, Xie Lingran looked at the woman beside her. At this moment, Chen Qiuyu's eyes were neither sad nor happy, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

She has been like this ever since he told her that his father died at the hands of Gu Hanfeng.

It wasn't the way he imagined her to be filled with resentment towards Gu Hanfeng.

"Damn it, I should have spared that old man's life."

Xie Lingran saw this and, while thinking about it, also wondered if she had really done something wrong.

"Ugh."

He sighed inwardly. He now understood better than anyone that all of this was because of him.

He owes her countless debts, which he can never repay.

But compared to this guilt... he has more important things to do now.

Restoring the old dynasty and recovering the Xie family's land was a destiny he had known since childhood, and a great cause he had to accomplish.

But this defeat brought him to his senses.

The reason he lost everything was not because his plans were not thorough enough, nor because his methods were not ruthless enough, but because his strength was insufficient.

If he possessed unparalleled power surpassing all other immortal sects, the Weishui Sect would not have been destroyed, and he would not be in this state of utter destitution.

To turn the tide and start over, the only way is to become stronger.

With absolute power, crush all obstacles.

Xie Lingran clenched her fists tightly at her sides, then slowly relaxed them.

He spoke softly to Chen Qiuyu, as if making a promise, or perhaps speaking to himself: "Qiuyu, once I obtain supreme power, I will make up for all the things I have wronged you. The sect you lost, the peace you lost, everything—I will repay you tenfold."

The autumn leaves rustled, sounding like rain.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiuyu slowly raised her eyes, her gaze calm and serene, and gently shook her head: "I don't think it's necessary. This kind of life is quite good."

Halfway through her sentence, a sad smile appeared on her lips.

Seeing her seemingly indifferent expression, Xie Lingran felt a sudden tightness in her chest, but she couldn't say anything.

He knew Chen Qiuyu had given up hope, but he couldn't stop.

The guilt was real, and so was the obsession. He owed her something, yet he could only choose to face his destiny.

After a short rest, Xie Lingran finally came up with the only way to break the deadlock.

Besides Chen Qiuyu, he was not alone; he also had his older sister, Xie Qingyao.

Everyone believed that the Xie family was wiped out after the Great Zhou Emperor rose to power. However, what people did not know was that there were still survivors of the Xie family, namely the lineage of Xie Lingran's ancestors. They escaped from that massacre and settled down in an unknown place, living the lives of ordinary people.

Xie Lingran's father was the most capable and ambitious person in the Xie family in the past hundred years. He was unwilling to live an ordinary life in this unknown city despite having such talent and such noble blood.

This is incredibly frustrating!

He would rather die than live on!

When Xie Lingran was young, her father plotted a restoration, but unfortunately, his plan was exposed and he died. All the others involved also perished.

Xie Lingran was the only one who was secretly rescued by his loyal former subordinates and survived. From then on, although he was still alive, he no longer lived just for himself.

From a young age, he was instilled with the ambition of revenge and restoration, and lived every day in the exaggerated portrayal of blood feuds.

His father was his great role model, and everything he did was to complete what his father had not finished.

Xie Qingyao's life, however, was different from his.

Before Xie Lingran's father started the uprising, he seemed to realize that failure was the most likely outcome.

So he made a backup plan, entrusting Xie Qingyao to an old acquaintance who was an elder in the Shangqing Sect, asking him to take her as a disciple so that she could cultivate peacefully within the sect.

However, before arriving at the Shangqing Sect, Xie Qingyao already clearly understood what her Xie family bloodline represented.

But she was different from Xie Lingran. Those destinies etched deep in her blood were nothing more than old stories from hundreds of years ago. It wasn't the path she chose, and she wouldn't take responsibility for it.

Her own father's fate reinforced this view.

Xie Lingran was well aware of this, so over the years she had never bothered him in the slightest.

But now he has no other choice but to go down this dead end.

He used the Xie family's unique secret communication method to contact Xie Qingyao.

This was the first time the two had contacted each other since embarking on completely different paths in life...

Several days later, near the Shangqing Sect, in front of a secluded bamboo hut.

Xie Qingyao specifically chose a place where no one could disturb her.

Xie Lingran came alone, and in front of this bamboo house, he finally saw his sister whom he had not seen for many years.

The woman was dressed in a blue robe, with a serene and beautiful face and a slender figure.

It was Xie Qingyao.

Xie Lingran walked slowly to Xie Qingyao, stopped, bowed, and called out:

"Sister, it's been a long time."

For someone as proud as him, this posture was one of unprecedented humility.

Xie Qingyao looked up and gazed at her brother, who was covered in dust and looked lost and dejected. She then sighed heavily. Even though they hadn't been in contact for many years, she had never truly let go of her brother.

She already knew of the destruction of the Weishui Sect and that his five years of hard work had been wiped out in a single day.

"Xie Lingran, you've finally ended up in this situation."

Xie Qingyao gently called his name, then turned around to look at him.

Xie Lingran looked at her, without exchanging pleasantries: "Sister, since you already know, I won't stand on ceremony. Five years of my hard work have all gone up in smoke, and now I'm lost and uncertain about the future. I think you should have a way to help me... right?"

She countered calmly, "Lingran, we siblings haven't seen each other for many years. On our reunion, you didn't even exchange a single word of pleasantries. Throughout your life, you've been swept along by a fate that wasn't your own, never questioning what you truly wanted in your heart, have you? Besides, how many years have passed since the old dynasty fell? Now that the will of Heaven is set and people's hearts are at peace, is your insistence on restoration, stirring up bloodshed, truly worth it?"

"To you, it's a blood feud, a family destiny. But to me, it's just a piece of history that has nothing to do with me."

"Sister, I have never asked for your understanding. I know you have no intention of restoring the throne or fighting." Xie Lingran's tone was urgent, even with a hint of pleading. "I don't ask you to help me seize power, I don't ask you to fight alongside me. I only ask you to tell me how to obtain ultimate power, how to turn the tables and start over."

"What I've lost, I must take back! I have no other choice!"

As siblings bound by blood, Xie Qingyao could not completely ignore the undying obsession and heavy guilt in his eyes.

"How do you know I have a way to make you stronger?"

"Sister, you don't need to hide it from me. Fu Jiuzhang of the Lone Smoke Sect did seek my help..."

The Fu Jiuzhang that Xie Lingran mentioned was the old man who had helped Gu Hanfeng back then.

Before this, Fu Jiuzhang and Xie Lingran were old acquaintances. Otherwise, given the status of the Weishui Sect, how could they have managed to get the elders of the five major immortal sects to come forward?

Thinking back to this, Xie Lingran deeply regretted not agreeing to Fu Jiuzhang's request.

He thought he was sure to succeed and avoided doing something extremely risky, but in the end, he still had to do it.

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingyao was momentarily stunned, but then regained her composure.

"I never expected that he would find you."

"But he's already a pawn to be discarded."

A sacrifice?

No wonder he found Gu Hanfeng to cooperate with.

But Xie Lingran didn't think too much about it. He smiled self-deprecatingly and responded to Xie Qingyao's previous sentence.

"After all, we're the only two people in this world who possess that kind of bloodline, aren't we?"

"But my purpose in doing those things was never the same as yours..."

Xie Lingran interrupted her.

"There's no need to bring that up again. We have different beliefs, and arguing won't get us anywhere."

After speaking, Xie Lingran paused, as if what he was about to say required immense determination.

"I can be the host of your experiment, and I am willing to bear any cost, just to possess that ultimate power."

Xie Qingyao decisively shook her head:

No, you can't.

Upon hearing this, Xie Lingran was startled and quickly asked:

Why?

Xie Qingyao also answered decisively:

"The demonic dragon species we experimented with possesses an extremely domineering power. After all, it was the most brutal demonic dragon from ancient times." Xie Qingyao looked at him and slowly revealed the truth, "Even you couldn't withstand such extreme power."