Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

She walked up to Yunping, gave him a rather appreciative look, then patted him on the shoulder. Under Yunping's puzzled gaze, she looked up.

"You, come with us."

"...Huh?" Yunping was a little confused.

No, ma'am, I've already refused you so many times, why did you still come?

Why don't you learn from your younger brother surnamed Li? Look how smart, wise, and rational he is, leading us... This is definitely not a good choice!

Unfortunately, the woman before them revealed a resolute look and said to the four, "We are historians of the empire. Trust me, I, Chu Xin, will absolutely protect you. This is what our imperial royal family should do for ordinary people!"

"History...historical researchers?" Yunping was shocked again; he had never heard of such a thing in the empire before.

“Yes, yes, big brother, you don’t know yet!” Fang Yan immediately came over, clearly very happy to see that his master was willing to protect Yun Ping and the others. “Historical research is a new organization that our empire recently established to unify the history of past eras. We are responsible for the Tianjue era. This time, we came to the Dragon Bone Wasteland in the Far East Snowfield to investigate the story behind the formation of the Dragon Bone Wasteland.”

"...You're in charge of the Heavenly Era, and you've come to this Dragon Bone Wasteland..." Yun Ping gasped (it was a real, chilling breath), looking at them: "So the subjects of your research are..."

"Yes, that's right!"

Fang Yan proudly raised his head.

"We are here from the Emperor Wen's Glorious History Research Group!"

……

So you bunch of lunatics with distorted brains are here to study me?!

19. Yuan'er's Sudden Accident

In the end, despite the enthusiastic invitation from the so-called Imperial Emperor Wen's Glorious History Research Group, Yunping reluctantly joined their team with three beautiful women of different ages.

This is really ridiculous. You know, Yunping and his disciples have a lot of little secrets that no one knows. Any one of them could be dug up and spread as breaking news.

If this attracts the attention of a treacherous person with covetous intentions, then the trouble will be immense—Yunping understands the principle that a tall tree catches the wind.

"But then again, are these people really reliable?"

As they walked, Ye Yuchan, who was at the very back of the group, leaned close to Yun Ping's ear and whispered as much as she could.

Yunping glanced at Fang Yan and the other two, who were focused on finding their way, and after confirming that they hadn't heard Ye Yuchan's question, he also responded in a low voice.

"As for whether it's reliable or not, I think it's pretty reliable. Although the other two are not very clear at the moment, that red-haired woman is quite powerful."

"Even you say it's not shallow?" Ye Yuchan couldn't help but think of the young forging master in Jinglin City. "Could he be another master-level expert?"

“A sage wouldn’t be so famous, but he is at least insightful.”

In fact, as soon as the two people appeared in front of the cloud, he saw through their cultivation level, physique, and magical artifacts at a glance.

Chu Xin's cultivation level is at the entry level of the Void Transformation stage. Her magical artifacts will be quite valuable and of superior quality. This makes sense, considering she is a powerful figure at the Void Transformation stage and likely holds a high position within the imperial royal family.

The young man beside her, who always squinted and sneered, was at the peak of the Spirit Platform stage. His magical artifacts were also extremely expensive, and his cultivation techniques were superb. His spiritual foundation was solid, so he must have been born into the imperial royal family and was a highly regarded figure.

As for Fang Yan, he was rather special. His cultivation level was only at the beginner level of the Spirit Platform stage. The only magical artifacts he carried were the black giant sword on his back and the equally jet-black black coat. However, the problem was that his cultivation method was very special, so special that even Yun Ping was startled when he first observed him.

Because it was a sage-level cultivation technique passed down from ancient times, belonging to the era of Martial Emperor Gu Tianren—this thing had been lost for a long time.

I never expected to see him here. This kid must have had quite an adventure.

—Since Fang Yan has been mentioned, Yunping has to say something.

Black eyes, black sword, black clothes...

In addition, there's this unfathomable martial arts technique...

Young man, shouldn't you have another ring on your finger, with some old man or something inside?

—Back to the main topic.

"Void Realm? But she looks so young..." Ye Yuchan stared at Chu Xin's back with a look of astonishment, seemingly having an indescribable feeling.

“Cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage can control their appearance at will. Don’t be fooled by her youth; she’s actually 375 years old this year.”

"So old?!"

Ye Yuchan's words were spoken in a low voice, causing everyone walking in front to stop, turn around, and look back.

Especially Chu Xin, for some reason, she seemed to have a strange feeling about the word "old". The moment Ye Yuchan said the word "old", a layer of gloom appeared in her eyes.

Even his tone of voice carried a hint of hostility.

"What did you just say, 'old'?"

Sensing the hidden killing intent in the other party, Ye Yuchan quickly shook her head like a rattle drum, "No, no, my...brother and I were talking about some topics about the elderly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yunping felt Ye Yuchan's arm nudge his waist.

He immediately realized what was going on and chimed in, "Oh right, we've been to the Nanshan Nursing Home many times before, and we met some interesting elderly people there."

"Nanshan Nursing Home? What kind of place is that?" Chu Xin frowned. She felt like she had never heard of the place this person was talking about.

"Haha, that's a special facility over there. But... um, researcher, are we on our way back now?"

Yunping's skill in changing the subject was undeniably brilliant. Chu Xin was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then looked up and gazed at the vast, snow-covered land in the distance.

"We're on our way, but there are too many places to avoid in the Dragonbone Wasteland. I deliberately chose a route that bypasses large areas of dragonbone piles. It may be a little longer, but it's much safer than going straight."

"I see, then I'm truly grateful for your help, sir." Yunping bowed respectfully.

Seeing this, Chu Xin smiled slightly, "No, that's not true. This is what our imperial royal family should do. As the saying goes, it's about serving the people."

Yunping: "..."

So this world also has the concept of serving the people. No wonder it's an empire...

Thinking that he had nothing better to do, Yunping simply followed along slowly, walked up to Fang Yan, and started to act as a go-between with him.

"Brother Fang, what exactly does this 'Emperor Wen's Glorious History Research Group' do? Are you just going around the world looking for things Emperor Wen did?"

“Yes!” Fang Yan answered without hesitation. “However, we don’t investigate everything. We only look for things that are suspicious or have hidden secrets. The cause of the Dragon Bone Wasteland is what we need to investigate.”

"Dragon Bone Wasteland...that's the name of this place." Yun Ping pretended to know nothing. "Then this Dragon Bone Wasteland must be a place where dragons are buried, right? Why is it related to Emperor Wen?"

"You don't know this, but this Dragon Bone Wasteland is very likely the result of a great battle between Emperor Wen and the Black Dragon King more than 500 years ago. Emperor Wen was furious and fought against the Black Water Abyss. According to our investigation, at least tens of thousands of black dragons died in this battle, and the Black Water Abyss was severely weakened. Since then, it has been hiding and has never appeared in the world again."

"Oh~ that's right."

Yunping pretended to suddenly realize something, but in his heart he was secretly complaining.

What conflict? What outburst of anger?

That's not the case at all!

Fortunately, there are some aspects of this history that should not be known to the world. If the people of the three great heavens knew about Xiao Heizi, his status and reputation would probably suffer a significant decline.

Recalling that event from more than 500 years ago, Yunping raised his head and looked at the towering snow-capped mountains that were faintly visible in the distance.

...What happened to that guy?

The Demon-Binding Lock shouldn't be that powerful yet.

The doubts that arose in Yunping's mind made him slow down without realizing it, and then a fair hand quietly climbed up the hem of Yunping's clothes.

"teacher……"

The person speaking was neither Lin Yuan nor Ye Yuchan.

Instead, it was Zhang Ruoxue wearing a JK uniform.

Yunping was stunned for a moment, looking at his seventh disciple who was missing an arm, with some doubt.

"Xiao Ruoxue, what's wrong?"

“Teacher…” Zhang Ruoxue looked somewhat anxious. She turned to the side and carefully pulled Lin Yuan, who was clinging to her leg, out of the way. “Senior Sister Lin Yuan seems to be having some problems.”

"Something's not right?!"

Yunping was shocked and immediately pulled Lin Yuan over, but he froze the moment his fingers touched Lin Yuan's skin.

hot--

It's extremely hot!

It felt like my whole body was about to burst into flames!

20. Blackwater Abyss

Moreover, Yunping clearly saw that the meridians in Lin Yuan's body were pulsating rapidly. These things that should not exist were now showing subtle traces, pulsating up and down as intensely as a heart.

This was completely beyond Yunping's knowledge; he had no idea what was going on.

"Teacher... I have a very strange feeling..."

The little girl looked dazed, her red side ponytail swaying, and a bright blush rising on her fair cheeks, which were as white as a doll's.

If Yunping hadn't known that the little girl had a special constitution, he probably would have thought that Lin Yuan had drunk too much and was drunk by now.

But the situation is definitely not just about being drunk.

Yunping quickly squatted down and touched the little girl's face—it was still burning hot.

He dared not delay and quickly asked, "Yuan'er, Yuan'er, tell me, how are you feeling right now?"

“It’s strange, it’s strange… My body is so hot…” Yuan’er’s eyes looked a little unfocused, but strangely, she had been staring at a certain direction in the distance since the beginning, as if there was something there that she was interested in.

"Anything else? Besides being very hot, do you feel anything else?" Yunping asked anxiously.

“Yes…” Lin Yuan replied, then raised her finger and pointed in the direction her gaze was directed, “There…”

"There……"

Looking out, Yunping couldn't see anything...

But if we broaden our perspective further, from a bird's-eye view—

Yunping immediately understood which direction it was.

The direction Lin Yuan pointed in... was the Blackwater Abyss.

This is strange. If something in the Northern Ice Palace is influencing Lin Yuan, that would be understandable. But what does the Blackwater Abyss have to do with Lin Yuan?

"There's something there, it seems to be urging Yuan'er to go there."

"Something... is urging you to go..."